Praise the Lord, Randall is back home. He arrived home last Saturday. We were waiting VERY impatiently for him. The kids were so excited to see him. When they saw him, they took off running and JUMPED into his arms. It was a precious sight. Randall used to be terrified of flying. Since he had to fly five different planes to just get there, he learned how to handle it. Randy knew that Daddy was scared, so the entire time Randall was gone, Randy asked to pray for Daddy. This was his prayer, "God isis (?) Daddy scared airplane. AMEN!" He was worried about his Daddy and wanted to make sure he was blessed through prayer. Blessed he was! He came back with a huge smile, and so much joy in his heart. He told me that if we would have been with him, we wouldn't have came back. Apparently, it was a little slice of heaven over there. I sure wish I could have joined him, but we both decided that one of us will stay home, just in case something happens. We will take turns going on missions.
While he was gone, the kids and I were on spring break. And dang it, it rained 95% of the time. It wasn't the most desirable vacation, but we enjoyed it. Saturday, I went canoeing with some amazing young ladies. It was an experience to say the least! I am dying to go again. My sister Sharie and I took the kids to the museum and they loved that. Ruthie also got to stay the night with my sister and her son, and she had a blast. She talked my ear off the whole way after I picked her up.
Now that work and school has resumed, it's been hectic around here. I've been busy with work, kids, school, photography, and well, life. I am excited for the warmer days b/c it allows me to do more photography. I photographed an engagement last night, and I have about four more sessions to book!
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit."
That's our mission. That's our job in this world. We are to GO. Here is a video of a song that Ruthie learned on our last mission trip:
With that being said (or sung!) I wanna talk about the mission trip that Ruthie and I took at the first of March, and the one Randall is on right now.
The first weekend of March, Ruthie and I went to Oklahoma City and attended a Lay Witness Mission (LWM). We had an amazing time. The church was huge, but it was struggling b/c it had 2000 members, but only 200 in the pew Sunday morning. They had everything, but something was missing, hence the reason for the LWM. Randall and I work with the youth, along with two of our youth that join us. This time, Randall wasn't able to join us. It was hard, but with his job, it's tough to get his vacation to where he can do everything. This time, my brother-in-law went with us! He was awesome to have along! I can't say that we did an awesome job with the youth, mainly b/c they didn't talk, but I sure pray that we got those gears turning in their heads! The adults, man oh man, you could see the Spirit moving with them! It was amazing.
This church was directly across the street from where the OKC bombing took place. One story I just HAVE to share. Three churches in the area suffered damage from the bombing. The amazing thing- out of the three, their stain-glass window was in a million pieces, EXCEPT for the head of Christ! AWESOME huh? We had the opportunity to go through the memorial and the museum. It was tough. I wasn't very old when it happened, but I can still remember the footage from that day. The memorial was even more touching at night. I have to share this photo I took:
Today, Randall left on a ten day mission to the Philippines. Needless to say, it's been a rough day. Randy keeps asking where Daddy is and Ruthie's shed tears many times throughout the day. Me too. It's tough, but I can say that I am beyond blessed to have a husband who loves God more than us. That's what God calls us to do. That's exactly what he is doing. Randall HATES to fly, yet he went. He knows we miss him and he misses us, yet he went. It's dangerous, yet he went. That's our job- TO GO! Please be in prayer for him and the other five that joined him on this trip. I am missing him like crazy. It's gonna be tough tonight when I head to bed, but I just have to pray that he is safe. I love the fact that he's out there sharing God's word to the people of the Philippines! Not only do they get to share His Word, they get to hand out Shepard Bags and help put on a roof!
