Thanksgiving at Christmas!

I know we should celebrate Christ's birth at Christmas. I'm just so thankful that He came, lived, and then died for me-to save such a sinner as I. That overwhelming feeling always feels that way-overwhelming that someone would care so much for me.

Many of you might already know, but I have received my phone call from the Brazilian Consulate in Washington D.C. NOrmally these phone calls mean that you can be expecting your visa to be coming to you in a matter of several days or a week. With me, it's been a little different(kind of like the whole process) and with my visa only being at the consulate for about a month-it was a bit quick. We are all amazing that they have called for my passport already-as if it is going to be granted. My boss e-mail me to be honest with me about what they do and not know. He said that Brasilia has not contacted them about my paperwork being in Brasilia as of yet.-so it's a little odd that they have basically said that I am going to be getting my visa in january. So-we are not sure what is going on. I'm not questioning anything-I'm just giving God the glory for the experiences and even the hardships. I'm learning much about patience and how God works-if just a bit. I won't every fully understand but I can learn to deal with trials in ways that glorify God in every way!

Mary, my roommate came home from Peru two weeks and it is/has been very sweet to spend some time with her. Actually we have been connected at the hip and loved doing all of our old habitual activities together. Road trips, sports, great food, Fellowship, Bibile Studies, discussions, talking until we fall asleep,-just to name a few. I missed her and I know we will miss each other when things begin to change for us again. God only makes friends like this -friends that not only share your common interests but your spiritual and service interests as well! I thank God for her!



Prayer Requests

• Continued prayer for the people handling my paperwork


• for spiritual growth


• for my teammates that are waiting or who are dealing with changing circumstances


• for Brasilia INternational School-faculty, staff, and students as they are on holiday


• for Daniel Lopes who works diligently to communicate with the Brazilian government on my behalf and the future BIS teachers as the visa process changes.


• for the people who are giving me places to stay while I wait-Gail Wolford, John and Tammy Brockman, my grandparents, and my parents~!


• for people who are supporting me-GOd is just sending them to me again and again! They come at just the time when I need encouragement!


• as things come to a close here-that I will remember all of the loose ends that I need to tie up before I leave.

richmond meets manchester!

CrossPoint Baptist met early on Saturday morning to serve God in Manchester. Richmond and Manchester? That's right, my CrossPoint family drove down to help out at the John Rice Center. The gains were A-Mazing! The Kendricks, Mr. Albert Spencer, Robbie Randall, and Joe Martin all did the "manly" jobs of laying trim, re-setting toilets, wiring and hanging lights. I stood in awe of the work being finished-task by task. The women buried themselves in clothes and took on the challenge of sorting, hanging, and laughing at some of the things found in boxes. (You can't tell me that underwear isn't funny and that very "Gamin" skirt I wore around-absolutely was funny) The students did an amazing job as we showed them what needed to be done. I thank God for such easy going girls that will do whatever needs to be done! Truly servants hearts were seen during this time.
The day came to a close and all of a sudden-I hear this buzzing around of a semi coming? What was this? Soon, a semi maneauvered into the loading dock and literally as soon as the door opened-the boxes began falling out. For two hours the workers unloaded these boxes labeled: womens, ladies, girls, boys, men's, infants, household, summer, and wemon's (we aren't sure what a wemon is...we're still looking for new owners of the contents...). These clothes were given out on Sunday to over 700 people in a matter of a couple of hours.
Serving God in this capacity is simply amazing. We had many opportunities to talk to the workers (mostly single mom's and children) along with the people coming in to receive something from the center. You can hear a constant-"How can I pray for you?", "Have you heard the gospel today?", "What do you think a person must to do get to heaven?".
I'm so thankful for the amazing church family that raised me and then for the church family who continues to nuture me in this stage of life. God is so good. He has given me much to do during this waiting period and I am thrilled at the chance to give back to the community that gave and has given much to me in the past and present. Also to be given the chance to serve with my current church family is priceless-their hearts are amazing.