Ugandan Orphans Choir

Our church had the awesome privilege of hosting the Ugandan Orphans Choir for our Sunday evening service. It was such an amazing time of worship! These children come to the states for 10 months. During this time they travel all over the country singing praises to God and dancing. They are supported by a ministry called Childcare Worldwide. This organization has a sponsorship system that provides education, food, clothing and shelter for the children until they have not only finished high school but also trade school. This means that the children are employable when they leave the system. The choir raises support for the orphanage through love offerings and it also gives people an opportunity to sponsor children in various countries connected to this ministry. Many of the children from Uganda are orphans because the AIDS epidemic has taken their parents. The most wonderful part of this ministry is that the children are taught about the love of their Heavenly Father. You can visit their site at: www.childcareworldwide.org.

Our family was blessed to be one of the host homes. So, in addition to our two boys, Corey and I got to be temporary parents to three precious Ugandan children and their seventeen year old chaperon. Bazanya, Ivan, Jackson and Godfrey stayed with us Sunday night through Wednesday morning. If you've ever wondered, seven boys eat A LOT of food! We were able to take them swimming Monday night and Tuesday night the whole group came over to our home for a fun time playing outside, riding bikes, and an exciting game of soccer! God truly blessed our family through this experience. I pray that through this opportunity, and hopefully others in the future, our boys will learn that the Kingdom of God is much broader than we realize and that our brothers and sisters in Christ come from all over the world. I'm so glad that heaven will be filled with all of the beautiful people God has created! The children were so sweet to our boys. We're going to miss them! Here are a few pictures of our exciting adventure!

The choir performing Sunday night

Boys from any country like Playstation!

Bazanya, Caleb and Bennett really enjoyed riding in the truck together!


At the pool...I forgot to get the picture while the boys were still in!


We took them to watch the machines working at the property


One of the best soccer games I've ever seen!

They had fun riding my bike... the baby seat just made it twice as fun!

The whole gang (minus Corey...he was taking the picture)

World's Biggest Fish Fry 2008

As many of you know, Paris is the home of the World's Biggest Fish Fry! It is a fun week here in Paris filled with carnival rides, a parade and many other exciting events. Although I was not there to take a picture of the Hostess Princess throwing out the first hushpuppy, I was able to capture several other exciting moments during Fish Fry week! Several of our family members even came to town to join us in the festivities. Here are some of the pictures!

Our crew watching the parade...thanks for the front row seats, Karen!

Thank you for the horns Nanny!

Caleb loved the silly string that Becky and Ginger gave all the kids!

We love the Tilt-a-Whirl!!!

The carnival rides were so much fun!

Bennett's first pony ride!

Caleb has done this before, and he was hollering out commands to Hocus Pocus (the same pony he rode last year...he requested him again this year by name)!

Shell and Aunt Natiley rode the Alpine Roller Coaster with the boys!

And I can't believe that I forgot to take a picture of us all eating lunch at the fish tent!!! It's sooo yummy! This was our favorite Fish Fry week yet! We can't wait until next year!

The Living Word

This past weekend I had the privilege of playing my French horn in a beautiful presentation at First Baptist Paris titled, In His Own Words. Before our first performance, a letter from the composer, Dan Goeller, was shared with us. I thought his words beautifully communicated exactly what I've experienced through my quiet time especially these last few months. I wanted to share part of that letter with you.

"I suppose it shouldn't surprise us that Scripture has the unique ability to continue to inspire, challenge, teach, and encourage us. I have been repeatedly convicted of the truth that the Bible is a LIVING WORD, not just words on a page. The Scriptures are unlike any other book or document ever written by man. So much emphasis, in our modern church, is placed on "this new book" or "that new teacher", etc. And God is certainly communicating through authors, pastors, teachers, and their writings and teachings. But the thought that God inspired the Words in the Bible so that He could continue to communicate with each of us, in a personal way, is a miraculous demonstration of His love for us." Dan Goeller

Wow! Let's not neglect our own personal time in God's Living Word! He has so much He wants to tell us about who He is and His plan for our lives! What a blessing it is to not be part of a religion, but an intimate relationship with a loving Father and Almighty God!!!

Praise Report!

God has proved Himself faithful again as He always will! We are approved for the loan and the paperwork is being processed! Thank all of you who have prayed so faithfully with us! Another note of praise, this Saturday the leaders of the Carpenters for Christ teams will be coming together with us here in Paris to make preparations for their visits this summer. Please pray with us for their safe travel! And finally, if any of you were watching the weather yesterday, we should have gotten more rain. But by the power of God's mighty hand, it was diverted from our area and the building site stayed dry in order for the guys to continue working today!!!

Still Waiting!

Our church is still waiting on a definite answer from the bank, on a final cost estimate, and on dirt work to be at the point where we can get ready to pour concrete...as a little doubt and frustration began to creep in, God gave me another timely verse in my quiet time.

Psalm 39:7, "Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you."

How perfect! My hope is not in banks, contractors or any other thing. My hope is in You, Lord. You alone have brought us here, and You alone will complete this in Your perfect timing! I'm excited to see exactly how He works everything out in order for His glory to be revealed in the most amazing and powerful way!

2008 Titans Caravan!

Monday afternoon the Tennessee Titans caravan rolled through Paris! Corey remembered just in time, and we loaded up the boys and headed to Ace's Pizza to meet the Titans pro-bowler defensive end, Kyle Vanden Bosch. (He was HUGE, by the way!) Caleb was so excited to meet a real football player. Bennett didn't really get excited until we saw T-Rac come off the bus, but at that point his excitement grew also. There is an article about it with our picture on the Henry Countian website http://www.henrycountian.com/news.php?viewStory=1849

Here are a few pictures we took. And a friend happened to be there when we met him and took a picture of all four of us with Kyle. I'll post that once I get it! Caleb is making his tough football player face in the second picture :)

BOYS + MUD= FUN!!!

It's a simple mathematical equation: BOYS + MUD=FUN! Corey has been out of town all week working on one of his doctoral seminars in Kansas City. I knew that my boys would miss the rough housing and "guy time" with dad while he was gone. Last time he went to his seminar, I ended up with lots of bumps and bruises from trying to play rough with them like Corey does. Women and men were definitely created differently! So this time, as the need for boyish fun had reached its peak, I had a wonderful alternative. Thanks to the large amount of rain we've had in recent weeks and a part of our backyard that doesn't drain very well, they had "mud time." They LOVED it! Corey if you read this before you get home, sorry about the mud all over the side of the shop, but it needed to be pressure washed anyhow :)