He's Home, He's Home, He's Home!!!!!

Yippee, my man is home. It was a great trip for them with a total of 10 salvations and 2 baptisms with contact with over 100. God truly blessed them. We had such a great reunion. The kids are thrilled. Now it is time to get back in the swing of things. At least the kids will be done with their school today, and we can just focus on church things. Thanks to all of you who prayed for us. God was so faithful. I'll post some pictures of the trip soon. Have a great weekend, I know I will!!!!

This is the Day!:)

Well, in just a few hours myself and another wife will be heading to Atlanta to spend the night to pick up our team. I can't believe this is the day! This time tomorrow, my man will be home safe and sound, Lord willing! Please continue to pray for traveling mercies. I have not been able to get the tracker to work on this flight, but I am trying not to worry. Pray that God will continue to give me that peace! I will post a pic. of my world traveler when he gets back! Love you all!

Back From the Doctor

We are back from the doctor. We saw a different one than we normally do because he was at a c-section. Anyway, this doc. seems to think she has a cold, and combined with the cat thing it just set off her asthma. In my professional opinion, I do not think that is it at all. I think the cat allergy set off her asthma. If you guys could have seen her last night before we came home, you would agree with me. She said we could do a blood test to confirm the cat allergy, but why put Chara through that when I am almost 100% positive she is allergic to cats(both Jamie and I as well as Noah are as well). Jamie does this same thing with his asthma when he gets around cats too.

All that to say they gave her another breathing treatment and put her on a round of oral steroids for 5 days. I will continue to give her Benadryl also until her eyes are better(still puffy and red.)

I was just thinking the other day how thankful I was that with both of Jamie's mission trips no one has gotten sick and had to go to the doctor. God does have a since of humor. Anyway, that is a "Day in the Life" I guess!!!

The Downhill Slide

Last night I talked to Jamie for the last time before he is back in the good ole US of A. They left and are touring around a neighboring city all day today. In the morning they will get on the plane for their long trip back across the ocean.

Special requests. The stomach health of the team. One has already been down a few days ago with something and Jamie was not feeling well when I spoke with him. Travelling mercy, once they get back into the states, they only have 2 hours to get all need to get through ie customs, before catching their last plane home.

Please pray for Chara. We had to come home early from Mom's because she had a very bad reaction to my mom's cats. She was wheezing very bad(I was contemplating taking her to the hospital), but we came home and I gave her a 2 nebs, and another one at 4:00am. I am going to take her to the doc this morning. Pray that he will give her some meds to help her with this.

Tomorrow afternoon myself and another lady whose husband went are going to Atlanta to spend the night and pick up our crew. I will try to update tomorrow, but if I don't I will on Thurs. after I get my man home!!!

Have a great day and keep on Believing God, after all, He IS who He says he is!!!!!

Just a Quick Update

Well, I made it through the morning. Jamie called this morning during the service and shared some AWESOME news. 2 of the 7 people that became believers got to go swimming!!! God does answer prayers. Jamie said that more would have but some of their equipment was stolen during the ceremony. He would not elaborate, so when I hear the story I will pass it along.

God is truly blessing their trip. One of the gals with them is sick though so please pray for her. They just have one more day there before they begin their journey home PTL!!!!! They are leaving a day early to spend the day and tour a neighboring city. Then beginning our Wednesday morning they will begin their journey back to the states. Hopefully by 9:00pm Wednesday, I will be able to talk to him on his cell phone. After tomorrow, I will not be able to talk to him until Wed. night. so that will be hard.

After church tonight, we are going to go to my Mom's house. If I don't update tomorrow, have a great Memorial Day!!

Thanks for all your prayers!!!

HEEELLPPPPP!!!!!

As my husband says, "It's Saturday night." Those of you in ministry totally understand what I am saying. With Jamie gone, I am of course having to do all his duties in preparation for Sunday. Needless to say, it is not going very well right now. I have given the kids 30 minutes to clean up their rooms and the rest of the house, and they are not even close to being done and they only have about 2 minutes left. We still have to get baths, I am going to go ahead and iron tonight, etc. Anyway, I say all that to say PLEASE pray for me the next 24hours are going to be EXTREMELY hard for all of us. I will let you know how the rest of the night goes.

When I talked to Jamie this morning, they had added another person. So the total right now is 7 salivations. I asked him if they were going to go "swimming" before they left and he did not know. Just pray that maybe God will work that out and allow Jamie to be part of that. They are going t o have their service at 9:30 pm our time (they are 12 hours ahead.) If I don't talk to you before have a great day in the Lord's house tomorrow!

Graduations and Good Reports!!!

Well, we are finally over the hardest part of our week. Both graduations went well. I have posted pictures of both girls for you to see. Hannah Beth's had some minor glitches, but those were worked out. All I can say it PTL they are over!!!Chara Before Tuesday Night's Graduation

Hannah Beth before her Cowboy play

Thursday night

Hannah Beth in her cap and gown!

She's in First Grade now!!!!(homeschooling 3 yikes!!!!)

(I didn't realize how long her dress was. It was hanging a good 3 inches from out of the bottom of her gown. Oh Well!)


Just a quick update on the team. I talked to Jamie this morning and he said they had had 6 people accept Christ. That is so awesome. On Sat. a team is going into some schools to do some dental hygiene education. Please pray that God will open up doors for them to share. Please keep praying for me and the kids too. Sunday is coming and that is always a stressful day around here. Monday and Tuesday we are going to stay with my mom and will come home on Wed., then I will go spend the night in Atlanta to pick up the team first thing on Thurs. I can't wait!!!



Continue to pray for safety and the opening of doors. Thanks again, and enjoy the pictures!

A Great Way to Pass the Time!!!!

Some teenage friends of ours, who are like family, came over today for lunch and spent the afternoon with us. This is what we did to pass the time. It was great fun and good exercise!!! I know, I know, I am telling my age, but oh well is WAS great fun!!

Thanks Kaitlyn and Kelsey!!!!:)

Something Tragic

I found out this morning that Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest daughter died yesterday. One of their teenage sons hit her with their car in the driveway. Click here to read the story.

Please pray for them as I know this will be a very difficult time in their life.

And the Winner Is........

We had such a great time watching tonight. There were some great singers and commercials. Kaylee especially liked the Jonas Brothers!!

But the night goes to.......

Click the photo to find out who wins!!!!!!

Graduation Blessing

Well, one down and one more to go. Chara's graduation was wonderful! She did not even realize that Jamie was not there. Thank you Lord for answering that prayer!!! They all did so great. Chara especially got into the songs and said her part with enthusiasm.

One of the most humbling parts was that I was honored of sorts. This part is kind of long, but you must know this part in order to understand the honoring part. The K3 teacher was diagnosed with breast cancer at the beginning of the school year. In order for her to continue to receive pay, God led Jamie and I for me to fill in for her. I taught those precious 3 year old from Sept.- early March. I am not going to lie and tell you that it wasn't hard, because it was. I still homeschooled and I also lead the music at our church. To say that we were busy is an understatement. This was the hardest thing God has ever called me personally to do. Now that you know the background you can understand the honoring part better. The school board gave me a gift that lets say will pay for my Siesta Fiesta! I have been praying and believing God that He will deliver us totally for all debt(student loans, cc, car,medical bills), so this was a beginning to that prayer being answered. Now we can use the $ that we were going to pay (my birthday, Christmas and anniversary gift $) to help pay down some debt. I truly believe that God is going to deliver us from this. I do not know how long it will take or how He will do it, but it is going to be gone!!

Sorry that was so ling, but God is good. NO matter what you are believing Him for, "All things are possible through him who BELIEVES!!!!"

PTL!!!!!

I talked to my man this morning!!!!! He is there and safe and sleeping now! The kids and I had a busy morning getting ready for the graduation tonight. They had one of those big blow up slides. They are so fun. If you have never been on one with your kids or grand kids, you HAVE to do it. It is great fun and a great work out!!!

Chara graduates tonight. And after that the American Idol finale. It is going to be a busy night. Maybe I will be able to sleep tonight. Keep the prayers coming. God is filling my empty place with Him!

A Quick Update

Jamie and the crew have landed from their long flight and are awaiting departure for their final destination. This flight is only an hour or so. Our friends in the field will call in the wee hours when they arrive and hopefully Jamie will call in the morning. I have felt the prayers today. I am in awe of how God uses those around us. Even though I have never met some of you in person, we are all family! How great is that. I will post more later. For now, I think I will get some sleep. It is going to be another long night!

Keep those prayers coming!

He's In the Air

Jamie is finally in the air and on his way. I am tracking his flight as we speak. My heart will be anxious until I hear that he is at his final destination which will be tomorrow night around midnight! It is going to be a long night and day tomorrow!

When I know more, I will let you know. He is going to call before he gets on his over the ocean flight which will be in the wee hours of the morning. After that I won't talk to him again until sometime on Tuesday.

Keep praying!!!

Pray For Me!!!!

Well, this afternoon I loaded up my man and 3 others form our church and they headed off for their trip to East Asia. They will be back on May 29. To say that I need prayers is an understatement!

Both Chara and Hannah Beth have their preschool graduation programs this week. Please pray that they will not even notice their dad isn't there. I know that sounds awful, but it is just better that way. If you knew my kids you would agree with me. For the most part, they are very emotional like their mother! I cried in High School Musical 2 for crying out loud!

Anyway, just lift us up. I am doing better than last year though. I was a mess. I have cried but am okay right now.

I hope your Lord's day was restful and you filled up on Him today.

Talk to you soon!
Amanda

Weekend Pictures

I said that I would post some pictures from the groundbreaking last Sunday, so click here.

I SOOO have to show you something else too...

After we got done eating, my kids decided that they would go out to the playground and play. Somehow it went from playing on the slide and swings to playing in the mud puddles(it had rained a lot that morning before the service.) Here are some pictures of the little rug rats!!!! I just wished I had gotten one of them all together after the event. Check these out.....

Yes, this was a white dress!!!

I am happy to say that ALL their clothes came clean!!!

It is just fun being a kid!!!!

A Heavy Heart

Today I have a heavy heart for a precious ministry family that we know from our former church in Augusta, GA. Denny and Vickie Mack lost their 2 month old baby girl Emma yesterday. She had a genetic skin condition. They had just posted her birth announcement in the paper on Sunday and had her dedicated. Please pray that God will give them peace and strength to get through this difficult time.

A Busy Weekend!!!

Well, I don't know about you, but I had the BEST Mother's Day!!! Even though I didn't receive any large expensive gifts, the gifts I received will last a lifetime. All my kids made me things. Cards, pictures, I even got a crown!!!(made by Noah) I was indeed queen for a day. My eldest Kaylee wrote me the sweetest note. She was bragging to Jamie that she made me cry. She did ask, "Mom, is that the good or the bad kind of crying?" Believe me, it was the good kind.

It just validates you as a parent to know what your kids really think of you. Especially if it is better than you thought. It was just God's way of letting me know that I am on the right track and they are going to be okay(some days I wonder!)

Not only did we celebrate Mother's Day, but our church also broke ground for a new multipurpose building. It is named in honor of one the saints in our church Mrs. Eddie Yelton. I will post a link soon.

All in all, it was a wonderful day!!!

BTW, I got my ticket to LPL in San Antonio today!!!!! I can't wait! I am still searching for a roomie, so please pray that God provides one soon!

I hope you all have a great day! Come back on Monday, and let me know how you spent your day.

Love to you All

Amanda

Race Day & Girls Night!

Well, I just sent my men (Jamie and Noah) off to Bring a Kid to the Race night at Darlington Motor Speedway! Noah was sooooo excited! This will be his and Jamie's first NASCAR race! We are fairly new race fans. It started when we were in seminary, and that was the only thing on TV to watch. We have grown to be fans.

We did cheer for Dale Jarrett but since he retired, we haven't settled on one to root for yet. That is actually how we got Jarrett's name. We were struggling to find a boy's name and we were watching the race one day looking at the running order and I said what about Jarrett(like Dale Jarrett), and we agreed!

Since they are gone, we are going to have a Girls Night!!!(+Jarrett) We borrowed the new movie "Enchanted" from the library, and after they go to bed I have myself the chick flick "Because I Said So." I haven't seen it so I will let you know how it is.

I hope you all have a great weekend and I will post pics from the race later!

American Idol Results

Yes, I and my family LOVE American Idol. The only complaint we have is all the abstinence commercials they have on. Don't get me wrong they need to be on, but it is difficult sometimes since we still have preschoolers at our house.

We all have our favorites. Kaylee and Chara like David Archuleta; Jamie, Noah and Jarrett like David Cook; Hannah Beth liked Brooke White(she went home last week), and I well I like several and surprisingly have not been rooting for anyone in particular. I think that David Cook had the overall superstar look, but David Archuleta has the awesome voice. Finally Jason Castro was voted off last night and put him out of his misery. He actually said last night that he was relieved to be going home. This definitely was not the show for him.

The Davids better watch out though because Syesha might just sneak in and win the whole thing. Anyway, The next 2 weeks will be very interesting on Idol.

A Little Bit of Info About Me

Since I am new at blogging, I thought I would just spend today telling you about myself so that you can get to know me and my family.

Well, I am a 34 year old, I have been married for 10 years(I can't believe it has been that long) to a wonderful man named Jamie. We met in college at Mississippi State University
(GO DAWGS). I will save the story of our meeting for another time.

Our Church

My man serves the Lord as pastor of Winfield Heights Baptist Church in Williston, SC. We have been here for 3 years and it is Jamie's first church. It has taken some getting use to going from one day just being Amanda to being the preacher's wife. Those of you who are married to ministers know what I am taking about.

The Dogs watching the Dawgs

God has blessed us with 5 beautiful children. Kaylee 8, Noah 7, Hannah Beth 5, Chara (car-uh) 4 and Jarrett 2. It has been the joyful(and some days frustrating) task of homeschooling the older ones, while the younger ones attend a kindergarten program at our church.

The girls being silly

My eldest son Noah

Our Jare Jare with Bankie

I am in the process of being set free from something that has held me captive for far too long. I will post more about that later, but I would ask you to pray that God will give me strength to allow Him to set me free. "Breaking Free" is hard work but I know in the end I will rejoice in all that God has done in me. By the time the Siesta Fiesta rolls around I want to be well on my way to freedom.

Well, I guess that is enough about me right now.

Have a great day!

Some Alone Time with The Father

I have just finished registering for the Living Proof Live event in San Antonio, TX. Not that that is special in and of itself; the special thing is, I am going by myself. That's right hopping a plane and going to a conference with me, myself and I.

I tried several people and it just came back that I was supposed to go alone. Sometimes God has to force us to get alone with Him. Hallelujah He wanted me to do it with Beth Moore and the LPM team!! My sweet husband knew how much I wanted to go and how special this would be, so this is my Anniversary, Christmas and Birthday gifts all wrapped into one.

This not only is a conference, but there are some other special things planned. God is so good and uses whatever He can to get time alone with us. I am looking forward to getting away and soaking up some time with the Savior.

This is One Happy Siesta!

PS: There is a special family I would like for you to remember. They are the Browne family. You can read their story and about their baby girl Lauren here, or by clicking on Dan 's (the Dad) blog "Jesus and Java" on the right side under links.

My First Day Blogging

Well, I finally did it!! I am blogging. I have wanted to for awhile, but just haven't done it. As the school year ends and this homeschooling Mom settles down(yea right!) I thought I would have time to blog. Besides this is the in thing now right!? Anyway, check back for my random thoughts, and I know along the way, God will teach me some valuable lessons!

I hope you have a great day and keep on Believing God!!!

Amanda