Blurb

This is just a quick blurb to inform everyone the following:

First, our women's conference went off quit well, or so I've been told!...Also, I'm not sure I said everything I wanted to say, or as well as I wanted to say it, but I did pretty well Saturday morning...as did my partner, Emily!

Secondly, for those who are not aware, I'm leaving next Wednesday for the Philippines. I'll be gone three weeks, and this time it is not a medical missions team, but simply and ministerial one (or whatever ya want to call holding a bunch of conferences and ministering to the people in prayer and such like?). The team, to my knowledge, consists of seven people, all of whom have been to the Philippines before, but one of whom has never traveled with us and only knows Debby and that's more through his parents (he was an MK to the Philippines back several years ago; we're all looking forward to getting to know him, too!)...At any rate, you may keep us all in your prayers as we, once again, venture forth with the gospel...and endure long 16+ hr flights!

Blessings,
<>< HJ


PS. For those who didn't know, our foreign-exchange-type (we didn't exchange her with anyone, LOL) student, Dorcas, just had her first birthday in the USA. She turned 16! Her pictures are in an album labeled accordingly to the right.

Golden Birthday...

Have you ever noticed its the simple things in life that make it better? small and simple can say more then big and expensive; if its with friends, sometimes it doesn't matter how much they spend on making a special day for you, its just special that they do...

Emily, Michelle, and Cole got lost on their way to the church--they tried a short cut, which added over an hour to their trip--and got there just as the service was ending. The first thing Emily told me was to stay put, and Michelle ran out to the car for something while we mingled and talked with Pastor Jun. Then my surprise came--and boy was I worried!

<- Em


->
P Jun
& I



It was simple really. A big-beaded pink necklace wrapped around twice, a cute pink tiara, and a little wand. (Have I mentioned that my least favorite color is pink? And all shades of pink! So by default, also red?) Of course I had to wear it all for pictures, and was supposed to keep it on for the rest of the day (thankfully there was only 3hrs left and that was how long it would take to get to the B&B in Streetsville, Canada!)...The funny thing is, that as much as I abhor Pink and don't like being too girly (Can it get anymore girly then all pink and a tiara?) it was somehow cool. I was the princess for a couple hours. And it was my friends way of making it special. Once we were downstairs in the coffee house, hanging out and eating, they handed to me a little Victoria Secret bag (it's an old joke, but I swore I'd never be caught be dead carrying one of those bags through a mall, and ever since then I've gotten gifts in those bags!). I was worried, again! (it would be like them put something "interesting" in there too) But all it was were a couple of those really cool musical cards about friendship (one was the show Friends, go figure), the Momma Mia soundtrack (woo who!), and a really cool picture of the three of us girls in Honduras together!

Then we had a really long, but really fun, road trip up to the B&B where we met up with Tim, his friend Dave, and his mom Cathy--who arranged this whole thing. Of course, once there, we stayed up another couple hours to laugh and talk with each other--as seems to be our habit whenever we're together!

Unless you count the fact that my friends drove a couple hours out of their way to stop by and pick me up on my birthday, it really wasn't anything too big. Yet somehow it was one of the sweetest birthdays I've ever had (the only other one was when I turned 19 and my dorm-hall went together and made a special scavenger hunt for my gifts and gave me a cake at lunch)...I think I'm beginning to understand it's the company that makes the difference, not so much the price or place of the event, it's the fun, the laughter, the craziness of our interaction. And of course none of that is possible without the company, the actual friends! Thank God for my friends!

To my friends & family, thank you for always making such simple days so special! I love y'all and I thank God for you, every day! May He bless you as your presence has blessed me!

Mother & Daughter: Blessings of the Weekend

Wow! Did I ever have an exciting weekend! Bill, Cathy, and I went to the Ingole household for the weekend.

First, for Becky's 50th birthday party on Friday where we danced, talked, and karaoke-d the night away! Was it ever a blast! We raised somewhere around $5000 for rebuilding their 'adopted' son's house in Honduras (that was all Becky wanted for her birthday: money towards Brian's family's new house!)! How exciting! ...and yes, though I've never done it before, I tried to sing karaoke with Michelle Harter and one of Emily's friends, Heather. Well, okay. Really, I was dragged up there, and, though I tried to avoid the microphone, Heather didn't let me get away with out it in my face at least a few times. And we sang for at least two songs. But what the songs were, I cannot tell you. Not because they were bad, but because my education never included secular songs (outside of what you hear in stores when you listen and the movies/TV commercials). So if you want to know, you'll have to hunt down either Michelle or Heather! LOL!

And, Secondly, we went to enjoy a whole weekend with the lovely Ingole family! Okay, maybe that was more the bonus on Saturday: hanging out with whoever came over to play games. Originally, the main reason for staying through Sunday had to do with a long drive that no driver wants to do too soon and hearing Emily preach (my reason, Hello! I'm not the driver!) the Sunday morning service! Woo who! And was she good! ...of course, in the end, we opted to leave early Monday morning so I could hang out with the dynamic 'Ingoley-Virgonte' and the lovely 'China Doll' a little longer. And, in the process, I got my hair colored back to its original color--does anyone even remember what that was?

Oh, wait; you wanted to know what Em spoke on?! Oi! Do I have to tell you everything...Okay. John 4:22-24; Luke 4:1-2, 4, & 14-19; Col 1:13-18; Timothy something; and there was more, I'm sure, but that's what happens when you forget to write it ALL down: you can't recall it later! So that's it. There you go......Oi! All right. Here's my notes. Under John 4:23, I wrote: "God is now drawing a line between those who worship in Spirit and Truth and those who are 'religious' or a 'good person'. We are called out of carnality or being a carnal Christian. It's not whether you wear a skirt, or shoes, or dance, that will send you to hell, but not having a personal relationship with HIM that will!" and "People may praise you, but then you get to real with them and they criticize you; Jesus [see John 4] felt everything, but He knew how to combat it too!" Under Luke 4:18-19, I wrote, "You can't do anything without Him" "He doesn't need you, He wants you" and "there's a qualifier to that: you have to say 'Yes' and daily!" And Under Colossians 1:15 & 18, I wrote: "He went there first, and He'll be there by your side when you get there." And, the main point that I got from it, was "overcoming your religious spirit/pride and dying to yourself; but knowing God would be there in the end, because He wants to use you!" Or something like that (I'm not very good at re-wording my jumbled thoughts, which seem to only make sense to me!). I mostly caught the dying to self because that's what God has been dealing with me about a lot lately! But the urging to do that (die-to-self) has come about because I feel the urgency for God longing to use ME! And do greater works (John 14:12)!

I know I was blessed by the whole weekend. The fellowship. The fun. The friends. And the death to self! Oi! What a combination; but a good one!

Thank you Ingole's and others for the wonderful weekend!
And doubly thanks to you, God, for being there in and through it all!!!

Christ's love to y'all,
<><>