The Cousin's are coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those you who don't know who the Cousin's are, they are our awesome family who we don't get to see a lot. Well, there are 10 people in our family, already houseful you would think, right? Well, with cousin's there are 24 people in our house and it is an awesome party!!!!

At times there are peaceful moments with Gomer Pyle... then crazy moments with hide and go seek. It is pretty awesome!!

then crazy moments with hide and go seek. It is pretty awesome!!

I am really sorry...bad blogger person!!

I have been the worst little blogger person! I am really sorry. I am not going to make an excuses, I have just been a really bad blogger. Thanksgiving we all had the flu and we are all now getting better. School is going good and Christmas is just around the corner! WoWW!!!! I am so excited about Christmas. I have been able to go in with Baby Girl on a lot of presents and they are awesome!!! I can't wait to give them to everyone! The house is full of Christmas cheer, school is almost over and there are going to be partys!!! HOORAYY!!!!!! I love dressing up and going to peoples houses. This Christmas is going to be really special. This time last year, we were all longing for the little ones to come home and now if youi ask them where they are they will say, "Ome for Christmas!" (they don't say their h's) THEY ARE HOME!!!!!! It is amazing to think about. This time last year Mama couldn't listen to a song about a family going through an adoption and their children weren't home and then its Christmas time again and now their home. And now, that is us!! They are home and we are all together!

The man at the pack N ship we used to mail all our important adoption papers owns a place with blow up toys and gave Mama two tickets for the little ones! They loved it!

This is me and my wonderful *favorite* aunt! I am her name sake which she made very well known at my 16th surprise birthday party! It was great!!

Cody and Sunshine! He came over the first day they were home, stuck his huge hand in her face and she has loved him ever since then! We were all just treating them like they were egg shells but Cody just played with her like any other little kid!

Thank you all for stopping by! I hope that you have an amazing Christmas!

God Bless,
Leah-Joy.

PS. Fun Fact: Merry Christmas! Merry=mighty, Christ is Christ, Mass=celebration, so when you say "Merry Christmas" you are telling them that you hope they have a Mighty Christ Celebration!!

Encouragement!

If anyone is feeling bogged down, like you can't get anything right, or your just feeling discouraged, I would encourage you read this post from my Aunt Renee. It is an amazing and uplifting message from a fellow sister in Christ.

God Bless,
Leah-Joy.

the wind and the rain

Here lately God has really changed my heart. As I read what I wrote a while ago, my cry to God, I realized that He has done what I asked of Him. Isn't it amazing when God does that. That He can do it so gradually that you don't even notice it? I love it when He does that!

Thank you Lord,
For changing my heart. For being patient with me and having mercy on me.

I wrote prayer during a great storm in my life and it has been amazing to listen to God tell the wind to stop blowing and the waves to be still in my heart. Sometimes, like the picture above I have little ripples, but, they aren't ripples of anger like they used to be, they are ripples of sadness and pity. And the amazing thing is, He is there and then they are calm and peaceful again and He lets me know, that I need to pray.

How can I not worry about anything?
Show me how to hide under the shadow of your wings
Heal my heart so that I can hold me arms out open
Help me to forgive and forget
And never look back again

Some say that's just how it is
Why does it have to be this way?
Please let us all be home one day
Don't let us be separated anymore
By miles, burned bridges or wars

Help me to love others and be of help
Use me in a way that your light will so shine
Help me tell others that love is here
That you are Yahweh and always near
That it is okay to mourn and shed a tear
God, I know that this will be tiring, but it must be done.
I do it in hopes that it will inspire a reunion

Some say that it can't be done
That it will always be this way
Please, bring us all home today
Don't let be separated anymore,
By miles, burned bridges or wars.

The the end is in your hands
Please give us strength to stand
Help us, as your children to stand with You in all we do.

Just wanted to let you know I have posted some interesting facts on"Fight For Their Lives" If you would check it out I would appreciate it!

God Bless,
Leah-Joy.

Picture Perfect (post 200)

Buddy is growing into such an amazing young man. He now has cows pigs, and this summer he had an amazing garden. He has become even more of an amazing older brother to J Man and Sunshine and I am now looking up to him. He works so hard and becoming everyday more like our Lord. It is wonderful to see him fill the chivalric code of being trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave,pure and reverent more and more.

Dear Father,
Thank you so much for my brother. Thank you for allowing to look up to him even though he is younger then me.

A Dissater That Needs Your Prayers!

This is a letter from a dear cousin who lives in the Pillipines but is currently in the US. Please keep these people in your prayers. Not only have they had to suffer this horrid flood, but another is expected tonight our time and Friday morning their time.

It has been a tough week in the lives of so many in Manila Philippines. I am currently in the US for work so I am not on the ground first hand to experience the disaster and pain the population is currently living through. On Saturday a Typhoon dumped 30 days worth of rain in just 6 hours. As I write this on Tues evening flood waters still submerge many homes and the death toll is nearing 300. My family is safe but the reality of this disaster is that many who lived in this third world country had little before the storm hit and now they have nothing.I have tried to put the words to the paper to describe what it is like in Manila right now and I just can't find them. It was heartbreaking to see children in the streets with nothing before. Now you see the pictures of them with even less, and no means of improving the situation as the mud and water are still standing. More storms are projected in and they really can't care for the large groups of displaced people as it is now.The stories of what the Filipino will do to survive are phenomenal. Their dedication and loyalty to their family and those in their lives just can't be described. Most Filipinos live on less than $10 a day and the work they do for that $10 is strenuous but always done beyond expectation. On Monday morning with flood waters still rolling my housekeeper, with a house underwater up to the ceiling of the first floor showed up for work. Johnnie took them back to their home, picked up the children and they will stay with us until it can be determined if the house can be salvaged. Her father remains in the second floor, 4 days later with water still standing. Today they will go back, try to convince him to leave with them, and tie what remaining things they have to the ceiling of the second floor in hopes the new rains wont raise the water that high. The father has held firmly that he will not leave, he intends to protect what his daughter owns, as she has worked hard for it.Please pray for the country. The death toll is rising, and the disease has already begun. The mosquitoes will be hatching soon and Dengue fever will increase. Medicines are scare, and dehydration is already being reported in the young and the elderly. Many are forced to drink the flood waters which will result in typhoid most likely.If you would like to make a donation of used clothing, sheets, towels, sponges, soap etc or non perishable food or even small children's toys or books, you may mail it to my US address. A Flat rate Post office box to an APO/FPO address is about $12 to mail. Johnnie will distribute until I arrive back in the Philippines. I am attaching pictures which were taken from a slide show on yahoo. If you type in Philippine floods 2009 you will find more than 300 photos of the damage. I urge caution when viewing. The pictures are traumatic. They are not filtered and they do show death and removal of casualties. The picture I attach called floodchild is a boy in line waiting for emergency food rations to be handed out. In today's paper the article spoke of a 69 year old man who waited and waited in the food line but when they got to him all they had was water. He said he missed the bag of rations for the day. The bag contains a can with 2 sardines, and a pouch of noodles and is the ration amount for the day for a family.The two fish are there…please pray for the five loaves and the miracle to go with them.

With Love,

Kathy and Johnnie Jackson

PSC 500 Box 19 FPO AP 96515

It Is Amazing!

Last year at this time I never would of imagined that every night before we "off the light" as Sunshine puts it, would I read a Bible story to her and then pray with her! It amazes me every night! I get share with her about my Lord, listen to her tell Mommy the babies name in the basket, and listen to her tell Hope and Grace* "Jesus said 'Let the little children come to me.'" It is amazing! Just the other night she was saying the words of the story with me as I was reading them and she asked me about the guards in front of the tomb. I got to tell her why they were there, how they went to sleep because God wanted them to and that Jesus came out of the tomb! It was so awesome. Then we learned what Mary said when she saw her Lord! It is amazing to hear our precious ball of a miracle look at Mommy and say, "JESUS IS ALIVE!" All I can say is that it is awesome!

Then I get to pray with her. We pray for Grandmother, Nana and Papa, and Grandpa, and Noel and Darell every night. She always asks to pray for Mommy and Daddy. She loves them so much. It has been wonderful to see her get more and more confident saying things without me saying them. Not only is it teaching her (i hope), but, it has taught me that I need to be more like her. One night in her prayer (i say it, then she says it) we said sorry for not listening to Mommy. That has taught me that I need to apologize more, it made me realize that when I throw an attitude at Mama, not only does it hurt Mama but it hurts Him and that when I mouth off at Daddy, that hurts Him too! I need to be more honest, tell Him more and ask for something even if I think that He may not care when really, HE DOES! They both have been such a blessing. As Grace* said, "They needed us and we needed them."

I can't imagine our life without them and can't think of a time when they weren't here. They fit in so well. We love them and they love us. We have learned how to even each other out, listen to each other, and discipline each other. We remind them to chew with their mouths closed, if they eat all their food they get a cookie and they tell us to answer Mommy when she calls and to not pout (because we remind them not to). We are like little accountability partners for each other. As Mama and Sunshine say, "It is amazing!!" I hope that this has been encouraging. Thank you for taking the time to read it!

God bless and sorry for being absent from blogger world for so long!
Leah-Joy.

Please Pray

Hey Everybody!

I am sorry that I haven't been on blogger in forever. Well, I have a prayer for ya'll. A very dear cousin is very sick. His name is Chris. If you could keep in your prayers that God wouls send a miracle his way I would really appreciate! Thank you all so much!

If you haven't please chech out my pro-life blog.

God Bless,
Leah-Joy.

Hey everybody! I just did a new post on my pro-life blog! If you could stop by and read it and leave a comment that would be great! Please tell your friends about it! Thanks!

God Bless,
Joy.

Fight for their lives

I Don't Know What to Title This One

Well, as you can tell, I have been out of blogger world for a while! Well, last saturday we were blessed with being ale to go to a Do Hard Things Conference (i talk more about that later). While we were there God told me that He had something big for me to do. And so, I was like, well, ok, whatever you say. Well, when He did start giving me signs about what He wanted me to do I got really scared! I told Him that he was going to have to keep giving me signs in order for me to this. Well, I guess He smiled and said, "Hey y'all, what this," and He did. And I guess I should of thought that it was amazing but, because what He wants me is so big the sighns scared me. I was hoping that I was making it all up and that I wouldn't see anything. Well, I saw alot. The mission He has given me is to bring abortion to an end in our state. And when He told that I was like "Well, that would be really hard, what if I fail and look dumb?" What is crazy is at the conference they talked how even FAILED EFFORT BUILDS MUSCLE! We have to kee going! I had shared with Small Group last Sunday that so mant great men in history were because they were stuborn and determined. Whinston Churchhill said to "Never, never, give up." He wasn't considered smart, he had a lipse, but what most people don't know is that he was the only man that Adolf Hitler was afraid of. A humble, determined servant of Christ, who never gave up. And when I thought those thughts of doubt I realized that I was being dumb and COMPLETELY contradicting myself. Let me share with you some f the sighns that He gave.

• In our history lecture our teacher talked about the sactity of life.
• I have seen the director of our Criss Pregnany Center' name twice this week.
• I am reading a book called "Just Do Something" and in it the author talked about Esther saving her people; last year I wrote a paper about Esther saving her people and how the babes of abortion are our people we need to save them.
• I was able to talk about Abort73 (a website who's mission s to raise aware in teens about abortion) on Wednesday night at church and it felt so awesome and I was thankful for that oppurtunity!
• Matthew 8:10,13 says, " As assuredly as I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel... 13Go your way and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."
• Before I read this I was very afraid, Matthew 8:26 says, "But He said to them, 'Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?' And there was a great calm"
• In the book I am reading for school the author talked about what miracles babies are!
• In "Just Do Something" the author sad that if you want a career in medicine, then do something that will honor God, "to not perform abortions." (talk about feeling like you were feeling being hit up side the head wth wrds!)
• And just now my sister told me that our cousns ran a marathon to help stop abortions.

So, yes, there it all is! I am so thankful for all the girs that listened to me tonight at Small Groups and all the girls who got so excted and wanted to join me! God is so awesome!!! As I was talking with them and as I have been writing this I have realized that I wll not be doing this alone, that even if I am physically alone, HE IS with me!!

So, we hope that maybe we can start by volunteering at our local Crss Pregnancy Center. And just a shout out to ny other girl who may read this and have a passion for innocent lives, please leave a comment and I would love to pray for you and would appeciate if you would pray for me. Thanks to all who took the time to read this. Please pray that God will guide so that I will do what need to do, one step at a time.

Thank you all so much for your support, encouragement and if you know anyone who wants to help fight this injustice and speak for those with no voice, please send this way and I would love to encourage them if I can, pray for, just form an online community of ACTIVE prolife young women, for we are either a child or an adult and God has called us to be adults and act as adults, so we need to do something adults would do.

Again thank you all so much for listening!

God Bless you!!

Joy.

Honestly...

Since we have started school back have been reminded of something. That I don't know where I want to go to college, and I don't know what I want to major in. This is a little bit discouraging because I want a focus, I want to look forward to where I am going, I don't want to WAIT. But, right now I think that is what God wants me to do. In my heart literaly all I want to do is get married, build a house on the hill and raise children up to honor and glorify God. Most girls can go to school to get a degree in what they want to do, I can't. I am tryng to pray about that and am not doing a really good job. I want to know SO MUCH RIGHT NOW! Please keep me in your prayers because I think that right now God just wants me to do my school, be the friend that my friends need in me, the sister that J man and Sunshine need, help Grandmother while I still can, spend time with Daddy and be with Mama in the kitchen and as I write all this I feel dumb for complaining. I never realized all that I had to do. But, I guess I want something to look forward to, college, you know, something like that. I don't know. Thank you all for reading this and if you have somethng to say abouot it, be HONEST! You know that I am!



Love Y'all!!!
God Bless,
Joy

Before and After

(well, i uploaded them backwards on accident, but you get the point. as Miss Anita said "these babies are blossoming" in the care of my wonderful Mama and Daddy!)

God had given us so much. It s so amazing to look at pictures of them while still at the orphanage and then be able to hold them now! It is amazing! He has brought us through so much! At one point in time it seemed as though we were never going to be able to hold our babies, but they are home forever now by the grace of God! Our God is an awesome God!





Thank you all so much for your prayers. They would not be here without them!
God Bless,
Joy.

More Pictures of Our Precoius New Additions!

God has blessed us with an awesome week!
We have had a lot of company.
Here are just a few pics and more to come!

Our paster came by and what was the first thing he taught J Man???

They love the blocks and build such awesome towers!

Aren't they amazing??

They both love Cody!! He so good with kids! It's like he's a magnet!

Buddy's friend, Grasshopper is always at our house so he is like a brother!
They loved him and his sunglasses!

God Bless,
Joy.

Our Babies are Home!!!!

On our way!!!

Looking and waiting

First sighting

J. Man is a little card even after being up for twentytwo hours

Sweet Pea went straight to her Daddy!

Our babies are home!!! I am completely out of words. He has been so good to us. He provided everything we needed and continues to do so, He gave us safe travels, and brand family members. They are such beautiful, amazing, well mannered children. They are so obedient, so loving and so smart! More pictures to come!

God Bless,
Joy.

Something That is Hard to Believe

It is so hard to believe that these two precious little ones will be home Monday morning. God has given us so much; He has taught us so much and the reward isn't even here yet and we all feel so blessed already! It is hard to believe that these two are ours, that they belong to us, they have OUR last name, he is my brother, she is my sister, I will share a room with her. The list could on and on. I just pray that I will be the sister that I need to be to them. I pray that I will a good example. I pray that I will know how to teach them, how to care for them. Sometimes I get to so scared that I will not know how to help them, teach them or have patience with them. Please pray that those fears will go away for I know in my head, "That the Lord has not given us the spirit of fear, but power and of love and a sound mind." And I just need to get that from my head to my heart.

God has blessed us with an awesome friend who is bringing the babies home Sunday. You can read all the story here. She went through so much!!!! Thank you Auntie Kami!!!

God bless and thank you all so much for all your prayers and support through this past year! Hopefully by Tuesday I will have new profile picture!!
Joy

While We Were in The Wilderness

While we were at the Wilderness we were able to have amazing Bible study time. Friday night our youth minister gave a sermon at the new chapel at the campground. It came from Numbers 14. Mr. Steve was talking about how God saved the Israelites from slavery; He saved us from the slavery of our sin. Then, the Isralites went to the dessert, but God had so much for them to have and experiece; God has so much more for us to have and experience. He doesn't just want to save us and then see us in heaven. He has something so awesome for us while we're still here on earth! He wants to have personal relationship with us! But to recieve that we must do hard things, get out of our comfort zones, obey His commands even when we are uncomfortable about doing whatever it is. The night before he talked about how, yes, God wants us to be comfortable but that isn't His main drive for us. He wants us to do His will for our lives and in doing that it will cause us to uncomfertable. But He will give us the strenth to do whatever it is. But, if we just want to be saved, go to heaven some day and not do what God as for us in the middle because we think that it will be to hard and that WE WON'T BE ABLE TO DO IT, we are just hangin out in the dessert. We are just like the Israelites who are always complaining and thinking that they couldn't take the promise land. While in the dessert we can't see what God is doing. Mr. Steve asked us if we were seeing "stuff' in our relationship with Him, were we looking for God in our Bible time and was He showing Himself to us. If no, be honest with yourself and admit that you are in the dessert! The more he preached the more I realized that I was in the dessert. God had saved my soul, He has forgiven me and forgives me everyday, but I was in the dessert; I wasn't doing His commands; I wasn't doing hard or seeking Him in my Bible time. I wasn't trying to learn something every time the doors were open at church and I HAD TO CHANGE!!! AND PRAISE GOD!!!!! HE HAS RESTORED TO ME THE JOY OF HIS SALVATION!!!!! I knew that I felt different but I wasn't sure if others would see it and I so hoped that they would. God gave me proof. When we came Saturday, Mama looked at me and said, "You just look so happy. You just have this peace and contentment about you." And that is exactly how I felt. Mr. Steve said he struggled with going back to the dessert and just telling God that he had it all under control because he is a minister. And he said exactly how I felt. My sister's, Mama and Daddy are all so godly and I would just be like, "Oh I'm one of them." And that night I realized that I need to live up to the bar that they have set and really be one of them!

Thank you all for reading and please pray that I will follow God's commands for me.

God Bless,

Joy.

John 17:20

20"I pray for these followers, but I am also praying for all those who will believe in me because of their teaching."

Isn't it amazing to think that Christ prayed for us?

I hope that you have a blessed day!

Joy

The Wilderness

God blessed us with the oppertunity to go "The Wilderness." I would encourage anyone to go there. It was great and such a treat. I was able to have my Bible study in a cabin and on a boulder, I was able to take a nap and play volleyball, jump in a river and slide on a slippin-slide. It was such an amazing. I was able to spend time with my sisters and grow closer to the Lord. It was such a blessing.

This was Thursday when we got there. Everyone pitched to set up!

Our AMAZING cook! And mind you, he didn't even have electricity!

We arrived Thursday, set up, had an amazing super, went to the river and then had an amazing devotion by the camp fire!These are our two little otters. they both love the water and are amazing swimmers.

Don't both look so happy?

This was our last trip to the river Friday afternoon. We had such an awesome swim time and a lot of exercise. We came home sore but full of energy!

The rock on the other side was fun to some. I jumped off once and it just wasn't my thing. I kind of just like to sit in the water. But, it was fun watching and wading.

Group picture! I love this one! It is so cute!! I had a blast and got a lot closer to the Lord while in
"The Wilderness."

God Bless!
Joy.

I'm Late!

As you all know, J Man has his passport!!!! PRAISE GOD!!! I would of done a post sooner but we were at a youth retreat (which I will be doing a post on later in the week) when we got the most amazing call from Mama saying Joha had the passport! And when Joha got word that the passport was done, it was after hours. He didn't HAVE to go get it, but he wanted to have it as soon as possible. What a chivalrous act! He went above and beyond!

As I think that you all know, all the youth come to our house on Sunday nights for Small Groups. Mama gives a devotion and then we break up into small groups and pray for each other. Well, all of the youth have REALLY been with us on this whole thing. It was so awesome to see a bunch of teenagers so EXCITED about a little boy's passport whom they haven't even met!

God has given us so much! Without Him these babies woundn't be ours.
Thank you all so much for your prayers, support and encouragement!

God Bless,
Joy.

Please...

Please pray for the churches in Iraq. Please read the article below; it is very short. Please keep these precious lives in your prayers as they face pursecution in a war torn country.

Thank you and God Bless,
Joy.

On July 11, two bombs targeted churches in the cities of Baghdad and Mosul, and killed at least four people and injured 30 others, according to VOM contacts.Two bombs ripped through the St. Joseph church in western Baghdad at approximately 10:00 p.m. The next afternoon, three bombs exploded within 15 minutes of each other outside three different church buildings in Baghdad. That evening, a car bomb detonated outside a church building in the eastern region of the city. Minutes later, another bomb exploded outside a church building in Baghdad's Dora district.Meanwhile, on July 13, a car bomb detonated near Our Lady of Fatima Church in the city of Mosul.This is the latest attack on Christians in Iraq. The Christian community in Iraq is estimated to be 3 percent of Iraq's 26 million people, or about 800,000. Since 2003, Christian leaders, churches and businesses in Iraq have been targeted by Islamic extremists. As a result, many believers have fled.


Please Pray!

Please join The Voice of the Martyrs in praying for the families of those who lost their lives, and also for those who were wounded in this wave of violence. Ask the Lord to thwart the plans of the wicked, who would rid Iraq of any Christian influence.As the United States withdraws its troops, pray the Iraqi security forces would protect its citizens from terrorist attacks and be diligent in bringing perpetrators of violence to justice.Pray He will empower and give discernment to the Christians in Iraq to continue sharing the gospel in the face of persecution.The Voice of the Martyrs actively supports Christians in Iraq with Action Packs, material resources for Christian leaders and evangelistic literature. VOM distributes the New Testament in Arabic, and also supports widows through the Families of Martyrs fund.

Not What We Thought...

As many of you know, the passport we thought was ours turned out to belong to another little fella with same African name as J Man. Even though we are very sad at the fact that we still have no idea when our babies will be home we are rejoicing at the fact that another little fell can come home. In the past couple months I have found much comfort in this verse:

Zechariah 4:7

Even a mountain of problems WILL be smmothed out by Him.

When the temple is finished, He will put its most important stone in place.

Then the people will shout,

"God bless it! God bless it!"

The reason being: He WILL smooth out our troubles and right now during all our waiting He is putting in place the most important things. We may not even know what those things are, but, whatever they, they are God's will and we will need them. A building will fall apart without a cornerstone and I really think that that is what God is putting in place right now.

Thank you all for your prayers!

God Bless,

Joy.

FIRST EVER TEARS OF JOY!

HEY EVERYONE!!! WE HAVE JUST GOTTEN WORD THAT JESSE'S PASSPORT IS FINISHED AND WILL BE PICKED UP MONDAY!!! PLEASE BE IN PRAYER THAT EVERYTHING WILL BE IN ORDER THAT OUR BABIES CAN SOON COME HOME!!! tHANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!!

ps. please read the post about Daddy below. because of him and his obedience we can adopt these precious babies and raise the up for him!!!

Picture Perfect

To some, this man is,

• a logger
• a man who will talk your ears off
• a friend you can ALWAYS count on
• their boss
• their brother
• a very Godly man
• a man who thinks of others always before himself
• Someones only friend "in the whole wide world."
• One of the most hard working men you will ever meet
• And, I think one of my favorites, said by dear friends, "Completely RIPPED!"
• And said by a sweet little lady, "Just such a nice big guy."

To me, yes, he is all these things, but he is so much more. He is my father. He has taught me so much. I personly think that the funniest thing he has taught me and my sisters to do is argue, and now he can never win. He also taught us how to drive backwards with our mirrors before we went forwards. He is so patient, so loving, caring. He has never yelled at me or any of my siblings out of anger or frustration. Sometimes I wish that he would of just spanked me because having Daddy kneal down and look at you with his huge green eyes made you feel so small. But, with that, he taught to look at people in the eye, get on their level and to use self control in all that we do.

Thank you Daddy for working so hard so that we can stay at home!

Love you!

Your little girl,

JoyJoy.

PS. Listen to #8 on my playlist to the right. The last verse, I think puts Daddy into words very well!

Chivalry

Nowadays you don't see much chivalry. But, I have been blessed to see it in friends and family quite a bit here lately.

We have heard that a girl's part of being chivalrous is accepting when a guy offers to do something. Well, for us independent girls at times it is hard to do that! Baby Girl especially. Well, the fella above, a friend of our cousin, did an act you rarely see, he gave Baby Girl his chair and would not take no for an answer. Baby Girl was not going to be left standing up!

This little cutie is my double first cousin. Two sisters married two brothers. Just the other Sunday he was at our house. When he walked by he noticed that I was leaning over my foot with a pair of tweezers. He asked what I was doing, I told him that I was trying to get a piece of glass out of my foot. He then took the tweezers away, put my DIRTY foot on his knee and ran his finger across my foot to find the glass. Then, he just pulled it right out! It made my week!!

You all know Buddy. He is growing up and maturing so much, so fast! And you all know that when we come home from the mission trip we are VERY TIRED! Well, the Friday we got home, Hope was looking for her dirty clothes. Buddy then walks into the kitchen, figures out our problem, and looks at Hope and says,

"Well, I hope that you like your clothes on heavy duty."

All on his own he got Hope's clothes, and started the washing machine!

I know that we all want to see more chivalry in our society, don't get me wrong, but girlies, half of chivalry is us; we have to accept it when a guy wants to help us! We have to say, "Thank you," when they want to give us their chair. Baby Girl could have stood up; I could have gotten the glass out of my foot and Hope could have washed her own clothes, but these three young men wanted to help us. And in helping us, it made them feel needed and us feel loved. Accept it when a guy wants to help you. When he does ask, it doesn't mean that he thinks that you are incapable of doing whatever it is, he just wants to be the man that God is molding him into and we need to accept it so that God can mold us into the women that he wants us to be.

God Bless,

Joy.

Hard Times and Patience

Psalm 70:20

You have given me many troubles and bad tmes, but you will give me new life again.

James 1:2-4

2My brothers and sister, when you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, 3because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience. 4Let your patience show itself perfectly in what you do. Then you be perfect and complete and will have everything you need.

Louisiana Mission Trip, Part 2

This post is about Sunday and Monday. Sunday is always a really great day. Well, all of them are great days, but every Sunday is great because is the day that the Lord has set aside for rest! And boy do we take advantage of that! The Lord really blessed this trip, as he does all of them.

Sunday afternoon the church fed us an amazing lunch! Man, Louisiana folk know how to feed a crowd with their Cajun cooking!
We all have to wear our Carpenters For Christ shirts. They aren't the best looking things, but, we make a joke out of them.

A very sweet lady from their church offered to take out n the town. She took us to the Red River walk and the Board Walk (an outdoor mall that was like a little village). IT was GREAT!!!!!
And THEN...
We went to Bass Pro!!! It was so great! There was a Sonic inside the store AND it was HAPPY HOUR! All of their slushies are half off! It. was. so. great!!! Uncle JR. bought us all one.
THANKS Uncle JR.!!!

Monday morning all the guys and men the roof at 5:30 to beat the heat. They said that they were going to quite at about 10:30, but, needless to say, they finished at lunch! They did not want to stop until it was done!

These are the three stooge's and hair stylists.
Individually known as, Whit, Lil' Darlin' and Pooh Bear.

We all love putting up sheet rock! It so much fun and according to Chris, third from the left, claims that if there are three girls nailing up the sheet rock, six hammers fly by! We had a great time and love working with each other and for the Lord!

More to come...

God Bless,
Joy.