A Wonderful Weekend!

The Lord greatly blessed our weekend! For starters Thomas made it home from Washington D.C. safely. After eating a yummy meal at Cracker Barrel, Isaiah and I picked him up from the airport. Isaiah was one happy boy to see his daddy again! I love how he is becoming more and more aware of us and loving us. Thomas went to bed early that night, which was good because he needed to be well-rested for celebrating his 30th birthday the next day!

After a good night's sleep, Thomas was ready to start celebrating! Isaiah and I had quite the day planned. We fixed him a good breakfast and let him open a couple of presents. Then the real fun began. On Friday my friend Michelle helped Isaiah and me in the planning of a little scavenger hunt for Thomas to get the rest of his presents. We had so much fun thinking of different clues and wondering what Thomas' reaction was going to be. We were not disappointed. Thomas seemed to really enjoy driving around town and figuring out his clues, especially when he was rewarded with a pyramid of Tim Horton's coffee! Thank you to all the friends who let me use their homes and businesses for the fun.

In our family a birthday tradition is picking what you want for your birthday meal. Thomas requested chicken and dumplings and fresh turnip greens. Since I had never cooked either of those dishes, I added a couple of side dishes that I knew would turn out, just in case. He also requested a special, decadent fudge cake for his birthday cake. After the scavenger hunt, I stayed in the kitchen until lunch time. Praise the Lord, everything turned out--even the turnip greens! We had some wonderful fellowship with the Nott family before going to church that night for some mission conference meetings.

The meetings were a great encouragement. We were able to hear one of the adult sessions before speaking to the elementary children about Russia. Sunday continued the conference, with Sunday night being our commissioning service. Some special guests came to share in the time with us, some friends close by and far away. Bill and Robin Harris came to participate in the service. Bill read Psalm 67 in Russian and also gave us a charge about being missionaries. Pastor Joe gave a charge to the congregation, and the elders laid hands on us and prayed for us. It was a really special time.


We are amazed at how the Lord has brought us to where we are. This morning, we finally purchased our tickets. We were able to get them at an amazing price. I know that the Lord was guiding our search. We plotted out on a calendar this evening where we will be the next 2 1/2 months. Thankfully we know that no matter where we are, the Lord will be guiding us and taking care of us.