Chris Tomlin and Israel and New Breed

I was able to attend my first christian concert in 24 or so years last night! Treated by my good friend Deb I got to enjoy Israel and New Breed, and then my favorite!! Chris Tomlin. It was an awesome experience brought to me by her relentless son JA who when told the concert was sold out searched craigslist, posted sob stories on craigslist , called people, wheeled & dealed. One hour and a half before the concert they decided to open up another section of the arena with "limited visibility" HAH! To me it was the best seat in the house! Aside from the fact that the woman sitting next to me spilled her drink and left me standing in a pool of Coke the whole night. It looked a little like I had wet myself, plus I couldn't really stomp out the way I was feeling or I would have splashed it all over Debbie! What a blast :)

Houston in February

What fun we had on Thursday! We started out from Houston and drove about 50 miles west and went to Washington County. It was the first capital of the Rebublic of TX. We wound up in Brenham at the municipal airport where we ate lunch at the Southern Flyer a 50's diner poodle skirts, jukebox and all. From there we went to The Blue Bell ice cream factory and took a tour of their facility in operation since 1945. They gave us our choice of what flavor we wanted to sample and it was delicious. I couldn't help but think of how monotonous factory work is!
From there we drove another 30 miles west to The Jersey Farm where the Freirich family runs a dairy that supplies Blue Belle ice cream with some of their milk. We were able to see Ethel a 400 pound black and white pig, the barn during milking (we each got to try hand milking), we raced through a hay maze, had a hay ride, saw bunnies and fed them cheerios, fed the ducks, saw turkeys, sheep, goats, a donkey and last but not least Belle! She is the Blue Bell ice cream model. By then it was dark and past dinner we stopped at Loaves and Fishes which was in the middle of nowhere but had fabulous food and a very strong witness with scriptures written everywhere and Christian music playing. It was a delight to pay our tab there and support such a neat little spot.
On the way we saw the smallest Catholic Church in the world (literally there was a sign), and lots of charming little one horse towns that we plan to revisit next month during the wildflower and antique fest where miles of road attracts antiquers from all around.
It was a blast and I can't wait to revist there and explore all the rest Houston has to offer!

Beau and Hunter in Haiti

Some of the DMD Gang at the Rodeo

Cow Milking Demonstration

Club DADA

Craft Days! Shaving Cream Fun yes we are in the RV

LUKES Birthday Gang

BIG 6!

VETRO glass blowing studio

Independence

Backing up to last month we said goodbye to Allie and Beau. Allie was accepted to Moody Bible Institute where she continues to pursue International Missions and Beau is staying at our house in TN where he continues to pursue mission aviation. I was able to bring Allie to Chicago and get her settled in. The leaving was just a little sad (nothing will be as hard as leaving her in another country for a year!) mostly I was so thrilled that there is such a place for such a girl who has such a heart for missions and for South America. The icing on the cake is her roomate as God would have it is one of the dearest friends that she has on this earth. They have such a history together from high school and it is so sweet that at this time they can share this experience.
As for Beau a boy of few words who never really liked school has amazed us all. He has adjusted well been really active and has really applied himself and excelled in his academics. A very hopeful thought to anyone homeschooling a non interested student questioning if they will ever get it! I was so proud when this fall due to a post-poned start date at his school because of a delayed construction project, he was able to go to Haiti and help in a mission effort front he hurricanes that hit there last fall. He actually flew a helicopter with supplies in another country! Again with a best friend by his side.
I am so happy for friends who walk by the sides of my kids and I'm so happy for my friends who through the common bond of Jesus give me courage to do things I would never dare do on my own.

DFW

Phew we are out of Dallas. It was such fun but we've been there a long time! We got to go to the Dallas/Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, a living history museum in Dallas,opening night of Dallas Mavericks game, a School of Rock concert at club DADA(it's a long story),we got to go to the Great Wolf Lodge and celebrate our 21st anniversary, we also got to go to historic Grapevine and see a glass blowing studio, we outran a hurricane this fall and a tornado this winter! We've been able to worship at Chuck Swindoll's Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Watermark Community Dallas, The Village Church in Highland Village. All tremendous fellowships that we gained so much from attending. We celebrated Luke's 6th birthday at Going Bonkers a great time. We were also able to really spend some great time coming along side some of our families travelling with us. We normally don't get so much time together so we tried to seize every moment of "one anothering" we could.
Being a busy mom of small children is all too fresh in my mind and my heart went out to two of our mom's one with four kids under six, and one with three under 5! So with my trusty and loyal friend Debbie and my now big girl Hannah we undertook craft days 3 days a week during the weeks we were there. It was a hoot, I don't know who was happier the kids or the mommies. We were also able to have girls night out and men's night out weekly which was such an encouragement.
We have had to really make an effort to minister without the traditional church enviroment of "service". I love the local church and look forward to being a more regular member, but where God has me right now is learning that ministry doesn't need a building or a program to take place its on the way and all through life.