"welcome home"

We are now back in the good ol USA! We had an amazing trip! Full of God-given opportunities, conversations, activities... we are very grateful!!! The people there are amazing! I really enjoyed the different cultures. There is a respect of differences because to a certain extent we are all culturally different. It is not "ok, that's just weird", there is more "cool, that's different!". I do feel like I've spent a holiday with friends and only God can do that with total "strangers".

Wednesday and Thursday were extremely busy! We celebrated Nate's birthday in London on Wednesday. We survived the tube and rail system of London. My favorite memory of London may seem simple but it will stick with me. We had been walking for quite a while and everyone was getting a little tired and ready for a break. The London Bridge was an awesome sight, but the boys were ready for FOOD (as always ha). Nate picked lunch since it was his b-day. He picked a little asian place on a main walk way through a financial part of town it seemed. We could see the bridge from where we sat. Sushi!!! super perfect for me of course. The boys chose rice bowls. They were very good... except for Nate. Although he has come a LONG way in eating different foods there are still some things he just is not fond of. I noticed he wasn't eating so I told him I would switch with him ~ yeah, I'm sacrificial like that hahahahaha the rice bowl, really was good. It just had some different spices in it that were stronger than we normally eat. Nate had 2 sushi rolls and then he was done. He didn't complain at all... I just noticed he wasn't eating much and I KNEW he was hungry. He didn't want to go get anything else because it is quite expensive to eat there. We reassured him that it was fine, we would really like him to EAT... especially on his birthday. Jeffrey took him to another little place where he was able to get an amazing sandwich and he ate ALL of it. He was so thankful. Just a simple memory like that... out of all the places we went... that one is special to me. My family, together!!! We ate outside and watched as the people hustled by. At one point when we were running through the tube system I hollered back at Jeff "it's contagious!" We weren't even on a time schedule but if you didn't walk/run you pretty much were trampled haha

Overall, we feel this trip was amazing in MANY MANY ways!!! God used it to give us information, friendships, memories and so much more!!! To see the work of God from a global view is an amazing thing and we were able to get more of a glimpse of that on this trip.

There is a blog coming about a near death experience in a big pasture with horses.... another blog to come.....

it's just too much ~ lemme sum up!

Wow! what an amazing trip it's been! I have tried a few times to sit down and type out some experiences and feelings... it just hasn't come out right. So, I thought I would try to "sum up". I'm going to attempt to hit some highlights of the days we've had here.
Day 1 ~ trip day, lots of airport time. Overall things went very very well! We were immediately aware of the MANY nationalities as soon as we stepped off of the plane. Arrived here at the base safely Praise the Lord! Our first walk in to the near by town.

Day 2 ~ Micah and I were blessed to lead worship for the IT conference. Very sweet time for us. Jet lag was hard to get through. Meeting new people, learning more about things here and abroad.

Day 3 ~ We lead worship again on Friday. The day is a bit foggy to me, jet lag hit me hard on Friday. The boys were able to play futbol with Europeans from many different countries and found out just how serious they are here about FUTBOL ~ NOT SOCCER :)

Day 4 ~ A day full of adventure (even though we set out for it to me uneventful and laid back haha) Our idea was to take the train in to the nearest village and just look around and get a feel for the train system. We made a tiny mistake and boarded the fast train which went straight to London w/o stopping. We had a nice convers with a young lady on the train who was very helpful to us. She was typical British and my heart went out to her. After finding the right train we headed back to our original destination, walked around a bit then headed back to Gerrard's Cross where we found a pub and had some WONDERFUL food! Stopped by on the walk back for some coffee. This was a really really good day of conversation with our new friend Melanie. It's amazing how God just puts the right people in our path for just the right time!!!! Even with her mistake... I love her :)

Day 5 ~ Sunday! We had the opportunity to go to a local church here. We took the mini bus. We had a great conversation with a gentlemen before service started. As I looked around I saw mostly elderly people but there were some children up in the balcony. The boys have been doing very well with just coming along for the journey. Today was no different. We filed in to our row as the music leader began to play his guitar. They had lost a dear sister in Christ just on Thursday so they were all wearing different color flowers in remembrance of her. It was such a sweet time of worship. I absolutely love hearing the body of Christ sing praises to our God. If you can imagine a couple hundred of British accents singing loudly in an old church building... it echoes, and it's beautiful! Some songs were sung acapella and some with guitar and keyboard. They did have a band but were in a time of just letting the congregation "lead". It was truly amazing! People just prayed out from the audience, or would just start a song. It was very orderly and very respectful and VERY sincere! The pastor is from Ireland and wow what a cool thing! He was not red headed but I think maybe he colored it... no, I'm totally kidding. He had the passion of what one would think and Irish Red Head would have haha A very timely message for us! The service ran late and no one seemed to mind... I know I didn't. Our bus was waiting for us so we headed back to Bulstrode. Meals here are a great community time. We've enjoyed meeting the different people here. Today we had a wonderful meal! We have tried some new things and some familiar foods as well.

Overall, we feel God is moving us forward. Clarifying, speaking through different people and situations. We are enjoying all of the cultural experiences as well as spending time just listening to God and seeking what He has for us. Tonight we will go to some friends house for "tea" (what we call dinner in the states). They live here so it's just a minute walk... very nice!

feel'n the love

We have had a day full of visiting with wonderful friends and wonderful family. As I was thinking about that I thought about how thankful I am to call Jeffrey's family "friends". I love being around them!!!! Jeffrey's mom is an angel and worked so hard yesterday, preparing so much wonderful food for today's lunch. It was all so good. She knows I like sweet potatoes so she bought them especially for me and baked them. She makes me feel loved! I know I've said it before but... I was born in to an awesome family who loves me dearly and I've been blessed to marry in to a family who loves me!!! How blessed I am! I posted a pic of the incredible german chocolate cake she made with lots of love!

We had such a great time visiting with our friends from the good ol days :) We are a few years older and wiser... well, ok, a few of us are wiser hahaha Can't believe we didn't get a group pic :( I did post one of Terry and Christy on FB.

We are in major mental prep mode for our trip on Tuesday. We have to make some last minute purchases tomorrow, wash some clothes and be all packed and ready tomorrow evening. It. is. almost. here. WOOHOO!

On our way to England

We made it to our first stop ~ Starke, Florida. Stayed up until about 1 this morning trying to get everything packed, re-packed, then OH WE FORGOT THE SHOES.... un pack, re pack.... repeat.... We did get some sleep though before we hopped up out of bed all ready to go at 6 HAHAHA NOT! we rolled out of bed and stuck a coffee IV in LOL We had a lil drama this morning before leaving but it truly wasn't a huge deal and in the big picture it is all good. Jeffrey has hopefully temporarily misplaced his kindle :( He made a trip to the church thinking he had left it there but couldn't find it. We shrugged it off and reminded ourselves it's just a "thing". Mother Dearest made us an amazing breakfast that sent us off in style with FULL bellies! She made fried potatoes, eggs, biscuits & gravy. She had some sausage from Cindy's pig that was a bit too spicy for me but the boys LOVED it! Hugged Cindy Lou and Andrew but didn't get to see the kiddos :( It was great to have coffee with my mom though. THEN we were on the road! We had Joe with us so we had to stop a few more times than normal but overall it was a great trip! I love traveling with my husband! We have the best conversations. This trip is pretty exciting for us but we are trying to stay "calm" haha We arrived here at Dad & Mom Thomas to find Mom T. made arroz con pollo... be jealous, be VERY jealous!

We are so blessed to have family and friends rid'n along with us on this journey! God has just blessed my heart through their prayers and words of encouragement! I have thought of the team from our church who should be in the D.R. by now. Praying they have a blessed time this week!!!

Thank you God for today! COME ON TOMORROW!!!!!!

Remember ~ to keep in mind for attention of consideration

Today has been a day of remembering. Remembering a loved one, all the memories we shared. His family and friends coming together and sharing another memory together. Memories are something God gives us to help us move forward. We were riding through Starke today and it is filled with so many memories. More for Jeffrey than myself. Where he graduated from high school. The same high school his Dad graduated from. His first job. Kind people... not so kind people haha We moved to Starke when we had been married for 6 months and began making memories of our own. As we drove through town today and with our minds already going down memory lane, we passed a Pizza Hut. A special Pizza Hut. One that we remember even 15 years later. I said "you know, we need to write down all the times that God has miraculously provided for us. We forget." Jeffrey said "take a picture and blog about it". TWIST my arm... :) I love to proclaim God's wonders, his miracles!!!!
We were... um, a little less than poor at the time. I was pregnant with Micah. It was a normal Sunday where we went to church that morning. We had nothing at home to eat. Now I'm not just saying we had a pantry full of stuff but didn't know what to do with it... we had nothing. We had $12 in the bank so we were going to go by the store and get something. I had been really sick and didn't feel like making anything so Jeff says "well, we can trust God by going to the grocery store or we can trust God by going to eat pizza". So, we went to Pizza Hut. We knew we had JUST enough to buy our lunch. When we walked in, we saw the price for lunch buffet had gone up. Jeff said "I'll go pull out more money and come back and pay". He needed to eat something so we ate first. While we were eating, a family came in that had 6 kids. We really enjoyed watching them interact with the baby. This baby had special needs but like so many... no one told him that ;) He was probably about 2 years old. Jeff finished eating and left. The youth group from our church came in right as Jeff was leaving so I talked to them a minute and went back and sat down. The dad of this precious family came up to our table and said "God told me to pay for your food". I said "oh, no sir! We have it, we just didn't have enough... so he went to pull it out". He just said "God just told me to do this" and then he left. I sat there just in shock. Jeff walked in a few minutes later and I told him what had happened. We rushed out the door to pay the man. He was so calm, getting all the kids in the van. He said "we live in Palatka and we have no reason to come to Starke. Today God just told us we needed to come eat here. All I can tell you is do what God has you to do". Jeff thanked and thanked him and still tried to pay him. He said again "I'm just doing what God told me to do. Just go do what God has told you to do". We told them bye, got in our car and drove in teary silence most of the way home.

God has used many times like this to encourage us, to remind us "HEY, I'm here!!!" Yet, somehow, we still forget. We worry when money gets low, when loved ones get sick, when plans go COMPLETELY different than we had planned. Not only do we have the Bible with countless accounts of God's provision, we have modern day miracles and we still FORGET to REMEMBER!!!! I'm thankful for these precious precious memories!!!

1 Chronicles 16:12 "Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced"

disappointment

Those of you with kids know that it is always easy, always uplifting, never disappointing... ok, just checking to see if you are REALLY listening. Of course not, we KNOW it's not ALWAYS easy but for some reason I still get surprised when we go through valleys of disappointment. I've been struggling with a child that will go un named and have found myself starting to act mad towards him. With this "how dare you" attitude. "Why can't he see?" is on my mind constantly. I've prayed for guidance and wisdom on how to deal with this but my attitude was really starting to shape my actions (wait... isn't this what I'm aggravated about... yeah...) So, we are here, in Starke, Fl. for Jeffrey's uncle's funeral. A mixed emotion time for sure. We had a blessed trip down. Great conversation, took a nap... etc. I pick up this little devotion book beside the bed and the devotion is "when a friend disappoints you". Even though I'm dealing with my child at this point in time... the truth in this applies. I was both convicted and encouraged but this. Psalm 103:8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. The very first sentence is "How do you deal with people who disappoint you?" HA well... at the moment... I'm upset. I want to discipline him in to action, I want to ground him until he's 18, more chores, more school work... OUCH! I'm not even slightly filled with mercy much less ABOUNDING (filled to the very brim with). Here is another sentence that stuck with me "Can I learn to be gentle in dealing with the faults of others?" Wow! Unfortunately, I've found that I deal more grace and mercy to my friends than I do to my children. It's MY job to train/teach. It's MY job to ground them in what is right... but it's driving a wedge, pushing away. This is NOT what I desire!!! "God's way of dealing with people who disappoint Him is not my most natural way. It's harder. But it's also a far better way". Mercy, Grace, Slow to Anger!!!!!!

Thank you God for being faithful to light the path day by day with each decision that is set before me! Give me strength to follow through with what you have shown me is the RIGHT way to act!

There is a ton of stuff going on right now but this was pressing on my heart to share. Our children are a HUGE part of our journey!!!!

My Boys My Blessings

Anyone with kids knows what a challenge it is to teach/train them yet enjoy them. I have to say I don't have that balanced out very well. I don't want them to grow up and say "mom never told me" or "why didn't you teach me that?". The problem with that is I get very overwhelmed and then they end up frustrated feeling they can do NOTHING right. Last week left me feeling less than adequate as a mother and not necessarily wanting to quit but wondering if my boys would benefit from someone else as a mom. Don't judge me... I've since talked to a few people who have felt the same way along the way so I know I'm not alone. The TRUTH is I'm not only blessed with my little boogers, THEY are blessed with me! The lie of "I'm not good enough" needs to be exposed and I'm grabbing on the TRUTH that God through me can raise these boys to be great godly men!

Yesterday I woke up with just wanting to enjoy the boys. I know school starts back next week and we had some errands to run so I thought we should make it an enjoyable day. We started out to the homeschool store and on the way I had to "gently" remind them that I really wanted the day to be ENJOYABLE, not "ok. y'all. stop." Knowing the homeschool store meant they were starting school soon, they were not extremely excited but I just went with it and didn't "scold" :) I was so proud haha It was really neat inside because they were able to find some books that interest THEM. Nate brings me one and says "this store is proving to be beneficial" YAY! I was not able to find all that I needed there but I was just excited that we had a good time. There was an International Foods store right next to where we were so we went in there. It was really cool to look at all the different things. It was mostly Korean items. There were some Korean ladies in the back making Korean sushi so we were able to somewhat talk with them and try the sushi. We really liked it! Reminded us of our days in PA. We left there with a few things including some Japanese green tea that I thoroughly enjoyed. To keep the cultural ball rolling we decided to go to a German restaurant for lunch. I was soaking it all in! I love that in this small town there is so much diversity. We had wonderful German food and even more wonderful conversation as I set out for this day to just ENJOY my boys. I put aside all little spats and did not try to TEACH them (lemme just say... that was so hard haha) We left very full and satisfied! Thank you Lord for provision! From there we went to the new Guitar Center here. Of course it's like a big play ground to my boys. We spent a good amount of time in there, just looking at everything. Then on to Earth Fare... Momma's playground LOL Although, I made it in and out of there only getting oats (Micah did have to cover my eyes after my sighs got to him) When we left earth fare I decided to see if Mom wanted some coffee, really crazy question but I thought I would ask :) I took her a latte and just chatted with her a bit. Nate said "we've been to Korea, then to Germany, now back to America" We left mom's work and went to the church to clean. I love them! I just LOVE them! It still amazes me that God has blessed me to be a mom. I don't deserve it but yet he has. It's a scary thing, so much that I take it way too seriously. These boys are hilarious and they are so full of energy and life. Life will be very serious for them all too soon. I want to enjoy the times we have now. All in all, a very blessed day!