Memphis Half-Marathon

Race Day in two more days....Heading to Memphis for the Half Marathon! Bryant will go with us and my parents will meet us there. I'll post pics after the race.

Thanksgiving Holiday

Our Thanksgiving in New Albany......

The kids LOVED being with Parker! They can't give him enough kisses! Below is David and Mary Grace eating ALL the suckers my uncle Pat brought her. She actually didn't eat them....she just liked to unwrap them all and take one lick....
The poor tootsie roll never had a chance...

When we go to NA for Thanksgiving, we have a little tradition of heading to Tupelo to ride the Carousel and see Santa. Such a fun time!

Happy Thanksgiving

What I'm thankful for:

My God, My Rock, My Redeemer
Amazing Grace
My Man ~ the love of my life

a man who loves his family in an incredible way....(dancing with Mary Grace)

My precious gifts from God......Simplicity of life (our PJ day with playdough)
Bryant blooming into the young man God is growing him to be!
(He was a Pilgrim for his Thanksgiving play and boy, did he do GREAT!) Big improvement from last year ~he hid his face the whole time last year and cried on stage! He had a speaking part and we were SO Proud of him!!

I'm also thankful for my church, my precious friends, my family, etc.....

How blessed we are!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a thought......

Whewwwwww.....is all I can say. These last three weeks have been something! I awoke this morning pretty exhausted, and I informed God that I needed a day off. I explained to him that 3 weeks ago I was getting everything organized for the merchant drop-off at Mistletoe, 2 weeks ago I was in Mexico pulling teeth and sharing His love, and last week I was in charge of Operation Christmas Child (which we collected over 2,500 boxes) ~ I needed a break and today was my day off.....
I began reading Colossians 3:23-24 and he started the process of changing my heart.
So my precious kiddos and I have stayed in PJs today, played with playdough, and played on the swing set, (yes in PJs), and I even practiced with Bryant trying to tie his shoes. So along came storytime and we all three laid on Bryant's bed and began reading books.....(and of course not by chance) we began reading "I have a Job to do", which is about this little girl who has a "job to do" by telling others about Christ : the Great Commission. Bryant began asking all kinds of questions and it hit me like a lightning bolt~~~We are ALL called to do Something! Maybe not go to Mexico, maybe not to live in a hut, but Something! I was reminded of when I was teaching in a public school(many, many years ago) and on my board I had: "Make a Difference", just now I would add, "Make a Difference for Christ!"
Just thought I would share.......

Operation Christmas Child

Tomorrow is the Day! We (Pinelake) have been collecting shoeboxes all week and tomorrow is the final day. I went to the school on Wednesday to collect theirs and they doubled their numbers from last year. Our PODs are full already and I am excited to see God at work tomorrow. This is such a wonderful organization and anyone can get involved to make a difference in the life of a child. What a blessing it is to serve such a wonderful Almighty God!

Mexico Mission Trip

We are back and getting settled in! What a blessing the week in Mexico was! Instead of me going on and on about it, here are my pics with captions below. There are quite a few, so sit back and start reading~

Here we are in the Dental Clinic. I think I missed my calling, (just kidding)
Lee Gary and David were our Dentists. Leigh Lee and I assisted them and boy, did I learn alot.Here I am pulling my first ever tooth! What an expression, huh? Thank you David for capturing the moment behind the camera.
Here we are ~ what a team! It was such a blessing working with him! My love tank was so full all week! I love that MAN of God!! What a precious bed side manner he has! I know I'm partial, but he is soooo awesome!

Here are a few stories that touched my heart this week - where I felt God nudging me as I continually prayed for "God eyes". He is so faithful!

These were some of our little patients in the Dental clinic. The little boy was 4 and the girl was about 1 1/2. Almost the ages of mine and the same sexes! The little girl was malnurished and her hair was balding in spots. No smiles, no joy, no hope. My heart just couldn't take it....I began to cry and couldn't stop. I thought of my sweet babies at home~ fed, happy, surrounded by love. Wow, we have much to be thankful for!
This was Monday and some little girls began following me and I couldn't speak a lick of Spanish, so I grabbed a bible tried reading Juan(John) 3:16. They all giggled at this Southern "Gringo" trying to read Spanish, quite a hoot. Anyway, I challenged them to learn the verse and keep it in their hearts. (I can play some charades!) Notice the little girl leaning over my shoulder~
Here she is on Thursday, our last day. She had a Salvation bracelet from VBS on and I grabbed Jay ( my sweet translator/guardian angel) to ask her is she had accepted Christ. She answered that she had indeed asked Him to be her Lord and Saviour. I told him to tell her that we are now Sisters in Christ, but the concept was unfamiliar to her. So I just used my charades to tell her that I will see her again...one day in Heaven!! Jay then translated it and tears filled all of our eyes!!

Rusty (aka "ROOOSTEE") handing out bibles for the first time to these kids.
VBS....no espanol, a smile can fool them all.
Sweet little friends from VBS

Our whole team: consisting of some from Texas, Pinelake in MS, and the others were from Hidalgo, Mexico (the host church)
Our Dental Team: Lee Gary (a dentist in Brandon), Leigh Lee, myself, David, and Jay. I kept asking Jay Bird where his wings were...he was our enterpreter for our "clinic" and he never failed to be available and always wherever and Whenever I needed him to witness to someone. He was my guardian angel for the week! He was such a blessing to me during the whole week.
" The Boys" on our trip. The two men on the right came from Victoria & Edna, TX and were truly a blessing for us. The other 5 were Pinelakers.

Just a few of my favorite pics from the week. Such precious memories.....

off to Mexico

Off we go....thank you all for your sweet messages. I'll post when we return next Saturday!

Jango Fet and Fairy Princess

My sweet babies all dressed up. Yes, that is Bryant under there....can you guess what his favorite ride was at DisneyWorld??? None other than "Star Wars"! I had never even heard of Jango Fet before, but oh, do I now know who that is!
The boys in my life! Two peas in a POD!

halloween

My little fairy princess loved Bryant's sword better than her wand!
Jango Fet and SuperWoman
Sarah Grace and Mary Grace - best buddies

Nea Nea's birthday

We celebrated Nea Nea's birthday at PF Chang's last Monday night and it was such a fun girl's night out. Many, many laughs..... so who's birthday is next?

Boys

This is what I found when I picked Bryant up from his buddy, Ethan's house.
Both boys rolling in the grass....Boys will be Boys!

Reunion

Mary Grace enjoyn' her some playtime out at Reunion last SaturdayMary Grace loves her some Gina, Lee, and Anna Claire. They were so sweet to let her play while I worked a table for the Children's Museum.