A Mother's Intuition

My Little Man has had this lingering cough for about a month. Before you think I'm crazy for not taking him to the doctor sooner, you must know that he has not slowed down a bit. He doesn't cough during the night, like they tend to do with a bad cold, and he isn't stuffy or having interrupted sleep. He got over every symptom of his cold, except this cough.
Anyway, today I just had a hunch that I needed to take him to be checked. I'm so glad I did! The doctor gave us an antibiotic to treat pneumonia. Yes, he has pneumonia in his right lung. Crazy! He doesn't event look or act sick!
Please pray this medicine will kick this thing and he won't have any trouble. If he doesn't sound clearer next week, they want to do some X-rays. Pray my Little Man will bounce back and God will use these meds to clear his little lung. Of course, we are pumping the Juice Plus like nuts, too! : )

Happy Birthday to My Man

Today is my man's birthday! We will celebrate and we are grateful that we will be together for his big day!
I am a grateful woman for the amazing man God has entrusted to me. He is one of a kind. He had a very rough start, being born from a mentally insane street woman. Humanly speaking, he had little hope. He was abused at the hands of foster parents for years before his adoptive parents adopted him on Christmas Eve just before he turned 4. His home life was rough and definitely should not have produced the man I know today, BUT GOD HAD A PLAN! I am grateful that God looked over him, pursued him, and guided him right into my life. I am grateful that, despite all that He suffered, God has molded him into the amazing husband, father, friend, and lover that I know today.

He is more than my Prince Charming. He doesn't ride a white horse or offer me a castle. He didn't ride in to save me from an evil villain or give me a kiss to break a spell (although his kiss is good enough to do that if necessary ~ha!) He did more than all of this. He has shown me what it means to be content no matter what, to trust God for what we don't have, and to be extremely grateful for that which we have been blessed with. He loves me when I'm dressed like a princess and he loves me when I am looking like Cinderella scrubbing the floors in rags. He supports me and encourages me to pursue godliness and love God more than anything else this world has to offer. He loves our children in such a way that it shows them what the love of their Heavenly Father looks like. He is passionate about God, our calling, and our family. He honors the Lord first and foremost and he keeps our family #2 on his list of priorities (right under his personal walk with Christ). He loves me tenderly, leads me gently, and firmly guides our family in the ways of Christ. I couldn't ask for a better man to stand beside in this journey of life. It is the sweetest joy in my life to serve the Lord Jesus alongside this wonderful man!

Tony, you are truly my priceless One! You are the gift God has given me to remind me each and everyday that He loves me, He cares for me, and He has an amazing plan for me and our family! Thank you for loving me and our children the way that you do, for always putting us first and making us confident of our position in your heart and life. I pray that today is extra special and you are overwhelmed with the reality of just how deeply you are loved, appreciated, and just how significant God's plan for YOUR life has impacted the lives of so many others, like me! Happy Birthday, my Love!

Marvelous Monday

Aren't you glad we don't have to do our children like birds? (ha!) Hope you have a Marvelous Monday and, whether you are home training children or in an office, I pray you are blessed with seeing "fruit" from your labor today!

Productive Saturday

This morning after helping a friend, I showed our house. They couple seemed like they liked it, but had several others to see today. I guess time will tell. I am really okay either way. If it sells, we could all get excited about having more space, but if we stay here, this is HOME and I love it! I just need some serious help in making room for Joy.
After showing the house, I took the kids to run errands.... their errands. They had Christmas money that was burning a hole in their pockets. My Big Girl bought herself a FLIP camera, which she loves and has already enjoyed all afternoon. She is my creative one and thoroughly enjoys making movies and taking photos. Big Boy and Little Man each bought themselves new Wii games and a few Star Wars action figures and they played with them most of the afternoon. They actually played really well, too. I love it when they play without fighting.
I have enjoyed the afternoon. My home is spotless, since I had to clean it to show it, and my laundry is caught up. It's been quiet. I've finished and ordered our little photo album to send to China for Joy, started working on compiling my list of items to purchase for our trip, and even started shopping online for a quilt for Joy's bed. I am also putting together the list of things that need to be done this week, like documents to be notarized, phone calls to make regarding our lodging and travel to China, etc.
There is much to do and Monday will be here before I know it, so for now, I am enjoying the quiet weekend! Hope you are enjoying yours, as well!

House Showing

I listed our home on Craig's List last week just to see if we would get any traffic before breaking down and listing it with a realtor. Well, we have a very interested couple coming this morning to see the house. Please pray for God's will to be done!
We are in need of more room for Joy, so we want to move, however, if God doesn't choose to sell it and move us, then I love my house and will be fine here (crowded, but content).
It will be an act of God to do this move either way. If we stay where we are, we will need lots of creativity to make room. If we move, the timing will need to be perfect, and there would be alot of paperwork to update for the adoption. Lots to think about... Please pray we will have wisdom and God will work all things together for our good!

Pray!!!

For all of you that are my praying friends, please pray tonight for my assistant and her husband! They were told today that he has bone cancer. They aren't sure how serious it is yet and will have more tests on Monday. They were devastated! Please join us in praying the following for them:

*Peace and Strength that only comes from the Lord
*A Miracle (if God chooses to get glory that way) by there being no sign of the cancer on Monday
*Please pray that God will get glory from this precious family as they walk through this very difficult trial

Thank you all!

Swimming in Paperwork Again

I thought my paperchase was over. This is when you are swimming in paperwork, filling out forms left and right, and gathering documents for your adoption journey. It is the first "trimester" of adoption. (ha!) Well, I am officially in my last "trimeter" and I spent the majority of my day today filling out every form you can imagine. I received a packet from Holt this week and just about hypervenilated when I looked at it. It was SO MUCH!
I spent about five hours today doing nothing but adoption stuff. I filled out every form, seperated and gathered documents, and filed things. I now have a file for Holt, a file to take to China, and a file that needs to be taken to be notarized and then added to its appropriate file.
I was overwhelmed, by I DID IT! It is now done and we are making great headway. Our friends, Michael and Amy, actually got their LOA this week. It took them 30 days. I can't believe it! I asked my agency about this today and they said because we were already logged in China, we could expect our LOA between one and two months. That is sooner than what we were thinking. I was thinking we would be traveling in May, but we could actually be traveling in April. I better quit putting things off thinking I have alot of time!
I guess now that the paperwork is under control again, I'll begin making trips to the store for packing items, and stuff for Joy!
Did I say we are excited!!!!!!

Our Cheer Season Is Coming To A Close

Only two more games, then the championship weekend, and we are done! It's been a blast, but we are all ready for a break. We all love cheering at the games but I am really looking forward to having some more nights at home instead of running every night.
It's been a great season and we have lots of fun memories of our Big Girl cheering her little heart out with the most beautiful smile you've ever seen.
GO Knights!

Joy's First Doll

I ordered our little Joy her first doll last week and it came it! I cannot wait to see her carry this cute little doll around. I got a great idea from a friend... We are going to take our photo with the doll (one with each of us) and include these photos in her album that we are sending her. We'll bring this little doll with us on Gotcha Day and hope that it will be one more thing she recognizes from the album and help ease her transition (even if just a little bit).
This doll is called the Nighty Night Asian doll. She is SO SOFT and sweet looking. She is in a night gown and is holding a teddy bear in a matching gown. It is the sweetest thing.
See....


I can't wait for our Joy to snuggle with her doll and I can't wait to snuggle with our Joy!!!

Important Meeting

Today we have a very important meeting that we are quite excited about. God is orchestrating details in our life and ministry and we are overwhelmed at all He is doing. We don't want to miss anything He has for us! We need wisdom, insights, and clarity.

This has nothing to do with our adoption (which is still moving right along), but is a ministry related meeting. We covet your prayers as we seek God's plan in major partnerships. Exciting things are ahead and we are just "along for the ride" with HIM!
I'll keep you posted, so as always.... stay tuned...

Gift Cards From Santa

Today Big Girl and I went out for an afternoon of mommy & daughter time. She received several gift cards for pedicures for Christmas (was Santa smart or what?) and has been dying to use one, and of course, I get to go with her. : ) So, we ate lunch and then enjoyed getting pampered just a bit.

The nail place was quiet when we arrived, but I noticed that there were two small kids playing. They were taken to a small room (where they usually do the waxing) and the lady (who I later learned was their mother) came out to do my nails.
They really did well to be in a boring nail place all day. She said her husband was suppose to come and pick them up soon. They were eight and two. The two year old was tired and you could tell she had simply taken her limit of being cooped up while her mom worked. Needless to say, I felt terrible. I felt like I was taking their mom away from them and then when the little one would cry, I could sense (from one mom to another) the tension in this poor lady. She handled it well, but I could tell she was torn between two worlds. Anyway, she did a great job, but I was a little distracted. I was dying to take a photo of her trying to paint my toenails hot pink with her two year old shaking her and hanging on her arm. I would have snapped a picture, but both my hands were in the warmers getting ready for the manicure. It was probably for the best. I'm not sure what all she was saying (since very few of them speak good English where I go), but I'm pretty sure it was something we all say in every language when we become stressed out moms on the brink of a meltdown.

As I left with my daughter (who was laughing and all giddy from her nails being so beautiful) I was overwhelmed with gratitude. These are a few things I left being thankful for:

*That I am afforded the blessing of staying home with my kids and schooling them at home! I am so grateful that my husband and I don't have to juggle them between two jobs. I know this is not a "right", but a luxury that I need to treasure. (and I do).

*I am grateful for a husband that sees the value in having me at home. That he is a man that works hard in order for us to enjoy the benefits of me being at home investing in our children and family.

* I am grateful for each of my kids and for days like today when I can just take one of them off by themselves to enjoy listening to them share their heart with me.

It was a great day! I love, love, love time with my kids and I enjoy moments like today when God reminds me, ever so gently, just how blessed I am to enjoy the time that I have with them. And to think all of this started with a little gift card from "Santa". (ha!)

Fun Winter Jam Photos

Here are a few photos from last night at Winter Jam. You've already read on my precious post about the amazing activity of God. On a more entertaining note, the kids enjoyed their moment on the stage....
As Toby Mac closed his set out, several of the artists' ran on the stage and danced with his team. Franchesca, Stephanie, the Pure NRG kids, and, you guessed it, our two big kids joined in on the fun. It was a hoot! Little Man was on Daddy's shoulders on the stage but towards the back as he was getting ready to close the night in prayer. It was great to see the kids have so much fun with their friends (old and new ones).

Winter Jam Fun

Marvelous Monday

Hope your Monday is Marvelous and you are able to accomplish the things that are important today and let the others things simply wait!

HE is SO Amazing!!!!!

Winter Jam was awesome tonight. Once again, the bands were great, the preacher was the absolute best (and cute, too), and the invitation left us speechless. I just cannot paint the picture of what we see. When you are in a packed arena, the lights are low, and things are quiet enough to hear a pin drop, and you know God is moving as His truth is shared in its clear undiluted sternness. When the lights come up just enough for the sea of hands being raised in confession of the greatest decision of their life, it's just overwhelming. Then, as they are invited to stand and proclaim publicly that which they just did in surrender to the Lord privately, I sit and beg God to give them each the courage to respond, and He does! I look around and there are almost whole sections in the arena where people are standing. I just think of the lives, families, student groups, and communities that will be changed as a result of God's amazing grace!

If you have never been to Winter Jam or an event where a massive amount of people are saved at one time, just let me testify.... God IS still saving souls by the thousands. There are some that question the authenticity of these decisions, to which I respond by asking, "who are we to question these precious people responding to the clear presentation of the gospel?" Is God not big enough to save over a thousand people at one time? We all know that He most certainly is!

We stood by the resource table and listened to the stories of countless students that were delivered from sin, addictions, cutting, and pain caused by broken homes, abuse, and poor choices. God heals, He delivers, and He saves. He is amazing! He is good! He is gracious!

I could go on and on, but it is almost 1AM and I can hardly hold my eyes open, so I'm off to bed, but let me just say... GO GOD!

Lord, thank you for the amazing grace you extended to all of us as we served you tonight and thank you for the grace you extended to those that placed their faith and trust in you. Thank you that you are Lord of ALL and yet loved us enough to become our Savior. You are so amazing and we are so very grateful! I love you, Jesus, and thank you for the privilege to be a part of the work You are doing in the lives of the next generation.

Winter Jam in Macon

Winter Jam is in Macon tonight, so we will be enjoying the show with my Man. I love hearing him preach and I love seeing firsthand the response when God reaches down and saves thousands of people. It is incredible and incredibly humbling to be a part of!
Tomorrow is a "No Assignment" Day for our "home" students, so we are all looking forward to sleeping in and then enjoying a day with Daddy being home! I am so blessed to be married to the absolute best man in the world! I'm sure many of you disagree (and rightly so, I would worry about you if you agreed with me ~ ha!). It's just great to be so in love with the man you wake up to each day. I'm grateful that I married the one I did and I haven't gotten over him. (ha!)
Hope you all have a super Sunday! I look forward to posting an update on how God has enlarged His Family this weekend! Stay tuned....

SNOW?

Today we had two basketball games that Big Girl was cheering for, so we loaded up this morning and made our way to the opponent's gym. I grabbed a much needed Starbucks and guzzled it down since I couldn't take it into the gym. As always, we had a blast cheering for our team and watching the girls cheer. However, today I didn't watch the game as much as the moms seemed to have much to chat about in the stands. : )
We ate lunch at a local Mexican restaurant and I came home with two extra kids in tow. My kids had some buddies come home with us for the afternoon and they have been playing nicely for the past few hours. I've posted some things on Craig's List and piddled on the computer.
It is freezing here! It was 12 degrees yesterday morning and in the twenties this morning. Right now as I type this, it is SNOWING outside! I can't believe it. Where is my Man? I mean really... it's snowing and I want to be curled up by the fire with my hot husband close by.
Oh, well, it is beautiful. I am planning, well, nothing for tonight! We will probably order a pizza, watch Little House (I know you are shocked) and head to bed early!
It's been a super Saturday! The only thing missing is our little Joy! Man, I long to have her home with me and seeing her play with the kids, enjoy the snow, the snacks, the laughter and the chaos around here on days like today! : ) For today, I'll dream and wait....
Did I say it is snowing????? Craziness!!!

More Details on Our Treasure

I can hardly contain myself any longer....So, I am going to share a few more details on our little Joy!
She is 2 1/2 years old. She is listed under the Beijing Social Welfare Institute, but is currently living in a Foster home where she has lived for the past two years. She is a beautiful special needs child with a heart disease, VSD. The size of her VSD appears small according to her medical reports, but there are a few things we have requested some clarity on and we are waiting on some updated medical reports for this.
We should have our LOA by the end of March and hope to be traveling sometime in May to bring our little Joy home! I look at her picture and admire her beautiful features. Her sweet little mouth, her big brown eyes, and her precious cheeks. I long to hold her, kiss her face, and have her curl up in my lap. I am aware of the tough transition that may be ahead and that it may not be smooth sailing at the beginning, but my heart is filling more and more each day with love for this little treasure God is entrusting to us and we are praying and believing that He is going to prepare her, as well as, us for the journey ahead. I have days where I think the "wait" might just be the easy part. (ha!)
Anyway, I hope these details will "tide you over" until I feel the liberty to post photos on the web. If you happen to go to a Winter Jam show, you will definitely see her there on the big screen, as her proud Daddy is already showing her off. : )
Thank you for all of you that have offered such great advice and traveling tips. Please keep them coming as we need all the help we can get! Thanks for all of you that are praying for us and for our little treasure, Joy!

A Mind Full of Questions

I cannot even begin to formulate all the excitement and thoughts in my mind. One minute I am overcome with excitement and the next I am overwhelmed with questions. What's a mom to do? PRAY! I'm praying for my little girl on the other side of the ocean... as I go to bed at night, I pray for her as she is beginning her day. As I wake up and go throughout my day, I am asking God to give her sweet rest and happy dreams throughout her nighttime hours. We all talk to Jesus often about our little Joy.
However, I am also pondering so many questions and since so many of you have gone through this journey before me, I thought I would share my random questions with you and see what kind of input you may have. These are in no particular order, just randomly listed as they come to mind. Please feel free to comment or email me at tammy@tonynolan.org. : )

* Best packing tips.... what to pack and what to leave behind and buy in China.
* Since we are taking our three children, any insights on making the trip as smooth as possible?
* I hear that the hotel rooms only allow about 4 in each room and we exceed that. They say that they cannot guarantee us adjoining rooms so we are contemplating the option of taking another adult with us on the trip. I don't want my husband and I split up in separate rooms, so we either take someone else, or all squeeze in one room with kids on the floor (if they even allow that, I'm not sure). Any suggestions???
* What are the SAFE things to eat while we are there?
* What Yahoo Groups should we join and how can we find families that may travel with us?

These are just a few of my questions. I'll ask more later, but for now, start those answers and insights coming..... : )

Date Night Companions

Tonight we had guests on our regular date night. My Man and I love to date each other (even after almost 16 years of marriage it's sweet!) and we enjoy it when we have other friends join us once in a while. This evening, we had a great time with Michael and Amy. They are a precious couple we met a few years ago when we started our adoption journey. They are just a few weeks in front of us on the journey to their little girl. They are so excited about Lynn Marie and we cannot wait to see them finally home with her. You can read more about their story and follow the rest of their journey here.

Michael and Amy, it was awesome to hang out, eat great food, laugh alot, and talk about our babies together! Thanks for sharing an evening with us!

We Have Our "PA"

This is the funniest thing and just goes to show just how much I don't know. I thought I was waiting on my "Pre-Approval" on our Adoption, which apparently is another big step in the journey. I emailed my agency to find out when I could expect that and he explained that I received this last week. LAST WEEK! What am I thinking?
Apparently, the email they sent me with the "welcome packet", confirming my LOI was sent, and telling me what's next, was in fact my PA from them. How cool is that?
SO, needless to say, we are moving right along and I can officially say that my heart is smitten with this little girl. You can feel the excitement in our home this week.
Just keeping you updated as things unfold and for those of you that have "been here done this", you know that this is another great step in the process! (Thanks, Donna, for telling me about this! ~ha!)
Hope you are all having a great week thus far. Mine is busy, but OH, SO SWEET! I expect to receive some updated medical information this week, so stay tuned....

Marvelous Monday

Hope you have a Marvelous Monday and a smooth and productive week no matter what "time saving" plans you implement. : )

Winter Jam 2009 is Underway

The Winter Jam Tour has officially begun. The kids, my assistant, and I enjoyed driving to Chattanooga Friday night to see the second show. It was awesome! Pure NRG, Franchesca, NewSong, Hawk Nelson, Toby Mac and the others were outstanding (and LOUD), and the preaching was the best you'll ever hear (if I do say so myself). HA! Serisouly, God graciously showed up and was mighty to save. We saw a TON of students saved!!! It was a LATE night and we didn't get back home until about 1AM, so we were beat! We slept late on Saturday and enjoyed a very lazy day.
It's now Sunday and the fourth concert of the tour will take place tonight in Charlotte. There have already been over 4,700 people welcomed into the family of God and we are thrilled! God is so amazing! I can't help but be excited.... think about it.... He is enlarging my family and we are closer than ever to getting our little Joy, and He is all the while, using us to be a part of His plan to enlarge His Kingdom. Life doesn't get any better than that!
So, if you haven't seen Winter Jam, check it out! If it comes to a city near you, you won't want to miss it.... and be sure you bring a friend that needs Jesus!!!!


GO GOD!

The News We've All Been Waiting For

For those of you that haven't already figured it out and are still wondering after my last post what in the world is going on in our home, I wanted to give you a little overview...

Last Sunday, January 5th, we received a call from our agency (Holt International) with a referral. We were stunned since we just switched to this agency about three weeks ago. We had no idea we would start our year with such wonderful news.
We reviewed the information and had several doctors review it, as well, and by 2:30pm on Monday, we had called to submit our Letter of Intent to adopt her.

We have requested some more medical information pertaining to her special need, which is a heart disease called VSD and hope to receive that sometime this week. Right now, she is "locked in", so to speak, for our family. We couldn't be happier.
For those of you that have done this before (especially a special needs adoption), you know how scary it can be. There is so much unknown and it's not like it is here where you just pick up the phone and get test results faxed over. There's time differences, translation issues, etc. that make it difficult. I am deeply grateful for several of you that have availed yourself to me for endless questions, advice, and insights. Laurie Leigh, your wisdom, support, advice, and encouragement have been such a blessing and Donna, you've been a God send this past week!!!!

At this point, we see nothing that would change our decision. I asked a friend who has "been there done this" exactly "what point I can begin to allow myself to love her without reservation" (or without feeling like I need some guards to protect my heart) and she said when I get our PA (which is our Pre-Approval). This should come within the next two weeks. The scary thing is that with each passing day and each time I look at her photos, my heart becomes more and more smitten by this precious little girl!

I wish I could post photos and give details, but I can't do that just yet. You'll just have to trust me that she is the cutest little treasure you have ever seen (in my humble "mommy" opinion) I'll share more information as I can, so stay tuned on a regular basis as this journey unfolds. It's really getting exciting now!!!!

PLEASE pray for us in the following areas:
* For God to give us clarity, wisdom, and peace, and reveal information in updated medical records that He wants us to have and for us to have faith and peace for the "pieces" He chooses to leave out.
* For our travel schedule. For those of you that have done this, you know that we probably won't get our travel dates until about 3 weeks out. This is not conducive for the schedule my husband keeps with his speaking. So, please pray for God's perfect timing (between his speaking events and the kids' school) and for God to prepare the hearts of those that may be affected due to us having to cancel or reschedule an event (which is not something we normally do and definitely don't do on such short notice).
* Lastly, pray for God to heal our little girl's heart physically and prepare it emotionally for the transition ahead. Pray that we will all be prepared, educated, and full of faith for the rest of our journey!

For now, we are moving forward with all our heart in faith unless God Himself closes this door. I am beginning to put together a photo album to send to our little Joy. I long to see another photo of her, to get another piece of treasured information about her, and to finally hold her in my arms. But until then, we "trust in the Lord with all of our hearts and lean not on our own understanding. We are acknowledging Him in all of our ways, and, Praise God, He is directing our paths".

Pursuing JOY~

BIG NEWS!!

We are back in the swing of school, I've started running again (since I took a long "winter's break" over the holidays), and life is back at full speed. This is a BUSY week with five basketball games that Big Girl is cheering at, lots of "end of the year" stuff to do in the office, and the daily school work that must be done. So, I won't be posting much until I can formulate my thoughts, put my excitement into clear words, and sit down long enough to type a while.
Suffice it to say, I have so much to tell all of you, my blogging friends, but I can't just yet. Just know that I have BIG NEWS coming soon. I hope to be able to post sometime Saturday (maybe earlier if I get the time) You won't want to miss this, so, stay tuned....

Marvelous Monday

After enjoying the Christmas and New Years' Break from school, today we dive back into our school routine and do our best to do it with a "happy heart". Now, the countdown to Spring Break begins. I hope you all feel refreshed as you start 2009 and you have a Marvelous Monday!

*cartoon from the Family Guy

Home and Recovering

We are home and unpacked and I am nursing my kids back to health and reality. (ha!) Big Girl is fighting a sore throat, cold, and cough, and Little Man is trying to get over his, as well. It was a long week with bedtimes past 12:30AM most nights for all of us. Many mornings we were up early again to get back to the convention center, so we are all a little run down and trying to catch up on rest from the past week of craziness. Even though we rested on New Year's Day, we are all enjoying the rest that comes from being at HOME! We are enjoying the little things we love about home, like my hot LAVA baths, my own bed, and my Man's new TV. The "finer" things in life...(ha!)

Today I decided to try and make a few of the things that we ate at the Dixie Stampede. I was skeptical since I searched for the recipes online and wasn't sure I could make them, but I DID IT! I actually made their Cheddar Biscuits and their Creamy Vegetable Soup and my family loved it! I couldn't believe how much it tasted just like what they served. I think the soup will be another favorite for my crew.

After a good dinner, we are eating warm cookies right out of the oven and watching our friend, Hunter Smith (kicker for the Idianapolis Colts), as the Colts vs. the Chargers, in High Definition BIG color (and my boys are loving it). I am stocked up on cold medicines and cough drops and hope that we all get a good night of rest tonight and that Big Girl wakes up much better tomorrow, so we can enjoy going to church together!

Only four more days until Winter Jam 2009 starts so life if about to get really busy again. But, for now.... it's just good to be home!

Family Fun Caught on Camera

Here is a short album of the photos we took in Tennessee. It was great to have the time with my Dad, Nan, and Aminda, Nan's neice. We also enjoyed having Gayle, our assistant, and her husband with us for some of our time in Gatlinburg. They enjoyed seeing firsthand what we do, how God is using our ministry, and what her administrative assistance is helping to accomplish. We were all blown away at the amazing things God did this week and we are humbled to be a part of it!

I also met a sweet blog friend, Lisa, from The Preacher's Wife blog. It was such a blessing to meet her and her husband face to face. She is just as delightful in person as she is in her writing. She had several students in her group get saved, three in one family, and I cannot wait to hear more of the details behind all that God did in their lives. Lisa, thanks for coming and finding me and taking the time to visit. It was a joy to meet you and I look forward to seeing you at another event soon!

I didn't take many photos this trip except on our day at Chimney Top, but these few were worth sharing... at least for those of you that are "out of town" family and want to see them. (ha!)

Make a Smilebox photobook

Changing Plans

We woke up this morning and I started packing to head home, however, after we had a LATE breakfast, my man decided we were going to stay another night here in Gatlinburg and enjoy the day.

So, the kids are playing the games and the jukebox here in the cabin and I am doing laundry and getting some things done so that when I do get home I am ahead of the "game".

It's nice to just have a day to enjoy no agenda, no deadlines, and just alot of beautiful scenery. Here is the view from our cabin.... everything is better when you are doing it with this kind of atmosphere, even laundry! : )



Tonight we are heading back to the conference to hear Dr. Ergun Caner. He is amazing and we love him and his family! We look forward to hearing his message (and allowing our kids to hear him), listening to the Barlow Girls again and telling everyone goodbye before we all head home tomorrow.

We haven't done anything fancy today. It's been quiet and relaxing... making it a great New Year's Day!