We got elfed

Be prepared to laugh out loud

click here - WE GOT ELFED!!!!!!!

Thanks to Dave and Lauren for the link!

The Tree of Thanks!
Sorry it took a little longer than expected to get this picture up. It seems that Michelle goes on vacation when we have family in town! Thank you for sending us your leaves. It was so great to hear about all the things you have to be thankful for. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and hope you did too.

holla if you hear us

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LEAF JUMPING

Definitely in the top 10 free things to do for on a Fall day:

Walking and Blowing Bubbles

New things are exciting--whether it's walking across the room or learning to blow bubbles in your juice. . .


BTW, pray for John Markie--he's sick, 100.7 last night. We are getting so excited as we look forward to Turkey Day. Grannie, John-John, Omie, and Aunt Andrea are coming over the river and through the woods to join us in giving Thanks! Stay tuned for the adventure. . .

Ruined For Good

Thursday nights, have been for the last year, our Grace Group night. This is a time when Jamey and Michelle go to share life with a wonderful group of people. We have a meal and a time of Bible Study and fellowship. It really is the highlight of our week! When we are gone all the kids stay at our house. All 7 of them! The poor babysitter tries to maintain order, but spends most of her time running behind 6 boys. Well, last night was quite the exception, it seems as the boys prevailed.

Michelle's business has really taken off and has allowed her to do some speaking engagements. She teaches about the importance of family traditions, values and having a strong family life. Last night she went to speak to a group of women that God has rescued from the sex industry. It was a true privilege to see these amazing women and quite humbling to share with them. Jamey went to Grace Group as normal. But, the scene when we returned was far from normal.

It seems as though while the babysitter was putting John Mark to sleep, the kids thought it would be fun to make a "potion". This potion consisted of water, birdseed, and .... food coloring! Somehow the food coloring ended up all over the carpet of the playroom and most all of the children's extremities. When something like this happens you just sort of become speechless. But not for long! After a good lecture Ethan looked up at us and said, "It was a good plan, but it just didn't work out the way I planned in my mind." REALLY? So, Jamey spent some considerable time last night trying to get food coloring out of my tan carpet. Needless to say, most of it didn't come out.

We were left thinking about what we should do. Then God answered through a devotion sent out by Proverbs 31 ministry. The devotion TODAY was about a little girl who took a permanent marker to her mother freshly painted walls. PERFECT! It was based on the scripture Proverbs 15:1 "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Easier said than done. The devotion went on to remind us that these blemishes that our home suffer in the raising of children are reminders of the blessings they are to us. If the size of the blemish is equal to the blessing, we are very blessed! So, maybe my carpet is Ruined for Good. The good of practicing to speak gently.

Before & After

BEFORE

AFTER

Amazing what a trip to Target and the home decorating gifts of Michelle Lee can do to a mess!

Bangalore, India

About a month ago I went on my first mission to Bangelore, India. I went primarily to teach at a pastors' conference for Dalit ministers from two southern states centered in Bangalore, a huge IT center with about 8 million in population. I was impacted in an incredible way, primarily by the faith and perseverance of these pastors amidst beatings and harassment by Hindu radicals.



I was impacted just as much by the faith of some children in Tammy's home. Please check out their blog: http://lifeatkhomes.blogspot.com/ The first night I visited "Grace Home" led by a fellow alumni of Asbury, Tammy. All of the 49 children are orphans. I was caught off guard when Tammy told me that I could leave my bag with laptop and camera in her unlocked office. Could orphans be trusted? But these are not ordinary orphans. We played volleyball together and they were incredible sports--congratulating the winning team and sending encouragement to each other--even across the net.

But then I truly experienced who these kids have become. Every Sun night the kids voluntarily attend "Fasting and Prayer" where they forego their evening meal and pray and worship for an hour and a half. In the first moment of the first song I felt God's presence stronger than I have for a long time. We sang a song about how God is moving all over the earth called "He Reigns" : http://www.christianlyricsonline.com/artists/newsboys/he-reigns.html

As all of these kids, mainly ages 4-14 were raising their hands adn singing to their God who saved them, I couldn't help but weep. I don't know exactly what it is, but I keep crynig as I write this and think back on it. After singing for a while, the kids all prayed out loud together for various things - revival in India, those in the 10-40 window - pastors suffering persecution - those in Burma and Myanmar who are being oppressed, etc. The children's prayers were so passionate! They even had a time to pray for us Americans. They gathered around, laid hands on us, and prayed. After this was over, another worship son began and the children scattered. . .except one. A little boy about 5 continued to pray for me for another 4 minutes. . .wow.

After the time of worship and prayer, the children were invited to share. Many told of visions they received and words from the Lord that they heard that night while worshiping - amazing. One child about 10 shared that he had a vision of God beginning to open the 10-40 window. . .BEFORE we prayed about it! All of this simply blew me away. I would love to open our house to neighborhood kids for a time of worship and prayer like this.

See the CUMC mission trip blog for more and hear Tammy when she spoke at Asbury Seminary on 10/30/07. She made me cry--check it out:
http://media.asburyseminary.edu/audio/chapels/kentucky/2007fall/10302007-hi.mp3

John Mark's first steps

Ethan invited Jesus into his heart!

Ethan asked to invite Jesus into his heart out of the blue a couple of nights ago and we asked him to think about it some more (he had a really bad day and we wanted to make sure it wasn't an emotional response). He brought it up again tonight and asked how to do it. I explained that his heart has to be clean for God to live there because God is holy. We talked about what it means to be holy and how if and when Ethan invites Jesus in, he would be different. He decided he would wait and think about it some more. After a few minutes he decided he was ready and wanted to be different for God. He asked God to show him his sins while I brought Michelle upstairs. He came up with four: Hitting his sister, lying, spanking his sister, and disobeying his parents (we helped him remember that one). Ethan then prayed for God to take away those sins and then invited Jesus to live in his heart and to be his Lord. Michelle and I layed hands on him and prayed over him.

He said, "I don't feel different, but I probably will tomorrow. . .probably." We are so excited!