Julie - Happy Birthday

 

Hope you have an awesome birthday!!!!

 

We love you!!

My dear Julie girl -- Happy Birthday!  We hope you have a great birthday!  You're such a lovely person.  You really are more like my sister than just a friend.  We're so thankful for you and your friendship.  We have so many great memories that involve you.  You're the best!

Proverbs 17:17  " A friend loves at all times."

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day--late posting

I'm sorry I'm late in posting this.  October 15th was Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Unfortunately, a few of my friends have had miscarriages, and even one has lost an infant at birth, and several of my patients have lost babies, and my heart just breaks for you.  I don't know why this happened to you and I can't begin to imagine what you have been through, but know you have friends out there who pray frequently for you and love you.  Today I want to honor all of the little lives that were lost, and also the parents and families who lost these little ones.   I hope you all know that you are LOVED and treasured children of God. 

One of my prayers is that you will feel God's loving embrace and remember:  "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

Stuck in my head

I hear the Savior say
Thy strength indeed is small
Child of weakness watch and pray
Find in me thine all in all

Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Lord now indeed I find
Thy power and thine alone
Can change the lepers spots
And melt the heart of stone

Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

It's washed away! All my sin! And all my shame!

And when before the throne
I stand in him complete
Jesus died my soul to save
My lips shall still repeat

Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Oh praise the one who paid my debt and 

raised this life up from the dead

Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

God is Able

"God is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine."  Ephesians 3:20

Amazing Night

Last night was the Chris Tomlin concert at Southland and it was an  Awesome experience!!   First off, I'm a huge Chris Tomlin fan, he's probably my favorite singer and second, he sings my favorite song -How Great Is Our God--so the whole experience was great!  We went with our friends Kristin and Todd.  We ended up in the very last row, but that was okay.   I'm thankful for big screen monitors.  It was a great night of worship!  When Chris sang God of This City I got chills.  It made me think of what God is going to do in our new Richmond Rd site.  I really do believe greater things have yet to come in Lexington.  I loved seeing everyone with their hands in the air just purely praising God.  

Messing around

 I got a new lens a while ago and have only used it twice.

Here are a couple pictures of two sweet kids that I took back in April

 

There's just something about this picture that I love

I love this precious picture of her - she's too cute!!  such a great little model

I wanted to get a couple pictures of us

Look how excited Brian was before our pictures

Friends

Friday night I drove to Louisville to meet my friends Cheryl and Laura.  They were in town for a conference.  We had the best time!  We walked around downtown Louisville and then ate at Tango and ? --can't remember the name, but it was pretty good.  We then went to Borders and just hung out and talked.  I loved being with them.  Here are two really bad pictures

Saturday night we had our friends-  Todd and Kristin, Matt, Sarah, and Hannah, Adam, Julia, and Charlotte, and Chris and Amanda- over for a fall get-together.  We were going to carve pumpkins, but ended up sitting around and talking and watching the UK game and then went outside and had a fire in our firepit and enjoyed the evening. We had great food -chili, pumpkin bars, and cupcakes.  I'm disappointed I didn't take any pictures of people, but I did get a great pictures of Julia's food art.  -Check out theses amazing cupcakes -cute little sunflowers and some had sweet little ladybugs on them

We have the best friends!  It's always so great to get together with them and hang out.  We cherish every moment together.  We're so thankful and feel so blessed for our Indiana friends and our new Kentucky friends!  

 Proverbs 27:17     "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

 

Jesus Prom 2010

Jesus Prom 2010 is November 12th from 6:30pm to 10pm.  Brian and I have helped in the past and it is by far the best prom we have EVER been to.  Jesus Prom is an annual event held  at Southland Christian for mentally and physically handicapped adults.  "Then Jesus said to his host, 'When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.'" Luke 14:12-14  Over 1,000 people come from all over the state to go to the prom.  We love everyone that attends and serves.  There's so much joy and excitement.  I know Jesus has a big smile on His face whenever He thinks about the event.  We have helped with decorations and games in the past.  I think we are going to be greeters this year.  This year's theme is Triple Crown and everyone is supposed to be in Kentucky Derby attire - I'm excited, I have always wanted a derby hat.  They are looking for hundreds of volunteers from:  greeters, photographers, games, water stations, coat check, escorts, dancers, restroom attendants, parking attendants,...

Here are some of the promotional pictures for this year

 

Brewster McLeod is the 3rd man from the left in this picture (only one in jeans) and he is the main guy in charge of the event- he has such excitement and passion for this prom

 

Check out www.jesusprom.org -----I'd love to see our Indiana church get involved with an event like this -hint, hint

Great Weekend!

Our good friends Rita and Phil came down for the weekend to visit with us and check the The WEG (World Equestrian Games).  Friday we spent a few hours at the Horse Park and then watched Horse Jumping.  The weather was perfect.  The horses were amazing, they are so pretty and gigantic.  I'm so glad we got to check out an event.  We loved having them down for the weekend and taking them around Lexington.  There just wasn't enough time.  They're such dear friends and mentors. 

This particular type of horse has interesting ears and blue eyes- they are native to India and there are only 12 of them are in the US and all are owned by the same woman

 Something about this photo makes me think of a cheesy movie where a guy rides in on two horses and rescues the damsel in distress from a burning building

 

I know - I broke one of my "clothing" rules- tennis shoes with capri pants on, but I knew I'd be doing a lot of walking, so I wanted good shoes. 

 

The horse behind us in this picture was so pretty - a silvery gray color, we couldn't stop staring at it.

 

What's with my left leg?

 

The arena was much larger than I anticipated

 

Jumping is really cool! - the horses are so graceful and make it look easy. 

Rita and Phil, Thanks for a great weekend!

Meet our Compassion Child

Today is Uwitwongeye's 9th birthday. --We call her U since we're not sure how to pronounce her name.  She lives in Rwanda with her grandmother.  She lives in a highly affected HIV/AIDS area.   We don't know if her parents are alive or not.  She has brought Brian and I such joy -she's more than worth the $38 a month we give.  It's been great watching her come to know and love Jesus.  We love her heart!  Last year we sent extra money for Compassion to buy her some Christmas presents- they bought her a doll and a dress and a some toys and then gave her the rest of the money, which she used to buy her family a goat.  How Sweet!  How many 9 year olds turn away buying extra presents to support their family.  

Rwanda Facts:  Rwanda is considered to be in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa.  HIV/AIDS, Bacterial diarrhea (caused by unsafe water -    >50% of Africans suffer from some type of water disease), Hepatitis A, typhoid fever, and malaria are major killers in Rwanda.  Sub-Saharan Africa is 10% of the world's population, but has 60% of the world's AIDS population.  The average worker in Rwanda makes $510/year.  Life expectancy for men is 38 years and women is 40 years.  118 out of 1,000 infants die at birth.  In 1994 800,000 people were killed by genocide.  

Compassion is a great organization.  Their mission statement is:  "In response to the Great Commission, Compassion International exists as an advocate for children, to release them from their spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enable them to become responsible and fulfilled Christian adults." 

"Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."  2 Corinthians 9:7

Horse Mania

The 2010 World Equestrian Games (basically the olympics for horses, only happens every 4 years and has never been in the states before, has always been in Europe) have started in Lexington and the city is full of horses.  City officials have really worked hard to make the city more appealing to non-residents.  Yesterday Brian and I went downtown to check out all the fun.  Here are some pictures. 

Hundreds of these horses have been painted and placed throughout downtown.  After the games, the city plans on auctioning them off.  I love seeing them.  I wish they would keep them.

My favorite area of downtown - Triangle Park

This is Thoroughbred Park

Here are a couple more pictures from around Lexington - just so pretty!

 

We love Lexington!