Friday Love and Farewell

Happy Friday, y'all! It's been another busy week around here, though I can't really think of many specifics that happened. Does that happen to anyone but me? I feel terribly busy but then can't account for much? I can, however, think of a zillion sweet moments, and those must add up! Today I'm loving:

~My little swimmer. We wrapped up Remy's swim lessons, and on Thursday to celebrate, his class got to play in the water park splash pad area. (The lessons at our gym are actually in the water park pool area.) He had a great time, and we can't wait to take Halle back to share in the splashing fun!

~How God takes care of us. I have mentioned our summer missions trip to Nashville a few times, and I know that Monday I mentioned that we are camping. Well, our awesome friends in Nashville kept calling church after church to try and find somewhere for us to stay, and an awesome church said they would be thrilled to have us. So we will indeed have showers and a roof over our heads. Not that I couldn't survive camping, but after seeing that the 10 Day Forecast for Nashville included thunderstorms every single day, I was more than nervous. God is so good!

This is my farewell post until we get back. (Sounds dramatic, right?!) We leave on Monday and will get back the following Sunday. I would appreciate your prayers for our team of 5 adults and 10 teenagers. We will be working with several ministries to help flood victims and feeding the homeless once or twice a day. Please pray that this would be an eye-opening time for our students (and leaders!) to see how blessed we are and that God can work through them in a mighty way to help these amazing friends of ours. Also, you can pray that I don't drive everyone crazy missing my sweet babies! This will be the longest I've ever been away from them, and I can hardly stand thinking about it!

Have a wonderful weekend~ Can't wait to tell you all about our trip!

Flooded

"For who is least among you all- he is the greatest." Luke 9:48b

Photo courtesy of http://tennessean.com

I am heartbroken for Nashville. Many of you know that we moved from there in January, and we still maintain many contacts there. The rains that came last Saturday and Sunday created a huge mess (quite an understatement, but I couldn't think of a better word!) for everyone there but especially devastated the homeless community in an area of town usually referred to as 'Tent City', where people literally camp out in tents and homemade shelters. These are our friends, and people that we, especially Trace, knew quite well. At last update from one of our friends, Tent City was waist high in water. The people who called that area home have lost everything, and most likely won't be allowed to move back into that part of town because of the risk & damage. Our friends have taken in 30-40 of the displaced into a gym at Woodbine Presbyterian Church and are working around the clock to care for, feed, comfort and just be there for those that are staying there and have no where else to go. Our friend Jamie made this incredible video of some of the homeless guys actually giving out supplies to the 'homed' people who suffered loss in the storms. To see these incredible people serve perhaps the very ones who have ignored them countless times is amazing to me and truly captures the heart of Jesus. Their story is awe-inspiring. I would love for you to join me in praying for the people of the city, who aren't sure things will ever be the same or that they will ever re-attain what little they had to begin with.