Here's the latest

We wanted to update everyone on what we have been doing for the first part of January.  Time is sure flying by.  We arrived back in Amarillo, Texas on January 4th.  The kids started school on the 5th.  This was the first time for them to work on school since arriving in the States.  They had worked hard all last semester to get ahead and we all enjoyed having the month of December off.  My mom has been working with Luke which has been a huge help. They are doing good BUT I will tell you it is hard to work on school when you are not at home.  There are so many other things they would rather be doing.  With that said, they have adjusted to their schedule here and are working hard to get all of January's assignments done so we can enjoy some family time in Winter Park at the end of the month.  Please continue to pray for the kids as they stay focused on their school work and enjoy time with friends and family.

January has been busy already.  We have been able to spend time with my parents, my sister and her husband, my granddad, my aunt and uncle as well as Mark's dad and his wife Bonnie and Mark's cousin Jennifer and her family as well as a few friends. Here is a quick recap of the last 2 weeks. 

On January 7th we were able to have dinner with Roelof and Stephanie (Roelof used to be a full time with Samaria Mission).  Stephanie happens to be the daughter of one of my mom's friends.  We had a great visit. 

Sunday we drove to Lubbock, Texas to speak at Bacon Heights Baptist Church and spend some time with Mark's grandmom.  Mark went to Bacon Heights BC when he lived in Lubbock as a teenager.  He enjoyed seeing some familiar faces.  After the service we were able to visit with several people and we were so encouraged and blessed by their interest and enthusiasm about the work the Lord is doing in the mission.  We were also able to enjoy time with Pastor Jerry and his wife at dinner.

The next two days we spent time with Mark's Nannie and Papa John play cards and of course eating all of our favorite foods and desserts.  

Before leaving Lubbock, we stopped to visit with a good friend of my family.  Marsha has loved me and my sister like we were her own.  It was great to visit with her and show her pictures of our life in Africa.

Back in Amarillo and on Wednesday, we were able to watch Mark's cousin's son play basketball.  It was great to visit with them and enjoy a jr. high basketball game.

On Thursday, January 12th we shared with my mom's education group.  I knew several of the teachers that came that night and it was great to visit with them.  They were all very supportive of the work we are apart of with Samaria Mission.  Side not ... After going through the video and presentation I left there really missing home.  It is great to be in the States for awhile but I can't wait to get back to South Africa.  

I wasn't able to get any photos once we started but here is how we set things up. 

 On Friday afternoon we were able to visit with the Pastor at St. Stephens.  This is my parents church which of course is the church I grew up in.  We had a great visit and we left there encouraged by his excitement about missions.  On Sunday, he introduced us to the church so they could have a face with the names of the people they have prayed for (my parents have kept the church updated on us and asked for them to pray for us since we moved).  We were also able to share with a few Sunday school classes as well.

On Saturday we were able to surprise one of Luke's friends from San Angelo.  He was in town playing in a Hockey tournament.  We enjoyed visiting with his family and watching him play.  His team tied the game with 8 seconds left.

Thank you for praying for our family.  We are doing good and we are enjoying time with our family and friends.  We are so thankful that the Lord provided a way for us to spend this time in the States.  We have made great memories and we have many more to make before returning.  We must admit though we are missing home.  We are missing our friends in Polokwane, missing our mission staff meetings, Mark is missing leadership training in Mozambique and of course we are missing our 2 dogs.  Sounds silly but we are.  Here is a picture that was sent to us last week with the following caption.

They said to tell you "Hey" & "Hurry home, we miss you!"