the BIG ride {day?}

Ok I must admit that I am getting a little confused on who is where and what beach and/or bridge came first and when they crossed what and where they stayed each night. So here in no particular order it some random pictures that I snagged off Steve's FB album.Getting ready to cross a bridge.

(I don't know why this particular picture is so small)

In the bike shop, getting more tubes. Apparently they have had MULTIPLE flats each!

The first major injury on the trip. And from what I understand he wasn't

on the bike when it happened.

Flat #2...... soon followed by flat #3 and #4

Cruzin' in the bike lane.

The Tammany Trail

Park rangers for the Tammany Trail.

Bachi Ball on the BEACH!

Well I don't know what they did yesterday (Thursday) but I know that today was an easy day (only 60+ miles) and tomorrow will be the same. Kent will be home, safe and sound, tomorrow - I mean, EARLY Sunday morning. His plane doesn't even get in until 10:30pm tomorrow. It will be after midnight before we get back to the house!

the BIG ride {day 3} & {day 4}

Ok I think the guys are getting tired. Cause I haven't recieved any pictures lately, but I thought I would at least give you the low down on their course.

DAY 3

Opelousas > Krotz Springs > N. E. Baton Rouge > Denham Springs > Hammond

DAY total = 106 miles

TRIP total = 277

Day 4

Hammond > Covington > Slidell, LA > Gulf Port, MS > Biloxi, MS

DAY total = 95

TRIP total = 372

On the ride from Covington to Slidell they took the Tammany Trail. An old rail road track had been removed and the path was paved over, it was a nice smooth ride.

Normally they average 15-18 miles per hour, there was one point on their ride that they were riding 20-24 mph with the wind was at their back!

All of my "day" information that comes from the spread sheet that Coach gave me before they left. Some of their exact routes may have changed. I don't get a town by town from Kent, just the final destination each night.

Kent can check the blog comments while out on the road.... so let him hear you cheering!!

He's over half way there!!

the BIG ride {day 2}

Lake Charles > Jennings > Crowley > Branch > Opelousas

DAY total = 92

TRIP total = 171

Today's trip was fun, but not as scary and eventful as the day before. They were on the bike for 5.5 hours, but the total time it took to get from point A to point B - 8+ hours.They met a rice farmer (twice) and he showed them his farms. They also met a number of other interesting people. However since Tue ride is longer, I think they are going to try and limit the number and length of visits that Kent, I mean, they have.I'm sure there are several of you that are wondering what in the world would possess three mature, adult men to try such a crazy stunt....... well I'm not sure, other then the bragging rights to say that they did.

The idea started last summer, after Kent and Coach, seen in these picture wearing the yellow, rode in the "Hotter than Hell" 100 mile race. Coach's wife's family was having their family reunion in Panama City, FL this year, so they decided that it would be fun to RIDE their bikes to FL the week before the reunion. AND so....... the BIG ride was born.

They have mapped and planned and thought through this trip for months. We weren't sure if Kent would be able to go, due to lack of funding.... but GOD who is ever faithful, once again provided for our family enough $ so that he could go.

Oh and BTW - no they are NOT riding back..... Kent flies home on Saturday night!

the BIG ride {day 1}

On Sunday we dropped Kent off in Fannett, TX where he met up with the rest of the crew. Sunday they drove 20 miles (simply because they didn't get started until 2pm) to Port Neches.

Saying farewell.........

THE SHIRT

THE CREW

LOADING UP

from Port Neches > Bridge City > Orange > Sulpher, LA > Lake Charles

Total 60 on the bike.

The first day had several trial and error moments, as the crew learned how to scope out the road a head. There was one moment (6miles) were they were forced onto an INTERSTATE that included a BRIDGE! I think there lives flashed before their eyes more than once on that stretch of road. But they made it safe and sound!

4th weekend

June has flown by and I feel like July will be gone before I finish this Post!

We moved in and had a week in the house with the girls, and then they headed off to OK to spend time with Gram. Kent and I spent the week getting ready to start support raising. :)

We went and got the girls after our week of bliss (and theirs too) was over and headed to Lubbock to see family and friends. After staying for over two weeks, and probably over staying our welcome ;P we headed back to Waco, for a whopping 48 hours before we headed to Houston for some more Family time!
While there we were able to go to the Houston Space Center...... I would totally recommend it, just not on a MAJOR holiday weekend and not during the STAR WARS special Jedi Training day!

**PAUSE**

Here is were I take a moment to brag on my WONDERFUL sister-in-love. SHE works at NASA in Mission Control on the console for the Space Station. (You know... those cool people that sit behind all those nifty gadgets and say stuff like "space station one, come in space station one..." on the movies, only it is not that cheezy!

YES she is AMAZING!!

**PLAY**

So we also spent time at the pool, cooking and eating AWESOME food. We took family pictures at a cool park on our way to see the fireworks.

My AWESOME little Bro. took us to his office building, so we had a bird's eye view of the fireworks display and we had the comfort of AC and cushy office chairs. We had LOADS of fun playing around with glow sticks as well.

Sunday was my Dad's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY! - That morning the girls and I took Kent to the "drop off" point for his BIG 600 mile ride (More on that in the next few posts). That evening for Dad's gift, Mom and Bro took us to the nicest restaurant I have EVER been to, while sister-in-love stayed back with the girls.

To Finish off the weekend, we stopped at the BLUE BELL factory on the way home, took the tour and sampled the ice cream. (I can't wait to try the new flavor.... Nutty Chocolate YUMMY)

ALL in ALL it was a GREAT weekend!! Next post.... details on the "big ride"

Prayer Calendar

As Kent and I are preparing for overseas missions, one of the most important things that we want is a prayer team. We are looking for 30 people to pray one day a month (for example every 5th: Jan 5th, Feb 5th, March 6th). And we want one person a day fasting as well.

Our desire is that we become a family with our prayer warriors, we are praying for each person, specifically the same day that they are praying for us. If has been really neat so far, and we are looking forward to growing this team as our departure date gets near.

That being said..... I was finding it hard to keep track of who was on what day and all that, so I came up with this book idea. (I firmly believe it was from the Holy Spirit)

For everyday there are two 4x6 note cards. Each day has 5 prayer parts. 1 Prayer: the individual or family that is committed to praying for us that day. 2. Family: I are praying for everyone in our family one day a month. 3. Girls: Our church recently put out a list of things to pray over your children, I put one thing on each day. SOOOOOO helpful.

4. Fasting: The people who are fasting on our behalf. 5: Globe (Cause Missionary was too long ;) Where we have all of our friends that we went through training with listed. I put all these cards unto a photo album, and wall-ah a new prayer book!

I know that praying for someone one day month doesn't seem like much, but I can GUARANTEE that using our new book has helped me pray more consistently. I would much rather commit to once an month and mean it, than say I'll pray and it never happens!

If you are haven't chosen a day yet and would like to, email me and let me know. I would love to add you to my book! At the bottom of my blog is a calendar that shows the days that are open.

Finally..... time to think!

Wow... I have wanted to blog so many things over the last few weeks..... but I haven't had the time or the energy, and now that I have both..... I don't know where to begin.


In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps.

Proverbs 16:9


Many of you know that our plans were to be in Africa by September 2009, but GOD has bigger (and better) plans.

We will be staying here in Waco until after the first of the year. There are several different reasons for this, however the main one is for extra training.

Our leadership has asked us to stay and receive additional Church Planting training the first two weeks of December. After that we will enjoy Christmas with our families and then, LORD willing, we will move to Uganda January 2010.

This has been bittersweet, In our hearts we are ready to go and begin what God has called us to in Uganda, but we are also excited that we are able to "put off" saying our farewells, and we have been SO blessed by all the "I'm glad you aren't leaving yet, we get to keep you longer" comments.

These new turn of events have brought along with them a few new changes. The first and biggest one being that we moved!! In our eager expectation of moving over seas, we put in our 30 day notice on May 1st, before we knew we needed to stay. By the time we realized we needed to stay longer, our duplex was already rented, and we HAD to be out by the end of MAY.

STRESS**STRESS**STRESS

We had no IDEA were we were going to live.... all of the doors we tried were closed shut. I am SO glad that God's plans are better than ours. We have friends, that had a house on the market, sitting there empty, and so they offered to let us move in.......... for FREE!!!!

GOD is so GOOD!!!!!! We were moving our of our duplex, in part, because we couldn't afford the rent, and now, by trusting in GOD and His plans, we are living in a much bigger house, for FREE. (it has it's quirks..... but I am NOT complaining!) UNBELIEVABLE!

So now, LOTS of packing, and one garage sale later..... we are living in GOD's best!!

There is really so much more that he has done for us. One day I look forward to writing a book that tells about all the wonderful ways he has taken care of our little family by not just meeting our needs, but blessing us with some of our wants as well. From lasagna dinner to houses at the lake to adventures over seas, HE has done it ALL!

Thank you Lord for being our provider, and looking out for our us. Not just letting us "get by" , but truly blessing our socks off!! You are an AMAZING Father, and I am bless to be your child.

Making Progress

OK..... We have decided to move out at the end of the month., and the result is : there is an official "for rent" sign in our front yard, we have piles and piles and stacks and stacks of stuff that is either being sold, stored or packed (mostly sold), nothing has a "place" any more, and today I took all the pictures down off the wall so everything looks weird.

Yes, these are the signs that we are moving to another country, halfway around the world!

I am making a mental list of all the things that I want to try and pack. Key word here being "try". We want to limit ourselves to the allotted # of bags, 2 per ticket + one carry on and one small purse or briefcase.

I have been introduced to a family in Kampala, Uganda, that sent me a VERY helpful list of "stuff" that is available there in Uganda. This list will help us decide what we REALLY need to take and what we can get there.

To day at dinner I asked the girls what they thought was the most exciting part about living in Africa. Here are their answers......

M - Seeing all the miracles.
H - Learning all the crafts that the ladies do.
S - Telling people about Jesus.
E - Making new friends..... not really, but she copied every thing her sisters said, and new friends was something that was said by all.

COOL HUH!?!

Other progresses....... H got her "tooth brace" off today and is now able to smile with confidence once again. I was talking to a friend today, and H is NOT the same little girl that she was a year ago. Last year H wouldn't ask my friend, someone she knew, for a piece of B-day cake while we were at her son's party.
Last month she boldly asked the waiter for more water when she realized that her cup was empty!! Thank you Jesus! It is unbelievable the changes that have taken place, especially since she is JUST like me and I didn't overcome my shyness until I was 20 something and married. I was afraid that she was going to suffer my same fate, but GOD had other plans!

Indian Blankets

Woooo Whoo!! I found my card reader!! Enjoy these pictures taken on Hwy 6 on the way home from Abilene last week.

SO Sad!

I took some too cute pictures of the girls last week in the Indian Blankets, but I currently can't find my memory card reader. :( OH well the pictures will have to wait.

SO I got to spend a night in the Dallas area last weekend. It was not quite as glorious as I had hoped, but it was still fun none the less. Friday was spent at the Home school book fair in Arlington. (As was Saturday) I got to spend the day with my dear friend Tara, that night I got to spend lots of time with my Best-est Friend Jenn. Saturday really didn't go as planned, I was gonna spend the day with Jen at the book fair, but she got sick. I was gonna ride back to Waco with Tressa, but we could never connect due to a lack of phone numbers and a dead cell phone battery (mine). Thank GOD I saw another friend from Waco, who had pity on me and let me ride home with her.

All in all it was a good weekend. I got a good start on next years school stuff. I LOVE planning!

However, I realize that I have started the grieving process. I think I can handle living in a small one bath home, I can get used to new foods and methods of cooking. The heat, well I hope I can handle it. But the thing I think I am going to miss most is the LIBRARY. We love going to the library. Every week or so we load up and check out tons of awesome books. This new curriculum revolves around books, it is doable with out the extra books, but they are so nice to have.

In other moments....... today E and I were looking at a book that had a picture of a rabbit. She kept calling it a "runny babbit". I know that there is a book out there that is called "runny babbit" but we have never read it....... maybe I will check it out next time we are there.

I wish I had more funny little thing to share, but my brain is too tired to think.

Budding musician

Rainy Days

My idea of a perfect day includes rain and a good book. M & H had a perfect day today. They each had their own spots where they cuddled up and spent the afternoon reading.H's spot was on the piano bench (turned over) lined with pillows. H is reading her first sad book...... I wept while I was reading it.... I'm curious to she how she responds to the ending.M just plopped down on my bed and read an entire "Boxcar Children" book.

However, when you are five (and two)and reading isn't enjoyable yet, you must find other rainy day activities, like playing in the mud. I tried to sneak a few shots with out getting noticed, but I only got one and then the cheesy grin came in.

When E saw me with my camera, she immediately said "CHEESE". Go figure.

Hope all enjoyed this wonderful day as much as I did, even if I did several loads of laundry and had to give the girls, yet another, bath. (They got one last night after playing in the sand.... I think between the two of them there was at least a whole cup of sand in their hair.) (Oh and they have had to get baths after the watercolor days too! They just can't resist the occasional squirt at each other.)