3 days ago
Baptisms at the Beach
Tonight I drove down to Corona Del Mar to see a lot of people get baptized. Sandals Church was having baptisms at sunset. It was so awesome to see so many people make a public statement like that. What I enjoyed the most was when it was all done, Pastor Neal made an announcement that if anyone else felt the desire and call of God to get baptized, they should come forward. It was so great to see a young boy come forward and make his way into the ocean. I think as a mom I of course got a little emotional. I thought how amazing God moved this young boy to step out in front of so many people and follow Gods call.
Boys will be Boys
While on my vacation I got to attend a field trip with Benny. The trip was to Olvera Street in L.A. We arrived and it was shopping right away. My mom and I were taking care of Benny and one of his friends. Another Mom and her son joined us. It was real fun! So guess what the boys wanted to get?
Benny and his friends posing in there Luchadors masks.
Thanks to the movie Nacho Libre my son loves to wear his mask.
Some more pictures of our day in L.A.
Benny and My Mom, Grandma Mercy.
Been a While
So it has been a while since I have blogged. I have heard from a few friends that I need to blog. I know I have really slacked off. So here you go. A lot has happened in the last few months. June ended well. The kids are in summer camp at school. They are having a blast. Benny just finished swimming lessons. Carissa is having fun in her last few months at the preschool. Soon she will be starting kindergarten.
July came and oh did it really come. On July 9th my parents were over at our house for a nice evening of fellowship with them. My father got a call from his sister in Texas that my grandma had a heart attack. He was able to fly in to Texas the next morning. On Tuesday night July 10th my grandma at the age of 91 passed away and went to home to live with her heavenly father. So my Mom,older sister and I drove to Uvalde, Texas for my grandmas funeral. It was like a mini family reunion. It was awesome to hear stories of her life and the things she had done. My grandma was such an great role model to me She left behind a legacy that will be hard to compare. She raised eight children and half on her own. She never wavered in her walk with the Lord. She kept on running to one day win the race, which I believe she did. I know without a doubt, Gods words were," Well done, my good and faithful servant."
We have been so busy. I got to attend a very good friends wedding. It was beautiful. It was the first wedding that my children attended with us. I think we will wait a while before we do that again.
Our camping trip came and it was so needed. We got to go fishing and didn't catch much. All I caught was a little fish. The kids were so excited. I got to brag that I was the only one who caught something. Ha Ha! We took a lot of really good pictures. So we finished July really nice. I really hope August slows down a little.
Oh, and to all my blogger friends, I promise to blog more!
My Betty
Two years ago I told Duane I wanted a bike for my birthday. We saw a white one just like this at downtown market night. I saw it and wanted it right away. Well, on my birthday he left for a while and came home with my Betty. I was so surprised. The sad thing, is I have only ridden the bike only a hand full of times in the past two years. This week, I started riding my bike to work. I have been so tired, but it is good exercise and I'm saving money on gas. Thank you Duane. I love my bike.
Dinner with Dad
Once a month Duane's Dad likes to get together and have dinner with all of his children and their families. We have not been able to get together for our monthly dinners in about four months. So we have not seen my father-in-law for a while. Duane's brother and his family were not able to make it this time. His sister and her family came with the new baby in the family. Dad had such a good time with the grandkids. Benny and Carissa were enjoying the baby and grandpa too. We all made plans to go fishingon Dad's new boat. I can't wait, I love to fish. 
Chocolate Milk
This is how much my son loves chocolate milk.
We celebrated his Birthday on April 11 and this is what my parents got for him. That's what Grandparents are for. He was in heaven, with his Oreo chocolate cookie cake.
Benny and my Dad "Grandpa Lee"
Love
I have been experiencing love so much in the past few weeks. I am so blessed with the group of friends that God has given me. If you know me, I love spending time with people. I have enjoyed a wedding, a baseball game, making a friend and her family dinner, and getting together with the Botswana team. I feel Gods love so powerfully through my friends. I love you guys! 
Home From Africa
I want to start this blog by thanking everyone that helped me go to Africa. The trip would not have been possible without all you prayers and financial support. Everyday I was there, I was so thankful for each and everyone of you. Since I have been home, so many people have asked me, "How was you trip?" My reply is, "It was AWESOME!" I had such a great time spreading the Good News.
We arrived in Botswana on Friday night. Shawna (our missionary from Sandals) and other missionaries living in the same area, took our group to her house. We were all so tired from our 24 hour flight. There were two families. The first was Robert, Margaret, and believe it or not, their daughter Carissa. I know, it shocked me too! The other family was George and Fay. These two families were so welcoming. That night Robert briefed us for everything we had planned the next day. We went over our conference and all other important issues.
Saturday came before we knew it. I'm not sure most of us slept well that night. I know I didn't. Time changes can mess you up. It was o.k. I think we all spent time on our knees in prayer and in the Word. That night I kept on battling with how God would use me. See, I was in the Sheperding group of our conference. Our job was to impart into the pastors from the nearby villages on how to nurture and provide for their churches more effectively. So that might help you understand why I may have been battling with that issue. I'm not a pastor. I had long talks with my parents before I left. They gave me many words of wisdom to share with these men. So that night I laid it all down at the Lord's feet. I had to trust him and not be worried.
We were all ready and prepared as we walked to church that morning. We could not believe it. Here we are walking to church in AFRICA. That morning, Dean, our team leader, shared his message on leadership from the book of Timothy. We broke for lunch and jumped into our individual groups: prayer, worship, evangelism, and sheperding. We all felt at the end of the day that it went well. Before we left, we got to hear from some of the leaders that attended, what they are taking back to their churches.
Sunday morning we went to church at Lobatse Baptist Church and had a wonderful time. Sunday afternoon we loaded up in all the trucks and vans and went to our first village, Kanye.
When we got there, we met in a small house and discussed what our plans were. The prayer team went on a prayer walk through the village. The evangelism team went throughout the village and shared about Jesus Christ and how to be born again. The sheperding team went to visit people from the church and pray for them and any needs they may have.
We got to talk and pray with two girls. They had not been to church in a while. We prayed with them and their families. It was so neat to be able to share with the the girls and pray with them. The next three days were the same. Sharing and praying with the locals in the villages.There is one lady that I will never forget. We went to her house to share scriptures with her. The pastor had let us know that she recently became a believer. A few shared some scriptures. I felt a tug on my heart by God saying "You need to share with her Rachel." So I asked the pastor "Can I please share with her?" He said "yes." I shared with her Jeremiah 29:11 "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out-plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. " I felt that I needed to talk to her and share with her about being a mother. How God is there for us when we feel so overwhelmed and alone. That just like God says " When you come looking for me you will find me." It's in those moments that I was in awe. I knew God was right there with me, using me.
So Thank You! Thank you for sending me and letting me be a vessel that was used by God in such a awesome way. Even if it was for that one woman that I shared with, it was worth it all.
The rest of our trip was great. We spent the next few days having fun. We bonded so well, we all refer to each other as "family." We are family. I have such an awesome group of new friends in my life. I have life long friends. I have a group of seven sisters and four brothers. I hope you have enjoyed reading my never ending blog. It needed to be written. I have had it inside me for over a week now. I also hope you enjoy the pictures I posted. They are just a few, but very meaningful to me.
Keep posted as me and Duane keep you updated on our family and everything else that God has in store for us in our future. If you are wondering our title for our blog "One October Night" is from us. We were married eight years ago, one October evening.
We arrived in Botswana on Friday night. Shawna (our missionary from Sandals) and other missionaries living in the same area, took our group to her house. We were all so tired from our 24 hour flight. There were two families. The first was Robert, Margaret, and believe it or not, their daughter Carissa. I know, it shocked me too! The other family was George and Fay. These two families were so welcoming. That night Robert briefed us for everything we had planned the next day. We went over our conference and all other important issues.
Saturday came before we knew it. I'm not sure most of us slept well that night. I know I didn't. Time changes can mess you up. It was o.k. I think we all spent time on our knees in prayer and in the Word. That night I kept on battling with how God would use me. See, I was in the Sheperding group of our conference. Our job was to impart into the pastors from the nearby villages on how to nurture and provide for their churches more effectively. So that might help you understand why I may have been battling with that issue. I'm not a pastor. I had long talks with my parents before I left. They gave me many words of wisdom to share with these men. So that night I laid it all down at the Lord's feet. I had to trust him and not be worried.
We were all ready and prepared as we walked to church that morning. We could not believe it. Here we are walking to church in AFRICA. That morning, Dean, our team leader, shared his message on leadership from the book of Timothy. We broke for lunch and jumped into our individual groups: prayer, worship, evangelism, and sheperding. We all felt at the end of the day that it went well. Before we left, we got to hear from some of the leaders that attended, what they are taking back to their churches.Sunday morning we went to church at Lobatse Baptist Church and had a wonderful time. Sunday afternoon we loaded up in all the trucks and vans and went to our first village, Kanye.
When we got there, we met in a small house and discussed what our plans were. The prayer team went on a prayer walk through the village. The evangelism team went throughout the village and shared about Jesus Christ and how to be born again. The sheperding team went to visit people from the church and pray for them and any needs they may have.
We got to talk and pray with two girls. They had not been to church in a while. We prayed with them and their families. It was so neat to be able to share with the the girls and pray with them. The next three days were the same. Sharing and praying with the locals in the villages.There is one lady that I will never forget. We went to her house to share scriptures with her. The pastor had let us know that she recently became a believer. A few shared some scriptures. I felt a tug on my heart by God saying "You need to share with her Rachel." So I asked the pastor "Can I please share with her?" He said "yes." I shared with her Jeremiah 29:11 "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out-plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. " I felt that I needed to talk to her and share with her about being a mother. How God is there for us when we feel so overwhelmed and alone. That just like God says " When you come looking for me you will find me." It's in those moments that I was in awe. I knew God was right there with me, using me.
So Thank You! Thank you for sending me and letting me be a vessel that was used by God in such a awesome way. Even if it was for that one woman that I shared with, it was worth it all.
The rest of our trip was great. We spent the next few days having fun. We bonded so well, we all refer to each other as "family." We are family. I have such an awesome group of new friends in my life. I have life long friends. I have a group of seven sisters and four brothers. I hope you have enjoyed reading my never ending blog. It needed to be written. I have had it inside me for over a week now. I also hope you enjoy the pictures I posted. They are just a few, but very meaningful to me.
Keep posted as me and Duane keep you updated on our family and everything else that God has in store for us in our future. If you are wondering our title for our blog "One October Night" is from us. We were married eight years ago, one October evening.
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