A little something I have been up to!

Lately, I have been fixing up some chairs! It has been so much fun! I took some old brown chairs that I basically got for free. They were not so cute so I decided to work on them. I found an article

in Cottage Living that had these chairs that were painted ivory so I decided to follow suit! I usually go for a collor or a brown tone, but this article gave me a new idea-- that I probably wouldn't have thought of.

I also decided to attempt to cover some chairs for the very first time. It went very well. I loved using the staple g

un. I found this great brown fabric that looks kinda suede

The chairs are comfortable and they are a lot cuter to look at. Here are a few pics . . . taken by i-phone so they aren't amazing-- but at least you can get a glimpse!

Enjoy!

Heading Out On A Plane to Africa on Friday!

Hello Friends and Family

On Friday, I will head out with the rest of my team to Ethiopia! I am so excited to see what is in store for this trip! We will spend our time in Asela ministering to the Arsi Oromo people there. This part of the country is about 90 percent Muslim.

You can visit this blog: http://watermarkinafrica.blogspot.com where you can read updates every few days about how our ministry is going and what we are doing while we are there. Team 1 is already (I am on Team 2) there and you can read updates about how the first few days of the trip have been for them.

We have several little sub-teams on our team including: a children?s ministry team, a men?s ministry team, and a women?s ministry team. I will be working with the women?s ministry team where we will teach on health related issues like AIDS, washing hands, and potentially infant care. We also want to encourage them through fun things like painting their nails, braiding their hair, and making jewelry with them. Pray for us as we do this and remain flexible to what is appropriate to their culture. Ultimately, we will share stories about who God is from the Word and our own personal Testimonies.

Personally, you can pray for continued focus for me this week as I prepare to head out on this mission. Please pray 2 Timothy 1:7 for me, ?For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound mind.?

Please also pray for the people in the villages that we are going to meet, that we can share the Truth with them. Psalm 33:8 ?Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him.?

Looking forward to sharing with you the Lord?s faithfulness when I return. I?ll post photos and stories!

Africa Update!

Africa is less than three months away. Please continue to pray for me as I prepare to go on trip.

I was reading Psalm 43 today and wanted to share this . . .

Psalm 43:3

O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your dwelling places.

Continuing to pray that the Lord will send out his light and his truth and prepare the way to Ethiopia as our teams prepare to head over there.

Please pray that I can continue to allow the Lord and his truths to lead this time and I won't try and do things on my own effort . . .which is fruitless.

Please also continue to pray for my financial support for the trip. Through many friends and family . . . . the Lord has provided about half of what I need. I am so grateful for that support. It means so much to have people behind me and supporting me on this mission. Please pray for the rest of the support and that I can be creative in how to continue to reach my goal for the trip.

As many know, I am getting married just about a month before going on this trip. I am so excited and cannot wait for that day. Please pray that I can continue to pray for the trip and the Ethiopians during these next few months and I don't only focus on wedding stuff and preparation for that trip.

Thank you so much for your prayers!

March Scripture Memory

I know I know,l it's mid march and I haven't posted my March scripture memory! I have been working on it, but haven't placed it here!

Here it is: Galatian 2:20
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing."

Mission Trip to Africa!

I am going to Ethiopia this summer! July 24th- August 3rd on a Mission trip!

I am going to beging posting regular prayer request on my blog for this trip and pictures when I regurn! Here are my first three prayer request!

1. For me: Pray that I will be bold and not fearful on the trip. Deuteronomy 31:5 ?Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

2. For the Ethiopians: Pray for opportunities to share Christ with the Ethiopians. Psalm 33:8 ?Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him.?

3. For the team/leaders: Pray that we will build unity. Ephesians 4:2-4 ?Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit . . .?

Thank you so much for your support in prayer!

February Scripture Memory

Hey gang I'm memorizing a new scripture every month. I know that seems minimal- but I am really committed to this and this is a good place for me to start! I am goign to eventually memorize all the navigator verses!

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the New Creation Has Come: The old has gone, The new is here!

2 Corinthians 5:17

Oscar Henry Harms!!

Oscar Henry Harms, my new adorable nephew (he is the handsome little man above) was born on Thursday, January 22nd at approx. 4:15 pm!


We found out two day's before that Becky was going to be induced, so I was able to ask off work and plan on being at the hospital all day for the birth!


On my way to the hospital my eye started hurting and kinda watering just a bit! (The hospital is in Mansfield). I just kept driving hoping that it would get better. Well, it did not get better, IN FACT it got worse! I pulled over at one point to put drops in it, but that just made my mascara run all over my face and didn't seemingly help my eye one bit!



As I got closer to the hospital (well I think I am . . . b/c I've never been there before!) I stop at a Super Target (I was so excited to see this shopping Mecca in the middle of no where) I pull over and run to the contact aisle. I bought a bottle solution and a contact lens case . . . the case was actually really cute too. Anyways I ran in the bathroom and took out my contact. No relief. My eye still hurt and was watering like Niagara.


Next, I attempted to drive to the hospital minus one contact and hope that my google directions were spot on. Thankfully they were!


As I got up to the room to see Josh, Mom, Becky and Becky's mom in the delivery room . . . pre-delivery . . . it was worth it all! So glad to get to spend the day there!


Just a bit later, Mom, Don and I went to grab some lunch and Devon came along for the fun of it. We went to the hospital cafeteria which was surprisingly-good! mmm sweet potato fries. We also had fun conversations with Devon about what mom and Josh should name the baby!


After lunch it became apparent that my eye was getting worse and not better . . . so after my being reluctant for quite some time, I decided to head down to the ER and get it looked at! I've never been to ER in my life (okay once when I put a bead up my nose when I was a kid), but not since then!!


Mom came with me and we waited and waited and waited. After awhile she went back up and the doctor eventually let me know I had a scratch on my cornea! wahoo! I was thankful though b/c I was able to get med and get on the road to recovery.

Then right when I went upstairs from the ER to Labor and Delivery everyone was all excited and announced that the time was close for the baby to come! So thankful that I made it up before the baby came. After a little bit of excited chit chat Becky's mom came to announce that the baby was born!! yeah!! She already had pics on her camera too so we go to "see" him right away. Love the digital age! Then just a bit later we all got to go back.

Yeah! I got to hold that precious little baby boy! Lord thank you for bringing him safely into this world! Josh and Becky deliberated on names for a few days so we didn't quite have the name until a Saturday (he was born on Thursday!!) but regardless it it great to be able to call him by name!

That's the story of the day of sweet Oscar's Birth!

Looking forward to seeing him again soon!!