Dominican Republic Part 1...

Here are some pics that started off our week! Enjoy the post!

In the Batey, with some sweet and precious little girls!
This little boy kept wanting a hug from me...He was precious!

This and other trash were scattered everywhere we looked

The kids were so excited when we showed up. They couldn't wait until VBS!
Anna who is in the white shirt was explaining to them about the coming week. Her husband Mike and her serve as the missionaries there.

Sorry it has taken me so long to blog about our mission trip to the Dominican Republic. Since we have gotten home I have been trying to play catch up and haven't had a moment until now to post all about our trip!

Let me just say it was probably one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. I was so blessed as we served the Lord there. We were the hands and feet of Christ. This is what I love...doing what he calls to do. Being a servant of the Lord doesn't mean just sitting on a pew every Sunday. Now, I know that it's important to attend church, but if we don't ever "exercise" our faith we are missing out on so many blessings and watching the Lord at work.

First, I want to thank my parents for watching the kids. They are going through so much right now. They are definitely being tested with their health. But, they were so determined that I go on this mission trip...little did I know everything they have been having to go through until I came back home. I will post more about this situation soon. Just pray for them. But I know the kids had a wonderful time. I love my parents for sacrificing their time for Hilton and I to go. They really love their grand kids and I am so blessed for that.

As you all know, I am not a fan of flying...But...I DID IT! I will admit I was a little nervous with our first flight out of RDU, but the second flight from Miami wasn't so nerve racking. Our flight into the Dominican was a little delayed, so we arrived later and at night at the DR, so I didn't get to see what the island looked like coming in. But, I will say from the moment I stepped off the plane I was in culture shock!!! First off, I know NO SPANISH...so we totally had to rely on Gregg and his wife Jessica (our worship pastor and wife) for communication. The airport was an experience. We were trying to get our luggage and get through customs, and not get in the way of some of the Dominicans in the airport! I immediately felt like a deer in headlights! It hit me, that I was probably the most fair skin person in the airport along with my fellow team. At that moment I knew what it meant to feel like a minority. I felt a little insecure, but I said a small prayer for the Lord to help me with my sudden fear and anxiety and knew He had me step out of my comfort zone for a reason.

So, then the sweet missionary family, the Doerings picked us up at the airport and we loaded on a bus with all 16 pieces of our luggage and headed to none other than... McDonald's! We travel all the way to a foreign country and end up at McDonald's! Let me say, this first...we got our first experience of what people call"Dominican driving." HA! It was dark outside and I was trying to take in what I could. The traffic was interesting. You immediately notice that no one goes the speed limit. And there is honking, honking, honking everywhere! Traffic lights...not important! The drivers made three way lanes on a one way road...you never stopped at intersection, you just pulled out and prayed we didn't get hit! It was an experience. I couldn't imagine getting away with this driving in Virginia. It was like experiencing road rage here, but for the DR it was just there way of driving. It was quite comical once we got used to it during the week. I was told that you might as well know your car is going to be dented and banged at some point if you live here. I looked at most cars around us during the week and it's so true. Every car looked dented, most cars had scraped paint, and very scratched! So once we safely arrived at the McDonald's I felt almost at home. Well almost...thank goodness Gregg and Jess understand the culture and language or I wouldn't have been able to eat that night. But, it was good. It was a chicken sandwich with fries and a Coke! Yum!

After we unloaded the luggage that carried all of our supplies for our week at the Doering house we headed to our motel. It was called the Micro hotel, and it was very nice. We walked in our room and guess what was on...Fox News! I chuckled about that for some reason. The rest of the channels were mostly in Spanish. I remember as I was laying in the bed that night, I felt so overwhelmed and missed the kids so much. I was so scared as this was my first time in a new country....but I knew that there was a mighty good reason why the Lord opened up this door for me to be there. Little did I know at this point how much impact this trip was going to be on my life...

We took a tour the next morning of the village called, the Batey that we were going to VBS in that week. This tour was my first eye opener of how blessed I am. As soon as we turned onto the dirt path of the Batey, my mouth dropped. I saw trash everywhere and children wandering everywhere. Of course, they were all curious as to why this van with a bunch of people were there. The church, Iglesia Bautista has several ministries down there so I know when they see that van they know something great is about to happen down there. We went to see about the building we were supposed to do VBS in and see what things we may need to get and plan for while there. Immediately, a crowd of children came around. I immediately fell in love. They were precious and I already could see one reason I was there. I knew the kids needed love, hugs and kisses, and most of all the love of Christ. My emotions got a hold of me as these kids would grab our hands and want a hug or their picture taken. They were all so beautiful. I couldn't help but cry as I was definitely in culture shock. I couldn't believe some of the things that I saw. Life in the states was different and I immediately saw how blessed and at times...yes at times selfish and how I take things for granted. My kids, have clothes that match, don't have tears or holes in it, well fitted shoes...many pair of well fitted shoes...these kids probably have one maybe two...I absolutely lost it. But, Pat, one of the ladies on the trip comforted me and told me that the children didn't know of my world. She reminded me that they looked happy and healthy and that we were there to show them how much Christ loved them. She was right...I started looking at them and saw they were happy and the girls had some of the cutest hair bows and looked so pretty. I say this because...sometimes we feel horrible at some of the living conditions that we are not used to...we can become so overwhelmed with it...and we can't fix every situation and take every person in that village and give them what we think they need materially. But, we can give them something better than any material item... We can lead them to Christ. They need a personal relationship with them. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with providing those in need with material things when needed. But, we also need to remember that we were commissioned when we became a Christ follower to tell others about him...

What an exciting week this was, and I can't wait to share the whole week with you. Be patient, as I hope to post something everyday for the next week about our trip. I hope I can describe it the way that I feel inside. I was so blessed on this trip! I hope that you will follow this journey with me.

Hope you enjoy the pics!

Stay tuned...

It's Here!!!!!

I cannot believe that it is time for our mission trip! The time has flown. I want to personally thank everyone who has attended the different fund raisers and also given donations to make it possible for our team of 9 to go.

I am excited, nervous, a little scared...(of flying). But I know that the Lord's hand is on me and He has great things planned. Life for me and others on the team have been a little crazy here in the past couple of months. I personally can confess that I have been tested. Through these trials though I have been growing closer to the Lord.
So, I have a prayer list that I am going to post so if any of you would like to pray for us! Greg Randolph (our team leader) came up with a prayer card and I am going to post it on here now.

I desperately wanted to be able to blog while we were there but noone is taking their laptop. I will just take lots of pics and post a lot when we return.

DR Missions Team Prayer List

Thursday June 24- Team Member: Gregg Randolph/Team need:Final prep &Details

Friday June 25-Team Member: Amy Jeffreys/Team need: Ease of travel

Saturday June 26- Team Member: Bryan Hunsley/ Team need: Connect with the DR people

Sunday June 27- Team Member: Jessica Randolph/ Team need:Ministry opportunities

Monday, June 28- Team Member: Jonathan Shelor/ Team need:VBS in the village

Tuesday, June 29- Team Member: Phyllis Hunsley/ Team need: Good health and Energy

Wednesday, June 30- Team Member: Sarah Balser/ Team need: Leadership training

Thursday, July 1- Team member: Pat Meyers/ Team need: Ladies Ministry night

Friday, July 2- Team member: Hilton Jeffreys/ Team need: Youth outreach day

Saturday, July 3- Team need: Adjustment back to the American culture and lasting results from seeds planted on the field

Please take a moment each day and as you are praying remember the team member specifically for that day. Then ask that the team needs be met for that day as well!

Thank you!

Be the Church

I love to blog. And I love to read others blogs. I always seem to end up following fellow bloggers whose children are going through trials in their life. I love to pray for these families and it is amazing to me to see how people come together for families who are hurting or in need. I love seeing the church come together and be the church.
Kind of a funny saying...But, seriously God did not call us to just sit on a pew on Sunday mornings and listen about how we should help others. God calls us to act upon the needs of people. People who may not even know you are attend your church or may not even be a Christian. It makes me cry every time I see the hands and feet of God helping to supply a need.

One so called way to "be the church" literally just entered into my life. And the awesome thing is that I do not believe in "just meeting" someone. I believe there is a reason why God allows people to enter into my life. I first started praying for this family when our principal of the school asked me to lift this family into prayer. We have the Prater family in our town whose child, Dylan just found out that he has been diagnosed with a "papillary tumor in the pineal region of his brain."(Copied this from his blog) Dylan attends the elementary school where my kids go. He just finished the 4th grade. Before this morning I never really knew this family. I may have spoken to his mom occasionally at different school functions. She has two other children, daughters, and one is in my daughter Kyndal's class. I can't imagine what Kerry and her husband Mike are going through. I spoke with her briefly this morning and I can already tell we are a lot alike and we will get along great when we do "meet in person." I already love her to pieces! She is such a sweetheart and I can tell she has a strong faith.
Even though I have never been out shopping with her or have a play date with her we connected. WE are moms who want the best life for our kids. I know she is wondering why in the world is she undergoing this "test." I honestly have no answer. I do know that I can let her know that we and others are praying for her and that God knows her heart. I really don't honestly know why we must endure things in this life that we can't answer! Anyway, I also know that I can "act" to help this trial in this family's life.

One such way is to meet some needs of the family. We have such loving people at our church all I had to do is post a Facebook message and people immediately responded. That is why I love Facebook!!!! You can use it for good things! Anyway, we are collecting money for grocery gift cards for the family. You know that she is having to take time off from her job and food is expensive when families have to stay at hospitals. In the future I am hoping that we can help with childcare, household chores, whatever this family needs. But mostly pray for them!It's being the church!

If you would like to help, just shoot me an email!
They have a website set up to keep up with what is going on with Dylan. It is: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/dylanprater

Paradise!!!

Kyndal playing in the sandKaitlyn thinking about life...

We visited where the Grave Digger has a museum

Tre' and Kait helping Meme cook breakfast

I love my kids little feet!

So this post is a little overdue, but my pics were so good I just had to post about our recent trip to the beach! We went over Memorial Day weekend and it was the perfevt little spur of the moment mini vacation. The only downfall was that daring hubby was not able to go. It comes with the territory when you are married to the preacher. I don't mind though, but we did miss him terribly. But, I made a very last minute decision to go and he had no time to find someone to preach for him. I kept swithching back and forth about going, but since finding out about my dad's cancer, well it made me realize that LIFE is TOO SHORT sometimes. And rarely do I ever get to see my brother and his wife and two kids. They were going to be there and I thought it would be a great thing if Meme and Gran Gran had all of thier grandchildren under one roof for the weekend.

So, I quickly packed our bags at midnight, and woke up on Friday and finished cleaning the house, went to my last day of teaching the preschoolers at our church, came home and packed the car and then as soon as the girls got off the school bus we headed out of town! It was a long seven hour drive but so worth it! We had so much fun!

Because of hectic schedules and daily life we tend to take for granted our precious family. Well it was such a precious time having our family all together. We laughed and cooked and played Twister(I didn't get pics of that, but it was hilarious!) and watched cousins play and love on one another.

We literally went to the beach and did nothing! It was the perfect time to go. So relaxing and the kids were all especially well behaved. I loved taking pics of my nephews and laughed at the boys playing and being "typical" boys. I loved watching my parents love on the grandchildren and even got teary thinking that life would not be the same without any of them.

We played on the beach, visited the museum of the Grave Digger monster truck. OK, so my girls were not so excited about that but we do have boys in this family. We flew kites and played putt putt! Kaitlyn got a hole in one!!! She was so excited!

I will post more pics of our weekend get away! Enjoy!

Dominican Republic Mission Trip 2010

It is amazing to me that our mission trip to the Dominican Republic is upon us. It came up fast! I guess we have been so busy preparing and raising funds for the trip that I didn't notice that we would be leaving so soon!
Our trip will be from June 25th-July 3rd. Hilton and I are very excited to see what God is going to do this week. I have been trying to take these last few days before we go and spend even more time in the Word of God. His word is so sweet! Our worship pastor, Gregg Randolph, who is the mission leader for this trip made the team a small devotional booklet that we have been reading for the past 6 weeks. And, wouldn't you know that it has been exactly what I have needed to hear! The enemy has tried hard in the past few weeks to discourage me and also cause me to back out of my trip. But, I know that God has something special that he wants me to witness on my trip. Since the mission trip dates were announced I felt led to go. That alone is a miracle! For those of you who know me well know that I DON'T FLY!!! I am not crazy about it. I have flown a few times and still not crazy about it. But when God calls you to do something you step out of your comfort zone. I could have chosen to be like Jonah and run and ignore his call. But, God would have made sure that I would not be comfortable with my choice to be disobedient.
Most of us remember the story of Jonah...That was one of our devotionals in our booklet that we were to read. Well at first I thought I was doing well by saying, "Yes, God I will go to the Dominican Republic." But, I have let fears creep in and not totally rely on God to handle them. This devotional convicted me that I need to not worry about our flight to the DR and back, not to worry about my dad(which is very hard to let go of.)and his diagnosis of his cancer, not to worry about my children as they are in very capable hands, and not worry about the language barrier as I speak no Spanish at all!(I took French in high school. My mother told me to take Spanish and yes, I should have listened to her.) I have especially let my dad's cancer diagnosis consume a lot of my emotional energy. I have felt so consumed at times with fear, doubt, and worry over this. And it has seemed like road block after road block have come up just to get the oncologist to see him so we could get further information. (That is a whole other blog post in the future. )
Remember Jonah was afraid and he let that and worry at first stop him from going to the town of Nineveh. I personally couldn't blame him because, come on, those Ninevites were a vicious people. They were known for killing people in horrific ways! But when Jonah decided to be faithful what happened? The whole city repented! So, I am going to be faithful and try to focus the rest of this week and meditate on His Word and look forward to what God has in store.
Later on this week I will post a prayer post on here about specific things you can pray about for our team. We would most definitely appreciate all the prayers given to us through out the week. I am ready to see what God is going to do.
I will end this post with a scripture that a friend encouraged me to meditate on. Thanks Nancy James for that!

Luke 4:18-19

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind to release the oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord' s favor.

From this day Forward...

On June 5, 2010 our family attended one of the most sweetest weddings! My cousin Jessica, aka Jesse married the love of her life, Joseph. There were tears of happiness on this day. Even her preacher cried during the ceremony. It was so great to be with family and friends!

Jessica was such a beautiful bride. I loved how she catered her wedding to "fit" who her and Joe are. The bridesmaids had such beautiful black dresses. The flowers were exquiste...the music was awesome! Jesse's dress was BEAUTIFUL and fit her perfectly! The ceremony was especially sweet. After they were pronounced they exited to the song "Happy Together" by the Beatles! I loved it!

Family is so important to me and I was so happy to be a part of this special day. I am almost 10 years older than Jesse and she was a Jr. bride in my wedding. I feel so old now! HA! I am so happy for her and Joe. I love them very much. She really touched me by taking the time to think about my children and what they would eat at the reception. Now I know that may seem silly. But, I remember how stressful planning a wedding can be...so it was touching to me that she thought of what the kids could eat. I guess when you have a child with a food allergy it is appreciative to know she took the time to make sure he would be safe. Did I mention how sweet she is?? LOL!

So after we cried all our makeup off we got to go party at the reception. It was at the Benvenue Country Club and was one of the most tasteful receptions I have ever been to. There was a band and my girls had a wonderful time dancing. When Joe had to take the garter off of Jesse's leg there was a "surprise" for him. It was so funny...She had a gun holster up her leg with a gun....yes I said a gun in it as a gift to Joe. But, it took him a few minutes to figure all that out! It was so funny!

I pray that they have many years of happiness together and remember that marriage is about holiness and a wonderful picture of our relationship with Christ. I am so happy that they both love the Lord. Joseph looks at his beautiful bride in such awe.

Love you Joe and Jesse!

Such a beautiful wedding!
Uncle Greg and Aunt Beth! (Bride's parents..)

Hilton and I

The happy couple!

Kaitlyn's Softball Banquet!

Salem Express

Go #7!!!

Kaitlyn's trophy

Kaitlyn played in her first year of fast pitch softball this year for the Salem Express. I must say that I was so proud of her hard work that she showed at practice and at games. Some of the girls on her team and opposing teams have been playing for a few years. Now, Kaitlyn played coach pitch ball for one year when she was in kindergarten and never played again. I say all of that because, well, let me just say that some of these girls intimidate ME! Especially some of the "fast" pitches that these girls would put across the plate. I got so uptight at one of her practices because I knew that she wasn't as experienced. But, she worked and worked almost every day after school in the backyard with throwing, catching and hitting. Her efforts paid off in the end.

She started out playing in right field and over time her position was moved to center field.At one game she caught a fly ball while playing in center field. We were so proud of her! As the games progressed the coach had come up to us and told us how she really improved in her skills and was so impressed by the improvement. He moved her to play 2nd base in a few games and hopes to start her in a infield postion next year. She also had some really good hits this year! Her daddy and I were so proud of everything she did on the diamond this year!

Her team had a banquet at the Salem Red Sox ball park on June 6th. The girls all got trophies and some of the ball players from the Red Sox presented the trophies to the girls. They also were announced over the speaker system and the team all sat together to watch an awesome ball game that the Red Sox played against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans! The Red Sox won!!!

Afterwards, the girls got to run around the field and Kaitlyn thought it was so awesome!

We are already missing the games, but can't wait until next year!

Jennie and Kaitlyn watching the game!

Kaitlyn getting her ball signed by one of the players.


Her signed ball!