Lets Ride into the Sunset...

What an eventful week this has been! I know I say this every time I post but thank you for being patient with us. I know you are waiting on updates and we are trying to find the time to get them  to you regularly. Hopefully, after this week we can get on somewhat of a schedule. Last Sunday night, we were packing away and spending time with family and friends. A special thanks to Kathryn, Daniel, and Liam for staying up late with me, and to one of my besties, Nicole, for having one last sleepover with me (for a few months anyway). We were checking flights and they looked anything but promising.  So, after talking about it for weeks, anticipating the chance to see Jacob and Matt, and the emotions of saying goodbyes to everyone had me on the edge of a healthy breakdown. haha!! The thought of not making it out on Monday got to me.  After a sob fest and pity party, I decided to try a little later flight and try my odds. It was all the emotions of the stage of our adventure. We have been apart for 3 and a half weeks, the exhausting task of packing for a 6 month trip, and the emotional toll of bringing a few family and friends to tears with us heading West. It was wearing on me.

 We got to the airport after an emotional goodbye with my Grandparents and Nicole. Ugh.  It's never a good feeling.   We got the the airport with all our 7...yes 7 bags, unloaded and the Lords favor was on us from that point on. Small things, we were able to check the bags at the curb, which they dont do for standby passengers, and we were escorted to a 'behind the scenes' attendant that gave my parents gate passes to help me get through.  Which is almost unheard of.  They helped me through security and we were able to spend that much more time together. I cried at every opportunity that day I think!! And I'm unashamed! lol! I cried when I missed the first flight, I cried when I was told I'd probably get on the next one, I cried at the thought of having to head home. Long story, hopefully shorter, We decided to head to Memphis, then to Minneapolis, THEN to Rapid City, and hope I made all my connecting flights. I didn't think I got on the flight to Memphis, so I went up and said "is there anyway we are getting on? If not, we will head home and try again tomorrow." "You got on!" And then came the tears. Wow...I sound like a crazy person, but this was my flight out of Atlanta, if I got stuck in Memphis, it didn't matter. I was on my way to Matt and Jacob. I walked back to our seats where my parents had Leah and I just sobbed.  My mom put her sunglasses on so she could cry and not worry about it.  That was tough.  It's a short time to be gone, I understand. But we are embarking on new territory, leaving what's comfortable, leaving our support, and Trusting in Jesus like never before. Leaving my parents was the worst. We had the Gate attendants in tears, and the flight attendants once I got on the flight. Leah didn't understand and fought leaving Noni, which was so hard on me. She cried and we just had to pull her away. This has been tough on her, she doesn't understand quite what is going on.

 Don't get me wrong, it was joy and excitement as well, but that's the only thing I had the energy to do. After that, we were well on our way.  We made every flight and made it to South Dakota for our wonderfully perfect reunion.  I am so thankful that we don't have to be apart like this often. My military friends and family, I have so much respect for you and I'm grateful to not be in your position.  You are strong women!! Truthfully, this was a journey Matt and I started months and months ago, there was an urgency in our hearts to be there, as a family.  So I was ready, but it was very bittersweet!  And I'm sure we will have family and friends visit before we come home in Oct but the unknown is always an uneasy place to be. Praise Jesus He is the calm in the storm and our sustainer!

Ok, bear with me...almost time to wrap this up! We got to Rapid, and joined our handsome men, enjoyed a nice dinner, got to see Pastor Mike and Monica, and headed to our new home. Matt had made it sound rough, so I didn't have any expectations.  He didn't share with me that a ministry a few hours away had come and painted our house, helped decorate, and deep cleaned so all would be perfect when I got here.  Which was one of the sweetest things! I told Matt if I had any more tears to cry I would have cried when I walked in! haha!! The house is perfect for us, it's not in excellent condition but it has everything we need. I'm so thankful, God did this. He provided this home for us, which He knew was important to me. He cared and listened for the minor details, and once again poured His blessings out on us. On Tuesday we opened camp for the summer, so it's full swing ahead. We have about 70 kids a day and we are growing. We feed them, sing with them, teach them Gods word, play with them, and for Jacob and Leah it's a playdate everyday with tons of kids. They have made themselves known and Jacob is known as the football player...Leah is known for simply being adorable at anything she says or does. Blessing #5289451645641....Our children are flourishing!!  Another blessing, we get to work with Daddy everyday.  He is never far away and we have the fun of playing with him alot. We are so humbled friends.  We can't express the thankfulness we have in our hearts. God is so faithful and He is doing an amazing work here through this ministry. We miss our family and friends, but God has truly covered us in Peace and we pray that for our family back home as well.  Jesus wants to be evident in our lives.  He wants to be known.  The little things we do everyday make a difference and we want to strive to be Jesus everyday to these children.  Please pray for us, we do need that more than anything. You have all been so wonderful and we look forward to chatting with you more about the work here.

From the first day of Camp Chapel.  We had a wonderful group from Mississippi come to serve.

Our little ones on the front row, taking it all in :)

With love.