A Month of Thanksgiving: Days 9,10, & 11

(sorry for the delay... I wasn't around my laptop this weekend. So here is a catch up from the days I missed).

Day 9:

I was thankful for friends. The Emis' from Arkansas came out of there way to visit Damarise and me. They took us out to dinner and it was wonderful to catch up with them and see some familiar faces from our first home!

Day 10:

I was thankful for weekends and God's perfect timing. I had a fever and headache for most of the day, but was so thankful that it hit me on the weekend! Definitely would not want to have missed school! I got a lot of work done while resting too which was a blessing.

Day 11:

I was thankful for church, small group after church, dinner with friends, and coffee date with Janessa. I could not have asked for a better way to spend my Sunday. 

A Month of Thanksgiving: Day 4

Today I am thankful for daylights saving time. Sleeping in an extra hour was so very needed and so very appreciated.

I am also thankful for church. I love our church. Every Sunday, Pastor Cal delivers such a powerful message from the Word and I always leave feeling encouraged, convicted, and so in awe of who God is! Today was also communion and it was wonderful. We also had a fellowship dinner after church. I love meeting new people and the church has made us feel right at home.

I am thankful for Skype and the technology that let's us talk to the family in Zambia! It was great Skyping with them and catching up on their lives.

Lastly, today I buried my tomato plants. They were beyond dead (and very sad looking). So I put them to rest, but not before collecting at least a dozen beautiful tomatoes that are currently ripening. I am SO thankful for this plant! I'm thankful for Micah for getting it for me! And for his Grandma's knowledge on how to take care of it. It has definitely been my favourite plant that I've had. And God used it to teach me quite a bit about His power over creation. I'm thankful for it and for the tomatoes it produced! 

Snapshots of the Weekend

This weekend Damarise and I flew back to Missouri to say goodbye to our family before they head to Zambia. Micah got to join us on our trip (so that'd we have a guy driving back with us) We had a blast with him and our family!

(Also, this is a post for pictures... another post will be coming soon :) )

We got to the airport a little early, so we had some fun exploring the airport.

We got to Missouri at 9pm. We had a delicious dinner and then went to bed. The next morning we went outside to enjoy the beautiful snow that Missouri had.

Even though half of us look miserable, it was a ton of fun!

We had snowball fights...

Hung out in forts...

Looked cool...

Went sledding/snowboarding...

And had a wonderful, cold time!

We also celebrated Damarise's 21st birthday :)

And Sarah drew Damarise this amazing panda! Yes, again, I've got to say that Sarah is an amazing artist! I am just astounded by her drawings!

Grandma also treated us to a birthday meal for Damarise. :)

Sunday we took family pictures... well... after the boys goofed off with the camera.

Trying to touch their tongue to their nose...

Smile! :)

I love my family!

I don't even know what was going on.

This was our shocked expression.

The "look-at-Andrew-normal" expression.

Pants! Our family's sign.

Thinking.

They are the best!

"Attack the camera man!"

The homeschool family.

Homeschool choir ;)

Siblings!

Andrew traded places with Micah.

The weekend ended way to soon, and Monday morning we were on our way out.

This picture basically captures all the fun we had.

Mom and Dad left the mini-van to us, so Damarise and I now have transportation, which we are SO thankful for.

Goodbye until 2013.

On our way back to Covenant, we stopped to see the St. Louis Arch.

We had a wonderful trip back, and God gave us great weather for the trip!

I'm SO thankful for the weekend we got to spend with our family and Micah. God showed me once again what an amazing family I have and how blessed I am. I'm thankful for Micah too and his willingness to travel there and back with Damarise and me. I'm thankful for the church and the love they showed us and our family. And I'm thankful that one day our whole family will be reunited :)

Sunday Thanks

On this cloudy, yet beautiful Sunday, I am thankful for:

• A wonderful time at church worshipping with fellow believers.
  
  
• A restful Sunday catching up with friends.
  
  
• A great RA, Virginia, planning a craft night for our hall :)

It's all in a name.

What happens when lots of people takes their name tags off after church? Well, you end up with a name like this. "Hi. I'm Simpslaurannahrewmarisedandsonull." ;)

Friends and Fellowship

I am blessed. God has given me such great friends to fellowship with here in Missouri. The people at Christ Fellowship are such a blessing and encouragement to be around. This past week we had a church picnic and it was so great to hang out and talk with friends.

Laura just started up a Bible study for some of us girls. It was great. We met for the first time yesterday and it was wonderful to just sit and listen/talk about God, His Word and prayer. I am SO thankful for these wonderful Christian friends who I can fellowship with and with who I can study God's Word and talk about Him. It is wonderful!

Another lady started up a Bible study every other Thursday. We ladies in the church get together and go through a chapter of 2 Timothy. It was been wonderful to dig into God's Word with these women and to hear what other people found while reading through 2 Timothy.

Ashley, me, and Laura at the church picnic.

Me, Amy, Laura, Sarah, and Bethany at the graduation.

Sarah, Amy, Andrew, Me, Laura, and Ian (we're doing the "pants" sign.. it's like saying "That's so hip (pants!)" ;)

I am SO thankful to God for these wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ! They are truly a blessing.

AQ Chicken

Sunday we went to FBC (Fellowship Bible Church in Springdale). That's the church we went to when we lived in Arkansas for 8 years. Oh! It was SO nice to be back! It definitely feels like home there. :) It was a wonderful morning with wonderful teaching and the best thing of all... it was all in English! I could understand every single word of it! It was so wonderful!

Anyways, after church we went out to lunch with some of the couples from church. We went to AQ Chicken! Mmmm, that is the best restaurant! And it's only in Arkansas. :)

Andrew, me, and Sarah waiting for our food :)

The menu.

Sarah and I.

Damarise and Ian.

Andrew had three straws in his drink. He was shocked!

Andrew and I.

They had a honey bear!!! :D I love those guys!

Andrew's heart :) awwww

Andrew pretended he was stuck behind jail bars :P

It was an amazing lunch of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and apples! Thank you for the food!!

Last Sunday at SIL

It still hasn't hit me that we really are leaving Nampula soon. This Sunday at SIL was our last Sunday there. It sure didn't feel like it. But we snapped lots of pictures and took loads of videos...For memories sake :) And for blogging too ;)

Here we are waiting for Sarah and Gracie to come back with the key to the conference room. (Where we have the Sunday night fellowship)

Gracie unlocking doors :)

Thomas setting up his drums. He is an amazing drummer! He has been playing for over 3 years now (I think) And just keeps getting better and better at drumming! It's really neat to see him use his talent to praise God! Great work Thomas!

Damarise and Haddie (Esther) Awww!

Andrew setting up the speakers.

Sarah and Haddie drew a picture of Annie... and then blamed it on Damarise and Bethy :P haha...

Me fixing up the slideshow.

My beautiful older sisters. Damarise and Bethy.

Haddie, Bethy and Damarise. God has blessed me abundantly with amazing friends and sisters!

Beverly! :D She's so pretty!

All my lovely sisters!! What can I say? I have the most amazing sisters in the world!

A bunch of girls :) Sarah, Gracie, Beverly, Damarise, Bethy, Celine, Esther

Mr. LePoidevin (Thomas' dad) He has helped us with music ever since we started playing for church. We couldn't do it without him! He tells us when we are going to fast. When we need to sing louder (like ladies with bright red lipstick ;) ) And he encourages us and prays with us. He is a wonderful leader :) Thank you Mr. LePoidevin!

The testing of the sound. We go around the room and test the microphones, piano, drums, bass and guitar to make sure that everything sounds good :)

Benaiah and Andrew... being brothers :P

Singing :)

Haddie :) She videotaped for us since Damarise was doing the piano and I was clicking through the slides :) Thanks so much Haddie for all your help!

Singing and talking about how we should arrange the song :)

After we were done practicing and before church started, Kent sat down to play the piano and got a crowd of lil' boys :) It was SO cute! :D

And that is all for the pictures...and for our last Sunday at SIL. I'm going to miss it!