Prayer Requests and Reflection

Grant is almost a month old. Time has flown by in a lot of ways. We have been doing well, thankful to God for everyone's prayers during this time of transition. Its amazing that soon it will be Thanksgiving and then the end of the year. Please continue to pray for our support to come in we still need about $600 monthly before we can leave in January.

Earlier this week in one of my times with the Lord, I have prayed through 1 Thessalonians 2 over both the ministry at USF and in Italy. Would you pray that over the ministry in Italy, too? . God has been doing awesome things in Salerno with two girls Bible Studies going on consistently. Continue to pray for the ministry as Justin and Abbey Valiquette have come home for a few months to raise some extra support and Bentley and Sarah Love Crawford are coming home soon to have their baby in the U.S. we will not have any men on our team until we get there. Pray that we do not lose momentum in the ministry with these things happening.

God has done some awesome things at USF. I have not done a lot there lately as I have been really been trying to focus on being available so the Lord can raise our financial support. We are really close to starting to launch a Fraternity/Sorority Community group. The Lord has raised a few people up to do so. I have also gotten to meet with a few fraternity presidents to get ideas of how we can be resource to the Greek community. Continue to pray for our efforts that the Holy Spirit would lead and guide us and show us exactly what this community group is going to look like.

Our Anniversary

Two years ago today Rodney and I were married. It's one of those weird things to me where in some ways it seems like our wedding was just yesterday and in other ways it seems like we've always been married. Obviously, there have been a lot of changes in this year of our marriage; raising support, moving to Italy, having our first child. But through it all, I am so glad I'm able to look at my husband and be thankful for all that the Lord has done and is continuing to do in our lives. I remember people telling us that marriage would reveal so much our selfish nature. There is nothing like living in such close proximity to some one else and having your lives be so intertwined to bring out the best and the worst in yourself. I can definitely attest to that now. Our marriage has challenged me and grown me so much over the last two years. My mom watched little Grant for a couple of hours last night and Rodney and I had the chance to go out for a nice dinner. We reflected and talked about the last year and all of the changes. We talked about our first year of marriage compared to our second. And I realized how much better I know myself now than I did two years ago. I've learned so much more about how what really encourages me, what really upsets me and how to communicate what I'm feeling and why. What an unexpected blessing! When I walked down that aisle two years ago I woul have said that I knew a lot about myself and a lot about Rodney. And now, when I look back, I feel like I hardly knew myself, let alone any thing about Rodney. The Lord has been so gracious to us as we've grown and learned so much over these past two years.

And now, a little note to my sweet husband- Thank you so much for all that you are and all that do for me, and now for our family. The Lord has used to in such a powerful way in my life. I am so grateful for our love and our marriage.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (from The Message)

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,

Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies.