All for the Kingdom!

This post is probably long with a few pictures (sorry). It's been an interesting past couple of weeks for us so I have not been posting much. I'll tell you a little bit about them. We decided to put our house up for sale and start pursuing some of our dreams. We looked at a few and have not found that perfect place yet. God's pretty much in control and gonna have to move for things to happen due to the market right now! Lots of waiting. We kicked things off with Doug's knee surgery... surgery went great (a little repair work), and he's healing up fine. Should be good to go once he's all healed up. Having him home for almost 2 weeks straight was so nice. I felt like we were on vacation or something. Looking forward to him working a regular schedule job (hopefully one day soon)! During his time off, I went to the Women's Conference and loved it. God really took hold of my heart in a few areas, and I had the pleasure of hearing from some wonderful speakers. Pastor DeLynn and the group really did an EXCELLENT job on things!!!

Then Doug went back to work... just in time for our Sparkle Sleepover! Friday night we had a sleepover at Jump-N-Jive. It was a great night overall especially since we could all stay at the same location! We learned about skin care from Mrs Paula, danced, ate lots of food, did relays, danced some more, and then Shannon and Darelle "brought it" teaching the girls about Relationships (you know...mentors, role models, good friendships, etc...not the boyfriend/girlfriend kind of relationships you may have thought at first). Jump-N-Jive was a great place to have a sleepover...lots to do, great staff, not to mention that we had the entire place to ourselves once the last birthday party cleared out. The girls and leaders had a blast with little to no sleep! Sparkle is the best life group around. First off, we have a team of fantastic leaders. Kudos to each one of them! Their dedication and love for Jesus soars beyond the average! This team is truly incredible!!!! Secondly, we have awesome high school students that help us so much! We could NOT have Sparkle without them. Lastly, I absolutely love the students in Sparkle. They are some of the most awesome chicks I know. Lots of talent and huge dreams! I love hearing their thoughts and ideas. We are so fortunate to have such a bright group of future world changers!

A couple of hours after we arrived at Jump-N-Jive, we decided to do some relays in the inflatable course. Ashley, Lisa and I jumped in to race with the girls. We all LOVE a challenge! When my turn arrived, I tagged my teammate and raced in! I climbed the first hill and flew over only to land on my foot wrong. It was like slow-mo but I couldn't do anything to correct it. Immediately I thought "Oh Jesus, please do not let my foot be broken!" (seriously talking to the Lord) as I waited for the pain. I decided it wasn't hurting so bad (couldn't be broken), so I finished the race. You know I couldn't let my girls down!!! As I slid down the huge slide for the final leg of the journey, I was never so excited to tag my teammate. I hobbled to the bench. Sat for some of the night with ice. Saturday & Sunday, it kept swelling, turned to a beautiful shade of wild blue along the side and hurt a little to walk. Isn't it beautiful?! After more ice and at Doug's request, I went to check it out with Dr. Cheri on Monday just to make sure it was ok. She is so awesome, and wouldn't you know it...I have a small fracture in the side of my foot. Doug was right (again!). I now have a beautifully stylish black boot to wear for the next 6-8 weeks that I am sure everyone will be jealous of! I guess I'll use the down time to work on my writing. Sometimes I think God uses times like these the most. Jesus, I'm all Yours!

Jesus, teach me during this time the lessons only You can whisper into my heart. Let me have ears to hear and eyes to see the view from Your perspective. Move us according to your will. Heal our bodies, sweet savior, so we can use them to serve Your kingdom! I love You and need You!