Scavenger Hunt 8:30 Man!

 Our 8:30 Man was another success!  Yay!  As they began to earn pieces for the man, they figured out he was searching for something.  They were right!  Our man was a detective on a scavenger hunt with a prize at the end, but also had a hamburger in his hand. (We had burgers for dinner as a bonus. :o)  )

 I always have a rule on our scavenger hunts that you have to stick together.  Holding hands helps.  And you have to read out loud for everyone to hear and work on the clues together.

They had so much fun going through our yard looking for clues!  Peaches even joined in on the fun!

 To get the very last clue they had to sing the Fruit of the Spirit song to their Daddy and he gave them the clue.

 Their prize was in the back of the trailer!

We bought them the Pie Face Showdown game for their prize!  How did they like it?  Well, I think I'll just make my next post about what we thought of the game!

So thankful for our 8:30 man!

Glorious News!

 The very day I found out I was expecting a baby I, like many Christian mothers, began to pray for them to one day accept Christ as their Saviour.  It was my greatest heart's desire for them.  Hearing your child pray out and asking Jesus to save them is a highlight of my life!  

Joshua was super young, but super ready and understood that he needed Jesus. As Patrick prayed with Joshua in his room, he later told me that he could see my shadow and knew that I was right there, too. 

Then, my Beth was 6 1/2 and was coloring a picture that she desperately wanted to show me, she said that the letters said, "I want to be saved."  Patrick took her into the bedroom of his parents house (we were visiting there that week) and I listened outside the door as she prayed and asked God to take her to heaven when she dies. 

Brenna was 5 1/2 exactly and had been asking so many questions, but just wasn't quite ready.  One evening, Jesus knocked on her heart's door.  She was in the living room as she prayed with her Daddy and I was in the hallway listening. 

Silas was 5 when he realized he needed Jesus to be his Saviour.  He came to our room late one night and on our bed, bowed his head and prayed with his Daddy and asked Jesus to save him.  I stood with the door cracked to our room so I could hear.

Callie was 5 during a thunderstorm at church that she knew she needed Jesus as her Savior. I was singing a special and looked on the front row and saw her crying.  When I took her to the back, she was ready to make heaven her home! 

As each of our oldest 5 accepted Christ, I dreamed of the day when all 6 of my children would be saved.  To know that we would all spend eternity in heaven was a peace that I prayed for, desperately wanted, and anticipated.

Well...that peace has come!  Last night, Micah accepted Christ as his personal Saviour!!  When I tucked him in, he said, "Momma, I really want to get saved."  Patrick was in his office, and I told Micah that he could go and talk to his Daddy about it.  This wasn't the first time for him to talk with his Daddy about getting saved. Micah has asked a lot of questions this past year but just didn't quite understand.  This time, he was ready.  I crawled into the room and sat on the floor as I heard my baby boy call out to Jesus to save him.  Hallelujah!

That night, after I tucked him in, he ran into where I was and said, "Momma, is there night in heaven?"  I responded, "No, Micah, there is no night in heaven!"  He smiled and ran back to bed!  This morning he said, "Momma, I'm so glad that I'm saved, I just don't want to forget it!"

There truly is no greater joy!!

A way to end our day

The evening of our big anniversary service was a sweet memory.  We came home from church with a sweet exhaustion.  We had all been so busy with preparation, it was nice to come home and do nothing except talk about all the wonderful things that had happened that day.  Josh and Tabitha invited us to have a bonfire and do s'mores together.  As we sat around the campfire and sang and talked, it was one of those moments of sweet reflection and bliss.  I sure do love my sweet family.  I love the place God has called us to.  We're moving into a new season of life with many changes, but I am loving it, too.  Just like we like to say at VSIBC, "God is good all the time!"

2 Years!

 It seems it was just moments ago that we had our Grand Opening at VSIBC.  Yesterday we celebrated our 2 year anniversary.  What a day it was!  Our people worked so hard inviting their family and friends.  We had 12 visiting families that came!  Our auditorium was full!  I wish I had taken the above picture before we dismissed for Junior Church.  We had many children and many families that came that were outside for this pic.    There was such a sweet spirit, and by the day's end, we counted 99 that came!  That's a record!

 We combined 2 of our ladies groups to sing some of the specials that day.  I love singing with them!

 We had so much yummy food!  On Saturday, 3 of our men spent the day smoking Boston Butt for us to have Pulled Pork sandwiches.  Oh my, it was delicious!  Our ladies brought in the fixins' to go with it and we all feasted!

 These sweet boys enjoyed the bounce house!  That's why they have bare feet! :o)

 It was such a gorgeous day!  We had tables inside and out and everyone enjoyed a time of fellowship!

I was so glad my Mom, Dad and Mam-maw could make it for the day.  I love sharing moments like these with them!

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 Josh preached for our afternoon service.  This is one of those mid sentence pictures.  Ha! :o)  I'm so thankful the Lord has called my boy to preach!  He did a great job and preached on having a "More Earnest" christianity.  It was so convicting!

 I'm so thankful for my preacher/hubby and the leadership role he has in our church.  He's such a good Pastor and truly has a heart for the people of VISBC!
  It was fun setting goals for this Sunday.  We wanted to beat our last goal of 81.  My husband said that if we had 82, he would swallow a live goldfish.  When our goal was met, our people made sure he didn't forget his commitment!

It was actually quite gross as the slippery fish kept slipping out of his hands.  Oh my!

 

Our second goal was to have more than 85.  If we did, Tabitha would put a pie in Josh's face.  Now, that was fun to watch! :o)

 Us 9 sang, "It's been a long journey, but I have been blessed."  As I looked around at all the sweet people of our community that we get to serve and be a part of their lives, my eyes filled with tears.  You see, serving Jesus bring a peace and contentment that nothing else can offer.  And we get to serve as a family!  It really is a joy to serve Jesus!

A Newsy Update

 Busy.  That's what it's been around here.  So much happening, so I thought I would throw it all into one newsy post.  
I've enjoyed teaching the Fruit of the Spirit in my Sunday School Class.  It's always so convicting to review each fruit and then ask, "Do I have this in my life?"   It's amazing how God leads me to teach exactly what I need to learn!  I decided to make a fruit pizza for my class.  I haven't made one in a long time.  It was super yummy!

 Spring is here and it has warmed up bunches.  So, we've been planting some new flowers and bushes and fruit trees.  I even filled up a few planters with flowers!  I'm not so good at this kind of thing, so we'll see how they do!  Then, what do you know, it turned cold again.  It was in the 20s!  So, we blanketed our plants and put on the fireplace!

As far as Lyme news, I've hit a few more bumps in the road.  A few flares.  Some new meds.  Some new labs.  My Doctor is persistent and my family is patient.  As my energy has returned there is so much I want to do and accomplish!

Things at VSIBC are going great!  This Sunday we will celebrate our 2 year Anniversary!  Wow!  We have lots of special music planned, a BBQ lunch, and bounce house for the kids and then an early afternoon service.  It's going to be a great day!

In the midst of this, we are also gearing up for Brenna's graduation that is a month away!  We've taken her Senior Pics and she just finished her exams.  It's an exciting season with many changes.  I'm enjoying it, but it seems to be zooming by so fast!

A Visitor. I hope he only visits!

 My Patrick found an interesting visitor today on our porch.  He was sleeping comfortably on the top of the fan blade on our porch.  It was a bat!  Oh my!  Not my favorite of God's creatures, that's for sure!  Now my hubby has dreams of building a box for his new bat and hoping he'll invite friends and eat mosquitos.  Not sure how I feel about this.  Still icked out.  Anyone else have experience with these guys?

Introducing....Peaches!

 We've added another sweet creature to our budding, little farm.  I'd like to introduce you to Peaches!

 Patrick and I had been talking about getting a puppy for the kids.  Silas takes care of Jenna, our goat, Callie feeds the chickens, but Micah didn't have an animal to care for.  So, we decided it was puppy time!

 As we looked for a puppy, I told Patrick I wanted a Mutt.  I thought a sweet mixed breed to love on would be perfect for us.  We found someone on Craiglist with 12 week old puppies where the Momma was a Catahoula Leopard and the Dad an Australian Shepherd.  We knew the dog would grow to be medium/large size, which is what I like. There were 8 puppies and there was every color to choose from!  We decided to get a female and settled on this cutie.  She was also the runt and was born without a tail.  A little strange!  We named her Peaches.

She's getting lots and lots of love from all of us and is starting to learn the life at the Gimenez Home.

 We even introduced her to Jenna.  At first Peaches was a little timid as Jenna sniffed her.  Then, Jenna bolted.  She's not quite a fan of our puppy and is actually quite afraid of her!

She's adjusting well, and we are enjoying the sweet puppy times!

The beautiful Portraits!

And now for the portraits from the wedding!
Once again, I want to give a shout out to my friend, Vonda, at Following Splendor Images, for taking such beautiful photos at my son's wedding.  It's so hard to choose which one, or ones :o) , to put on my wall!  I love the memories that were captured!

My family.  Most of them. What a great group of people that mean so much to us!

Should this be the one for my wall?

I love this one, too, of course!  It's all of us 8.  So blessed I am.  I can't help but look at this picture and get teary eyed.  Thank you Lord!

Josh and his groomsmen.  Each of these guys has entered Josh's life at different times and have influenced him in different ways.  They are all a blessing!  A little crazy, but yes, a blessing!

This one makes me laugh.  Josh has loved his crazy socks for a while now.  It's been something for me to try and get used to.  As he and I went shopping, a month before the wedding to get groomsmen gifts, he chose crazy socks.  I went through looking for ones to somehow coordinate with their shirts.  He told me, "Oh no, Mom.  I don't want them to match!"   :o)  When Mrs. Vonda snapped this picture, someone came out and said, "They're not going to keep their pants rolled up like that for the wedding, are they?"  Thankfully, no.

My 3 sisters and me.  Sure do love them and so glad they could be there!

How blessed we were the day we met the Fisher Family!  Each one of them is a precious gift!

Can you see how much Callie loves Tabitha?  I love it!

So glad that my girls love their new sister-in-law!

My handsome boy.

These sisters just make me laugh!  I sure do love them!!

Aren't they a beautiful couple!!

So, this one is a definite one for my wall.  My 8 has now become Us 9!  I love it!  I love my family!!