HALF WAY THERE!

Happy Birthday, America! We've just celebrated 235 years of freedom here in the United States! We are truly a blessed nation. Let's pray we continue to be blessed and free in the days and years ahead! How did you spend your Independence Day weekend? Picnicing, boating, watching fireworks? Jeff and I had a quiet night at home, sitting on our third floor bedroom deck, overlooking the beautiful St. Johns River, watching fireworks all around us, ending in a spectacular display brought to us by the folks at Moosehaven. It was fun, but a little too quiet for me. I'm used to having all our kids and grandkids around for holiday celebrations. But unfortunately that didn't happen this year. Emily, Brian and their three precious kiddos were visiting the "other grandparents" in Panama City. Ashley, Jason and James were back home in Tennessee, after spending two weeks with us here last month. And Bethany was high atop a building in Miami, watching the fireworks down there! Yes, she is still in south Florida, doing mission work for our Lord. She continues to do Vacation Bible School for churches in the Naples, Ft. Myers area, as well as helping out the Miami team, as needed. Jeff and I and Weston (the boyfriend) had the opportunity to go down and visit her this past weekend. We traveled very early on Friday morning, arriving in Naples before lunch. We got to see where she is staying, meet her teammate, Emily and attend VBS family night at the church they were working at this past week. It was a blessing to see her doing what God sent her down there to do. I must admit, that as a parent, I was very proud of my youngest daughter that night. As I watched her up on stage leading, I couldn't help but think back to the days when she was just one of the VBS kids herself. It was such a blessing to see how she has grown and matured in her relationship with the Lord and how He is using her for His glory this summer. God truly is so very good to us. We were able to spend a fun-filled day with her on Saturday on Sanibel Island, one of my favorite places in our beautiful state! And we had a few hours with her on Sunday afternoon in Miami, seeing the Florida Lighthouse on Key Biscayne and relaxing at the local Starbucks, before we had to leave her so she could go begin her new week of ministry. We packed in allot of fun in a short amount of time, but it was well worth it! And when we drove away, leaving her there in Miami, I was sad. I wanted to pick her up and put her back in the car and bring her home! But I knew I could not. Nor would I really want to cut short her time of ministry this summer. As we were driving north, toward home, still missing her, I realized that she really has grown up this summer. As much as I think she enjoyed her time with Jeff and I, and probably more so with Weston, I think she was excited to get back into the routine and get busy doing Kingdom work. She is thriving in her environment of ministry! God is continuing to do a work in her life! For that I am thankful. But I'm also really thankful that this Independence Day weekend marked the half way point of her mission! We're coming into the home stretch now. And I'm really ready for that!