Heading home tomorrow!

Keep us in your prayers, we fly out tomorrow and after five flights we'll be home, yipee!

Back in Florida

OK, we're back in Florida, so nice to be back and know that we are on the last leg of out trip. Jake spoke at our church here (East Coast Christian Center) and did a great job if I do say so myself. That was really our last speaking arrangment. We did have a mission's luncheon this Sunday after church where we'll get to hang out and talk with people. Should be fun. We have a super busy schedule too, people taking us out to eat, people having us over for meals, going to the zoo with my parents, WON staff meetings, and packing.

Fun in Texas

Well, our time in Texas is coming to a close, we leave around 6am on Monday morning. Tomorrow we're speaking at the church here, really looking forward to it. Went to the Wednesday night bible study, had a great time getting to meet everyone.

Yesterday we went to the Fort Worth zoo, we met up with Jake's aunt and cousins. Hadn't seen them forever. It was a lovely day, seeing all the animals (90% of which are in Cameroon) and even having a picnic out in the parking lot (blanket and all). Jake's aunt also gave us a like-new laptop, a HUGE blessing. We needed another one and were planning to get one before going back, praise God we don't have to now.

Looking forward to getting back to Florida and seeing my folks for a bit. Then we head out on the 23rd, really excited about that, we're so ready to be home.

They Won!

Well, would you believe it, the Cowboys won their game on Sunday! It just added to the thrill of it all for the boys (and Jake). Here's a picture of the boys with Jerry Jones, the manager of the cowboys. They got there early and manage to get a pic with him :). They had a blast, I was worried it was going to be too long for the boys but they had the best time and haven't stopped talking about it since. They'll be Cowboy fans for life now (Jake is very happy).

Yesterday all the men folk left to go hunting for a couple of days. John has a camper up on a piece of property where they can hunt for boar. I opted to stay back with Jude :). It's been really nice to have a bit of peace and quiet, catch up on email, blog, start on my Christmas cards (I know, it's only October) and of course watch some movies. Got to see "I am Legend" yesterday, freaky but really enjoyed it. Also enjoying sitting out on the balcony with a blanket and doing my devos with no interruptions. There was a frost last night so extra crispy this morning, but absolutely lovely.

Texas

We made it safe and sound to Texas lat night. It was a real long drive. The boys did great but we were certainly glad to get out of the car! There is only so much I-spy that I can take :).

 

Anyway we're at Jake's dad's right now, he has a beautiful house on about 20 acres. They have 2 miniature donkeys, 2 long horn steers and lots of dogs and cats. The weather is perfect, cool and crisp. I got up and went on a two mile jog this morning. I've been slacking doing my exercises since Jake went to India because I couldn't leave the kids by themselves so it felt great to get out for a run again. I had a great time just praising and talking with the Lord, looking at all his amazing creation. The horses in the fields were peering curiously at me over the fences. Everybody around here has at least 20 acres of land, my kinda of place :).

 

Jake is over the moon as ever since coming to the States he has been looking at tickets to go to Dallas Cowboy game. But even on ebay they have been gong for a couple hundred dollars so that is just out of the question. Anyway, Jake's dad knew a local DJ and asked him about getting some tickets and he said he'd see what he could do. Later on the DJ called up and said he managed to get four tickets and that my father-in-law needed to go pick them up from the office. When he got there, he found out that the tickets are on the fifty yard line, 39 rows up. So they're super close to the field. Jake, Josh, Seth, and Grandpa go tomorrow to enjoy the game. It's so nice to be walking in the favor of God. Now let's just hope that they win (not sure if I have that much faith!)

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Yeah!

Jake made it home safe and sound on Wednesday, it was so good to see him and of course the boys went crazy. Jude just stared at him :). Jake says that he's changed so much in the two weeks, that Jude's a lot bigger, he now has his top two teeth and he's crawling too. Anyway it's soooo nice to be back as a family again. Jake had an awesome time in India, he was kinda expecting it to be like Africa but it wasn't at all. A lot more built up in the cities and a lot poorer in the villages. People weren't quite as friendly and they never shout out at you as they do all the time in Cameroon (White Man!). But they were really receptive and had great turn outs to the crusades at night. They saw hundreds of people saved, so the pastors are super busy following up all the new converts. Jake got to be Pharmacist during the medical outreaches. He said he had a hard time with the language, he wanted to speak French to everyone that didn't speak English and of course they had no idea what he was talking about :).

Jake also got to meet Praveen (child in top picture, and oh yes, that is sweat!). He's an orphan that we've sponsored for the last few years, we always pray for him and get his letters but it was so awesome that Jake got to meet and spend some time with him. How cute is he!

Also the bottom picture is Jake with a water buffalo, he said they're everywhere. It funny because Jake was kinda scared of them and this is about as close as he would get to them (and he grew up on the farm). There was a lady on the team that is in her mid 70's (a real trooper) and Jake was looking though her pictures and she had one with her arm over a buffalo's neck :). Jake was pretty impressed.

Thursday we will be back on the road heading to Texas. Since Jake got back we've been visiting a lot of people, been really good. Had a lovely lunch with a family from Church today that support us, they're a real blessing! Great to have "family" wherever you go.

One more day

Jake gets home tomorrow, can't wait. Should be on the plane right now.

Jude started crawling 3 days ago, he is into everything! Looking forward to another pair of helping hands tomorrow :). Josh and Seth crack up every time he crawls, they think it's so funny. Had a fun morning, went over to a friend's house that home schools as well. We were planning on doing some school work but got to chatting and the kids were playing so we never got round to it. Her husband and her (plus their 4 kids) are seriously thinking about going on the mission field so it was great to talk and share some ideas and encouragement. Always gets me excited when I hear that the Lord is stirring up the hearts of people to get out on the mission field.

Fun in Florida

Today is Josh's 7th B-day (sorry no pictures, Jake's got the camera). We went to the beach, had a lot of fun. Josh got to chose where we had lunch so of course we went to Mickey D's. Hard to believe my baby's already 7, wow where has time gone! Done some other fun stuff this week. Went down to Manatee Grove. It was really awesome, the manatees actually came up right in front of us (a bunch of them) and stayed there for-ev-er. Whenever I've been their before I've never seen them close up. Also the boys went and played chess at the library which they absolutely loved. They can't wait till next week (ahh, boys after my own heart!).

All is going well with Jake. The team is super busy, they have a crusade at night that is over 3 hours away. So they have been getting back to the hotel around 3 in the morning and then there up and at 'em by 7am. But they have been having a lot of people coming and seeing many saved. They did some painting yesterday. Less than a week and he'll be back, yeah!

Good Friends!

Yeah!!! Heard from Jake late last night. They all arrived safe and sound in Andhra Pradesh after two days of travel. Jake's really enjoying it so far, said it's very different from Africa. Lots of people! He should be calling again in a few days, so glad he's enjoying himself.

Had a great day today, got to go to church, it was awesome! Great praise, great preaching! The kids had a blast in kids church too. Really looking forward to Wednesday night, it's just a night of praise and worship (Concert for One). Some good friends came up to me after church to give me a gift card for Kohls. They also asked to take the boys bowling while I went shopping, to which I gladly said a big fat yes! Had a great time picking out some much needed clothes and having a bit of time alone with Jude. They boys had a blast too, they'd been wanting to go bowling since playing it on the Wii at my brother's. Praise God for good friends.

Also got to see some other friends at church who I haven't seen for-ev-er, Marc and Andrea Pavcov and their two boys. Andrea was a leader on a TMI team Jake took to England in '96, so they go way back. We also used to hang out at their house when we were dating in Bible School (oh, the memories :). They were missionaries in Mozambique but their little boy fell down a deep well and they had to come back to the States for medical needs. Praise God, he is doing great now and they will be heading back to Mozambique next year. Andrea also homeschools so I might go hang out with her one morning while Jake's gone. Anyway you could check out their incrediable story at http://www.freewebs.com/mapavkov/nateswell.htm

Missing things...

Haven't heard from Jake yet, but no news is good news I guess. Hopefully we'll hear from him tomorrow. Other than that been doing well. My folks are going to render their house soon and asked me if I had the chance, to clear some of the bushes that are up against the house. So did that for a bit this afternoon, I had a big pair of shears and some snips but it was tough work. Boy, I really wanted a machete; I would have had it cleared in minutes! I'm definitely Cameroonianafied (if that's a word). Also been noticing how people don't greet each other in America much, hardly anyone shakes hands (and no one kisses on the cheek) and I kinda miss it. I also miss Cameroonian fruit, still haven't had a banana that I've enjoyed here yet, we're just too spoilt in Cameroon with the sweetest, most delicious bananas in the whole world :). So I am missing Cameroon but of course enjoying all the great stuff in the US too. Went "garage saleing" this morning (one of my favorite things to do), found some great deals and I don't get to do that in Cameroon very often :)