I sat in a meeting the other day, and we were asked to get into groups of 3 and tell each other something very unusual about ourselves….not something everyone would know or can see about us. Is it just me? Or does anyone else dislike being put on the spot to come up with something like this immediately? I mean, now that I’ve had time to actually think about it, why didn’t I say….
I walked on to the tennis team at the University of North Texas my freshman year and made the team…..
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How I spent the summer of ’97 (’98 and 3 weeks in ’99 for that matter) in Spain…but that’s not the story. See the 2nd girl from the left? (That’s me in middle.) The 2nd girl from the left is Beth. This was in Barcelona in ’97. We were living in Zaragoza. I was in a bank in Seville, Spain the summer of ’99, and I ran into her there. We were both there with totally different ministries that took us there the summer of ’97. Oh, but it gets better than that! 6 years later, Dwayne and I are sitting in an area of Prestonwood (www.prestonwood.org) where you can sit with babies who make noises. There are 30,000 members at Prestonwood. We had 3 week old twins at the time, and this girl comes over to look at the babies in the stroller. At first I just saw her from the back as she was peering in to see them, but then she turned…I’m sure to ask about them, and we both exclaimed each other’s names at the same time! She has a daughter one month younger than Abby Grace, and that very day they were in the same class in the nursery! Beth and I are in the same Bible Fellowship class, and I know God wanted our paths to cross for a reason!
Here’s my girl, Abby Grace, and her girl, Brooke, celebrating at Abby Grace’s 4th birthday party!
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I walked the Camino de Santiago (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_of_St._James) the summer of ’98. Our group walked 12-15 miles per day for a week and slept in tents each night. Here I am with my small group (We were part of a much larger group, but I do not remember how many now.). I am 2nd from the left wearing a cap.
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The times I was with groups like this one, and we purchased cigars from the “black market”. Did I just write that?
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How I ran into this dear friend in Moscow in 2000, and then in 2006, we traveled to Belarus on a mission trip together, and we went into “The Zone” near Chernobyl….
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This reminds me of when this sweet friend and I made it to the Gulf of Finland one FREEZING day in MAY! No, I’m not really that happy here. It was COLD! Ice was blowing off the water and hitting us in the face.
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The Gulf of Finland thing happened after this Russian lady and I became friends, and I ended up sharing God’s Rescue Plan to an auditorium filled with children and teachers after our group had been denied access to the school where she taught. She brought me these “tulpans” as I was boarding our train out of her city. She also gave me a crystal flask which Dwayne and I posed with in one of our wedding pictures.
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One funny evening in Spain, this friend and I met this man who raises the bulls which later go to the bull ring. He gave us some of the tools the matador uses. These had blood on them and all! He also placed these hats on our heads just for the photo. We took these “tools” home in our luggage! I don’t think we’d get past security with them now. I kept them for a while, but at some point threw them out. Probably should have kept them. What a conversation piece!
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When I experienced an hour’s ride up a mountain in the jungle of El Salvador standing in the back of a truck similar to this one so we could take the Good News to the people there.
No, I didn’t mention any of these things or any others that are flooding my mind now. You want to know what I said? I spoke about how I had FOUR kiddos in less than 3 years. While I was hearing the cool things others were sharing, I began to think, “Why didn’t I say this?” or “Why didn’t I say that?” Well, I guess it is because God has allowed these 4 cuties to call me Mom.
Before I know it, they will be grown and out of our house. I guess when I’m asked to share something about myself, this Fabulous Four are the first thing that comes to mind. So while none of those ladies present know any of the interesting facts above or any other I can conjure up, they do know that I am mom to 4 amazing kiddos. Thank you, Lord, for entrusting them to our care. Give us wisdom to lead them to You.