A Special Day in the Life of our Church

Tonight was a very special night for our family and our church family.  We held our "particularization" service which means we are no longer a church plant, but an official church.  We officially installed our pastors and ordained Elders and Deacons.  It was an exciting night!  I am proud of my husband.  He spent 11 weeks in training, took a written exam as well as an oral exam to meet the criteria of becoming an Elder.  I am thankful for the men that he will service along side of and I pray that the Lord will guide these men as they lead our church.

 

Our last day...

When we went to bed last night it looked like rain until lunch and then clear skies afterwards.  What a sweet surprise to wake up to clear skies this morning.  Today was our prettiest day this week.  The temperature was a little warmer and the sun was out all day.  It was a wonderful day to finish out our week.  I am always amazed at how quickly this week goes by.

Uncle Greg serves us well every single day but putting the tents up to keep us cool and shaded.

Searching for sharks teeth.

This is a Portuguese man o'war.  These are supposedly very dangerous.  We spotted 3 washed ashore this week...scary!

After several hours on the beach, we headed to the pool.  The adults sat under the shaded area while the kids swam and played games.  I actually read a little of my book.  I laughed...until last year, at least one kid took a nap.  Andy always took the kids home so that I could sit on the beach or by the pool to read.  Now they stay out all day which is awesome but momma hasn't been doing too much reading...oh well!  It's been a blast.  I am thankful for their ages this summer, they are a lot of fun!  Here's to summer 2020!

Vacay Day 6

We knew today was gonna have a rainy start but what we didn't know was that Tropical Storm Bertha would move through the area.  I felt like I was living a Dorthea Benton Frank book where the characters didn't get off the island in time and had to ride out the hurricane at the beach.  The wind and rain were crazy!  Thankfully after lunch, the rain went away.  We headed out to the beach for a windy and cloudy day.  Around 4pm, the sun came out.  It was really nice.

We headed to the pool to finish the day.  I caught this picture of Caroline and thought to myself, this is what I have to look forward to...she said the water was too cold so she sat on the side and watched.  Not Maggie, she swam and swam her little heart out!

Vacay Day 5

There really are some sweet blessings in not being able to sleep in.  This morning, I noticed a bright orange color coming from the top of the window.  I looked outside to realize I was just in time for the sunrise.  Andy heard me get up and joined me outside as we watched the most vibrant sun rise over the ocean.  I also enjoyed a beautiful quiet time with the Lord.  It reminded me of the many mornings Mema and I shared this very porch as we sat and had quiet time with the Lord.  When life seems overwhelming, seeing a sunrise reminds me that an all knowing and all powerful God is in control!

We enjoyed another fun morning. We didn't get much time on the beach because of the cool temps and the rain but it was fun nonetheless.

Caroline is quite the fisherman with her net.  She caught a rather large fish for the shore catching.  Maggie has yet to catch a fish.  Andy tried, his net right beside Caroline and still didn't catch anything.  He attempted to trick them by taking a fish from the bucket and adding it to the net but Caroline caught him in action. 

We headed to the Hammock Shops for a trip to the Candy Shop as well as the fudge shop.  Of course, we wore our masks.  It wasn't fun.  Maggie freaked out. It was her first time in a store since March 15 and it was extremely overwhelming for her.  She and I stayed outside while Andy and Caroline visited the fudge shop. 

Once we returned home, we went crabbing. The kids thought it was great but grew tired of waiting rather quickly.  Collin and Caroline were extremely patient while Maggie and Parker lost interest quickly.  No crabs were caught but we had fun!

We had a relaxing evening at home playing games.  Thankful for family time!  Momma is tired...it's hard doing nothing all day! :-)

Vacay Day 4

Today started out extremely cool and windy!  However, I was determined that we were going to enjoy a fun morning on the beach.  The girls didn't complain about the weather and had an awesome time.  Shortly after lunch the sun came out and it was gorgeous!  I was thankful that we stuck it out. 

My girl and I enjoyed some sweet time in the sand chatting.

This is as far as we all got in...ankles only.  The water was extremely rough and cold when wet. I played in the sand and jumped waves yesterday but not today.

Mrs. Connie took lunch orders and brought lunch to the pool.  The kids loved that!

Sitting around, waiting for dinner.  It's hard work sitting on the beach and lounging by the pool all day.  We have all showered and pretty lazy at this point! It was an early evening...everybody is already in bed and I won't be too far behind.

Vacay Day 3

We started this wonderful day with FB Live Family Worship with our church.  It was so good to be with our church family even while we are at the beach.  Mags decided to take a power nap and I loved every single minute of snuggle time with her!

Then we suited and sun-screened up for the day.  We stayed out all day-playing in the sand, taking beach walks and swimming!  We could not have asked for a better day!

Grace decided she needed a little extra help swimming so she used a pool float that we brought. 

The girls have absolutely LOVED playing card games with Joy Joy and Teresa!  Lots of laughs have been had!

Caroline gave Teresa pig tails just like she and Maggie had.

We ended the day with puzzles and games.  It was a good day!

Vacay Day 2

This trip to the beach is always the hardest.  We have to load all of our stuff from the house to take to the beach/pool.  Once we leave the beach/pool today, we get to leave all of our items at the condo which is much closer to the beach.  The Lord blessed us with a gorgeous day.  The beach is a little crowded but still we had plenty of space to spread out.  We're hoping everyone goes home on Monday so we can have our semi private beach back. :-)

We came in off the beach early to prepare for Jack and Grace's graduation celebration.  It's crazy to think that they graduate today and that we don't get to be there.  We are so proud of them and wanted very much to make this a special time for them.  They were a wee bit embarrass to mission completion!