We Are Home!

Our trip to Thomaston Georgia was a complete success, I would say. We learned so much through the course For Their Life at the Be In Health campus.

We met some wonderful people while we were there. It was very hard to say good-bye on Friday night. We all just wanted to linger and hang out with each other just a little longer. It was such a blessing to be around so many believers who are all on similar paths.

There was grace to leave our children in the wonderful care of my mother. I barely cried waving good-bye to all those sweet faces waving in the driveway.

Before we left we prayed with the children and I just had such a sense that we were going to have such favor and our trip was going to be blessed. It was! I think all of our flights to and fro were either early or on time and without incidence. I am usually a little anxious about flying and leaving my babies, but once I dealt with the spirit of fear I was perfectly at peace.

The picture is blurry, but I think you can still see how pretty Elizabeth is!

Before we settled into our little cabin in Thomaston we met with Elizabeth. A sweet friend that I have grown to love from blog world. This sweet thing drove 2 hours just to meet us! We had an awesome time of fellowship. As we shared from our lives, she encouraged us so much. She has ten children and they are a little older than ours, so it was such a treat to talk to someone with very similar convictions who is a little further down the road than us. She was so sweet. She brought us a few things from Georgia. Georgia pecans and peanuts, yum! A branch of cotton for the children to see and feel. A copy of Facing the Giants, which was filmed, in part, right in their neighborhood! Love you Elizabeth!!

Our first day full day in Thomaston was Sunday. We attended Pleasant Valley Church which is affiliated with Be In Health. It was a treat to worship with believers who believe in the WHOLE bible, including the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The meeting was very much like the New Testament church, which it what Brian and I have desired for years now. It was simply very cool to actually 'see' a body operating like this.

Monday began with our first class and it was a whirlwind from there. We learned so much! It was awesome to be sitting under such scriptural teaching all day long! We could not take notes quickly enough. The Holy Spirit spoke so much to our hearts. There was much conviction, encouragement and hope all week long.

I hope to be able to share some of the gazillion things we learned, but I can some it up into one word, LOVE! The Father's love, Jesus' love, our love for one another, how to minister the love of the Father, on and on, with love. Now, don't get me wrong, there was a ton of other stuff, but this is what struck me most.

Natalieh!

We met an adorable blog friend in person. Her name is Natalieh. She is the most wonderfully sweet Godly young woman I know. She has such a sweet spirit about her. She is only 24, could not believe her maturity and love for the Lord. I told her I would LOVE to have her as my daughter, she is so precious! We got to be with her a lot, but not nearly enough, if that makes sense. I LOVE you Natalieh!

Gloria

On Tuesday, we went to Gloria's home for dinner. Gloria is a wonderful home school Mama who I met through blogging. It turns out she also had been to For My Life. When I went through it, she was able to encourage me and keep me on the straight and narrow. I was able to pass on some of the advice she gave me this past week. We were greeted by her lovely family and a wonderful simple and delicious meal. They home school and have three very precious children who are so smart and entrepreneurial minded. We were so impressed! Her daughter Julia has her own jewelry business. Her boys have written a few books, check out their Warfare by Duct Tape. The boys showed us all the 'weapons' they have created. We had a wonderful time with them. It was hard to pull ourselves away around 9:00. We were so tired, but the fellowship was so sweet.

The rest of the week was filled, and I mean filled with awesome teaching, worship and fellowship.

This is a 'short' (ha ha) recap of our week. I want to be able to share some of the very specific things the Lord showed me during this week. I am trying to keep my focus on this ministry of being a mama, so be patient with me, okay? I wish we could all get together for a whole day and just share!