Friday, January 30, 2009

Back to MS

Hello All;

Shaun and I are back home and back to work. We made it out of Texas before the crazy ice storm hit. Our friends back home got 3 days off of work due to the storm. SO jealous! Due to the storm, we didn't get to see everyone that we had hoped to see. But, no fear, we will return again or ya'll can come see us here!

We spent all of our time in Wichita Falls this time. We spent lots of time with family and even managed to see a few good friends. It was so good to get to see all the family. We didn't take many pictures, but I did manage to get a picture of Jidi and Siti. They are enjoying their new home at Rolling Meadows. That place is such a nice retirement home! No cooking, no cleaning, and seriously, they have good food. While we were there Jidi's long time friend, Sammie Kouri passed away. Please keep Sammie's wife and family in your prayers.

We left early Monday morning and headed to Fort Worth. Our plan was to stay the night there and leave out for MS on Tuesday morning, but due to the ice storm, we ended up driving to Shreveport and spending the night. So I missed seeing Danielle on her birthday, sorry Chic! And, I missed seeing Steph, can we say double bummer?! Maddie and Alec, we'll see you guys this summer!!!

We did manage to run by the Fort Worth Boys and girls Club to take the pictures that we needed to create the promo video for our summer mission trip. The kids were awesome and I can't wait until this summer. It will be such a great experience for our students here at Cross Culture to see and serve.
Being in the area and in the Club really made Shaun and I miss our old life in Fort Worth. Serving the kids in the Club and at Alliance for Children was such an honor and a blessing to us. We are so grateful for that chapter of our life and know that it prepared us for the chapter that we are in now, but we still miss it.

Serving the Church here is a completely different environment. The needs of the people we serve are very different and we are grateful to be serving, but still learning how to meet all the needs. Our Church is continuing to see growth and lives are being changed. It is all moving very quickly. We have had our first funeral and Saturday, Shaun is officiating his first wedding. In April, we will launch our celebrate recovery ministry and the counseling ministry is beginning to take shape for me as well. Please continue to pray for Mosaic and for the people we serve. Also, please pray for the Staff. We are few and the needs are many.
We ate TONS of Mexican food while we were in Texas and even stocked up on supplies like REAL hot sauce and supplies to make Lebanese food. For those of you dying to know.... yes, Shaun got his beloved Taco Casa fix, twice! Once in Wichita Falls and as we drove out of the metroplex, our "last" meal was Taco Casa, of course. Check out the commemorative photos Shaun took of our last meal. Beloved taco.....

Beloved Taco Casa......

So, that pretty much is the latest update for us. We are gearing up for this weekend. It was good to have the weekend off, but back to work.

Love,

Jess and Shaun

PS: We didn't take the pups with us when we came home. Dustin took care of them for us and they are now even MORE rotten. But, we missed them! Check out the photos Shaun took of them.





Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Southbound 35!

Okay loyal readers!

We are officially heading to Texas. We roll out at 3:30 AM Thursday morning. Taco Casa beware!

We are headed straight to big Wichita Falls and should arrive late Thursday evening. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and we will be traveling without the pups!

We look forward to seeing all the family for our delayed Christmas! It has been a couple of crazy weeks and we are looking forward to resting, eating Mexican, and drinking a couple of Shiners!

Exciting news for when we get back.... Shaun is doing his first wedding. Crazy huh?!? Things are moving so fast here, but it is an awesome ride!

We head back home on Monday.

Love,
Jess

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Back home

Hello Everyone!

I made it back to Mississippi in one piece and with my suitcase! Thank God for small miracles! Shaun picked me up at the airport in Gulfport: wearing a lion costume! Yes, that is right, a lion costume! Everyone at the baggage claim was hanging around to see my reaction. It was funny but embarrassing! He also had a sign that read: I missed you and I'm not lion.. get it?!?!

I am attaching pictures of the new Mo Kids set as well as pictures of our home group. Our home group did an awesome job at the church ministry fair. They came up with the theme for our booth and recruited new members. Check out the theme!
We are recruiting volunteers this weekend. I am hoping that we have a ton of volunteers sign up to serve in Mosaic Kids! We had a record number of people attend this past weekend. We had almost 500 people! The Kids area was almost 130! Our 11:00 service was super packed. Our 9:00 still needs to grow, but it is growing slowly. The kids are having fun learning about resourcefulness and it is fun to incorporate the tool time theme, complete with videos from Home Improvement. Check out the set photos.

Last, but certainly not least, I am attaching a few pictures from our day in New Orleans with Stella and Dennis. It was so great to have them here with us. We hope that they enjoyed the Coast and come back soon, maybe even for Mardi Gras?!?!



We are looking forward to this weekend. However, we have experienced our first death of a church member and will be experiencing our first funeral this Friday. Please continue to pray for the church and the staff.
Blessings,
Jess

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Hello from Virginia

Happy Wednesday!

I am up at Liberty at school this week. It is supposed to snow and really snow here tomorrow. How exciting! I am completing my last intensive and will fly home on Saturday. My flight here was AWFUL! My first plane was late in taking off, so I missed my connecting flight in Atlanta. I barely caught a flight to Charlottesville, VA., where I had to rent a car and drive 2 hours to Lynchburg. By the time I arrived, it was 2:30 in the morning. They also lost my suitcase, so I had to go and buy some things to get me by. My suitcase finally arrived at 11 pm on Monday.

So, yeah, I have clothes and my toothbrush! Class is going well, but it is very intense and hard. I literally spend all morning is class and then the afternoon is spent doing sessions and diagnosing clients. It is very good, but is very draining. It ends Friday afternoon. And then I fly home on Saturday. Yeah!

This past week, we were lucky enough to have Shaun's parents come in and stay with us. It was really good to see them and have them here. We visited the casinos and Shaun won the money that he put in. We also introduced them to some local favorites and the bubble tea. We even went to New Orleans. It was crazy busy due to all the Alabama fans. It was the day of the Sugar Bowl. I know now that Alabama are very obnoxious! WAY worse than Texas fans! There will be a couple picts of our day in N'Orleans posted soon.

We began a new series in Mo Kids based on Tool Time from Home Improvement. The focus is on resourcefulness: using what you have to get the job done. Picts will come once I get back home.

Please be in prayer for the Church and for us. And that all goes smoothly with my flight home! Shaun's latest message is online, check it out at www.mosaicchurchgulfcoast.com

We love you guys!
Jess