The First Step

The Lord has been teaching Josh and I so many things over the past year.  One of the main things is Josh has discovered that his passion to help people and serve the Lord through disaster response runs deep.  In different ways, the Lord has been shaping him, molding him and revealing gifts and abilities that allow Josh to serve and minister through disaster response.  Next week, Josh will be leaving Costa Rica to be part of a collaborative team with Food for the Hungry to do a week of Disaster Risk Reduction assessments in a village in Guatemala.  They will be working in a village in which FH wants to spread the love of Christ and His gospel through community development.  Although this will take Josh away from home for almost 2 weeks, it is a huge opportunity and first step towards what Josh has found to be a great passion.  I ask you to join me in praying for the team, the week they will spend in the village...that it will be fruitful, and that people will come to know the Lord through FH's work in the community.  This will be the first of many assessments throughout Central America, South America and the Caribbean.  

                                                         

Christmas and the Clinic

We had the great pleasure of going back to Georgia for two weeks to celebrate Christmas with our families.  It was wonderful to celebrate Christmas with some new and old traditions.  We celebrated with Josh's family and then mine.  Two highlights were seeing all of Josh's dad's family when Josh's dad had a fish fry the day after Christmas.  It was really fun to talk, catch up with some and meet others.  We also changed it up with my family a little this year and the "kids" (this is what we have called the 4 siblings who are now in their late 20's/early 30's since we were young) stayed in Atlanta and our parents drove to celebrate Christmas with us.  It was the first year in many that we have not driven to my mom's in Senoia and then my dad's in Columbus. My brother and sister-in-law wonderfully opened their home to us and we had a great time.  A great memory was that when we celebrated Christmas with my mom, we decided to not exchange gifts this year.  Instead, we  each came up with a Christmas family tradition to do together.   We had everything from hot chocolate and homemade egg nog, a yearly family photo in front of the tree, and the one that Josh and I did.  We decided to have a time of encouragement where people offer words of encouragement, say things they appreciate or have learned from/about another person this year.  It was a very sweet time.  Also, as my dad and step mom were able to drive from Houston up to Atlanta for a week, we were able to see them for several days instead of just a few hours like we normally do at Christmas.

The week after Christmas, I was able to work in a clinic as a physical therapist.  This was a huge blessing as I was a little nervous already that I had forgotten my skills.  After 2 years in a clinic full-time, it was so wonderful to get back into a clinic and get my hands dirty.  I am grateful for a company like the one I worked with before we moved that will let me stay on as a contract worker and have the opportunity to work when I am in town.

I praise the Lord for all the blessings He has given us, struggles and "good" things.  That includes the rich, sweet time we were able to spend with family and renewing the joy or using my skills in a clinic setting.