Almost the First of December!

The days are cooler, the leaves are falling to the ground, our Christmas decorations are up, Thanksgiving has come and gone, my mom bought me a bathrobe and slippers so that I'd stop complaining about the cold...I've been home for six months. That really is incredible! I can hardly believe it!

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with my family! There were a couple of very cute pictures that were taken, but I think they are on Emily's camera so I'll have to wait until I can get them from her.

This week I am working on school work...isn't that a surprise! I have now finished my final exam for my church history class. That means that I only have one weekend of class left, one final exam (New Testament Survey), one more quiz, and one research paper! It is nice to be able to see the end in sight! Yesterday, I worked on some research for my last paper. I have a friend from church who is attending Regent University, an evangelical university, in Virginia Beach. Since mom needed to go over that way, I rode along with her and was able to use the library at Regent. My friend checked a few books out for me, which was a real blessing. I also got a few from Gordon-Conwell when I was there a couple of weeks ago, so I should be set for my paper...with the exception of the need for an outline and the reading and the writing...HA, HA!

Tomorrow, I will be going to Rockingham County, North Carolina. The county where I lived and taught before going to Bolivia. I plan to be there until next Wednesday, although I do need to drive down to Charlotte for class this weekend. It is only a couple of hours from there so that isn't too bad. It will help to break up the trip a bit. I haven't heard anything about the couple of people interested in seeing the condominium. I will look into that while I'm in town. Please continue to pray for the sale of the property! You can also pray for safety as I travel and for strength. It is always a little tiring for me to be travelling and meeting lots of new people. I will have the chance to see old friends, but there will be new ones as well. I am scheduled to speak at one of my supporting churches in Eden and a friend of mine asked me to speak in one of her high school special education classes! God is opening some exciting doors! There is also a woman living in Eden who is from Bolivia, near Santa Cruz. Her husband is from the states, but lived in Bolivia for a short time after they were married. We will be having dinner on Sunday night, after they come to hear me speak. I am looking forward to meeting these new friends!

I know this begins a very hectic season for all of you as well! I will be praying for each of you as you seek to follow God's will and spread His love to others, particularly in this Christmas season, which can be so stressful! Blessings to you all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

...well almost! I guess we still have a couple of days until turkey day, but not many! I can't wait! I've been about to burst with excitment for Thanksgiving Day and then all of the holiday festivities that will take place after that! While we were at Virginia Beach last week, they were getting ready for their festival of lights which they set up on the boardwalk. They were testing them out the last night that we were there so we walked along and looked at them! It was so beautiful! I'm certainly not implying that we should skip Thanksgiving Day, but I love that Christmas lights are starting to go up and that many radio stations are playing Christmas music. These aren't very common things in Bolivia, not to mention the typical 95 degree weather, really just means that for the last few years Christmas has not exactly felt like CHRISTMAS! In any case, it is especially exciting for me this year.

Today I am all decked out in my Thanksgiving vest and an orange shirt. My mom is too! We dressed like twins today for a special lunch at my dad's school and then I came with her to work this evening. She doesn't have to work tomorrow and she is very excited (as am I)! Of course, I plan to spend most of the day moving the boxes that I dumped in the guestroom so that Emily, Christopher, and Wesley will have a place to sleep when they come up on Thursday. It will be nice to have them here.

Before I forget, I wanted to let you know that I talked to my real estate agent today. He told me that he has a couple of people who have requested to see my condominium and he is working on setting up an appointment with them. Please pray for those meetings in particular and continue to pray that God would lead the right buyer at the right time!

I am also very glad to report that I only have one more weekend of class! That is a very nice thought! Thank you to all of you who prayed for me last week as I was finishing up my research paper. Praise the Lord, He gave me the strength to get it through and I was able to enjoy the rest of the time at the beach. Other than the remaining weekend, I only have one more research paper, two final exams, and a quiz left to take! Another reason to look forward to the upcoming holidays!

Well, I guess that's all for this week! I know I say this many times, but in the spirit of this upcoming very special day, I want to say once again how thankful I am for each one of you. God uses you in so many different ways (both small and huge)...more than you'll ever know. There have been so many times when letters, email, and/or money have arrived for me at the house, reminding me that you are thinking of and praying for me. Of course, these things always come at the exact moment that I need them! Isn't God's timing perfect?!?! I pray that each of you have a very wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the fellowship of family and friends this holiday season!

Greetings to all! I apologize that I haven't up-dated my blog in a couple of weeks. Last week I simply forgot until about Friday, at which time I decided I would just wait until Monday. However, Monday came and went and then I realized today that I still haven't up-dated my blog, so here I am. I have been rather preoccupied with a research paper that I needed to complete this week for my Theology Survey class. Praise the Lord I was able to complete the paper today and emailed it to my professor this afternoon. I am very glad to have that behind me. This week I am with my family at Virginia Beach. Emily, Christopher, and Wesley came as well. Christopher had to go home on Monday to go back to work after the long weekend. Emily and Wesley stayed with us and I will take them back to North Carolina on Thursday, since I have to go down for class this weekend anyway. This will be the last weekend of my Church History class. After this weekend, I will only have one weekend of my New Testament Survey class left, plus two final exams, a research paper, and a quiz. I still have plenty of work to keep me busy, but I am thankful for the light at the end of the tunnel. Well, Emily is waiting for me because we are going shopping, so I guess I will make this up-date a short one. I will plan to write a little more on Monday and maybe I'll even have a couple of pictures of us here at the beach! Blessings to you all!