World's Biggest Fish Fry 2008

As many of you know, Paris is the home of the World's Biggest Fish Fry! It is a fun week here in Paris filled with carnival rides, a parade and many other exciting events. Although I was not there to take a picture of the Hostess Princess throwing out the first hushpuppy, I was able to capture several other exciting moments during Fish Fry week! Several of our family members even came to town to join us in the festivities. Here are some of the pictures!

Our crew watching the parade...thanks for the front row seats, Karen!

Thank you for the horns Nanny!

Caleb loved the silly string that Becky and Ginger gave all the kids!

We love the Tilt-a-Whirl!!!

The carnival rides were so much fun!

Bennett's first pony ride!

Caleb has done this before, and he was hollering out commands to Hocus Pocus (the same pony he rode last year...he requested him again this year by name)!

Shell and Aunt Natiley rode the Alpine Roller Coaster with the boys!

And I can't believe that I forgot to take a picture of us all eating lunch at the fish tent!!! It's sooo yummy! This was our favorite Fish Fry week yet! We can't wait until next year!

The Living Word

This past weekend I had the privilege of playing my French horn in a beautiful presentation at First Baptist Paris titled, In His Own Words. Before our first performance, a letter from the composer, Dan Goeller, was shared with us. I thought his words beautifully communicated exactly what I've experienced through my quiet time especially these last few months. I wanted to share part of that letter with you.

"I suppose it shouldn't surprise us that Scripture has the unique ability to continue to inspire, challenge, teach, and encourage us. I have been repeatedly convicted of the truth that the Bible is a LIVING WORD, not just words on a page. The Scriptures are unlike any other book or document ever written by man. So much emphasis, in our modern church, is placed on "this new book" or "that new teacher", etc. And God is certainly communicating through authors, pastors, teachers, and their writings and teachings. But the thought that God inspired the Words in the Bible so that He could continue to communicate with each of us, in a personal way, is a miraculous demonstration of His love for us." Dan Goeller

Wow! Let's not neglect our own personal time in God's Living Word! He has so much He wants to tell us about who He is and His plan for our lives! What a blessing it is to not be part of a religion, but an intimate relationship with a loving Father and Almighty God!!!

Praise Report!

God has proved Himself faithful again as He always will! We are approved for the loan and the paperwork is being processed! Thank all of you who have prayed so faithfully with us! Another note of praise, this Saturday the leaders of the Carpenters for Christ teams will be coming together with us here in Paris to make preparations for their visits this summer. Please pray with us for their safe travel! And finally, if any of you were watching the weather yesterday, we should have gotten more rain. But by the power of God's mighty hand, it was diverted from our area and the building site stayed dry in order for the guys to continue working today!!!

Still Waiting!

Our church is still waiting on a definite answer from the bank, on a final cost estimate, and on dirt work to be at the point where we can get ready to pour concrete...as a little doubt and frustration began to creep in, God gave me another timely verse in my quiet time.

Psalm 39:7, "Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you."

How perfect! My hope is not in banks, contractors or any other thing. My hope is in You, Lord. You alone have brought us here, and You alone will complete this in Your perfect timing! I'm excited to see exactly how He works everything out in order for His glory to be revealed in the most amazing and powerful way!

2008 Titans Caravan!

Monday afternoon the Tennessee Titans caravan rolled through Paris! Corey remembered just in time, and we loaded up the boys and headed to Ace's Pizza to meet the Titans pro-bowler defensive end, Kyle Vanden Bosch. (He was HUGE, by the way!) Caleb was so excited to meet a real football player. Bennett didn't really get excited until we saw T-Rac come off the bus, but at that point his excitement grew also. There is an article about it with our picture on the Henry Countian website http://www.henrycountian.com/news.php?viewStory=1849

Here are a few pictures we took. And a friend happened to be there when we met him and took a picture of all four of us with Kyle. I'll post that once I get it! Caleb is making his tough football player face in the second picture :)

BOYS + MUD= FUN!!!

It's a simple mathematical equation: BOYS + MUD=FUN! Corey has been out of town all week working on one of his doctoral seminars in Kansas City. I knew that my boys would miss the rough housing and "guy time" with dad while he was gone. Last time he went to his seminar, I ended up with lots of bumps and bruises from trying to play rough with them like Corey does. Women and men were definitely created differently! So this time, as the need for boyish fun had reached its peak, I had a wonderful alternative. Thanks to the large amount of rain we've had in recent weeks and a part of our backyard that doesn't drain very well, they had "mud time." They LOVED it! Corey if you read this before you get home, sorry about the mud all over the side of the shop, but it needed to be pressure washed anyhow :)

Fun Weekend with Friends

This weekend we had the privilege of having three of our former youth from Bemis and a friend from our Honduras trip last year coming to stay with us. They arrived Friday night and were able to stay through church Sunday morning! We had such a great time, and the boys absolutely loved it! Saturday night, they watched the boys so Corey and I could enjoy a nice quiet dinner date...thanks so much! It is a blessing to Corey and me to see these young women who have grown so much in their spiritual walks. When you invest your lives in people, it is wonderful to see spiritual fruit in their lives. I think one of the most exciting moments for us in this respect was last year when we went to Honduras and these girls, along with a few of our other youth, were serving, ministering and witnessing to the Honduran people. It brought us such great joy to see them following Jesus! Here are a few fun pictures from our weekend.