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Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,
It's been a busy month since our last blog post, which means lots of pictures and at least one good story.
During the last week of July a group of students from First Baptist Greeneville came and served with us as part of "Putting Together the Pieces", a youth summer missions focus. They were a great group, and it was a blessing to have their help. The guys helped us pick up donated stoves and refrigerators, and the girls helped fold clothes and sort dishes.
Our August food distribution the first Thursday in August went well. It's harvest time, so our friends were blessed with an abundance of summer produce!
Meredith and Lily took a little summer vacation to North Carolina to relax and spend time with family. Daniel took his week of summer vacation to work on house stuff.
Ministry at the Storehouse has been steady. We've seen an influx of migrant workers coming through over the last couple of weeks, which has prompted some healthy discussion about how we ought to best reach out to this unique group of transients. Our heart's desire is to make the gospel known to men and women of every tribe, tongue, and nation, and it's unique to have the "nations" coming to your door. Please be in prayer that we would make the most of this opportunity while it lasts.
Here's a story from this week about the Lord's provision. A single mom and her son have been living with one of our local pastor friends and his family. They've been helping her get back on her feet, and now she's ready to move back out into her own apartment. This pastor called Charlie just the other day to ask if we had any furniture to help the young woman get started again. We had none that day, but Charlie said he'd be on the lookout and call when something came available. On Tuesday afternoon we got a call from a lady wanting to donate some couches and other items, and asking if we could come pick them up. PJ (a volunteer) and I took the truck and went immediately to get them. This kind lady donated more than enough stuff to furnish a starter apartment, and it was nicer quality than some of our other donations. Charlie called our pastor friend and let him know the Lord had provided, and we have enough furniture to help the single mom get started again. It's a joy to watch the Lord provide in tangible ways for real people with real needs, and it's a privilege to have a part in it. Thank you for making it possible!
This Fall I will be teaching a class on spiritual disciplines at the Seminary Extension with our local Baptist Association. I'm looking forward to teaching some local bi-vocational pastors and church leaders, and thankful for the opportunity to get my foot in the relational door with pastor training. Please pray for me as I prepare to teach this class and pray that God would use it to open relational doors with these bi-vocational pastors and for the Association at large.
In our home life, on Thursday our precious Lily turns two!! She's a blessing from the Lord and we are thankful for her every day. We could not imagine life without her and we are so blessed that the Lord made her especially for us.
We've got a number of leadership training opportunities we're working hard to launch this fall in addition to Daniel teaching with Seminary Extension. Please be praying the Lord would allow some theories to take shape and move from ideas to reality. More details in the next post.
Daniel will be teaching a class in the Seminary Extension with the local Baptist association this fall. Class begins September 4th, so please be praying as he prepares for that class.
Praise the Lord with us for Lily's birthday (pics to come), and pray that we would continue to train her in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,
It's been a busy month since our last blog post, which means lots of pictures and at least one good story.
During the last week of July a group of students from First Baptist Greeneville came and served with us as part of "Putting Together the Pieces", a youth summer missions focus. They were a great group, and it was a blessing to have their help. The guys helped us pick up donated stoves and refrigerators, and the girls helped fold clothes and sort dishes.
Our August food distribution the first Thursday in August went well. It's harvest time, so our friends were blessed with an abundance of summer produce!
Meredith and Lily took a little summer vacation to North Carolina to relax and spend time with family. Daniel took his week of summer vacation to work on house stuff.
Lily has changed a lot in 1 year. She was so afraid of the water last year and now she loves it!
The thing she enjoyed the most at the pool was the slide!
Lily enjoyed the Marbles Museum while she and Meredith were in Raleigh!
Lily and her friend Anabelle!
Lily had her 2 year old birthday party with family while she was home!
For her first birthday she did not like the cake, this year, she was a little more interested:)
Lily and her Meeme:)
Lily giving her friend Tucker Williams a hug (and a few kisses!:))
Here's a story from this week about the Lord's provision. A single mom and her son have been living with one of our local pastor friends and his family. They've been helping her get back on her feet, and now she's ready to move back out into her own apartment. This pastor called Charlie just the other day to ask if we had any furniture to help the young woman get started again. We had none that day, but Charlie said he'd be on the lookout and call when something came available. On Tuesday afternoon we got a call from a lady wanting to donate some couches and other items, and asking if we could come pick them up. PJ (a volunteer) and I took the truck and went immediately to get them. This kind lady donated more than enough stuff to furnish a starter apartment, and it was nicer quality than some of our other donations. Charlie called our pastor friend and let him know the Lord had provided, and we have enough furniture to help the single mom get started again. It's a joy to watch the Lord provide in tangible ways for real people with real needs, and it's a privilege to have a part in it. Thank you for making it possible!
This Fall I will be teaching a class on spiritual disciplines at the Seminary Extension with our local Baptist Association. I'm looking forward to teaching some local bi-vocational pastors and church leaders, and thankful for the opportunity to get my foot in the relational door with pastor training. Please pray for me as I prepare to teach this class and pray that God would use it to open relational doors with these bi-vocational pastors and for the Association at large.
In our home life, on Thursday our precious Lily turns two!! She's a blessing from the Lord and we are thankful for her every day. We could not imagine life without her and we are so blessed that the Lord made her especially for us.
Lily and Daddy drinking their morning coffee together! Lily is starting to be interested in pretend play so she is pretending that she has coffee to drink:)
We were really blessed to have Lily's "Papa" Joe around for 6 weeks this summer. She really enjoyed seeing him everyday and is missing him now that he is back in NC!
She was not too crazy about the tractor!
Things You Can Be Praying For:
We've got a number of leadership training opportunities we're working hard to launch this fall in addition to Daniel teaching with Seminary Extension. Please be praying the Lord would allow some theories to take shape and move from ideas to reality. More details in the next post.
Daniel will be teaching a class in the Seminary Extension with the local Baptist association this fall. Class begins September 4th, so please be praying as he prepares for that class.
Praise the Lord with us for Lily's birthday (pics to come), and pray that we would continue to train her in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
