Wednesday, July 24, 2013

A Shower for Hosea and other happenings...

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Lily likes to hear her baby brother's heartbeat!
Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

Thank you for praying for my brother Josh and his wife Rebecca during their time of loss.  Cora blessed more people than she'll ever know, and the celebration of her life went very well.  They've been well supported, and the Lord is blessing their family.  You can follow their story here.

We spent most of the week of July 4th in NC with family.  Since we got back it's been a fun-filled, fast paced couple of weeks.  This Saturday, there's a baby shower for Hosea at Meredith's parent's house in Wendell, NC.  If you're in that part of the world and have a few minutes, please drop in and say "Hi!", we'd love to see you.  It's a floating shower from 10am-Noon.  

One of our clients this month was a battered wife, which isn't uncommon.  But in this case the police put her husband in jail (good), but he was the bread-winner, so she was left with no money to pay the rent.  They lost what little they had, but we were blessed to be a part of helping her start over.
This week is "Putting Together the Pieces" (PTP) week at First Baptist Greeneville.  Students who want to go on the youth travel-to mission trip are also asked to participate in a week of local missions.  It's a great way to expose kids to the lostness and the needs in their own community, and to bring home the concept that "missions" is everyday! 
Ladies helped resort and reorganize clothes.

The guys did a great job of reorganizing shirts that had gotten all out of order!

They also helped us catch up on the weed-eating.

And beat the grass into submission, since it was deep and almost too wet to cut.  It looks great now!
After a busy morning of "helping" at the Storehouse, Lily decided to relax a bit.  When I asked her what she was doing, she said "I'm all sweaty and I just need to rest a minute!"


Our BTCL class plus Lily, (L-R) Charlie, Gordon, me, Lily, and Troy.  This week we're watching and evaluating our sermons, which is a difficult and helpful part of the learning process!  I'm stoked these guys have stuck it out and worked hard, and they're definitely grow by God's grace.
Meredith is 30 weeks pregnant on Thursday and looking great!
Lily loves the water, so one hot Saturday we went to Big Lots and got a pool.

Things in the garden are starting to ripen and Lily loves cucumbers, even the really big ones!

A new game she discovered was standing in front of the fan and letting it blow her hair!
One Sunday morning, God gave us a stunning complete rainbow right behind our house!

Things you can be praying for this week:

1.  On Friday, we will be making a mad dash to NC for the baby shower.  We're planning to drive back Saturday afternoon after the shower, so please pray the Lord grants us safe travels.

2.  As we get ready to wrap up our BTCL preaching class, please pray for the Lord's direction for the next class and his blessing on these guys as they continue to grow in their preaching skills.

3.  Next week, we'll be building a ramp for a disabled gentleman.  More on that next time, but please pray the Lord blesses the project and it comes together smoothly.

4.  At home, please continue to pray for Meredith and baby Hosea.  Meredith is feeling pretty good, but she's starting to have trouble getting comfortable enough to sleep.  Please pray she's able to rest well at night through this home stretch up to his arrival.



Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Please Pray for Josh and Rebecca Today.

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Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

I often ask you to pray for us and our ministry in East Tennessee.  Today, I'm asking you to pray for my brother and his wife, who lost their firstborn child.



These are Josh's words:
"Today has been the darkest day of my life. Today was the first and last time I held my daughter. This morning, at 10am, my lovely wife delivered our 1 lb 2oz baby Cora Kimberly, whose heart had stopped beating sometime over the weekend. Grief, like a hurricane, swept in and racked my heart and soul today. My faith, such as it is, has been tested and retested over the last 36 hours. My strength failed. My hope failed. My spirit failed. But....but God has not failed. He has not forgotten. He weeps as I weep. He mourns because I mourn. He has endured all that I have and infinitely more. All so that a few might be redeemed and restored to him. I beg you, turn to Jesus. Turn and run to him with the same vigor that I would pursue Cora. My deepest prayer, my final hope for Cora, is that her life, her story, her ultimate purpose, would be to turn weary sinners like me to a deeper love for Christ. If his heart breaks for lost children the way mine has broken today, he must be God to endure it perpetually. I love you all, and would have you meet my Cora one day, perfected, radiant, and safe in the arms of the heavenly father who created her. God bless you all"

Their story is here:  http://joshandrebeccashrader.wordpress.com/