Sometimes I get very brave and allow my little ones to do something very messy. This time, I let them paint...with washable paint of course! I put Daddy's old t-shirts on them and set them at the table with a pallet of paint and a large piece of paper. At first they really did try to use the paint brushes, but then it became more fun just to use their hands. It was fun to watch although it didn't last very long. They had a great time and I got a few cute pictures!

This is a picture of Laura, Richard, Amos and me. The four of us, Calae, Fay, Pastor Jerry, our translator, Christopher, and our driver, KB, made up team B. These two guys in the picture are unbelievable! They go to the Bible College in Penai, India, that Global Harvesters started. These guys carried and set up and broke down our equipment at each of the schools that we went to. They are work horses!! They wouldn't even let me carry my guitar! But, there's one thing about India that's very different from the US. They are never in a hurry. Time is of no value in India. Which can be quite frustrating if you need to get movin'! So, even though I needed my guitar quickly sometimes, they still wouldn't let me carry it. They are very sweet and never complained about any of the work we did. And I truly enjoyed meeting them, working with them, and hopefully I'll get to see them again soon.

Sometimes it's hard for me to see how I've grown spiritually over the last couple of years. I know I definitely have, but sometimes it's hard for me to articulate the changes. But, tonight I had the pleasure of taking my sister-in-law out to dinner. We talked a lot about going to church, about God and about growing spritually. I think the dinner was as therapeutic for me as it was for her because I could talk out some of the things I've been trying to put my finger on. For instance, over the past year these are a few of the things I've learned or done:

1.) God will stop at nothing to make me more like his son, Jesus Christ.
2.) The reason God allows trials in my life include, but are not limited to, exposing the weak areas of my spiritual walk, belief and/or trust in Him
3.) I have studied in depth Galatians, Ephesians, Phillipians and Colossians with my accountability group
4.) I have begun reading the Bible in its entirity for the very first time in my life (I've been a Christian since I was 8 years old and I've just now read things in the Bible that I've never read before!)
5.) I pray so that God will change me, not so that I can change Him

I'm not saying any of this to impress anyone. I'm just saying that I am beginning to realize how God is using me and that he can and will use me if I allow him to. I have grown in knowledge of our Lord and Savior but, more importantly, I've grown to trust him more. I challenge you to see how you've grown spiritually over the past year and if you can't think of anything...you might want to go have dinner with a Christian friend!

That's me on the far side playing the guitar. I just received the guitar from my husband for Christmas, so I haven't been playing very long. But, I really enjoy the challenge and I love to play praise and worship songs. So, I decided to take it with me to India. Boy was I S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D!! I was so nervous because I was THE only guitar player on our team and I received the music on Sunday night before going to our first school on Monday morning! I did pretty well...at least I hung in there! It's amazing how God uses us the most when we're out of our comfort zone. "O, O, O, O, O, O, Heaven is in my heart!..."

Wow...it's been a very busy summer! The month of July was pretty much taken up with preparing for and going to India for 16 days. It was an absolutely amazing trip! The purpose of the trip was to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as we possibly could in a short amount of time. We went into schools, elementary through college, and did a short program at each one. The program consisted of several songs, a skit and a very simple gospel message. Between our 3 teams, we were able to share the gospel to around 110 schools, speaking to tens-of thousands of students. This trip was my second trip to India. I think I was able to enjoy this trip a bit more than last time because the culture shock wasn't as great. The sights and the smells absolutely overwhelmed me the first time, but this time I knew what to expect. Don't get me wrong, this was certainly not a vacation by any stretch of the imagination. Going to and being in India is very difficult. It all starts with a 24-hour journey just to get there...two plane rides of 10 hours each! But, like I said, we were able to share the gospel with thousands of people...so what's two 10-hour plane rides, really?

...to be continued...