….than to be in SC!  This past week we were very, very busy!  We traveled to Georgetown to speak at/visit two churches, attend a Missions Conference at another church, visit current ministry partners, and meet with potential new ministry partners.  Ed also had lots of planning meetings for New York City and I was busy working my job getting new staff reviewed and their information collected for our summer and fall trainings.

I am often amazed at the way the Lord graciously and abundantly provides for our needs as missionaries.  This week was no exception.  We saw the Lord provide many new partners who joined our team monthly as well as a significant amount come in to go towards our summer costs.  Almost 7 years of being on staff and I never cease to be amazed at the way the Lord works in peoples’ hearts and leads them to partner with us to make an eternal difference.  It is often overwhelming the week before making a trip like this because there are so many calls to be made to set up appointments, on top of our normal responsibilities.  But, once getting there and seeing people, I am always reminded why I LOVE that we are required to raise our support and why the Lord orchestrated that we be provided for by concerned individuals and churches who want to be a part of what the Lord is doing in Eastern NC and around the world.

In the midst of all this busyiness, we did find some time to play and the girls got to spend lots of time with family.  We went to the beach, swam in the pool, played in the sprinklers, rode in the boat, fed the fish in the pond, helped a baby goose find his mom and dad, went fishing out in the bay, ate my parent’s good food at the restaurant, went to the park, walked on the Harborwalk and got ice cream, and had a mother’s day cookout.  Whoa, looking at this list, I am thinking “How did we fit all this in?”

Playing in the sprinkler – the different personalities of our girls are so evident here – Kinsley turns away from the water and doesn’t want to get “too” wet while Emerson basically stood right in the middle of the sprinkler the whole time.

Eating Ice Cream downtown and walking on the harborwalk.  What is a good sign of enjoying your food?  Lots of napkins and food all over your face.

One of the only “somewhat free” days we had, my mom watched the girls while Dad took Ed and I salt-water fishing in the bay.  This has to be one of my favorite things about living in SC – the availability of good fishing and hunting, lots of memories, and great scenery.  As we were riding, I kept having a few thoughts – 1) Keep a hand on my hat so it doesn’t fly away,  2)  God’s creation is so beautiful and I love that I get to have a relationship with this creator and 3) Nothing can be finer than to be in SC.  I have traveled a lot and can tell you that nothing much can beat this view and smelling the salt water and marsh.

The only thing better than this view was actually catching fish.  I caught a 4 foot shark!  Uh yea, not kidding.  When I hooked him, I saw it jump out of the water and knew it was something big.  I started reeling it in just to hear Dad and Ed say “Reel it in faster and put it in the boat” to which I replied “I can’t, he is taking my line and running away!”  I called in backup and kept begging Dad to not let him break the line or pool because I wanted to see what it was.  I have caught sharks before (though not that big) so I wasn’t surprised it was a shark, but was surprised by its size.  We also caught some whiting, a few stingrays, and a whole butt load of baby croakers.

Then, when we got back from fishing, Mom met us at the landing and we loaded the girls up for a boat ride.  Again, as evidence of their different personalities, Kinsley didn’t like the ride because it was too bumpy (to her defense, it was pretty rough) and Emerson was squealing from delight.  Can you tell that from this picture?

Here are the girls wearing the shirts my parents brought them from their cruise.  They, of course, LOVE the fact that they change colors in the sun.

It was a great trip – ministry wise and personally.  Emerson can now officially say “boat”, “pool”, and “beach”.  And she isn’t held back in how much she says them either 🙂