Second Update

hello everyone. Jay here once again keeping the blogging frontier abreast of all the latest news. I got this from frances today...

> Hi everyone! I am writing to you today from Krakow, Poland. We got up at
> 3:30am this morning to catch a flight to Krakow, Poland and we arrived
> just in time to head over to a Polish church service! Needless to say, we
> all were extremely tired, but had a wonderful time worshiping with them.
>
> We had a great lunch and have now settled into an apartment that is using
> as an office also. We have the windows opened (they don't use air
> conditioning over here anywhere) and everyone it sleeping with the breeze
> blowing. I just took a short nap, and couldn't wait to send you an update!
>
> We have had a great time so far! I am only sad that I won't get a chance
> to meet back up with the entire team in Prague for debriefing...because I
> will be leaving early to meet my sweet family in Disney! I am VERY excited
> about that!!!
>
> I will catch you up...
>
> Thursday:
> I set out on my 10 hour flight to Frankfurt and had a great flight! It was
> so cool that God sat me next to an Indian man from Hyderabad...the only
> Indian city I have ever been to! And the neatest thing was that he totally
> witnessed to me! He was bubbling over and turned to me to see if I knew
> where I would go if the plane didn't make it to our destination (I was a
> little worried he knew something I didn't!).
>
> I got to Frankfurt perfectly and had a 5 hour layover until I met the rest
> of the Women of Hope team. We enjoyed a few short moments to chat...and
> then headed onto our final leg of the flight to Prague (Czech republic).
>
> Friday:
> We got to Prague (gorgeous from the air and on the ground!). It has the
> precious red roofs and lots of farms...but them all of the sudden Prague
> shows up! It a great city filled with old and new.
>
> We got through customs with everyone's luggage and then headed to the
> hotel. We went to dinner together at a nearby mall and got to know our
> field personnel! They are amazing and we love them!
>
> Saturday:
> We headed over to the city center and met for our Central & Eastern Europe
> overview. We learned about the strategy to share Christ with this very
> atheistic (though they claim to be Roman Catholic sometimes) city. We
> heard from all the regions personally from field personnel from the Baltic
> region, Russia, and our region which includes Poland. It is a vast land
> area to reach with the love of Jesus Christ!
>
> We then prayer walked parts of Prague! It was quite powerful to see the
> city and to see the vast apathy to spiritual things. We then took the
> evening to sight see and enjoyed a great Czech meal.
>
> And that brings up to today! We have gotten very little sleep due to the
> constant party that is going on in Prague at all hours of the night! It's
> like trying to sleep in New York City with your windows opened!
>
> Prayer Requests:
>
> Pray for good sleep tonight as we have a hectic week ahead and are already
> starting out very tired!
>
> We leave tomorrow on the train for Olzsten. We will be on the train for 7
> hours leaving around 9:55am. We will be meeting with more people sharing
> Christ!
>
> We have 2 women whose luggage has not arrived so please pray for them as
> they are only dressed in church clothes...pray that it comes quickly!
>
> We have a busy week...so please pray that we stay focused on God and what
> He is doing in this amazing region of the World. May He alone be our sole
> desire!
>
> I am so grateful for you all! We are now in a place where we can send
> emails (except for tomorrow and Tuesday while in Olzten). So, I'll try to
> email again soon to give you an update and new prayer requests. I love you
> all and thank you so very much for you support on this journey!
>
> Thriving in Poland!
> Frances
>

A Blogging pinch hit

Hello everyone, this jay manning the blogging front while frances is on mission in europe. just to keep everyone updated this is what we know so far. frances got to frankfurt without any issues. i got a two sentence email from her about 4am. then a few minutes ago we got an update from the team leader:

> Dear Prayer Team,
> Thanks for calling our names before the Father! We all arrived in Chicago
> last night in spite of Gustav leaving 4-6 inches of rain there. While
> waiting for departure, Dianna gave a tract to a young Canadian engineer
> who was powering his ipod next to Paula's blackberry. Paula and Marsha
> also shared with Andy. He had never read the Bible while dismissing its
> message. We thank God for a truly Divine appt.
> Our flight left late but arrived in Frankfurt nearly on time. Everyone got
> a little sleep on the plane. After a confusing tour of the Frankfurt
> airport we finally arrived at the gate and Paula got a seat(she was the
> only one on standby for some vague reason.
>
> We made it to Prague by 5:30 here(11:30AM Eastern). We waited about two
> hours searching for Patti(she was due to meet us here from visiting
> friends in Ukraine) only to find out she did not come. She will meet the
> team in Kiev on Sunday. Her Ukrainian friend is very ill and she stayed to
> support the family.
> Susie, Robin and Dalese, our regional hosts met us at the hotel. After
> dinner together and a brief sharing time we all headed for bed and a well
> deserved night's sleep. We have orientation Sat. AM and then prayer
> walking a neighborhood where one of our church planters is working.
> Love and thanks to all for interceding!
> Paula

It seems that all is going as planned. please keep frances and the team in your prayers.

As this is my first attempt a blogging i must put in the disclaimer that i am feeling my way around this thing, if your computer spontaneously explodes i am sure i had nothing to do with it... fairly sure.... actually not sure.... well to be fully honest it was probably me... sorry.

jayman

No...I'm not in Poland YET!

Well, many of you think that I MUST already be in Poland because I have not posted in over a WEEK! I'm so sorry that I have been posting lately, but my life has been WILD! But, before I actually head to Poland in mere hours I will try to catch up...

I hadn't shared about our Life group fellowship that we had last weekend! It was so much fun and we enjoyed a wonderful day filled with friends, homemade ice cream and lots of swimming! Even though it was an overcast day with a nice breeze (great for those of us who didn't swim) the kids didn't mind one bit! They enjoyed every minute!

The kids loved the pool in the Kohler's backyard! They pulled out every toy and float they owned. Thanks Tina and Chris for hosting such a wonderful fellowship! We all had a blast!

Monday night, some friends celebrated Ginger's birthday here at my apartment. She thought we were meeting to work on the Bible series, but instead there were about 8 girls here waiting to surprise her! She was REALLY surprised because her birthday was like 2 months ago...in JUNE! But, with the crazy lives of women that's about the first day we could get together!

On Tuesday night, we headed over to the dollar store and bought some Disney pictures to paint. It was so much fun to sit together, talking and painting. We all love to do crafts so it was a relaxing way to spend a family night together. It was raining really hard, so we opened the windows and listened to the rain while we worked. I have to say it was a really nice and quiet family night!

Anli works on her Tinkerbell picture! We can't wait until Disney!

Daddy is our resident artist...he's even had classes!

Here is a photo of the finished products...sorry it's sideways. But, I've got too many photos to go back and change it now!

On Thursday night we had the BEST kid date night/family night ever! That day I spent the kids' reading time to make out a scavenger hunt list. We had a family photo scavenger hunt around Woodstock! We assigned points to different photo challenges and then we had an hour to get as many pictures and points as possible. It was soooo much fun!

We incorporated kids' date night because we drew names for partners and then each of us headed out in our cars with our partner for the hunt. Anli and Daddy were together and Virginia was my partner. We gave the girls the list and they were in charge! We headed to Target for a photo with crazy hats, posed with the statues of children at His Hand's church, wrapped up each other with toilet paper, climbed trees, posed with Bob and Larry, stood in the Dwarf door at Chick-fil-a, and climbed the pyramid at Kidstock!

The key was that it wasn't just for taking photos of the kids! We as adults had to do some of the assignments ourselves. The problem was that we had to use disposable cameras since we didn't have 2 digital ones. So, you'll have to wait on photos! I can't wait to see them!

We met at a new Italian dessert place called Rita's for dessert! It was a great day...absolutely perfect.

On Friday, some friends headed to Helen, Georgia for the day. It was a gorgeous day that wasn't very hot...and not crowded at all! We walked around, shopped, ate, and just enjoyed the fellowship together. It's so nice to have friends that can be fun and yet go deep in the Lord at the same time! I love that!

Ginger and I almost got thrown out of this store for putting on these hats. Well, not really...but we did get the evil eye. But, we ended up talking to her for a long time and she was actually pretty nice. We wanted to stick our toes in the river...and it was COLD! We couldn't imagine tubing in this river...but lots of people were. It was almost like a nice fall day...it was perfect!

We had a great time, and hardly spent any money. I know it was a miracle! But, we had a wonderful time and got home in time to kiss my girls goodnight.

Saturday, my family came into town! It was so much fun and we had a great time. It was such a special weekend with family for the girl's baptism. The girls were in heaven!

We played bowling on the Wii together, had a great big family dinner, and laughed together. It was so great to see my family and enjoyed having them here at the apartment for the first time.
Jay's family came to the church the morning of the baptism and then spent the night with us! It was great to see everyone. We were packed in here like crazy, but that is the fun part! The more the merrier. Our families are amazing and we love them so very much. Thank you for all making time to come share this weekend with us. We love you all!


I don't have my pictures ready for the baptism or the time with Jay's family yet. As soon as they are sent to me...I will post them. We are working on a baptism announcement and we'll post that as soon as we design it!

On Monday, Jay was off because it was Labor day. So, we headed to Chick-fil-a wearing our Auburn colors! We got free strips because we supported our team that day. It was fun to see all the teams represented there and even better getting free strips for wear our favorite colors!

Then, it was time for the long awaited Disney dollar day! We headed over to the mall to change in the money that the girls had saved for Disney dollars for our trip. They wanted to have some of their money in the fun Disney character money. We also got our new character shirts (on sale!) for the trip. We are so excited about our trip!!!

We went home that evening and ordered pizza (Little Caesar's is our new favorite...$5 large!) and watched our new Ariel movie together! It was a fun day to get geared up for Disney together!

This week has been full of PACKING! I had to pack the girls for Disney, myself for Disney, and for Poland! I had to get little goodies every day for the girls and Jay to open every morning while I am away along with writing notes to them each every day and spending every minute I can with my family. Then, I had to work on a special blog for them with videos of me every night. We pray together as a family each night and read the Bible together. I will miss this time, but I recorded a short prayer for every night I am away so that they will have the chance to pray "with" me. It's important for me to involve them in the trips I go on...and for me to be "with" them every day I am away!

Needless to say...it's been a busy week! Today, I am headed to Poland...actually Prague for the first part of the trip. Jay will post updates and I will post the prayer guide that shares our schedule daily and how you can pray for me tomorrow! You gotta love automatic posting features on blogger...I can blog even when I am not here.

Sorry this is so long...but it's the life we lead! Thanks for your prayers!

Sunday is coming!

This Sunday BOTH of our girls are going to join Noonday Baptist Church through baptism! Anli accepted Christ about 1 1/2 years ago and Virginia about 1 year ago. Jay began working slowly through a wonderful tool called "So Now You're a Christian" that works through the decision to follow Christ and accept His free gift of salvation. It is only meant to be a 4 week daily study, but Jay took extra time (like a year) to go through each part completely with them.

Jay was baptized as a young child (around the girls' ages) and was not a Christian. He got wet and that's about all! So, he wants to go slowly with the girls to answer their questions and disciple them. We want to be disciple makers in our home!

But, at this point we walk this journey in faith. We can't be the gate keepers of their salvation. We can walk in faith alongside them, answering their questions, discipling them, soaking them in God's Word, praying with them, loving them, and living our lives to His glory moment by moment. It's faith...and that pleases God.

So, after attending a new believer class (taught by their mommy and daddy...it's so much fun to have their daddy's full time job as teaching them about God!) they are now following Christ's own example and in obedience to His command to be baptized! What a glorious day Sunday will be for our family!

No, I won't be able to breathe. Yes, I will be moved to crazy tears. And we will continue to walk in faith every day. This isn't the climax where we kick it into neutral and just kind of coast along. No way! This journey has just begun. We are excited about daily living and growing and glorifying God more and more.

Please pray for us! Jay is also preaching on Sunday. So, after baptizing his two glorious daughters...he has to do a quick change and then preach. I don't know if I would have the emotional stability to preach after baptizing my babies. But, he'll do amazing!

Our families will be here and we are looking forward to spending time with them. It will be quite special since our families live 7 hours a part and very rarely get to spend time together. It's going to be awesome!

Catch Up time!

Well, it's a rainy Monday and our plans for the pool with friends were canceled...so I thought it was about time to catch up on my blogging. I have my windows up and am listening to the rain as it pours down...very relaxing!

We had a wonderful time with our friends in Athens, AL last weekend. We had a great trip there (4 hours) as the kids watched some movies and we listened to Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover (thanks Dorothy!). Our church is hosting Financial Peace University and Jay is small group leader. We are so excited about this material and are really enjoying going through this with our church body..to learn how to be more obedient with the income God has given us to be stewards of now. Jay and I had wonderful discussions on the way about how God would desire us to use the money He has given us!

But, all that traveling makes us ready for our favorite treat...SHAVED ICE! In college we had this little shaved ice trailer that my best friend Kristen and I would go to in the summer to cool off and have a good long talk. I was shocked to find out that they had my all time favorite flavor...Georgia Peach! It was yummy and we all enjoyed taking a break from the driving!
On Friday, we went to a water park very close to Athens called Point Mallard. I grew up going to this water park...and it has really changed since I was there. The kids were thrilled to be going, and since all the school in Alabama had already started back...we had the place to ourselves!

Anli and Andrew hit the wave pool before it starts!

The girls before the fun starts...little scary I must say.

Andrew literally catching a wave!!!

Everyone loved riding the waves in! The weather was perfect too.

We then headed over to the kiddie area. They loved the water playground and the racing slides!Anli is the one going down face first on the right...crazy girl!
Allie and Virginia are in a close race...go girls!

The rest of the time we spent on that side of the park was going down this HUGE slide where you could ride a float with 2 people! It was a wild ride...and everyone loved it!Brooke and Allie enjoying the ride...until the end when we thought we lost Allie! She popped down into the hole of the float. But, Brooke grabbed her before she went into the water below!After enjoying one side of the park, we got in Joey's truck and headed across the park to the picnic pavilions for a wonderful lunch! We were so hungry from all that fun!
Then we headed over to the tube slides! They were SO much fun! Everyone enjoyed them and we even raced each other going down two different slides and seeing who got to the bottom first!Virginia won this race against Daddy...go girl!

Sweet Anli! She's loving it here.

The ride Anli spent most of her time on was something called the Space Ball. It was very big, very fast, and very fun! I was a little scared to let her go on it...because she had to go alone, but I finally let her go down after Jay. He was there at the bottom for this...

What a ride! It is this HUGE enclosed slide that is REALLY fast (trust me I went down it before Anli did) and then it opens up to this circular part. It's like a huge toilet...seriously. You go around and around this ball until you finally are sent down this opening into some really cold water! Jay and I both did it first to make sure. Anli LOVED it...and Virginia never thought about going down it. Those are my girls:)

After a wonderful weekend, we had to go home. It was an amazing time with friends that are the closest thing to family! Anli and Andrew were born in seminary about 6 weeks a part from each other. It is awesome to see how close they still are together. They are best friends and we laugh that they are so much alike...they might just end up together one day! But, none of us are ready for that anytime soon!

What a blessing to have those friends that have journey the road for many years alongside you. We are blessed!

Satisfy Our Souls...in Polish!

Today I received an email from the group in Poland where I will be speaking on September 13th has a woman who translated Christian books into Polish. So they emailed today and asked for permission to translate Satisfy Our Souls into Polish! I was so excited!!!



So, I have been busily on the phone to find out if we can get that to them before I go in TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY! I still can't believe that it is already upon me. But, God is so awesome to work all these things for His glory! It continues to show me day after day, that He is doing more than I could think or imagine. I could never come up with the connections and things He plans...and that puts me out of the picture and Him in the spotlight! That's exactly as it should be.



On Sunday, we had the Lord's Supper and something very interesting happened to me. As I heard the words about the body and the blood I began to literally yearn to be with Christ! I have always known that to be with Christ in heaven is the ultimate hope...that it is truly gain. But, I can say for this was a times that tears flowed because I physically yearned to see the Christ I have loved for so long.




These past 6 years daily in the God's Word have done something amazing...well lots of things that are amazing! As I have read, studied, prayed, and applied God's Word to my life every day Christ (the Word made flesh) has truly become the love of my life. I mean that.

I didn't set out to "fall in love with Christ." I didn't set out to know more about Christ. I didn't set out to be more like Christ. I started out DESPERATE. I clung to His Word because I had tried every other Bible study, conference, church service, worship CD and friendship. They didn't work! I started out starving and dying of thirst. Then, day after day I began to be quenched by the Bread of Life and the Living Water...Jesus Christ.



As tears flowed on Sunday, I realized something very important had happened. I had begun to hunger and thirst for Christ. I was completely shocked...isn't that crazy? It's just that day by day eating the manna of God's Word gave me a craving for only Him. It's been hard. It's been long...and continues daily until I meet Him face to face. But, it's been perfectly enough...just right!



Sunday was a treasured day for me. Because I could truly drink that little cup of grape juice and the little white cracker...in remembrance of Him. Because I have walked and talked and cried and laughed and sang and danced and mourned and rejoiced and learned and been rebuked by Him day after day. What a journey! What a ride!



I can truthfully say that I physically yearn for seeing this Christ that I have loved for so many years...I can't wait. But, until then...I will remember Him. Not just with the juice and the crackers a few times a year, but every moment I open my weathered Bible and hear His familiar voice rush over me.

I remember You, Jesus with all the love I can understand. You are truly the Word made flesh. What a gift to love you and remember you.

Atlanta Live Information

Many of you have asked about what channel the Atlanta Live interview would be on your cable companies. I received some information from the producer yesterday about that so I thought I would just share it here for those that desire to watch. Here is what I have:

Comcast - Channel 2
Charter - Channel 13/14
DISH - Channel 97
DirecTV - Channel 57

Thanks to those who are praying for my words to be God led and slow! My friend Paula told me that it would be a true miracle of God for me to actually slow down when talking about God and His Word! I just get so passionate and excited.

I will be posting the photos of our fun weekend...but it's been a busy week so far and I may not get to it until after Thursday is behind me. Thanks for lifting me up...

We're Back!

We are back from our wonderful trip to Athens, Alabama! We enjoyed lots of fun, sun, water, and fellowship. It was with a heavy heart that we backed out of their driveway this afternoon. But, that's the great thing about friends in Christ...it's like you never are away from each other!

I will post more about the trip tomorrow when I can load all the cute photos of the kids at the water park. It was a wonderful trip and many thanks to our sweet pals for having us and feeding us...and most of all loving us!

Please be in prayer with me. As we were headed to Athens on Thursday morning, in the middle of listening to our new friend Dave Ramsey on the audio book my mentor Dorothy gave us...I got a phone call. It was an Atlanta TV station asking if they could have me in for an interview...THIS THURSDAY!

Well, I swallowed hard, began to dig my calendar out of my purse, swatted for Jay to turn dear old Dave down a moment...and said YES! It will be aired LIVE on Thursday night! OK, I admit the live thing is making me a bit nervous. It's a one shot deal when you are being interviewed live! So, please pray that I will be tuned in VERY clearly to what God has for me to stay. There are no take -that-back or do overs.

I am grateful and humbled that they would think of me (someone met me at ICRS and that's how they found me). But, please pray that I will listen intently this week to what God has me to share. What a ride!

I am allowed to have a video tape of it...but if you want to watch it live tune into Atlanta Live channel 57 on Thursday night from 7-9pm. Maybe I can put it online for those not in the Atlanta area.

Smears!

Last night we had our newest invention from the empty pantry...Smears as Jay rightly named them. Actually they are smores with melted chocolate chips and marshmallow creme. So, you have to smear them on!

They were super yummy and the girls enjoyed the mess they made as they happily licked their mouths and hands clean!

Monday night Jay and the girls headed out for Daddy and daughters night at the rock wall. He took some pictures of their night. They are awesome climbers!

We have started our new fall schedule (minus school which doesn't start until the middle of September...gotta love that!). On Monday nights it's Daddy and daughter nights, Tuesday nights are our traditional family nights, Wednesdays are Awana, and Thursdays are Kids' Date night...and then it's the weekend.

We are beginning Kids' Date Nights this year and I'm really excited! We each take one child (alternating each week) and do something special that night. One week we stay here at the house and do something like board games, crafts, Frisbee, bikes, the park...but it has to be free. That same night the other set gets to spend $15 on their night out. Then, the next week it switches so each of them gets alternating times doing fun free things and also a fun night out!

We have been wanting to do this for a while, but just now have figured out how to make it work and how to make it budget friendly! We also want them to know that fun is not always expensive! As they get older, we want time not only as a family on our family nights, but individually as well.

It will be nice to listen to them, play with them, and just grow an individual relationship with each of them doing things that interest them. We want each girl to feel they have special times to share with each of us. We'll let you know next week how it went.

Tomorrow we are headed out of town to visit friends, go to a huge water park, and enjoy some fellowship! I'll post our fun when we return!