Prayer request

Please pray for Bailey's dad, Mike Crick, who had a stroke yesterday. Joe and Bailey are up in Nashville with the family.

Happy Sweet Sixteen, Victoria!!

Victoria turned 16 yesterday! She's growing into such a beautiful young woman. Her life is filled with many challenges and disappointments but she continues to persevere. We are so thankful for her presence in our life! After a yum lunch at Red Lobster, one of her favorite restaurants, we went to a Big Brother Big Sister event at "A Better You" spa and she was able to get her makeup and nails done. Our friend Anne was there with her Little Sister, Lakresha - fun times!

loved the lousiana visit!

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our weekend with Dan & Bre! We had a grrreeeaaattt time with them in the beautiful town of St. Francisville! I wish so much I could show you pictures of the Angola Prison Rodeo held at the Louisiana State Penitentiary but no cameras are allowed. It was an amazing thing to attend - google it sometime to read all about it! Besides the rodeo we went out to eat to various wonderful too good restaurants, played a game with some of their YL friends, went to church and spent lots of time catching up. The only down side to the weekend was Dale's allergic reaction to the kitties. He was pretty miserable and we had to move to a motel our second night. We're so thankful we live close enough to our out of state kids to make a weekend road trip to see them since we miss them very much!! The pictures are in very random order but hope you enjoy this mini travelouge:-)

The Bird Man is one of our all time favorite places to hang out - it's a quaint little cafe/bookstore!
Bre at Bird Man - we found Anne Lamott's newest book - very exciting!
Awwww....the kitties....Tonto and Ranger or is it Ranger & Tonto?!
He loved sitting on my computer case!
All ready to leave the house to chaperone prom!!
Dale Allen before he was a sneezing, wheezing wreck!!
Beautiful Plains Presbyterian Church where Dan & Bre attend

Bre and Dan in her Spanish classroom - she's had a great year!
A plantation just down the road from their house where we had lunch
Yikes! The flooded Mississippi River!!
Dan with attitude in a very wonderful garden of a burned down plantation - I want to go back and spend 4 hours there with my camera and journal!!
A stowaway!!

"Praying our Goodbyes"

Every spring I take this tender little book written by Joyce Rupp off from the bookshelf as the time comes again to say goodbye to some of my Young Life friends as they graduate or transfer. This year is especially hard as my friend Ryon is leaving staff. Someone remind me why I - a person who has never done well with goodbyes - has this job so full of transitions?! It is impossible for me to not invest in these precious friends but it sure hurts to not have them in my daily reality anymore. In March of 2006 as I was healing from the aftershock of the loss of my parents and the loss of innocence in thinking that an illness like cancer would never happen to me, the Lord brought this book into my life - one of His sweet, intimate gifts of grace, a personal providence. I am grateful He understands our sadness over goodbyes because He experinced so many Himself. And so with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat I echo the author's words of blessing and encouragement to everyone who has stolen a piece of my heart and is leaving a bit of theirs behind..... "We cannot keep you from this journey. We hurt deeply...you have made your home in our hearts. Yet, we know, your leaving is essential for your growth. So go, go with God. May you always rest in the assurance that 'God will lead you, will be with you, will not fail you or desert you. Have no fear. Do not be disheartened by anything' (Deut. 31:8) Not to love is not an option.

Unce Rich & Aunt Evie

We just had a short but very sweet visit with my aunt and uncle from Michigan. Uncle Rich is my mom's brother. This is the second time they've stopped in Chattanooga for a visit and both times have been a gift to my heart! Hugging uncle Rich is like hugging a little piece of my mom. We all had a great time catching up on life and they were able to attend Sunday School and church with us. We love it when family members come for a visit as it keeps us in touch with our roots, roots that are strong and deep. Roots that we are very thankful for!

time to brag on joe!!

This past Friday night I went to a Student Recognition Banquet with Joe & Bailey. Joe is in the top 10% of students in UTC's College of Business! I am so proud of this amazing young man! It was fun to be there to watch him receive accolades for his hard work these past three years.

the josh & susan visit!!

We had such a good time this week with two of our favorite relatives in the world - my nephew Josh and his sweet wife, Susan. One of the coolest parts of their visit is that they were here on Wednesday night and they were able to meet the folks in our small group. Josh & Susan are coming back to Chatt. in July with their youth group from Michigan to work with Hope and New City and our small group is going to work with them! Josh had a chance to tell us about his youth group and we could pray for them and their upcoming trip. Very wonderful time! We look forward to serving the Lord together in a few months!

Josh has gotten very savvy about driving around Chatt which is very fun! Other highlights included a visit at Hope for the Inner City and running into Andrae, Paul and Robert Blevins and having a chance to see the changes that have been made since last summer when they were here before and we met Joe & Bailey at Luipis for some great calzones and lasagna before heading over to the Lookouts baseball game. It was a perfect night for sitting at the ballpark. The kids really appreciated our beautiful weather after one of the hardest winters Michigan has seen in awhile. They went to the Chickamauga Battlefield while I worked Thursday morning.

Here's a few fun pictures from our time together!!