Well life has been sweet and we had a wonderful week with our beautiful kids. Daniel finished up school and graduated at scouts, he has been in his first year as a Tiger Scout and has had a blast with David, they do a father-dad thing the first year, they had a graduation down at the lake and David got to present him with his new cap and book as he is now a wolf, he has really enjoyed scouts and enjoyed meeting lots of new homeschool friends.

This weekend Timmy and Daniel finished up their soccer season and very proudly wore their medals they both received. David and I got to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary, our very sweet and kind friends Dan and Marilou took the kids overnight again for us as they so kindly do, so we can get a break once in a while, we had a lovely relaxing quiet evening.

We also celebrated sweet Timmy's 5th birthday this weekend, as I am going to be away for his birthday, we had a Spidey party and he was so excited and the Lord so graciously gave us beautiful weather, we had a lots of his friends over (and mine and Davids too) and the kids played and had an awesome time in our back yard. Thanks for everyone who made it a really special day for him.

David's sister and her family spent the night and David had the kids do the pledge of allegiance this morning as he put the flag out front (today was Memorial Day to remember all those who has served their country in the services -for my SA friends) . Abby was really sweet as usual trying to copy the older kids, then we all headed down to the pool for frigid swimming and a bbq. We had a little tea party for the kids afterwards, Tony seems to have taken a liking to drinking hot tea and requested another tea party before he left today - he remembered it from last summer at our house- and we do it proper english style at our house! it was really sweet, all the kids sat round the table drinking tea (making a mess) and eating leftover birthday cake.

I pray you are all well, I have 4 more days till I leave on my trip, following I have posted some prayer requests for our trip.

Have a blessed day y'all!!

We are leaving Knoxville this Friday morning bright and early at 6am. We have a very long and arduous trip to get there, and Lord willing it will be a safe and uneventful one.

I want to thank you all for your support as my friends whether you supported me as a friend, financially, caring for my kids, feeding my family, praying for us. I am blessed by each of you individually and know I could not have done it without everyones help in fighting the unseen spiritual battles that have been going on in our preparation for this trip. The Lord has made the way very clear and continued to open doors along the way and provide for me and allowed me to see my part in this trip and that it is completely His doing and not mine.

I ask that you continue to pray and intercede for us - we will be leaving Fri May 30 and returning Thurs 19 June, there are 11 of us going.

I also ask that you pray for my family, for their safety and health, and strength for David till I get back. that they feel loved and cared for in my absence (you guys did such an awesome job last time) and that the kids see the Lord in this endeavor and that His purpose may prevail and that those who who don't have full understanding of what I am doing will truly see Him be glorified through this and that through that they may grow in their faith.

I love you guys and thank you for being a part of my life.
With much love in the Lord
Jackie

Well, sorry for the long interruption and no new posts, have had a lot going on and I have been trying to pace my time between my responsibilities so I don't get burnt out.

22 days and counting down to Zim 2008!! very exciting especially with all that is going on there right now, I keep asking the Lord and making sure I am not jumping head on in something I have no business being a part of, but our Lord is so gracious and kind and I have truly felt his presence every step of the way, guiding and providing for all of our needs. When you go into a trip like this, the enemy just seems to kick up the warfare and we have been slammed pretty hard the past couple of months, but we held on tight and weathered the storm and came out very much strengthened in our faith and our realisation of our need for God in every detail of our lives.

AUTUMN is winding down her school year and finishing up 7th grade and we are looking forward to some wonderful time with her this summer, David always feels more complete when she is around. It's been really sweet I had kept a few of Autumn's dresses from when she was two and up, and now Abby is starting to wear them - I can't believe Autumn was so little, she is growing into a beautiful woman now.

DANIEL l is also winding down with school not long to go till the end of 1st grade, he is loosing teeth and finally getting used to the idea, the first few were very traumatic, but now he counts down the days till he can get his dollar for his next one. He has been doing scouts this year with a local homeschool pack and it has been so awesome - it has been his favorite thing all year, they just had there first big campout this past weekend.

TIMMY is gearing up for kindergarten, he is still my love bug and just loves to sit with me and soak up the attention (much like his father). Him and Daniel both have been playing soccer this spring and it is so sweet to watch how the 'pack' of kids chases the ball all over the field.

ABBY is growing like a weed - she used the potty for the first time last weekend which is always exciting - especially for me and David as we have officially been changing diapers non stop for over 7 years now!!! She is so sweet and just like her older sister is singing every song her little brain has heard, she likes to 'play' the guitar with David which is just precious and her vocabulary is quite amazing for her age.

Other than that Davids businness is picking up for the summer months, which is always a blessing as the winters get pretty lean up here, I am getting ready for my trip, collecting last minute items for the orphans - we had such a wonderful response at our church to people donating outfits and items for all the kids at the orphanage in Zim - I was quite overwhelmed with the response - the Lord truly does care about all the details of our lives and I am so excited to take everything over and give it to them, some have been orphans all their lives and probably never had anything new, so this is so big I can't wait.

We still continue with our Thursday night bible study at home with a group of friends from church, I have been doing an awesome bible study with some ladies from our church at another local church - called Stepping Up by Beth Moore and it has been so sweet to see how the Lord has met me every day and me through these past couple of months, David has jumped on board to and been doing some of it with me and wow we have truly been in the presence of our Lord!- how great is our God!

PRAYER REQUESTS

*Please be praying for our trip and for my last minute preparations as I get the kids organised with our various friends who are such a blessing in helping out again - Thank you all so much.

*Please pray for safety on our trip especially on the ground over there, for the elections to continue to be peaceable and for God to be so glorified the world will see Him through all that goes on there.

*Please also pray for our luggage to arrive safely and on time, so we can bless those we are going to minister to and meet their physical needs.

*Please pray for food for the people over there, for them to see Gods provision daily and for many to come to know Him through this trying time in their country.

*Please also pray for strength, endurance and health for all the members of our team andf or our individual gifts to shine through and be a blessing to those we come in contact with!

David and I will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary this month - praise the Lord, I pray He continues to watch over us for many more.

Have a blessed day my friends!

Jackie

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Number 6:24-26