Knoxville weekend

We just got back from a weekend trip to Knoxville. As I sit here this morning, I am reflecting about it all... Friday night we stopped by the high school where her group was having a tail gate before the game. They were cooking hot dogs and some kind of pork/sausage hamburgers that we tried.

The trees were absolutely beautiful there in the parking lot, of all places!

She is in the plaid shirt and enjoys her job so much!! We enjoyed spending the day with Lara on Saturday. She took us downtown to a tent fair, which I always enjoy, and we ate a Crepe Restaurant for lunch... Very good!!

Then, the big game on Saturday night, which was enjoyable too!

We were lost in a sea of orange!!

But we did find some red and white if you looked very hard!!

the last picture of the night!! Sunday morning, we went to her church for the late service. I always enjoy going to her church to see the people she works with, to meet new friends of hers. It is nice to be able to put names and faces together. It makes this mother feel much better about her being out on her own, when I see the people who have taken her in, to be part of their lives, their church. It is truly a "God" thing to have placed her there. I loved when they announced that they were having a Sister Splash! Yes, a ladies get together, where there will be a speaker who served in an orphanage in Jamaica, to share her journey of faith as she and her family continue to seek the Lord`s will for them. How fun to go to a Sister Splash!! Another group that they have started at their church is called the Stephen Ministry. It is a great ministry to walk beside people going through trials, so that they are not alone. Many who volunteer in this ministry have been there themselves and are now there to help others through their own trials. I love how scripture comes to life..."Who gives us comfort in all our troubles, so that we may be able to give comfort to others who are in trouble, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." 2 Corinthians 1:4 Before the service, as we were sitting there, Lara whispered that we wouldn`t be hearing the pastor but a guest preacher speaking. A bit disappointed at first, but as always, God had it planned ahead of time, for this precious African son of His to be there and to share with us about his work. His name was Pastor Selango. He is Director of ReachAfrica, an alliance of African Evangelical Free Church partners focused on identifying, equipping and deploying indigenous African church planting missionaries among Africa`s more than 250 million least reached people. Wow... that is some title, right?!! He spoke 4 languages and for the sermon, he was speaking his native language with an interpreter. His message was about water. How the whole world thirsts for water, but it is only the "Living" water that fills us up. It touched my heart as he spoke of how he loves to hear stories of persecution from the people there in Africa and how God uses them. Imagine the stories that he is talking about. Our trials and hard time stories are so different from the ones he is living with as he is on the mission field in Africa. There are people who have their very lives threatened to even be caught reading the Bible, or meeting together, things we take for granted. He speaks of how those trials, cannot even begin to compare to the glory we will have with God one day.... if we have the living water. He closes in saying that it is a terrible thing to close the well where the living water is. To miss out on God`s free gift to us. He was from across the world, but yesterday, in that church service, he was exactly like us. No race or language barrier, just a son of God, striving to glorify Him, as he is teaching others about His love for us. It was a great sermon. It was a great weekend! Have a great week, Love,