Half a Century completed

 This year Halloween looked a little different for us, as Mike turned 50! Though he doesn't like the attention, we threw him a party and invited any of our friends and family not out trick-or-treating with their kids to come out to our place to celebrate him. We set out chairs around the fire ring and had a nice campfire going the whole time. We cooked a big pot of chili over the fire, had smores, hot dogs, hot cider, a bunch of cookies, cake, and a few other goodies. 

We had a steady group of people pretty much non-stop from 4:00 till about midnight!

Here are a few pics of our evening.

Living in answered prayers

For a few years, I'd been delegated the task of asking someone on the worship team to lead our ladies in worship at our yearly Gathering. That meant asking and confirming with a beautiful soul (and singer) named Leah. As I got to know Leah and observed her heart as she sang, I realized she embodied so much of the person I'd been praying for to come into my son's life. So I made my prayer more specific and began to pray, "Send my son a Leah, Lord."

I wasn't praying for a woman named Leah, just someone with a heart for the Lord similar to hers.

Late last year, our church started a young adult group, and David went to the gatherings whenever he was in town. He finally had a group to connect with, though many of them ended up quite a bit younger than him. He enjoyed going to the mid-week meetings, going out to eat afterwards, and then helping to organize several social outtings on the weekends. Having come from a huge young adult ministry back in Texas, he really wanted to see this ministry grow and thrive.  He began hanging out with this new friend group every weekend, going to game nights in other homes, and he even invited them over for New Year's Eve while I hung out in Texas with my friend Amy.

I heard all about his New Year's Eve fun when I got back, and then soon after he started to single one particular girl out and began dating her. Realizing her whole family already knew him from group game nights at their house, I asked when I would finally get to meet her, or at least see who this girl was. He said, "She'll be up on stage at church on Sunday."

So I went to church that Sunday and laid eyes on a new face on our worship team, singing on the left side of the stage (from my perspective).  That same moment I felt God speak to my heart, saying, "That's her, the "Leah" you've been praying for." I went home that day with a heart full, pretty certain that my future daughter-in-law had led us in worship. 
 

On October 19th, about ten months later, David asked her to marry him. 

Stay tuned for another wedding, happening soon!

Our family is shrinking and growing exponentially at the same time.