Praying for Protection and Wisdom

Wednesday May 31, 2006
Dear Me,
I just woke up and I’m HOT already. Today we go to Buff Bay Primary School. This is a public school. It was a different than the Preparatory Schools we visited earlier. They have many more students in each class (like 75), and they are a little less organized as you can imagine with that many. I thought that it must be like a smaller private school verses a larger public school right here in the USA. One of the teachers there, Nadina, is going to be teaching in North Carolina next year. She says she is going to come to the GLOBE so we can talk. Many teachers leave Jamaica once they find out they can go somewhere else and make more money for less work and better conditions everyday. I guess I can’t blame them, but it isn’t good for the schools and children here in Jamaica. We did devotion a little different here. We divided into three groups and I did the devotion that I had done at him other schools with the 2-4th graders, and Cathy, Barbara, and Brad did devotion for the younger kids with puppets. Holly and a group did devotion for the older children 5th grade and up. I think it all went very well. Today I met Julian. He had lots of questions about Jesus. I talked with him for as long as the teachers allowed, but then I had to go. He had a lot of knowledge about the bible and different verses of scripture. He said he goes to church most Sundays (without his parents.) I went through the scripture with him and when I asked him if he was ready to pray the prayer of salvation to begin a journey with Jesus he said “not as of yet” Think that Julian, like many people in Jamaica has a hard time accepting that Jesus died on the cross to forgive us of our sins, and forgiveness of our sins is a FREE gift. I talked with Tommy about some scripture about grace and faith so that if Julian were to come my way again I could point him to other scripture in God’s word. I hope that we cross paths again. I know that I will be praying for Julian and now I hope anyone who reads this will to. After parenting class today were up to 36 names of ladies that have come out to learn more about being a better Christian mother, grandmother, wife, and friend. Today in the parenting class my favorite little girl, Amelia, was back. I have enjoyed her so much each day. We have what I like to call kindred spirits, straight from Anne of Green Gables. She talks all the time about everything. This week along we have covered every member in her family, why her legs are crooked, and her favorite sweetie, what she wants to be when she grows up, among other things. I love her so much! I can’t wait to get here everyday to see what happened since we were together last. Today for lunch we had Jamaican hotdogs which consisted of a weenie and a bun. The good news is that today so far has been the best watermelon and pineapple day of the week. I enjoy the fresh fruit a lot. We went to the hospital and for a walk back into the community behind the GLOBE today. I was not prepared for either one. The hospital so not air conditioned and flies swarmed around the sick people there. They were so far behind the US in technology and research. Barbara said they probably have a very high infection rate, and I can imagine so. When we went into the neighborhood I couldn’t believe my eyes. People really do live in shacks and don’t have running water. Many of the bathrooms were boxes with holes under them that they burry and move to another place when the stink is too bad. Now for tonight’s worship, I will be going to Orange Bay with Tommy and a group. We sang the running, skipping, praising the Lord song that I love. Tommy preached a sermon called “Go or No Go” from 1John 5. We gave out a lot of new testaments tonight. Pastor Vernon and Tommy did a joint invitation and many people raised their hands, but didn’t come forward. We are going to pray for them and that the Lord will continue to work in their hearts and lives. While we were worshiping tonight a man broke into a window at the GLOBE and used a stick to take Rob’s scuba shoes. This made us all a little uneasy even though he didn’t actually get into the building. Tonight I pray that the Lords arms would surround us like the mother bird’s feathers protect her young.
Praying for protection and wisdom,
Ashley

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Jamaica Day 4

Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Dear Me, Some kind of street party went on and on last night. I couldn't sleep at all. At first it was American music, but then it went into some kind of I don't know what sound. It was so LOUD that it vibrated the bed and windows. All I remember hearing is ....get up....over the speakers. Believe me they were up and so was I and every other missionary in Jamaica. So, of course I over slept this morning. It is hard without an alarm clock and getting to sleep so late. This morning I loved the food! Can you believe it? It was fried dumplings! They also had the akey (fish) which was gross. It's also the national dish, but I'm not sure why. We went to Tapp's Primary School today. The children sang the Jamaican National Anthem this morning. It is such a good song, the words are very meaningful. Again the boys and girls were precious and sang several of their favorite songs for us. The school once again had a spokes person that stood and thanked us for sharing the Word of God with them. That is so special to me; I don't think anyone has ever thanked me for telling them about Jesus before. It just catches me off guard. I want to hug them and say you don't have to thank me for anything you just need to know that Jesus did all that because he loves you so much. I am just here to tell you more about him. On the way up to the school today Aunt Cathy and I saw an unusual sight. There was a Rasta man that ran at our van with a bamboo stick. I think for a minute it scared us both. The interesting thing was my reaction. I looked at Cathy and she looked at me, then I DIDN'T ANNOUNCE IT TO EVERYONE! For those of you who know me well you probably expected me too, but not today. No, I didn't say a word; instead I bowed my head and prayed. I thanked the lord for all that had been accomplished because of him so far. I thanked him for allowing me to be there (in that seat at that moment). I thanked him for keeping me safe and trusted that he would continue to keep me close. Then I said amen and opened my eyes and went into the school and started my day. After visiting with the students we went back for lunch.For lunch today we have patties. I liked them too! They reminded me of a hot pocket. After lunch we have to divide the supplies up between the two hospitals. We are going to visit a hospital tomorrow and take some things to the patients. We are giving the schools a book bag full of stuff as we visit them during the day. We had parenting class again today, but Holly and I fell in love. Yes, there are two little girls (twins) Amelia and Ophelia. We can't get enough of them. I know that I wanted to take them home with us, and I think Holly wanted to as well. Their little legs are bowed terribly. It looked to me like maybe they needed braces when they were younger, but didn't get them. Their mom and grandmother have been at the parenting class pretty faithfully this week. I hope they continue the rest of the week. It is another hot day. Many of the women are holding umbrellas today to keep the sun off of their skin and shade their babies. Tonight at worship we sang and sang choruses. Pastor Vernon knows his people so well. He knew they would come so we just waited them out. Every night at Orange Bay Bethany more and more people come out. Its like they want to hear the word, but they don't want anyone to know where they are. Tonight I made a singing debut. Yes, the one thing I said I wouldn't do was sing, and I did it! All 5'4" of me is tone deaf and I sang right on. I would never ever do that here, but once again it's Jamaica Mon! Pastor Glen's sermon was titled He is Here, and once again it was a great service. After the worship the invitation went on and on. I have never experienced anything like it at all. There were ten decisions made for Christ tonight. Praise the Lord! A man spoke in tongues, so Vernon and Glen worked with him and Brad, Holly, and I got the other nine and began to conference with them and make sure they knew what commitment had just occurred in their lives. I was so excited that my friend Kerry-Anne came forward tonight. I have prayed for her everyday. She cried and said, "please take me back with you." I feel like she means it and I want to help her in any way that I can. I promised that I would pray for her and hopefully come back to see her again some day. As it was time to go she held my hand and kept saying were sisters now right? I tried to explain that yes we were sisters now in Christ! I can't wait to see her tomorrow and speak with her again. Tonight I have a different prayer for the people of Jamaica. Tonight and forever my prayer will be.Lord of the Harvest, May I not sit quietly, while people pass me by. May I speak words from your Word, so that those around me can understand who your son, JESUS, is today. If it is your will Lord use missionaries in Jamaica today, tomorrow, and forever to bring in the harvest for your Glory. Amen

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Loving Him More and More,
Ashley

Jamaica Day 3

Monday, May 29, 2006
Dear Me,
I am prepared and ready with flannel board, pieces, and bible in hand. We are going to Bradford Primary today. Mrs. Jump is the principal there. She started the school a number of years ago. We got there and the students sang some choruses for us. Many of the children even had bibles with them. I was able to see and speak with two of the children that I sat with at church yesterday. They are all very respectful and even more so when they found out that I was a teacher in the USA. I told the story of the
Poor Woman's Gift in Mark 12 41-44. I did it twice, once for upper grades, and once for k-2. They all stood and said John 3:16 in unison. After we were finished we prayed to close. After we finished our prayer they continued on with one that everyone there knew. After we said our goodbye’s a young man stood and said "One behalf of Bradford Primary School we thank you for sharing the word of God with us today, and we hope you'll come again!" I am still trying to comprehend all that is going on around me. We just got back from the parent class. Our taxi driver, Price, just prayed the prayer of salvation and asked Jesus to come into his heart forever. I thank you Lord for that opportunity and for putting Lou, Brad, and I together in that car to help each other out in a time when we needed it most. We told him we are going to give his name to Pastor Allen to follow up with him, and told him about getting involved in a church and following the Lord in baptism. Our team will continue to pray for Price as a new Christian. The parenting class also went well today. The women trickled in, and we ended up with about 15-20 total. They were excited about getting the bags at the end of the week. They said those were things they desperately needed. Pauline, the tambourine lady, got us started then Cathy and Barbara did the classes as Becky, Holy, Lou and I played with the kids. The men got to go out into the community and do some home visits during this time. A lady named Elaine Davis prayed with Glen today to have Jesus in her heart and keep him as her Lord and savior. We are also going to pray for her as a new believer in Christ. We came back and ate tuna sandwiches for lunch. I liked it. We also got some sodas today from an air conditioned store. The only one in Buff Bay, I think. Maybe the Lord will call me back there to witness in the cool (just kidding). I rested for a while before evening worship. Pastor Vernon is telling us that the heat is all they are talking about on the TV or radio. They have not had any rain and many people are worried about how much longer their crops will live. It is very hot! For worship tonight the plan is for the two teams to switch up. Tommy and those will go to Bethany (Orange Bay) and Glen and the others will go up to Mt. Vernon. Cathy and Becky are going to stay back and do choir practice with the ladies. Going to Mt. Vernon meant a ride in the back of the truck. I started praying about that earlier. You can read a Friday Family Funny at www.itonlytakesasparks.blogspot.com that will tell you a lot about how I feel about the driving in Jamaica. The ride was just as I thought it would be....SCARY... but it was short. I got to meet Mr. Horace tonight. He helps pastor Vernon with the churches here in Buff Bay. Needless to say I rode in the cab of the truck on the way back down the mountain. Pastor Glen has been successful in bring out the lizards both night so far. I'm not scared of them. They don't seem to bother anyone. They just come out when you're not expecting them. I loved the chorus they sang tonight. It's called Running, Skipping, Praising the Lord. This is how it goes....I feel like running, skipping, praising the Lord for what we has done for me! He has set my spirit free. I feel like running, skipping, praising the Lord for what he has done for me. I feel the Holy Spirit at work unlike any other time in my life. I am praying daily for the Lord to continue to do what he sees fit for the team as well as the people of Jamaica.
Loving him more,
Ashley



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Jamaica Day # 2

Sunday, May 28, 2006
It's 6:00am and it's already warm. We will have breakfast and then Tommy is going to do the devotion for today. We will be worshiping today at Buff Bay Baptist Church at 10:00. Of course worship started late, but that's (no problem)! I do love the Jamaican time! I think I operate on it most days in South Carolina. Today during worship I sat with Chanese, Lavonia, Detra,
and another child, but I can’t remember her name. They are so well behaved we worshiped for about three hours, and there were between 250-300 people there. Pastor Vernon had invited all six of the churches to attend because it was family day and they were having a meal afterwards. I think it was something like our homecomings here in the states. Some of the choruses we sang were "Celebrate Jesus, Don't try to Tell Me that God is Dead, I'm so Glad I'm A Part of the Family of God, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, and This is the Day." I decided today that I want to learn how to play the tambourine! It is going to take lots of work considering I have no musical abilities of any sort. Cathy sang "How Great Thou Art" and Rob sang "The Voice of Truth." Cathy, Holly, Brad, and I did a puppet show that the children seemed to love! I was very surprised about the huge number of children that come to church without any parents. Sometimes a Grandparent or neighbor would be with them, but I didn't even see that many times. The people there just make room for them on the pew and watch and care for them while they are in the service. I couldn't see this happening in the US. People would be complaining about having to care for someone else’s children all the time or how squished all those kids made the pews. I didn't hear any of that just praising the Lord that the children had come no matter if they did have to watch them. Tommy preached his Do Not Be Like Them sermon. He really did a good job with it I thought. No one accepted Christ today as far as we know, but we're trusting God for the harvest. Today for the family day lunch I ate potato salad (different from home), jerk chicken, and pork. All were good, but the curry goat was not! I would eat it if it was the only thing to eat and I was starving, but short of that I'll always choose something else. After lunch they served goat milk ice cream. So many of the children broke in line that we decided to walk down the street and get our own. After getting the ice cream Becky, Cathy, and Lou went back to rest and others walked down to the beach, and saw some of the living conditions. There is trash everywhere. Kids throw their candy wrappers down and parents don't even address it. This is such a beautiful country, but it's not taken care of. It smells like trash burning a lot of the time. We just found out that Pastor Glen, Rob, Holly, Brad, and I will be going to Bethany (Orange Bay) Church tonight to worship there. Worship started at 7:30 instead of 7:00 as scheduled, but lasted until 9:00 anyway. Holly, Brad, and I did a skit about being stuck in sin. Rob sang "The Anchor Holds", and Glen preached a sermon on The Rich Young Ruler from Mark 10 17-31. It was the best sermon that I have ever heard in my life. I just knew and prayed that someone would accept Christ tonight! It didn't happen tonight in Orange Bay, but we will continue to pray for and seek out God's will for this team and trip. Well, now we have to go and sort through the school supplies for tomorrow because I will be giving a devotion in one of the local schools tomorrow. I am so excited and at the same time I can't really imagine getting to talk about Jesus as our Lord and Savior in the classroom!
Praying for the Harvest,
Ashley

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I'm On A Mission...(Trip That Is)

I have tossed around different ways to write about the Jamaica Mission Trip on the BLOG and the way I think will be the easiest and best is to share some of my journal pages and photos with you. So I will have the next few entries dated like a journal and I hope it's easy to follow. I have so much I want people to know about this experience. It is so exciting when God works on, through, and with you in such a powerful way. Well here goes with day one of the trip.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Dear Journal,
Whew, What a day. I'm not even sure where to start describing it. I am running on about 4 hours of sleep over the past two nights. Now I'm here in Jamaica at the GLOBE mission house VERY HOT and dizzy. It all begain when Mom packed me into the truck and we headed to Ben Avon Church. There we met Tommy, Cathy, Lou, and Becky. Then we went on over to Bethany Church and met Pastor Glen, Barbara and Alton, Holly, Brad, and Rob. That's us the 11 that God has called and bound together. To see me off there was Mom, Dad, Mema, and Josh. We left there and Uncle Dick drove us to the the Charlotte airport. You're probably thinking as I was smooth sailing, but NO we had over an hour delay for our flight out. We finally got on the plane and I remembered how much I love to fly! I do love it. The whole flight I thought about Jamaica. I imagined what it would look like among other things. We landed in Montigo Bay. Yes, it was beautiful, but hot unlike any hot I've ever felt before. We got searched pretty good in customs.I learned really quick that when Sandles Resort is out of sight the real Jamaica appears before your eyes. We rode for about two hours to Ocha Rias and ate at KFC. We met some really sweet women and children and ate with them. This was also my first experience with Jamaican currency. Which took me a moment to figure out. When we finished eating we traveled the other two hours to get to Buff Bay. Here it smells like trash and it is everywhere. The driving is very, very fast and scary. That is my least favorite part of Jamaica on day one. You can notice that I'm a little green in one of the pictures below. I've never been motion sick before, but the terrible roads and fast driving did make me a little dizzy. We got to see and speak to Marc Andre, but it was late so we prayed and went on to bed. There is NO AIR CONDITIONING here anywhere and everything is hot except shower water which is very cold! I am not use to any of this. I love you Jesus and I already miss home. Please help me make it through.

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There will be more to come as I put all of this together!
Love You and thanks for all your support of this mission trip.
Ashley

The Creation Tour

We had a special treat last Thursday night at Ben Avon Baptist Church, Covenant Presbyterian Church Youth Choir under the direction of Eric(nephew)came to town and presented their 2006 Creation Tour it was great. We were very proud of Eric and the youth choir's hard work and dedication to the 2006 tour. I am posting a few pictures of the concert.
"This Music is a celebration of Jesus Christ, the Living Word, the creator of the old, the new, and that which is to come."

Also want to wish Eric And Kristi a Happy Anniversary!!
Cindy

Family Genology

I have been researching our family roots the past few months, I have found some very interesting people in our family tree. On the paternal side of the Ford's I have been able to go back 7 generations and on the maternal side of the Ford's I have been able to go back 8 generations. The Ford's & Hamrick's of our history was the easiest to find and to vertify, one of our ancestors had already researched most of it for us, I just had to add a few of us to the tree. On the Jones/Bagwell side, thats a different story, I can't find much about them, so if any of you remember any names, dates, or places please let me know.
On my side of the tree I have done pretty good finding my mother's family, now on old Gaines' side of the tree I can't even find my Great Grandfather there were divorces and second marriages and no one stayed in touch with their first spouses, it like the branch was trimmed and gone forever. As I get the dates, places and everybody's name on the form I will print each of us one to keep for our children and as we grow we will add the new members to our great family heritage and watch to growing stronger.. See if you can link on to my tree

Remembering Our Mother's

Where do I begin to discuss the topic of Motherhood? I am not a mother, so this Mother's Day was a celebration of my mother, grandmother, and really all the motherly roll models in my life. I have been so fortunate all of my life to be surrounded by Godly Mother's. I have seen Mother's go through the gamut of emotions. I have seen the proud mother when a child graduates. I have seen the happy mother when a child spends some quality time with her. I have seen a sad mother when she’s been let down. I’ve seen a busy mother with too much to do. I’ve seen a confused Mother when she doesn’t understand. I’ve seen the relieved mother when she realized her child was ok. I’ve seen the compassionate mother that loves you no matter what. I’ve seen lots of emotions from my mother and others as well. As many of you know, and I think would agree, the tragedy that struck our family in December changed the way we all thought about this Mother’s Day. For me it was the first time I have ever thought that this might be my Mother’s last Mother’s Day. I thought to myself what would I do if my mother was gone? I haven’t come up with that answer by the way, and I really don’t want to. I do think that once again our family rose to the occasion even though it was one of the hardest things I’ve (we’ve) ever done. I think that we didn’t take a minute of it for granted, especially this year. We took a deep breath and took it all in stride. Yes, we missed Nanny and yes she was in our thoughts, because she was a little bit of a mother to some of us and a lot of a mother to others, but someway somehow the mother’s that she has helped along the way helped us all again on Sunday! I love you Mom. I hope you had the happiest Mother’s Day ever.
Love ya,
Ashley

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Sinuses, Kidneys, and Headaches, Oh My!

Well I’m finally feeling better this morning. Some of you know that on Wednesday I came down with both a sinus and kidney infection. It was as bad as it sounds. Take a look at our dog, Lexie, she was even trying to get a smile out of me. I woke up at 4:00am to the pressure and pain of having both at the same time. It was during one of the, if not the most important, weeks of school, PACT testing week. Of course this close to the end of the school year, and during a testing week we are NOT supposed to be out. So, I went in that morning and talked to my principal and he and I both knew it wasn’t good when the first thing out of his mouth was “What’s the matter?” That’s when I proceeded to tell him about my morning and that I needed someone to cover my class at 8:00 so I could call my doctor. He worked with me amazingly and I was able to see the doctor that morning at 10:00. After her thorough check she said, “Yep, you do in fact have both a sinus and kidney infection, but the biggest dilemma is what to prescribe for you that will help with both.” For those of you who do not know I am allergic to amoxicillan and sulfur drugs, which is what is probably the best at treating the two symptoms that I have. Then she informed me to turn my little fanny over and made me eat my words…. I always say that medicine has come too far for people to be sick or in pain, and at first sniffle, sneeze, or cough I head to the doctor. She said,”I am giving you a shot in your tush to speed up this process and I’ll write you a prescription as well.” I guess she thought I meant it when I said doctors and technology have come too far for anyone to suffer for too long. So she fixed me right up! It is Saturday now and I do feel a lot better. I have plans to leave the house and venture back out in the land of the living!
I would like to thank everyone who prayed for me during this time I know that Ben Avon remembered me on Wednesday when I was not well at all! I am always amazed at doctors, nurses, and pharmacists when I am sick. I do think that those people have an amazing witnessing opportunity. I just prayed and prayed with my little nurse on Wednesday, and after she realized that I was really sick and not crazy she began to pray right along with me. I even invited her to Friend Day, but she already has a home church. Today I thank you Lord for my health, and for the doctors, nurses, pharmacist, and all those who prayed for me.

Love,
Ashley

Suppertime By Rick

Tonight at church dad made his singing debut. He has been working on the Cathedrals song Suppertime. He has learned to play it on the guitar and has also been practicing singing it. We had hoped to be out on the lawn, but it rained that out. However, it didn't rain out the service. We just moved it back inside. We went right on singing and worshiping Jesus. He was really nervous after the practice at 5:00, but once showtime rolled around it was GREAT! Mrs. Adair even testified afterwards. It was nice to hear someone say "the only way that young man could do that is by the glory of God!" Of course I want to believe that dad could do it on his own, but I know that Mrs. Adair is right. There is NO possible way that relying on human strength alone those words would have come out. I know one thing that people have been saying to our family is that something good will come out of this tragedy, and I must admit that I didn't understand that or maybe I didn't quite believe it, but after tonight I think maybe just maybe I got a glimpse of what those people have been trying to say. I guess for the first time tonight I saw someone other than a family member realize that the only way we get through each day is by praying and turning it over to Jesus. I hope that in all we do everyday others see Jesus in us and how he is still working in each of our lives. As the song goes Mama comes to the back porch to say come on home it's suppertime. I guess tonight was just a gentle reminder that one day Jesus Christ will call us all home because it will be suppertime. I can't wait to hear those words and have the greatest supper ever dinning with the Lord God on high. It will just be an added bonus to have Nanny and Papa around that same table too! I know that Nanny was telling everyone "that's my baby boy" :)I can't wait to see ya'll come running when Jesus says come on home it's suppertime!

Love ya,
Cindy & Ashley

With Whip Cream on Top

Today Mom and I went galivanting. Do ya'll know what it means to galivant? That means take someone near and dear to you and go for as long as it takes for both parties to talk, laugh, spend money, and eat! Actually according to Mr. Webster it means to travel or roam about for pleasure. Does that sound like fun? It was for my mother and I. We started the morning with manicures and pedicures at our local nail salon. Then we went next door to one of our favorite little shops. It is called Primrose Galleries. Here we found the cutest shoes. So, of course being the shoe fanatics we are I got a pair in blue and Mom couldn't resist the pink. Then we were off to another favorite of ours called the Five Bee's. These ladies started out in a tent on Highway 9. They sell mostly handbags and costume jewlery. Most of it is gaudy which means..... we love it! Check out this fabulous handbag we picked up today. Look for it soon in a supermarket, school, mall, or church near you. After all that we had worked up quiet an appetite. It was very convenient that right beside the Five Bee's there's Beleu's Farms, where we decided that some fresh strawberries were in order. Oh wait, I've gotten ahead of myself. We bought some fresh tomatoes that will be scrumptious in a salad for supper. Then, the strawberries for dessert.
Dad entered the day about 7:00 when we asked him if he would grill out the steaks. Don't they look delicious?
Our menu for the night consisted of steaks, potatoes, a garden fresh salad, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. There is nothing better than a great grilled meal in the springtime. Mom says the clean up is easy too! We had to pick something that we could clean up fast to get to the sweet treat. Now, strawberry shortcakes, are yummy but, like most things in life with them comes a process. We found that true even in creating the perfect strawberry dessert. First you need the cake. Then add fresh strawberries. A touch of whip cream to taste, and finish with strawberries. Finally, take a BIG BITE. We had plans to continue our evening with a movie and popcorn, but...... You guessed it. I fell asleep watching the race with dad. His snooring put me right out.Oh well, maybe Mom and I can catch the movie one night this week. After all I had the theater style popcorn to boot. After today I have decided that I had a wonderful Mother Daughter day and I hope that next Sunday will be even better for my #1 Mom! This proves that you are NEVER too old to have some fun with your Mom (and a little Dad too)!

Enjoy the Journey,
Ashley

Railroad Family Day

This was a fantastic way to pass away some time on Sunday afternoon. Dad invited everyone to the Cleveland Park Event Center for Northfolk Southern's Family Day. It was like a 1980's flashback for Amanda, Kerrie, and I. We were talking about the days when Nanny and Papa would take us on an adventure down to the park for a picnic and train ride. If we were really good we would sneak in an extra moment on the swings too. If things were really going our way the ice cream truck would meet us on our way back to Nanny's. It was neat to remember those feeling and see Samuel, Hannah Grace, Faith, and Seth get in on some of the great times we use to have there. It seemed that everyone was happy and couldn't wait to get to the next thing. We enjoyed food from Sticky Fingers. Faith really enjoyed that chicken that was really a rib!(HA HA) Hannah Grace and I jammed to the music provided by the Railroad Police Band. You can check that photo out at www.itonlytakesasparks.blogspot.com After that we wondered down to the train. Yes that's Kerrie Michelle and I in the same train car. Somethings never change. We were able to win a few door prizes along the way. Dad won a nice piece of luggage that I plan to put to good use traveling to Jamacia, and a handy mouse pad that we donated to our pastor knowing that he will put it to good use at Ben Avon Baptist!Whew.....What a day and we still have Sunday evening service to come. Thanks Dad for getting the whole gang together for this special time, and thanks family for comming!
Always,
Cindy and Ashley

Field Day Fun

Before there was a "Ladies Night Out" there was FIELD DAY! My third graders were soooo excited Friday because they got to have field day. This is always a special day for students. They love to play and of course have some boys against girls fun too. This year we didn't have it set up like a compitition between the students, but instead it was set up in stations where the kids got to try out different games that they have learned in PE this year. I thought that it went very well. Of course at the first station I got soaked with a water balloon. Oh well the kids got a real kick out of that and it felt pretty good to. Some of our favorite stations were the hula hoop relay and the sack race. I must admit that I love those classics as well.

Ladies Night Out

Hello All.
We had a busy weekend. It all began on Friday night when mom and I went to a "Ladies Night Out" together. We had a wonderful time. Cindy invited us to join her along with other close family and friends. Mema, Aunt Cathy, Alyssa, Lou, and Dee were all able to go with us. I know that list begs the question... "Who was babysitting?'' It was Uncle Dick who braved the biggest feat of the evening. Yes indeed he watched all of Cindy and Alyssa's children. They all survived, and we're learning bits and pieces of what exactly what took place that night. I think the last report was from Faith. She confessed that the reason the bed was messed up was simply because they were jumping on it! Hey, the girls were out listening to good music, inspirational speaking, and eating some pretty good food. I think Cindy and Alyssa would join me in saying that if the worst thing that happened that night was a little jumping on the bed everyone faired very well. The speaker for the evening was Dawn Smith Jordan. She has a moving testimony and shared some very comforting verses of scripture that helped her through some of her toughest times. If I had to describe a theme or main idea of the evening it would be "The things that are impossible with people are possible with God" Luke 18:27 (NASB). I really am a teacher at heart, I guess, because I'm always looking for what's important at the root of it all. It was one of those evenings that depending on what you were dealing with in your own personal life something she said probably moved or tugged your heartstrings in some way. I would even go as far as to say that each one of us that had the opportunity to go may have come away with a different experience or momory that stands out in our minds. I hope that everyone enjoyed our ladies night out as much as I did and my prayer for you all is that you "Keep Believing!"


"Give each other a kiss of Christian love when you meet" 1 Peter 5:13
Ashley

The RACK Room Blog

We finally decided on a name for the family blog,
R ick
A shley
C indy
K errie.

We hope to keep family and friends updated on what is happening at the RACK room, we have been busy the past few weeks.
Kerrie has finish her photo classes, she has been taking pictures of everything, I will post a few of her pictures as soon as I learn how to.
Ashley is getting ready for her mission trip to Jamaica, she will be leaving in about 5 weeks, with a mission team from 3 local churches. Please keep the mission team in your prayers as they prepare for this very exciting trip.