Finishing with NAMB

We officially finished our time with the North American Mission Board on June 1st. It was bittersweet. We were sad to leave our friends in Alabama but happy to be returning to Southaven. Happy to be in our own house again. Happy to be near family. Sad to be leaving our International ministry. But, God worked all things out for us and we have been so amazed!

I graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in early May. Jarrod accepted a youth minister job at Gracewood Baptist Church and he will start seminary in the Fall. He will be attending Liberty -- he will be able to do ALL of his coursework online. It is going to be fairly expensive to send Jarrod to seminary but we are leaning on the Lord to provide. I was able to get scholarships because I went to one of the big six Southern Baptist Seminaries. Liberty is Southern Baptist but he can't get a scholarship to go to Liberty. NAMB is going to give Jarrod a one-time $500 scholarship. That will be really helpful!

Charlie was 8 months old on the 22nd of this month! He isn't crawling yet but boy is he trying. He got so frustrated today that he screamed and you could really see how hard he was trying. Poor little guy! He is weighing in at 19.1 pounds and he is 26.5 inches long!

We are still able to be on the federal WIC program. We are getting all of Charlie's formula for free and 32 jars of baby food for free. I breastfed for 6 months but due to difficulties that were not under my control, I was not able to continue. I was so sad! I had hoped to continue until Charlie was a year old. But again - God has just provided for us over and over again because we are not having to pay for formula.

Jarrod is enjoying being a youth minister. We are daily burdened by many of the youth in the youth group. We need to pray for the youth of today. They are facing things that no other generation have faced and they need Christian mentorship and they need to know that Jesus loves them and wants a relationship with them. Please pray for Jarrod as he ministers. Pray that God will use Jarrod to reach the youth and the parents of the youth.

Jarrod is also the director of the new Family Life Center. Please pray for Jarrod to have direction and wisdom as he directs.

I am staying home with Charlie. We play all day long (in between his naps). We read books and we are working on Charlie learning to say "mama" and/or "dada". He won't say either!!! I am also trying to exercise while Charlie is sleeping. Gotta lose this baby weight!

Thank you for your continued prayers and for your encouragement!! We thank the Lord daily for our friends!