the countdown is on!

1 day and about 23 hours...
I am so looking forward to our family vacation to Winnipeg!!
The kids and I will be there for 3 weeks, and Gerald will come for the first 10 days...
ahhhh...that is the feeling I get when I think of home....my mom's house (peace), sitting around the house with kids playing, chatting with my sisters and mom....my dad's face when we're all around (pure contentment) and my brothers...just plain fun to be around. And how fortunate are we that both our families are in the same town? We get to see cousins from both sides, and grandparents (although, the reality of Ella not being there will be hard).

Anyway....I'm beyond excited! Then right after that we get to go to Haiti!! I'll be keeping you posted on that, 'cause I'll be asking for mega prayer!!

I'm a mess....

I cried through this whole video....

here's mine:
lukewarm Christian
captivated by the world...

Captured by Christ
the lover of my soul

it's my birthday....

to all my July birthday sisters!
love you girls...
you know who you are.

The Life and Times of the Mangine Five: Thoughts on what I saw

if you were wondering about the 'mission' our church is on in regards to Haiti....read Gwenn's blog...(click the link)


The Life and Times of the Mangine Five: Thoughts on what I saw

something to chew on....

From Leann Pye's blog...





I am undone...

has it really been 15 days?

???
wow, how much can happen in that time?
alot. a lifetime.
I'm sad today. I'm not where I want to be. I have no choice. And that makes me sadder.
Today Gerald's family helped bury his step-mother Ella. She died on July 2. She was only married to Gerald's dad (George) for little over a year. Gerald and I are not there. We are here. In Cary. Because we are trying to become citizens of a country we have grown to love as our own.
Our pastor started a new series on suffering....who knew a year ago when he planned it, that it would resonate so loudly in our community. Jonathan asked our community to write on the walls (covered with butcher paper) our hurt, our suffering. So many people got up.
I am not suffering like some. I have a strong marriage, great kids, no finacial struggles, no past regrets....but I am suffering. My heart is heavy with the weight of being so far from the family I love. What if this had been my mother? My father? What will I do when the time comes for them to go to heaven and I haven't seen them since Christmas? I'm sad. But I'm not without hope. I know I have the hope of the resurrection and I will see Ella again. I will see all my parents again. I have a chance to be more intentional with the people I love that are still here.
I have that choice.
And that makes me happy.