I will not forget...

I don't think it has quite settled into my mind that I'm really back in the States. How I thought I'd act and feel when arriving back on Monday did not happen. I did not suffer jet lag. I did not cry miserably for hours or seclude myself from others (as I did after my first mission trip). Instead, while I miss the people and the country terribly, and I get teary eyed as I edit the 700+ photos I took while I was there...inside my soul is quiet and filled with hope. I hope that I'll be able to return next year. I hope that it is part of God's will for my life. In addition, I bought tons of envelopes and stationary to write to not only the girl back in Battambang that I sponsor through BrightPoint, but also to many of the other precious souls I connected with during my short time there.

One of my biggest personal concerns was that when I got back I would start to slowly forget about everyone I met while I was there - distracted by the demanding and time consuming lifestyle I lead here. I don't want that. But then yesterday while spending 7 hours at the dentist (long story), as Dr. Patel had half his hand down my mouth giving me a thorough root canal, I had a moment.

I remembered the little children living around the orphanage who we invited over to join in the lessons, crafts, and games. I remember how when many of them smiled up at you shyly, you could see that their teeth were so decayed that they were brown or black in color. I saw this again while at Angkor Wat among the street children trying to sell you 10 postcards or five bracelets for one dollar. I realized how fortunate I was, but it also made me very sad that these precious ones had no access to dental care, among many other things we take for granted in the States.

The children at the New Life Orphanage are blessed and well taken care of, but I know that there are so many other children in Cambodia who do not have the love and care found there. That is where my heart aches the most.

Home Again!

We arrived in Atlanta safe and healthy after 24 hours of traveling. It's safe to say that our bodies are here in the US but our hearts are back in Battambang. It will take a while to transition to life as we know it here at home. We had bonded so closely as a team, I'm sure we'll go through withdrawal not only from the kids, but also from each other! We've pledged to get together as often as possible.

We are so incredibly grateful to all our friends and family for the prayers and financial support! We couldn't do this trip without your help. Your support touched the lives of hundreds of people in Cambodia!

Fishers of Men

Today was our last day to be with the children at the orphanage so waking this morning was a bit surreal. This was the inevitable day that we all knew was coming. We met early for breakfast, Jon and I had the great privilege of meeting with a few of the new Christians that committed their lives to Christ at the meeting held on Tuesday night. It was such a blessing to sit with these new "children" of Christ. We sat with them and answered some questions that they had as new believers. Jon and I had both (unknowingly) felt some concern that we would not have much in common with these men and women, however, God had it all planned out. One of the men in front of us was a principal (my 7 years of teaching came right out!) and the other worked in construction material sales (Jon, of course, has plenty of knowledge on this one!). To my right, was the girl that I'd met from Tuesday and to Jon's far right was the guy that he'd recently been in contact with during the week. Amazing how God can line things up like that.

We were off to the orphanage soon after the breakfast and rolled into the orphanage so see all those precious faces. Hugs and "I Love Yous" could be seen and heard immediately. We all went into their school room and began the dancing. Boy can these kids break it down...and I have to say that we have quite a few team members who can break it down as well.

Next we sat the kids down to talk about our theme for the week, fishers of men, and how we can be fishermen. Among the many things we can do to show our love for Christ and others is to give and share. So we brought out the HUGE bag of rice and began to fill small burlap sacks with rice and a verse from John 3:16. The children lined up from smallest to largest (as they always do) but we noticed something different. No longer did we have our usual orphanage children and a few stray village children, but today we had close to 50 children from the village to join us!!!! They were all lined up, ready for their bag of rice and scripture too. Some had brought their mothers and fathers, even a few babies heard the message today. God works in some really big ways when we wants to.

Once we'd filled the bags, the village children were told that they could keep theirs and then we took, or I should say, followed the orphan children out onto the gravel road to deliver the bags of rice. It was such a JOY to watch the children going out into their community and share their love and faith with others. They were truly fishers of men today!

Finally, it was time for goodbyes. The children took turns standing and telling us what they enjoyed about the week and telling us thank you. It was tearful and heartfelt by each one. They had written letters and made bracelets for us. Many had written letters to all the team members and made bracelets as well. They have such a giving heart. They also wanted to sing for us. As if these acts of thanksgiving were not enough, they recited Psalm 91. Word for word. By memory. It was amazing. These children really know how to say thank you!

I will spare you the details of what it felt like to get on that van and pull away from those tiny tear stained faces. Many of you who've been on this trip or one like it can relate to the sadness that comes with leaving these little ones behind. I can rest in knowing that God is watching over them and holding each one close to Him.

I'm so grateful to this team for their hard work. It has been 100 miles an hour since we landed. There has not been a moments rest. I'm also grateful for the support we've had along the way from friends and family. This truly would not be possible without each on of you. It's been busy and constant energy but I would do it all over again for the fullness that I have in my heart right now.

With that, I'm going to bed. Tomorrow is another day of travel for us as we leave Battambang and drive to Siem Reap.

Get Your Groove ON!

This afternoon we retold the story Jesus calling the disciples the follow Him and Be Fishers of Men! Will Britt by far is the favorite actor with his silly bow! This afternoon we decorated backpags with markers and we played outside and played duck, duck goose!


THE kids and The team got our GROOVE on at our AWESOME DANCE PARTY tonight! We rocked out to Jump Around, Brick House, Play that Funky Music White Boy, Let's Get Started by the Black Eyes Peas, The Jackson Five's ABC and IF WE have it, we will have to post our amazing sketch of Jackson's Thriller dance / video.

The slide show that Jon Vaughan created was BEAUTIFUL. The kids loved seeing themselves and so did the team. What a great a way to reflect on the week!

We had popcorn and soda and had our movie night watching WALL-E. Everyone enjoyed quality time with each other. The kids loved the silliness of the movie and being together.

We are getting ready for tomorrow so I need to go!

In His Grip,
Meredith Houston on Laura Siron Account

WHAT A MORNING!

We started out this morning having breakfast with Paster Vek. What an amazing man of faith and service to the Lord. It was great to have some quality time with him and get to know him better. This morning at the orphanage we had a great time with kids worshipping the Lord in music and then with coloring a fish! Afterwards we had fun playing steal the bacon and volleyball and the girls painted their nails. We left there at 11:30am and went to a restaurant for lunch. After lunch Mistye and Jon went to the market to get sodas, ice and stuff for MOVIE night and DANCE PARTY TONIGHT! It will an amazing Party! Stay tuned......

Day 7 - Perfect

Today was our second day at the orphanage. After singing our hearts out with the kids, we did two skits in keeping with our "Fishers of Men" theme. The first skit was our reenactment of the story of the miraculous catch of fish found in Matthew 9:9-13. We worked hard to make the skit as funny as possible and the kids ate it up. After arts and crafts, we did trust falls and a crazy relay race which involved blindfolds, spinning, and wheelbarrow.

Our perfect day continued with more praise and worship - which turns into a dance party - after lunch. The second skit told the story of the good Samaritan - found in Luke 10:25-37 - teaching Jesus' message to love your neighbor as yourself. The arts and crafts continued with our own "t-shirt" signing party. The genuine love of these kids is unbelievable.

The day wrapped up with a dinner better than any of us could have hoped for - we hosted all the kids (Pastor Vek and his wife joined us as well!) at the local BBQ joint. Fun doesn't begin to describe the evening. The food, the pictures, the praise - it was perfect (if we haven't mentioned that already!). To top it all off one of team members celebrated a birthday with the sweet sounds of those angels singing 'Happy Birthday' in English.

God bless!

Day 6 - More of God's Plan Revealed

What an amazing day! God truly is unbelievable, all knowing, and all powerful. His plans were revealed in a big way today.

Our day began with one of our team members being sick with dehydration. This presented us with a challenge, but a chance to grow closer as a team. God has without a doubt put the nine of us here to serve Him and work together to make His plans happen. (Fortunately, everyone is healthy once again!)

For a lot of people having a sick team member would have gotten them down. For us, we completely rallied around each other bringing our team members even closer. This was perfect timing for us with it being our first day at the orphanage. Our deeper unity allowed us to start our first day with the kids in an even more powerful way. On a scale of 1 to 10, we would say the kids' energy level was a 100! The skits and music seemed to be the favorites of the day. Each one of us had a chance to dress up as a character from the Bible and act out two different passages in Matthew. We sang many songs with the children while being able to see their dance moves and share some of our own. In addition to the songs and skits, the children created crafts that were used at the business dinner we attended this evening. Their origami and place mats added so much to each table as we sat down with men and women from the community. To wrap things up, we played steal the bacon and had three legged races. A long goodbye ended our day with hugs and a phrase we all love, “see you chop chop!”

After the orphanage, we were on to our last event of the day. New Life Church (The church that runs the orphanage) sponsored a dinner for local business and community leaders to witness to them about the love of Christ. It was such a powerful and amazing event. Jon found out yesterday that he would be the guest speaker. We all rallied around and prayed for him to make sure that he was as prepared as possible. He knocked it out of the park! After Jon, and the pastor from New Life spoke, 21 people (about ¼ to 1/3 of the non believers there) accepted Christ tonight. Isn’t God so incredible?! What God is doing in Cambodia continues to amaze us daily!

We wrapped up the day with a debrief as a team celebrating all that God has done just half way through our trip. We continue to ask for prayers for health, energy and strength to serve Him fully while accomplishing all that He has for us to do on this journey.

Monday

Today was a special day indeed! Despite the rain and crashing waves, the morning started out with something we all felt so blessed to witness -- Pastor Vek baptised two people (including Laura!!) in the ocean. Pastor Vek walked out into the water in his pressed white shirt and dark trousers, drenched by the towering waves, yet standing strong for the two baptisms.
Afterwards, the kids ran back into the water like it was their first time ever at the beach, throwing themselves in, splashing, jumping and having a great time.
Some of the boys played soccer while some of the girls braided hair. Lunch was literally a feast with fresh seafood, chicken, beef, vegetables and soup.
We left around noon and began the 8 hour bus ride to Battambang. We played games and sang songs to help the time pass. We arrived safely and are now getting all of the crafts, sports and curriculum ready for tomorrow. It is definitely going to be a great day!

Sadness, Reverence, and Unbridled Joy

First full day in Cambodia, and could it have gotten any more amazing? The day started with Will and Carrie going for a walk, and spotting a traffic jam, CAUSED BY AN ELEPHANT. We all congregated in the lobby and soon found out that none of us slept really well, and had been up without an alarm for quite some time. God did provide, as he always does, and we had a day where we all felt pretty energized.

After a traditional Cambodian breakfast (haha) of omelets, pancakes, and for Will the big breakfast platter, we set out on our way with the other two team here in Cambodia to S-21, which is an old high school that the Khmer Rouge turned into a concentration camp. We all felt the aching in our hearts as we saw the gruesome pictures, read the horrific accounts, and most haunting, saw the hundreds of faces that the Khmer Rouge documented as they brought them into the camp, tortured, and killed them. They killed 20,000 in 3 years just at that place. We then went to the Killing Fields, a place where they would truck people to murder them and push them into mass graves. It was an emotional experience to see the brutality and lack of respect for human life, all of which happened all too recently. It is tough to go through that but vital to see in order to understand where Cambodia has been, and the darkness that the nation is coming out of and fighting, a fight that is fought by a growing population of Christians.

Peter, a Cambodian that works for New Life Missions (who runs the churches and the orphanages that we are working with), then took us to lunch then to the the main church campus which is here in Phnom Penh. On the way, he told us about the Weekly Evangelism Club (WEC), which is a group of Christians that commits to share the gospel once a week in a one on one setting with a non-believer in Cambodia. They started a year ago, and are already up to 2,000 WEC members. Their goal is to get to 3,000 by the end of the year, and eventually 5,000. They say by doing that, they can share the gospel 20,000 times a year!!! This is a country that is 98% Buddhist. Talk about praying BIG!!

We had a great opportunity to pray for the church as a group of 26 (all three teams from globalX), then decided that we would LOVE to go see the Phnom Penh orphanage, since most of us hadn’t seen it yet, and didn’t know when we would have the opportunity to do it again. Talk about God putting plans in work we didn’t know about. On the way, Peter told us that ALL THE KIDS WOULD BE THERE!!!! We got so excited about being able to spend time with our kids before seeing them at church tomorrow morning. We got to the orphanage, walked down the long road to their gate, and to our surprise, there were the kids from all 3 orphanages, close to 100 in all, all lined up in two lines for us to walk through, waiting on us. They all started clapping we when walked up. The lows of the evil of Cambodia were far overcome with the joy and love we felt when we saw these precious children of God. The kids immediately hugged and called out the names of the familiar faces, and QUICKLY gravitated to our 4 first timers, when introductions to Will, Suzanne, Meredith and Ashley quickly turned into hugs and holding of hands. For us veterans, we just let it all just wash over us as we greeted, hugged, picked up, loved on, and sat with “our children”. God is such a good, loving and caring God, and seeing these children who have so much, in the Western world’s eyes, that they are lacking just so unabated joy, love and happiness truly showed God’s love.

After a couple hours there, we were sentenced to have to leave and head back to the hotel. We grabbed some dinner and packed up our stuff to go to the beach and then grouped up for a team debrief. 9 people who were virtually strangers 8 months ago sat in a room having laughs, talking about highs and lows, and just really being a group of close friends digesting the day. God is good, and has placed great blessings on us to have such a wonderful group of individuals who truly care about each other.

Thanks for your prayers for strength, they were certainly felt today. Please, please, please continue that for the next 48 hours as we have a couple full days of playing hard with the kids at the beach. We won’t have internet access tomorrow, so we will be back to blogging Monday night. Thanks for your support. We miss all of you and look forward to telling you more stories throughout the trip.

PS We will have pictures to upload Monday

Safe and sound

Hey everyone!! It has been a long and tiring last 30 hours, but at last we are here in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Our flights were great, and it was so joyous to see familiar smiling faces of some of the church men there to help with our bags and get us to the hotel. We are all checked in and ready for some sleep. Tomorrow will be a great day as we see the city and church and what God is doing here, but also a tough day as we see the history of evil as we visit SR 21, an old Khmer Rouge concentration camp.

Please continue to pray for safety and health, and especially for energy tomorrow.

God Bless!!

Okay guys, i'm about to go to bed but I wanted to give out a little word or two before I try to sleep. Notice I said, "try". ;)

I wanted to try to find some scripture to help me relax and just "be". I'm spinning my wheels trying to get all this done and my head is about to explode. This verse was helpful to me and I hope it can be helpful to one or two of you...

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

We've work hard, and planned all we can and now it's all in God's hands! What a peaceful feeling it is to know that He will carry us through all of this. He's already decided how these next 12 days will go! It is such a joy to be serving along side of each one of you. My prayer is that you rest peacefully tonight. Get ready for a great adventure of love and service!

Here is the Team!!!!

Why am I writing?

So, not sure why I'm writing, not even sure what I'll say but I felt the need (at 11:43 no less) to blog a little something. We are 14 days away from our departure and all I can think about is the day we see those precious children and the wave of love that will come over us as we are greeted. I have a million things I want to say to them and yet, they won't understand a word of it. I don't even know how I'll hold myself up when I see their tiny faces. Their beautiful eyes. Ugh, those beautiful eyes.

I can tell that our team members are feeling the crunch. I feel it too. I know we are feeling the stress and anxiety that comes along with leaving the country. All I can say is, trust in the Lord, my friends. WE can do this, and when WE can't...HE can!

I'm praying for each one of you. And I'm praying for that amazing journey that we are about to go on. And oh, the prayers for those sweet little ones.....

It is 11:48 am for them right now. They may be about to eat lunch. They have a full day ahead of them today. We will be there soon. Sharing our love, sharing our time, sharing our hearts. It's good stuff.

Sort of Random But it Applies

So yesterday I had a friend over who stole the remote and had me watching a show on Discovery called "Dining with Death." It basically showcased the most dangerous foods in Southeast Asia. My friend and I got excited when they talked about the tarantulas in CAMBODIA!! So yeah, that 1 hour show got me really excited about the trip again. I think I sort of lost that during the fast, so it's nice to see my enthusiasm return.

Also, I dreamed about meeting the child I sponsor last night. The thing that stuck most with me was just how joyous that moment was. I wanted to cry in the dream.

How is this trip only 3 weeks away? My head is about to explode.

Breaking the Fast

We had a great team meeting on Sunday and we shared our experiences with the fast, including the highs and lows. I am grateful to have gone through the experience. I enjoyed breaking the fast - Will and I broke it Sunday night at Carrabba's -mmmm! Yesterday I went a little overboard with coffee, diet coke, snickers. I'm back on track today as far as not eating junk. Will is still eating nuts and raisins - he's so good!
Now that we're done with the fast, we can really focus on firming up all our plans for the kids. We are all beyond excited to get there! I can't wait for the moment when our bus pulls up to the church that Sunday morning and we see all the sweetie pies running up to us!

We Can Do It!

Only a few more days left! It has been great to hear how all of you are doing on your fast! Like Jon, I felt a little bit guilty the first week because I had done this before and could come up with a plan of how to make it work. I was excited about trying new recipes and the challenge of only including ingredients that were on the list for the fast. I visited the Buford Highway Farmer's Market to figure out new ingredients that I could use and have fun with. It was week two that really was tough for me. All of the recipes seemed to have such similar flavors over time and other food started to look so much better than what I was making. I just really didn't have much of an appetite. I am the type of person that if I commit to something, I am going to do it. With this fast being a commitment to God to follow it for 21 days, I was not going to possibly let Him down. With that, I wasn't going to eat foods that weren't ok. On the other hand, there is the mental part of it all. I have struggled with maintaining a positive attitude at times. It has been a challenge to focus more on this being a time of prayer in my mind vs. a pity party for all the food I can't eat or how tired I am in the morning because I can't have caffeine. This fast has really made me think about how I respond to the circumstances in front of me in general. Do I have enthusiasm and joy like I did the first week when I accepted what was in front of me and made the best of it? Or...do I grumble inside and lose focus like the second week of this fast? I think God wants us to take our circumstances and make the most of them. It says in Thessalonians 5:16-18: ¹⁶Be joyful always; ¹⁷pray continually; ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. As the final days are here, I am so thankful for the special connection that I feel with God right now and for this time to refocus.

5 more days

I'm very impressed that Jon passed up cake on a stick - that sounds awesome! I was faced with my Achilles' heel in terms of food last night -- Carrabba's bread/oil and red wine. Saying no really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The one part that I've enjoyed most about the fast is the opportunity to mention the trip to people. I have lots of client lunches so it's inevitable that they'll ask me what's going on when I order strange things. I think that talking about mission trips is a great way for God to plant a seed in their heart for His plans for them.
We only have 4 more weeks until our trip!!! I can't wait to scoop those little angels into my arms!

14 Days Down, 7 To Go

We are in the home stretch people. Just wanted to give you some thoughts about my experience so far.

So, this being my third year into it, like I said before, I thought this was going to be a breeze. I even remember thinking on week 1, "This is a little too easy, I am not feeling challenged like I was in the past. God, what can I do to make this tougher so I can be more apt to turn to you?" Be careful what you ask for. I had a ROUGH couple of days last week. Thanks everyone for the prayer, and Carrie, that prayer you sent out was great. So I had a great week. Saturday I went to a sort of rehearsal dinner type thing, and they had Williamson Brothers catered, my favorite food, Sweetwater 420 in a keg, my favorite beer, and cake on a stick that you dip in chocolate icing, luckily I left before they whipped that out. That was tough. Then, Sunday was Father's Day, and all Molly wanted to do was fix me a special breakfast and dinner. We settled for smoothies for the 14th day in a row and dinner was veggie burgers, baked sweet potato chips, and fruit salad. I am now as we speak sitting on a plane going to Philadelphia, where I will be with vendors for two days. This is going to be tough, just because I don't have the comforts of having my fridge close. Ashley, I am sure you can give me some advice on this.

Anyway, last week really did challenge me, and I went to Lord much more in prayer for strength. It was great, I feel much closer in my walk. I pray for you guys every day and hope you are all doing well. They are about to take my computer, we are landing, so I will talk to you guys later. Love you all!!!!

Jon

hmmm

I think it's safe to say that this has been the most unpleasant of my fasting experiences. It's not so much about the limited diet though, but I've just had more things happen to me during a fasting period than ever before - physically and emotionally. However, at the same time I have reached a place of clarity that I probably haven't had in a while because life has had me running left and right. And my appetite has returned (finally) so I won't be shriveling into nothing any time soon.

I'm a blogger

I'm blogging! I'm a blogger! Not that I was given any direction from my fellow team members, even after my cry for help last week -- but I'll let it slide since we're all starving. I must admit, even as a pescatarian (vegetarian that eats fish) I have really been struggling with my energy level, headaches (we're allowed to take medicine, right?) and stomach issues (I'll spare you the details). One meal I have made that was a treat -- and didn't seem like "fast" food -- was whole grain penne pasta -- sauted onions, spinach and tomatoes with olive oil & garlic. Keep the faith!

Week 1

WEEK 1:

Opening thoughts:
looking forward to the fast and not too worried about it. I’m pretty good at enduring pain so I kinda look at this like a long workout/training day or a long race. I know it’ll be tough, just got power through it. I do want to go into this with an open mind and an open heart, because I do want to hear and see what god will be saying and showing me during the fast.

Mon:
Wow, our first day and I already had my first insight: clearly God intended for me to have caffeine. Didn’t really eat a lot today, had some snacks but skipped breakfast and lunch mostly just lack of planning… Headaches start in the afternoon. I didn’t think caffeine withdrawal would start on the first day!

Tues/Wed:
Ate better today but headaches are still there and they're pretty bad...

Thurs/Fri:
No headaches. Feeling great now, body is pretty much adjusted, now it’s time for World Cup!

Sat:
I started out thinking today would be pretty tough. Not gonna lie it would be nice to have a cold beer while watching the USA/England game. But it wasn’t bad at all. Went to watch the game with some buddies, they had BBQ, sandwiches, cold beer etc… So of course they gave me some grief when I walked in with a bag of veggies, hummus, and strawberry/kiwi fruit drink. But really wasn’t nearly as tough as I thought it would be.

Sun:
Getting into a pretty good groove now and feelin good.

Closing thoughts:
This was definitely tougher than I thought it would be but now that my body has adapted I feel good. I also think my initial mindset wasn’t right. I don’t think that just powering through the pain and not thinking about it is what God wanted me to experience. What I’ve seen this week is that I think God wants this to be about moment to moment faith for me so I really am trying to look to God every time I feel an urge or pain rather than just ignore it.

1/3 of the way there!

One week down, two more to go! Despite being surrounded by candy, cookies, and coffee each day, I've stuck to the fast! I made some of Laura's "breakfast cookies" and they were pretty good. Maybe too good -- Will and I have eaten almost all of them and I just made them last night.

I got a letter in the mail on Friday from Brightpoint - they sent me a letter that Yon had written me (Yon is the boy I sponsor monthly). It was great encouragement and it's exciting to know that I'll get to see all the kids in just 6 weeks!

I'm really tired of brown rice already. And almonds. And oatmeal. This does not bode well for the next two weeks or so...I've got to start on Laura's recipes quick. Hang in there, you guys!

One Down...

In the past when I've taken part in a personal or corporal fast I fare well the first day, am hit hard the second and third days, and then level off for the remainder of the fast. This one has not started like I had anticipated at all. I got a headache in the morning that refused to leave even with ibuprofen. The first thing I ate was a banana (doubly ironic because I don't like bananas and this particular one was from Guatemala). While I didn't mind the restricted diet, I could never quite get full and everyone around me at work seemed to be particularly demanding. I felt less than half myself and the work load had doubled.

On a positive note, I was able to focus exceptionally well during my prayer / Bible study times. I started reading a book called "God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life" by Ray Comfort, but don't let the title fool you. It's not what you might think.

You can get it for FREE here...

One final thought before bed:  I enjoyed the retreat and the opportunity to hear everyone's testimonies and gain a better grasp of who you all are.  I had fun with you guys. Thank you Jon & Mistye for your leadership.

I feel like a bird....

a really tired bird...full of nuts and berries....

the day was a little more difficult than I'd anticipated. It started out with a bang, a delicious smoothie and then I had to run my kids around to tennis, vbs, and get some errands run. Before I knew it, I hadn't eaten and I was famished! I managed to hold strong.

I bought the Daniel study by Beth Moore. Tried to get into it tonight and realized that I need some sort of CD to go with it? or DVD? soooooo, if anyone has it, I'd love to borrow it!

I'm praying for each one of you. You guys rock!

Daniel Fast off to a good start

I've had more fruit today than I have in the past 3 weeks combined! The Daniel Fast is a fairly easy transition for vegetarians although I'm definitely missing my coffee and sweets. If Starbucks' stock drops in the next 3 weeks then I know why.
Thanks to Mistye and Jon for an amazing team retreat!

First Breakfast

So I went to Trader Joe's last night to get soy yogurt, but couldn't find any without artificial flavoring. So, here is the new recipe I used for my smoothie, and it was delicious. This makes two decent sized smoothies or one big smoothie.

2 cups frozen strawberries
1 banana chopped up
1/3 cup of OJ
1 1/2 cups soy milk

Blend for 1 minute

Yum!!! Praying for you guys.

Retreat Ends, Daniel Fast Begins

So I am sitting in my kitchen, talking to my wife about our awesome retreat, and cooking brown rice and black beans. I am so excited for the weeks ahead, knowing full well the challenge we are facing. I am so excited because I know I have 10 other prayer warriors out there (including my wife and Erin Witcher) in this with me. Thank you guys so much for such an awesome weekend, thanks for being so open and honest and transparent so we could get to know each other so much better. We have such a great team, and God is going to do some much with us, through us, and in us from now until we get back, and beyond.

One quick Milky Way Dark bar, finish cooking, then off to bed to get this thing started. Talk to you guys soon.

Jon