Whew...feeling a big sense of relief today

WHEW!!! Done at last! I guess I didn't realize how much the radio series was weighing on me, but when I got home from the radio station today, I literally felt my shoulders drop as I sighed one of those huge cleansing sighs. Besides the fact that the series took far longer than I had anticipated to bring to completion, the tension that came from attempting such a feat (I had never worked on radio before), took it's toll on me. I freely admit: It stretched me significantly.

All in all, the project weighed more heavily on me than I realized...but now that it's done, I feel like I could fly. If it wasn't raining so hard outside, I'd go for a long walk and process my relief amongst God's beautiful creation. I would shout my thanks to Him for all the ways He helped, encouraged and strengthened me to do this thing. I'd remind Him of how much I've needed Him every step of the way, and that I know I can do NOTHING without Him. He is my Strength...He is my Joy...He is the One who empowers me to do things He has called me to do. In this case, He enabled me to speak into the lives of pastor's wives in the regions that receive this broadcast (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Alaska). Praise be to God!

But being that it is presently very cold and rainy, I will restrict my expressions of joy and relief to this blog spot...and I'll spend some time on the keyboard...singing, and giving Him my worship.

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for me as I've worked on this series. And I especially want to say "thank you" to you pastor's wives who were willing to be guests on the show, sharing your thoughts and words of wisdom with other pastor's wives. You've been a huge blessing! Your words are, and will be, over the next several weeks, going out over the air waves providing nourishment to others who are in need of refreshment and encouragement as they serve the Lord and His people.

Friends and Family

What a joy it's been the past couple months to spend time with Sarah, this lovely Korean woman, and pastor's wife. I help her practice and improve her English speaking ability, and she blesses me with her friendship and with lessons on preparing Korean food. We share what's in our hearts, what we're experiencing, what our challenges are...and we pray together. Each time, I come away encouraged and strengthened. What a tremendous blessing she is to me! I'm so thankful that God has knit our hearts together and helps us figure out how to communicate, even though I'm restricted by my inability to speak Korean, and she is limited in her usage of the English language. But it's like God's word declares: "Nothing is impossible with God." I continue to be amazed at the joy that fills my heart as God divinely appoints my days and hours.

And look at what else God did! He made a way for us to meet our newest grandson, Daniel, adopted from Haiti in December (just a couple weeks before the big earthquake hit Port-au-Prince).

While visiting our son and his family in B.C. we drove into Vancouver to spend some time with a precious uncle. It did my heart good to see him face to face again!

Do you see the resemblance? Haha! Grandpa needs to get out in the sun more, don't you think!? Just after I took this picture I noticed that the camera battery was dead, so that was the end of picture taking for this visit. Thankfully, John got some good shots of us with the kids; I'll have to see if I can get some from him.

PRECIOUS MOMENTS during this trip:

• Singing lullabies to the 3 youngest each night at bedtime,
• Having our car covered (blanketed, really) in pink blossoms on Sunday morning,
• Having Daniel come running and throwing himself into my arms,
• Night-time talks with Zach as I "tucked him in" (he even let me sing to him),
  
• Movie night with John & Kim,
• Visiting with Kim's parents and discussing majority world poverty and related issues,
• Searching for, finding, and playing with snails with Deanna,
• Extending Jacinda's hair by braiding in strands of yarn,
• Listening to Zach practice his piano lesson,
• Having the kids climb unto our laps during "evening devotions,"
• Hearing my dear uncle's voice again, and his gentle laugh,
• Basking in the friendship and hospitality of 3 sets of friends along the way: in Tacoma, Moses Lake, and Spokane.