Anna and Mary are once again spending their summer in ministry. We are thrilled with their hearts for the Lord, and not only do they minister so faithfully here at home but also on the road.
They will be gone for almost 8 weeks. Please pray for these specifics:
Salvation for those being ministered to
Emotional needs to be met
Physical safety
Stamina (long hours with little sleep)
Discernment on how best to minister
Satan to be hindered
Please understand, for the privacy of the ministry they’re helping, we’re not sharing those details.
Yes, it’s quiet here on the home front but busy as well. God is so faithful!
Love, Sarah
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16
Teri and Steve are going to be at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Hartford, Alabama (way south) on June 23rd/25th and would love to meet you if you are in the area. Steve will be preaching at their Sunday services and Tuesday evening.
Topics:
Sunday AM: Believer or Follower? Sunday PM: A Godly Heritage Tuesday PM: A Living Sacrifice
Special service times on Sunday, June 23rd, 11 am and 1 PM (Lunch served between) Tuesday, June 25th, 6:30 PM
Location: Google “Lighthouse Baptist Church, Hartford, Alabama”
In the Y of Hwy 52 and Slocomb Road (Green metal roof building, rectangular in shape, rather than traditional church building/temporary rented facility).
“We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.” Psalm 78:4
I’m delighted to share a post from Christopher on flying tips with young children. Y’all, this family has experience, seeing as they fly with FIVE young children from Kansas City to Seattle.
Sarah asked us to share a bit about our travel to and from Washington with the kiddos. Logistics have gotten more intense over these past years, but we’re just getting to the point where the older children are able to help a bit.
We bought a double stroller at a garage sale that has been a huge blessing in the airports. We’ve found that we can put both car seats in the back seat of the stroller (double-stacked), and a bungee cord is a huge help with stabilizing the car seats. A kiddo can ride in the front seat, and we can hang a diaper bag on the handle. For those who are concerned about their image and looking good/polished while traveling: it’s not the ideal setup. 🙂 However, it makes logistics MUCH simpler for us.
Something else that greatly simplifies logistics is a baby carrier. This enables Anna Marie to carry the baby while keeping hands free to carry things and help the other kiddos. (Side note, but other families might be interested. She was given an Original Ergo before Joshua arrived, which she loved; and then received an Ergo Omni 360 after Elizabeth was born and highly recommends it as she feels like the company made some great improvements. They’re expensive, but if you have baby gift money … you can buy them at Bed Bath and Beyond using a 20% off coupon.)
When we arrive at the airport gate, we’ll gate-check the stroller. We can then roll it down the jetway, and at the bottom, we collapse it down and put it into a stroller bag. (We’ve heard that the cargo holds on planes are filthy; and by the looks of our bag, it would seem so. The link is Titus2’s Amazon affiliate link, see the Privacy Policy here.) Anna Marie heads onto the plane with the children, and I then will carry the car seats onto the plane. We like flying Southwest (and really like booking flights with reward points because the flights can be canceled/changed with no penalties) and if a flight has extra seats available, lap babies can get those seats. By bringing two car seats on the plane, if there are extra seats available the lap babies can ride in them; if not, some of the other children can ride in them. Carrying the two car seats onto the plane isn’t easy, but we stack them and it works. Not to mention the flight attendants always offer to help. Note that car seats must always be by the window so as to not block egress in the event of an emergency.
We sit near the back of the plane for a few reasons. With Southwest’s open seating, it’s easier to get seats together (although the flight attendants would coordinate getting us seats together if we needed it). Plus, it’s convenient for us being close to the restroom. It also allows us to be a bit out of the way for others. When we get to our row(s), Anna Marie busies the children looking out a window (part of why it’s nice to be in the back so it’s not inconveniencing others while we take a few minutes to get situated) while I take a minute to wipe down the walls/seats/chair backs/little trays with a sanitizing wipe. While we don’t want to be paranoid about germs, this enables us to not worry about little ones touching everything around them (and they do!). I’ll install the car seats (it’s a good thing to be familiar with how the car seats will strap into the airline seat belt: working with the car seats can be difficult and there isn’t usually much time to get them buckled in).
If you’re interested in the Southwest credit cards, here is the link. At certain times of the year, they have better bonus points offers. 50,000 is a good bonus. Right now, one of the cards says 65k, but when you click into more details, the extra 25k is AFTER you spend $15k.
Watch for Part 2!
In Christ, Christopher
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24
We arrived at the church late afternoon. Our coordinators provided a delicious chicken spaghetti dinner, which allowed us great fellowship with them before the conference began.
The coordinator had come to a conference of ours several years ago. It had impacted their family, and the Lord had put it on their hearts to bring that message back to Ft. Smith. We are grateful for their efforts and investment in those who came to the conference. They took super good care of us while we were there meeting our every need! Thank you!!
In addition to local families, we had families drive from Kentucky, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, and Missouri.
Friday evening, we began with Schedule Triage question and answer session for ladies while Steve did the business session. We had a great group!
For this conference, we completely revised our Building a Vision session, and we were happy with the result. Another change was a food and fellowship time at 8:00 after Building a Vision. It was a great success!
Saturday’s sessions went well with a flashback to our original conferences. We even pulled off the question and answer panel at the close of the conference with just five of us.
Jesse sharing with the young people
Friends from New Mexico
With Chelsy’s wedding photographer and sister!
Mary and Anna with our sweet friend!
The church was available until 7:00 p.m. so those who wanted to stayed for a pizza dinner.
As we talked with people during and after the conference, we were blessed as they shared what God was doing in their hearts during the weekend.
Bible time with friends after the conference
On Sunday we joyfully worshipped at the coordinator’s church. Steve preached. Jesse led the singing, and Anna did a Bible story for the children. After church, they treated us to a wonderful Arkansas smoked meat home cooked dinner. When it was time to leave for home, it was hard to say goodbye.
Mary and this sweet baby
Story time
A beautiful way to end this post
“For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:5-6)
Thursday, we said good-bye to Anna, Mary, and John as they left for a several week ministry trip to a location we choose to leave undisclosed for the privacy of the ministry they are serving with. Please lift them up in prayer, for many opportunities to share Christ and for health and protection.
Home is definitely quieter with some gone, but we still have some interesting blog posts coming up!
Love, Sarah
Frozen custard on the way to the airport :: My sisters are such a joy!
Ellie preferred having her own seat.
Anna and Mary Maxwell
John Maxwell
“And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” Romans 10:15
Hello from snowy Colorado! Mom and I are having a blessed time, and wow, what a snowstorm. I’ve never been in a storm like this before, but it’s over now, leaving us with over two feet of snow (maybe closer to three). More later!
Love, Sarah
“Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.” Psalm 19:2