Roanoke Days

So, we have been in Roanoke for the past weeks with my family and it has been so great! Time is flying by, can't believe we are almost a month away from leaving for Zambia. One special blessing about being in Ft. Worth is that Jason and I have been able to talk about Zambia with one bible class so far, and hopefully a couple more from The Hills Church of Christ. They helped support our one-time cost fund through their Greater Things campaign so we have just been really excited to have time to spend with another loving, supportive, and missions minded church who is partnering with our team.

We are looking forward to all that is planned for the last couple of weeks here, more time with friends and family, shopping for last minute supplies (I love shopping for anything, even the mundane i.e socks, slime bike tubes, and travel toilet paper), the supporters module with Halbert Institute of Missions, and of course the family Christmas which we will have early since Jason and I will be in Chattanooga on the 25th.

While I have been keeping myself pretty busy catching up with friends and preparing for goodbyes Jason has been working at the ranch with my Dad doing what he loves to do. Today they "worked" calves, which gave me the perfect opportunity to take pictures of the precious little babies. If only they could stay small and cute for forever, but then again that wouldn't be too good for the cattle business I suppose. I will leave you with a few pictures from today.

I hope everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit and enjoying December!

Prayer Partners

Over the past months many have committed to being prayer partners for our team during the time leading up to our departure and time on the field in Zambia. Frequently we will give updates on current and ongoing prayer requests. We greatly appreciate you remembering our team in your prayers!

Thankful for Thanksgiving

I am thankful for thanksgiving because it gives us an opportunity to think about what we are thankful for. This thanksgiving I am thankful for oh so many blessings, my wonderful husband, church family, my friends, and for my supportive and loving family. God is good, All the time!

"Give thanks to the LORD for he is good; his love endures forever." Psalm 107:1

The trip from Chattanooga to Roanoke and vice-versa seems to get longer and more tiring every time we make it...please note we arrived 10 min before Thanksgiving lunch started, perfect timing?  It was a whirlwind of a day but it's great to be home. We have 4 giant dogs (3 weimaraners and a great dane) and a jack/rat terrier here at my parents house right now so it is quite the circus but I love it and I am happy to be here!

I will probably introduce you to more pets during the month we are here but for now meet "Sorrely" (pronounced sar-lee). He is quite the character to say the least.

I hope everyone had the chance to take time to be thankful yesterday and be reminded of the abundant blessing our Lord showers us with. Happy day after Thanksgiving!

Sand Mountain

Jason and I have been up to Sand Mountain several times over the past month and I have loved going  because it is quiet and the scenery is beautiful. So I thought I would share a little bit of the loveliness with you...

 

Also, if you read this blog you will be wanting to keep up with our teammates/brother and sister-in-law's blog.Click here to check it out. 

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Eclectic Update

These past weeks have been flying by. I can't believe we are already well into November. In only a few days Jason and I will have been married for 6 months, woot woot. Anyways though, I have a few things to share today of importance...

The Sunday before last our church here in Chattanooga gave selflessly to finish funding our one time costs budget. Our team is ECSTATIC to announce that our budget is fully funded and we are more than grateful for this peaceful blessing. As Jason has said this past week, "all we have to do is get on the plane." Praise the Lord for that. Thank you East Brainerd Church for your giving, supportive, and encouraging hearts. Your generosity has blown us away!

If you haven't heard this song...you should watch the music video. It is pretty great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO2prEoATH8&ob=av2e

I have finished Francine Rivers' Mark of the Lion series and wanted everyone to know, it is amazing. If you haven't read it...you should. It is pretty great.

 

The fall colors in Chattanooga have been beautiful. First the leaves change colors, then they fall off, then you rake them, then you put them in leaf bags, dial 311, and someone mysteriously comes to take them away. This is a whole new concept for me, coming from TX. I mean we had trees in our yard but I had never in my life have I raked leaves until I moved to Tennessee. It was actually kind of fun, what was more fun was playing in them with Jason and Rex.

One of trees in our front yard in its loveliness.

Just when you have a good pile going... Rex helps himself to rolling all in it.

That is all for today, hope you have the most fabulous Monday!

 

Home Sweet Home

Although in a few months I may miss very different memories in the midst of culture shock, I still wanted to go ahead and brainstorm what I will miss about my family and home in Texas.

• My Mom's early morning happy go lucky attitude. I am not a morning person (in fact, I usually do not speak until after breakfast) but my Mom literally wakes up smiling I think. 
• My Dad calling me when there is a full moon to make me walk outside and look up at the same time as him, just to know we are looking at the same sky, and really are closer together than we think.
• My sister's broad depth of knowledge. She has the smart genes in the family for sure. I text her often asking random questions, usually about veterinary care for my child/puppy, Rex. But whatever I ask about, I always know she will either have the answer or the intellectual drive to find it for me.
• Sitting on the front porch swing with Mom watching Rex play with Gus and Spanky (Rex runs in circles around the yard, large fast circles) 
• Rex, in general of course. For the past three years he has been the source of so much delight.
• Walks with Cheree, Mrs. Peggy, and my Mom in the evening
• Checking cows with my Dad, even though I am not the reliable counter of the family. I don't have great eyes for one, and for two, they always move right when I am almost done.
• Movie nights. Love, love, love when we all go to the movies together. I get my coke-a-cola and peanut m&m's and I am set.

Although there will be many people and things I will miss while we are in Zambia I still cannot describe the overwhelming gratefulness Jason and I have for the opportunity to spend two years striving to live our lives in a way that spreads the Kingdom in a foreign place. The Lord opened this door for us so quickly that we could not ignore the tug at our hearts to follow Him, in faith, to a new life different from what we are accustomed to here in the States. Please be in prayer for us as we prepare these last couple of months for the big move.

Davis Family Vacation

Over fall break Jason's parents took us to their time share in Freeport. The Bahamas were beautiful. The water was crystal clear, skies were blue everyday, and we were in a quiet area equipped for walking straight into the water to snorkel anytime we pleased. It was a fun and memorable first official "Davis family vacation" for me. There were many games of shuffleboard (Whitney and I were quite the champs I must say), hours of reading while laying in the sun, and of course, multiple Texas Ranger game viewings. What a blessing it was to be able to spend time relaxing with family in an amazing setting when we are only a couple months from being across the pond from many of our loved ones. Here are a few highlights...

The view

Jason and the giant snapper

I love that my husband makes friends with a fisherman one day then spends the next two days learning the spear fishing trade while bringing back yummy fresh fish for everyone to eat.

The whole family

We have been married for 5 months now. Time flies when you are happy in love being married to your best friend.

Lobster...mmmm

Just the cutest and happiest sea creatures in the world. My own opinion of course. But when I see them I can't help but giggle with delight

Jamaica

Last week I got to go on a quick trip to Jamaica with a group from our church here in TN. East Brainerd supports a Jamaican preacher who ministers to a church in Lucea, a very impoverished town on the island. So, this group of women that I joined goes for a week to encourage and spend time with the women of Lucea Church of Christ each year. The church is mostly women because it is very difficult to get Jamaican men to attend either on their own or even with their wives and children. The idea this year was to offer a Ladies Conference. Twice a day we had singing, a lesson, and time to just get to know one another and have some "girl time."The conference was a great success, many women of a variety of ages attended and they seemed to really enjoy our time together and appreciate the lessons on faith,hope, and love. So...a few pictures from Jamaica...

Craft time (bookmarks)

The sunset views were so pretty, I had to show one

Less than three months until our departure for Zambia!

First Time

So, considering we are moving to Africa in a few months I thought it would be a great time to start up our blog. My hope is for this blog to be a chronicle/journal of our first two years on the mission field for Jason and I to look back on in the future and for our friends and family to be able to follow our life in Mumena.