Senor Padre!

I can't help but look at this picture of my dad & smile!

FINISHED!!

We finished our floors this weekend!! We are SO glad it is done & I'm SO pleased with how they look! YEA, Ben!

Meet me in St. Louis...

Last weekend I went home to St. Louis for two great events...

My friend, Brandi's wedding. Brandi & I have known each other since we were 8. We grew up playing tennis together until I moved away our sophomore year. It was fun to be a part of her wedding & catch up with some classmates I had not seen since I was 15.

My niece Addyson's 3rd birthday party. We went to a fun place, called Pump It Up . It's hard to believe it has been 3 yrs since I got the call in the middle of the night to say that she couldn't wait 2 more months & decided to come early! She is super fun & cute! See for yourself...

Training

In the midst of our home renovations, I've been squeezing in some training. Up until last week, I mainly did 3 mile runs 3x's/wk with a long 5 mile run on the weekend. Now, I am doing 5 miles runs 3x's/wk & a long 7 mile run on the weekend. I'm very excited at the progress! Only 47 more days to go!

I'm excited to see how far I can go while in St. Louis the first weekend in May. The lower altitude mixed with flats roads will no doubt be a welcome relief!

Are we crazy?!?!? Day Three & Four

Well, Ben worked really hard again Saturday & Sunday to finish the floors. There are 2 rows next to the fireplace that still need finished as well as the baseboards but other than that, it is done & looks great!

There are no more DIY projects planned for us anytime soon! We're ready to have our weekends free to enjoy the outdoors! I will post some more pictures when it is completely done but this should give you an idea.

Sadness

This week I was very saddened by two significant events. The senseless shootings at Virginia Tech & the killings of three Christian men in Turkey. As I'm sure you've heard about the VT incident, these other killings may be news to you.

The Christians were found bound and beaten, with their throats slit. Two of the men are Turkish nationals & one was German. My heart aches. I spent a year of my life in this country, reaching out to the Turks. These men worked at a book publishing company associated with the same organization I was a part of while there.

One of the men that was killed used to live in the city where I lived, Izmir. He recently moved to Malatya to spread the gospel in the eastern part of Turkey. Back in 2000 this same man was jailed for "insulting" Mohammed & Islam in Izmir. Of course this couldn't have been further from the truth. He was simply handing out bibles to those who requested one. Since no witnesses could be found who would agree & stick to the lies of authorities, the case was dropped.

Turkey is a country that is 99% Muslim. Although there are some freedoms to share the gospel & attend church, some people will do anything to stop Christianity from spreading. Although this is an extereme case & doesn't happen often, it confirms that there are still those who will stop at nothing to ensure that the gospel does not spread.

To read more about this horrible event, click here

Please join me in praying for:

1. Those who labor in Turkey for the Lord: for their protection, and for open doors to share God's love and Gospel in the aftermath of these atrocities.

2. The Turkish church: as it bears the loss of these dear brothers and key leaders, and continues to bear persecution

3. The families of the victims

Are we crazy?!?!? Day Two

Ben worked really hard today & finished the dining room! It looks great! I didn't help much. I just worked on other odd jobs around the house.

'Til next weekend...