u t a h

We are finally doing it!  Taking an actual entire week off...off from speaking, off from traveling and off from working to spend a whole glorious week in Utah!  We have been looking forward to this for SUCH a long time, and though Lily, Matt and I have bad colds and my sister has been diagnosed with mono following a grueling school year of teaching 5th grade in inner-city Chicago, we are grateful to be together, to be away, and to be in beautiful Utah!  pictures to follow...

Lily's Baptism Day!

Sunday, June 21st, we preached and presented at Sharptown UMC Church, and then were joyfully able to celebrate Lily's baptism!  We all had a wonderful and sacred time with our brothers and sisters in Pilesgrove, New Jersey, and with my dad and sister, Matt's parents and brother, and grandparents, aunts and uncles and good friends.  

Lily seemed to be well aware that this was HER day, and tried to take the microphone from Pastor Doug (the same good friend who married us and led our OMS Haiti field this past April), LOVED greeting the congregation, and devoured all of the attention (and wrapping paper) at her luncheon celebration!

She is wearing the dress my sister and I wore when we were baptized, and that my mom and aunt wore when they were baptized, too!  It was all around such a special day that we will always remember...

We praise the Lord for this precious gift He has given us in Lily and for His grace and presence in her life and in ours!

Dear Vicki passed away this morning surrounded by her family. Please be praying for Paul and for his children and the family of Cornerstone Church, that they might intimately feel the presence of the Lord. We love you, Paul. Thank you, everyone...

Seeds of Greatness and Good Friends

Last night Matt shared at Seeds of Greatness Bible Church, an awesome church we've been privileged to be a part of for several years! The pastor and his wife, Jerome and Lisa, have been friends of the family since Matt was a baby. I had to stay home with the baby (she does NOT do well presenting at bedtime :), but he had a wonderful time sharing with our brothers and sisters here, and we were both blessed by their encouragement, prayers and excitement about what the Lord is doing in Haiti. Check out their website here.

Then today, Lily, Matt and I spent the afternoon having lunch with his parents and friends at Don and Brenda's house! Don is our next door neighbor in Haiti who has come down for over 6 weeks now to help finish the new seminary construction. He's back in Delaware for a few weeks before he heads back to Haiti the middle of July for a few more weeks. We had such a great time with them and with other good friends, and Matt had the chance to teach a few people how to dive into crabs.

Lily, who is STILL teething with no teeth to show for it, babbled through the afternoon!

time on the east coast...

We're enjoying lots of time with family, and Lily is just loving meeting everyone all over again. She is getting well spoiled by Grammy, Pop-Pop, Mom-Mom and Great-Pop-Pop, and absolutely LOVED buzzing around with Pop-Pop on his golf cart. Tomorrow evening we speak at Seeds of Greatness!

Delaware family and prayers needed!

This morning and yesterday evening we were blessed to worship and share with our Cornerstone family.  It was such a joy and encouragment to preach and present here, but also to have a few moments to speak with many different people who are "holding the ropes" and allowing the Lord to work through them, through us, through the men and women of Emmaus Biblical Seminary in Haiti!  We are ALWAYS touched to be a part of the life and ministry of this church!  Check out  their website!

We did, however, greatly miss the presence of the pastor of Cornerstone, Paul (pictured here when he visited us in Haiti, March of 2008.  His wife Vicki is in the ICU and we are feeling so very burdened to be lifting her, Paul and their family up in prayer...PLEASE join us...

Being at Cornerstone means that we made it safely to Delaware, and have already gotten to spend some good time with Matt's family.  Lily is in LOVE with their dogs, especially this boxer, Chico.  She absolutely loves his drooly kisses, and he patiently tolerates her pulling on his lips, bopping his head and riding him!  Every time he's in the room, she's trying to get at him!

She's also greatly enjoying Pop-Pop, and time with Uncle Casey and Aunt Laura, who is hanging in there for her last 6 weeks of bedrest before cousin ________ joins us!  

4 Year Anniversary

On our way to Delaware, we stopped and spent a wonderful few hours at Amish Door for our 4 year anniversary...Lily loved some time out of the car, and we enjoyed good food and some time as a family!  SO BEAUTIFUL!

Now we're back on the road!

Argentine partnering with EBS...

We have just returned from a "quick trip" to Michigan, leaving Columbus at noon yesterday and arriving back again at noon today.  Quick as it was, the middle was wonderful!  Our friend Rob (HOW did we get out of there without getting ONE picture of us with Rob?? errrr...He IS the guy playing the piano in this next picture) invited us to speak at Argentine Church in Linden, Michigan last night, and also invited several other area churches to join us.  

We had a GREAT time...were able to enjoy a few awesome meals with Rob, enjoyed meeting part of his family and a large portion of our Michigan family in Christ!  It was such a blessing for us to get to meet many dear people who have great hearts for what God is doing...not just in Michigan, but in the world.  

We were truly encouraged, and though there is a good level of craziness and stress involved with traveling and speaking, we have already felt the Lord restoring our hearts from a year of ministry in Haiti and encouraging our spirits through the men and women we have had the chance to speak already, just one week after returning home.  He continues to use His children to affirm, confirm, encourage and support us, and we just feel so very blessed!  

Lily was a champ, but praise the Lord for Grandpa, who came along with us and walked outside with her while she wailed during the entire presentation (7:00-9:00 pm is NOT prime Lily time :)

Tomorrow, Thursday, we leave for Wooster, OH to quickly celebrate our 4 year wedding anniversary, then Friday on to Somerset, PA and Saturday on to Cornerstone Church in Bear, Delaware!

first days

We've had a very busy first few days in Ohio!  My sister flew home from Chicago, where she teaches 5th grade, for the weekend, and Dad, Matt, Lisa, Lily and I spent Saturday hiking, eating at a favorite Amish restaurant, and playing putt-putt golf, a White family tradition!  

Sunday morning we worshipped with our Livingston UMC family and had a chance to share with the combined Sunday School classes and again in the main service.  This was the church I was raised in, and it is ALWAYS a huge blessing for us to get to worship and speak there.  Reminders of their love and prayers were such an encouragement for us.

After a quick lunch, we headed for London, Ohio, where we met up with new friends from Faith Assembly Worship Center.  Almost 2 dozen people from this congregation have been to Haiti with OMS in the past 5 years for various ministry opportunities, and it was great to meet many of them during a church picnic.  We were then able to share the ministry of Emmaus Biblical Seminary with them, and were blessed by their love for the Haitian people!  They prayerfully took on partnering with one of our first year students!  

What a great day to worship, share, and spend time with our Family here in Ohio and to share our brothers and sisters in Haiti with them!