My two loves

My sweet Hannah

My sweet husband

My 2 loves being silly

I sure do love these two!!

Lebanon in review

Some of these photos were shared on our team blog while we were gone, but I thought I could share them here as well.  I have been back for almost 2 weeks and I am still processing all that I saw and experienced.  In a few words, the trip was amazing and totally unexpected in several ways.  I figured that going into the middle east would have felt more like, well, the middle east.  Many of my misperceptions were broken quickly as we were in Lebanon.  God is alive and working there and believers were free to worship without retribution...it was beautiful to see!  And, Lebanon was absolutely gorgeous!
Here was the view of the hills as we drove on the coast.

Small shops in the amazing town of Byblos.

Spices were everywhere!

At the ruins of a old castle/fort in Byblos.  This is looking back toward Beirut.  The coastal views were beyond amazing!

Sheila and I in downtown Beirut with the sea behind us.

The awesome boys at the orphange.

3 of my sweet friends.

Ice cream cones for snack one day...yes please!!!  Here were 3 of the kindergarten boys.

One of the youth (an amazing young man!) and Brent (the one in the red hat) who lives and works at the orphange and is a Baylor grad.  Brent's dad was an orphan in the orphanage and met his mom who was an MK whose parents started the orphanage.  Amazing testimony of God's grace to this family.  Brent was amazing and we were so glad to join him at the orphange.

At a beautiful church at the top of Mount Lebanon.

My group of 3rd grade boys.  Love them!

Craft time!

This sweet one was just a little excited about his frosted cookie!

The boys presented us with plaques on our last night there with arabic scripture verses on them.  Such a special gift from such a wonderful place!

We all visited the inside of  a mosque in downtown Beirut, but since we (the girls) were not covered we had to use some of their robes to cover before we could go in.  It was an interesting (AND HOT!!) experience.  We only got to go into one small part of the mosque as women, but we got to see where they worship.  It was worth the time since I had not visited the inside of a mosque before.  Needless to say, I think our team thought we looked more like Jedi than anything.

The sunset on the Mediterranean after we ate dinner and put our feet in the water...it was a perfect night!!

All the boys (and Brent) in their Baylor green and gold doing the 'sic em bears!  Gotta love it!

Our team in front of Pigeon Rock in downtown Beirut.  This was a total tourist trap, but cool anyway.

In front of a fun shop in Byblos.

The view of the valley at night from Mount Lebanon.  Seriously, this looks to me like a scene out of the nativity story.  Gorgeous beyond words!

Our team (and Brent) in front of the orphanage sign.  I could not have asked for a better team to spend this time with in Lebanon.  I hope God allows me (and Jason and Hannah) the opportunity to go back soon.

Ask me more about Lebanon some time...I'd LOVE to share more stories about what God is doing there and my experiences.  It was truly amazing!

Three Men and a little lady

I am back from Lebanon after an absolutely amazing trip!  I will share pictures and stories soon.  But, until then, I want to say a HUGE thank you to my awesome husband for  being here with Hannah while I left.  They had an absolutely amazing time and I am still hearing stories of their adventures. The first weekend that I was gone, Pop came out and spent the weekend here with Jason and Hannah.  Papaw joined in the fun which allowed Hannah undivided time with 3 of her favorite men.  To say she enjoyed it might be an understatement.  This was the second time that Hannah got all 3 of them in one place.  In January of 2008 (Hannah was 8 months old), I went on a women's retreat, so you might remember this picture of "3 men and a baby" when they all came together to hang out with Hannah while I was gone.   

 And 3 years later, we now have "3 men and a little lady" with one delighted girl to have her Daddy, Papaw, and Pop all together.

Papaw emailed me this picture while I was in Lebanon and it totally melted my heart!  While I so wished I was there, I was so glad to see a huge smile on my Hannah's face knowing how delighted she was to be sitting between such loving and amazing men in her life.  God has blessed her with such an incredible and loving Daddy, and an amazing Papaw and Pop. 

Thank you!

I want to say a huge thank you to my sweet husband!!

Jason,
Thank you for your willingness to have me take this trip. I can't tell you what a joy it is to have a husband who allows his wife to leave for a week. Never once have I heard you complain about me leaving or you taking a week off of work or caring for Hannah by yourself for a week. You have joyfully heard God's call as well, and I am so thankful for that. While i am the only one actually going to Lebanon this year I feel like we are fully doing this together. So thanks for joining me on this journey! I know you and Hannah (and Pop and Papaw) will have a blast while I am gone.
Enjoy this Daddy daughter time! I know your care for Hannah and the fun you two will have together will be a sweet memory for her forever. And thank you! I love you and Hannah more than I can express!
From a grateful wife,
Jennifer