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

Off to Lebanon

In 2 days I will embark on a journey across the world to Lebanon with 6 others. I will leave my husband and my sweet Hannah behind. I will join in the amazing work that God began decades before now. I will love on some sweet children who live without their parents in an orphange. I will grow closer to my team of good friends. I will miss Jason and Hannah with every ounce of my being. I will see things and experience things that I never have before. I will miss home. I will trust in God in new ways. I will develop relationships with those we meet. I will eat delicious food. I will worship with Lebanese brothers and sisters in Christ. I will sightsee. I will blog. I will tutor kids. I will laugh. I will cry. I will take pictures. I will be awed by God's continued work. I will be thankful...very thankful!

God has called me (and my team) to this trip, at this time, in Lebanon. Yes, I realize that we are traveling to the middle east, and yes, I am OK with that. I have a peace about going and I trust God about it.
Meet my team. The 3 people to the left of me are in my lifegroup and have become like family. The 1st to my right is our Children's Minister at church and one of my dearest friends. The other couple on my right are fellow church members who I hope to get to know more on the trip. God has bound us together and I am deeply thankful for each one of these people who will be journeying with me.

We have a team blog that we will be updating hopefully daily (we will see if the internet and power cooperate) and we would love to have you follow our journey. There are already links on the blog to the orphanage, seminary, and school if you want to read more about where we will be.

The blog address is: http://www.lebanoninjuly.blogspot.com/

Please be praying for our team and for our time there. I am so blessed to be traveling with this group. It is such a solid group and I am thankful for each and every one of them! We will be mainly working at the orphange with about 25 boys age 6-18. While we are there we will be working with the boys in the mornings on their school work. The orphanage tries really hard to keep the boys on top of their studies, even in summers when they are not in formal school. In the afternoons we will be playing games, going to a waterpark, baking, and generally loving on the kids. There will be prayer and bible study time at night that we will get to join in as well. Pray for us to love well, smile often, share our hearts, pray openly, give joy, receive joy, learn, trust in God, be unified, and to share Jesus' love!

One other thing that you can pray specifically for is my time away from Hannah. The thought of being away from her for 9 days KILLS ME! And, the thought of only being able to talk to her once or possibly twice while we are there is enough to put me in tears. I know that she will have a blast here with her Daddy (and with Pop who has graciously decided to come out for a long weekend and Papaw who will come visit too) but I still will miss her terribly! Please pray for peace for me and for Hannah and Jason while I am away.

Thanks for your prayers, support, and love during this time. May God truly do more than we could ask or imagine while we are in Lebanon! Be sure to click over on our blog to read more about where we will be and check back there for updates on our time.

Rock climbing

We have been wanting to try this with Hannah for a long time, but just recently we finally took her rock climbing. Baylor has a HUGE free standing rock wall that she has asked to climb many times. I have to admit that I was worried she would get scared and back out but much to my surprise she did great and had NO fear whatsoever!
She was actually coming down this point, but you can get an idea of how high she actually went before she couldn't go any higher. I thought that she might be scared to finally let go of the wall and only be held up by a rope, but I think that was actually her favorite part!

Here she was climbing next to another Baylor student. Makes me proud of my brave 4 year old!!

Sea World

Last week, we took a day trip down to Sea World in San Antonio. Kelly, Hannah, and I packed up for the day and had a great (but HOT) day! This was Hannah's first time at Sea World and she really enjoyed it.

We saw 3 shows and LOVED the Azul show with beluga whales and dolphins. We also saw the Shamu show and a sea lion and walrus show. Hannah seemed to really get into the dolphin show so we actually ended up going to that one twice.

We got a chance to feed the dolphins which was a lot of fun! They came up close enough to pet and we got to throw fish into their mouths.

Hannah rode her first roller coaster that day too. Kelly and I asked her if she wanted to ride this big water ride (similar to a large log ride) and she did. She did get a little nervous when they put the big bar down over her lap, and she covered her face the whole time with my arm...but she loved it. We actually ended up going a second time since she liked it so much. I found my new roller coaster buddy...she just needs to grow a few more inches!

They had a whole kiddy area with little rides that she loved and a water park. At this point of the day, she was hot and tired. We had a great time though, and I hope to go back soon...when it cools off!!

Transformation

Every day our sweet Hannah goes through a transformation. It doesn't matter if she has just woken up, gone for a bike ride, been swimming, eaten a meal, or is about to go to bed. Without fail, these small changes occur frequently throughout the day...

First, the sparkly shoes appear. Mimi bought these for Hannah last month after Hannah so sweetly looked up at Mimi in Target and told her how much she absolutely LOVED these shoes...you can imagine how long it took Mimi to decide to buy them for her. Hannah would wear these shoes day in and day out if we allowed it (despite the fact that they are about 2 sizes to big).

Second, one of many tutus appear on Hannah's hips. Thanks to our friend Beth and Gramma, we have a plethora of them for her to choose from.

Third, the pink leotard (with food stains and all) is worn.

Then, our sweet Hannah quietly turns into a beautiful ballerina.

I still have yet to figure out where she learned her ballet moves...she's actually got them down pretty well! She loves to have me put on music for her to dance to, and she loves even more for her Daddy and I to watch her do a "show" for us. She is even willing to give lessons, although she was pretty sure I was not doing the moves correctly yesterday. She's a tough teacher!

She's a girly girl to the max, and a sweet ballerina at that! It brings me such joy to see the delight in her eyes when she transforms into a little ballerina...Thank you God, for these sweet reminders of the joy of being a carefree 4 year old!

Birthday Party Pictures

Here are some pictures from a little birthday party that we had for Hannah's 4th birthday. Mimi flew out for the weekend to celebrate Hannah and Jason birthday which was a huge blessing! Papaw and Granny came down with Aunt Amy and Hannah's cousins and some friends from here in Waco came over to the house for some food and fellowship. It was such a sweet time with our family and good friends! I realize when we have all these people over how blessed Jason, Hannah, and I are with our family and friends. We have a wonderful family on both sides, but we have also been blessed with an incredible Waco family who has loved us like their own. God truly has cared for us in this way beyond what we could ask or imagine.

Note: Unfortunately, blogger is giving me fits at the moment, so I cannot write captions for each photo. Suffice it to say, it was a wonderful time with some wonderful people!

36 years!

Happy 36th Birthday Jason!!!

God has blessed me with an incredible husband and Hannah with an incredible Daddy! God has made you into a wonderful man and I am so thankful that you were born 36 years ago today. Today, we celebrate you and all you mean to so many people.

We love you so much and are so thankful for you!! Happy Birthday!

Happy 4th Birthday

Our sweet Hannah turns 4 years old today! I cannot believe that our sweet "baby" is growing up so quickly into a little girl. Here we were 4 years ago looking quite tired, but overjoyed and full of love. Hannah, here is a letter for you on your 4th birthday...

My sweet girl,

Happy 4th birthday! We are so thankful to God for you today as we celebrate another wonderful year of you! I cannot believe how much you have grown and matured lately and honestly, I cannot even imagine my life without you. You are delightful and funny. You keep us on our toes all the time. You are strong willed and independent. You are caring and loving. You are a child of God and our delightful daughter and we love you deeply. I can't wait to see all that this next year has in store for you and our family. We are so happy to celebrate you today!

We love you,

Momma and Daddy

Today is also my Dad's birthday. I love that Hannah shares her birthday with her Papaw. This was 4 years ago today...

Dad - Happy Birthday! I am so thankful that God gave me such a loving and incredible Dad! I cannot express to you how thankful I am for you and the blessing you have been in my life! I love you so much!

We are off to party today with Mimi, friends, and family. I will share pictures later.

My mother's day gift...

...was this...

...and I LOVE it!

Our backyard discovery

Obviously, I am quite behind on posting lately. This actually happened about 6 weeks ago now, but I am just now getting to share it...SIGH!

We were in the backyard one day hanging out. I was picking some stuff up while Hannah was playing. I heard her talking and saying "Well, hello there. I'll take care of you. Well, hello there." I guess I figured she was talking to an invisible friend until I finally looked up and saw this...

Hannah was bent over this sweet little parakeet on the ground talking to it. Luckily, Molly had not noticed the bird yet (she's quite a pathetic hound dog!) and so after ushering Molly inside I got a good look at the bird. It was not scared of us, although it didn't want me to touch it. I can only assume it was a house pet that got out. Hannah was thrilled to find it and quickly asked me if we could keep it. I felt bad to just leave him to his own devices outside, seeing that Molly would go out there eventually and there are 2 more beagles next door. Hannah and I found a box and we caught him fairly easily. At that point though, I had no idea what to do with him. What are you to do with a lost bird?! I did call our vet (which is about 1/4 mile down the street) to see if anyone had lost a parakeet, but we had no such luck. After calling the humane society they said they would take the bird. Hannah begged to keep him next to her in the backseat. While I had visions of the bird getting out in the car and flying all over and causing a wreck...I let her keep the box in the backseat next to her under threat of serious consequences if he got out!

Hannah was quite the big girl even telling the lady at the humane society the whole story of finding the bird by herself. It was a delightful and wonderful detour to our normal morning and Hannah and I both enjoyed the learning opportunity.

Swimming lessons

Hannah began swim lessons last week. She is doing them 2 days a week for the month of May. She was quite apprehensive the first day, but her teacher was wonderfully patient with her. After 2 lessons (and some peer pressure by her classmates who are great swimmers) she is like a fish! Jason and I took her to Baylor's pool on Saturday and it was all we could do to keep up with her as she dove for her ring on the bottom of the pool for the 47th time. At this point, it was well worth the money we paid!!
Her teacher is a sweet man who has a grandchild her age. Hannah has always related better to men so it was a total blessing that she got to be in the class with him.

And here was our Hannah, during her 2nd class...just chilling underwater! It took everything in me to not run over there and check on her, but she was doing so well just going underwater and coming up all on her own.

New swimsuit - $14

Swim lessons - $65

Getting your kid to learn water safety and how to swim - PRICELESS!!!