Ashley Wells

Today I am so thankful for my friend, Ashley Wells. She is such a real and honest person, who loves the Lord and seeks to follow Him daily. She is about to adopt 4 children into her family and I would encourage you to go and read more of her story on her blog. The journey God has taken her through has been very challenging, but she has come out more Christlike and is still growing in His character. We do not get to see each other often enough, but every time we see each other it is encouraging and a breath of fresh air. Having 4 children I have an understanding of her struggles, but I always say, I was able to ease into my four, she got her 4 all in one day. But that is who she is. I'm so blessed to have Ashley in my life. Please be in prayer for this family as they adopt their kids on Friday!

God, thank You so much for Ashley and what You have taught her and so many others through her story. Thank You that she is finally adopting the children she has been praying for for so many years. You are a great God and I know You have great plans for her and her precious family. Be with them as they transition to being a family without the system involved. I know they are all anxiously awaiting this day!

November 11 to 17

7291. Getting 7 consecutive hours of sleep
7292. Waking up early
7293. Having a few minutes with the computer working somewhat normally
7294. Getting a few more things written
7295. Getting email written
7296. Taking advantage of waking up far too early
7297. Praying throughout
7298. God using everyday "annoyances" to teach me thankfulness
7299. Getting school done in a timely manner
7300. Worshiping God helping with my grumpy mood
7301. Jamey going to the grocery store with Jim
7302. Lying down with Lillian and Reuben for a little bit
7303. Fun deals at Kroger
7304. Really beginning to plan for our Thanksgiving trip
7305. Leftovers for lunch
7306. Gabriel eating well
7307. Figuring out what is wrong with our charge cord
7308. Learning more about Hudson Taylor
7309. Teaching my kids about the world
7310. Our curriculum being focused on the world and mission
7311. God's goodness in all things
7312. Growing in wisdom
7313. Celebrating new life
7314. Getting to school early
7315. Childcare being willing to take the kids early
7316. Time to write a little before class
7317. Discussing roles and responsibilities in a Biblical manner
7318. Laughs and encouragement
7319. Being able to encourage others
7320. Sharing the reality of life
7321. Time to talk about what we do in the home
7322. Practical suggestions for including kids in doing household chores
7323. Kids doing well in childcare
7324. Smooth bedtime
7325. A few minutes to hang out before bed
7326. Getting some sleep
7327. Yummy hot breakfast
7328. Decaf coffee
7329. Becca brushing my hair
7330. Playgroup
7331. Hanging out with Gidget, Silas and Margo
7332. Karey and Britta coming to playgroup
7333. Being able to talk some
7334. Learning patience
7335. Being with friends
7336. Kids playing hard and enjoying themselves
7337. Easy lunch
7338. Kids eating well
7339. Jamey wanting to play outside after playing all morning
7340. Nice rest time
7341. Getting all of my homework for SWI finished
7342. Shrimp, corn and rolls for dinner
7343. Kids eating up their food
7344. Reuben taking a much needed long nap
7345. CG
7346. Jim and I sharing our testimonies at CG
7347. People asking thoughtful questions and desiring to know and understand us better
7348. Breaking up into small discussion groups
7349. Leading a group
7350. Getting to know Sara and Hilary better
7351. Confessing sin to each other and praying for one another
7352. The Body of Christ (It really is a beautiful thing)
7353. Hearing stories that sound like they are out of a TV show or movie
7354. Realizing that crazy things like that actually happen
7355. Learning how to better pray for people and the world
7356. Great discussions and encouragement
7357. Planning for our Thanksgiving meal next week
7358. Having so many things to be thankful for
7359. Sleeping undisturbed until 7 am!!!!!
7360. Jamey and Lillian playing well together quietly without waking the rest of the house
7361. Getting 2 days of school work done
7362. Growing in consistency and patience
7363. Knowing who to turn to when I want to lose it
7364. Being forgiven when I do lose it
7365. Great rest time for the kids
7366. Meeting Gidget at Sunergos
7367. Black and white mocha
7368. Homemade biscotti made by Gidget, really good!
7369. Getting some writing done
7370. Learning more about Gidget
7371. Laughs and openness
7372. Honest, heartfelt conversation
7373. God's goodness and grace
7374. Sweet potato lasagna made with home grown sweet potatoes from Gidget
7375. All 4 kids napping for Jim
7376. Getting ready in a timely manner for church
7377. CG Sync meeting
7378. Lots of encouraging stories of how God is working in the community of Sojourn
7379. God moving
7380. Seeing the power of the Holy Spirit
7381. Discussing ways to involve our kids more in community group
7382. Talking about keeping connected during the holidays
7383. Getting advice on planning for multiplication
7384. Encouraging conversation
7385. Seeing Heather
7386. God answering prayers immediately
7387. Having people I can be honest with regularly
7388. Catching up with Sarah
7389. Thinking about planning my next childbirth conversation class
7390. Kids doing very well
7391. Fairly smooth bedtime
7392. Talking instead of turning on the TV!!!!!
7393. Finalizing family plans for Thanksgiving week
7394. Being able to go to NC and GA during Thanksgiving week
7395. God's perfect timing
7396. Intense conversation
7397. Learning to speak truth in love
7398. Talking while going to sleep
7399. God moving
7400. Sleeping until almost 9
7401. Getting school accomplished (really needed to get more disciplined with this)
7402. Yummy hot breakfast and decaf coffee
7403. Kids playing well
7404. Jim getting home early from class
7405. Learning how to communicate in different ways
7406. Getting laundry sorted and started
7407. Having a fence to hang our laundry on
7408. Computer cords being broken
7409. Dryer being broken
7410. Lots of leaves to put in the compost bin
7411. Working together as a family
7412. Being reminded of how much I actually enjoy being outside
7413. Thinking bout ways to practically prepare for living in a different country now
7414. Beginning to evaluate more closely how and why I do things
7415. Desiring for God and His glory to be my motivation for everything
7416. Playing a game with Jim
7417. Great rest time
7418. Getting some blog posts written
7419. Emails
7420. Having designated computer time (this maybe something to implement long term?)
7421. Pancakes for dinner
7422. Chocolate Syrup
7423. Seeing Elise and Jen
7424. Water Aerobics
7425. Mocha frapaccino
7426. Swedish Meatballs
7427. Meeting with Becca and Loren
7428. Sharing our testimonies
7429. Sharing similar struggles
7430. No large group time in Discipleship
7431. Better feedback than expected on my written testimony
7432. Getting done with class early
7433. Finding a good resource to hopefully help with a future story
7434. Talking more to Loren
7435. Getting a few minutes to write
7436. Leaving school at 9 on a Thursday night
7437. Hanging out for a little while
7438. Sleeping until 9 am
7439. Fun morning
7440. Working on cleaning
7441. Someone coming to fix our heat today!
7442. Quick and easy fix
7443. Kids playing outside
7444. Lillian volunteering to clean the bathrooms
7445. Bathrooms getting clean
7446. Stealing a few moments with Gabriel
7447. Good rest time
7448. Jim getting to sleep
7449. Getting a lot written
7450. Finally seeing a light at the end of the story tunnel
7451. Black bean casserole
7452. Gabriel eating like a mad man
7453. Learning to take as many opportunities as possible to point my kids to Jesus
7454. Learning to love Jesus more
7455. Desiring to commune with God more
7456. Watching my kids dance
7457. Reuben dancing almost in rhythm
7458. Counting down with my friend's adoption date for her kids
7459. God's goodness and perfect timing
7460. Very smooth bed time
7461. Jamey praying for his siblings including laying hands on them (he insisted)
7462. More time to write
7463. All but finishing my protagonists time in the city! (Seriously a huge blessing)
7464. Seeing where God has taken my story
7465. Sleep
7466. Waking up in a timely manner
7467. Snuggling with Jamey and Lillian in the morning
7468. Kids eating well
7469. Getting several loads of laundry started
7470. Getting out the door early
7471. An easy answer to by debit card not working at the ATM
7472. Writing Group!
7473. Panera coffee with free refills
7474. Sharing with my Sisters
7475. Encouraging each other
7476. Great feedback and encouragement on my excerpt
7477. Hearing ideas from Amanda
7478. Hearing two of Marie's songs
7479. Being able to help Marie after group
7480. Hearing more of Marie's story
7481. Comparing thoughts and ideas
7482. Digiorno stuffed crust pizza for one!
7483. Relaxing for a little bit
7484. Getting a few things written
7485. New cord for laptops
7486. Jim sleeping well
7487. Becca being able to dry clothes at CG
7488. Tortellini soup
7489. Jamey and Lillian eating well
7490. Relatively smooth evening
7491. Watching all 4 kids run around and play together
7492. Gabriel wanting to join his siblings
7493. Gabriel beginning to stand up on his own
7494. Gabriel taking a couple steps with the walker
7495. Reuben snuggles
7496. Gabriel kisses
7497. Smooth bed time
7498. Getting computer charged
7499. Getting story from the past couple weeks typed up
7500. Having over 40,000 words in my story!
7501. Watching Courageous
7502. Becca brushing my hair
7503. Crashing
7504. Everyone sleeping until at least 6 am!
7505. Cinnamon Rolls
7506. Rain
7507. Sojourn
7508. Kids running around
7509. People not minding the kids running around
7510. Sunday school
7511. Meeting Heather
7512. Talking with Lora
7513. Telling Abby about Woman's Gift Exchange
7514. Worshiping through song
7515. Learning about true freedom in Christ
7516. Such an encouraging message
7517. Growing in understanding the miraculous as a church
7518. Healing prayers
7519. Being able to sing
7520. Being able to see
7521. Being able to hear
7522. Joe being able to use our pie dish
7523. Black bean chili
7524. Seeing Reuben understand he has done something wrong
7525. Productive afternoon
7526. Kids playing outside
7527. Lillian helping me sort coupons
7528. Kids eager to help with house chores
7529. Jim having a good nap
7530. Working on plans for the week
7531. Prepping for next week
7532. Making lists for next week
7533. Desiring to get more organized
7534. Watching Jim and the kids wrestle
7535. Playing
7536. Teaching kids to play Sudoku
7537. Leftovers
7538. Smooth bedtime
7539. Working on Oneness homework
7540. Hanging out with Jim

MOMStogether

I am thankful for MOMStogether, a group of ladies that gather once a month at Crestwood Baptist Church. We eat, talk, get encouragement and learn about different ministries in the area and how people are living on mission. It has been a blessing to meet new women in the area as well as connect with other Sojourn women. My kids also love their time in classes as they get to learn as well. It is such a blessing to have my kids there but with people who are teaching them about God at the same time. It was such a blessing when we had Gabriel as a few women from this group brought us meals, even though they live a long ways from us. It is great to see the Body serving each other even when we regularly attend different churches.

Father, thank You for the women at MOMStogether who love you and desire to see women love you more. Thank You for their care and encouragement.

Playgroup

When we moved to Louisville, I found out Sojourn had a playgroup on Tuesday mornings. I am so thankful for this group. It has changed a lot since we started going, but it is usually a really refreshing time to talk with other Sojourn moms while our kids play together. In the summer we typically go to parks which also allows us to meet people from the community and share God's love with them as our kids play with them. We are so blessed to have an indoor playground at our 930 building so we can still meet and play when it is raining or really cold. It is great to have something consistent for the kids to do with others during the week. If you are a Sojourn mom come to playgroup. It's great!

Thank You, Lord, for Sojourn's playgroup. Thank You for the fun, laughs and encouragement that comes from being around Your people. 

Dawn

I am so thankful for my dear friend Dawn. I know I have written about her before, but I must write again as I am so thankful for this Sister. She has been serving our Father for 8 months abroad and with all that she has had going on, she still has taken time to pursue and love on me, even so far away. I cannot tell you how thankful I am that God placed her in my life. I have learned so much from her and still learn from her as we write emails and Skype when we can. We pour into each other in ways that I have never experienced before and I still miss having her in Louisville almost every day. But I am thankful God has called her to serve Him with her family and it is a joy to hear what He is doing in them and through them. It's been a blessing to watch them go before as we plan and prepare for a similar challenge in the not to distant future. I have gained so much wisdom from her and her honesty is unmatched. I love Dawn so much and cannot wait to see what all God does with her.

Father, thank You for Dawn and for saving her and making her Your child. She is such a precious woman and I could not ask for a better friend. She is so faithful to You and Your people. Please bless her as she continues to follow Your leading especially when it is hard and challenging. Draw her ever close to You as she seeks You with all of her heart.

Our Community Group

I am so thankful and blessed to be a part of our current community group. What is a community group? It's a smaller gathering of the church body that meets together and does life together during the week. This was a new concept for me when we moved her almost 3 1/2 years ago. It took some time to get use to is, but now I look forward to and thrive on community group nights. Recently our group has grown and it has been amazing to see God at work in our midst. I'm thankful that we love to talk about God, His Word, share struggles, speak truth, learn from each other and just be around each other. I love these people so much and am excited to see what God will continue to do with us in our midst.
So a shout out to our group:

Andy and Shannon our wonderful leaders who are kind and lead well, giving thought to all in the group
Cory and Courtney who willingly open their home to us every week and have some kind of delicious treat for us to devour
Amanda who has returned from 5 years serving abroad to come home and serve along Sojourn in the urban experience and her family
Brian who is new, but has jumped right in and has Godly wisdom
Hilary joined 2 weeks ago and has been diving right into discussion, being open and honest and sharing with enthusiasm what God is doing in her life and teaching her
Jenny is quiet and cares deeply for the lost around her also part of the urban experience
Joe who is also quiet but challenges us with fun group adventures and loves life
Josh has been so open about his past struggles and was baptized Sunday as a follower of Christ!
Kristin is fun and full of life
Laura is so insightful and knows the Scriptures so well
Leslie is fun and adventurous with a great personality who is honest about who she is
Melanie can always make me laugh with a great story and is a hard worker
Paul came to the Lord recently and was baptized Sunday! He has so much life experience to share
Ryan is just Ryan full of laughs and a good time with so much knowledge
Sara has such a sweet spirit and is also very open about who she is

We have such a great group and I am so thankful everyone of these people is in my life.

Father, Thank You for this wonderful group that I can call family. Thank You for teaching us more about You together. Please continue to bless and grow us as we move forward in Your ways and teaching

SWI

I am so thankful for the Seminary Wives Institute at Southern Seminary. This program is designed to teach and train women for serving in ministry along side their husbands. It is a unique program geared toward ministry preparation with a wide variety of classes from Essentials overview and Leadership to specialized classes to focus on parenting, marriage or overseas work. You can take a few classes than are in your interest range or complete 13 to 17 units for a certificate. I have been so blessed to take nearly 3 1/2 years of classes and plan to finish in the spring. In my time I have had the privilege to take:

Cross Cultural Ministries
Embracing Femininity
Leadership Skills 1 and 2
Biblical Parenting
Old Testament/ New Testament Survey
Redeeming the Time
Introduction to Biblical Counseling
Family Life Conference
Raising Healthy Families
A Closer Look at the Old Testament: Amos
Essentials 1 and 2
SBC 1 and 2
Lessons in Prayer
Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
Discipleship 1 and 2

I plan to finish with Marriage and Family and Baptist Beliefs in the spring. I have learned so much from these classes and am thankful to have this opportunity.

Lord, Thank You for this program to help wives prepare for ministry. Thank You for the people who value our training and have put many hours into preparing this program for all who attend. It is such a blessing for those of us preparing to serve.