Ok, friends...

Here are some pics from the School where CC, Sarah and I taught English. For the most part, many of these kids are my cousins, because they are from my village, Auala, Savaii Samoa.
Tomorrow I'm hoping to write a little on what all we did there, but for now you can check out my pics. :)
Alofa to you all.

The School Children in Auala, Savaii Samoa who stole my heart

Teaching English was SO much fun... They were eager learners. Its at times like these that remind me just how difficult the English language is, and how little I really know about it.

The School Children in Auala, Savaii Samoa who stole my heart, Part 2

All these kids are from Year 8, so ages 10 to 14. Many times we'd get students from year 7 and 6 so I think we had up to 35 kids at the most.
They all loved Micah and CC... I often laughed because when I'd wash CC's shirts the back of them would be SO dirty, and I figured out that it was because kids were always patting him on the back, giving him hugs or slapping him on his back as their best friend.

Today is the DAY!

Today is the day we leave for Samoa! We're heading out from our house in the next half hour to go load our bags into the van, and then Willie Halteman's family and our cousin, Ducky, will be driving us to the Charlotte Airport, where we'll fly out to Cleveland, Ohio, small layover there, and then on to LA, small layover there, and then final destination, Samoa!
Hopefully I'll be able to find somewhere where I'll get internet access so that I can update everyone on some of the happenings in our lives..
In the meantime, pray for us, our safety, and the Emergency Tsunami packs we're handing out, along with the gospel tract and bibles... we'll be showing the Jesus film as much as we can, and pray that God will bless that and that many ppl will come to know Him as their Saviour!
Thanks to each one of you for your interest in this project, and I'll miss you tons!
Love to you all!

Never seen that before...

... have you?
Any of you seen the cartoon, "The Coyote and the Roadrunner"? Remember where, whenever the Roadrunner would start to run, their legs would spin in a circle, kinda like a fan, and they'd spin away in the same place until they "PHEW!".. would take off?
Well, I saw a deer do just that today. I was driving home from some meetings, and coming down the road I saw a nice whitetail buck in the middle of the road, crossing to the other side. *sigh*. you know how deer are, they get blinded by the lights of your car? He was no exception, and he just stood there, blinking stupidly for a few seconds; til I beeped my horn, and then he pulled a "Roadrunner" and spun his hoofs so fast he never moved from where he was standing for a few seconds! It was the funniest thing.. watching him spin his hoofs in an attempt to run fast. It was almost like he was standing on ice!
And that's the funny thing.. he WASN'T on ice. Have you ever seen a deer spin his hoofs on pure asphalt? Road conditions being dry, with no moisture or heat or ice anywhere? Baffled me, for sure....
Well, what can we say... stranger things have happened...

When we woke up on our last day in Grangeville...

... we woke up to a snowy, white beautiful outdoors.

I have always loved winter; it's my favorite time of year, with Christmas being my favorite holiday.
But on our drive to the airport... there were some people who, I suppose, were not to gloriously happy about the sudden change in weather...

It was pretty dangerous, since this accident was on a downhill slope after a blind corner..
I think that everyone forgets how to drive in snowy conditions after going thru the summer and stuff...
I can't wait for snow. I love all the memories I have with it, the fun times I remember I had with sledding, snowmen and stuff. The cozy feeling in the house on those winter evenings with a few lights, apple spice candles, hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows, stories read under fleece blankets.
Sometimes I wonder if God created winter for families to slow down and spend some time together again.. reconnect, remember, relax...
If He did, or if He didn't, I don't care so much...
I'm just glad that He made winter.

Quick memo...

Well, I'm back from my visit to the West... I had a great time, visiting everyone out there, listening to what has been going on in their lives, sharing my life stories with them, eating new foods, (and a few old favorites)
**DRINKING COFFEES***
O, that was so heavenly, to wake up and know that I could have a fresh, beautiful, hot mocha by simply requesting one, or even more fun, making it myself! I had a blast working there again, and it was great to see some old-time customers.
I'll post more later, right now I have to continue to unpack and put away all my clothes.. and I have a splitting headache. Thankfully I didn't get the flu like most of the rest of my family did, but I did end up with this. *sigh*.
O well... :)

Blog Status update

Just to let other ppl know out there, this blog is specifically for those of my friends who have dial-up internet, so if you happen to see repeats on this blog from the other one, that is why. My backgrounds and playlist is too much for them to load onto their computers, so they will use this one. This does not exclude anyone from using or viewing this blog, this is to simply explain the reason for repeats or familiar pics or quotes.

Thank you for understanding, and hope that those of you who have dial-up internet will be able to see this blog without too much problem. If you do, let me know via message on here, or call me. You who need to get a hold of me have my number already. :)

Love to all of you!

Jen

Don't Mess with Old People!

HOW TO CALL THE POLICE

WHEN YOU'RE OLD

AND DON'T MOVE FAST ANYMORE.

George Phillips , an elderly man, from Meridian, Mississippi, was going up to bed, when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things..

He phoned the police, who asked "Is someone in your house?"

He said "No," but some people are breaking into my garden shed and stealing from me.

Then the police dispatcher said "All patrols are busy. You should lock your doors and an officer will be along when one is available."

George said, "Okay."

He hung up the phone and counted to 30.

Then he phoned the police again.

"Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing things from my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now because I just shot them." and he hung up.

Within five minutes, six Police Cars, a SWAT Team, a Helicopter, two Fire Trucks, a Paramedic, and an Ambulance showed up at the Phillips' residence, and caught the burglars red-handed.

One of the Policemen said to George, "I thought you said that you'd shot them!"

George said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"

Ha, ha! True story!
(taken from an email from ******* Byler)

Greetings to all who view this...

Hello...
I created this blog for those of you who are interested in my everyday life and what goes on in NC from my point of view.
I also chose the name, "I Wanna Grow for God" because that is the desire of my heart right now...
...to grow in the love and the life of my Saviour, and to be more like Him every day.

So, I will endeavor to update as much as possible, post pics and let you know of any upcoming events that are going on!
Jen