General

Xiang Xiang Died

Sad news! The first panda, Xiang Xiang to be released in the wild after captivity died less than a year after his release. Poor guy!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070531/ap_on_sc/china_panda_death

Happy Birthday Wishes

I would like to wish Lorraine a one day belated Birthday. I’m sorry I didn’t get to the computer in time. I’m glad we got to see you yesterday. I love you!

Today is Cary Caldwell’s birthday (wow, a whole quarter of a century old, wow). Happy Birthday girl! I hope you are enjoying your time off and with family…but….COME BACK SOON hehe.

Merry Christmas!

It’s almost 1am on Christmas Morning. Justin and I just got back from the late service. My parents and Kelly surprised us and came. I was able to give a short testimony at the service. It was so nice to have someone to sit with while Justin ran the sound. I’m so happy they came. They are crazy to drive that far that late hehe. I hope they have a safe trip home.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night 🙂

Don’t forget Jesus!

What I’ve been finding

This is just something I’m going to lay out here and I’d be interested in hearing what you have to say.

I find that the more I tend to listen to God, the more He tends to tell me, show me, and help me.

Shoeboxes

This year our church was able to collect 197 boxes (our goal was 160) for Samaritan’s Purse. Justin and I, along with a few of our fellow church members (Jennifer too hehe), went to the Charlotte Samaritan’s Purse warehouse. It’s an old Wal mart buildling and has lots of room for boxes. To my amazement, every inch of that place was full of boxes. The moment we walked in the door a really sweet woman came and hugged us all and with all the happiness and appreciation she had she welcomed us. We briefly went to a training session to learn about what we would be doing while there. I had never been before. Our job was going to be sorting through each box and taking out any money in it or forms filled out for Samaritan’s Purse. We were told if any money was sent in a box, the child’s life could be in danger. The training lady was able to tell us a story about one of the boxes from a previous year. She explained that as we look in the boxes we shouldn’t have thoughts like, “who would want that stuff?” or “that’s strange”. This particular box she spoke of had mostly white socks in it. The people who went to distribute these boxes noticed a boy off to the side. His was the box with the socks in it. As one of the workers was going to exchange boxes with this boy (thinking he would enjoy a box with toys in it better), the boy told them that he loved the socks. He had wanted socks. He had severely burned feet that were not very attractive and had always wanted something to cover them up so people wouldn’t look at him funny. Isn’t that awesome? God told the person that packed that particular box to put socks in it. He had a plan from the very beginning.

I will let Justin tell you about the special box he opened.

I think the most awesome story of all was one we heard about another box. A woman had gone personally to help distribute boxes in a foreign country. As she was doing so she got separated from the group and couldn’t find her way. She stopped at one of the houses to tell them she was an American and was lost from her group. As she stood there in the house, the little boy ran off to his room and came back with a shoebox he had received. This wasn’t just any shoebox. It was the very box that this woman herself had packed and sent to Samaritan’s Purse. Now you can’t tell me that was a coincidence. I hope that took your breath away like it did mine when I heard it. Just think of the probability of that ever happening. Amazing is what it is. And sent from God.

Yay!

I have just now completed the course work for my Business Law class. All I have left for that class is the Final Exam on December 9th. Now I have to complete one more homework assignment in my Operations class and then the not so fun big project and I’ll be done except exams. I can’t wait! I hope to finish the homework today or by the weekend and then I can spend all of next week on the dreaded project.

Incredible News

This story, taken from http://www.wxii12.com/family/10273127/detail.html is awesome

Man Says Bibles Stopped Bullet

POSTED: 11:06 am EST November 8, 2006

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 54-year-old Florida man credits two small Bibles in his shirt pocket with saving his life when they stopped a bullet.

The man, whose name was withheld because his attackers are still at large, told Orange Park police that two men he didn’t recognize ambushed him with a rifle as he carried bags of garbage to a trash bin.

He said his attackers then fled in opposite directions.
Click here to find out more!

The man said the bullet was stopped by two New Testaments that he was carrying in his shirt pocket to give to friends. Police took them as evidence.

The Florida Times-Union reported that aside from a red mark and a pain in his chest, the man was not injured.