A& D Assignment Part 3: I Love These People

The rains are heavy in our town these days. Which calls for hot tea and warm sweaters and lots of time to process our traveling days. My brain has had much to unravel and sort following an intensive absorption of details and stories and happenings.

With only limited access to personal time with family and friends we fill up every second of our Stateside visit with hearing and sharing and connecting.

It isn’t easy. To reach out from either side of this equation. How gracious and beautiful is the gift these share with us from their time and their stories and their lives.

We are ever grateful.

We often say that we were not called into this ministry alone. And it is so true. I have been moved to recall how the faithfulness of these friends and family, which transcends much distance and separation, is their part of supporting this ministry too.

Here are some glimpses into the moments that meant so much to us. Be sure loved ones, that our time with you will continue to mull and saturate and bless.

Thank you, for everything.

Megan! The Graduate! In Florida!  

A surprise meet-up (in Miami) with two of the Spencers (from Portland, Oregon) So fun!

Our friend Shannon, who served with us in Uganda some years ago, on the campus of Lipscomb in Nashville! Sweet surprise!

The first family hugs of our furlough! 

Brothers and their kids. Happy Father's Day! 

Cousins on a bridge:)

Dearest ones--loved every minute with these beauties! 

So grateful for time together with Steve, Dana, Sierra and Patrick! Love you guys!

There's a lot of Cash in this picture! Jeff and his college roommate Chris, who confirmed to the Cashlings that all those crazy college stories Dad tells are, in fact, true! 

Time at Lake Whitney with the best parents a girl could ever ask for! (And one pretty awesome nephew too!)

A table full of blessings!

So fun to hang out with BJP!

Jeff and Daniel who was best man in our wedding and a dearest friend.

The Napiers and the Cashes--Rich history and the sweetest fellowship!

Stories, stories and more stories! 

I love this picture.
Daniel and I were discussing some Hebrew here:) Notice I am the one listening! Love you so much, Daniel, and appreciate that brilliant mind of yours that is so full of cool stuff! 

My Dena Jo! Over twenty years since we had been together and we could still finish each other's sentences and read each other's minds. This visit meant the world to me.   Love you so much DJ! 

A dinner with Kings! My amazing cousins and their beautiful families. Some of my very favorite people in all the world. Love them so! 

Nick and Kerrigan! 

(We reunited with eight of our previous interns on this furlough. This is #1 and #2)

One of our favorite nights of furlough--time with Vann and Susan Conwell. LOVE THEM SO!!!

The Goodes and a Starnes! 

(These are past interns #3 and #4 aka Bryn and Brayden.  

We get to host Bonnie this next year, God willing! 

So excited!)

Who's the tallest now, man?! 

I never, never get a great group photo at Glenwood and this is because I'm too busy hugging and visiting all the people we love in this amazing place. We love you Tyler family! 

Two of the world's finest. James Stanley and Alex Cash :) Love them both so much!

Silas, Reese and Isaac

Reese and Isaac have been friends since they exchanged hot wheels cars as very little boys. They've moved on to real cars now--they don't exchange them. They just talk about them :)

TCKs (Third Culture Kids) always find each other. These sweet ladies served with their family in West Africa years ago. Our kids always enjoy time with them when we are in Tyler. Their grandfather visited us this past year in Uganda! (Along with the guy in orange:)) 

So grateful that Tyler is a part of our story!

Caleb and Katherine Conder--loved this visit and can't wait to have more time together as God makes a way! (Caleb is past intern #5) 

My girls. Love! 

These kids are amazing. I'm so thankful for every one! 

These ladies represent some of the deepest riches of my life. Love every one of them!

This girl is my favorite Presley ever.

Her mom is pretty awesome too!

Oklahoma with the Newbergs!! Our time with these dearest friends was just what we needed. Such joy to visit and laugh and be at home. Thank you, friends, for sharing your space with us!

Kinley and Tanna--beautiful!

The boys enjoying meaningful time together :) Happy, happiness! 

And the TCKs arrive!  So very thankful for every life around this table and the incredible families they represent! 

Very hip 'tea time' with Logan and Rikki--so love the beautiful hearts in these two! Hope to serve them tea around our table someday!  

Global Reunion at Oklahoma Christian

THE highlight of our children's summer!

Silas and friends

Gorgeous hearts--forever friends--God is good!

Mom and Dad had some fun too!

This moment. It deserves it's own blog post for how much it meant to us. Dear dear friends serving Jesus in different countries but with the same heart. Love and esteem the Huddleston and Harris families. Deeply blessed to reconnect after so many years. God has been good to us! 

Thank you, Oklahoma Christian and Global Reunion for blessing our children so richly! 

My Kelly. Dearest friend. Squeezed every second of our time together to get it all said--but we may never achieve that! Deep and rich is time with this one. Love her so! 

The Vaughn family. They comfort as they have been comforted; sustain as they have been sustained. These are good, good people. We are so thankful to call them friends. 

Goodbyes are the worst! 

Time with Sarah!!! (Past intern #6) We needed more time with this dear one--so you'll just have to come back to our Uganda veranda, Sarah, and survive a whole long rainy Thursday with us. There will be black bean tacos for supper and stories long in the kitchen! Love you, beautiful friend!

These are in our hearts. And in so many of our memories and in some of our very funniest stories! We love you Walls and Millers. Thank you for loving us! 

Best pedicure buddies in the world! 

Double date with these cool kids! 

This is my cousin Cami (our parents are first cousins). She is a jewel for many reasons but I especially love her because she spent a summer with us in Uganda some years ago (making her past intern #7.) It means the world to us to have family step into our Uganda world for a bit. And not only did she do so, but she loved it too. So thankful for this particular bond with this particular person. Love you Cami!

Loved time with Cami and her beautiful family 

(not pictured but playing joyfully on the floor in front of us!)

This is my nephew Cason. He is funny. And I love him. 

:) 

My seester. She is really cool.

Carlsbad Caverns! The non-sweltering outdoor summer activity!

Time with Aunt Pat and Uncle Tommy! 

When Aunt Pat shows up with presents....

...things are about to get very silly! 

Love hauling this precious cargo around!

This. All day. Every day. Yes, please. 

I used to walk this campus (LCU) daily and pray for these very people. I didn't know their names but I wished for them with my whole heart. And here they are. All I ever wanted and more than I could have ever dreamed. 

???

:)

My parents and every single one of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. So thankful we could all be together! 

My beautiful family.

BFFs

The best conversations happen with these two! 

This is my first ever nephew, Dusty. I've loved him since he arrived in this world. Grateful beyond words that we got to be at his wedding. Love you, so much sir. 

The Carrigans!!!We don't get to 'run into friends' so very often:) LOVED our quick visit with these dearest friends!

Trisha. I love this sister friend. Thankful we snuck in one more visit:) And we didn't have to stay up all night (as per our norm!) to do it! 

I don't know why YOU go to Vegas--but for us it's all about these cool guys and their very fun Mom and Dad:) 

So fun to hang out with the Stephens! 

On to Malibu and Pepperdine:)

Unfortunately my phone died while in Malibu so I do not have any pictures with folks from our time there. But we delighted in a long dinner visit with Dyron and Sunde Daughrity and their beautiful kiddos as well as enjoying the gracious hospitality of the amazing Dusty and Cecily Breeding. Also, special thanks to John and Sara Barton for that ride back up the hill--Uganda style! 

Did all of that really happen if no one took pictures of it?! 

Faith Quest 2015 

So grateful to join with this community for the final Faith Quest experience. My life will never be the same because of Faith Quest. There are so many others who can say the same. God is good. 

And here we have past intern #8! Super Hannah! This was a specifically terrific moment. Hannah told us a secret (that's not a secret anymore) and I've been praying ever since. Love you and yours ;) Hannah King. So excited for you, Keshaun and that sweet bambino! 

What you are looking at here, folks, is the Frog Viewing Entrepreneurial Event of Labor Day Weekend. Where else, but Camp Yamhill, could YOU see tiny frogs, in a box with these fine young men as hosts. I paid the platinum fee so that I could take this picture. Totally worth it. 

Kinley had some unexpected health issues arise at Faith Quest and she was lovingly cared for by Tammy (pictured here), Ozella, Lynda and God. :) We are so thankful for nursing skills, for Tammy's obedience to come to Faith Quest this year and that she sat down next to Kinley at the registration table. God is Faithful. 

S'more Fest 2015 

The sweetest of loving traditions blessing our family over and over again! 

The Gorge with Uncle Mike! Perfect day in every way! 

You never know who you might see at Multnomah Falls:) Delighted to reconnect with Andrea Baker in this surprise meet-up!!

Like I said, TCKs always find each other. Davis Baker (a fellow Uganda TCK) and our two youngest boys had so much fun together at Faith Quest and then enjoyed a surprise hike together in the gorge.

So thankful for this day at one of our very favorite places (Multnomah Falls) with one of our very favorite people(Uncle Mike)!

Fiona and Silas--these cousins had such fun tromping through the woods on Cash Mountain

The Cousin Tres--born within months of each other we have an entire series of trio pics with these three. So thankful for each one!

Cash Cousins--the next generation:)

The Cash Cousin reunion--someone did the math and there are 43 people missing from this picture. The Cash Clan--we are many! Grateful to belong with these amazing people!

Laughing with Koni:) One of my favorite things to do! 

Jeffrey Scott Cash and Jeffrey Scott Shaffer

There is a like spirit of optimism and resilience in the face of adversity living strong in these two namesakes! 

Debbie and Sara Eakman

We've known each other since Sara and Kinley were newborns and now our sweet girls are looking at colleges! Thankful for these friends and our history.

Generations of Scouting--So thankful to enjoy some scouting activities with Granddad while we were in Oregon.

This picture is too dark--but it was a great moment so I'm including it. This is Uncle Jeff swearing in nephew Austin at his Eagle Scout ceremony in the torch lit woods on Cash Mountain. Super cool! Grateful to celebrate this terrific achievement for Austin! 

And there were so many other moments too! We were honored with meals and special gifts to commemorate two decades of service in Uganda at Glenwood and Metro churches of Christ and we experienced God's faithful hand of provision and sweet welcome in every town and home. 

Our lives are rich with amazing people. 

Thank you Jesus!