I'm back home!

I got home on Sunday night. The kids were at my parents, so I went over to tell everyone hi. I walked in and Donna said "Mom!", then they were all back to what they were doing. I tried to give Ethan a hug, and he turned away from me and put his hand in my face. I'm glad they didn't miss me to bad hehe.

So many cute things have happened and I have so little brain space to remember them! I woke up with a migraine yesterday, and I still have it. Let me see if I can remember any of the extra cute things they have done...

Yesterday when I felt so awful, I was laying on the couch. Donna got some craft stuff out, and put it on the coffee table, and put a chair between me and the table. Then Chloe did the same thing. They sat there for 2 hours being very quiet working on their craft stuff while I dozed. (Ethan was napping) Every now and then, Chloe would put her blanket beside me and lean her head against me. It was so very sweet. They didn't even make much of a mess, Donna had gotten her small trash can and sat it between the 2 of them so they could throw away their "mistakes" as they went.

Well, I am not remembering much right now, so I will talk a bit about my trip.
I had an amazing time, and really felt that we were being used by God. (I am sure my migraine is satan attacking me as a result) We walked the streets talking and praying with people on the streets on friday evening. On Saturday we went to a corectional facility, then we went to a homeless shelter. I fell in love with a little 2 year old named Caleb. He had a 5 year old brother Jaden. These boys just broke my heart, they were so sweet. They reminded me of my own kids and just how innocent these homeless children are. It really hit home. I wanted so badly to just take them home with me.
Next we went to a food pantry to hand out food for 4 hours. I have to comend people that work at food banks(especially the ones in an inner city!), that is HARD work! Those boxes are heavy, and then once you are done you have to clean everything up to get ready for the next day.
We went on a prayer walk that was done differently than I had in the past. It was a wonderful experiance. We were encouraged to look inside the windows as we walked
Then we met the creater of Abide ministries. He has been open to hearing what God wants him to do and has been so very blessed becouse of it.
On sunday we went to a church for homeless people.(When we walked up to it, the first thing I saw was a man in his "sunday best" with a watch on his arm. He looked so proud, when I looked at the watch, it was missing the face and clock works. It had an open whole where the face of the clock had been.) They each get a hot meal and bag of food after the service. God was really speaking to many of us there. It was awsome to talk to these people that have so very little and hear how happy they are. When they praise God, they open themself up and give Him everything. After the service, we handed out food. I am still in awe of how they dressed up the best that they could for Jesus, and we so often just put on whatever is the most comfortable...
Then we headed off to Salem Baptist Church. I think we may have been the only white people in the church. It was fun to see all of the beautiful clothes they wear there with the matching shoes etc. Also, the music was AMAZING!!!!
I think it was a great eye opener to us on how we are as a church. The 2 churches were night and day different yet so full of the spirit, I feel that our church is in the middle of the 2.

I am still just in awe of everything I got to experiance this weekend. I can't wait to see how God uses this event to change our lives and the community of Knoxville.

Oh, and I'm sorry I haven't gotten the pics up yet. I'll do that now as long as our internet doesn't drop.