Happy Birthday McCoy!!!!

Happy 3rd birthday to McCoy! He is by far my most favorite little boy…ever!!! He is so special. October 8, 2008 this little boy made his appearance into this world. I am so thankful that I was able to be there. I was there when his sister, Mattingly was born also. Such a special moment!!! This boy is 110% boy and I love it! He loves his sports more than any kid I know, he has always been like that from day one. I love it even more because my brother (his dad) is obsessed with sports as well, so he definitely gets it honest. His first birthday was baseball (Cardinals theme…convenient for the playoffs in Oct.) His 2nd birthday was basketball and his third is a little baseball and a little Mickey Mouse! He always has a ball in his hand! If he does not have a ball- he is playing a ball game on my iPad or our phones. I cannot wait until he is old enough to play on sports teams…it will be another exciting adventure. The past couple of days, I was able to spend some time with he and his family. He always comes running to see me. Yesterday when I got to his house, I heard him as I was walking up to the door yelling, “Jenny’s here” of course that made my day! When I opened the door he just came running! I hadn’t seen them since this summer so we were both so excited to see each other. We went to the fair for his birthday and he was so excited and all the little things just made him so happy. He is a very content boy! Last night at my brothers soccer game we played and played and as we were leaving the field, he said “Daddy, me love you, me love you a lot”…Whew yes I just about lost it. He is so funny; he has the tenderest heart ever. He is so thankful and loves everyone! To say this little boy has change my life is an understatement. He and his sister both are super awesome kids and I cannot thank God enough for allowing them to be my niece and nephew. I also cannot wait until March to welcome their little brother/sister into this world. The new baby has two amazing older siblings!
Happy 3rd birthday McCoy!!!!

Gracie Adalee

Gracie Adalee Rutledge is finally here!! She graced us with her presence on Friday, Aug. 19. She was 9 lbs 2 oz and 23 inches long. She is absolutely adorable. Mom is doing good too!! She is such a blessing! She has the most amazing parents, she is one special little girl.

A picture is worth a thousand words...

My Heart is in Honduras!!

As I’m sitting here thinking about where to start with this blog and starring at my pictures in the floor ready to go in an album…all that I can think of is how bad I want to be on top of the mountain at the mission house in Tegucigalpa Honduras! I love that place! Being able to go to a third world country and serve others is such an amazing feeling. From sorting thousands of toothbrushes, toothpaste, and soaps for hygiene kits to painting a playground at an orphanage for some precious souls to play on to distributing food to washing girls hair to putting smiles on faces of kids at the hospital and a special needs orphanage …it really is priceless and the most amazing feeling!! These are just a few ways that I was able to serve the people of Honduras for 11 days. This is an experience that everyone should do in their life. My love for Honduras grows deeper and deeper daily.
This year I was able to go to the Didasko orphanage 4 out of the 7 days we worked. The first two days I helped to repaint their playground that we built a few years ago. It’s named Terry’s World after its designer and our leader Terry Reeves. It is amazing! Honduran kids remind me of monkeys; they climb, swing, and jump everywhere. So the playground is really tall and fun to repaint because the kids were so excited. This orphanage holds a special place in all TORCH members’ heart. It was truly God’s will that we found the orphanage when we did and we have taken great care of them ever since. On the third day out there we played with the kids and did a VBS with them. Great day! I am amazed at the smiles on their faces…considering some of their stories they will carry with them forever, but yet they ALWAYS have smiles on their faces and are living life to the fullest. For my sake, I do not want to know many of their stories because it will absolutely devastate me. But one boy ALWAYS wears pink soccer wrist bands…he does this because when he was 2 his mother chained him to the stadium in the city and he has scars on his wrist. This is why he always wears the wrist bands. Such a sad story and very hard for us to comprehend but yet he is always playing and seems happy. I can only thank God for taking care of him until he was able to get to the orphanage. On our last Saturday there we went back to the orphanage (might I add that it is an 1 ½ for us to get there…one way!!) to get the kids, workers, and their summer interns and take them to KFC for lunch and then we were going to show them a movie back at the mission house. As soon as we pulled up they came running to us, they were sooo ready take a trip. This was huge for them because they just not get to do this very often at all. Riding with them on the bus was great, they just stared out the window in awe! Of course they loved getting their pictures taken too!! Once we got to KFC the kids went and sat down and waited for their food. They got a piece of chicken and some French fries…they CLEANED their plates and never complained about wanting more they just were soooo content!! Then we got to play in the HUGE play area at KFC…they had a mini soccer field at the top! It was amazing! Then it was time for another bus ride to the mission house, when we arrived the cafeteria had been sat up for movie time. We had popcorn, Kool-Aid, and the movie TANGLED!!!! They kids loved it! We had English subtitles so it was a bit hard to follow but hearing their laughs were worth it all!! Then we took some pictures with the kids and they were printed so they could take them back with them. When it was time to say bye, everyone started playing ten times harder and an hour later we really did have to let them go. These are such special kids and it was extremely hard to say good bye. But we decided that it was not a good bye…it’s a see ya later!! Being with the same 29 kids for 4 days there is no doubt there is a connection and their smiles, hugs, laughs, and tears changed me forever. I cannot thank God enough for allowing TORCH to find this orphanage and the bond that we have with them. And their owner and his wife and kid are AMAZING!!! He is an angel to those kids and to us!
Another day I was able to help with Daughters of the King, this is a day at the spa for the girls in the village of Mololoa. We wash the girls hair, fix it, wash their feet (I HATE feet and I did this last year and I still HATE feet but I LOVE some little Honduran girls feet!!!), and painted their nails. This year we had a church to make dresses for the little girls. They were beautiful when they were all fixed up. We also took their picture, printed it and gave it to them! Some of them had never seen themselves so pictures to them are a HUGE deal. This was another great day. We did that in the morning and then in the afternoon we distributed food to a village on our mountain. This is such a humbling experience because we see their homes up close and it is just heart breaking. When we give them the bag of food they are so thankful. It is little things like food that we take for granted. It has really made me thing about food and being more careful when I throw food away because those starving faces are always in my mind. I’m just thankful we are able to help in the ways that we can.
Hygiene kits…man they are crazy!!! We start by sorting thousands of soap bars, shampoos, conditioners, toothbrushes, toothpastes, razors, shaving creams, lotions, etc. Then once we have sorted everything we begin putting the kits together. This year we were able to make over 800 kits…AMAZING!! I was mainly in charge of sorting toothbrushes…there were TONS!!!! Let’s just say each bag has 4-6 toothbrushes in it and we did over 800 kits…you can do the math as to how many toothbrushes we had! What amazes me the most is all the materials are donated for the kits. I love knowing that even if some people cannot come on the trip with us they are able to send items and still help and be part of our trip. Also while we are making the kits there were other groups counting and sorting pills for our medical clinic. We also had another group breaking down and sorting food for the food bags. These are always tedious jobs but someone has to do it!!
Hospital visits…this was a first for me and yes like everything else…I loved it! Being able to see sick kids and put a smile on their face is wonderful. We saw several kids and most of them had their mom with them and the rest of their family was at home…one family was 8 hours from home. They were all in there for multiple reasons. One was waiting for an allergy shot, she had been there for three days waiting and did not know when she would get the shot. We went on Friday and one little girl was going to have heart surgery on Monday; I have not been able to stop thinking about her. I can only hope and pray they the surgery was successful and she is on the road to recovery. Her mom had three other kids at home and the little girl’s dad did not want to deal with her anymore because of her heart condition. This just broke my heart. She and her mom were so nice and I know that God is watching over them. After the hospital we went to the special needs orphanage! This is probably my favorite place! I have always had a special place in my heart for special needs kids. My mom taught them for several years and I grew up with them. All three years I have been in Honduras I have been able to go to the orphanage. Just being able to work and play with these kids is great. One little boy named Noel was from what we could tell only physically disabled and very smart. We were playing with cars and we were going through the colors in Spanish and English. I was able to tell him everyone that was with their names and he was talking about them. He was precious! He also wanted me to take pictures of all his cars so he could see them on the camera! I love being able to speak some English with him. I love him along with all the others and cannot wait to see them next year…Lord willing!!
I love Honduras and I’m so thankful that I have been blessed to go over there and serve for three years now. I have also met some amazing people on this trip. These are some friends that I know I will have for a lifetime and knowing that we share a common passion is amazing! Please continue to pray for our work that is being continued over there and for everyone in Honduras. They really do live a completely different life over there but I know God is watching over them!!

Oh the things we take for granted...

While in Honduras there are several things we cannot do or things we do not have that we can do or have in the states and it is the smallest things that we take for granted!!

Here is a list of a few:
1. FLUSHING TOILET PAPER!!! (It's amazing how much you miss it when you cannot do it!!)
2. Brushing your teeth with tap water...sure you can do this in Honduras BUT you WILL be sick!
3. Hot showers...I had ONE warm shower while I was there, the rest cold!! But I just kept telling myself there are so many who cannot even take a shower tonight and when they do get one its cold and usually dirty water!
4. Being able to wear flip flops where ever you go and not have to worry about a parasite!
5. Normal Driving compared to Crazy Driving in Honduras...this is really an understatement and you cannot understand it until your have experienced riding in Honduras!! Let's just say stop signs and lights mean nothing over there!
6. Family...there are so many broken families in Honduras that we see daily. It just makes me appreciate my family and friends more and more all the time.
7. My House! Most houses in Honduras are shacks to say the least. One room houses or cardboard boxes for families of 5-6. Knowing that I have a house to come home every night with a bed, food to eat, couches to sit on, AC/Heat, indoor plumbing, etc. Its the same things we seem to forget about that make a world of difference.
8. Health Care. After being at the hospitals in Honduras, I appreciate our heath care even more. I met one girl who had been in the hospital for 3 days waiting for an allergy shot! The doctors couldn't tell her exactly when she would get it!
9. My Job! Even if I do not always like it, I'm so thankful for it. It breaks my heart to know someone can work for minimum wage in Honduras and still not be able to put food on the table for their family.
10. Being able to order food at a resturant without having to just point to pictures or words! Also being able to specialize your order because the workers can understand what you want!
11. Being able to have pictures of our friends and family! When we would take picture of the kids over there they couldn't wait to see it. For some of them it was the first time they have seen themselves. Which seems absolutely crazy to us but its true!!

I'm thankful for the Country that I live in but I am also thankful for the third world country that I am able to go to help spread God's word!

1 more day til...

HONDURAS!!!!!


I feel like it was just yesterday I was landing back in the states from an amazing mission trip and now I'm off again!!! However, this year is a little different...my brother, sister in law, or mom are unable to go!! This will be my first time to leave the country without one of them...but I'm ready to just be there! My cousin Taylor is going with me. I know that he is excited and we will have a great time. I do not know many people going this year so it will be interesting...however I am going over there to serve others!
I cannot thank God enough for this opportunity! This is my third time to go and I absolutely LOVE IT!!! I’m thankful for my parents who have supported me throughout the years and instilled this love to help others in me. I’m thankful for churches, family, and friends for their financial support. And most importantly I’m thankful for the prayers and for this being part of God’s plan for me in my life.
We fly out of Nashville at 6 AM Friday morning and will return July 4. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!!

This blog will give updates while we are over there:
Childrenoftheking.blogspot.com


Thanks for the prayers!!

Twas the night before Madness...Kentucky Style

Twas the night before Madness and all through the land,

Not a team left unshaken by Jorts and his band.

The posters were plastered on locker room walls,

In hopes that a meeting would not soon be called.

When down there in Tampa arose such a fuss

The whole team from Princeton was sent to the bus!

Then several days later as if right on cue,

The Cats sent ‘em packin, those Mountaineers too!

Then Cal skipped his way to the New Jersey shore,

For a meeting they said was the Cats final door.

But Jorts had a plan as he threw the ball in,

And it bounced off a chest and the Bucs couldn’t win.

Living large were the Cats’ Mr. Knight and his crew,

Then came the Tar Heels with Houston in view.

“Take Three” from the corner said ‘Dre as he shot,

And then Carolina knew Houston was not.

Now Final Four Dancing, it has been a while,

But Cats and their fans, it don’t matter the miles.

Be lookin’ for Kemba, his Conn artists’ too,

The Cats will be bringin’ its defense for you.

On Brandon , on Lamb, and on Jonesy too,

Got Miller and Jorts, and they’re bringing the crew.

Now Liggins and Vargas then go to “The Hood”

The seeding they gave us was much less than good!

So See you in Houston now Mr. Calhoun,

And practice real hard cause it’s comin’ too soon.

The team you will dance with, they just woke up late,

But they’ll have ‘em laced up, they want Number 8!

My Pa!!!

15 years ago this summer I lost one of the one most amazing people in the world…my granddaddy!! I was only 10 years old, but to this day he still is one of my favorites and always will be!! He was MY PA!! And I would let you know really quickly he was all MINE!!! At such a young age you do not realize how important and what kind of impact people leave on you, I’m so thankful for this impact!! I was the second oldest granddaughter and the only one out of four granddaughters that was always around my Pa…therefore I was “special” or that is what I told myself. My Pa would have done anything for all of his grandkids and he did! I can remember the days I got to spend with him and it was just ME AND HIM!!! Man, I was a luck gal!!! My Pa delivered newspapers so sometimes in the summer I would go with him, which meant getting up super early but I was willing since I got to be with him. I’ll never forget one time he let me have a coke and a swiss cake roll for breakfast…shh I don’t think my mom knows still to this day!! Ha ha It was great!! He was also his grandkids number one fan in everything, especially sports! He was always at my brothers baseball games and he would let me take multiple trips to the concession stand during one game…mom wasn’t too happy, but that was his job right?? There were days that I had to go to a day care for half-day and it was pure TORTURE!!! But when he could, my Pa would come and get me so I didn’t have to stay there!! He would take me to his house and it was always around nap time, we were the best at taking naps!! He would get the long couch and I got the little couch and we would watch TV and fall asleep!! My grandmother still lives in the same house and I cannot go into the living room without thinking about naps with Pa. For some reason he always had tons and tons of pennies, I never really knew why he always had them and why he had sooo many, but I loved playing with them. My brothers and I would always play with the pennies and we would have them all over my grandparent’s house…oh the things we could do with pennies! My Pa was my “rock” I loved that man so much I cannot even put it into words. He was my only granddaddy (my dad’s dad passed away while my dad was still in college). I would always help my grandmother when she kept my baby cousins and Pa would always give me money for helping. I usually spent it and didn’t really think anything about it…but for some reason the last $10 he gave me I kept. At the time, I had no idea it would be the last, but now I’m so thankful I kept it. I kept it until I wanted to buy something that I really wanted and that I could keep forever. I finally decided that I wanted to but these sunflower pictures ( that summer I was in the process of redoing my room into sunflowers) and 15 years later they are still hanging in my room and the day I move out they will go with me and I hope to keep them forever! It’s a small piece of my Pa that I can always have along with the precious memories. I still remember vividly everything that happened the morning he passed away, he was on a paper route and had a heart attack and didn’t make it. I was at my cousin’s house on my dad’s side. My dad called their mom and told them what happened but she did not tell us kids, but just said to bring us home. So Matthew and I knew something was wrong so we got home my dad told us…IT WAS TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Andrew was already at home because he had a baseball game the night before and my granddaddy was there at the game. So my mom, brother, and dad were the last that saw him other then my grandmother. I just wanted my mom but she was at the hospital, I just remember sitting with my brothers on our front porch bawling our eyes out! All 3 of us were extremely close with our Pa and we loved him dearly! The days to follow were hard on the entire family. My mom is the oldest of 8 kids, big family!! So the visitation was forever long and the funeral was at our church and it was packed!! My Pa was very well known and knowing how many lives he touched was very comforting to our family. Even though I only knew him for 10 short years, I cannot thank God enough for allowing me to have such an awesome Granddaddy!! I’m a daddy’s girl, but I was a HUGE Granddaddy’s girl. We made some awesome memories together and I know without a doubt he looks down on me every day and he was watching after his little Jenny Wynn Wynn ( this was my nickname, his version of Jenny Lynn Lynn). I cannot wait for the day that I am reunited with my Pa!!!!

It's a girl!!!!

Ash, Adam, Family and Friends bitting into their cupcakes to see if they were filled with pink or blue...they were filled with PINK!!!!!!!!!!! Sweet little Gracie will be here in August!!!

Thankful!

Well I’m back in the blogging world; yes it’s been a WHILE!! Sorry!
First, I just want to say that God is GREAT…ALL the time!! I’m so blessed to have such an amazing family and friends! I can’t put into words just how blessed I am. I love that I’m on spring break right and I can take time to see some of my best friends and my family.

I started my adventure of spring break travels by heading to Florence, AL to see Ash (and Baby Rut) and Adam. When I got to Florence, I went with Ash and Adam out in Adam’s boat- fun times!!Then Ash and I went to eat…yes Mexican of course! I’m so glad that baby Rut loves Mexican too! Ha On Wednesday I was able to spend part of the way with Ash at her school with her awesome little kiddos! They were precious!! After school Ash was going to the doctor to find out if she was having a boy or girl!! Thankfully she was able to find out so that night after church, with family and friends they were had a gender revealing party!! This was so much fun! As we all patiently waited to bite into our cupcakes to see if it was filled with pink or blue!!! Such a fun way to find out with family and friends…and the cupcakes were filled with…PINK!!! YAY BABY GIRL RUTLEDGE IS ON THE WAY!!! I cannot wait to meet Gracie!

I’m so thankful for Ashley and Adam- they are two amazing people who really would do anything for anyone. God has blessed them and their families so much. I know they are going to be the best parents for little Gracie. This baby has been loved since day one and I know that God is taking great care of her. She is for sure an answered prayer!! God is Great!!!! Just pray that most importantly she is a healthy baby!!



Gracie Girl- You have the most amazing parents who loves you so much!! You are such a blessing to them and many more people. You also have some amazing grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins! I (along with everyone else) cannot wait to meet you!! Love you sweet little girl!


(Yes Ash, I stole this from FB!! Everyone else has a pic so she needed one too!!)


My next adventure leads me back to Columbia to see my great friend, Haley!! She is amazing! I don’t get to see her very often, but I’m very thankful for our friendship. Being able to see her and hang out for a little while was great. I got to her house about 11 and needless to say we stayed up until 4 AM!!! WOW I haven’t seen this time on a clock in a really long time!! I’m definitely not a college student anymore!! But I was worth it!! There really is nothing better than getting to spend some quality with time some of my best friends!!




Now that I have made it to Mayfield, I’m leaving again Saturday to see my brother and sister in law! I’m so thankful to get to spend time at home with my parents also. However, it’s freezing up here! I was so excited about being about to spend time with my dad fishing, but the weather may change that!!









God is great!!! And I cannot thank HIM enough for my amazing family and friends!!!!

God's Masterpiece

This is a video we saw at EU...very touching!! Loved it!

Evangelism University

This past weekend I was able to experience one of the greatest weekends I’ve had in a while. For the first time ever I went to Evangelism University or EU in Savannah TN. This is a weekend for high school students to grow closer to God and learn more about His word. However, even though I’m not a high school student anymore it was still a great experience. My brother, Matthew and his wife Hannah, brought a group from their church in Mississippi and asked me to come along with them. So thankful I did. First, it was a great time to grow closer to God and INCREASE. INCREASE was the theme for this year and it was emphasizing the importance of increasing your relationship with God. Also for me it was a HUGE Freed reunion. As soon as I walked in there were Freed people everywhere! I LOVED IT!! I saw some people that I haven’t seen since they or I graduated. I had so much fun catching up with friends…along with hearing some amazing lessons from some amazing speakers. The key note speakers were David Shannon and Taft Ayers. I had never heard Mr. Shannon before but it was GREAT!!! Taft was great also, he is a great friend of our family and we have been to Honduras together! He is great. The BEST part of the weekend…THE SINGING!!!! WOW!! It was absolutely amazing! It really made me miss Clayton Chapel at FHU!
I’m so thankful that I was able to go to EU and hope that I’m able to go back next year.



Prayer Request- Please keep the Hobbs Family in your prayers. They are friends from Mayfield. The father Gary had knee surgery earlier in the week and did great however, he developed a blood clot and it went to his heart and he passed away early this morning. Mr. Gary was a great friend to my mom’s family. He and most of my uncles were great friends and grew up together and always played ball togehter. His sons were in school with my brothers and I. The oldest son, Greg, played baseball with my brothers. He always went to Spring Break trips with us and the baseball team. This is a great family and they are suffering a terrible loss. Pray they lean on God for strength and comfort!! They are really going to need help over the next few days, weeks, months, and even years! Mr. Gary was a fun loving, always laughing guy!! Please pray for Mrs. Rhonda, Greg, & Jonh Hobbs!

My Momma!!

Well well where to begin! I'm not sure! Over Christmas break it has really hit me just how amazing my mother is. No it has not taken me 25 years to figure this out! ha
She is just always going nonstop! She retired about a year ago and I think it was the best thing ever for her! Yes she was a great teacher, for like 30 years (mostly special ed.) but she deserved to retire. She is a woman that can just go an go and go. Now that she is retired she can up and come see me in Columbia or my brothers in Mississippi and Kentucky. Obviously, Andrew gets to see her the most...WHY??? Well he has the kids which means her grandkids...and man she is obsessed!!! ha I LOVE that she and my dad and just go and see them whenever they please, they both deserve it. My mom has always been the one that does for everyone, always always puts others before herself. She has wore so many hats in her life its just amazing! I can only hope to be like her one day. She is a daughter, wife, mother, friend, teacher, aunt, sister, cousin...and the list goes on! She is the aunt that all her nieces and nephews LOVE!! It's always can we go to Aunt Gayna's house! She always goes to their ball games, band concerts, plays, and anything else they are involved in. You always know she will do whatever for whoever! She is a true inspiration to me and I love her very much! She used to have a license plate that said "The one and only GAYNA" and that is TRUE!!!!! Everyone knows Gayna or Mrs. Taylor!! And I'm glad that I can call her MOMMA!!!

Nana and Poppy


Nana with her kiddos


Mom with her Friend in Honduras!


Mom and her Daughters in Honduras

It's the Most Wonderful time of the year...

WOW!!!! I can’t believe that Christmas is here again! This year has absolutely flown by! But I’m so excited because this is truly my most favorite time of the year!! I first want to give thanks to God for all that we have to be thankful for. Yesterday, (Wednesday) was 5 years ago that my dad suffered a massive heart attack! I can’t thank God enough for allowing my daddy to still be here with us today! That Christmas was a true nightmare for me BUT with God we got through it and my dad is doing GREAT!!!!
Tonight my dad called my niece and nephew and he was “Santa”! It was great!! We put it on speaker phone so we could hear Mattingly…it was hilarious!! Mattingly told Santa she wanted a leapster! She also asked Santa what kind of cookies he liked and what kind of milk he wanted!! It was precious! Then McCoy gets on the phone, he isn’t talking much and he said, “ho ho ho” and “ball” his two favorite words right now! They are the funniest two kids and they getting so big!! Mattingly will be 4 in February and I feel it was just yesterday we waited up all night for her to be born!! Time flies!! Have to enjoy them while we can! Tomorrow, Christmas eve, Matthew and Hannah will be here and then Saturday afternoon Andrew and his family will be here. Now, for me having to wait until Christmas day night to open presents its nothing but torture!!! Ha I am and will always be the little kid at Christmas!! : ) Even though I know everything I am getting this year there is still something about opening presents Christmas morning!!
I ask everyone to say a special prayer for everyone who is missing a loved one this Christmas. I know we all miss our loved ones all the time but the holidays are really hard! I miss my great grandmother so much at Christmas! Especially this year…she would have been 100 on Sept. 15…she was one special lady to me!!! I love you Bea!!!



Merry Christmas to all!!! Happy New year!!!

God's Plans

Wow- I can’t believe I have gone so long without blogging. I will finish the second part of the Honduras one ASAP. But first…
I know that God has a plan for all of us and sometimes it is hard seeing that plan right away or we don’t like what HE has planned for us. But this has really hit home with me lately. I am into my 3rd year teaching at Columbia Academy, which I just knew after my first year I would leave…but year 3 and I’m still around. I prayed and prayed a lot about what do this year and I stayed at CA, that was in God’s plan. This has been a tough year needless to say- but I am making with the help of God.
This has become one of my favorite verses- Jer. 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
I have a little girl in my class, Sammi, her mom has been very sick with cancer. At the first of the school year I was told she wasn’t given much time to live. This was very hard for me to grasp, I couldn’t imagine watching my mom die with cancer at the young age of 8 years old. I have prayed for this family constantly, they are great. Sammi has a sister in 5th grade and a brother in kindergarten. I had her sister a little bit when we switched classes my first year. They are so precious. A couple weeks ago we got word that the mom was not doing very well and wasn’t expected to make it through the week that literally broke my heart. I immediately starting trying to think of what I can do…all I knew to do was pray and love those precious little kids. One afternoon Sammi stayed with me after school so I could help her with homework and finish a project- obviously getting help at home was out of the question. A week ago today we got word that the mom had gone into a coma. We have been on fall break for 2 weeks so I have not been in Columbia. It really made me sad to know these kids are home watching their mom pass way. I just constantly prayed and prayed. This past Friday morning I got a text early saying that she has passed away. She definitely was a fighter until the end. I knew that without a doubt that I would go to the funeral. So Sunday night I get there for visitation and we are waiting in the lobby before it was time to go in and Sammi comes out of the room the family was in, she was crying with her grandmother. Several of us were just standing around; some of my students had gone up and was talking to her. Then she sees me and she starts running towards me and just jumps into my arms buries her head in my shoulder and starts bawling- it was at that moment that I realized this is the reason I was at Columbia Academy this year. I just held her and let her cry. I couldn’t tell you how many times already this year should to crawl in my lap at school and just cry. It always made me sad to think that she was going though. So when she jumped into my arms I was really struggling to hold back the tears, but I knew I had to be strong for her. And I was only with the help of God! After a little while she was better and was playing with other kids at the funeral home. Monday at the funeral, it was sad!! But the preacher really talked about how she was a fighter until the end and she may not be in their home anymore but she will always be in their hearts. Then he read something that each kid wrote to their mom- it was so sad!! BUT they were able to focus on all the good times!! I’m so thankful God has used me to help with this family and precious Sammi. This is a special family and they will be needing lots of prayers! Please pray for them. The will have many hard days, weeks, months, and years to come!!
Cancer is awful and here lately it is starting to hit closer to home and it scares me. One of my good friend’s dad was just diagnosed with very aggressive brain cancer!! I just pray that we can find a cure for this awful illness!! I know too many people who have lost their battle with it BUT I also know several who beat cancer too! And lots more that are still fighting it and I pray they can beat it too!! Please say a special prayer for everyone that you know who has cancer, lost a loved one to caner, or is a survivor, and for doctors to be able to find a cure!!

I left my heart in Honduras- Part 1

Yes I have to admit that my heart is definitely still in Honduras. Who would have thought that in 11 shorts days you could LOVE a place so much!! With this just being my second trip to Honduras I know that without a doubt and Lord willing this is going to become a yearly thing for me. I had rather spend my summer vacation in a third world county rather than hanging out on the beach!! (And that says A LOT- I do love my beach) I am going to give you a quick run day of what my 11 days in Honduras consisted of!
Thursday July 1- Traveling… bright and early! My mom and I left from Nashville. We arrived at the airport around 5. However, once we got on the plane we were delayed and due to that delay we almost missed our flight from Atlanta to Tegucigalpa Honduras! And there is only one flight a day from Delta that flies into Hondo! However we made it!! And when we landed I felt like I was home. It had been 5 years since I was there last! Once we landed and had out language we were off on the awesome TORCH school buses! Whew riding in Honduras is always an experience. Stop signs and stop lights exist over there BUT no one pays attention to them! You just hope for the best and GO!!! OH and maybe honk your horn if you want to pass! I love the rush you get from it! Ha We first go to the little mall grab some lunch and then go grocery shopping. Two of my good friends from Freed were also on our flight- Mariano and Christina. I was so happy to see them! Mariano is just like another brother to me! Once we got our groceries we headed to the Mission House! This is on a mountain and it like a campus. We waited for the other groups to arrive and then we had a meeting to get room assignments and all that fun stuff. Once the other groups arrived I was so happy! I was being reunited with some of my closest friends from FHU! All of my “brothers” were there! Nathan, Chad (Nino), Rudy, & Mariano…oh yeah and my real brother flew in Saturday. (All of these guys played soccer together at FHU! They really are my brothers and I love them dearly) I was a little nervous about the room assignments because I didn’t know many girls on the trip! However, my roommates turned out to be AMAZING!! (I’ll save that for another post) We got our stuff to the room and then went to work! Two of my roommates (Haley & Allison) and I went to do the bodega (storage building) and helped unload a container that was sent over. This contain had the most random items in it. Several things were from a hospital- lots of medical things! It took forever! But it was fun! We unloaded two that night and then went back to the mission house! Here we had dinner and then had devo and got the run down for Friday.
Friday July 2- Today I chose to stay around the mission house and do the little behind the scenes things! First it started out going through boxes and getting items out for our hygiene kits we were to make. We had to sort everything out. My table got stuck with sorting and opening tooth brushes, toothpaste and floss. I have never seen so much toothpaste! It was also! We also had tables full of soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotions, razors, you name it, it was there for the hygiene kits. And the best part was knowing it had all been donated. After we did the kits we had to go back to the bodega to unload yet another container and man this one has the BIG stuff in it!! And sadly we didn’t have nearly the men we had had the night before! However, we still got the job completed successfully! After we unloaded back to the mission house we went. Now it was my time to be a pill pusher/drug dealer, however you want to say it! We had TONS and TONS of medicine donated and we had to go through and count pills and label the drugs! This would have been a miserable task however knowing I was doing it for the people of Honduras and I had Karen & Haley by my side for nonstop laughing made it a wonderful task! We were in this room for hours upon hours sorting pills. The worst thing we had to do was the TUMS!!! I have never liked those things cause of the smell…well I had to overcome that!! I don’t even know how many TUMS we bottled up but it was A LOT!!!! But Karen, Haley, & I made some good memories! After being a pill pusher we had our devo and got Saturday’s game plan!
Saturday July 3-
I was really looking forward to Saturday because my brother, Matthew and his wife Hannah and some other good friends…Zach and Meagan were arriving. I decided to take on a new challenge…I helped build a house. I really went out on a limb because I didn’t know anyone I was going to build with. I forgot what mom did that day. But it was a good thing I went solo for a day. I met new people so it was good. However I liked building houses but maybe not my favorite thing todo…and also we had too much help so I felt worthless most of the day! And there weren’t many kids around to play with either! However, when we finally left to get back on the bus to head to the mission house…we left a family with a roof over their head…which they didn’t have that morning!! Such a great feeling!! And I was really tired ready to get on the bus and sit down…did we no we had a full bus!! ha BUT I was the last one on the bus and guess who was sitting in the front seat of the bus..MATTHEW AND HANNAH!! Boy was I excited!! At this point I was ok standing for the bus ride because I had them to talk to. I was so glad they were there!! Once we got back to the mission house I took a shower and read some of my book for my masters program! Then we had dinner and devo- the usual and the hang out time!
Sunday July 4-
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY…from Honduras! Not your typical 4th no fireworks but that’s ok!! We got to sleep in this morning which was good! After a few short days of work I was exhausted!! We then went to see the TORCH guys play the Cobras- Honduras Police in soccer! It was fun all the “soccer guys” (Matthew, Nate, Nino, Rudy, and Mariano) and some other guys that play soccer played. It was fun watching all the guys play and we won!!!!!!!!!!! 3-2 I believe was the score! After we left the game we went to get something to eat and went out to the Valley of Angels. This is a cool place to shop and just walk around! After there we went to the Jesus Statue for our church service! WOW This was my first time to go there and it was beautiful. It’s a huge statue of Jesus that overlooks the city! Breathtaking!! We had an awesome devo- the singing out there was great! (Made me miss the Clayton chapel days at FHU!) After the devo we go back to the mission house! Sunday was a nice relaxing day- helped us prepare for the amazing week we had ahead of us!!

Well I am going to stop here for now! The rest of the week will be coming soon!!! And I’ll add pictures later too!!

The Widow's Mite

Mark 12:41-44 And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums.A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on."

Luke 21:1-4
And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury.And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. And He said, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on."

The Jews were instructed to give to the Temple and to the poor as part of their service to God. (So are we). One day Jesus sat at the Temple and watched people putting money into the offering boxes. Some people were rich and gave lots of money. Some gave money, but were unhappy about it. Then an poor woman, a widow, came up to the boxes.

The poor woman put two of the smallest coins there were in the offering box. The disciples with Jesus weren't very impressed, but Jesus said this woman has given more than any other today. How could that be? Jesus said it was because it was all she had.

How did the woman think she would buy dinner that night? She trusted in God to provide for her. She obeyed God's command, knowing that He would fulfill His promise to care for her in return. We must trust God the same way. Matt 6:33 says: "Seek first the kingdom of God and Hid righteousness and all these things (food, clothes, etc) will be added unto you."

WOW This story hit home for me tonight. As in the previous post I am leaving for Honduras in one week!! At church we have been collecting t-shirts to take to the people in Honduras. For them to get a "new" (our used ones) shirt is a HUGE deal!!! (Just yet another thing we take for grant it...clothes on our back- I'll save that for another post) So we have received TONS of shirts, unfortunately we can not take all of them but we taking some. Not only have we received shirt donations but also money to help pay for the cost of an extra bag (Yep it cost $200!!!!!) and for the cost of the trip in general. So an older lady came up to me tonight and handed me a one dollar bill...she said it's not much but I hope it helps! I was speechless because the Widow's mite story came to my mind. I thanked her knowing she did all that she could. Just tonight at church we received almost $300 BUT that one dollar means more to me than the other $299!! I am so thankful for all of the people who are generous enough to help especially the lady who gave "all she had!!"
Again I ask for your prayers more than anything!!



Romans 8:28-And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

9 days until... HONDURAS!!!!!

9 SHORT DAYS!!! WOW I can't believe the time has come for me to be back in Honduras! I haven't been able to in a few years because I have been in weddings that have conflicted...not this year!!! I am so excited I can't stand it!! Tonight mom and I booked out hotel by the airport!! Lucky us we are flying out at like 6 am on July 1 SO that means have to be at the airport bright and early!! But I'm ok with that!! We're flying out of Nashville our first stop is in ATL and then Tegucigalpa HONDURAS!!!! This year will be extra special...this is not only going to be great time to serve our Lord but its going to be a reunion with all of my "brothers"!! Matthew and all of his soccer buddies from FHU and their wives are getting to go. They are all like my brothers!! I really miss all of these guys and can't wait for all of us to be back together!! Not only is my mom going with us but also my second mom, Margaret will be there as well!! Lots of hard work and prayers have gone into the work of TORCH Missions and I ask that you please continue to pray for us.
There are several groups flying in from different places and different times- please pray for safe travels to and from Honduras!!
I know this is going to be the best 11 days of my summer!! I'm very thankful for everyone that has made this trip possible!!
This is the TORCH Missions blog if you would like to follow- it will be updated while we are over there working; http://childrenoftheking.blogspot.com/
PLEASE PLEASE pray for safe travels, our work while we are there, and also for our families that we are leaving behind in the states!!

Matthew 25:34-40"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink;I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

My 2 favorite kids...

Today I got to see my niece and nephew- Mattingly & McCoy. I absolutely love these kids and haven't seen them since February!! I hate being so far away from them, but so thankful for the time that I do get to spend with them. I went down today couldn't wait to play. And we did just that!! On my way down there my sister in law calls and said that Mattingly wanted a corn dog, so I stopped at Sonic and got her a corndog! She loved it and McCoy got one too. Then I had their Easter baskets from Nana & Poppy (my parents) so we got right into the candy! These two LOVE candy! They also had bubble blower guns- they have a thing for bubbles. So we played with bubbles for a while and yes I had bubbles all over me, jeans covered in it but did I care- NO WAY!! We were having to much fun. Then we just played and played. Worked some puzzles, played on the Zippity, played with the baby dolls(a BabyAlive doll that you feed and then they "fill their diaper" well this one got it all over me so adding to the bubbles all over me now i had nasty baby alive food on me!!)- you know just a little of it all! Then we decided to go outside. Both love to walk so we got the wagon out and went for a "short walk". My brother Matthew and I and Hannah got the wagon for Christmas. They love it- Mattingly have to have me to pull her in the wagon. She also wanted to pull McCoy! After the walk we went back and blew some big bubbles, played on the swing set and had a mini kick ball game!! Then came my favorite thing-playing with side walk chalk!!! I LOVE THIS STUFF!! We all drew pictures and Mattingly's favorite thing was to draw a baseball for her daddy!! Precious!! Awesome time outside! They LOVE being outside! I can't wait to spend time with them this summer- they're at the perfect ages 3 and 18 months!!
When we went back inside we played ring around the rosie, hide and seek and by far my favorite thing, Mattingly has a CD with kids church songs on it and she sang!! WOW she is one amazing girl!! :) I loved hearing her sing the songs! And McCoy even knew some of them!! Then it was back to more hide and seek!! She is so funny playing this game!! And we ended the night with a tea party!! Pretty successful day if you as me!! The worst part was saying bye! McCoy was already sleeping but Mattingly gave me the biggest hugs and kisses!! Saying bye is aways the worst! All good things must come to an end...I suppose!!
I'm so thankful for Mattingly and McCoy! They're are super special to me! I can't believe how fast they're growing up! I feel like just yesterday Mattingly was born and I stayed up all night at the hospital, went to my classes all day at FHU, and then back the hospital!! And never seemed tired- I think I was on a high!! ha They're such a blessing to me and I love having them around to help me appreciate the little things in life!! And most importantly I'm thankful that they're healthy little kiddos!!
Here are a few pictures from the days adventures!

In my Spare time..

Over spring break I decided I needed something to do...so I decided to make a diaper wreath for a lady at school who is having a baby. I have seen these before but never attempted to make one before. My cousin had one at her baby shower and I got to looking it at and I thought...I can do that!! So I did! I got a metal wreath hanger from Hobby Lobby. Then I got some diapers, wash cloths, pacifiers, teething ring, baby spoon and fork, travel size lotion, baby powder, and shampoo, and some baby hair bows. After i got all the diapers on I just went back and tied the other things on. Then my aunt helped me make the bow. I also decided to put the baby's name in the middle. So I found some small wooden letters at Michael's and painted them pink and hung them down the middle with purple ribbon.




I love making things like this! I also love to make candy wreaths or letters. I use a regular metal clothes hanger and shape it into a circle and then with metal floral wire tie on the candy. I've done a peppermint one and a bubble gum one! Really cute!! Also for my brother and sister in laws wedding I made a candy "T" My dad had some metal and shape and welded it to a T and then I wrapper it with jolly ranchers! They used it at the reception and hung it over the candy table!! It turned out really good!! But just took FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!! and had TONS of jolly ranchers on it!!