Welcome

I would love to invite you into my home to have a cup of tea with me. We could sit in my sunny kitchen and talk about all the things that are going on in our lives. I could share with you the news I hear from my grown daughters. How my grandkids are growing. We could laugh together over the funny things that they have said. It would be fun to share the ins and outs of our family life, and talk about our latest creative projects. We could share what God has been teaching us, in our personal lives, and encourage each other on this walk of faith. We could pray together, laugh together, and even cry together. Since most of us will never be able to sit down together face to face, I would like to invite you to join me here. So come on in and have a cup of tea with me.

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Joy

Joy

About Me

Crossville, Tennessee, United States
I am a 61 year old, wife, married to my best friend for 40 years. We have been blessed with 6 children, & 13 grandchildren. I love mentoring women in their spritual walk & in the everyday. I have a diverse background, having spent over 30 years living and ministering in a small South American country. Now my family resides in a small town in the lovely state of Tennessee. We have experienced the blessing of adoption, but also the hard of dealing with a child with RAD and other mental health issues. You can live life with the cup half full or half empty the choice is yours. I choose half full.

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Thursday, May 15, 2008

This September Tony and I will have been missionaries 20 years. You would think in all that time that one thing we would be used to is "goodbyes". I can't even begin to tell you how many "good-byes" we have said. When we left for the field, there were all the "good-byes" to our families and friends in the States. Then since we've been in Ecuador, we have said "good-bye" to many family members who have gone on to be with the Lord. A few years ago, we started saying "good-bye" to our daughters as they came back to the US for college.

I'm sure those are all "good-byes" you might think of, but we have another set of "good-byes". You see, people are always coming and going from the Mission Field. So you make friends, and then God moves them and you are saying "good-bye" to them again. These are people that because you are living in a foreign country become even closer to you than your own family. Your children call them aunts and uncles, and the truth is that they feel closer to them than they have ever felt to their "real" relatives.

We have some friends that we spent many holidays with... She and I would bake together at Christmas... We took turns hosting Easter Dinner. About 10 years ago, the Lord moved them back to the US. Every Christmas, I remember how much fun we had baking together. My girls still call them "Uncle and Aunt", and we try to pass their way for a day or two every time we are back in the US.

Today our middle daughter Ashley graduated from college. It was a wonderful service. We have enjoyed a great week... time visiting with her and seeing many people during the week, that we haven't seen in years and years. Ashley will be getting married at the end of June. I am very happy for her and the young man that the Lord has brought into her life. It will help some to know that she is not alone, when we say our next "good-bye" but I know it still won't be easy...

As I type this I am reminded that one day we will not have to say anymore "good-byes"! What a wonderful time that will be! Until then, would you please pray for us and for your other missionaries, as they say "good-bye."

God Bless you!
Joy
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