Life feels a little bit like a whirlwind right now! We are steaming ahead at 100 miles an hour and I have a feeling it may be like that until we leave for Tanzania in August. Praying for a little reprieve in July though!
The end of May began the start of a month+ of traveling. Although the car time was a little daunting, we were excited for what these trips meant. It meant seeing precious friends and family. It meant sharing what God is doing in Tanzania. It meant bringing awareness to the 2+ billion unreached and least reached peoples who still remain without hope.
Our travels began with a quick trip to Morehead City, NC. We were invited to share at St. Peters UMC. We were so blessed by the time we spent with this loving body of believers! We are excited that come January 2017 they will be partnering with our family to make Jesus known in Tanzania. God is so good. We were also able to share a meal with my dad and his wife, Terry, as well as spend some time with Chandler’s mama! This is always a treat as these opportunities will be few and far between come August.
An unexpected blessing while in NC was having the opportunity to see our friends, Craig and Sara, who we were in training with in Missouri. It was wonderful to catch up with them and hear about all that God has done and is doing in their lives as they prepare to move to Papua New Guinea next year.
Next stop was Hampton, VA where we spent the night at Chandler’s grandparents. This not only broke up our travels, but it also gave us the opportunity to go through some of our belongings and hoe out lots of things! It is very freeing to let things go at times…this was one of them!
From Hampton we traveled up to Pennsylvania where we able to see some very good friends of ours who run a coffee business in Southeast Asia. What a treat to be able to spend some time together on this side of the ocean.
After 2 blissful days of catching up with our friends we crossed the boarder into New York, my home state! We had so much fun staying with my cousin, Danielle, and her hubby, Josh. They hosted a bbq at their home on Saturday so that we could see my family in the area. What a special time this was!
On we went to Westerlo, NY to the church I grew up in. This was a very special time for me to reflect on all that God had done in my life over the last 15-20 years. I could not help but thank HIM for His protection and watch care over my life, even in the midst of some very difficult situations as I grew up. The church family welcomed me back with very loving arms. It was fun to introduce them to my family! Our host family was Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell. They were amazing!!! They fed us, helped with our children and took a genuine interest in our lives. God definitely worked that one out 🙂 It was fun, because Mrs. Mitchell was my nurse in elementary school!
Another highlight was seeing those who really invested in my life during junior high! Ann and Becky were the women who loved me through some very hard times. Jesus used them to truly show me HIS love. I’m so bummed I never got a picture with Becky!!! 🙁
Well, that about sums up that adventure. We have a few more trips planned for the month so please be praying that God would give us the strength we need to finish this chapter of our journey strong.
On an exciting note, God has brought our current support up to 86%. We have watched HIM open up the floodgates this past week, and we stand amazed at His provision and grace! Please praise Him with us for what He has done. We are reminded over and over again that this has NOTHING to do with us and EVERYTHING to do with Him!
Thanks for journeying with us!
Together Making Him Known,
Jamie (for the Sharpes)