please pray with me

The Moody Bible Institute team is back in the Philippines. Please pray with me as they serve hundreds in the slums of Manila, Philippines and the surrounding areas. Here are some pics from last year's trip to give you a little peek.

Pray for Ilene as she leads the students on the team.

please pray for the teams that are doing vacation Bible schools in the squatter camps. For safety and wisdom, and for the love that they will be sharing:) Please pray for the hearts of those children that don't know Christ's love, but that they will come to know Him:)

the team will be there for 2 weeks. thanks for joining me in serving the Lord through prayer!:)

this weekend:

{I baked with my Mentee}

{I tried a new recipe}

{savory oven roast ribs served over white rice.}

{Painted a key rack and letter "B" on a rainy day.}

{Received an encouraging note from a friend.}

{and now enjoying a relaxing Sunday afternoon at home with my husband:)}

thought we'd be adventurous....

and stay up til midnight for a change.

but we've become old.

and midnight is taking forever to get here.

only once in a blue moon, does Storm Lake offer any midnight opening premiers.

but they are tonite! for one of my most favorite stories/movies!

and we thought we'd experience something we used to be able to handle when we lived in the youthful city of Chicago.

Now however, in a town that goes dead around 8 pm, we've realized that our normal routine of a 10:30 bedtime makes it difficult to stay up til the wee hours of the night.

I think back to freshman year when midnight was the BEGINNING of the night for me and my friends...and the classroom was the place to go to sleep:).

I remember my sophomore and junior year of college, when midnight I'd just be getting home or I'd still be out babysitting or with friends. I'd start homework around midnight and stay up a few more hours talking to friends or visiting my roommate at work.

I remember my senior year, when I would stay up late in my apartment playing video games with Ryan and Ilene, and after Ryan would leave, and Ilene would go to bed, I'd still be up playing video games, watching movies, or studying. many of those nights I'd stay out babysitting as well.

I remember those wonderful hot summer nights in chicago, when I could babysit into the late/early am hours of the night, or have an overnight babysitting job...and still be able to get up happily the next morning.

I think I just like the idea of getting a good nigght's sleep is good for your health and staying fit. Tonite, however, is an exception. for this movie:

hope it's worth it:) I think it will be. I think I'd be more excited if the theater here did not look like the one i imagine Abraham Lincoln getting murdered in. It's creepy...and being in a town of very few people at night, it creeps me out going there.

heehee, it will be fun.

Birthday Celebration:)

27th Birthday Celebration!:)

Birthday boy balloons and his favorite snacks for the day:)

He loves Nilla Wafers, Special Cheezits, v8 splash, and hot cheetos fries. the box holds fresh donuts from the local bakery.

I left notes all over the apartment for ryan to find throughout the whole day. here's an example:)

and for his birthday dinner...

steak in red wine and butter, seasoned carrots and green beans, and buttery potatoes.

It was so fun celebrating Ryan's bday. This was just a snip shot of the day. it was interesting because his day was not at all what we had hoped for, but we still enjoyed it thoroughly, because we were with each other. Right after ryan had picked me up from school, we got a flat tire in the walmart parking lot. so, thankfully, we were already right behind the auto garage. They agreed to fix it, but only after all the appointment customers. So we waited for 3 hours at walmart, going crazy because walmart is one of our LEAST favorite places, but we were happy to at least be together.

the birthday dinner was late, but I gave him the last of his gifts and birthday cobbler:). I tell you, 27 lit candles is not easy when the little flames are melting the wax so quickly. I had to speed sing happy birthday to ryan:) haha.

One last, HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!

27 years ago...March 1, 1983

here's my husband as a lil man:) isn't he cute?

he kinda has those cheeks you just wanna poke.

8th bday...

This man is amazing. the best husband I could ever dream of having.

and today is his day-and i get to make it special for him.

I've gotten to celebrate 4, and now 5, of his birthdays with him, and i pray for many many many more.

I can't wait to get home from work, so i can be with him, spoil him, and love him on his 27th birthday.

This man, although he's 27 today, is my baby, my love.:)

Happy birthday my sweet man.

Oh, Betty Crocker, how you've helped me so.

Dear Betty,

You've helped me feed my man and make his tummy happy. You've helped me cook well balanced meals that both of us enjoy. We love all the variety you have in your beautiful pages-and all your brightly colored pictures makes cooking easier and more fun.

I loved how you got me interested in healthy, low-fat cooking. You provide all the calories that are in each serving and you make it sound so easy to do. All the recipes have turned into amazing and delicious meals and have made dinner time talk SO enjoyable:).

I like all the categories you provide for easy to find recipes on the many different kinds of food, from baking to grilling to quick and easy meals. I LOVE how you showed me how to make vegetables SO tasty, that even my husband eats his veggies.

You've showed me the joys of cooking for my little family; you've helped me spark my love for cooking good food. I can't tell you just how fun it is to try another one of your recipes, and how much more fun it is to serve it to my husband and watch him eat it AND enjoy it.

I just love how you helped me as a newly wed wife, with no cooking experience at all-and now how I just love it and am actually quite good at it. Just thought I should let you know how wonderful it is to know you.

Love of food, Kristine

missing fellowship.

please pray for us.

ministry here is draining.

and we're discouraged.

we want to be strong in the Lord.

we need strength. encouragement. and true Christian fellowship.

we're relying on the Lord.