Another Week in Virginia

We spent the whole last week back in Virginia attending a Stateside Conference with our mission board.  It was a week designed to renew and refresh us as we are back in the States between terms.  We were able to see several people that went through our training with us and it was great catching up with them.  We also met many new wonderful people who serve all over the world!  It was amazing to sit in a room full of other missionaries and hear their stories and see their lives and just wished that all of our churches could get a small glimpse of that.  What a difference it would make to our Lottie Moon Offerings. 

We had sessions where we debriefed our previous term and those that helped prepare us to begin another one.  We talked about the highs and lows, what we learned, and what we could do better in our next term.  It was good to get in small groups and hear the struggles that others had and how they worked through them. 

Our favorite part of the week was our daily, morning praise and worship and Bible study time.  These were the highlights of the day!  It was very refreshing and just what we needed.

We also enjoyed just being around others that do what we do and understand us.  We heard a lot of "thanks for what you are doing", "we appreciate your service", "the sacrifices you are making are worth it", and many more.  We spent a whole week and didn't hear one time comments like "why are you going back", "you can't have that baby in Guatemala!", "why don't you just get a church here and serve locally", "I'm praying they don't let you go back", ... I could go on for days!  It was refreshing to feel appreciated and understood.

The only photo I took during the week was of a group of us that got together one night and went out to eat.  We went to TGI Friday's (our favorite place to eat in Guatemala!)  It was delicious!!

Keith, David, Regina, Mike, Kathy, and Glenna

Overall the week was a good one.  We did feel refreshed and renewed and came home ready to get prepared to return to the field.  We've got a lot to do between now and then.  I had best start making my to-do lists soon!