where on earth has the time gone?

First of all, today's December 2nd. Holy smokes. Do you know what that means? That means that December 27th is getting uncomfortably close. Now, don't get me wrong. I am oh so very excited to see and hug a lot of people when I get back to good old lynchburg and I am also excited to see what God has in mind for this next season of life. But, when a place (or more accurately, the people in it) steals your heart, it's not exactly easy to say goodbye (or more accurately, "see you later"). I've been trying to avoid thinking about all that, but with the Christmas parties (more on that in a minute) coming up so quickly, it's hard to avoid realizing that time is slipping away pretty fast.

But anyway, speaking of the Christmas parties (I'm so excited about them!)... every year, Beginnings throws two BIG Christmas parties. Last year my home church (Brentwood Church) sent a team to help with the parties and through Freedom 4/24, was able to pay the bar fines for 380 girls to be able to attend the parties and hear about Beginnings, and even more importantly, to hear about Jesus. Here's a glimpse at last years parties.



Beginnings will be throwing two Christmas parties again this year in which they estimate being able to pay the bar fines for up to 200 girls each night and bringing them to a banquet in which they will be the guests of honor and will be showered with love. The parties will be on December 15th and 16th.

Here are some ways you can be in prayer for these events:

For the preparations for the parties.

Safe travels for the team of 7 women from Brentwood...



(Stacey Reighard, Jill Stroud, Sarah Mullins, Katelyn Bowers, Martha Heinlein, Amy Sabatini, and Tammy Dupin)

...as well as for my best friend (Ilana Poole), who will all get to Bangkok on December 10th and will be doing outreach leading up to the parties as well as helping with the parties.

Our nights of outreach leading up to the parties and that the girls who have expressed interest in coming to the parties would be able to attend.

The nights of the parties, for the girls to feel special and loved and that God's glory would shine through everyone involved in a way that the girls attending the parties would feel His love for them through us.

I am so excited to see the glory of God all over these evenings. Expecting Him to do more than I could ever ask or imagine!

Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests...Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame. “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ Luke 14:16-22