We finally got to meet Dustin and Rene' Blessman who are leaving to move to South Africa in a couple weeks. Dustin is Jim and Beth's son and Rene' is their daughter in law. Dustin will be the missionary pilot and be in charge of the fish farming microbusiness and Rene' is heading up the feeding programs. They were mainly in charge of the booth, but we tried to be there as much as possible and were able to speak with a good number of people about the ministry.
Matt spent a lot of time speaking with other pastors and forging partnerships with more congregations who may be able to be part of our support network. It was great to catch up with some people we haven't seen since last year's conference. We got to see Matt's internship supervisor which was awesome and we also made some new friends. Going to the LCMC gathering every year always enriches me and makes me proud to be part of an outstanding group of churches. There are so many passionate, faithful people at these gatherings and to be surrounded by them is encouraging and a lot of fun. It's awesome to see how God is working in other people's churches across the country.
Being with Dustin and Rene' for the weekend made me even more excited than I already was about going to South Africa! They were able to tell us a lot more about what's going on there and it was so nice to get to know them personally. Everything that is happening just continues to solidify my resolve that this is what God wants us to do (not that I doubted it - it's just nice to have constant reassurance!) and I am super excited about moving there and getting started. It sounds like there will be opportunities for me to use my skills in sewing as well as other things so I am really looking forward to that.
I got to be a little crafty and make a poster about BMI to put at First Lutheran Church in Pontiac, IL to give a visual to people. We placed our prayer cards and BMI info in front of the poster in the fellowship hall. I need to make another before Sunday, one that can travel to churches with us when we go on fundraising visits.
And in other news, little Stella-bell is doing great. She turned two months old today! I can't believe it. She is growing up so fast. She is sleeping really well and usually only wakes up once or twice a night and can put herself to sleep. She naps well and actually slept in the car the entire five hours to and from Michigan! We couldn't believe it! She did a great job at the conference, was so good and so easy and everyone loved her.
She is really happy and smiles all the time. Her favorite thing is when Matt and I are both leaning over her and we're all together. She smiles like crazy when we're giving her our undivided attention. She's already a daddy's girl and it's adorable. She can lay on her belly and lift her head all the way up now. She is the squirmiest baby I've ever seen and if she's awake she's constantly kicking and moving like a maniac. She gets stronger and seems to learn something new every day. I can literally see her changing and growing before my eyes. Poor thing has some eczema, but it's not too bad. We're hoping it goes away eventually.
We just can't get enough of this little cheeseball.
This coming Sunday we will visit St. John's Lutheran Church in Flanagan, IL to share about BMI. Matt will be preaching. Looking forward to meeting this congregation. October is a very busy month for us for fundraising. We are grateful for all the congregations who are going to partner with us and BMI.
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