What a Thanksgiving!

What an amazing Thanksgiving Day! The sun was shining brightly, the temps were up in the 70s and the food was outstanding!

The photos tell the story, in sequence, of the day.
First thing this morning the team decided to address an issue here at the church that Pastor Rick brought to our attention. They were putting in the tiles in the ceilings near the projector screens. There were some gaping holes and no insulation. No more! All repaired and set to go!

From there we headed to our Thanksgiving dinner down on the Pascagoula river at Billy Joe's 97' houseboat. You can see the line of people sitting outside on the "porch" area -- quite a crowd. We literally feasted on barbequed turkey, regular turkey, barbequed wild hog (delicious) and chicken with dumplings, complete with all the fixins. The Teen Challenge girls joined us, all 13 of them. Sitting there along the river, the ability to be outside enjoying the beautiful day, such a wonderful way to spend a Thanksgiving Day! Keith, Kevin, Rob and Armando really enjoyed the "sites" on the boat. Armando was able to join us, even this morning in the work. He didn't have any plans for the day and we were so glad to have him join us! (You can also catch a glimpse of Monty taking a quick snooze on the boat before we headed back to Dane's for the guys to get in a couple of hours of work.

Monty decided to praise the Lord from Dane's front porch! Then you can see Armando and the rest of the crew finishing the sheetrock, complete with Rob on his stilts! I told you the man came prepared!!!

The last photo was taken along the beach as the sun was setting. It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful day! I watched it go all the way down while also keeping an eye on the pelicans that were landing to roost for the night! It was a few minutes to really take in all the blessings that have come our way since we have been here working for the Lord. I've said it before and will continue to say it, being here is the greatest blessing I could ever hope for! Yes, I missed my family at home but I was able to spend today with another family. The laughter that came from today was priceless! Kevin, who was really hungry again at the end of the day, Keith who not only sampled the HOT sauce at Billy Joe's, he "lathered" it on his dressing, Rob who was in his element both on the water and up on his stilts, and Armando who made some new friends!

We closed out the day, all of us together, having dinner (some of us breakfast) at the Cracker Barrel and once again sitting forever exchanging stories and laughter and getting to know each other better and better. Priceless!

It is our hope that all of you had a wonderful day, full stomachs and time spent with not only your families but with God. Without God none of this would be possible!

Now we very quickly switch gears into the Christmas season. Some of you will be up before the crack of dawn tomorrow morning shopping the early bird specials. We all need to keep in mind what the season is really about! Just as we can't have Thanksgiving without God, we can't have Christmas without Him either!

Relax in not only the after effects of the turkey, but in the arms of our Lord!

Until tomorrow .... Susan and Monty PS I think last night's blog got "messed up" and if so, I apologize. I think it was preparing for turkey instead of paying attention to what it was supposed to be doing?!