Travel with the Bear

Our courageous babe continues to “wow” with me with her joy, flexability and ease at which she takes in new sounds, people and enviroments. Nothing seems to overwhelm her, especially if mom or dad are her safe places at which she can take things in.

flying was a breeze with her, not even a sound during the take-off and landing. settling into Beirut she smiled and peered at all the new faces and people. One of the first nights we had to walk around and treasure hunt, she was attracting people by the masses. She inherited her mother and father’s night-owl tendencies and has kept up the pace of the friendly arab night life.

thanks to all the interaction with other “uncles” here on our team, Claire took to Kelly immediately. She let him hold her, cuddle her, and even has been flashing her bright smiles at him. She managed to push aside his top buttons and find his chest hair- ha! one of her favorite things to do with dad.

having Uncle Kelly around is such a drink of cool, refreshing water. he is so full of God and brings such passion and excitement wherever he goes. he is pushing all the boundaries here...all the time. i love that we get to share our love for Arabs with him and he can bring his giftings to bless these people. and us, of course.

now for a pause, a sigh. for everyone to feel how deeply satisifed i am here in Beirut. To anticpate the days that i can call this home. sure, i love you Amman, for all that you have given to me, to us, to our family there. but beirut just brings with it such a wave of diversity, of newness, of people that LOVE life and are more desperate for a touch of His presence.

We have prayed for so many people in the past 4-5 days, it almost feels unreal. Almost every person welcomes our words, pictures, encouragements with such heart felt need and love that you leave the encounter knowing that God really is with us.

One of my favorite moments is when a large family stopped me and loved on claire, held her, took pictures of her, videotaped her, kissed her and kept saying “she is so beautiful, that i just want to eat her!” We in turn got to bless them and pray for one of them who had an obvious limp and desperately asked us to pray for healing for her so that she could walk better. As we prayed, the 10-15 family members stopped and watched, cried, took pictures and video-taped us. They were all from Iran and leaving the next day. wow.

As i get to go out into the city and meet people and bring them this presence that is continueing to transform and bless our lives, i am so overwhelmed at the faithfulness of God. there is nothing like following Him.

And then after having these power encounters, after drew comes home from seeing people healed, we get to lay on our bed, laugh with joy over all the things God is doing and play with our sweet, giggling, amazingly- easy baby making moments together in the ordinary.

ps_ i cant wait to post pics but our internet just wont have it right now. i am taking a lot though!!! so don't worry!