My 16th Birthday

Last Saturday was my 16th birthday. It was a unique one for me. Over the years, it has become customary for us to spend my birthday together as a family at home just hanging out. This year, however, was different. I got to spend the day with my precious friend Natalie. Perhaps you will remember that her family travels the country as evangelists. Last Saturday, they just happened to be in Phoenix, and invited us to come down for an outreach with them. Of course, I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to be with Natalie, so I got up at the early hour of 4:15 so our family could drive to Phoenix to see them. I'm so glad that I did.

Me playing with my new phone, a gift from my parents.

Me opening my card from my family.  They are so precious to me!

We met at Cracker Barrel for a delicious breakfast.

At the Cracker Barrel

Then we headed to a local park to hand out tracts, make balloon animals, paint faces, and share the gospel.  It was my first time making balloon animals, and it was quite fun!  Natalie taught me how to make a couple of basic things.  (We didn't get any pictures of the outreach.  Sorry!)

After the outreach I opened some gifts from Natalie's family and her cousin's family.  I was so blessed by their kindness to me.

 

 

Then came the most difficult part.  Parting with Natalie.  I miss her so much already.

Afterwards, we made the two hour drive home, and hung out the rest of the day.  We played Boggle (my favorite if you'll remember!), made pizza for dinner, had one of my favorite desserts (Guadalupe Pie), and watched a movie.  In all, the day was very special and blessed for me, and I am so thankful to the people who strove to make it so.

A Day With Natalie

A couple of years ago, two families who live in RV's and travel the country as evangelists came and shared at our church.  One of the families had a daughter named Natalie.  Natalie and I became close friends very quickly, and by the time they left about a week later, it was like we had been best friends for ages.  Since then, we have emailed each other almost every day.  About once a year, the Agents for Christ (that's the name of their ministry) pass through Arizona, and come pay us a visit.

Yesterday was that occasion.  One of the families was not able to come, but Natalie's family visited with us.

Sunday evening we had dinner, talked, played games, and sang worship songs and Christmas carols.  Natalie spent the night with us, and we had fun just talking and playing games before bed.

The next day we just hung out, and did a lot of baking.  We made breakfast, played Dutch Blitz, decorated sugar cookies, wrapped candy, and made pizza.

That night after dinner, we got to go out witnessing.  We went to the Prescott Courthouse, and then the mall, handing out candy canes and tracts, and singing Christmas carols.  We had a great time, and I discovered something new:  It's not easy to walk and sing at the same time in the cold!  I had never before gone caroling while walking, and I was surprised by how difficult it was!  Sadly, I didn't get any good pictures of our time out witnessing.

Even though Natalie was only here for a short amount of time, I was so grateful that she and her family could come and visit with us!  I thank God for such friends as them!

Witnessing at the Christmas Lighting in Prescott

We had an awesome time witnessing today. We went to the Prescott Christmas parade and Courthouse lighting. In all, we had a team of about 26 people. In this picture we are missing some of our group, but it was the only group picture we got.


With us, were two families that live in RV's and travel around the country evangelizing( you can visit their website at www.agentsforchrist.org ), and some other people that came to our past crash courses. First we went to the parade and handed out lots of tracts and did some one- 2- ones.

This is an 82 year old lady named Josephine that my dad talked to. She wasn't open to the gospel.



Here are some other people that Dad talked to.



At one point, the little girl on the far left in the picture below was missing, and her family was distraught. We prayed for her and she was found within a matter of 15 minutes.



After the parade, we went and had lunch, and then most of the people went home. My family and Natalie (the daughter of one of the traveling evangelism families) stayed behind and went to the Courthouse lighting. We arrived a bit late, but it worked out perfectly, because we were able to tract the whole crowd that was leaving. Natalie and I were able to hand out a lot of tracts in a pretty short amount of time.


We had so much fun, and were so blessed to be able to serve our King!

Kiah B