The Thanksgiving Project

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Time to Go to Haiti!!

Between trips to Memphis, Little Rock and now Ft. Polk, Louisiana, the next adventure to Haiti has snuck up on me! This will be an exciting trip covering nearly every corner of Haiti. While there will be no solar or clean water system installations, we will be evaluating 90% of our current systems and conducting a few surveys for new systems along the way.

With so much time on the road in Haiti, we will need even more prayers than usual. Traveling is, at best, a rough ride, and one never knows what is around the corner!

We would love to have you pray for our small team, but we would also love to partner with you in prayer. If you will sign up for a day to pray for us, we will hold you in the Light that same day.

October 9-13 our team will consist of Chris McRae (Ft Smith, AR), George Holden (Dallas, TX), Ralph Gifford (Dallas), Tom Stire (Las Vegas, NV) and myself. On the 13th, George & Tom will depart, and we will pick up Rollin Wycoff and his daughter, Samantha.

Of course, we will have our Haitian crew, Ancy Fils-Aime, Valdes Innocent, and Bertone Kercelin with us, too!

Below are the dates we would love to be covered in prayer. Selfishly, I adde a few days at the end, as I will be returning via Houston to speak at the Presbytery of the New Covenant meeting!

Thank you, Friends! Thank you for coming along on this journey!

October 8 - Carl & Marilyn Jones
October 9 - Sean Devolites & Dad
October 10 - Carrie Delisio & Carie Turner
October 11 - Allison Fleig & Becky Keller
October 12 - Diana Grace & Everludis Lopez
October 13 - Sam Medvene
October 14 - Mom & Sally Block
October 15 - Claire Sparks & Barb Black
October 16 - Becky Field-Ross & Judi Vermillion-Durbin
October 17 - Josh Hagstrom & Barbara Shaffer
October 18 - Leslie Toth & Faith Nettnin
October 19 - Bill Salmons & Dad
October 20 - Lorri Ronis
October 21 - Jay Horstman
October 22 - Mom-Mom!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

The Lord's Light Within

The Lord's Light Within   

Lord we reflect with thankful hearts 

On the wonder of your birth 

The love you expressed when you left 

Your glory to come to earth  

For your life was like a beacon, Lord 

Shining brightly in the night 

Filling the world with the radiance of 

The Father’s glorious light  

And we, too, long to have inside 

Your light for others to see 

The beautiful reflection of your grace 

And the wonder of your majesty  

For as your life indwells our hearts 

We can shine wherever we are 

And arise to take hold of each new day 

With your light ablaze in our hearts  

So rekindle the flame within us Lord 

So it will not flicker nor dim 

Ignite us with the light of your love 

So you will shine brightly within  

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Summer of Travel, Part 12

Beale Street, Memphis, TN, at sunset

After several weeks at home to catch up on work, finish up the summer semester and gear up for the fall semester, it was nice to take a mini-vacation to Memphis. Living Waters For The World called a Haiti Network Leadership meeting for Monday, but living out on the west coast it was impossible for me to simply fly in on Monday morning and arrive in time for the meeting. While I checked flights for Sunday, it was $400 cheaper to fly in on Saturday.

Our meeting spot was originally set for the Peabody Hotel, right in the heart of Memphis. It was a bit daunting to walk around Beale Street by myself on a Saturday night, but it was nonetheless beautiful and full of blues music! In fact, the band across the street from my hotel played until 2:00am! Thankfully, my body was on pacific time, and that was only midnight for me! One of my dear friends, Bill Mendenhall, arrived first on Sunday, and we began the festivities of celebrating friendship! Soon after Executive Director of Solar Under The Sun, Chris McRae arrived, and we enjoyed a night at the ball park courtesy of Bill. The Memphis Redbirds hit home run after home run to win the game with ease. Of course, we celebrated with a big plate of ribs and catfish at Blues City Cafe! Highly recommended!

Three Amigos!

Following the night on the town and the arrival of the last two members of the committee, we finally got down to business. Lunch at Huey's was another highlight! (Clearly, Memphis is known for food!) After the meeting adjourned, there were still many hours until my flight left. How lucky am I to have a friend who would stay behind with me, take me to GRACELAND, and risk driving back in rush hour traffic? Check one off the bucket list! I thought of my granny the entire afternoon. She loved Elvis, and I wish so much she could have been with us! What a great, great few days. There are no better words to describe how blessed I am to be part of such a crew of faithful servants.

Summer of Travel, Part 11

Though it was sad to say goodbye to Dad, we had another visitor waiting to fly out! Diana Grace, Herndon UMC alum, is a honorary member of the Broadhurst family! She visited for a few days to get out of town before beginning her sophomore year at Christopher Newport University, and boy, did we have fun!

As I've said before, there is never a lack of anything to do in Vegas, and this was the case during Diana's visit. Because the dry heat was overwhelming, we spent the days by the pool and the nights out on the town. I was so honored and blessed to have Diana visit for a few days. So many say they will never lose touch and promise to visit often, but busy lives, work schedules and school assignments take precedence. I am thankful Diana carved the time out of her schedule to spend a long weekend with us! We feel so special!

Night 1 - Recycled Percussion, Tropicana

Night 2 - Jabbawockeez, Monte Carlo

Night 2 - Bellagio admiring

Night 3 - Beatles Love, Cirque Du Soleil, Mirage

Summer of Travel, Part 10

These three pictures deserved their own post, as they truly do describe the special times of the summer!

Time with Dad = Priceless

Dodger Stadium = Historic

A Summer of Baseball:
Angel Stadium, LA Angels
PNC Park, Pittsburgh Pirates
AT&T Field, San Francisco Giants
Dodger Stadium, LA Dodgers

Next summer goals - San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox :)

Summer of Travel, Part 9

Dad-Daughter's Big Adventure to the west coast continued at Dodger Stadium! We both love baseball, and we were thankful to receive club seats from our friends David & Kathleen Haworth. What a treat it was to spend the day at a historic ball park. Again, I was in heaven...

Once we finally found the correct entrance, we were able to walk thru the "Hall Of Fame" in Dodger Stadium. Yes, that's Kirk Gibson celebrating his walk-off home run in the World Series.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks. I love daytime games!

This was right after we sang "Take Me Out To The Ball Game"...twice! Though the Dodgers lost, we made lifelong memories.

Walking back through the "Hall of Fame," Sandy Koufax and the Dodger-mobile awaited. Such great fun! We are so thankful for our family who made this game possible for us!

On the drive back through Baker, CA, we ran into aliens!

They seemed friendly enough!

As we drove back, we had a radiant moon on one side...

An amazing sunset on the other...

And rain clouds straight ahead!

Summer of Travel, Part 8

Not long after arriving back in Las Vegas, hubby took off on his own trip, and my dad came to town for a bit of father-daughter bonding. Vegas is a wonderful place for visitors; there's never a lack of anything to do. During the summer, however, the temperature tends to stay above 100 degrees. Sitting by the pool or getting out of town is the only way to combat the heat. Take a look at these pictures as they tell the first part of Dad & Daughter's Summer Vacation!

Going out at nighttime is best to explore Vegas. When the sun goes down, the lights come on, and it feels like Christmas all year around!

Spending the days at a private pool are also good! This week, I happened to be house-sitting, too! Enjoying a life of luxury is occasionally okay, right?