We are staying with our family here and having a fantastic time. Johnny’s sister, Bethany, opened her home to us. She and her husband Jeff and their three sons live in a great house along with three of their friends, Jake, Hannah, and Kirsten. I wanted to document one of my days here in this community, to give people a glimpse of what it’s like, so I brought my camera around with me all day. On this particular morning I woke up just before the sun…

Morning lights. Best time of the day.

Quiet moments in the early morning

On the way to Elijah's school- Carter and Riah in their pj's

carpooling, a wild ride

The drive to Elijah's school in Kammetjie is really nice

Tobago Way

back at home, baking bread

Johnny with Steve, Di, and baby Margot in our friend Jake's car, in Masi to visit the team

Masi! This is where our team is living.

Our FAVORITE market. Stopped by after we visited the team.

we love fresh, local produce

back at the house, time for lunch

a lunch worthy of documentation

My sandwich=really, really good

out and about running errands and me meeting girls for one on ones...love those cheeks

We love Carter boy!

later that afternoon, Johnny skyping Jason in the middle east

A very documentable dinner...chicken, sweet potatoes, salad

gathering to eat

brothers!

Family dinner

Well, that pretty much wraps up our day. I hope you enjoyed getting a little peek into what it has been like for us here so far.
We send you our love from South Africa! J+j

Hope your week is off to a great start, wherever you may be!  

Johnny and I have had the privilege of hosting a marriage Bible Study this Spring. We are a little over halfway through the study and we have laughed together more times than we can count. But as we laugh, we are being deeply challenged. There are three other couples that have been joining with us each Wednesday night; the McClouds, the Kays, and a young engaged couple that’s here from Kosovo (they’ll be getting married this June). The teaching we are studying is called Love & Respect, by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. A major emphasis throughout this teaching is that a man thrives when he is respected by his wife, and a woman flourishes when she is loved by her husband. Obviously, we all need both love and respect. But we have been learning about how God designed us; men and women are made differently, and both genders possess differing attributes of His character. Not wrong, just different. Men have been wired one way, women another. And it’s good that we are different! But it does tend to cause some conflict and maybe some miscommunication too. Yeah. So that’s why we are going through this study together. We want to learn how to serve one another, prefer one another, honor God with our marriage and have a fulfilling lifetime together!

To find out more about Love & Respect, click here.
Have a great day!

With Love, and Respect,

j+J

Please join us in praying on behalf of the people of Japan. Encourage your friends to pray, get groups of people together to pray, get your whole church praying. We are going to see God do so many incredible things in that nation!

Yes, hello everyone! We are alive and well on our little volcanic island here in the middle of the Pacific (in case you were wondering)! After the tragic events in Japan this past week, we were warned that a tsunami could be headed our way. Around 10pm Thursday (our time), we started to hear the tsunami warning sirens, a sound we have become familiar with while living here. Once a month these sirens sound, for testing purposes, but it’s rare that we hear them warning us of an actual tsunami. Last year, after the earthquake in Chile, we heard these same sirens warning us in the middle of the night. It all ended up being very anticlimactic that time, because the water only rose about 12 inches here. So as Johnny and I were getting ready to hit the hay this past Thursday night, we weren’t very alarmed by the all-to-familiar sound. We had heard a few details of the disaster in Japan, but as we climbed into bed we thought this would again be a false-alarm tsunami warning for us. We heard the sirens throughout the night, but we weren’t phased, nor did we lose any sleep.

Fast-forward to the next morning when we are both utterly shocked to find out that there had actually been a fairly damaging surge of water here in Kona! So, there actually was a tsunami to speak of this time. The water rose, covering the pier and causing destruction to the road (Ali’i Drive), the hotels and other water-front businesses were also affected. I found pictures online and was in disbelief at first. As far as we know, no lives were lost here in Kona, which is an incredible blessing! People evacuated from that area the night before, and our campus as well as the home Johnny and I live in are both above the evacuation area, so we were quite safe.

There were police blocking the roads so no one could go down to Ali’i for quite a few hours later. Johnny went down later on Friday afternoon, when it was ok to do so, and took a few photos. Take a look below.
  

Thank you everyone for your prayers! We are glad that nothing too tremendously devastating took place here on Friday. Please join us in praying for Japan at this time. We cannot even begin to imagine what they are going through.

Love, j+J

There are so many amazing people we get to see out here- it’s a little bit overwhelming. But really, really fun.

We were picked up at the airport by our good friend Ryan, who staffed my DTS back in 2006. We’re staying with our friends, Don and Angie, here in H-town. They have four teenage kids (sheesh!), and we are so thankful to get some time with their family during our time in PA.

Tonight we already got to do two amazing things:

one:  met Simeon Rain, the newest addition to the Bardwell family, born 1-1-11

two: saw two of Johnny’s cousins (from his mom’s side), and their families.

Below: Darcey (cousin) and her husband Jason, and their daughter,
and Alisha (another cousin) and her husband Micah, with one of their three daughters

We had an amazing time thanking the Lord together, remembering ways He has provided, and looking ahead to the future. There was a lot of singing, teaching, reconnecting with old friends. The final night together was a notable finale… we gathered for an evening of dance performances (Polynesian dancing, like the hula from Hawaii and the haka from New Zealand) and everything seemed to be going smoothly. But then the rain started. Just a few sprinkles to begin with. But the sprinkles turned into an outright downpour. And…everyone…got…SOAKED. Look at the picture below and you’ll see the venue where we held this event. Our “roof” was definitely not water tight, plainly. Not only did we get wet, but so did three thousand cupcakes we were waiting to enjoy at the end of the night. But those delicious treats did not go to waste. No, not one. As everyone’s excitement grew and the entertainment ended, a full on cupcake fight broke out and resulted in a huge, soggy mess. I mean, we’re YOUTH With A Mission, right? So we were just being who we are!

Overall, it was an incredible week of celebrating, and we are so thankful to be a part of this amazing training organization. Can’t wait to see what’s gonna happen at the 75th anniversary 25 years from now!

Go here to view some photos from across the years
of YWAM. Also take a look on facebook for more photos from our week in Kona!

Love!

So, here are a few sites that I really, really love checking frequently.
Just click on any that interest you!

Diane’s Blog: Nature vs. Culture

Lindye Galloway Events

Check out Jeff and Beth’s blog, our sister and brother-in-law!

Our friends, Liam and Rachel, working in South Africa

My friend Katie is really funny, and really talented.
Check out her blog, and her new Web Site too!

Josh Fletcher photographed our wedding, almost two years ago. He is unreal.

And one I just discovered today: Brookelyn Photography. Glory.

(Just took this photo of me and Julie Anna with my computer’s camera,
while we talk about blogging.)