Africa to Europe to AL to TX to CA

January 12th, Tyrone and I walked down the gangway in the rain. I thought I would be distraught, but I was actually so excited. I had so much to look forward to. Don't get me wrong I definitely miss the ship, but it was time to move on.

After leaving the hip we spent an amazing month traveling all over Europe. We went to Dublin, Madrid, Rome, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Brussels, Sheffield, Leeds, Kirkubright, and Edinburgh. Some of the places we visited dear Mercy Ship friends and other places Tyrone and I explored the city together.  All of it was amazing, although the constant traveling was exhausting. I am so thankful for this time. It was a great time of reflection and transition.

After our whirlwind tour, we stayed with Tyrone's sister and her family. It was so great to hang out with them and see how much our niece and nephews have grown. We stayed there for 10 days and unfortunately we were very busy trying to get everything ready in order for me to take a travel nursing assignment. I am still in awe that  I actually got an assignment exactly where I wanted to be when the travel nursing industry is struggling so badly. All I  is "Praise the Lord!!"

Now, I am sitting in the anchorage cafe at the IOC in Tyler, TX  trying to make sense of it all. I have spent the last 3 days spending time with my dear friend Jennifer, which has been so great to catch up with her. We have also had a chance to meet up with other friends here in Tyler. Tyrone and I shared with our Sunday School class at Grace Community Church about our time on the Africa Mercy. I love sharing our experiences with others.

Tomorrow we fly to San Jose, Ca. My travel company is providing us an apartment in South San Francisco. I am so excited to cook, do laundry in our apartment, go grocery shopping, go to the park, and work at a hospital and get paid for it. I am so excited to live near my friends and be a part of my old Bible study and be in a group of people who know me.

Please pray

that Tyrone finds a job where he can be challenged and enjoys his  job

we find a reliable, cheap, used car

that I can find a permanent job when my travel assignment is over in 8 weeks

we continue to adjust back to American life

we continue to grow in our marriage and our relationship with the Lord

we find ways to serve the Lord in short term missions or community missions.

We will continue to update our blog so stay tuned. Thank you for all your support throughout the year.

Five Minutes of Fame

We are pretty busy as of lately, we actually have a lot to blog about and pictures to share but it will have to wait for more time...

You've all heard the cliche or term 'your five minutes of fame...'?  Well, I suppose I have finally gotten mine for being with Mercy Ships all these years... it's just a shame that NO ONE IN THE USA will see it.  Yep, that's right...

No, I didn't make it to a TV show BUT I did make it in the UK Mercy Ships Calendar as Mr. March this year.  Complete in Chef uniform pulling hot pans of chicken out of the oven in a very busy 'lunchtime' galley shift.

SIGH.  Oddly enough the US Mercy Ships Calendar for 2009 is called 'The Colors of Benin' even though we just finished outreach service in Liberia...and it has pictures that were taken in Liberia in the Calendar as well...Hmmm, I'm confused...Colors of Benin?

So to all my UK friends (of which there are plenty), I'm the MAN!  Mr. March!  And to my Sheffield (England) buddy Arthur (Chief Electrician) WAY TO GO! *(he made it too!)  I think he's January.

To all my US friends, family, and supporters...I was hoping for a calendar that was relative to the year of outreach I was just a part of in Liberia, but since it's not, we can not justify the financial expense of buying all those Benin calendars...you'll just have to get by on our pictures, posts, and smiling faces of us in Liberia 2008!