New Year’s Day 2012 began for me (Betty Gail), with a bang –
Bangalore, India, that is. Chase and
Lacey Moore and I were awaiting the coming of our sweet granddaughter, Ari
Eden, playing games and visiting with our friend, Mason Wadley (I KNOW –
strange but true) and one of his friends, when we heard the first bang ringing
in the new year. I went outside to check
it out. I saw one of the funniest sites
I’ve ever seen - a stampede of street dogs was coming straight at me with
terrified looks on their faces! They
were coming from the direction of the loud popping which sounded like bombs
going off. I looked into the sky and was
amazed by the huge fireworks display over our part of the city.
In the wee hours of January 6th, I heard voices
and sensed movement in the house. It was
2 am and Chase and Lacey were up and I suspected that our little girl was about
to make her entrance. Ajay was sleeping
peacefully in my room in his pack-n-play.
Lacey was definitely in labor but also a little bit in denial. She was sitting on a beanbag chair,
contracting every few minutes but didn’t want to go to the hospital too
early. Some after 3:00 pm, Chase made
ready by calling their ride to the hospital and gave me a cell phone. Their ride to the hospital would be 45 minutes
or so and I lay down on the sofa, knowing that Ajay would get up early and I
was the only one on duty for the day. It
seemed that I had just drifted off to sleep when the cell phone rang, just
before 6:00 am. The first thing I heard
was a baby crying! WHAT? Then Chase’s voice, “She is here. Mother and baby are doing just fine.”
My plan was to leave
India and be back in the US for a week or so before our 5th
grandchild was born. Kelly was due
shortly after Lacey, but I should be able to make this baby’s home birth,
too. I would be leaving India on January
15, which is still Jan. 14. US time. As
I packed and made ready for my long trip, Lacey was checking FaceBook. “Oh, my – I think Kelly is in labor!” We began a flurry of activity to try and find
out. Sure enough, little Caleb Clifton
made his appearance in this world and didn’t wait on his Nanna. Dundee got to be present for his birth
though.
So that is how our year, 2013 got started!! Our family grew quickly in one week’s time. Ari and Caleb brought us from three
grandchildren to five. We are so
blessed!!
The spring of the year consisted of my getting back on my
feet – literally. I had an injured heel
that I needed to stay off of to let it heal.
In May, the Moores came for a visit – and finally, Mickey got to meet
his one and only granddaughter. Our time was full and blessed. Mickey and I celebrated 35 years of wedded
bliss together. Our girls had so much
fun putting together a little party and we had some amazing family pictures
made.
Mickey and I are still in the Church Planting business, if
you want to call it that. Compass Church
has had many changes this year, most of which are exciting and very good. We purchased property and are moving forward
with plans to build our own meeting place.
Hopefully, we will see plans set in motion in 2014. We are happy to welcome, Jeremy and Kerrie
Sullivan and their son, Jack , to Compass to serve as our Pastor of
Discipleship and Families. Mickey stays
very busy with his Compass duties and ministry and also with his Arkansas
Baptist Convention church planting duties and North American Mission Board
connections, as well. We really enjoyed
going to the NAMB Convention in Dallas this year and representing innovative
church planters, along with all of the young ‘uns who are out there doing the
same.
I am still teaching ESL to my five year long student,
Veronica. We both enjoy not only a
teacher/student relationship but also a friendship. I went to her daughter’s 6th
birthday party this year. It was a
highlight of my teaching experience. I am
also involved with the mission’s arm of Compass Church and also am enjoying a
discipleship ministry using the book, “Multiply”.
Mickey and I went to South Dakota this summer, on a mission
trip, with several other Compass couples our age (and our church intern, who is
not our age). It was a great trip
requiring a lot of walking and meeting people who are completely
unchurched/de-churched. As a side, we
got to visit Mount Rushmore and see the Badlands. We hope to return some time for another
church planting mission with Doug Hixson.
Kelly and Aaron are still in Northwest Arkansas doing
Children’s Ministry at Fellowship Bible Church.
Most of their work is with 3rd and 4th grade
leaders and they also meet with a small group of which they are very excited to
be a part. Benjamin and Asher are both
in school (K and 1st Grade) and are doing very well. Their all time favorite activity is playing
WII, but they also enjoy their outdoor time with the neighborhood kids. Caleb is pulling up and trying to walk and
his all time favorite activity is being with his momma. Kelly is still finding time to write music
and loves life as it is!
Chase and Lacey are in Asia in the shadow of the Himalaya
Mountains. Their team, Team Everest, is
opening a coffee shop to serve both the locals and any tourist who might make
it into their part of the city. Circle
Street Coffee is the name of the business.
They have raised enough funds to get started but are still in the fund
raising mode – needing to furnish and supply the business. They have learned/are learning Tibetan and
beginning to be able to communicate more effectively with their people. Ajay is a fun loving, inquisitive, and very
social little boy who is attending a local preschool for the expat
community. Ari has been getting around
on her own for a couple of months but her most preferred way to do so is
walking on her knees! She also loves
being with her momma, most of all.
My mom has had a pretty difficult year, plagued with illness
and physical issues. BUT we are praising
the Lord for her recovery. At 88 years
old, she is once again able to get around, cook, and do some shopping. Even in these winter months, she is holding
her own. We are blessed to live with her
and have her in our every day lives.
Hoping this Christmas letter is finding you, our friends and
family, in the best possible way. We
pray that you are finding comfort and peace in the presence of our Lord Jesus
Christ and that you are basking in his goodness every day.
More evident, is his gift of grace to us, right now than
ever before. We are learning over and
over of its blessings. Our faith in Him
through his grace is our only righteousness – we have none of our own but we
have His righteousness. We are so glad
that our morality has nothing to do with our salvation because if it were so,
we could never achieve it by our behavior or good works.
We pray that you, too, rest in the only peace that is of
value – the peace of knowing Christ and trusting in His provision!
Love you all so much!
Until NEXT year – Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
LOVE, Mickey and
Betty Gail Jones
No comments:
Post a Comment