Wonderful Weekend

This weekend was a full one.

Saturday evening Ben and I went to the annual fundraising dinner for Global Connection International (GCI). (A friend of ours is on the board of directors for GCI. He is the regional director for GCI in Eastern Africa and the man who invited us to go to Tanzania last winter.)

The dinner was located in the Grand Ballroom at the Sheridan Hotel. It was gorgeous, fancy and crowded; there were over 500 people in attendance. The elaborate chandeliers twinkled from the towering ceiling. The guests bustled around the tables to sneak a peak at the centerpieces from around the world.

We arrived a few minutes early and located our table. At our places sat a plate with a huge wedge of lettuce on it. Ben, Shannon, Caleb, Darrah and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "How are you supposed to eat this?" Ben whispered and we all laughed. It was a good thing we were in the far back corner. We can tend to be a little vivacious. Don't worry, we all minded our manners. But I can say with confidence that our table had the most fun!

The best part of the evening was the reunion of our Africa team with Tanzanian Pastor Unity Msami. Pastor Unity was our host while we were in his country. We spent hours and hours with him and his family. He came to the United States for the GCI pastor's conference. What a joy it was to see his face again!!! Needless to say, it was a late night...

And I had to be up at 5:30am Sunday morning. Ack. Ben and I must be leaving for church BY 7 o'clock. For those who do not know, my brother accepted a Lead Worshipper position (i.e. what some call "Music Pastor"... but does music need a pastor??? Ben likes to call himself the lead woshipper to lead others in worship) for a church plant. The church is located an hour and a half from our home. We join the fellowship for Bible Study, the main service and stay until 5 so Ben can meet with the other musicians. We arrive home around 7pm. Thus, it makes for a very long day.

This Sunday we went home, transfered to the mini van with the rest of the family and headed for Shannon's home- 45 minutes from ours. We had dinner with our Africa team members and Pastor Unity. Pastor Unity then shared with us what is happening in the places where we ministered in Tanzania. He relayed greetings from his precious family, the churches, widows and orphans. I will share the stories in another post.

While we were talking a light snow began to fall. It remained "light" for about 5 minutes. After 20 minutes we were into a full blown snow storm. Yet, we did not leave until about 11:30. It was blizzard conditions with limited sight and a van that was not warming up! Mom prayed for the heater to work, flipped the switch and it did! Praise God! We arrived home safely an hour and 15 minutes later.

We groggily headed inside and fell fast asleep. We awoke to 6 inches of snow! It snowed all day yesterday for a grand total (on the plains) of 8-10 inches. The high country received over 2 feet. Trees are down every where. Huge branches were laying in the road on my way to work. Many trees are split right in two. The snow is so heavy and wet for this time of year! The leaves are still on the trees so the weight of the snow was too much for the trees to handle.

We have lost about 10 big branches so far. You can hear them creaking as the wind blows. You wonder which one will snap next! We have not had any damage to our house, thank You, God. Many have had crushed cars, damaged roofs and broken windows. Ahhh, the joy of living in a snow state! And guess what? This was only the second time Pastor Unity had seen snow! (He was in Montana last week when it snowed there and it was the first time he had EVER seen snow!!!) I am so excited that it snowed while he was here!

And this Saturday... it is supposed to be 75 degrees. Ahhh, I love Colorado!