Ministry Update!

WOW! I still can't believe that Christmas has come and gone already! This Fall has gone by so fast and so many things have happened that I want to give you an update on. I PRAISE GOD FOR ALL THAT HE HAS DONE. Thank you for being apart of this season! Okay well here are some of the exciting things that have happened...

1. I started working for Family Legacy September 1. The past few months have been filled with so many NEW things in the ministry. God is doing so much and I only have time to give you a glimpse of it. Anyways, I have had the privileged of being the coordinator for the Sponsorship Program. As Mom would put it...I just inherited 10,000 kids. :) I have been so humbled each day as I go to work and be a voice for the kids in Zambia on this side of the world. On top of that, we have launched many projects throughout the fall that I have been able to help facilitate....Thanksgiving Day Project which was organizing and processing through all the letters written from the children to their Sponsors and sending those out so that each sponsor would know how much they mean to their child. Reading through the letters made my heart so happy! These children don't have much, but they are realizing how important it is to have prayer partners on the other side of the world fighting for them through prayer. Along with that, we launch our new Community Resource Centers. We have 18 centers throughout Lusaka, Zambia that are available for children to come as a safe-haven within their harsh communities.  We believe that being in the community with these children will have a greater impact in the lives of so many people! These centers have benefitted so many children so far and God continues to amaze us at how much He loves these children and desires to rescue them! Oh I just pray that more and more children will come to the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior!! Recently I have been working on our First Ever Christmas Project! We are actually going to have a Christmas Party for the child in Zambia. I can't wait!!! Organizing and getting things together for that has been quite the task, but very rewarding!! Keep praying that God will bless these precious children with His Love!! (Please check out the Family Legacy Blog for recent updates on the newest happenings of the ministry: www.legacymissions.org/blog)
2. I have also continued to live with my sweet Aunt and Uncle. They have been quite the blessing! They have such big hearts and their generosity is out of this world!! I praise God daily for them and how loving they are! I have learned so much from them and they don't even know it! I can't believe that they have put up with me for almost 4 months now. I told them that it will probably be around 2 months that I would be living with them until I find somewhere else to live, but from the looks of it...I will be here for a little longer! I really do love where they live. It is so refreshing to come back to a 'Home'! I am so blessed and grateful for the family that I have had the honor of growing up with! (*Thanks Mom and Dad for raising me and instilling so many biblical principles and truths in my life! What you have done for so many years, is coming full circle.) I am praising the Lord above for providing a place for me to live during this transition in my life! I am still believing that God will provide a place for me to eventually move to when the timing is right. 
3. Personally I have grown so much this Fall. God has been challenging me and taking me deeper in a relationship with Him. I have had to face many things, but in the end it was there to refine and shape me to be more like Christ. My heart is at a good place and I am loving the journey that God is leading me on. I have been studying the Song of Solomon this Fall and I have loved looking at scripture more in-depth. This study has really unveiled so many things that I would not have known if I didn't go through this study. I love how God's Word is so applicable in our lives - from understanding more of who I am in Christ, to really knowing the love that God has for me, and then experiencing all of that day-to-day! I wish that I could explain all the little things that my Beloved Jesus has been teaching me. To wrap it up in a few words..I am pursuing Jesus with all that I am as He leads me through each season of my life and I am seeking to faithfully obey Him no matter where He asked me to go.
4. Financial Update...As the end of the year comes I have been significantly blessed by so many of you in your financial support over the past few months! I am so thankful for all that has come in thus far. It is not too late if you are wanting to support me. All you need to do is go to my link...www.legacymissions.org/joy and then follow the instructions or you can just click the link on the top right of my blog that says Joy's Donation Page. It would be such an honor to have you come alongside me as the Lord uses you and I both to bring His word to so many children. I am still praying that God will continue to provide month to month. I know that He will give what is needed at the time. Thanks so much for all your prayers too! God is moving and it is so exciting to what is ahead! I can't express to you enough just how humbled I am to have you partner with me in this ministry the Lord has called me to be in. My prayer is that God will return the blessing!  

I hope you all have had a blessed holiday with your family and friends! I pray that you all had the opportunity to reflect on what all that God has given and provided for you! Praise God that He loves us! 

Loving Him more and more,

Joy

Please pray for the weeks and months ahead...

>I depart for Zambia, Africa in 137 days and there is SO much to be done before then! Not only within Family Legacy, but outside of that too. I am in 2 weddings only 2 months apart (the first one is next weekend) and it will be an adventure trying to balance everything out! 

Tis the Season for Holiday Pictures

Here are some pictures from this past week....

*The Kids singing*

*Ruth and Raylee*

*Mom and Me*

*Sisters*

*The Cake Teddy Bear that we made!!*

*JJ and Me*

*Dad*

*Joshua and Me riding horses*

*Me and JJ on Christmas Day*

*My sister caught me riding my nieces scooter 

she got from Santa..haha*

*My Brother (Tully) and his dog, Cash*

*Christmas Morning...the kids are

 finding out what Santa left them!*

*Josh and Me*

IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!!!

YAY!! I'm heading home to spend Christmas on the ranch with my sweet family! I hope all of you have a great holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus!! I am going to be sending a little 'UPDATE' if you will to give you an idea of what has been happening this fall if you haven't been able to stay up to date. Also, I am going to give you a support update and how all of that is going. 

By the way, my Dad is doing better!! His visit at MD Anderson last week went well and he got a good report! No sign of returning cancer!! PRAISE GOD! And he has a new mindset on recovery! He is still taking it one day at a time and trusting the Lord for strength and energy! 

Thanks for all of your encouragement, prayers, and support as I have been walking through this new transition in my life! I PRAISE THE LORD ABOVE FOR ALL OF YOU!!

Blessing to you and your families!! 

Merry Christmas!!

Joy

Seeking Strength...

Hey Y'all! 

Since Thanksgiving, things at work, my family, and just my personal life has been everything but calm! This is me being transparent about things...Anyways, WORK at Family Legacy is just busy as always. There are lots of projects each week and high goals set to reach. I have never been challenged this much in how to tackle major things all at once. There definitely have been days of me being overwhelmed and feeling very inadequate. God has been good though through it all because of the little glimpses of what is to come for HIS kids in Zambia. I am still humbled to this day of being able to be a voice for these precious children and be a part of a ministry that is striving together to bring the name of Jesus and full restoration to so many children! Praise God for what HE is doing! At the beginning of December we had a FLMI Staff Christmas Party at my ranch and here are a few pictures...

*This is everyone who was there! Kids and spouses included!

*The FLMI STAFF!

(Greer, Susan, Sommer, Holly, Me, and Josh)

~ MERRY CHRISTMAS ~

On top of work being a bit crazy at times, I have been learning so much from God's Word! The Lord has been constantly refining me and bringing me to where HE WANTS ME! I have wrestled through numerous issues and wanted to do things on my own...but I have soon realized that that is a pride issue. I hate to admit that, but it is. Not dealing with things, not letting people help me, not stepping out of my comfort zone...all connect back to pride. The Lord pointed that out to me the other day and I have been slowly processing through what needs to happen. I'm not quite sure what all this will entail but I do know that I am learning more of the character of God and His restoration process. As I work through my issues and allow His word to fill every part of me, I am being made more like Him! Praise God for His unending love and grace!! 

Lastly, things with my family have been great!! However, things with my sweet Dad have NOT been so great. Sadly, he is not doing very well. We all thought that he would be progressing much more further than he is right now. He has now lost over 50 lbs. He is have a difficult time eating again, which this hasn't happened since his very first symptoms about a year again. My Dad has also been choking again whenever he eats. This past weekend my Mom told me that on Friday night that my Dad was choking for about 3 hours after they ate dinner and she almost had to take him to the ER. We are hoping that it is scar tissue building up in his esophagus and not a new cancerous growth. They left today to head down to Houston to return to MD Anderson for tests. He has tests Wednesday and Thursday. 

PLEASE BE PRAYING! 

Pray for strength, comfort, peace, wisdom, and encouragement! 

Both my parents are exhausted from the past 8 1/2 months of dealing with cancer and the recovering process of surgery. We all are hoping that the results will be words of encouragement and not the other. I will know more at the end of the week. 

Oh Lord...we need You!! 

Thanks again for keeping up to date! You all are a blessing! Have a great week!! 

Desperate for more of Him,

Joy

A Video from my Kids!!

Hey Everyone! I just thought you might like to see my kids! They left me a video wishing me a Merry Christmas! It may be hard to hear but hopefully you can understand enough of what they are saying! (I turned my music off but after you watch the video and you want it back on then scroll to the bottom and hit play!)

Praise the Lord for ALL that He has done! Enjoy...

Loving the Holidays

I just love the beginning of the holidays...

I have so many memories of good 'ole traditions and one of those is waking up on Thanksgiving morning and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with the entire family. All of us girls grab our cup of coffee and sit together on the couch as we watch the long parade...so thats just what we did with kids running around us! Jamie, my second oldest sister, came up from New Braunfels and we just had so much fun!! We missed JJ this year...she was actually hosting her in-laws at her house, but we are really looking forward for Christmas so that we can ALL be together!!

We had a good group for Thanksgiving...everyone (extended family on my dad's side and few from my mom's side) came over and we ate, relaxed, ate some more, and watched football, especially the TEXAS GAME! :) That has been another tradition to watch football throughout the Thanksgiving weekend...what can I say? My Dad brought me up well... :)

(I am going to be adding some funny videos soon of my nephew playing football with my brother!!)

Then once Saturday hit...it was decorating galore! Mom, Dad, and I all worked together to get the house decked out for Christmas. I just love getting ready for Christmas!! Mom and I exchange memories of past Christmas' as we were bringing the house to life with the touch of the holiday season. This is by far my favorite time of year...I uploaded this video to give you a glimpse of the end of a day of decorating...Me, Dad and Mom made a fire, turned on Polar Express and drank hot chocolate under our Christmas lights...can't get better than this!! :)

As I got back to work this week, it has been busy as always, but such a fun week!! We launched our new website tonight! It looks so good thanks to our tech guy on staff. You need to check out the new changes: www.legacymissions.org . We also launched a Christmas Project for our precious kids in Zambia! Holly, my co-worker, and I had several people call in requesting to send their child a Christmas gift and with the Lord's guidance we developed a way to distribute gifts to the children!! It's all on our website through the Father's Heart Program....http://www.blogger.com/www.legacymissions.org/christmas . It is going to be incredible and I can't wait to see how it's going to bless these kids!! They are going to love it!!!!!

Well by now, I am hoping you have heard a song or 2 automatically playing on my blog. I wanted to share with y'all some of my favorite songs that have ministered to me in the past week or so. I just love how God will use music to speack to us! Take time and listen to them...all of them are really powerful! Oh...and...I have changed the title of my blog. I have noticed that a lot of things I have posted about have to do with my life, what I'm learning, and what has been happening...so I wanted to make more of a general title to share ALL aspects of my life along with my passion for Zambia!

That's it for now! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and a good week! YAY for the holidays...go grab some coffee, sit by a fire and watch a good Christmas movie...or drive around and look at Christmas lights!! All of it is just sooo fun! I hope to be doing ALL of that very soon...

Blessings,

Joy