7 days until Haiti!

If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.
C.T. Studd

7 days from today we'll be headed to Haiti! To tell you that we are excited would be a gross understatement. As a family, we're so ready to be there and see what God is going to do! We've been doing a countdown everyday. Kendall loves it! As soon as she wakes up everyday she's ready to decorate our countdown paper! 

We're traveling to Titanyen, which is located in the mountains of Haiti. We will be serving the local people alongside Truth Evangelistic Ministries who have been in Haiti for fifteen years serving God faithfully. This trip will consist of building on to a school and fixing up local facilities. In addition to this construction, we will have the opportunity to visit in two voodoo villages, preach, teach, and work in the discipleship process.

While we are there Jenn and Kendall will wear skirts knee length or longer with shirts with sleeves and headbands. Joe will need to always wear pants and then for church a collared shirt. 

Prayer Requests

• Pray for the team to focus on His Power not their abilities.
• Pray for the people to be open to the Gospel.
• Pray that the people will see Christ in everything that is said and done.
• Pray for the Spirit to penetrate this area.
• Pray for the team to transition well into this area.

Jenn will still be headed to Guatemala in October! Please be praying for this trip! She will be there from October 19th- October 25th. While there the team will care for malnourished children at the Operation Baby Rescue center, visit remote Guatemalan communities and perform medical clinics for the villagers and pass out shoes, work at St. Luke's Hospital and Kelly's House, interact with with orphans at the Hope of Life children's home in Zacapa, as well as visit the Feeding Center at a community based around a trash dump. She needs about $2,000 for this trip. This includes all in-country transportation, lodging, meals, international medical insurance, and airport fees.

Thank you for partnering with us in prayer and financial support! We live for His Glory!

In His Amazing Love, 
Joe, Jenn, and Kendall Hennis

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever! Amen!
Romans 11:36

Kendall-isms #3

Kendall: I speak bear. Aren't you impressed?

Kendall: Do you love my outfit? You know how I know I look good in it? I looked down.

{Kendall gets up from a nap and gives me a huge hug!}
Kendall: My hair feels cool after I slobber in it.

Kendall: Today was the best day ever! It wasn't the worst day, because that day would be a disaster. Today wasn't though!

Kendall: Guess what Mom? 
Me: I don't know K, what?
Kendall: Sometimes, I fart when I run.

Kendall: Mom, I had a terrible accident while I was twirling. I broke my ankle on the door knob.
Me: How?
Kendall: {Showing me her elbow} See?

Kendall: Mom, I'm pretending I'm a secret agent! Did you see those bad guys in the parking lot? They're killing flat tires with their swords!

Kendall: Mom, guess where I am? 
I tell her where she is. 
Kendall: How do you always know where I am?!
Me: Moms have super powers. 
Kendall: I don't believe that's true.

{Earlier that night I had looked at Kendall's tonsils.}
Kendall: Mom, I looked in the mirror, but I couldn't see my tentacles.

Kendall: Mom, look at this! What does it do? 
Me: It's a tape deck. It plays tapes. 
Kendall: What is a tape?

Kendall: Will in the morning be tomorrow?

Kendall: Mom, I don't want you to get old! Then you won't be able to go on any more adventures with me!

Kendall: You know why you always have to be the queen? Because you're tall and a mom. Plus you're smaller than Daddy.

Kendall: Mom, I need toilet paper! Don't come in here though! It smells like plants! 
Me: Girl, that does not smell like plants!

{Joe went fishing today and got really sun burned.} 
Kendall: Wow Dad! You look hot! 
Daddy: That's inappropriate!

wheels on the bike

For Christmas my girl got a beautiful new bike from her grandparents. She absolutely loves her bike. For a six year old it translates into new freedoms with new opportunities. 

Like becoming an expert at jumping off her bike right before it crashes to the ground. "I'm okay Mom! I'm okay! I just jumped off." I didn't know I was raising Evel Knievel. I should have seen this coming though. We always say Kendall should of been born with a helmet. The kid has no fear. 

Or scouting for onlookers to view her bike riding triumphs. "Did you see those boys Mom? I know they saw me riding my bike. You know they thought I looked cool!" I am getting glimpses of what she's going to be like later. I'm not ready for that yet. If she could wait until I'm like 50 maybe my heart can take it then, ya know?

Today, the thing that brought her the most joy was putting a Barbie bike on her handle bars so she could ride around with Elsa. I feel like I might have needed a degree to get the bike on said handle bars. 

As I watch her riding her bike around with the little Barbie bike and her anchor tights I know for sure these will be the easy days. The days when kissing her boo-boos still works, Barbie bikes make me "the best mom ever", or playing secret agents in the neighborhood while the neighbors look on confused. 

It's going by so fast. This motherhood thing is ever evolving. I feel like once I master one stage and have gained the wisdom it procures; she has moved on to a new stage and we start all over again. Who keeps wiping off the game board? 

As she continues to grow she's only going to get more freedoms and opportunities. Time keeps rolling on kinda like the wheels on her bike. I'm not sure what's to come. I hope it will be more about Jesus and less about drama. Until then, I'm just going to try to enjoy the days while I still know the answers to her questions and have the solutions to her problems. Like, "What is a tape?".  If you don't know the answer to that question you won't find it here. I've decided to only explain that once, because it makes me feel old. Mmmkay? 

Where the Mean Things Are

It was a regular Tuesday night at church teaching kids about missions. All the kids where running around like crazy playing, including our daughter Kendall. All of sudden she ran to me. She hugged me tight as tears spilled over her face. She was telling me something, but I couldn't understand the words coming out of her mouth. When it finally was comprehensible she told me her friend was mean to her, had pushed her, and said she didn't want to play with her.

Ugh. Drama. It's the worst.

I wanted to retaliate for my girl. I wanted to pick up a battle that wasn't mine to bear.

I had two options. I could follow my flesh and take the low road. Which only results in breeding more drama. Teaching Kendall to take the low road.

Or, I could take the high road. Which is hard, not well traveled, and not what I wanted to do. But Jesus would.

But Jesus. 

I don't want to teach Kendall to be like me. I want to teach her to be like Jesus.

Not long before Kendall's tears I had spoken to a child who had ripped a chair out from underneath his brother. My response was Philippians 2:3.

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves."

Now it was my turn. 

So I told her to pop a squat. 

First, I gave her the bad news. This would not be the last time that someone was mean to her or would hurt her feelings. There would definitely be more pain and tears, because the world is full of sin and sinners. 

But Jesus has overcome the world. {John 16:33}

Then, I gave her the good news. Now that she knew what it was like to have her feelings hurt she could choose how to respond. She could choose to be a good friend despite how her friends treat her. I told her the Bible says that a friend loves at all times. At. all. times. {Proverbs 17:17} That doesn't mean she has to play with someone and continue to be treated that way. It does mean she tries to fix things with them. If that doesn't work bring someone with you, like Mommy or Daddy. {Matthew 18:15-17} Above all to remember that Jesus loves that person just as much as He loves you. So treat them that way.

And some days I have to remember that advice myself. Okay, some days it's more like hours and minutes.

Save the drama for your llama. Not your mama.

Love like Jesus.