It was that time of year again, time to go back to Texas, update many of our faithful supporters, and encourage and be encouraged. Ever since we moved to Denver, we had this dream to bring someone or some people back to Texas to share their story with our family and friends. In the past summers, we have created videos to communicate testimonies of transformation and God's hand at work. This year, we had the opportunity to invite a very special lady, Lisa, and her son, Gino, residents from Joshua Station, to join us on our trip. Many of you had the opportunity to meet Lisa and hear her story. We hope her story of willingness, determination for change, and new found hope blessed you and encouraged you in your walk with the Lord. Our trip was like no other. We grew closer to Lisa and Gino, had many deep conversations about our walks with the Lord, and really had a blast together. On the first day, Saturday, got to take them to the Fort Worth stockyards to expose them to a little Texas culture! Gino rode a longhorn (which he absolutely loved!), we took a gander at the shops full of cowboy hats and boots, and ate some delicious Riscky's BBQ.
Later that evening, we hosted a Benefit Dinner at Zio's Italian Restaurant where Matt & I had the privilege to share some of our experiences serving the city of Denver and Lisa also shared her story. With tears in our eyes, and thankfulness in our hearts, we left that evening totally empowered and encouraged. To be able to communicate stories of what God has done in the last year and look out to see many of the people who have stood with us through many years... not only in ministry, but in the joys and trials of our life overwhelms us with emotion of thankfulness and gratitude. Words can not describe the feeling we get when we think of those who pray, encourage, and offer a simple "how are you" through the many seasons of our life. The words thank you seem so insignificant when we think about all you are for us.
The next morning, we woke up early and headed to the little town in East Texas called Palestine. One of our board members, David Gregg, pastors a solid church called Trinity Church there in Palestine. They asked us to share an update and hosted a delicious (southern) spaghetti luncheon with all the sides and desserts; you can imagine it was wonderful. The Holy Spirit was alive and moving in Trinity Church. One awesome testimony is a lady from Trinity Church, who owns a bike shop in town, felt God move her to give Gino a really nice bike. He was floored that she would just give him a bike. He said thank you about 15 times but it seemed as if he knew those words were not enough to show how thankful he was. We loaded up the bike, bought a bike rack, and took it back to Denver! Praise God! Our time with David and his wife Linda was precious. Matt and I always feel like family when we are with them and Lisa and Geno felt the same.
Early Monday morning, we loaded up and headed back home to Denver. It was a weekend we will never forget. Thanks for making the trip possible with your generous donations.
Lives were touched, we were encouraged, and Lisa and Gino could not say thank ya'll (in their attempt to be as Texan as possible) enough.
