The Harlow's: What a Weekend

You may want to grab a cup of coffee - this will be a long post, it has been an amazing weekend. Let's start with Friday night, and go from there. On Friday evening, we just spent some much needed downtime. We went for a walk as a family and then hung out with our neighbors. Terry says we look hilarios when we all go for a walk. With all of our kids, we look like a herd of some sort. The kids played until after 11:00 pm. I think Trenton was asleep before his head hit the pillow. :)

Now, let's move on to Saturday morning. I have been registered to attend the Hope for Orphans seminar since the first of the year. Starting an orphan ministry in our church has been a desire of mine for a long time, but I just never knew how to start. This was an amazing training. Everything is so organized. They give you suggestions on a structure and help you see how this could fit within your church. Jason Weber from Family Life is a wonderful presenter and is also an adoptive father. I am very excited about the future for 2 Rivers Church and our orphan ministry. Stay tuned...

We also had the opportunity to conduct our raffle drawing for the fundraiser. I cannot thank you all enough. We raised more than $2,000 for our adoption. PRAISE GOD!!!! I am humbled by your love and support. If you would like to check out the winners list, visit our fundraising blog.

We will have other fundraisers going on over the next few months. We currently have other donated items posted on EBay. Check them out if you get a chance. We also plan to have a Yard Sale the weekend of May 15 & 16. If you live in the St Louis area, come check it out.

Now, let's talk about that concert. I had the opportunity to attend the United Tour concert with my friend Angie. Just a few words about Angie. She is a loving mother, wife and awesome woman of God. I feel so blessed to have her as my friend.

The concert was SOLD OUT and a packed house. We had front row - center tickets!!! That was so cool!!! Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith have been some of my favorite Christian artist for many years. Their music is real - it touches your heart right where you are. Michael share some very special thoughts about God's heart for us. It helped me to see a lot in myself. I may post more about that later - just not sure how to articulate it right now. But I was blessed! We also had the opportunity to hear from Geoff Moore regarding Show Hope. Geoff is a wonderful artisit and song writer. It was really neat to hear him talk about his little China girls.

After the concert, we had a chance for a meet and greet with Steven Curtis. He is a great guy and I hurt for all they have endured this past year. Please keep them in prayer as the one year anniversary of Maria Sue's death approaches. Theirs is a pain I cannot even imagine.

So, now we are headed off to church. It is the 10 year anniversary of 2 Rivers today. We are having a tent service on our ground. It should be a great day.

Enjoy the pictures - till later....

Michael W. Smith - even better in concert!