We had a crazy busy weekend….which I’ll tell you about later. Due to the craziness, I didn’t get a chance to dump the pics from the past week.
I didn’t take very many pictures this week, so this is all I’ve got. Hopefully I’ll return to my normal camera-happy self this next week.
This morning we woke up early, loaded up the van, and headed back home from a week-and-a-half long trip to south Mississippi and Florida. It’s good to be home, even though the trip was a great one.
The first weekend we were in Gulfport, MS for a missions conference. We stayed at Emily’s parents’s place on Bay St Louis, MS, which is about a half hour from the church in Gulfport. We had 6 different events over the weekend (dinners, lunches, services, etc), lots of opportunities to share about what we’re doing, and the chance to listen to Frank Barker preach several times.
On Sunday night after the evening service, we loaded up and drove from Gulfport to Perdido Key, FL to spend a few days in my parents’ place on the beach. Nate’s dad lives nearby, so we had some time to visit with him and let the boys get in some playtime with their Grandpa and Grandma Bonham. But our primary reason for going was to spend some serious time in prayer for our team and planning for the future. Even though we and the Kines are together alot, we don’t have much uninterrupted time to really talk, reflect, and pray for one another. The week ended up being a really sweet, refreshing time to focus on the important things in the midst of all the chaos.
Friday morning we headed to Hattiesburg, MS to attend the missions conference at First Pres and stayed at Emily’s parents house. We went to 6 different missions events over the course of the weekend and again shared about what we’re doing. This time, we also had the chance to lead a 1st-6th grade sunday school class, which was especially fun.
The conference wrapped up last night, and we headed back this morning. And despite the fact that I had to come home to a house that has to be spic-and-span in order to be shown at any time, I’m glad to be back.
This friday we’ll jump into Highlands’ missions conference…. and a different conference each weekend after that until Easter. Be sure to keep up with our missions blog (www.CrossCollaboration.org) for info about our schedule and better recaps of our trips. I probably won’t do too many of those here…because I’d rather post pictures of the boys (:
Last weekend we were at a missions conference in Gulfport, MS. This weekend we’re at another missions conference in Hattiesburg, MS. For the 5 days in between, we and the Kines family had a team mini-retreat at my parents’ place at the beach in Perdido where we spent lots of time planning for the future, praying for our team, and hammering out the details for our next few months of travel … (and chasing kiddos). It was a working week for us with lots of missions related tasks on our agenda, but we found some time each day for a little kid-friendly fun.
So here’s what the last couple of weeks have entailed:
The blog has been a little stagnant in the midst of all of that.
And yes, I realize there’s one thing on that list that might need a bit more explanation…
Nate tried for several days to ignore the crazy abdominal pain he was having, but finally went to the doctor when he couldn’t take it anymore and was diagnosed with “a very angry appendix that needs to come out ASAP.” So we went directly from the doctor’s office to the hospital, where they opened him up and removed an organ. Just like that. All in a day’s work.
My family scrambled to help me with the kids while I stayed at the hospital for 24 hours with Nate. He laid low for a few days and wore stretchy pants, but now he’s doing fine and back to his old self….minus one not-so-vital organ. That was a little over a week ago. He’s a trooper. Although he misses the stretchy pants.
Thankfully, it happened during the only 2-week stretch that we have free until Easter, so he had some time to recover. We left this past weekend for Gulfport, MS, where we attended their annual missions conference to share about the Lord’s work in Latin America. We have been invited to share at various missions conferences every single weekend between now and mid-April, so we have a few months of craziness ahead of us. (More on that later.) I’m very glad that his appendix chose to bite the dust at a (somewhat) convenient time!
So that’s what’s going on with us. 2012 has certainly started with a bang!
You might notice a couple of changes around here…. a new header with new pics and a new title.
I have been meaning to change the blog title for awhile and never got around to it. ”Life with the Bonhams” is kind of boring (despite the fact that the Bonhams’ actual lives are far from boring!) I love word-play titles, especially those that have a name worked in somehow… Something a little creative, but still with the name in it so people know whose blog it is. For example, my sister just re-started her blog and called it “Madden Happy.” Love it.
And considering the fact that everyone always thinks our last name is “Bottom” when I introduce myself, I thought this one is fitting.
Speaking of, my favorite story about that is from my first day of teaching 4-year-old Sunday School, not too long after Nate and I got married.
Me: Hey guys! My name is Nikki Bonham.
Kid: Your name is Nikki BOTTOM? Your last name is BOTTOM?
Me: No, BONHAM.
Kid: Bottom like PEE-PEE?! <cue hysterical 4-year-old laughter>
Me: …Just call me Nikki.
After church, I told Nate what happened. His response? “Welcome to my entire childhood.”
So there ya go. Welcome to The Bonham Line.
Hey, did I tell you we’re going on the mission field?
Just kidding. I think I might have mentioned it a time or two…hundred. Sorry bout that, but it’s kind of taking over my whole life right now, and between that, our adoption, and the twins, you have a 1 in 3 chance of accurately predicting the topic of any upcoming blog post. Because that’s my life these days.
I emailed our schedule for the next 3 months to my family, and I almost fell asleep while writing it out….just looking at it exhausted me that much. (FYI: I hate it when people talk about how busy they are all the time, because it’s almost as annoying as this, but in this case, I can’t help it.)
But I know I’m in good company, because every single missionary I know who is in the support-raising process is doing the exact same thing. It’s just part of the job. Support-raising will wear you smack out.
We are traveling for part of almost every single week between now and the end of April… which means hauling the boys and their pack-n-plays all over tarnation and praying that I’ll be somewhere at 1pm every afternoon that is conducive to a nap. I’ll tell you how all that works out.
But the plus side is that we get to spend all that time doing something that we LOVE… telling people about missions. Talking to people and churches about the awesome things God is doing in Latin America and inviting them to come be a part of it. Telling the stories of how the Lord called each of us (me, Nate, Emily, and Josh) to full-time mission work. Getting people EXCITED about the Great Commission.
That’s worth being a little tired, right? I’d say so.
And hopefully, in the midst of all of that, people will get excited enough to give us money…because we can’t go until we’re fully funded. Talking about missions is the easy part. Asking for money is a little harder. But it’s necessary, and it’s a way for others who can’t physically go to get involved. And we are all called to be involved in the spread of the Gospel around the world.
Right now our team is at about 65%. We need another 35% raised before we can leave, which is why we’re traveling to meet with churches and individuals who are interested in what we’re doing and might be willing to be a part of it.
Did you know that, in this economy, most missionaries get the majority of their support from individual people and families and not from churches? That’s true for us. And we need more people to help us get our last 35%.
If you read this blog and keep up with us on a regular basis, will you consider supporting us monthly? If you’ve been thinking about it but haven’t done it yet, now is a great time to jump on board. Because until we have 100% of our monthly budget covered in support pledges, we can’t go to the field. (And we really really really want to go!)
In addition to emailing/texting/commenting/facebooking me…here’s how you can learn a little more about how to support us: http://crosscollaboration.org/partner-with-us/
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(*Note: I have no control over the advertisements that show up at the bottom of each post. They are automatically generated by my blogging platform, and I cannot turn them off without paying a yearly fee. My apologies!)
