This weekend the Chandlers were given the opportunity to travel to Reading, PA to do some of God's work...testimony time! Scott's team chaplin asked us if we would share our testimonies on how and when we became Christians to a few youth groups in Pennsylvania. Scott does this quite a bit, I on the other hand have only really shared my testimony one other time publicly while we were in San Diego. Initially I was a little anxious about speaking, but I put my selfish feelings aside and knew that sharing our testimonies of faith is a way in which God can use us to help build his kingdom.
Friday morning Scott went into work early and I got us all packed up. Of course Satan was trying to ruin the weekend already by me pulling a muscle in my neck so every time I looked up, down, or to the right it spasmed. We took off with Scott's chaplin George and his wife Cindy around noon and drove for a few ours to a detention center near Reading. Scott spoke to a bunch of kids in the center, while Lyla, Cindy and I hung out in the library. Of course while Scott was away Lyla decided that she knew how to walk and was walking all over the room without any assistance. The women working at the center joked that we could put in her baby book that she learned to walk in a detention center. Of course as soon as Daddy walked in the room she went right back to the two step fall routine.
After the detention center we went out to dinner with some youth pastors from churches in the area and some friends of George and Cindy's. Then after dinner we headed to the church. I will be honest I was a little nervous about speaking but I had been praying for almost a month that the Lord would give me the right words to glorify Him. Sure enough he came through and it went really really well. Then Scott got up and shared his story. I never get sick of hearing him speak on his faith...such an amazing Christian man I married. After we all spoke, and a handful of questions we got to hang out with the kids for a little while. Of course everyone loved Lyla and her touchdown trick. And what an amazing little girl she was...such a trooper my Lyla. Quite a bit she misses naps, eats her meals in her car seat, and stays up past her bedtime so that Scott and I can still do things and she always seems to hang in there. Eventually it got late so we headed back to the hotel and called it a night.
Saturday morning we woke up and went to breakfast with George and Cindy. They were so sweet and we really enjoyed getting to know them and look forward to getting to spend more time with them. Then we drove over to Intercourse, PA (yes the name of the town was Intercourse) to see the Amish communities up there. It made me miss home so much! We got out and walked through some of their shops. It was a little bizarre as some of them have turned their lifestyle into a tourist trade, offering buggy rides, hotels, restaurants, Amish tours. I suppose they have to make a living but it wasn't what I was used to seeing. After some yummy homemade ice cream and some caramel corn we headed back home.
Thank you George and Cindy for such an amazing weekend. We had so much fun meeting new people and hopefully planted a few seeds while we were up there. God is good!
