Not the Measles...

No, this is not areas that are in a pandemic (there is no pandemic, have no fear...)

This is a rough look at the route I'll be taking over the next few months. I'm currently figuring out where I'll be traveling in September, October, and possibly into November. The dots are areas that I'll be hitting for sure...care to add a "dot"? Just let me know if you'd like me to stop in & you're in any of these areas. Right now, the schedule is flexible, but the closer I get to September 18th, the more I will have filled in. Would you please pray that I will be focusing on God as I make choices as to where to go, how long to stay, and who to stay with? I'm excited to go on this trip to see family, friends, and make new friends as I share in churches along the way. Please pray that God will be glorified during this trip--not Carrie!

Thanks,
Love,
Me

A New Movie...

I haven't seen this movie (since it hasn't come out yet...) but it looks good. It's by the same people who made "Facing the Giants", a Christian church with a message they want to get out. Check out the trailer:

How does she fit everything in a Saturn?

First, you pack the shoes....

My car was pretty full coming to North Carolina, but now everything I own is in one place--a very nice feeling! I made it in safely Sunday afternoon without any problems. I'll be here for a while, and I'll try to keep this thing updated for you! Thank you for your prayers while I was traveling.

Carrie

Georgia with my bud

Beijing Olympics, Chinese food, and Paraguay!

Sadly, this sign is in display at the Coke factory

The Coke Bear wearing a Brasil jersey

For the Gills: Ireland!

My favorite drink is in Paraguay! A special gift from God today.

I got to Georgia safely, Sunday I drive to North Carolina. Thanks for your prayers!

Carrie

Good Friends

Tim and Britney traveled in this week, and we got to spend time with "Grandpa" Southerland, "Aunt" Candy, and her daughter Halle. We had a great time together Sunday afternoon at lunch. Thanks, Grandpa!

Love,
Carrie

A Good Quote:

I found this quote in a good book:

"The Gospel spoke to me in my own mother tongue, whispering to me the secrets of God. Its reading was comforting to my soul, every sentence touched it to its very depth, and it roused the slumbering faculties of my soul to a new state of consciousness. If the gospel was not true, the sun was not shining, the moon was not bright and the stars did not illuminate the path of heaven. I find it difficult to describe the experience that I had at the reading of the gospel on that memorable day; words are inadequate to express it. It was something like an object finding its missing complement. My spiritual life was incomplete without it, but as it had never known that which was intended to complete it, it never missed it till it came to it."

One More Week

I'm in my last week of Shreveport, LA. I've been getting together one last time with friends, and getting everything together to pack in car. I'll be pulling out Friday the 8th in the morning and driving to Panama City Beach. Some very good friends have invited me to come stay with them and visit their church. From there, I'll be heading to North Carolina.

Love,
Carrie

Big Changes

Hi Prayer partners,

I wanted to let you know that I have made the decision to leave for language study in Mexico in January. The decision was made with a lot of prayer and counsel, and I’m excited to see what God has in store as my “plans” have been changed. He is faithful and will not disappoint. A few of the factors in the choice were support and readiness. My heart is ready to go to the mission field, but I see wisdom in waiting a few more months. My original date was January, but I had moved it up to August if I was able to go then. My support is currently at 40% of the recommended support for a missionary in Mexico. I decided that I would visit more of the churches I have been in contact with over the next few months, along with family and friends. This means a lot of traveling for me beginning around August 7^th: Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. Would you please pray for: strength, stamina, and confidence in what God has shown me about His plans. Thank you for taking these requests before the King of Kings!

Together in Him,

Carrie

Five Things I Love

I don't usually do these, but I figured I could this time! Melissa tagged me to name five things I love, so here goes:

1. Rain on a tin roof (best if you're in a hammock)

2. Hot tea

3. The wall of color-coded towels at Bed, Bath, and Beyond

4. Watching my youth kids grow into adults with solid relationships with God

5. SALES!! :-)

So I guess I have to tag someone...

Shelly

Julie

Thank You!!

Thank you so much for praying for Justin and Leah. The injury was not as bad as we originally thought, and Justin in now home in Tennessee!

Urgent Prayer Request

Please pray for my "sister" Leah and her husband Justin. Justin has been in Iraq and had a non-combative injury this week. His jaw was crushed, and it will require reconstructive surgery and having the jaw wired shut. Please pray for him as he travels from Iraq to Germany and (most likely) on to Walter Reed. Please pray for Leah as she is anxiously awaiting news and her husband. Thank you for your prayers!

Centrifuge 2008

Callahan was excited to cross the Mississippi for the first time.

Brit made some new friends.

Halei playing some game with styrofoam sword/bats.

Taylor playing volleyball

Britney learning to play tennis.

My three girls were awesome this week at camp, and it was great to see them respond to the Lord in their lives. Pray for them that they will continue to cling to what God has taught them this week.

Glad to be back,
Carrie

Callahan and Camp

My friend Susan and I went to get pizza after church last week, and along the way we found a little friend Callahan. He's going to be on future adventures with us, and me, so be looking for him in the future! You never know where Callahan may end up...

This Monday, I'm leaving for Mississippi to go to Centrifuge with our youth group. We have 12 students going, and 4 counselors. Would you pray for safety, but especially that these kids will allow God to work in their lives? We have some new kids going, new to the church, new to the youth group, and even new to the family of God. This is a very diverse group we're taking! We appreciate your prayers, and I'll put up some good pictures when I get back!

In Him,
Carrie

I have a house!!

I have a house in Mexico! God has opened the doors to live with Erika, a missionary kid teacher in Chihuahua. There will be four of us in the apartment. She lives 1/2 mile from the school I will go to for Spanish. I'm excited that God is opening up more areas for my arrival in Mexico!

More soon--
Carrie

Finally Home!

I'm home from Wisconsin! It took 22 hours, instead of 8, and left me in the Memphis airport for a night! But I made it home and slept for the better part of the next 17 hours! I feel rested now, and ready to begin life in Louisiana again. Thanks for your prayers during my trip to Wisconsin!

The Wedding

Thanks for Praying!

Thanks so much for praying for this weekend. I had a great time at the church I shared with. I was able to go to a women's dinner with my former Sunday school teacher and her daughter on Saturday night:

Thanks again!

The Weekend

Hi friends!

This weekend I'll be sharing at a church here in town. I'll share a few minutes with the youth in Sunday school, a few minutes in morning service, and some Q&A in the evening service.

Tuesday I fly up to Wisconsin for Autumn and Levi's wedding. Please pray that I'll be able to concentrate Sunday with Tuesday coming up!

Love,
Carrie

Update on the Mud Wrens

The mud wrens have pretty much left the nest!
They were flying around this weekend.

Petty Officer Timmy

My phone rang at 7:05am one day last week to: "Girl, get some respect, you're talking to a petty officer!" My brother, Tim, got a promotion last week! He had a commendation from an admiral, and I am so proud of him! Silly as he may be, he is a very hard worker. He has gotten BlueJacket of the Quarter for being a hard worker.
Good job, Bubba!

Love,
Sissy

WOOHOO!! Post 100

Well, many of you may have heard about Shreveport in the news lately. We have had some flooding, but things are beginning to look back to normal. Thought you may enjoy a few pictures I took at the Duck Pond yesterday.

Before the storms last month

After the storms: We fed the ducks down by that tree!

There are benches under the water!

Shreveport Makes National News?!

Hi everyone,

For those of you who made the connection, yes, I am in Shreveport Land of Flash Flooding. It started raining last night, and the roads were flooded by the 10:00 news. The area where I live has not flooded yet, but about a mile and a half away had a few feet of water last night. It's still raining, and should be for the rest of the day.

On a "Mexico" note, I've been praying about the following for August:

• To take the car, or to not take the car?: Since my car is in my dad's name, I would need to transfer the legal documents for it into my name for the border crossing. This would be costly, and then have to be transfered back to Dad's name next summer before I go to Paraguay. I'm wondering if "costly twice" is (1) practical and (2) God's will.
• Housing options: I have possibly four different housing options, ranging from car to no car, near the school to far from school, roommates to no roommates...and many other factors.
  

Would you pray with me? I haven't come to a conclusion on either, but I am leaning towards certain areas. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or questions, PLEASE feel free to get ahold of me! Thank you for your prayers!

In Him,
Carrie

Mud Wren Babies

A New Project

The Back

The Front

Last year I heard of a neat project: after coloring on muslin with crayons, you iron it and it becomes permanent. Anytime I can use a crayon, I'm in! So I finally had a chance to try the idea: I had my friend Amanda's three kids color, then did some sewing. Yesterday it was finished! With a few random bug buttons, it's done! (Minus one square which needs colored.) It's been fun to try my hand at quilting, and I look forward to doing another!

"Like a...Chevy?"

Do you ever feel like this Chevy?

While I was sick with the pneumonia and recovering, I felt like this truck. Put out to pasture, with no signs of recently moving--or moving in the near future. This past week has been a huge encouragement on my way to Mexico in August. The two meetings on Monday went very well. I now have an appointment June 1st, and another in the works for mid-June. Thank you for your prayers for these meetings. And, hey, God hasn't put you out to pasture!

Love,
Carrie

"Rainy Days and Mondays"

For the Carpenter siblings, these days got them down...for me, I love them! We've been having some amazing thunderstorms, but oddly without much rain. Spring in Shreveport!
This Monday I have two meetings with pastors from local churches. I'm excited to get to talk to them about what the Lord is doing in my life and around the world. Would you please pray for clear communication for all of us Monday? The first meeting is at 10am, and the second is at 1:30pm. Thank you so much for your support!

Working together with Him,
Carrie

My Favoritest Picture

To answer the "what is it" question: This is the coiled-sprig-thing from a passion flower branch at my friend Ellen's. She's trying to get it to root, so she can plant it outside. I had some fun over the weekend taking macro pictures of the coils, and when I got the pictures on the computer I discovered the tiny bug. A little sharpening, and little "tuning" in Picasso, and this is what I ended up with!

The Last week in Pictures

At work with the 2 yr olds

"Tacky Thursday" with the Widows' Support Group
Fancy Flower Blossom Tea on Friday

SCI-PORT SATURDAY!!

Nick getting Pumped Up

A Linguist's Science Project Dream: Use a duck call to create vowel sounds!

Nick's head on a platter

Zoe playing music with her toes

And a healthy lunch to top it off!

This week has been great! Thanks so much for your prayers!
Love,
Carrie

Health Update

Hey all,
I am feeling great! Thank you so much for your prayers throughout the past month of illness. Please pray for me as I now begin to work 100% in Partnership Development.

Love,
Carrie

A Small Glimpse of Health?

Thank you for praying for my health over the past four weeks. This week has been a little rough with less sleep, a second round of antibiotics, and (yesterday) a steroid shot. I am feeling a little bit better today. Please pray that I will take my recovery time slowly, that my lungs and body will soon heal, and that God will continue to provide the PATIENCE needed to get through this! Here goes week five...

God bless,
Carrie

Garden Party

The kids sang songs from their Palm Sunday musical "Donkey Tales."
One of the songs goes: "Jesus rode a donkey to be close enough to touch."

"Marvelous Maude" shared a story about Sowing Seeds.

We had different people doing improv interpretation to the story...it got wacky!

Not Quite as Ready as We Thought...

Hi friends,
Well, as soon as the antibiotics I was on ran out, I began a low-grade fever. The doctor gave me samples that I am apparently allergic to, so yesterday (Tuesday) I began another round of the same antibiotics as before. PLEASE PRAY THAT THESE WORK!! I've been sick four weeks now, and I'm really feeling the pressure of not being able to get anything done with partnership development. I've had limited access to the internet, because I shouldn't be driving and getting out on my own. Please pray also that I will be able to give these pressures to God--once and for all! Praise Him as He has provided the finances to be sick! I go back to the doctor's Friday morning.
Thank you so much for your prayers!
Love,
Carrie

"Ready to Ease into Exercise"

All the way there...

and all the way back!

The doctor told me Monday that I was "ready to ease into exercise." I figured running with Zoe would be a good way to "ease" into it. And, sadly, it was enough! Zoe and I were at the church today "helping" Mimi get ready for the 2nd annual Women's Birthday Party. I'll put up more pictures next week from the party! Off to buy felt watering cans and plastic bugs... :-) It's a garden theme!