SO many things. . .

I have SO many things to blog about right now. . for tonight, I'll just tell you about our day. Tomorrow, there will be a super long (you know, one of my ranting, raving and processing online kind of posts) one on Fields of the Fatherless, my new favorite book that I'm going to go get Amazon Marketplace (thanks Tom) to sell right here on my blog b/c everyone of you NEEDS to read it!

Ok, so. . .about Fields of the Fatherless by Tom Davis. . speaking of Tom Davis. . .

We had lunch today! Yep! You read that right! I know that right now there are 2 groups of people reading this blog. One group is freaking out, "oh my gosh, Tom Davis! I LOVE him! I loved Red Letters" the other group is thinking, "Who the heck is Tom Davis" (no offense, Tom!).

Tom Davis is the author of Red Letters: Living a Faith that Bleeds and Fields of the Fatherless. He also leads an organization called "Children's Hope Chest". This org goes into countries and partners orphanages or care points with churches here in the US. Great org. . .click on it and read more! You'll see more about a few of their campaigns soon here. .

Anyways, they are looking into getting involved in Liberia and Tom found us when we were doing the online book club for Red Letters (see my RL posts in the archives). We've been trying to connect via phone for over a month. So, when Tom facebooked me that he would be in Tampa on Wednesday, I messaged him back that we could meet somewhere in the middle. We set it all up to meet in Lakeland (halfway between Orlando and Tampa). I went to Lakeland yesterday. . after driving there and waiting 30 min, I began to question. . Well, biggest miscommunication ever!! He was FLIYING IN on Wednesday. He, of course, thought that I knew that and we were planning on lunch for Thursday. I, of course, didn't even consider that and planned for Wednesday! Oh my! So, I (along with my new friend, Amber!) drove an hour and a half to eat lunch at Mickey D's! It all worked out though, because Greg was actually available today! So, Tom came to Orlando and we had a super long lunch (2.5 hours!).

We had a blast! What a great time to dream, think, plan and share about Africa! We basically spent the entire time sharing stories of Africa (and Russia, for Tom), people who loved and were involved in Africa and how we could connect all these points.

3 things came out of our time together:
1. We are DEFINITELY going to do a KidsLake project with their feeding program in Swaziland! They can feed 100 kids for $7! PS: you can also order Saint's Coffee and feed an orphan for a month by buying a pound of coffee! It's great too!

2. We are going to be setting up a "Red Letters Weekend". This will be a weekend for Pastors and anyone else who wants to know more about Children's HopeChest and Orphan Relief to come to Orlando and learn for a weekend. Tom, and possibly some of his team will join us! (PS Feel free to email or comment if you, your church or anyone you know is interested!)

3. We are looking into getting involved with Children's HopeChest. The main way that they get churches involved is through Vision Trips. These trips take Pastors to the countries they'd be working in. . to the exact orphanages that their churches might support and cast the vision with them. Greg and I have dreamed for years of leading trips like this. We are talking to Tom about being a part of their team in this fashion. Possibly in Liberia or other parts of Africa.

I know many other things will come of this. . I am so excited to see where God will lead in all of this! It was also just fun to spend a whole lunch just talking about Africa! Tom is definitely a new friend. He also is a kindred spirit to Greg and I (he and Greg really clicked. . if that says anything!). Thanks, Tom, for taking time out to come hang with us! See you soon!