Easter in Tennessee

So here are some pics from our weekend trip back to TN....keep scrolling down because there are a lot to look at. Hope you enjoy!

Happy Easter to the Jones'!! And the Johnson's and the Fern(singular because Martin, Sarah's husband, was unable to come). We really enjoyed spending time with our family and getting to hang out. It was a beautiful weekend. I'm really thankful that we are close enough to TN that we can make short trips home for the weekends. God is so good to us.








Here is a picture of Caryss in her Easter dress. Cute as always! She had fun trying to blow bubbles.

Here is a pic of Caryss removing the shell of the Easter eggs she dyed. Mainly I think she enjoyed making a mess. She is starting to talk a lot more now and is doing a great job learning how to share with little brother.









What a great picture of Gavin and Uncle Aaron!!! Two of the cutest boys I know(can't forget Colton)! Gavin seems like such a good baby. It seems like he only cried when he was sleepy or hungry. I had the privelege of rocking him to sleep once.......one of my favorite things to do with babies.

Here are some up close pics of the tulips at my mom and dad's house. They were so bright! I had a lot of fun taking pictures of them. Too bad they only bloom once a year. I was inspired to go back home and start planting my own flowers!! Hopefully I will follow through with that.

At my parents house the dogwood trees were in full bloom!! And they were beautiful!! Spring is a very refreshing time of year.

Here is my nephew Colton. He was not a big fan of the bunny ears, but prefers to be outside playing in the yard. Unfortunately he was having suffering from allergies this Easter and was not feeling as good as usual. We weren't able to travel to middle TN to see the rest of the Hasty family this Easter, but were thankful to get to be with Aaron's family.

Heading home for Easter

I am excited because I'm off tomorrow and Monday for Easter, and I am going to see my family. Aaron will be catching up with me sometime Saturday. He has to stay here in VA and study because his school does not take Easter weekend into consideration when scheduling tests!! He has 3 BIG tests next week....starting on Monday. I finally got some of our pictures ordered and printed! The first time I try and order digital prints online and the machine breaks down at Walgreens! And thanks to thier poor customer service and forgetfulness to call me back twice, I was able to get my pictures for half off the original price. A great deal :). But it did take almost two weeks to get them. Tonight I put them all in an album so now they are ready to travel to TN with me. I'm really excited about seeing my neice and nephews!!

I've included a picture of Aaron(just kidding, it didn't download).....this was one of his "winning" performances at his school's "VCOM Idol" kinda like "American Idol". Of course Aaron loves to sing karaoke so he was one of the first to sign up. And the best part was that there were CASH PRIZES!!! I told him he better sing his heart out and bring home some bacon. And he did!! He won second place, which was $50. WOOOhooooooooooo! Of course he had to bring me down front and sing a song to me, not to be romantic, just to entertain of course. It was a lot of fun.

The other pics are of my sunsets in our big field next door. It's one of my favorite parts of living here. God was so sweet to work that out......He knows I LOVE sunsets!

Hope you all have a great Easter celebration this weekend and that God draws us near to Him in a powerful way.

Look at this beautiful rainbow!!

hello everyone, just wanted to share with you the wonderful blessing I received this morning on my way to work! I just happened to grab the digital camera because I thought I might find something good to take a picture of today. Then as I pulled out onto the road I was filled with JOY and AWE and WONDER at the beautiful sight of this rainbow. The sun was shining still, but it was beginning to rain. I LOVED IT!! It was such a great way to start a Monday morning and be reminded of God's faithful promises to us. The weather has been much warmer lately, which is great, unless you are in med school and you have to study instead of going out to play :(. But Aaron will have a week off at the first of May. He has a long list of things he wants to do around the house. If anyone wants to come visit, that would be a good week (April 28-May 6th).
So I got my hair cut tonight at the mall.....people just really don't listen well!! Of course the girl cut it a bit shorter than I wanted, and it looks a little choppy right now in the back. But, the good thing is that hair grows, and mine grows pretty fast, so as I would tell my kids at school........
"There are some things that we can control and there are others we cannot."..... and this would be one of those we cannot :).
Oh, and Aaron and I had a good quiet time together Saturday morning just talking about our quiet times and God really opened my eyes to a lot of legalistic thinking I get pulled down by, mainly feeling like I need to spend a certain amount of time reading his word and really digging deep and honestly......I've just felt like it was more of a burden than a joy and sweet fellowship with God. So, this week, I'm just trying to read a few verses each morning and set my mind on God throughout the day, not just during my "quiet time". I would feel guilty about not having "good" quiet times every day, just because I feel like God deserves our best and deserves our best efforts. But God revealed to me in a new way that I can never give him what he deserves. He is too worthy. too wonderful. too amazing. and He doesn't even desire my "good" quiet times. He desires for me to delight myself in Him, to "do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him" daily (Micah 6:8) and the bible also says that the Lord doesn't desire sacrifice, but mercy. "His yoke is easy, and His burden is light." So, it was refreshing and uplifting to see these truths in a new light and be able to apply them to my walk. I hope this encourages you too. Have a good week!

More pics of Kenya

When the students were not seeing patients, they were able to play with the kids also. Here Aaron was playing frisbee with a few new friends. The kids were very excited to jump rope with us and they were really good too!
I just thought this kid was the cutest thing!! He was so precious and sweet to us.
Here is one of the walls inside the pharmacy at the clinic. There were two walls like this lined with drugs and medicine.

More Kenya pics!

One of the things i found great joy in doing was giving away tennis shoes and clothes to some of the most needy people. This lady who is carrying a baby came through with only a pair of worn out flip flops on, which is better than nothing at all, but if you could see the land and remember that they walk everywhere they go, shoes are a great need for them. Even though this woman could not speak English hardly at all, the only thing she kept saying was "God bless you." She was so excited to get these tennis shoes and a new jacket! Below, Dr. Jones is hard at work :). I was so proud of him and it was so exciting to see him in his first real medical mission work. Each student had to use a translator to ask questions and find out what the problem was. The students were able to gain a lot of valuable experience and knowledge. God is teaching him, and growing him to be a great doctor for His glory!!

There were always children around and a lot of them. They were so excited to get candy from us. Some of them could speak some English, but most could not.
This is the line of people waiting to be seen at the clinic. As you can imagine, it was hard turning people away at the end of each day, but the people were always respectful and kind to us.

Pictures from Kenya

Hey everyone, here are a few pics from Kenya...... This is a picture of the Rift Valley, the area that we worked in. This picture was taken on our way there from Nairobi.
Aaron is sharing a track and the Gospel with these men while they were waiting to get in to the clinic. It was challenging with the language barrier, but some could speak English.
This picture was taken on top of a mountainside. It shows the back side of the clinic, the waiting tent, and out buses, and some of the people waiting.
This is a close-up of our "tent clinic". In this tent their were four stations of students and translators where patients were seen and questioned. It did get a little crowded at times, but worked well for the most part. If they needed to do anything specific for the patient, there were small rooms with tables inside the clinic building for those situations.

Home from KENYA!!!

WOW!! I can't believe how blessed we are to have been able to go to Kenya and meet and serve so many wonderful people! I have a lot to share, but I am still recovering from jet lag so tonight will be brief. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support! God is so good to faithfully provide for all our needs, before...during....and after the trip. God has strengthened us each day, only by His power are we able to keep going this week. We got home around 8:30 Sunday night and both of us had to go to school and work Monday morning. (whew!) We are definitely ready for the weekend. I have tons of pictures to share, maybe I can put some up this weekend. The people and the land are so beautiful. The students and doctors saw around 900 people at the clinic in 4 days. We were able to pray for and share the gospel with many people. Most of these people seemed to know who Jesus was and many claimed to be Christians. There was some difficulty at times with the language barrier, but we know that the Holy Spirit was working it all out. Ok, I'm about to fall asleep at the computer. I must go to bed now.
I thank God for such an amazing opportunity. Whenever I have the chance to worship with believers from other countries and languages I always get excited and can't help but think of what it will be like someday when we all are gathered together in heaven, singing praises to OUR LORD, how beautiful it will sound.........from every tribe, nation, and tongue! I'm smiling just thinking about it. He loves us ALL, and there are SO MANY of us, He is truly AMAZING!
Goodnight.

Some random pics for you

Hello everyone, I just have so many pictures I want to share with everyone that I can't stay up to date....these pics are from about a month ago maybe. I just wanted everyone to see the snow and how beautiful it is!! The only hard part is getting up and down our driveway!
This is a picture of our church- Good Shepherd Baptist Church. We LOVE it and are so thankful that God has led us there. As you can see we have cleared a little pathway up to our house.....however it can still be very slippery :)
For those of you who will never get to come to VA and see Aaron's school, I thought I would bring it to you! This is where Aaron spends the majority of his time :)
It is only one building, which seems odd to me. I expected something huge after coming from UT in Knoxville. There are two huge auditoriums/lecture rooms for the 1st and 2nd year students. Then in their 3rd year they kick them out into the real world(clinicals). There is also an anatomy lab where they study the dead bodies and stuff, and there is a small library and study rooms and a cafeteria. So......if you ever drop by, we will give you the full tour.

Don't worry there are still many more random pictures yet to come!!

Getting Ready for KENYA!!!!

Hello to all, I've been kinda busy lately with the new job :). Sorry I've been slacking with updating our blog. I really have a lot more pics still I want to add, but I've already procrastinated enough today. I'm off work today because of snow!! HOW NICE! And I really need to start packing and getting all my paperwork finished for my job. Things have been going really well. Aaron has finished another block of school, Praise the Lord. We are both really excited to be able to go on this trip together. God has provided all the money we needed to go and more! He is so faithful and good to us! We have been so blessed to see God providing for our every need. It's funny how things seem to go from "slow and boring" to "fast and crazy" in such a short amount of time!! Just a few weeks ago, I was bored silly with nothing to do. And now, my mind and body are trying to adjust to having a whole lot of things to do. It is so hard for me to keep my eyes on Jesus everyday and not stress about when I'm going to get things done or even how. It is a daily decision that I have to make to trust God with enabling me and helping me to get things done. It's funny the things I worry about and don't worry about. It seems like huge things I trust God for, but the little things, for some reason, I think I'm suppose to be in control of. Anyway, enough about all that. The point is that I'm a work in progress and I'm praying that God will make me more like Jesus everyday, even in all the little things.
A friend of mine sent me this verse and I pass it along to you....

"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word." 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Super Bowl Party!!

Our friends KJ & Michelle had a Super Bowl Party at thier apartment complex. Michelle is a huge Steelers fan, so it turned out to be a great night! The fellowship was great too! We are blessed to have such good friends. Here is a random picture I asked Aaron to pose for........he really did have a good time!
There was a lot of team spirit here...this is a pic of Michelle after her team scored a TD!! To the left of Michelle is our pastor, Matthew Kirkland, and his son, Mac(short for Mackiah, I think I probably spelled that wrong).
Here is our pastor's wife, Heather, and Mac, and Tiffany, Derek's wife.
This is Tank!! He belongs to KJ and Michelle. KJ actually made him a jersey, which you can see he is growing out of :). He was great entertainment as always!

More pics of family

I can't believe I didn't include any pics of our cute nephew Gavin, which is Caryss' little brother. He is a cutie!! We miss all of them very much!

Caryss' Birthday Party

Thank Goodness it's Friday!! I can't believe we will be on our way to Kenya two weeks from today! I've been so consumed with my new job this week that I haven't thought about our trip very much. Anyway, Aaron and I are watching some Olympic stuff on TV and going to watch an episode of "Lost" on his computer later. So, here are some more pics of Caryss' party.........
Caryss and her mom, Laura. Laura does a great job taking care of her two cuties!
I think this might have been Caryss' favorite present......her Dora Jeep!!
Caryss opening present after present after present..........lots of fun stuff!
"Pucker up!"---Caryss giving her dad some sugar
Mmmmmm good, Caryss enjoying her birthday cake

Caryss' 2nd Birthday Party!!

Well, I must say this has been an exhausting week. It is going to take a little bit of time getting adjusted to waking up so early. As any of you who know me would understand because I am not an early bird! I am anxious to meet my two students tomorrow and be in my classroom all day.

So here are some pics of Caryss' 2nd birthday party. It was a Dora Birthday Party, Caryss' favorite person. She seemed a little overwhelmed by all the people at first, but eventually was able to enjoy herself.

Here are some pics of Caryss blowing bubbles and of her waiting patiently to eat her Dora birthday cake.



Here is a pic of Daniel, Clint, and Aaron. (Aaron's brothers).

Visiting Family in Tennessee

YES!!! I was successful in downloading pictures tonight! These are pics from our visit to TN on Jan. 27-29. We spent some time with both of our families and I will be including pics from Caryss' Birthday party next. But for now, here are some great pics of my family, mainly my nephew because he is the cutest! He likes to roar like a lion, read books, dance to music(like his aunt & uncle), and turn the tv on and off :) . Oh, and of course, he loves to eat......anything. He chugs a big glass of milk every morning. He's a growing boy for sure!! Carla and I were able to spend some more time working on his scrapbook, which is coming along great!

During this trip, Colton actually made some sounds that sounded like "Sonya", but really "Nanya". I was pretty excited!
Me and Colton decided to go outside and swing for awhile. He enjoys that too.
Colton talks on the phone more than I do. If someone calls, he insists on talking to them no matter who it is. He has actually pushed the redial button and called me on his own :). Proud Momma & Daddy! What a happy family! This is my sister, Carla, and my brother-in-law Scott. They do a great job.

Well, just to let you know my job is going good so far. I went to my school for the first time today. It takes about 45 minutes to get there, but it is a beautiful drive through the mountains on a 4-lane highway most of the time. I observed a Kindergarten class today and will observe 2nd grade tomorrow. Then on Friday I will be in my classroom, 3rd grade and will meet my 2 students!! Say a prayer for me learning and adjusting to this new position. I am so thankful for this job and I pray that God will use me to be a Light to my students and co-workers. I know He has put me in this position for a purpose. I am also praying about and working on not worrying about things like how I will know what to do or how I will do all the paperwork. It is a daily choice that I need to make to lay it down at Jesus' feet and trust Him to provide for what I need. I know that when I am stressed and feel burdened and weighed down that I am not resting in Him. Aaron reminded me of God's word, which says, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take MY YOKE upon you and LEARN from ME, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 and of course in Matthew 6:25-34, I love these verses. I pray that God would use these verses to help you not to worry about things, but to "seek FIRST His Kingdom and His righteousness, so that all these things will be added unto you."