What A Week!!!

Hey Everybody,

I just wanted to let you know that this has been a truly amazing week! After being in Tulsa the first part of the week, I jumped back into things on Wednesday, and we had some really cool things going on. We have actually graduated 18 girls from Mercy Ministries this week, 12 of which were in Nashville. Honestly, some of the most amazing testimonies I have ever heard. I am in awe of God and His ability to transform lives in such an amazing way. People can argue all day long about whether or not they believe the same about doctrinal issues, but you can absolutely not argue about a changed life. In fact, one of the girls who graduated this week asked me if I would be willing to post her before and after picture, so I have done that here for you. I will be sharing her story later on, but for now I will just let the pictures speak for themselves.

This is one of 18 beautiful girls who graduated from Mercy Ministries this week. One of the best things about the fact that 18 girls graduated this week is that there will be 18 more girls coming off of our waiting list to enter the program – how cool is that!!

Since today is Friday, I want to tell you about something really neat that happened just this afternoon. I had the amazing privilege of praying over a beautiful 15-year old resident of Mercy who gave birth to a beautiful baby boy not too long ago. Today, we had the placement ceremony where the birthmother was able to literally place the child into the arms of the adoptive couple that she herself chose to parent her child. There was not a dry eye in our conference room as we met together, prayed together, laughed, cried, and shared the joy of this awesome time. I just wanted to share some of the joy of today and of this week. It has truly been one of the best weeks of ministry that we have ever had at Mercy!

In closing, many of you know that I have had a really tough schedule the last few months and have been on the road a lot, both in this country and in other countries. It is definitely time for me to pull apart and take a break. So…for the next two weeks I will be pulling away to get some rest and spend time with God in a beautiful secluded place (small hint - white sand and emerald blue, clear, beautiful ocean). Since I am taking a break, I have asked some other people in our extended Mercy world to be special guests on my blog while I am gone. Please stay connected because you will love hearing from them!!! Pray for me while I am gone that I will be refreshed, renewed, and strengthened.

I leave straight out of my vacation to speak at the LifeWomen Conference in Vancouver, Canada. Then from there, I leave to fly to Virginia Beach to do a special Mother’s Day service and then back to Nashville after that. I hope you guys have an incredibly amazing next two weeks. You will definitely love hearing from my special guests. In fact, Cassidy is my Executive Assistant and oversees a lot of ministry affairs, both in this country and in other countries. Her assistant is Katelyn. These two are probably the ones who work the closest with me on a regular ongoing basis. In fact, one or the other of them travel with me from time to time. I have asked the two of them to write a guest blog together while I am gone, and I have given them permission to tell all (I know I am living dangerously to do this)! I think they are going to be talking to you on Monday so you don’t want to miss this one!

Love to all,

Nancy