From Michele and Francis

We praise and thank God for taking care of our family thus far with a wonderful church here in Tallahassee. Especially for his protection whenever we travel and the opportunities to see new things here.

We also want to thank God for protecting us as we were on Tornado watch a few weeks back and it missed our city, hitting some cities west of us. And a week later, it missed us again, hitting a town just east of us. There were casualities. We really are so grateful as the houses here are not equipped to handle tornadoes.

They are made of wood and we are on the 2nd floor (the highest). Should a F5 tornado hit us, the entire roof can fly off and hiding in the bathtub may be our only chance but it may not even be enough. What's worse was it was night and you cannot see a tornado coming. The kids were all sleeping and you cannot drive out. The only way was to hide in an inner room without windows if you do not have a basement. Hence, we really praise and thank God for His mercy!

Basically, it's tornado season for 1st half of yr and hurricane season for 2nd half of yr. It's a really amazing country but they are so many natural weather calamities and it's a constant lookout. Like in the north, it's chaos with the heavy snow now. It can be tornado watch now, but tomorrow, it's desert heat.

In all cases, we praise and thank God for His protection on us always.

Also, thank God for extending our lease without penalty for another 5 months. The practice here penalty for a short extension. All our friends in other apartments has to pay 20% more for their extension. But, by the grace of God, the management extended without penalty and at same rent. Otherwise, we will have to shift out and source for new place and pack, etc. Cannot imagine that. Praise the Lord. Thank you God.

Also, we know you are always behind us and we thank you all for always keeping us in prayer.

Francis, Michele, Sonya & Ethan

(we have added some pics just to share where we live)

For more pics visit Francis TRAVEL USA blog:
http://francistan.net/blog/

God makes us smile!

Blessings come around! You give and God gives back to you. Albert, Caitlyn and I were taking a walk (our feeble attempt to keep fit!) one evening. At a road junction, we spotted a wallet on the ground. We picked it up (it was a fat one with several bank cards, credit cards and cash) and immediately tried to find a contact number we could call. When we phoned the owner of the lost wallet, he was so relieved and thankful that there were still some honest people around. A few days later, we found in our letter box, a thank you card with 4 supermarket vouchers amounting to $100. We were just doing the right thing in God's eyes, not expecting any rewards but our God is a generous giver.

Not just that, a month ago I called up AMEX (American Express) to cancel my credit card coz I haven't been using it plus the times I wanted to use it, shops won't accept it. So when asked why I was cancelling the card, I gave them those reasons. The personnel at AMEX informed me I've been issued a card that is subscription free for life and then he offered me a $50 Harvey Norman gift card to keep my credit card. That was a pleasant ! So just over the month, I've been blessed with these little extras to which I credit them as favours from our loving Father who likes to make us smile.

-vera-