Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, I am a few months late. 3 months to be exact! I have been meaning to post pictures of the wonderful birthday presents my sweet husband gave me.

homemade bracelet made out of buttons

puppy!!!

he made me this sign
it pretty much sums up my life

Locks of Love

I love having long hair. Well, most days. Not when it takes forever to brush out the knots. Or when Musket thinks it is a toy to play tug-o-war with. Or when I get terrible headaches because it is so thick and heavy. I was thinking that it is time for a change. Unfortunately, Todd LOVES my long hair. We would causally talk about me cutting it. A few weeks ago I bumped into a dear friend who had just gotten a wig from the Cancer Society to wear for her son's wedding. I realized that I was being selfish. There are people who lose their hair due to illness, or treatment of an illness. And here I am stressing about getting a haircut. So, this morning I did it. 10" gone! I love it. It feels lighter. And, the fact that a few people have told me that it makes me look younger/thinner makes me love it even more! My hair will grow back. And who knows, maybe I'll cut it again to donate.

India Here We Come!

Dear Friends & Family,

Greetings from Lynchburg!!

As many of you know, we have been trying to start a family for the past 5 years. A few months ago we realized that we have spent more time living in the “but what if we are pregnant?” mindset when we were planning things than actually living. So, we stopped all fertility treatments and decided to start enjoying life! Our first step was to take ballroom dance lessons. We are by no means dancers but we had a lot of fun together. As we prayed about this next chapter of our lives, Tobey suggested that we take a vacation. Todd suggested a missions trip. We started to pray about it and the next Sunday our church announced this year’s missions trips.

So, we are writing to tell you about a humbling opportunity we have to serve our Lord. We are going to Keshavapurum, India with Brentwood Church!!

From July 29^th to August 7^th of 2011, we are going to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a village of about 5,000 people in South Central India. India is approximately one third of the size of the United States, but is home to one billion people, which makes it the second largest populated country in the world!

Five years ago Brentwood Church partnered with Dr. Samuel Kadari from Global Gospel Ministries to adopt the village of Keshavapurum. By creating consistent relationships that are fostered year after year; our hope is to show the people of Keshavapurum the love of Christ and the importance of a relationship with Him. Over the past three years, Brentwood teams have dug a well, constructed a Community Center, a playground, a Church, and a Christian School in this poor farming village. We have consistently poured our love and God’s resources into this village and are making a huge impact for Christ. Hundreds have come to know the Lord through these efforts. This July/August, we will be going again to proclaim the Gospel by promoting the school, doing more construction, and teaching some English classes.

We are so excited to see how God will use us during this trip!

We would be honored if you would join us in partnering with God in the amazing work being done in India. We are personally in need of your support for this mission. We must raise $3500 each (a total of $7000!) before June 29, in order to go to India in July. This amount will cover the full cost of the mission: including all travel VISAS, immunizations, airfare, food and lodging. We are not going to participate in this Field Assignment without personal sacrifice and diligent work to provide for our costs. We simply know that is beyond what we alone can do. We would be sincerely grateful to you for your financial support. Our first deadline is May 20^th. We must raise the first $800 each so a down payment can be made on our plane tickets.

If you want to stand with us and this worthy endeavor, please make your checks payable to Brentwood Church with INDIA in the memo line, and then please include a note with our full name, please do not put our name in the memo section. Of course, all contributions are tax deductible.

While money is important, it comes in a distant second to our need for your prayer support. Since prayer is so important to the success of this mission, we have enclosed a magnet that you can put on the "fridge" as a reminder to pray for us daily. .

If you’d like to know more about our team and Brentwood Church’s ministry opportunities in India, you can visit our website: www.helpteaminida.com or email us any questions at thurston2005@hotmail.com. We will also include updates on our blog, www.thurstonthoughts.blogspot.com.

Thank you so much for your time and your kind consideration!

Serving HIM in India,

Todd & Tobey Thurston

PLEASE SEND FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO Brentwood Church
1971 English Tavern Road
Lynchburg, VA 24501

Dancing Fools

I wish I had a picture. But I don't. Todd and I just completed an 8 week ballroom dance class through the Lynchburg Parks and Recreation Department. We learned the basics to the Waltz, Foxtrot, Rumba, and Swing. We did not look graceful at times but, we laughed A LOT! Our instructors were great. Very patient with our class! The wife loved to push me aside and dance with Todd. In the end, we were told that we have all of the mechanics down but not the dancyness. Is that even a word?! Basically, we could do the steps but had NO rhythm when they put music on! But who cares?! We had fun and got to spend time together, and there was a little exercising in there too! We will probably take the class again. And we will probably be the youngest in the class again. But we don't care because we will laugh again too! And maybe get some pictures!

Cake Fun

This month I took a 4 week cake decorating class with some friends. It was at the local Michael's. I did not come out of the class as a pro but I did have fun with Colleen and Ashley!

We are Blessed!

He thinks it is okay to stand on tables since he is so small! Um, we need to break that habit!
So sweet!
Enjoying strawberry yogurt. Yes, that is yogurt all over his face!
Morning kisses!
Showing off his new sweater
Oh, and in case you haven't heard..... his name is MUSKET.

Our Family Has Grown Again

Introducing...... well, we don't know yet! Today I got my birthday present. A sweet little puppy. He is 8 weeks old today. His mom is a pitt/german shepherd mix and his dad is a black lab. Here are a few pics from his first night with us. Oh, and we are open to name suggestions. Leave a comment and help us give this little guy a name!