Tom and Jenni Keating

Now that we live in the city, it’s not often that I get to spend an afternoon in downtown Lemont (our home of 6 years). I absolutely love roaming around to all my favorite little shops and checking in on my dear friends.  Every once in a while there’s even time for tea.  My friend Vivianna owns an adorable flower shop in Lemont called Petal Play Design. She is amazingly talented and I am always in awe of the masterpieces she creates.  It’s pretty much one of my favorite things to walk in the door of her shop to a room filled with sunlight and gorgeous flowers.  I smell every single candle, look at all the new jewelry and then we catch up over a cup of tea. Honestly, it is one of my favorite things in the world.  Thank you Viv. I am so grateful for the friends I have in Lemont.  You are all truly one of my greatest treasures.

It turns out we’ve have a new neighbor that likes to come and sit on our balcony.  He visits every so often and calls to all of us inside.  I think he may be coming to visit our two cats, Scout and Finch. Unfortunately for him, they are not very interested in making new friends and pretty much ignore him.  Well, that is until he leaves.  Then they wait by the window for him to return so they can ignore him some more.  Really, it feels like junior high all over again.

We stayed close to home this weekend and joined the congregation of Calvary Assembly in Flossmoor. We had a great time sharing in Sunday School with the Brendel’s (grandparents to our friends, Celia and Tessa!) and during the main worship service.  It’s been really great to get to know Pastor Michael and his family.   We always appreciate the privilege of sharing our story and passion for Mali.  It’s always awesome when we know God is moving in the hearts of others for this enormous need as well. Thank you friends!

When I was a little girl, my sister and I had a light up globe in our room.  It sat on the dresser in between our beds and kept us safe in the middle of the night.  One summer, a young couple named Bob & Denise, stayed with us while they were home from college.  They had such a huge heart for missions and for Africa.  One night, I remember Bob showing us how to we could pray for people serving God in countries all over the world.  After that we made sure to follow his instructions every night.  We would close our eyes, spin the globe and see where in the world our finger landed. That was how we decided what country to pray for at bedtime.  I remember feeling a little guilty sometimes for making sure my finger landed in Africa. Hopefully, God didn’t mind that much. Looks like maybe He knew the whole time.

We spent this past Sunday morning with our friends at Bethel Assembly in Sycamore, IL. The exact same Sycamore, IL where a small earthquake that shook the western suburbs of Chicago took place almost a month ago.  Thankfully, there were no earthquakes this weekend.  Just a really great Sunday of sharing our story and getting to meet some great people - including a fellow White Sox fan! (Always a pleasure).

One of coolest things about sharing the need in Mali is seeing God call others to make a difference in the world.  This Sunday, it was pretty amazing to hear to many kids feel like God may be asking them to do something similar when they grow up. We know that you can never be too young to begin following God’s BIG dreams for your life. He reminds us all the time.  Thank you friends in Sycamore for everything you are doing to make an impact in your community and around the world!

Older people have tons of secrets that they keep from younger people. Not because they’re greedy.  It’s just because we have to figure it our for ourselves.  One of those secrets is breakfast. It really hasn’t been until recently that Tom & I have discovered breakfast.  When we were in college - sleep was much more important. When we had to be out the door - Starbucks always won.  Now that we are home and trying to save some money, breakfast has quickly become our favorite meal of the day.  Not surprisingly - it also fills us up.  (Just like all those commercials said it would).

Soon we will leave again and breakfast will fall to the wayside.  So for today, I want to take a moment to celebrate Breakfast - the secret of old people and the best meal of the day.

After we got back from Phoenix a couple weeks ago - we woke up to this.  THIS my Phoenix friends is what other people in the world go through during the season of winter. It’s called snow and it’s LITERALLY freezing cold.  I know you could never understand this.  But do me this one favor.  Grab a book, take a walk over to your freezer and then - just sit inside it.  Not too long - just long enough to get good and cold.  THAT my friends, is winter.

We had a great time with Pastors John & Robbie Keck in Industry a couple weeks ago.  It was amazing to see so many people come out on a snowy Valentines night. While the town of Industry may be small the people at this church sure have a BIG heart for their community and the world. There were a lot of things we really enjoyed about our time there.  It was super exciting to drive up and see the new addition they are in the middle of building themselves. All of the people were warm and friendly and the time they spent in prayer for us was so encouraging.  To top it off, after we left, Pastor John and Robbie gave the rest of their Valentine’s Night to chaperone a youth all- nighter.  Now that’s real love.

We spent a snowy Valentines Sunday in Quincy, IL with our friends at Faith Assembly.  It was fun spending time with Pastor Larry & Patti and meeting so many people in their congregation.  We had a great time sharing our story with adults and kids alike!  It’s was awesome to see the response to the issue of dirty water in Mali.  Even the kids were moved to take action.  We look forward to partnering with churches like Faith to one day bring clean water to a village in need. My favorite moment of the day - a beautiful red Valentines Day rose for every lady.  Now that’s classy.

Growing up, I always dreamed of calling into a radio station and asking them to play a song for me. Of course, I don’t know if I ever actually did it. But today, on Valentines Day 2010, I want to dedicate a song to the person I love. Here’s a little tune by the Eurythmics going out to Tom.  Happy Valentines Day!