Good Afternoon Key Clubbers!

My time in South Dakota is going well. Tanner (the 3rd old I’m nannying) and I are getting along just fine : ).

Tanner lives on a sheep farm!!

We went to church together yesterday - the same church that I’ll be sharing about Malachi with this week. It was nice to meet and visit with the pastor and many of the church’s members. I’m really looking forward to sharing on Sunday, and I ask that you’d pray for me as I prepare this week, and that I’d communicate my passion and vision for ministering within the military community clearly.

In keeping with the theme of sharing personal stories from students that I worked with in Okinawa, I’d like to introduce you to Joelle this week. Where do I begin, as I try to describe her to you? I met Joelle as she was entering the 7th grade. She’s a total sweetheart, really fun, and one of the most thoughtful students I’ve ever known. She’s the second oldest of 4 children, her dad is a Marine officer, and her family lived in Okinawa for 4 years.

I asked her to share a little about what it was like for her growing up in the military.

Military life, honestly, is pretty tough. I mean, there are a lot of pros, don't get me wrong. You get to travel to different places and grow closer to your family (because the less time you get with your military parents due to deployments and other separations, the more you appreciate the times you do have). However, I find that it has been quite a tough journey moving around from place to place my whole life. Every three years or so (give or take) our family would pick up, move, leave everything secure and stable, and land wherever the military sent us. It often left our family scrambling to pick up the loose ends. Constantly being the new kid on the block kind of built up my defenses, personally, and made it harder to construct deep friendships at times.

Would you join me in praying for...

• Sweet times together for military families
• Students who, like Joelle, have put up shields when it comes to making friends. So many military students long for deep relationships, yet past good-byes can make it hard to say “hello” again. Pray that they would take risks, knowing that friendships are vital and important on so many levels! (check out Eccles. 4:9-12)

Thanks for your prayers! Blessings on you friends, as you serve our Lord this week!

Because of Christ,

Beth