Grey Barn Farm Girls

Heralding the launch of Grey Barn Farm dot com on Monday 4.1.13

On 9.7.13 we'll kick open the timber and tin shed doors for the grand opening of Grey Barn Farm Occasions.

Save the dates! 

We haven't been this excited in a long time!

You can wait until next Monday or you can go here to sign-up for "Farm Journal" the official newsletter from the Grey Barn Farm Girls
e-mail addresses kept private, we promise.

We are passionate about telling stories, especially love stories, and more specifically wedding day stories.

We're fixin' to start telling a couple rustic wedding day stories and/or happy family occasion(s) in 2014, hopefully yours.

It's A Spirit Thing

"Where is your year end video?"  said no one.

"It's ok, really it is," said the little red hen.

Henceforth, my  fiscal  emotional year may commence and culminate in March. But I will now play for you 2012's video trailer, for your week-end viewing pleasure.

And she did.

 

Before And Africa

... and so we end this reverie with a blessed and Happy 30th birthday to Jennifer Grace!

Thanks for following along, you can read about Season 2 and following at Jennifer's blog Before And Africa. 

Dear Friends and Family,
                       Where to even begin this letter, I don't know.  What we have experienced in a month, is so much more than we will ever be able to express in a letter, but we will try.  Our time was blessed with the prayers that all of you sent our way.  The money given was used in the lives of the people who need it most.  Let me tell you a little bit about what your donations have done.  We were able to bring suitcases full of baby clothes and supplies for the orphanage.  When we arrived, we realized how far these things would go.  Hope House Babies Home, is home to approximately 20 babies, depending on adoptions and new arrivals at any given time.  Imagine how much laundry one baby goes through in a day, now imagine 19 more.  The clothes are constantly getting washed and worn, so it's hard to keep things nice for very long.  Just the bibs alone, that these babies go through in an hour, is incredible.  We were also able to bring a huge suitcase full of stuffed toys, which gave them something new and clean to play with.  Many of the babies have coughs constantly because they are all sharing old, germ ridden toys.  The looks on their little faces when we dumped a suitcase full of new toys on the floor, I will never forget.  One little man named Moses, decided he needed to make a pile in a corner just for him so he went around and collected all the new toys and just stared at them. 
            At the end of our stay, on Easter Sunday, we were able to bring some of the old clothes from the orphanage to the slum to the families of a church there.  Because of your donations, not only were we able to give to the orphanage but we were able to give again to this church family.  The Pastor, Amos Okolo, told us to send greetings to our families, friends and churches at home, and let all of you know that something good can come out of the slums.  He has dedicated his life to serving an area where people are starving and sick, but he wants everyone to know, there is hope in desperation, because they have the hope of Jesus.  It was a powerful thing to see people who, in all respects, should have no hope, possessing more hope than I will ever have. 
            We fell in love with the Kenyans, and we fell in love with the twenty little babies that we fed, changed, held, and played with for four weeks.  At Hope House, the babies are usually adopted before the age of 3, so this is a place that is doing their part to help these innocent victims of disease.  They don't often have regular volunteers, and they struggle to pay their staff most months.  The staff is so busy with laundry, cleaning, cooking, changing, and feeding, that the babies don't often get the one on one time they desperately need for their mental and physical development.  For four weeks, we were able to give them a little bit of the love that they need. Some of them even called us "Mom".  They wanted to be in our arms at all times, and when it was time for us to leave in the evenings, watching them hold out their arms and cry for us, was a pain I won't soon get over.  So we want to say a huge THANK YOU, for what you have done in the lives of these babies!!!  You will be blessed for not turning a blind eye to the hurt in our world, and doing something to help stop it. We were blessed by your generous hearts and prayerful minds. We will never forget the generosity of the ones we love and we pray we can give to you what you have given to us.
 With all that said, there is so much more we can do!!!    God bless you all for your hearts and your beautiful example of what it means to be human.

Thank YOU, Jen and God bless you as you continue on the journey.

Spring Break '08

MELISSA 
The best thing about Africa was...The kids.


The hardest part of the trip was...Leaving them.


The scariest time was when...I thought Tim was choking on his food....but then he just threw it up.


What kind of culture shock did you experience...Being stared at everywhere you go, and the hole in the ground that was our toilet


The people I will remember forever are...Amos, Laizer, and the hope house babies.


The biggest lesson God taught me...We can't help what we're born into....but no matter where that may be, He is present. 


What I will never forget is...worship with the Masai tribe.


The funniest moment...One night we stayed up for half the night trying to think of the name of the mom in the lion king.....Sarabi.


The saddest moment...Leaving


If you could go back tomorrow...I would? lol


Africa will forever...be apart of me


How can we help the orphanage/Amos/Lazier...Prayer. That Amos will raise support to finish his church. and that the Hope House will be blessed and that the children will be put in good homes.


What one thing do you want people to know about...Um...see above.


The food was...blan.


How did you celebrate your trip in Amsterdam...I don't know what you're talking about....


How were your prayers answered...The leaders of Kenya came to a peace agreement while we were flying over the ocean.


Next time I will...stay longer.


What kind of culture shock did you experience upon your return...Target is big.


I will never again complain of...bad roads.


I will always...remember.

JEN 

The best thing about Africa was...the people


The hardest part of the trip was...wondering if these babies would have homes someday


The scariest time was when...I almost got hit by a truck


What kind of culture shock did you experience...I wasn't really shocked by any of it...except maybe the music on the public transportation.


The people I will remember forever are...Lazier, Amos, Simon (the interpreter at the Masai tribe) , the babies
 and why I will remember them... Because they love Jesus and have hearts that are too big for their bodies


The biggest lesson God taught me...to not judge Americans for not giving enough, because a lot of people haven't seen what we've seen. Also that beautiful things can come from desperate situations.


What I will never forget is...


The funniest moment...Trying to figure out the name of the mom lion on lion king at 1 a.m.


The saddest moment...when I finally admitted that I was in love with the kids and realized I had to leave them


If you could go back tomorrow...I would


Africa will forever...have a part of me


How can we help the orphanage/Moses/Lazier...e-mail me and I will tell you! Jgracephoto(at)gmaildotcom
  Also you can now go here:  BEFORE AND AFRICA

What one thing do you want people to know about...money is something that comes easily to us. It takes them years to raise money to finish churches or put up toilets...things that would take us days or hours. I want people to know that there are so many things they can do, and do we really need all the things that we buy? 


The food was...tasteless


How did you celebrate your trip in Amsterdam...Beers for breakfast


How were your prayers answered...I prayed that God change my heart and he did
 ... plus there were many more ... too many to write in a little comment box.

Next time I will...Bring more things to give away


What kind of culture shock did you experience upon your return...I just noticed all of the things I have been taking for granted...even my "small" house seems huge to me now
I will never again complain of..."being broke" or "being sick"


I will always...feel completely and totally blessed to have had this experience. I missed one



What I will never forget is...the three different worship services we attended...I will never worship the same again