Junction City is a very exciting place to go, especially when you don't get out much and the hotel is free, complete with cable and an indoor swimming pool! Vince had training Monday through Thursday and we swam our little hearts out. Daddy would take the girls a little before 6 am, before he went to training, and I would then do homeschool and then we would swim for another 2-3 hours, naptime, then dinner and more swimming!!! It was CRAZY being in a room with three girls for 5 days! We were not to thrilled with eachother at times and I think we gained 5 lbs. each while there. The coolest thing we did was drive through Manhattan, see our old campus and visit Life Choice Ministries (LCM) Pregnancy Center. I took the girls in there and visited with Joy, the director and she remembered us through our letter we sent 5 years ago. For those of you who don't know... Vince and I met at KSU in August of 1998 and a couple months later found out we were pregnant. I had taken two home pregnancy tests and even went to my Lawrence physician and all three tests were negative. That semester, LCM was invited to come and speak at my Human Development class and they made us write down there number, walking down the aisles to make sure we wrote down their info. Finally I called and Vince and I went in. A sweet lady, bigger, mid-50's, slowly walked us down the hall and had us watch a pro-life video. We said to eachother "what a great ministry...we'd never have an abortion...we aren't pregnant..." She returned and sat down and told us the news. We were six weeks pregnant. I collapsed in her bosom and she just held me...Best embrace I have ever felt in my life. It felt as if Jesus himself were holding me. (Not exaggerating). She was the first Christian to show me Christ's love, grace to me a sinner. It's sad she was the first, but it was amazing! She prayed with us and we told her we would not have an abortion. Four years and two girls later, we returned to Manhattan to visit some friends and while there, we slipped a note under the door about this wonderful nurse and how she loved us and how much their ministry had touched our lives. The director called the next day and told us about our nurse. Her name was Shirl Brockgreitens and she had passed away nine months before. Vince talked first and when he started crying I knew it wasn't good. She had been in a coma for a year, prior to our meeting and miraculously, she came out, but still battled with a sickness. She volunteered one day a week, taking the other six days to recover. Her day was our day. The director asked if she could share the letter with her husband and a couple weeks later we received a note:
Vince and Julie:
LCM shared your letter with us and needless to say, it touched my heart. I always told Shirl she would never know all the good she did this side of heaven. She didn't talk much about her time at LCM but she did tell me about the two of you. We prayed often for you. Her last two years were very rough....Mike.
You know when people say they will pray for you, but you know they probably won't. When I read that letter, I felt that God just was right there saying "THEY DID pray for you!" She is one of the first, if not the first person I want to hug in heaven.
Wow, did I get off subject. Anyways, here are some pics of the girls with Joy and in the hotel. All of this to say, you never know how God is going to use you to bless others and we did have a good time! Oh, and our local pregnancy center's website is
www.pcclawrence.org. Check it out!
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