We're Off Again!

Well in case you didn't know it, Mary Jane and I are celebrating our 20th anniversary in a couple of months. We've always said that for our 20th anniversary that we wanted to go to Mexico or some place tropical for a few days to celebrate... BY OUR SELF! You see we've always had kids with us for the entire length of our marriage. We had Michael within the first year that we married and have NEVER gone anywhere by our self. So, we always said the 20 year thing was going to be our year to go somewhere alone. Before I tell you where we're going, let me tell you something else first.

This past year has been amazing. Who would have ever thought that we would be where we are at this stage of our lives? 8 kids? I would have told you you were crazy and that you'd obviously lost your mind if you told me we'd have this many kids! It's amazing to see how God 'sets us up' for things He needs us to do...things we never thought we'd do... but things He wants us to do. There have been so many difficult situations that we've had to push through. So many mountains to climb. So many hurdles to jump over. But God has been so good to us. He has allowed our family to grow closer together and closer to Him than ever before. Because of the 'hard times' we've gone through this past year we've grown closer to God because of it. But don't get me wrong... the good times have far out-weighed the bad. I couldn't even imagine not doing what we're doing right not. What's weird is that no matter how difficult the situation we've never worried, doubted or even feared the things we've faced. It's like we're in this un-penetratable bubble where no matter what... we're going to come out victorious. It's pretty cool. I can honestly say that His presence is more real to me today than it ever has been and I know that whatever we face in the future, it's going to be great.

Now back to our anniversary... A few months ago, as we were starting to think about making reservations for where we were going to stay for our 20th anniversary, we had a thought... "Life is short and if it wasn't for the Lord we wouldn't have made it to our 2nd year anniversary much less our 20th"... so why don't we do something different? Why don't we do something to honor God and make an eternal impact all at the same time? Why don't we go on a mission trip instead of going to the beach? If we went to the beach... sure we'd get some sun (i need it... there's nothing more unattractive than my neon white legs in shorts!), we'd get to relax, we'd get to spend some time alone... but wait a minute... we'd probably forget all about it in a few years and we would have missed an opportunity to do something that's "outside the box" to honor God. So, we decided to do it! Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't take vacations or spend time doing nothing... what I'm saying is that in the stage of life the Dunn's are in right now, we want to do this. So in an hour and a half, MJ and I are heading to the airport to catch a flight to Curitiba, Brazil where we will be working along side another ministry speaking in schools, ministering in some of the slums and going back to minister in the orphanage that our kids came from. That's right! We're going back to the place that literally wore me out just a little over a year ago. The same exact place! The same place we stayed, lived, ate and breathed for 46 days last year. The place I was happy to escape from. Isn't God funny? We're excited but also very sad. For most people, they would probably love the opportunity to get a break from all these kids for 7 days... but I guess we're crazy or something because it's difficult. There's already been a lot of tears flowing today and we haven't even left yet! But we know that God is going to allow us to minister in a mighty way... we're doing it for Him! So, We're off again!

We'll post again once we arrive in Brazil.

Love Ya,

Jim and MJ