I just received a much needed email from Hud today. Yesterday, I had surgery on my bladder and I wanted you, our dear friends, to know that everything went quite well. I’m resting today, as Lexi and the boys are going up to their old neighborhood to be with friends and to swim all day. Anyway, Hud said that he had been thinking of me yesterday, and that the staff of our church there in Aix en Provence, France had prayed for me as well. Sweet!

Here is an excerpt of his email. This is what we work and pray for!

Blessings! Nancy

hey i am about to go to sleep in france at the hoovers house and will leave for germany tomorrow.
i talked with lexi for a moment today and she said that what she knew was affirming about the procedure,
i prayed for you at the time , or close to it and had you on my thoughts all day. the staff also prayed a sweet prayer today for you.
i spent about 11 hours presenting , and then fielding questions, i sensed that the Lord was present and even though tired was buoyed by the fact that this is what i have been working for in ca,….. a time where there is inquiry and no crisis to drive it and concerted effort to comprehend better what sustainable soul growth and development looks like in a team,
the service last nite was also a enjoyable time where i spent a good bit of the time fielding questions regarding soul care. a fascinating journey to say the least.

Obviously, Hud’s emails are short and to the point, with no fuss or capitalization: :o) That’s what I love about him! :o) Please pray for him!

Love you all. Many blessings!

Nancy

Hud and Nancy | © Photo by Sherry Peters Photography

Since the first week in July, we’ve had people in our home. Hud has been wonderful - making beds and cooking!

Leadership for CAI were here starting July 6th, until our CONNECT (July 12-16) in Granby, Colorado, (just one of 5 Regional CONNECTS this year). Hud spoke at this CONNECT, and did a couple of workshops on “Shame”.

Then our Dutch family from the Netherlands came to stay with us for several days after CONNECT. It was lovely to have them. They’ve been saving for this for several years. They have 4 kids that we call our Dutch babies. The morning they left, I went to my H.S. girlfriend’s funeral, and needless to say, “I was done” - that end of the rope thing, you know.

That night we had a huge wind and hail storm, which totaled our roof and sheds and damaged my beautiful flowers in our backyard, and tore off 3 huge limbs from our tree in the front yard. And since Hud was making a bed for Huddy and April in our garage, my car was out - yes the one that was given to me when we left TX. And yes, it too was totaled. So sorry! I guess I had a little rope left after all. :o)

Then our two grand daughters came to stay with us (Cate, 4 and Olive, 1) for 3 days. They took a lot of energy! And speaking of energy, at the end of the day, I would say that the girls won :o), but we had such fun, and it was a privilege to keep them. Jeff and Libby came the last night of their stay, and we all had breakfast together on our patio the next morning. The weather is spectacular in Colorado (when it’s not hailing)! That same evening, Jody, Lexi and Zane, 10, and Tab, 8, came to be with us for 3 weeks, from Heidelberg. Actually, Jody leaves the 9th to go back to Heidelberg because of work, but Lexi and the boys will be here till about the 19th of Aug.

Huddy and April spent the night last night, after our big family b.d. party up at Jeff and Lib’s in Ft. Collins! (Olive’s, 2nd, Huddy’s 7th, Libby’s 14th, Lexi 15th, Hud, 27th) They just left to move back to Virginia early this morning!! Please pray for this next chapter in their lives! Parting is such sweet sorrow, and is emotionally challenging as well.

Hud will be gone for a month to Europe starting Aug. 6th!

He will be teaching and counseling at two of our other CONNECTS. One in Muenster, Germany, and one in Lisbon, Portugal. There will also be a leadership team meeting in France his last week of travel. Please pray for his safety, and that he will have extra strength to minister to our staff.

He will be making a stop in Aix en Provence, France the first leg of his journey, to teach and counsel with our team there. They just lost their team leaders, but it still seems to be a strong team. Julie and Darren Jones and their two kiddoes had to move out of France for a year because they had been in Aix for 5 years, and had to move away because of visa issues. They will be in Morocco at a Christian school, counseling and teaching, and hopefully will return after a year, as team leaders.

Please pray for all of our team leaders and their teams, that they will thrive, and be aware of God’s presence and His empowerment.

As you can see, Christian Associates is growing and reproducing. The other two CONNECTS are/were in Russia and Uruguay! The Lord is building His Church, and you are a big part of the puzzle. Thanks for your support and prayers. We love you very much.

I’ll be having surgery on my bladder Aug 10th. I’ve had Interstitial Cystitis for 6 years now, and the symptoms include sloughing of the inner walls of the bladder, ulcers, pain, etc. Please pray for me while Hud is gone. I’m so thankful that Lexi will be here to take care of me after the surgery.

Thanks so much for your consistent love and generosity. We couldn’t stay as involved with people and relational endeavors without your kind involvement.

May the Lord bless you richly in this unique global economy and attendant technology. Actually, as you look in the news about what technology is coming up with these days, it seems like whatever can be done, is tried without a moral underpinning. All meaningless, as Ecclesiastics says. As believers in Christ and the power He gives, we continue to press towards the mark of His High Calling. Stay focused and reach out to your worlds, pay attention. Christ says He is coming for us, and that is our only HOPE. We want to have our families and friends join us in eternity. It will be worth it all when we see Jesus!

By His Amazing Grace, indeed!

Nancy and Hud

I was amused yesterday, when Hud told me that he had 52 “intense and passionate” emails from friends we hadn’t heard about from decades ago! While in Dallas recently, we saw our “web master” who suggested that Hud look at his website from time to time! :o) Duh! He had a blast answering them, which to me is a miracle in itself! He’d rather talk on the phone or see eye to eye preferably! :o)

We had one of the best trips to Europe this time that we’ve ever had. No crises, just a good leadership summit, Hud’s good counsel, lovely relationships, encouragement, and teaching, in four different countries. Christian Associates is growing by leaps and bounds (my interpretation). I hope you received the demographics of Christian Associate’s growth that I sent out recently. We have over 40 initiatives now world wide! Very exciting. God is moving, by His Spirit, and we are all privileged to be a part of His Kingdom. How incredible it is to serve this loving, compassionate God of power, peace, mercy, and abundant grace.

Hud and I watched 4 DVD’s from Bill and Gloria Gaither, the other evening. We still love those old wonderful hymns!! I cried at the last song on the “How Great Thou Art” DVD. It’s called, “Thank You”, featuring Ivan Parker. But I remember it being called, “Thank You For Giving To The the Lord”. I wish you could all hear the words - just beautiful! The other song that I think was incredible was on the “Amazing Grace” Video. It’s called, “I Then Shall Live”. The words are by Gloria Gaither. She was inspired by Francis Shaeffer when she was in college, to write this song. It’s to the tune of Finlandia. Again, just beautiful! I hope you’ll get a chance to hear these great songs by maybe going on line, or at least finding the words by googling. “Thank You”, sung by Ivan Parker is stunning, and makes me think of you, our dear friends, who continue to give to the Lord. God’s rich blessings on on your lives.

I’m going send you another website that I would like you to go to. It’s a youtube message called, “Muslim Demographic”. When Hud saw it, the two words that came to his mind were, “Orienting”, and “Motivating”. I think we all know where the globality of our world is taking us, as we listen to the news, but at the same time we can trust in the One True God of heaven and earth and eternity to keep His Word. We got a letter from Ney Bailey, a sweet missionary friend of ours who has written and revised the book, “Faith is Not a Feeling”. The first line of her letter was so uplifting, and after all, that is what we as believers in Jesus should be doing in our own giftedness, in our own spheres of influence. She said, “Faith is taking God at His Word…His Word is truer than how I feel”.

Here is that website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU

With love and prayer!

Nancy

p.s. please pray for my computer! :o) The dad gum thing has given me hardly anything but grief! Please use my nancymcw@christianassociates.org email address. Hud’s is Hud@christianassociates.org. Our phone number is 303-445-1462! Our address is 9365 W. 9th Ave., Lakewood, CO. We’d love to hear from you! xo

Here is the full video download (over 500mb) - please have patience as its kind of large:

Hud McWilliams - Conversations on Forgiveness

Here is just the Audio: