A Close Call in Alabama
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-The trip to Arab, AL for Joel and Ryan was originally scheduled in January. It was canceled due to snow.
-On the way there this February, the guys got stuck on the highway for eight hours and feared the assembly and concert would be canceled again!
-School was in session with just a two-hour delay so Joel and Ryan were able to do the assembly and concert.
-It was our first trip to Alabama and the southern crowd was welcoming!
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| The Concert at Arab, AL, Check out Ryan's new CD on his website |
A Glimpse into Joel's Life
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This February was arguably Joel’s busiest month since he has been speaking full-time. He spoke 27 times and in eight different states, all in the shortest and snowiest month of the year. This made for a lot of time in airports, rental cars, hotels, and travel inconveniences. One somewhat comical example of this happened in Joel’s 2-stop trip in late February.
Joel’s first destination was Milton, Delaware. Running a little late, he had to rush out of the house to get to the airport on time. As he was pulling out of the driveway, the garage door broke and he spent another 10 minutes trying to fix it. Joel gave up and texted me, “Bad news: Garage door broken.” Luckily me and the kids were out of the house. Almost late for his flight, he frantically arrived to the airport. Fortunately, he got there in time. However, the second leg of the flight was on one of the smallest planes Joel had ever seen (it had a propeller) and 6 foot, 5 inch Joel was seated beside a 6 foot, 4 inch former college basketball player (what are the chances?!) Upon landing in Baltimore, Joel picked up his rental car and drove to his hotel in Delaware. In the morning Joel plugged “Mariner Middle School in Milton, DE” into his GPS which quickly generated directions. An hour later, Joel arrived at 1 Mariner Way in Middleton, DE. His GPS had taken him to the completely wrong place! Luckily the school was only about 20 minutes away and Joel made it in time.
So, he survived that one. But, after speaking at two schools in Delaware, Joel drove to Philadelphia to stay the night and catch an early morning flight to Chicago to speak at a leadership conference. On the shuttle to his rental car in Chicago, he looked down and noticed a four inch rip in his shoe exposing a large portion of his sock and making it difficult to walk. He spent the next three hours trying to find a place in Chicago that sells size 15 shoes. At the 7th store he settled for size 14. This time he made sure the school address was correct and as he was checking it on his phone he got a text from me that said, “Need to talk to youASAP... our basement is flooded.”
Until Next Month,
Bethany Penton
Message From Joel
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Teammates,
We are anxiously awaiting another new addition to our team. Ryan and Emily Holliday are expecting their first child this Spring! They are due to have a baby girl on May 7th. We are so excited that Ryan and Emily will get to join with us in the joys of parenthood. We are also excited that Joel and Judah will have another friend to play with. Please pray for Ryan and Emily as they prepare for the birth. Pray for a safe and healthy delivery for both mom and baby. Pray also that the Lord will prepare Ryan and Emily to shepherd their daughter in a life for God’s glory. Each new child brings a new level of joy as well as new challenges for a ministry focused on traveling. Pray that the Lord will give us wisdom as we coordinate a busy travel calendar with busy, growing families.
God Bless,
Joel
