The Gunn Site: Gunn Shots 2013

We and the Duck Dynasty Crew are "Happy, Happy, Happy". . .
to wish you a Very Merry Christmas!

Frank & Lydia: To kick off the “new” year, we started a “new” BGroup (Sunday school class) with engaged/young married couples. We are having a blast getting to know them and studying the Bible together. We welcomed a “new” friend to America: Wanfei from China! She is a professional au pair through a government exchange program, and Lydia gets to share American and Louisiana culture with her – how fun is that?? We went to a “new” place – El Salvador! Frank led a small team to preview the possibility of a partnership with Erik and Susan Resendez www.hope4elsalvador.org. The Lord is using this family to do an incredible work among the Salvadorian people! Several BGroups from Broadmoor returned this summer and were so blessed to see around 900 people joyfully accept God’s gift of love to them – His Son! And, in May, we took on a “new” title: Great Aunt & Uncle! Our great-nephew Benjamin Hunter Clark, son of Hunter and Micha, was born in Nashville! We can’t wait to play with him this Christmas!

This summer was officially dubbed The Summer of Transition! It seems like we experienced more than our normal amount of “Welcome home’s” and “Hope to see you soon’s”! As parents, having our four adult children home for a few weeks at the same time was an unbelievable blessing! Mary Lindsay and Slater returned from the Middle East after serving there for eight months, then transitioned to Denver; Frank transitioned from school in Sacramento to school in Miami; and Annalise transitioned from dorm life to apartment life in Waco. As you can imagine, these transitions involved many road trips, and we loved every minute of the quality time together! We vacationed as a family in Arkansas, enjoying Hot Springs for a couple of days and then on to Lake Ouachita for some water sports together. It was fun to have Slater experience Shangrila with us for the first time, our family vacation spot for many years and many happy memories! On our return from getting Frank settled in Miami, we just HAD to make a stop at Disney World in Orlando with Annalise – so much fun!

In the normal day-to-day, Frank still enjoys trail riding on his bike, hunting, and tennis. He outfitted one of Frank’s old fixed-gear frames and has taken up road biking, too. He continues coursework towards his doctorate at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Frank’s heartbeat is serving the Lord at Broadmoor Baptist, loving people, helping couples, and working with the staff. Lydia’s landman work has been in Texas most of this year, and she has enjoyed the beautiful Texas skies and the expansive countryside on her drives! She serves on the coordinating team for Perspectives of the World Christian Movement www.perspectives.org and continues to meet with her Empty Nest Prayer group.

Mary Lindsay & Slater: The new year started with Mary Lindsay and Slater almost half way in to their stint in the Middle East. They were leaders of a team of twelve involved in teaching English, studying Arabic, cultivating discipleship among their team, making relationships with new Arab friends, and sharing the Good News! Their team had several opportunities for travel. They spent a holiday weekend visiting Jerusalem and Bethlehem. They went to Portugal to The Haven, their sending organization’s rest, refreshment, and counseling place for people on the field. They went on a short-term trip to Dubai and shared with people from over 30 different nations! As their time in the Middle East came to a close, it was difficult for them to say goodbye to their friends in the region. Then, after a debrief, they faced another difficult goodbye to their team with whom they had such tight community for eight months. We are so grateful for their time overseas, and we were SO HAPPY to get our hands on them in May! They spent time traveling around to see family, friends, and supporters in Shreveport, Austin, Waco, Baton Rouge, Houston, Mississippi, Little Rock, and Dallas, to name a few, with Shreveport serving as their “Home Base.” Slater did some window washing while they were in town. After much prayerful consideration, they felt the Lord leading them to settle in Denver, Colorado. So, in July they unloaded their things from storage in Waco into a moving van, made the trek to Colorado, and unloaded their things into another storage unit! Frank was able to go with them and drive one of their cars. He was pretty handy to have around for the loading and unloading! They were so blessed to live with their friends, the Sluyks, while they looked for jobs. Mary Lindsay nannied while they waited for job offers. After seven weeks of searching, putting in applications, and interviewing, they accepted job offers on the same day! Slater is a New Home Sales Representative for KB Home, and Mary Lindsay is an Assistant Director of Admissions at The Art Institute of Colorado. They are now settling into their new apartment, experiencing a “real” winter, and enjoying having snow skiing opportunities so close to them! Please pray for them as they are visiting different churches and searching for one to call home.

Frank: Frank finished his spring semester at Sierra College in Sacramento, then came back South! He and his dad packed all of his worldly goods that would fit in his jeep and drove to Shreveport! They took Highway 1 from San Francisco to Los Angeles this time and got to see Venice Beach. Frank went diving there at a spot along the coast and had a close-up encounter with elephant seals! We really loved having him home for a little while this summer! Frank decided to major in Sport Management in the Diving Industry. We knew he would need an ocean, and we were hoping for a drivable vacation spot for us, like Destin. But, no, the only program of this sort in the world is in Miami, sixteen hours away! So, the Franks took another road trip, packed to the gills, and headed to Miami. Annalise and Lydia flew and met them there. It was chaotic fun to find him an apartment and help get him settled. His roommate is a friend from his days at Youth with a Mission (YWAM) in Hawaii. Frank is really enjoying his program at Barry University. It is easy to understand why, when part of your coursework is conducted in the ocean! A perfect fit for Frank! He got to represent Barry University at the DEMA Show (Diver’s Equipment & Marketing Association) in Orlando, recruiting high school seniors for the program. Surrounding his DEMA trip, Frank got to reconnect with the guys from HammerHead Spearguns Honolulu on a dive in Key West. SpearDivers TV filmed their dive, and it will be aired in South Florida. Frank was even filmed doing a cooking segment, demonstrating what to do beyond “the catch”! He spent Thanksgiving pheasant hunting in Missouri with a friend from school (yet another road trip!). His Aunt Jennifer has always said there should be a reality show on the life and adventures of Frank Gunn! As I type this, Frank is on his way home for Christmas and to be Best Man in the wedding of his close bud for many years, Carson Sibley.

Annalise: Annalise became a true Baylor sports fan, attending sporting events of all types: baseball, basketball, football, softball, even an acrobatics and tumbling competition to support the Baylor Bears! It is fun to see how much she enjoys the spirit and traditions that are so rich at Baylor. She completed her freshman year in attendance, but her sophomore year in hours (she left high school with enough dual enrollment credits to more than cover a year of college, so she will get her master’s degree in four years!). She was officially accepted into the School of Social Work at the beginning of summer. Speaking of summer, we were so happy to have her home! We made several trips back to Waco to start getting her apartment prepped for fall move-in. She shifted from a dorm room with one roommate to an apartment with six roommates! Yes, seven girls in an apartment! Fun fact: they all attend her church, Antioch Community Church, and four of them are in her Lifegroup. As you can imagine, there is never a dull moment! Annalise was a Baylor Welcome Week Leader, and she was selected for Baylor’s Student Foundation, wearing the prestigious green and white striped jersey! Student Foundation exists to serve Baylor and the student body, recruit qualified students, raise scholarship funds, and build goodwill among alumni and students. Translation: she is very busy! She loves being a part of Baylor’s Youth Ministry Team (YMT) again, serving as a Student Leader this year. YMT serves area youth ministries. With Annalise being our only child that we can get to in under sixteen hours, we look for any old excuse to drive to Waco!