French….a beautiful language…Belgium our home to be!

Yesterday was a neat experience for me. I have a friend from Belgium who is a French teacher and also a musician. We both got together to translate one of my songs into French for the concert. It was a divine moment for me as I heard her singing the words of my song in such a poetic language. I’ve always loved foreign languages, and especially french, but in that space of time God did something in me that was new. Hearing my heart in another language made me feel part of that culture. Feeling like I was part of it made me want to belong, and belonging means for us moving there and living among the people of Brussels. When will that day be? Only God knows, but in my heart of hearts I desire it like never before.

Clive Euans our new “Brussel’s Sprout”

 

Last shot of what it was like to just be four of us before heading to the hospital.

 

 

  

The long wait begins…what will he look like?

 

  

Here come our girls to cheer Mommy up on Monday night the evening the Doctors stopped labor to try again the next day.

 

 

  

He was definitely worth the wait (or weight 8lbs 13oz).

 

  

Clive meets Eleri for the first time…love at first sight!

 

  

Clive with his other Mommy. He couldn’t have a bigger fan!

 

  

Eleri and Adley with their brand new babies. Eleri named her’s Clive Emeth!

 

  

Dad giving lots of love to his three kids! Clive had better be a Buckeye fan or we are in trouble. (Go Bucks!!!!)

 

  

Clive ready to go home and join this crazy family.

 

  

Welcome home Clive!

Long Time No Write

 

David and Eleri cooling off at one of our rest stops home from Charlotte.

I can’t believe that this much time has passed since our concert and the the last journal entry.  A lot has happened since June and I wanted to fill you in.

 

Right after the concert an amazing thing happened that could only be God working.  David was supposed to leave for 2 weeks to complete seminary classes in Charlotte.  I was going to stay here with the girls but at the last minute, the people he was to stay with asked him to bring the entire family.  So we all packed up in four hours and off we went on the biggest adventure of a lifetime.  The people we were to stay with were total strangers but by the end of the two weeks we believe we had found lifetime friends.  Dave and Leslie live on 10 acres of land so everyday we had walks to the creek exploring God’s nature and the amazing wildlife such as deer and all kinds of birds and rabbits.  They had chickens so we were privleged to eat fresh eggs each morning along with goodies from their garden.  It was a much needed break for us all.  Our cell phones didn’t work unless we walked up the long lane and the internet was down for the first week so we felt like we were at a resort and came back rested and ready for what we knew would be a crazy summer and fall.

It had become apparent a few months back that David needed to find a job since we were not bringing in enough support to sustain our internship salary.  At that time we were not sure how God was going to provide and as usual it came in a very unexpected way.  One of our good friends decided to move closer to family and in doing that opened up a Bible teaching position at Norfolk Christian.  David’s schooling has concentrated in the exact areas that the classes at the high school cover and he has a passion to teach others how to defend the faith and to know what one believes.  After applying a few weeks before the concert, we left it in God’s hands.  It was while we were in Charlotte that he got the call to set up an interview.  So, as God would have it, we feel blessed to say that he was offered the Job last week!  We will still be doing a part time internship at the church and living on some support to help supplement the salary from the school so all your financial support will still be needed in order to continue both jobs.  Our prayer is that more than we need will come in so we can begin to save up the funds for our one time moving expenses and the three month salary that we are required to have saved up before we can launch to Brussels.

So, as you can see, this fall will look very different for us.  We are excited about the possibility of connecting with lots of new people and churches through this new job opportunity along with continuing to grow our leadership and ministry skills.  God has been so faithful and we feel honored to be a part of building His kingdom.  We ask for your prayers as we adjust to this new schedule and the demands of working more hours along with a new baby coming in Sept.  In the meantime, I promise to keep you updated more frequently.  Thanks for coming back!

 

adley enjoying the time away from home.

Come One Come All

Hope you can join us!

SAVE THE DATE!!

 

“This is the church, here is the steeple, open the door…but where’s all the people?”

On June 6th, 2008 David and I are going to give a concert telling our journey to Brussels through original music.  We’ll be giving background on the spiritual condition of Europe and share with those present our struggles and triumphs as we walk this road to church planting.  Keep watching our blog for more details.

June 6th

Tabernacle Church of Norfolk

7-9 pm

Childcare provided

Does Europe deserve a second chance?

HOME!

For all of you who were thinking of us during our trip home to see family, thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.  The girls were amazing all through the travels and it was good to connect with those we don’t get to see very often. Now that we’re home, reality is sinking in a bit more as we look at the things we need to accomplish in the next 6 months.  Our goal is to get to Brussels by the end of July.  Currently, we are at around 27% monthly support and we need to be at 100% by the summer.  In order to accomplish this, we need 100 more people who would support us at $50 a month.  We believe that what we find impossible God finds easy and because He owns the cattle on a thousand hills this sum of 5,000 a month is nothing to Him.  We’re excited about seeing how God will come through for us. Another thing on our hearts is trying to prepare little talks to give to small groups who are interested in hearing about Brussels and Christian Associates.  We’d appreciate your prayer as we begin to formulate the best way to express our passion for what we will be doing. Last night we met with the core leaders who will run our advocacy group when we are gone.  We see this group meeting supporting us so that we can get to Brussels and to keep us there once we’ve arrived through praise, encouragement and petition.  It is a wonderful group of people who have a heart for missions and especially for Europe.  It was so much fun thinking big dreams together about church planting and even about how we can stay connected across the ocean. So we are home and we hit the road with a running start.  Thanks for taking the time to pray for us! 

Christmas Greetings!

Here’s a little summary of 2007.  Enjoy and Happy New Year!

This year, for us, has held a continuing theme of gifts.  Gifts given and gifts received in a new way.  It was evident at David’s farewell ceremony with the Navy in Aug. that the past 5 years have been a special gift from God to us.  It was bittersweet saying goodbye because we enjoyed our time in the military.  We also, at the same time, realized the incredible gift ahead of us: being mission interns at our church while we raise support to launch to Brussels, Belgium within the next year to plant churches.

            We have now been interning at Tabernacle Church of Norfolk for 3 months and have continued to watch God give us the gift of the body of Christ coming alongside us in our journey to another land.  People have given gifts of time such as babysitting our girls, gifts of prayer for us as we have struggled to find our way in this big transition, and gifts of money by supporting us financially not only for our internship, but also towards our final goal of being funded 100% for Brussels by July of 2008.  We’ve been surprised over and over as God has used people to meet our practical needs for fundraising events.  We could tell you many stories about how God laid on someone’s heart to give the exact thing, and amount we were lacking.  These gifts have built our faith and caused us to be humbled and acknowledge that it is only through us working in community that we will accomplish the task ahead of us.

            We have been given the gift to grow in areas of our lives that we are sure we will use in Brussels.  David has been doing a lot of teaching at the church and both of us are mentoring others while being mentored as well, along with helping plan strategic outreaches and being involved in the international ministry at Tab.  It has grown us to learn how to communicate our needs to others and to allow people to come alongside us in our endeavors.  David is also trying to finish his seminary work while Joanna stays busy as a mom and a supporter in the ministry.  The most difficult challenge for us this past year has been learning how to work together in a new way.  Discovering who can do what best has helped us lighten the load we both were carrying.

            Our family of four has been a constant gift from the Lord.  We’ve been learning in a new way what family looks like in the middle of full time ministry.  The girls have a way of reminding us of our priorities, and it’s amazing the joy and perspective they bring to both of us.  Eleri is 3 and Adley is approaching 2 this coming May.  They both are the best of friends…most days, and are growing not only physically but also spiritually as we see them respond to God working in their hearts.  Eleri especially is recognizing the truths that God wants to help her make right choices and she often says to us “God keeps her safe”.  It’s a blessing to watch Adley, who is not far behind, follow in her sister’s footsteps.

            As we wrap up 2007 we see the gift of friends, family, and ministry.  Just by getting this card we want you to know that we consider you a special gift in our lives from God.  Our prayer for you this season is that you will not miss the most perfect gift of all, the arrival of our King and Savior!  His presence is gift enough for us all.

 

Christmas 2007!

I had hoped to do a better job of keeping everyone up to date on our holiday adventures.  However,  because I got sick, everything kind of got tossed aside.  I did get to bake at least one batch of cookies even if it was done on Christmas Eve.  My mom was the most amazing cookie baker ever.  I remember most Christmas seasons making at least 15 different kinds of cookies!  It was so much fun.  Someday I’ll be there but we’re taking tiny steps:)  Some of the highlights of the past 2 weeks was  visiting the live manger scene at a church up the rode from us.  It had to of been the most frigid night of the year and even the camel was complaining!  It was a special way to explain to the girls the meaning of Christmas though (even if we suffered frost bite afterwards).  I think Eleri was more into the camel then anything else.  She wanted to know where they live and why they can go long times without water.  It was pretty cool giving my child her first geography/zoology lesson.   
Eleri performed in her first choir concert ever.  It was so exciting for us since we are both musicians by degree and also because we have directed children choirs before.  Eleri had a hard time in front of all the people so she did what kids do best…sit down and suck your fingers!  Of course we were only slightly embarrassed seeing all the other kids were able to sing, but God sweetly reminded us that he loves Eleri just as she is even when she’s timid about trying something new.  (I never thought I struggled with pride until I became a mom and then I’m constantly being humbled by my kids!) This was our second Christmas ever being away from our extended families in OH.  The other time was when we visited Brussels in 2005 to see if God was calling us to  Europe.  We missed family this year but we also felt a peace that God is forming our little family here in Norfolk.  The celebrations were simple, but also very significant for us.  Eleri and Adley came to the Christmas Eve concert and were able to participate with us.  It was so beautiful at the end when they turned out all the lights and we held our candles singing Silent Night to signify that Christ coming into the world has become our light in the darkness.  We were able to take communion and it was touching to watch Eleri and David as he explained to her the meaning of the bread and juice.  It’s our prayer that this is just a foreshadowing of the relationship our girls will have someday with Jesus.  We pray that all of you had a very special holiday as well.  Our thoughts and prayers have been directed to many of you during this special season.  If you sent us a card we so appreciate it and have it on our mantel in the living room.  Thank you for traveling 2007 with us and we look forward with anticipation and joy to 2008! 

Back on our feet!

Thanks so much for praying for our family. Adley did get better shortly after the last post, but I came down with the flu and was sick all of last week. It was actually a blessing from the Lord because we got, or should I say, I got a lot of rest and down time which I haven’t had in a long time. Can I just say that David was entirely an angel and not only played the role of dad and wife, but he also was nurse, doctor, thanksgiving chef and whatever else we needed him to be. I feel so grateful to God for my family and the love they so quickly give. You can continue to pray for us as we look at our lives and try to manage the five major categories that face us each day. They are: 1.Family 2.Internship 3.David’s Seminary 4.Support Raising 5.Preparation for Brussels. We are asking God to give us insight and wisdom into what we can trim down so as to be able to function well in each area. It was a good reminder by my body falling apart that we can’t do everything even if we’d like to. We have confidence that God has good in store for us though, so thanks for asking with us what this needs to look like.

3 Months and 20%

It’s been three months since we officially separated from the Navy and began living on support. It was quite the jump for us and although we knew in our hearts that God was leading, it took a lot of his grace and strength to step out. Our Belgium breakfast in Sept. was the first big event to share with all our friends what God had laid on our hearts. It also was the first time we publicly let people know that we needed to partner with them to make this happen. Since then, we have seen the faithfulness of God in so many ways. Today, we now have $1600 in monthly support coming in. That is nearly 20% of our final goal before we can launch to Brussels, and it is over half of our internship monthly support that we need! God has exceeded our expectations and we feel blessed beyond measure by the friends that have heard his call to partner as a team with us. If you are one of them reading this, we want to say THANK YOU, and if you happen to be one of those people who have been waiting to join the team, we say COME ON BOARD!! It is an awesome experience watching lots of others come alongside willing to journey the road as well. Thanks and God bless!