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.

Our Dear Old Agnes Is Gone

Though we only knew her during a snap shot of her life, she taught us a great many lessons.  Some of them are:  What does it look like to care for a widow or how do you stop an 80 year old woman from giving your six month old Coca-Cola?  Is there more to life then Southern goodbyes?  Who will be there for us when our bodies are left finishing the race though our spirits desire to be home with God.  Will we be this stubborn in the end?

People love to work, maybe we’re designed that way.  Others tinker on all sorts of projects.  Agnes loved to walk.  She would tell you she walked three miles today if she were still here, up to Ward’s corner and back, and that was mostly true except for the days she did that twice.  She was always open to hear our crazy theological and philosophical conversations and at the end she would just say “Hmmm, sounds interesting, or my husband should be here to talk to you about that.”

Last night after the viewing we took our two girls out for ice cream.  Agnes would of had it no other way.  So goodbye Agnes T. Nalls or should I say until we meet again.

Your affectionate adopted grandson,

David Davey

HEALTH CARE AND OMAHA STEAKS

Thursday night was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” as they say.  We went to pick up my asthma medication only to find that it was going to cost us another $180 for the month even though we thought we satisfied the deductible the month before.  Frustrated and upset with the entire healthcare situation we’ve been in, we went home to read the “fine print” of our plan.  There in bold letters “generic ONLY medications covered”.  A quick google search gave us the information that Advair is not a drug that has a generic and this drug happens to be the only one so far—-after many other drugs—-that keeps me breathing well.  There were many tears.  In fact tears that soaked my pillow as I fell asleep.  We really felt that maybe God didn’t love us very much anymore.              

 

The next day brought rain.  It hadn’t rained in weeks.  I love the rain.  It’s like a visual reminder that God is pouring his love down on me.  During devotions I cried out to God asking him to show me in some way that he loved me, oh and it would help if he’d let me know just how much.  Eleven thirty a.m.  a friend offered to buy me lunch.  Eleven thirty five a friend who’s a Dr. talked with me and said he’d call a few drug companies to get some free drug samples for a “missionary who didn’t have healthcare that would cover the prescription”.  One p.m.:  arrive home from lunch to find a chest of omaha steaks on our porch with the anonymous note:  ”Just for you…because we love you.”  I called David sobbing while the reality hit home:  God loves me way more than I knew and he cares a lot that I know that.             

 

 

I can’t tell you how many times on this journey to church planting that in our desperation, God has shown up as our lover, our provider, our friend and even our teacher.  We feel overwhelmed by his love tonight and at rest knowing that he has even prescription drug coverage under control.  To be continued… 

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! 

Happy New Year!

Happy new year everyone!  We were able to bring it in last night with some of our close friends.  What fun it was.  I tried to duplicate my mom’s asian food tradition for new years and all turned out great except for the pad thai.  Like one friend said, it tastes great and it’s noodles but I wouldn’t call it pad thai!  Oh well, it’s my second try and I’m bound to at least try it one more time!  We leave on Sat. morning to drive to OH to visit family there for 2 weeks.  It should be crazy because the drive is at least 10 hours without stopping.  So, if you think of it, pray for us as I’m hoping for some miracle that the kids will actually be ok sitting in their seats between stops.  We’ll keep you posted.

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.

 

We’re Back…even if we’re sick again!

I’m sitting in bed tonight for the third evening in a row VERY sick. I can’t remember feeling this awful accept when I was sick 3 weeks ago over thanksgiving. I ended up going to the Dr. today though and she suspects an infection that has lingered over the past few weeks. Sooo, I’m on antibiotics now and hoping that this will be the end of it. Our instructions from the Dr. are to clorox wipe our whole house down and try to stay healthy! Hopefully all will be well for Christmas.

Tonight was our Neighborhood Noel. For those of you who aren’t aware of that title it’s something that a group of us thought about from Tab and we felt it would be good to get to know our neighbors better this holiday and to develop meaningful relationships with them. We asked each of them to bring a toy for the local Union Mission to a party hosted by one of the ladies on the street. I’m so bumbed that I’m not there. David was able to take the girls and go and I’m so excited to find out how it went. We love our neighbors and there’s nothing more special when you can share intimate relationships with those you live around and watch how God is working in their lives.

Well back to making Christmas cards. Being sick is good for that!

Change of plans

Well tonight was supposed to be our family christmas photo shoot. We had friends coming over who have a nice camera to have dinner and then capture the special moment. Just when you think you have it all planned things surprise you….ever feel like that? Adley started to have a runny nose this afternoon, and by the time our friends showed up she had a full blown fever and looked about the most miserable I’ve seen her. I feel so bad for her! I must admit that I struggled being ok with the situation. After all we had to forego the shoot—-she was in no mood for a picture, and it feels like we’ve been struggling with SO MUCH SICKNESSS! I reminded myself that 18 months is the time for lots of immunity building, but it was only until I exchanged my will for God’s that I began to have some peace tonight. We’ll keep you posted. God is using sickness to really grow us this year. Can’t wait to see the outcome….

Favorite time of year!

Wow! We love this season. It becomes even more special when you have little children to share it with. Eleri is in her heaven with the advent house that has doors you open each morning. We’ve been filling the calendar with activities or special events to do around the house. Today’s activity was making a gingerbread house. It seems easy in theory especially when you have the kit to do it, but when your 1 1/2 year old tosses the gingerbread cookie shapes on the ground and they break, well then the challenge to build begins! Dad and a friend managed to put one together out of the rest of the gingerbread and graham crackers. It actually held together for about…5 minutes! Lesson learned, don’t try to build a house out of crackers and icing:)
The first day of advent we have begun a tradition of having a meal of fondue with our friends. It is a special night to welcome in the season. We wanted you to feel like you celebrated with us by posting some pictures. We’re looking forward to sharing with you our family’s journey through the holidays. We’ll try to keep you involved with lots of stories and pictures. Keep coming back!

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!