Too many blessings?

In case we forget, please remind us.

When meeting with friends last week we were asked what our biggest faith  challenge was.  Without hesitation our reply was believing that God could get us to Brussels.  It’s not that we don’t want to go or that we don’t believe God has called us there, it just feels like the obstacles are impossible.  A lot of it centers around finances and the ability to raise the staggering amount needed to live in a European city much like New York City, but in one where the dollar is increasingly worth less and less.  We left our meeting last week praying that God would increase our faith and show us His power.

Almost a week later God showed up in lots of unexpected ways.

Today we received a substantial financial gift that got our attention reminding us that God does own the cattle on a thousand hills and all the money in the world is His to distribute how He wills.

On Sunday a couple told us that they wish to join our support team after God has laid it on their hearts to give to us.

Two family members sent gift cards, money and clothes in the mail to help David with his teaching wardrobe that needs updating.

Today I passed my gestational diabetes test after failing the one hour last week.

There are many more things to add to our list of blessings, but tonight we sat at the dinner table not only humbled but honored to know that God has not forgotten us or the mission He’s called us to.  Last night I read from Job and this is the song of my heart tonight.

“I know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours can be thwarted…Surely I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know…I had heard rumors about You but now my eyes have seen You.  Therefore I take back my words, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:2-6).

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.

Reflections

So for those of you who have been dying to know how last night went, we wanted to share our thoughts and moments with you.  Thank you for praying and supporting us in SO MANY amazing ways.  We counted at least 30 people who volunteered to help make the concert such a success.  God was faithful once again and kept us all healthy and full of energy throughout the day.  The evening was one of the most amazing nights of our lives.  It was a dream come true to share our hearts through our music so having the opportunity to do that on a beautiful stage with a Steinway grand piano was truly beyond our wildest imaginations.  We will hopefully have an audio live recording so if any of you would like a copy please let us know and when we get it we would be happy to pass that on to you.  For now, the results are in God’s hands.  We would love to be given the opportunity to do something like this again in many different places and for many new people.  We believe that it is crucial for everyone to know not only the spiritual condition of Europe, but how God is working and moving.  “A movement has begun, momentum is building.  For the mission, for the passion and all for Christ.”  Christian Asssociates International

Come One Come All

Hope you can join us!

Three days and counting

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost here…that is the concert!  As we’ve been preparing it’s given me lots of time for reflection.  One of the songs I’ll be sharing Friday night was written 15 years ago.  Time goes by so fast and I can’t believe that I have a collection of music from the last 15 years of my life.  Friday will be the first time I’ve ever shared my songs with a live band.  In fact, I never wrote them thinking they would ever be heard by others.  It was my way of processing life and keeping a journal of all that happened.  God has perfect timing and it appears that he was waiting for such a time as this to open the door and let my stories…or should I say “his stories” out.  I hope that you can come and hear what God is doing in our journey and in Europe.  Our two prayer requests is that we would sing and play as unto him and that my voice would not be hoarse.  (I’ve been struggling with that all through the pregnancy.)  Thanks for all your support!  You have encouraged us on our journey more than once.

Concert Update

 

For those of you who have been following our concert news we are looking forward to presenting it on June 6th.  It has been exciting planning all the details and rehearsing the music with our band.  God has been so faithful once again to provide us with volunteers to staff the many positions we need filled and even financial donors to contribute to the many costs of the event.  We would appreciate your prayers for: more volunteers to work in the nursery, health and extra energy to accomplish all the many tasks, and that this would not just be a concert but an act of worship to our king.  If you can’t make it to the concert on Friday, please come to our dress rehearsal on Tues. June 3, 7pm TAB church.

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?

God’s gonna have to do it

 

So this whole support raising thing is way harder than we ever thought.  I suppose everyone in our situation has to finally come to the realization that unless God does it, it’s impossible!  We are at around 30% support and are getting around 2-3 new supporters each month.  As David said “At this rate, we’ll be in Brussels by 2020!”  I called a friend to let her know our frustration and discouragement expecting to get the “well let’s see what you can do better” response.  She surprised us with “this is good because you’re seeing that with men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  Truth can be painful at times and not exactly what you want to hear but when accepted, it does yield peace.  Today we are at peace knowing that God knows our situation and recognizing that it is his power not ours that will change things.  In the meantime we feel impressed that we need to be asking him more frequently and earnestly to act in a mighty way.  Would you pray with us that we will see his salvation?

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!