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Thursday, December 1, 2011

Odle's Survey Trip

     Our friends and teammates, Jared and Anna Odle are leaving for Ghana today on a survey trip. The Executive Director of ACMI (the mission organization that the Odles are a part of and that we are in the process of joining), Tim Doggett, and his wife, Cheryl, are going with them. They will be gone for 2 weeks with the purpose of travelling to several places within the country that our team has the possibility of working in. They will be spending time meeting or catching up with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who are already at work in these areas, and prayerfully considering where the Lord is leading our families. We have all felt God speaking to our families about our direction, but it is not always easy to discern God's red flags from Satan's arrows! We are praying that God would truly speak to the Odles, the Doggetts and to us here at home this next 2 weeks about where He is preparing a place for us in Ghana.
     The Odles sent out an email update this week. Here is their survey trip prayer request: "Please pray for our trip. We will be visiting three different places where we could work in Ghana and we are asking for the Lord to give us a clear direction in partnership. Please pray for wisdom, insight as we choose an area and finalize our budget, and good relationships to blossom from our time in Ghana. We praise God for our Executive Director Tim Doggett and his wife Cheryl, our ACMI's Office Manager, who are going with us on the trip."
     Please also be in prayer for their family as they will be away from their children for the next 2 weeks. Anna has never been away from the kids for that long! We will be watching some of their kids part of the time, their Nana will have them quite a bit and several other friends are helping out as well.
     We are excited for this trip to take place and look forward to the 2 week survey trip that Adam and I will take to Ghana in the spring. It will be an opportunity for Adam and I to see where God is calling us to live and work, and a chance to see what we need to take, what we don't need to take and what the specific needs in the area are. So much excitement!
      More catch up coming soon.....

Thursday, November 17, 2011

National Missionary Convention 2011

So much has happened the last 2 months! I have been terrible about posting on our blog during this time and therefore have much to catch up on!!! We are in Atlanta this week attending the National Missionary Convention and are enjoying this time of worship, fellowship, prayer, workshops, and the opportunity to meet so many wonderful Christian brothers and sisters that are serving God all over the world! Sometimes this big world is a really small place. It's amazing how many people know people that we know all over the world. This morning at the Pre-Convention for missionaries we ran into a man named Mike, from Mexico City. Adam and the other guys on our trip to Mexico City stayed at his home in Huehuetoca last September. Anyway, Caeley is getting ready to get out of the pool and head up to our hotel room to shower. We had a 5 hr break this afternoon and the enormous exhibit hall opens at 5:00pm so I should get going. Please pray for us as we work to listen to God's voice and to continue to follow His will. We are thankful for this time as a family and with fellow missionaries and are excited to be preparing for the field! I will post a better update very very soon!

Monday, August 29, 2011

Prayer Support :)

     Today was a wonderful day! It started with sunshine and a great morning at church. Our family went forward this morning so that the missions minister could announce our intentions for full term ministry to the congregation. It is a blessing to know that our church family will be praying for us as we continue on this journey! Poor Caeley had quite the case of stage fright during the 1st service and cried the entire time. Once the service was over, Adam walked and talked with her and she felt better prepared for 2nd service, realizing that it wasn't nearly as scary as she thought it would be. She did great during the 2nd service. I was so glad for her!
     We spent the afternoon with Adam's family, visiting, playing cards and eating. Adam's dad had cooked a cow tongue in the crockpot, amongst other food on the grill, so we all tried some. The kids ate more than Adam or I! It tasted fine, but the texture was....well.....mush. A little hard to deal with. But, we had a fun afternoon!
     Then, Adam headed to work and the kids and I headed back to church. I had been asked to speak to the group that Caeley is in. It is called, Girls of Prayer, and is for girls from grades 3-5. I brought activities from an interactive missions booth that I had put together for a church-wide missions event Saturday evening. We played a game, made cards and bookmarks to send to our church's missionaries, and had 5 snacks that I had made with recipes from countries that our missionaries serve in. Then Caeley and I had the opportunity to share with the girls about our steps into full time ministry. We took a map in and Caeley excitedly showed them where Ghana is, and Accra, and she showed them where our plane will fly to take us there. It was so very sweet to see and hear Caeley sharing this with her friends, her prayer group. They asked several questions and then I shared some prayer requests we have that they wrote in their prayer journals, and we sat in a circle and each sweet little girl prayed for us before we left. I was so happy and thankful for Caeley to have the opportunity to share with her friends and answer their questions. I am just in awe of the way that God has been at work in her!!!
     These are the prayer requests that I shared with the girls: 1) Prayer as we make decisions and work to follow God's will for our family, 2) Prayer as we prepare for the 1st of several garage sales. It is hard to part with things we love!, 3) That we would not be too anxious as we get our appointments for all of our shots lined up, and go to get them - ouch, 4) That God would already be at work in the hearts of the people in Ghana that He will have us working with, and that He would be preparing some wonderful friends for us there.
     Thank you so much, Mrs. Patty and Mrs. Debbie, for your hand in raising up some wonderful Girls of Prayer. I have no doubt that God will do AMAZING things with each of the little hearts that you are helping to mold!
     We have been busy lately, preparing for this missions weekend at GCC, doing school, and unfortunately for me - having migraines. I have gotten stuck in a terrible cycle again and have had almost daily migraines for 2 weeks. I started some new medication for them a week ago, but it takes weeks or even months to have an effect on migraines. In the meantime, it is supposed to make them worse for awhile. I will try to be patient, as I have tried EVERYTHING else. But, I would love to have these figured out/taken care of, before it's time for us to go.
     One last thing, and I will stop typing, or maybe 2 things.... I am hoping to take CHE training classes (Community Health Evangelism) in November. We will have a busy month in November! First, I will have CHE training for a week here in Indiana, then we will have meetings with the trustee's of ACMI in Illinois, then the third week, we are attending the National Missionary Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. It rotates to different locations, and we have attended in Indianapolis, IN; Peoria, IL; and Lexington, KY. It is my favorite event of the year. It is just amazing and inspiring to see what the hands and feet of Jesus are doing ALL over the world!
     Ok, the last thing. For school 2 weeks ago, we made passports. We will stamp them as we "travel" around the world this year studying many countries from a missions perspective. As we started to make them, Ethan looked at me a bit funny. Once I noticed, he said, "Um, mom, isn't making your own passports illegal?" I laughed of course and told him, "Only if we try to use them to leave the country. Then I'd probably get arrested." Caeley added her spin on things, "Well, wouldn't that be ok mom? Then you could just tell people in jail about Jesus!"

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Mission Retreat

    We spent this last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in Illinois at a retreat with ACMI (the Alliance of Christian Missions International). We had a wonderful time getting to know everyone there. We had filled out an interest form and emailed it to the director awhile ago, and this was a chance for us to meet most of the organization that is currently in the states. Adam and I met with the trustees and answered questions that they had for us. Adam did such a great job of speaking from the heart. That is definitely something that is out of his comfort zone with people he barely knows! I was so proud of him! It has been neat to see the many ways that God has been and is expanding our comfort zones. Anyway, we felt that the meeting went well and look forward to gathering together again in November. We have been familiar with ACMI for a long time. Our church supports several of their missionaries, and our friends, the Odles, that we are planning to team up with have been part of this organization for several years. We felt right at home while we were there. Everyone was so kind, welcoming and encouraging. We had the wonderful opportunity to meet several missionaries who are leaving for their fields very soon. We are excited to have had the chance to meet and talk with them, as it is so nice to put a face and a person to a name. We look forward to their updates!
       We also had the opportunity to Skype during some of our meetings with some of the missionaries that weren't able to make it to the retreat. We heard from and talked with families from: the Philippines, Kenya and Tanzania. That was a great experience, their voices were so clear, it is a blessing to know that technology like this is so easily available! It won't be the same as face to face, but it sure beats waiting weeks and weeks for letters to arrive, like so many missionaries did not so long ago!
    Ethan and Caeley had a wonderful time at the retreat! They were excited to hear that our meeting with the trustees went well and enjoyed meeting everyone. They had a great time with the Odle kids and made some new friends too, that we should get to Skype with at the meeting in November as they will leave for their field in about 3 weeks. The kids were able to enjoy: basketball, an obstacle course, mini golf, archery, ping pong, pool, a swimming pool, and the lake. The lake had a blob ( a long inflated pillow-like thing that one kid would scoot to the end of and then another would jump onto it and blast the 1st kid into the air and into the water), an iceberg (a huge inflated rock wall in the water), a waterslide, a zipline into the lake, paddle boats and canoes! They stayed busy, made us tired, and had so much fun!
    We have so much to do to prepare for all of this. Paperwork, interview, classes, sorting, purging, packing (although that is a bit down the road), the kids need passports, we need visas, shots..... Wow! I am so excited to have this adventure moving though, I just want to power through everything so we are READY! (Well except for the shots.) I am working hard at practicing patience though, and know that it will all get done in the right amount of time.
    Right now our focus is purging. We have a family room and 2 car garage filled with boxes! We are working to get everything unpacked and sorted. We are having a joint garage sale with the Odles on Labor Day weekend. We will set that money aside for whatever we need to get closer to Africa! I am actually enjoying sorting things and getting rid of lots, but some of it is not so easy... However, Matthew 6:19-20 says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."


Sunday, July 31, 2011

Prayer

     It's interesting how many avenues that God has used to speak to me about prayer lately. It seems that I am being bombarded from every direction! I have been praying that God would use this time, this time when my heart is aching, crying out, to be on the field, to be serving Him where He has called me and my family to serve, to prepare us for the things that we will encounter in a third world country. That He would strengthen us and ready us for the changes, the heart break, the difficulties. It is easy to picture dealing with serving Him in such a hands on manner each and every day. Besides the births of my children, the best times of my life have been mission trips, where serving and worshiping Him is my main concentration. But I am striving to not just concentrate on those things, but to face the reality of the hard stuff. Praying this way is dangerous! It is like praying for patience, it is not fun to do. When you pray for patience, God grants you plenty of opportunities in which your patience can be tested and stretched. Utter aggravation. But it works! This is similar and I just know that satan loves it. God is at work stretching us in difficult areas, giving us the chance to make God-honoring decisions over and over. Sometimes I make the good choice and other times, unfortunately, the bad. But I am grateful that our God is faithful in answering my prayers. I desire for our family to be so strong, for our marriage to be so strong and for our relationship with Him to be so strong, that there would be less and less room for the devil to work! 
     In the sermon we heard this morning, the pastor urged us to pray solutions - not problems. He gave several examples, including The Lord's Prayer. The Lord's Prayer says, "Give us this day our daily bread...," not, "We don't have bread." I think of the ways that praying like this could have a positive impact on my life, my prayer life and everyday. I think that would help me to be that much more positive with day to day things, if that was the way that my prayer time was spent. I would like for my mind to identify solutions immediately, rather that dwell on the problems. 
     We have had a very nice summer so far. We haven't been near as busy as usual and have had a lot of relaxing family time. That has been wonderful. However as the summer stretches to an end, I can see, and hear, that Ethan and Caeley are ready for school to start again. Whether they want to admit it or not, they need a schedule again and specific things to do. Like, stuff to keep them occupied and not arguing..... :) On the subject of school, I have been searching for the right curriculum for our family since March. Everything that I have settled on has been ok. Not great, not just what I was looking for, but ok. Then 2 nights ago I found exactly what I have been wanting. Online, for free!!! I have it all printed out and can't wait to get started. We have separate Math, Spelling, Science, History and Writing curriculum, but the base of our schooling will come from Ann Dunagan's,Teaching With God's Heart for the World. This is the write up about it that they had on their website: While your kids are young, (during a year when most of your children are older elementary age), devote a year of your homeschooling commitment to establishing a life-long foundational family commitment to God's Great Commission. This one (or two) year study presents a whirlwind tour all-throughout-history and all-around-the-world. You will learn the importance of developing a personal devotional life with the Lord and how to develop more of God's heart for the world and the lost. "Impart God's Heart . . . for the World!" Here is a link to their site, where this curriculum can be printed for free, and they have other freebies, more resources listed and much more: www.harvestministry.org. Just send me an email if you have any questions. Anyway, this is exactly what I was hoping for. I read many reviews and it is so good for so many different situations, not just homeschooling, but it is especially great for families who are going into full-time missions. Perfect!
     One last thing, and I will stop yammering on. Ethan wanted me to share this. This last Tuesday, I was getting ready for the day and stopped a minute, looking at my two bracelets. Let me back up... When Adam and I went to Mexico on a mission trip for the first time about 5 years ago, it was to serve with Casas Por Cristo, building a home for a family in Juarez. I had such a hard time coming home. I missed the kids so much, but felt like I was leaving my heart behind in Mexico. I put on one of those stretchy silicone bracelets from Casas while I was there, and have never taken it off. Then once we started to feel God's call to Africa, I bought some threaded bracelets that were black, red, green and yellow to represent Africa, and have had one of those on the same wrist also. Well anyway, that day last week I was looking at both bracelets and decided to pray another one of those "give me clarity" prayers. I prayed that God would clearly tell me if He was indeed leading us to Africa. I want to be sure that we are walking within His will, and not solely within ours. Then at our friend's house later that evening, Caeley has holding my hand, toying with my bracelets, like she often does, and SNAP! Off pops the Casas bracelet! How's that for clarity after hanging around for 5 years??? Caeley was upset, because she was afraid I would be mad. It was fun to explain to them later, after I let it soak in, that it was just an answer to a prayer I had just prayed. Anyway, goodnight! I can't believe tomorrow is August 1st! 

Saturday, July 30, 2011

    God put missions on my heart quite a long time ago! I have talked to Adam about it a lot and have prayed about it for years. I have gone to Mexico on several Mission Trips and felt God tugging on my heart and not letting go.  Then, in 2008, Adam came to the realization that he was tired of going to work and feeling like he wasn't accomplishing anything from an eternal perspective. He felt that God was calling him to more. And so it began. Several years of Bible reading, missions reading, much discussion and much prayer, a few bumps in the road and here we are! Nothing official yet, but hopefully, with God's blessing, we will be Africa-bound within the year! We are attending a retreat with ACM International this week and may sign up as Recruit Status Missionaries. We are working with another family that is with ACM on potential plans to work with a ministry that is already established in Ghana on the western side of Africa.
     I wish that I had started a blog or journal a lot earlier to keep track of all of that ways that God has spoken to our family about missions. It has been amazing. This past year I have really worked on praying specific prayers, asking for clarity and obvious open or shut doors, and God has certainly been faithful. One after another after another... Most recently, he has been working on Caeley. In the months that we have been having serious discussions about moving to Africa, Caeley has been upset. She does not do change. At all. And we have had several big changes in our lives the past couple years, so I felt that this might just put her over the edge. However, once again, God has helped with some major changes. We, as well as some of our family friends, have been praying that if God truly wants our family on this path, that he would light that fire in Caeley's heart as it is in the rest of us. She has been slowly seeming to warm up to the idea, and then 2 weeks ago while we were shopping, she said, "Mom, when are we moving to Africa?" And she said it with excitement!!! Then at church last week she made a prayer card, she brought it home, and Adam saw it laying on her bed. It said, "That we would move to Africa soon!!!" Silly me, I wasn't even expecting that big of a change. Why oh why do we tend to limit God when we ask for things? He is so much bigger and greater! Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."
     While I know there are many difficult things to deal with when making this kind of change in our family's life, I know that we are following the plans that God has for us. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Our goal as a family is to be sensitive and faithful to His calling. And we trust He will comfort us through the tough stuff. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." I know that this is just the beginning of the tough stuff as I begin to survey what is in our household. Figuring out whether each item is: something that we can do without, something that we can easily replace later, or something that is irreplaceable. It's that last one that I am struggling with. What is REALLY irreplaceable? I let go of our little red wagon a few weeks ago. Something I was saving for the possibility of future adopted children or for little nieces and nephews some day, or heck, even for our grandchildren. Next on that list is our baby crib. It's still here, waiting, but it's gonna have to go, and that's gonna be hard. I am thankful to have so many precious memories, I just need to work on the fact that these memories are not just stored in things. Anyway, enough about the tough stuff, I'm not even going to think about things like the goodbyes yet. Well, at least not too much.