Life has been a roller coaster! I have been trying to make time to go to work, spend time with the kids and Jason, and to spend time with the Lord every day. Going back to work is not easy, but we are adjusting. I feel like so many things are constantly changing in our lives, but that's okay. Our love for the Lord is growing and we are learning to depend on him more.

This goes to all our family and friends...please keep us in prayer. Jason and I are both starting a new job, and God is already showing us people we can pray for and love on. I miss being home with the kids though and they are having a little bit of a hard time as well. We are still waiting to hear from AG World Missions on whether we are accepted or not. We are also continuing to pray about where we should go. Our prayer is that we will be in just the right place for our talents to be used and our hearts to be stirred. We have gone through so much in the last couple of years it seemed like the foreign mission field was only a distant idea, we are thankful that God is calling us to serve him full time.

In the mean time though, God is connecting us with other missionaries that we are able to pray for. Even my sister Cherie and her husband are getting ready to leave for Haiti this week which will be a planning trip. They will get to see the school they will be administrating and get to see where their house and the orphanage will be built. They are so excited! This will be the first trip to Haiti for their girls. I know they will fall in love with it just like their Mom and Dad. They are already excited about getting to meet the kids and helping them out.

I hope that over the next several months, as I try to keep up with blogging more often, that everyone who reads this will begin to get a picture of how faithful God really is. We see it every day in our own lives and I feel like I get just a little picture of how much God loves us when I see his hand of mercy and grace active in our family.

New Direction!

For the past year Jason and I have gone through a lot, and now we feel like God has put us in a place to step out. We both feel our family is called to serve on the foreign mission field. That calling has been on the horizon of our relationship and goals for the past 7 years.

Lately our life has been a literal roller coaster. From getting accustomed to having 3 children, to Jason losing his job. We have finally been able to get involved in RUSH (our youth group) more actively by teaching Sunday School. For months Jason's schedule has made it difficult to be involved, but God has heard the desires of our heart and has given us an opportunity. We have lost our second vehicle, but God has given us a home closer to things which makes it easier to get around. Although frustrating at times we can see that God is concerned about our needs. I have been so overwhelmed it has been difficult to find time to write, but I am confident that I will be able to share more often in the days to come.

To give an update on our status...we are in the application process with Assemblies of God World Missions and would appreciate everyone's prayers. Pretty much all our information is in and we are coming to the end of the process. We hope to hear soon how the next several years of our lives will be spent. Either we will be accepted and begin to prepare for the mission field or we will be doing what we must to be in a better place to be accepted. We do know that we have some debt that must be payed off before going on assignment and could use prayer that God will preform a miracle in that area. We have been steadily working on it and God has given us resources and wisdom to see it happen. In the past few years we have managed to wipe out a lot of past debt and are on our way to being debt-free.

When we are accepted we will be going with a program called "Engage" www.engagemylife.com We would be going as leaders/house parents and can't wait for the opportunity to do what we feel God has designed us to do.

The mission of Engage is to provide opportunities for students to pursue ministry experience while acquiring higher education. It seeks to fulfill that mission by:

• Providing regionally accredited education through partner schools.
• Creating cross-cultural ministry experiences on the mission field.
• Teaching students to be Christ-followers.
• Collaborating with national churches.

An even greater asset to this opportunity is being able to continue our education. Jason has been trying to complete his Pastor's Credentials and I am re-enrolling in school to finish my degree. This will open a door for us to be more available for ministry in the future. We will also be able to get a better job upon returning which should enable us to return to missions sooner. If accepted to AG World Missions we will be leaving the states for 2 years to work with the Missionaries of Engage. Please keep us in your prayers, and keep all our Foreign and Home Missionaries in your prayers as well.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read about what God is doing in our hearts. Love you all!

(Some text borrowed from www.engagemylife.com)

Moving Forward?

Have you ever had one of those moments where you are sitting still but something next to you is moving so you think that you are moving instead? You have this split second of confusion and you're not sure what's happening. I'm kinda having a reverse of that. In my split second of questioning I can say for sure I am the one moving.

Jason and I have been on this roller coaster ride this past year with finances, kids, jobs, and everything in between. We have lost jobs, cars, money, houses, and all sorts of stuff. My flesh keeps asking, "God, what is happening?" I went through times of anger, depression, and confusion. On the other side of it all though, God always had a plan. For such a long time things were moving around us and we were just sitting still. We stayed encouraged though that God was going to make a way.

Now, I find myself feeling like I'm moving and I'm sure that I am. God is showing me so many things that I need to see. It's like I'm finally starting to step into the places He has been preparing me for in the last year or so. I am learning how to seek after him even when everything is working against it, how to catch His vision for me now rather than my vision for myself in the future, and most of all that Jesus has got to be in the boat before I set sail.

We spent our day at Epcot seeing many different things and enjoying the World Showcase.

We had a wonderful dinner in France. The show in the evening was amazing.

Jason and I enjoyed a day at Disney and are going to take the kids there soon.

Give A Day, Get A Day...at the happiest place on earth!

We recently participated in the "Give A Day, Get A Day" nationwide campaign by Disney. We got so much out of it too. We picked citrus fruit for about 4 hours and worked at the food pantry for about 3 hours or more. We are used to helping with ministries like this and know how great it feels to help people get the food they need, but I think the most rewarding part of the day was watching the kids enjoy working outside. They were so excited to see all the magnificent fruit trees and actually get to take things off of them. The also enjoyed eating some of it too.

Sunshine in my soul

Today was cold, wet, and dreary...but I was still warm. Watching the kids smile as they played made all the other stuff crowding my thoughts just melt away. Focusing on the things that are pure can be difficult sometimes, but when you do it opens your heart to a ray of sunshine. They remind me every day that I have something to praise the Lord about.

Our New Arrival

But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. John 4:23

Although she is almost 6 weeks old, I am introducing Lily. She is as sweet as her name and we all love her way too much. Even Elijah and Violet are spoiling her. She was a whopping 6lbs 14oz and 19 inches long. Her eyes are dark blue and her hair is a gingery red color. She looks just like her big brother. I can't wait till we can visit Illinois so the rest of the family can meet her and steal all the kisses they want. I know her Grandma and Grandpa are ready to see her. She is much smaller than the other kids, and twice as needy as they were, but I don't mind since she is our last.

Jason and I are adjusting to this new addition and I feel God is giving us the grace to endure three kids...lol. She is such a blessing to our family and I can't wait to see what a wonderful young lady she grows to be.

Elijah

He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. Deuteronomy 10:18

Four years ago I held my baby boy in my arms and was amazed at his perfection...I am still amazed at God's handy-work. We are going to take him out for a special day this year. I hope he will like everything we have planned. He announced to us the other day how he wants, "a duck cake with sesame street, mommy." He made sure he gave us specifics. That is just how he is too, knows what he wants and when he wants it.

I know God has amazing plans for him over the next year. I truly believe that the Lord is going to strengthen our bond. He will begin preschool in August and I am so excited for him. He has talked about school all this year. I'll miss him though. It will just be the girls here at the house and I won't know what to do with out my little man singing along to his favorite tv shows or playing with his best pal Buzz.

Thank you Lord for giving me my little boy. I know he is a lot to take in for most people, but he will one day take the world by storm.

Celebrating Violet

Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue. Proverbs 31: 25-26

These are the words that Jason and I speak over Violet's life. I can hardly believe that she is 2 years old. It seems like just yesterday that I heard her cry for the first time as she took her first breath. I can honestly say that first cry my children made was the most precious sound I have ever heard. Now I get to listen to the sweet sounds of her laughter and thank the Lord for how blessed I am. She brings sunshine into our hearts and joy into our lives. My love for her grows stronger every day.

I love the way she smiles when she accomplishes something new, or the way she blinks her eyes over and over when she first wakes up in the mornings. She loves my cinnamon rolls and I've never seen a child love pizza more (she gets that from Daddy). Even though she can be a little rough on her brother sometimes and is a little too independent lately, I admire her strength of will. I could accomplish anything with that kind of persistence. I only pray I will have the wisdom to guide that will properly and help her understand the importance of bending that will to the Lord's. I pray she will look circumstances in the face and dare them to challenge God's faithfulness. I pray her humility and passion will be a powerful example to everyone around her. Most of all I pray she will love the Lord with all her heart and have confidence that he has created her perfectly with a plan for her in mind, that she will know he handmade her for a specific purpose, and that she will also know the Father's heart is overflowing with love for her.