Our first conference

We just registered for a conference called "Boot Camp' by Body Builders ministry. This is a conference that Youth Dynamics requires all their staff to attend. We will be attending the conference in Fort Worth, Texas in the middle of January. We are looking forward to learning about raising support, although we realize that there is no special formula, just praying and trusting in the Lord's provision. In the meantime, we are working to complete all our assigned "homework" for the conference and looking forward to Christmas.

A new beginning

After 9 months of praying and waiting, we are excited to share that Mike has been offered a position as Operations Director for Youth Dynamics Adventure in Boise, Idaho. We feel so privileged that the Lord has continue to keep us in outdoor adventure ministry. Mike and I have such a passion for sharing God's love and power through His beautiful creation. What could be a better testament of our mighty God?

The coming days will be very exciting for us. With this new position, we have also accepted the responsibility of raising full financial support in order for Mike to fill this position. We see this as another opportunity to trust in God's timing and provision. We can't wait to share stories of how he provides for us in the coming days!

Out of the Box

75 degrees and sunny! That is the typical weather this time of year here in South Carolina; a little different than the Wisconsin weather we experienced last year. Because of the beautiful sunny weather, it has made it difficult for Mike and I to believe that the holidays are just right around the corner. Yet, indeed they are!

The fast approaching holidays often inspire me to reflect on the year; from Wisconsin to Chicago, Omaha to Isle of Roatan, Florida to South Carolina. We have certainly done our share of traveling this year. In the midst of all the traveling, God has been good to refine us and teach us the difficult lessons we have needed to learn. One lesson we have relearned is how God provides for our every need. It might not be exactly what we expect or in our timing, but God truly does desire to give us the best and nothing but the best. To be honest, this has been a very difficult lesson for me to relearn. So often this summer I have questioned God asking him if he is really listening to my pleading prayers, yet slowly, over time I have been able to see God answer my prayers. The answers haven't been in the form in which we have expected and I am thankful for that, but the Lord has always answered and blessed us in one way or another.

While we are still waiting on God's timing for full time ministry positions and we are still living with my parents, God has provided a temporary holiday job for me. I am working at the local men's homeless shelter inputting holiday donation data. Even though this is a temporary job, I have loved the opportunity to learn more about homelessness. It if funny, I never would have imagined me working there or even doing a data entry job (I hate numbers!), yet I am enjoying every day of it. I am thankful to have a job! Mike has also been blessed with a temporary job. He is working at the University of South Carolina on the painting crew. It is hard work and he often comes home exhausted, yet, once again, he is thankful to be employed.

Even though our circumstances may be different right now then what we would have hoped for at this time of our lives, it has been incredible to see how God has provided. Isn't it amazing how God provides for us when we are willing to humble ourselves and step out of the box that we have imagined for ourselves. God's box is so much bigger!

Introducing Bear

Mike and I took the plunge and decided to get a puppy! We figured that it was now or never and having a little extra time on our hands made it much easier to make the commitment! Our sheltie puppy is named Bear (Mike wanted to name him something that sounded outdoor-like and brave). Bear is a joy and a handful, but he is always SO cute! We have a lot to learn as new puppy parents, but we are enjoying working together and taking some of our focused attention off of our circumstances and putting it towards loving such a cute little puppy!

Thank you Jesus!

Mike came in the house yesterday after his devotions and shared with me James 1. This chapter has been such encouragement to Mike and I these last few days. I would like to share two parts of this chapter that give my soul rest in the midst of difficult times.

James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trial of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

James 1:12 "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."

Aren't God's promises and reassurances just beyond amazing. Everything God does in our life is truly intended to mature us and grow us into stronger Christ followers...yet so often we doubt God's unconditional love for us.

Thank you Jesus for your love and continued work in me, even when I feel that the trials may never end.

Think Time

Mike and I went for a walk today. It was a bright and sunshiny day; great for walking around a beautiful pond. Mike ended up taking photos of some great wildlife, which you will see in a moment. I, on the other hand, had time to think; something I really needed to do.
To be quite honest, this week has been very difficult for me. We are coming up on three months without any major employment and trust me, that’s not due to a lack of effort on our part. I have been quite frustrated with God, often times I have wondered if God really does have a plan for our lives. This week all those thoughts have collided in my mind and the result has amounted to tears. Ultimately it comes down to the fact that I feel that God hasn’t given me the opportunity to be successful in the world, which I know we all desire.
It is because of these thoughts and feelings that I was thankful for some “think time”; time to sort things out. As I thought through my frustrations, the Lord was good to remind me of this: It is our society that has made me think that I should be defined by what I do. I define my success on what I do and how much money because that is how our society defines success, rather than defining my success based off of biblical principles.
I often introduce myself as, “hello, I’m Sheila, I am a teacher” as if the fact that I am a teacher makes me someone in our society. For some reason in my mind, it says that I am successful because I have a career. But really, what does success look like? A teacher is not successful just because she is a teacher or a doctor just because he is a doctor. I choose to define success quite different from what most of our society would say it is. I am successful not because of my occupation or title, but rather because I seek to love, encourage, and serve. I have a loving husband who makes me laugh, family who encourage me and a God who paid it all for me. I am successful not because of my occupation and income, but for who I strive to be.

Goodbye sad Sundays; hello success!

Mike's adorable pictures:

Summer highlights

Here are a few pictures of our summer highlights:

This picture is from our family cruise!

We went to Orlando, Fl. where we enjoyed
a day at the "free" places at Disney world.

Mike was so excited to go visit

National Whitewater Center in

Charlotte, NC where there is a

man made river for kayakers and

rafters!

God continues to give us small adventures to keep our spirits and hope high during uncertain times. God is so good!

Truly Blessed

It has been a few weeks since we have returned from Florida and needless to say, that job opportunity didn't work out. Unfortunately, we are still at ground zero for job opportunities, so we keep praying and trusting that God's time is much better than ours. In the meantime, Mike and I have been on many adventures and have loved meeting new people. We are continually reminded that while we do not have jobs yet, the Lord continues to meet ALL our needs. We are truly blessed!

Perhaps Tampa

Mike and I will be traveling to Tampa, Florida next Thursday-Saturday. We will be visiting a Christian organization that houses at risk female teens. The teens are required to stay at the organization for 1 year where they will live, go to school, and be encouraged in their walk with God. We are visiting the organization because I am looking into a house parent/mentoring position at the organization. I would be responsible for 9 girls and would work with them day in and day out with the ultimate hope of seeing life change occur in the girls. We would receive room and board, although Mike would not be employed with the organization. Ideally, this would be a great opportunity for Mike to knock out his masters degree. He is actually more excited about this possibility than I would have thought, after all he did just finish his undergrad work a few months ago.

We would appreciate your prayers as we travel down there (about a 6 hour drive) and as we try and decide whether this opportunity would be a good fit for both Mike and I. We look forward to keeping you up to date as this journey unfolds.

You Know You're in the South When...

You know you're in the south when...

10) You are asked where you are from because you don't say "ya'll".
9) If you are a man, you ditch all your undershirts because it is just too darn hot!
8) If you are a female, you have a new appreciation for summer dresses (a natural form of air condition).
7) There are still Blue Laws that restrict what you can buy on a Sundays; better plan ahead of time!
6) You are scared to have a picnic under a tree because a black snake might fall out of it.
5) You can park your car in your front yard, literally, and you are not consider strange...in fact, you are strange if you don't!
4) You only eat fried chicken.
3) The confederate flag flies higher than the American flag (or so it seems).
2) You have to peal your skin off of leather seats due to the nasty percentage of humidity.
1) When ordering ice tea, you must specify that you do NOT want sweet tea. Note to self: do not say that you would like "regular tea", regular tea is sweet tea! Ordering non-sweet tea can be as if there is a language barrier between you and your server- good luck!

Waiting

Now that life has settled down a little, Mike and I have started the 'full time job' of searching for jobs. We would appreciate your prayers as we try and sort through God's will for our future. While the wait is hard, we continue to trust in God's perfect timing and choose to believe in a God that cares and provides according to our needs.

Grabbing Life by the Horns

My sister had her wedding this last Saturday. We were worried that it wasn't going to be an outdoor wedding as planned due to terrible rain the night before; however, God must have heard Mandy's cries for good weather because it was perfect weather. She said it was just how she wanted it to be. While the planning for the wedding was quite exhausting, the fellowship with my extended family was great! My grandparents and aunts and uncles live in Washington state, so needless to say, I rarely see them. It was such a delight to spend almost a week with them.

I talked with my grandpa the most. He is a retired bull rider/cowboy and boy did he have some great stories. He told stories about winning bull riding competitions, rounding up 1600 cattle on the Mexican border and barely escaping rattle snakes, lightning bolts and deadly storms. It was so incredible to hear all the stories of this 82 year old man's life. It is quite evident that he has truly LIVED his life.

It is through my grandfather's adventurous stories that I have been challenged to live life to the fullest. I do not want to become old some day and not have any stories to remember back to or tell my grandchildren. I want to have exciting stories of me embracing life and enjoying the ride that God has blessed me with; stories that inspire my grandchildren to go out and grab life by the horns.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

For those who actually read my updates, which I am assuming are few, a lot has happened in the last few weeks! I have watched Mike graduate twice; once from Camp Forest Springs and one from Grace University! I am very proud of his accomplishments, he [we] has worked so hard to get to this point!

The question that has been asked so many times to us lately is, what's next? We wish we had some great story to tell about what our next adventure is; however, God is still testing our patients. He has yet to guide us in a clear direction, so for now we wait. Which I am learning becomes much more difficult the longer I have to wait. In the midst of our waiting we will be enjoying a wonderful cruise vacation with Mike's parents. We leave in 2 days and I am VERY excited. We have never been on a cruise before, so needless to say we are anxious to get on board. After the cruise we will be celebrating my sister's wedding in South Carolina and spending some extended time with my family. We have not had the opportunity to spend extended time with my family recently, so I am very excited for that as well!

While there are fun times just around the corner, I can't help but be anxious about the future. God has reminded me of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 in these last few weeks. This is a passage that I hope to practice and master some day, but am realizing how difficult it is at times. I cling to these words:

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

To all who are counting down with us:

One week from right now Mike will be driving a big yellow Penski truck while I follow behind him in a little smaller vehicle. We will be headed south to Crystal Lake where we will unload our belongings in Sharpmack storage and then we will head to Omaha for Mike's graduation! I am so proud of Mike and I am very excited to cheer him on as he graduates from Grace. Can you believe that our Wisconsin journey has come to an end so quickly? We certainly can't!

In this next week we humbly ask for your prayers as this transition will be unique for us. God has yet to show us our next step in life so we are literally taking a step in faith. Please pray that our moving travels will be safe and that we would be sensitive to hear the Lord when he whispers our future to us. This is truly a time of trusting in God's promises and believing that God will direct our future.

Thank you for all your love, prayer and support!

Just a glimpse

Last night we went to Willow Creek for their Easter service. Whenever we are in Chicago we always like to try and make it to Willow. Some people may get a little intimidated by how enormous the church is, but for me it is actually encouraging. It is so amazing standing in a congregation of 10,000 people and hearing all of us standing and worshiping the creator of the world and our Savior. It reminds me that while there may be terrible things happening in the world today, Satan will not win! There will come a day when we will all, the whole world, stand before Jesus the King. Can you even begin to imagine the beautiful sounds of praise when that day comes; when the whole world will acknowledge that Jesus is the risen one who saved us from a life and eternity of shackles?----Today, Easter, is just a small glimpse of what celebrating and worshiping will be like...for those who believe in the one who died and rose again!!!

~Happy Easter~

Prayer Requests

We are nearing the end of the winter months. The ski hill closed for the season this last Monday and the lake is starting to melt. I really cannot believe how quickly this year has come and gone. In these next 6 weeks Mike will be finishing up his paper and preparing to graduate while I will be packing up our belongings (I feel like we just packed up our things in Omaha!). A few specific prayer requests we have are that:

1) God would direct our next step in life- we have yet to find our direction after these 6 weeks!

2) We would trust God's timing and not our own!

3) Mike would finish the year strong and that I would be content with the unknown of our future.

Thank you for all your prayers!

Just another ski lesson, or so I thought

As I have stated in other posts, Mike and I have been teaching a lot of ski lessons. Some of the lessons have tried our patience, some have tested our physical limits and some are down right discouraging. But there are some lessons that have taught us how a simple interaction with a kid can have an impact for a lifetime.

The other day I was starting to doubt whether me teaching ski lessons really made a difference at all. Then I had a lesson with two middle school boys that reminded me of something; the smallest interaction, the smallest words of encouragement, or the excitement of getting to "the big hill" can give kids all the hope and confidence they need.

I spent most of the morning working with these two boys; one caught on faster than the other, but they both seemed to be enjoying themselves. They finally graduated to the big hill where I was confident they could ski down it without me...and without killing themselves or others. A while later another staff person came up to me and told me that one of the boys I had helped was now teaching another kid how to ski. I believe the boy said to his student, "I know how to ski because I had a great teacher...and now I can teach you everything about skiing!" If only the boy knew that I learned how to ski just a few months back and I myself was still learning.

In my eyes it was just a simple ski lesson, in the boy's eyes it was someone else believing in him, encouraging him and giving him the opportunity to succeed in life. It is funny how often we think the little things in life don't really matter, yet, it is usually the little things in life that God uses to be the most life changing.

A few extra minutes to update you...

I have a few extra minutes before Mike's class gets out so I thought I would update you. Honestly, there isn't much to update you on...we are still skiing and improving in our skills everyday. Teaching ski lessons has been a great opportunity for both Mike and I to reach out to the community, speak truth into peoples lives and enjoy God's beauty in the process. We have had a very cold January, I believe they said it was the coldest on record since 1996; however, we have managed just fine! It is amazing how God provides for our needs, even if it is something as small as hot chocolate on a freezing cold day. It is funny to think that I was so nervous coming to Wisconsin because I wasn't sure if I could handle the winter, but winter has actually become my favorite part about this year. I can honestly say that God has truly taken care of me!

We have about a month and a half left of skiing and then it turns into crunch time for Mike. He is in the process of writing a paper that outlines a hypothetical camp that he created. The final paper is due in April, so March is the month for tweaking and finishing up the paper he has been working on all year. Please pray that he would have the strength to finish this year with excellence and that the Lord would provide him wisdom as he needs it. It is incredible how quickly this year has come and gone. We can't express to you how much we feel your prayers.

Thank you for all your love and support!

Winter is here to stay

So I must admit that at this very moment I am a little frustrated with this blogger website. It has taken me nearly a half hour just to get logged into my site; too many passwords for me to remember! Needless to say, I am finally logged in and happy to update you on the Sharpmack way of life.

Mike and I visited my family in South Carolina for Christmas and it was a wonderful time; warm weather, beautiful sunny days and a lot of laughter made this Christmas extra special. It wasn't until we returned back to the north woods that we realized that winter is here to stay. This last week we have been blessed with temperatures in the mid teens to lower twenties. We have come to find out that those temperatures are actually quite nice for skiing. Yep, that is right, I said skiing! Mike and I have learned how to ski and are teaching lessons this winter. This is one sport that Mike and I can actually enjoy together; we have learned it together and are working at mastering it together. Surprisingly, the cold weather doesn't even phase me when I am out on the ski hill; that is, when my gloves are keeping my fingers nice and warm!

We are excited for this new season here at camp. It is very different from summer or fall, but so far, we have loved the new challenges and opportunity to help others. For those of you counting down until Mike is finished here, we only have 4 more months. Mike is anxious to have his degree completed; however, the job hunt for both of us is under way. Please be praying that the Lord would direct our path as we seek his direction for our future.

Love to all of you from the north woods!