Meditate.

I have been unable to sleep lately. I toss and turn, my mind running a million miles a minute, fretting and worrying over things I can't control or change.

Last night was one of those nights. After hours of not sleeping, when I really wish I was sleeping, I got up to go to the bathroom and regroup. As I walked down the hall, a soft whisper in my head said, "Meditate on my scripture, meditate on Proverbs 3:5-6." As I climbed back into bed, I closed my eyes and began to recite the verse that I had memorized so long ago. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your path straight."

The first few time I rambled off the verse hoping that I would quickly fall asleep, but after about the tenth time I began to focus on each word and the importance of it in my life. Trust....wow, something I obviously am not doing a very good job of if I am still awake fretting over the impossible. All... I am certainly not giving it ALL to Him...if I am still awake. Understanding... I can't even begin to understand, it is evident that my plans are not God's plans otherwise we wouldn't be living with my in laws (even though I do love them!).

I continued to meditate on each word, allowing myself to be refined by the Holy Spirit; to be disciplined, challenged, and renewed. To be honest, I don't remember if I was able to meditate on each word before I fell asleep. But I can say that I woke up this morning disciplined and ready to start again.

So the next time you can't sleep, try meditating on scripture. More likely than not, He will put you in your place and you will get a good nights sleep!

Chicago

We are now into our second week of staying in Chicago with Mike's parents. Last week we had the opportunity to show my sister, Mandy, and her husband Chicago. They had never been to the windy city, so we enjoyed taking them downtown and to a few of our favorite places. It was sad to see them go and even more sad to say goodbye, but the journey goes on and we look forward to our next adventures with them.

Now we are support raising full time; making phone calls, sending out emails and meeting with family and friends. In this support raising process we have been humbled and stand in awe; our God is incredible! We are now at about 15% of our support and the Lord keeps bringing contacts our way. Isn't it quite amazing how God directs and brings all things together for His glory!

We will keep you posted as our journeys continue!

Temporary Goodbyes

We said our temporary goodbyes to the Jann family. Mike and I babysat these cute kiddos quite a few times and we will miss their goofy, fun-loving spirit!

The Blewett family took one last 'family day trip' to Charleston before Mike and I leave for Chicago. We had a great time visiting the beach and Fort Sumter! We will be back to visit, but not for a while.

11.44%

Praise the Lord!

We are at 11.44% of our support! While we know we have a long ways to go, we want to rejoice and thank the Lord as we go through this support raising process... not just when we are 100% fully supported.

Thank you to those who support us, pray for us and love us. Thank you Jesus for being our provider and care taker!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever!"

~1 Chronicles 6:34

South Carolina

It is hard to believe that we have been living with my parents in South Carolina for 9 months already! When we came to stay with my parents back in June, we never would have guessed that 9 months later we would still be here. Funny how God works.

How bitter-sweet this time has been. Oh how Mike and I wished that we could have jumped from Mike's graduation straight into full time jobs again, yet, the Lord was good to mold us and reshape us. His plan, while difficult at times, has been much more rewarding than our own. I am reminded of James 1 as it is such a reminder that our plans may not be God's plans...and when things may seem difficult, we should consider it all a gift from Him, for they prepare us for the days ahead.

While South Carolina has brought it's ups and downs; sweet memories with family, new friends to stay in touch with, times of questioning God, and many hours waiting on the Lord, we will soon be leaving here. How bitter-sweet!

Mike and I will be moving up North where we will be back in familiar territory (Yankee territory). Come March 15 our new city address will be Crystal Lake, IL. We will enjoy some time with the Sharpmack family as we continue to raise support; all with the same goal still in mind. Full support by June 1st. Idaho bound and excited to see what else God has planned.

Thank you South Carolina for all the love, support, and new friends we have found here.

The Magic Button

Words can't begin to express what an amazing time we had in Fort Worth, TX. Mike and I drove the 17 hours straight thru last Wed. in order to be at the conference bright and early the following morning. Looking back, we wonder if we were crazy! Really, 17 hours straight thru?! We won't be doing that again any time soon.

As for the conference, Boot Camp by Body Builders, Youth Dynamics could not have picked a better conference for us to attend. While we know that we will never be prepared enough for this journey, we do believe that this conference has prepared us enough to feel equipped to share our ministry opportunity with others. We look forward to the opportunity to sit down and share our ministry passion with others and to see how the Lord will provide- what an opportunity to leap off the edge and trust that God's mighty hands will catch us!

If we have learned one very important lesson from this conference it is that we cannot, nor do we want to, go onto the ministry field without invested ministry partners praying and supporting us. At the beginning of the conference the speaker asked us, "if there was a magic button that you could push and you would be financially funded immediately, would you push it?" Almost everyone in the room raised their hands. Of course we would push the button! The speaker shared that his goal was to help us see that ministry partners aren't just investing in us financially, but that they are the core of our ministry. Without them and God at work in all of us, our ministry would not survive the long hall. At the end of the conference the speaker asked the same question about the magic button; it was amazing to see that not one person raised their hands. We finally realized what we would miss out on by pushing the magic button; an opportunity to team together to transform lives for the glory of God.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

We drove the 900 miles to Chicago for the new year. What a fun time we had celebrating the new year and Christmas with the Sharpmack family. The snow was so beautiful and made us miss our favorite sport of skiing. Bear was also introduced to snow and he loved it! He enjoyed running through the 10 inches, but his favorite thing to do in the snow was to eat it! Although the snow was beautiful, we will admit that the -4 degree weather would not have been missed!

Now we are back in South Carolina enjoying a little warmer (but not much warmer) weather. We are catching our breath before we drive a little over 1,000 miles to Fort Worth, TX next Wed. for our support raising conference. We are in the process of finishing up our 24 hours worth of "homework" where we have learned so many encouraging things about raising support from a biblical perspective. We have been so encouraged by our home study that we are very anxious to get to our conference and learn even more!

Thank you for all your prayer and support. We would appreciate your prayers for safe travels and a wonderful time of learning at the conference.

We will keep you posted!