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.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
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.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
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!
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!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
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.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
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!
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!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
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!
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!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
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!
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