Another Update on the Prayer List

We're still moving forward steadily with the plans to move to Haiti. I thought I would post a brief update on the previous prayer list. 

1. ADOPTION: Jordan's adoption has had some snags, but we're moving along. I want to thank everyone who has been praying about this situation and has supported us! We know God is bigger then details. 

2. PASSPORTS:....ugh....ugh...ugh. I have divided all the passports and taken people in for pictures at costco, but I stuck those pictures in a safe place and now I cannot locate those little pictures. I am also missing 2 adoption decrees (one for a name change and one for a new passport). So, I still need to work on this aspect. For funding the passports: The kids are helping me pull stuff out of our basement, so that we can sell some things on craigslist to pay for each passport. Each time we sell items and earn $175 or so, I'll apply for two more passports. This seems to be easier then trying to coordinate a whole garage sale. 

3. TEAMS: I have worked on documents and scheduling. A list is on the blog. Please pray for team members for Guatemala July 18-26. We desperately need team members. Without the team members, we are not able to provide the much needed medical care in a community that simply does not have access to services that they need. We do have some committed to going AND we will be going. Praise God! I just wish I knew all the details in advance, but it seems God does not always lay out the plans in advance. 

4. WORK: We're trusting in the Lord that the right work will continue to come through. I know that God has called me to continue supporting adoptive placements and work with families. I am looking for some people to possibly sublease my office. I'll post a picture of it. Please contact me for details. 

5. SUPPORT: We have not actually began raising support, but the Lord has already begun providing abundantly. We are at over 80% of what we need for our launching expense (basically moving everyone there and start up costs). We will be sending out details regarding support. Please pray for guidance in this area. I have made some portfolios describing in more detail what we are doing. If anyone would like a portfolio, please let me know! 

6. HOUSE: We have a few different options we are tossing around in regard to our house (letting missionaries stay in it or renting it out on a weekly/daily basis or possibly moving my mom into it in the future). We're still praying for guidance on the details. The house in Cherry Grove is having a new roof put on and then we should be able to list it for sale. We're asking for continued prayers for the house to sell quickly.

7. HEALTH: Praying about various things with this. Many of the kids have gone to specialists and all looks good so far, Praise God! Praying about whether everyone should be vaccinated for typhoid. It is "recommended", but optional. It's about 100 bucks a piece, which for us is umm.....$1300....yikes! I may need to find more items in our basement that we can sell and take them at one at a time to sell in order to pay for the vaccinations this summer. 

8. MEDICAL INSURANCE: Still working on the details for this and praying for guidance. Ron may be able to keep insurance by working part time for his current job. Please pray! 

9. MY MOM: The move will be hard on my mom. Still praying that she adjusts. We're beginning to process of planning to skype with her while we're still at home so that she get accustomed to seeing us on the internet.  

10. OBEDIENCE: We've been studying scripture on obedience as a family. One favorite: Galatians 5:13-14 For you have been called to live in freedom brothers and sisters. But don't use your freedom to satisy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself". We continue to pray for the Lord's guidance in our lives; that we will obedient wherever he calls us; whenever he calls us; and however he calls.

Doors Keep Opening...

The Lord just keeps opening doors! We are trying to catch our breath. We are continually in awe of how the Lord goes beyond what we ever anticipate. We received a significant donation from an amazing family this weekend. This family is by no means wealthy. They simply felt called to give and were faithful in that calling.  We are now at over 80% of our launching expenses. Praise God!! 

It is very humbling to be a recipient of faithful giving. I love the reference that Paul makes to the Philippians 4:17 “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account” (NKJ). We know that in Haiti (and in life), this fruit may be hard to see at times, but we must not lose faith and must continue to advance the kingdom of God. 

Another Open Door...

On Friday, Ron went to his work and was presented with a “potential” job description that he could do part time from Haiti and possibly keep the family on his regular health insurance (at least to some degree). Previously, we had been moving forward with Medi-Share and have felt peace with that decision. It is much less expensive then medical insurance, but it also is not actually medical insurance. There would be exclusion with some of our kids’ conditions.

Basically, if Julia needed chemotherapy again, it would not be covered unless she had a clean bill of health (for that specific condition) for 3 years. Julia wants me to add that she is 100% confident that she has been healed. We believe she has been healed, but we also acknowledge that we do not know what the Lord has in store for our future. This opportunity may be the Lord providing a way to have health coverage. We could then gradually ease Ron out of his work after the waiting periods is up. Ron works for an AMAZING company that has been a tremendous blessing to our family. It looks like this new job opportunity would be very flexible. He would still predominantly serve the needs of the ministry, but then would also dedicate a certain number of hours per week with his new job. 

Please join us in prayer regarding these details. This looks like an amazing door that is opening, but we also know that it will be very challenging to do both (full time ministry and employment).  Someone had mentioned to me today that men do not multitask quite as well as women. It made me smile. In general, I agree with that statement (there are of course exceptions). While we are on the field, I will continue to work in multiple ways, but I tend to function better doing a million things at once and can live on 4-5 hours of sleep a night. I realize that my husband is in the “normal” category of people that actually need sleep. 

Many Blessings....

The Sheppard Shuttle may have a new home. We absolutely LOVE our shuttle bus, but it is wasteful for it to sit in our driveway while we are in Haiti. The current plan is to spend about 10 months a year in Haiti and return to the US mid June-mid Aug in order to visit with family (including my elderly mother), follow up with medical specialists for some of the kids, spread awareness about Mountain Top Ministry (seek team members and prayer partners), and possibly rest and recoup (while traveling across the USA in the RV).  Please contact us if you would like us to visit your church! 

Amazing Connections

I spoke to the insurance agent that works in the same building as my counseling practice. I thought I would get his feedback regarding the insurance logistics of “loaning” our bus to a church. He then proceeded to say that he knew a church that may be interested.

After speaking to the pastor of that church, it seems the church may be interested in either buying the bus from us (which would help with our launching expenses) or borrowing/leasing the bus from us (they would pay the insurance and the maintenance). Either way, we would also be able to use the bus or one of the church vehicles while we are in the states. Praise the Lord!

Please join us in prayer regarding the Sheppard Shuttle that she will find a good church home that will love her as much as we do. 

Update on Prayer List

Thank you everyone for the continued prayers! Here's an update so far on what the Lord is doing!

1. That Jordan's adoption would process in time for our move date-Things are looking up for Jordan's adoption. Background checks, home study visit, and various details are finally coming together. Praise God!!

2. That everyone will be able to get a US Passport (most have them, but there is a snag with one child who has an immigration issue). I have actually organized the passports from our safe box, compiled a list of whose passport has expired, who needs a new one, who needs a name change, and who doesn't have one a US passport at all. I have also gone in to get passport pictures for the kids that need passports. Ron and I will be meeting at the passport office (hopefully on Monday) to send many of them in. 

3. That we will be able to mobilize 10-12 teams into Haiti beginning this next year (building teams, school teams, evangelism teams, work teams, etc). With having teams, the teams will expand what God is doing though MTM and will also cover about 1/3 of our expenses by basically covering our housing expense plus being able to bring items into Haiti for us that are tremendously expensive in Haiti (cost of living is about 3x's what it is in the USA). Yeah!! I have a list of many, many dates. I have posted on the blog. I have also printed up some business cards with access to specific details. Previously, I always gave people my work business card and wrote on the back future dates, but it would always smear, etc. If you'd like some cards that you can hand out to people, please call/text me and let me know 503-888-0050. I would be happy to send you some. We are beginning to speak about the various teams, so please prayerfully consider asking us to discuss short term teams with your church, family, or other organization! 

4. That I will still have work and Ron will still have work when we move (we are hoping to earn 1/3 of our overall living expenses by continuing to work: Me seeing clients and Ron doing floor plans). Ron has officially told his work that he will be moving to Haiti. We are praying about the possibility of some continued side jobs from the US doing floor plans, etc. 

5. That we will be able to raise enough support (goal is to raise 1/3 of our overall budget)- Have started calculating how many supporters we will need and it is very manageable. Please pray for us in this process. A good friend said to me, "Ask not, want not" and I am "trying" to absorb that. Like many people, it is simply difficult to ask for support in general and then there are the questions: How to ask for support? When to ask for support? I am printing some prayer cards with details on how to support as well. 

6. That our house in Cherry Grove will sell quickly and for a decent price. We have hired someone that is working on putting a new roof on the home and various other things. Hopefully it will be ready to list for sale within a couple of weeks.

7. That Julia gets a clean bill of health at her next doctor's appointment. She completed chemotherapy one year ago this June and is confident that she has been healed. Praise God! Umm...still need to schedule this. 

8. That we will be accepted into the Christian medical sharing program: Medi-Share and that we continue to feel peace about stepping away from a traditional medical insurance plan. Working on the paperwork for this...

9. That my mom will adapt to us moving- our oldest son will be staying with her and we have an amazing friend/caretaker that takes her to the senior center 2x's a week, but change tends to be difficult for her. Praying about what to tell my mother/how to tell my mother. She has relatively significant short term memory loss and will have difficult retaining the information. 

10. That we will continue to listen and obey God in all that we do :) Continuing to pray for the Lord's guidance.

Life is Like Running: Painful and Humbling….

Roseminique and I went running today.  It was a good experience, but I am still under the belief that running, like life, is HARD.  As many of you know, I am not exactly built like a runner. I am 4’10”, built solid, and feel like I weigh a ton of bricks when I attempt this activity called “running”.  As you can see in the picture, my 10 year old daughter is significantly taller then me (and about 15 pounds lighter).

Spiritual Journey

Running is a spiritual journey.  It often feels like I have an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. One side is saying, “God created you. Use your full potential and move your body from point A to point B”.  The other side is saying, “Maybe God created ME to sit on the couch and eat bon-bons!” God cannot possibly want me to feel this pain. What in the world is the point of this??

The Second Wind

Sometimes we get that second wind a mile or so into it and it begins to feel like running or life becomes bearable. Other times, 8 or 10 miles go by and that second wind never comes. We keep waiting for things to get easier and we begin to question whether we are really on the right road. We may get this glimpse of hope and then it is quickly dashed away when we turn a corner and see the next hill we have to climb. Much of the time, we just have to keep plugging along knowing that God has a plan even though it is painful and we are not entirely sure of where this road is taking us.  For all those adoptive parents out there, I feel your pain! Sometimes the road is long, uphill both ways, with little reward in sight. We just have to trust and believe on this very long and difficult journey.

Humbling Moments

Running is incredibly humbling. I am about as fast as a snail. An eighty-year old grandpa with his walker is generally zooming right by me and it “appears” like he is having a grand ‘ol time! People that are a good 100+ pounds heavier then me outpace me quite easily. Me, I don’t even feel that adrenaline rush that I hear runners talk about.  When someone runs by me, it doesn’t make me want to run faster. It makes me want to give up. I often look at the grass and feel it calling to me. Again, I feel that internal spiritual conflict. “Look at that grass! The Lord made that grass just for you so you could lay down and rest a while.”  The devil on my other shoulder is trying to convince me that God really wants me to give up. I have to continually remind myself when I run, and in life, that God calls us to do many things that are not very fun and in fact require a great deal of work and personal sacrifice.

Finding Joy in the Storm

Running is like parenting. We have to be able to find that joy in the midst of the pain. More and more as I run, I am finally able to look around and see the incredible beauty of the Lord’s creation. When I first started running, I was not able to do that. Yes, my lungs are burning, my body hurts, and I want to give up, but I am able to finally see beauty during the process instead of only when I cross that finish line. In parenting, it is the same thing. In the middle of the crisis, we need to be able to breath, look around, and see the glory of God in ALL things. It’s not easy, but it is something I strive for each and every day.

Romans 8:28 is by far one of my favorite bible verses, “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” 

I have been called to many things. I have been called to serve, to parent, to missions, to Haiti, and I’ve even been called to run. These things are not easy, but God is good all the time!