Happy Birthday to a lovely young lady

  

 I look at her and can hardly believe that my little Becca is now 12 years old!  I don't know where the years went, or how she came to become such a beautiful, bright young lady.

I'm so very proud of her, and so grateful that God would give me a daughter.  She has been such a wonderful companion in the midst of all these boys during deputation.  She has grown to be my right hand, and greatest helper.

She's has been such a blessing, not only to our family, but to others around er as well.  It has been such a joy to watch her be so generous to others.  She gave away her DS and games to a child that was in the hospital so he wouldn't be bored, and has given away her favorite books to other girls who love horses! She gives her money to other missionary children and preachers!  I've also seen her grow in her relationship with the Lord.  She has seen God answer some amazing prayers for her.  She is learning to love reading her Bible and loves to sit and talk about what she read, and about how to apply it.  The best advice on parenting I ever got was from another missionary who encouraged me to read the Bible with Becca daily, and pray.  I can't put into words how that time together everyday greatly impacted our relationship.  The Lord has used that time to knit our hearts together like never before.  I greatly encourage  all parents to try to do this.
Becca has such a tender heart to other children in need, and looks for ways to help them and encourage them.  I pray that the Lord would continue to mold her and use her.  I love my girl!  I read this poem and just loved it. 

As I watch grow by    Kay Theese                                  
 Do you know how much you mean to me?
As you grow into what you will be.
You came from within, from just beneath my heart
it's there you'll always be though your own life will now start.
You're growing so fast it sends me awhirl,
With misty eyes I ask, Where's my little girl?
I know sometimes to you I seem harsh and so unfair,
But one day you will see, I taught you well because I care.
The next few years will so quickly fly,
With laughter and joy, mixed with a few tears to cry.
As you begin your growth to womanhood, this fact you must know,
You'll always be my source of pride, no matter where you go.
You must stand up tall and proud, within you feel no fear,
For all you dreams and goals, sit before you very near.
With god's love in your heart and the world by its tail,
You'll always be my winner, and victory will prevail.
For you this poem was written, with help from above,
To tell you in a rhythm of your Mother's heartfelt Love!

Wait on the Lord

"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage , and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait , I say, on the LORD." Psalm 27:14

Two months ago I was all discouraged when I realized that we had 3 weeks in August that were blank.  3 WEEKS!  3 weeks without meetings, without conferences…NOT getting any closer to our goal.  The Dominican felt soooo far away. I couldn’t understand why we hadn’t been able to get meetings during that time, but the Lord gave us some things we needed more than meetings.

God's perfect timing
Not long ago we took Jonathan to the dentist and found out all his molars were rotting out of his mouth.  He was going to need to have all his molars pulled.  The dentist told us that this work would take four weeks to do.  Guess what weeks she had available to do the work!  We were able to get all his dental work done.  He’s now minus 5 molars and has two spacers he has to wear until his adult molars grow in.  We thank the Lord that even during the craziness of deputation were able to get all his work done.

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In time to lend a hand
When we pulled into Chesapeake, the pastor came out to greet us and see how things were coming along for us.  Chad told him of our adventures and told him we’d be around for a little over 3 weeks.  He asked the pastor if there was anything we could help with.  The pastor let us know that he was needing to go out of town for a few weeks and needed someone to fill the pulpit.  He asked Chad if he could do it.  This church has been a tremendous blessing to us over the years, and we were thrilled to have an opportunity to be a help and a blessing to them.  This also meant that we would be able to attend the same church for 3 weeks straight!  Something we hadn’t done in over a year.  It was such a blessing to get to know the families better at this church, and to work amongst the people. The kids loved going to Sunday school and actually being able to turn in their homework and do their projects with the other kids.  Not to mention, there are horses at this church.  Our daughter was in heaven being able to help out with the horses-feeding, watering, brushing, and even catching them!  It was time of refreshment; A time to remember what it was like to be part of a church family again.

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Strengthened and Encouraged by loving family and friends
During these three weeks, we also had ample opportunities to see our family and friends again.  What a blessing they were.  We had several lunch and dinner engagements.  It’s incredible how out of touch you can feel with everyone after being on the road for a year, but then how quickly we can bond together again.  I’m thankful for the wonderful family and friends that God has given us.  Though at times we feel forgotten by all our loved ones, it is obvious when we are together that we are not forgotten but near and dear to their hearts.  They carry us on their hearts and pray for us daily.  What a wonderful feeling to know that we have such a prayer base amongst our family and friends.  Being reminded of this made our 3 weeks home, worth it.

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I also took advantage of the time we had to get some projects done on the RV.  Some special friends of ours came a built some shelves and drawers in the RV, which made travel much less hazardous for us.  No toys, or instruments falling on heads this time!  We also were able to relace a torn curtain with a very cute and stylish one!  I was able to clean out and rearrange our outside storage compartments.  I cleaned out our closets and cabinets too.  This was also a perfect opportunity for us to start school.  We had a few weeks of stability and quiet.  What a great start we've had to our school year.  We have a good schedule going, we'll see how much our deputation travels affect it  LOL.

Now we are on the road again, refreshed and stregthened.  On the agenda, Massachusetts, Ohio, Southern Maryland, Illonois, Wyoming, and California!  It's going to be a busy fall.  lease pray for us as we travel such great distances in the RV.  Please pray that our promised support will come in soon, that will put at 50% or above when it does.  Please pray that God would use us at these next meetings/conferences to be an encouragement to the churches and pastors, also that God would use us to impact lives for missions.

Living by Faith

Years ago  I thought that the lessons of the Christian life were something that were learned in order and checked off the list!  As the years went on and you learned more about God, you matured as a Christian by checking more and more lessons off your list. 

But as the years have gone on, I've learned that I've haven't even scratched the surface of "Living the Christian life", or mastering the lessons that God teaches us!  One of the most basic lessons is that of Living By Faith.  It's so basic in its teaching, and yet so difficult to live in our ever-changing circumstances!

I thought surely I learned how to live by faith as a new bride when Chad was a full-time college student!  Our income was almost non-existent, and yet God met our needs.

A few years later Chad began working as Assitant Pastor and our income dropped to $200 a week.  We had 3 kids and I wasn't working!  Chad and I look back on those years and we can't figure out how we ate, except that there is a God in heaven who provided daily meals for our family!  Yes, I thought certainly during those years I learned about living by faith and depending on the Lord to provide for our needs.  I had seen the Lord do so many miraculous things in our lives during that time.  He hadfaithfully met every need.

But now we've stepped into a new arena!  An arena which has taught me that I know NOTHING about living by faith!  Sure in times past we lived on a small income, but there was income.  We could count on recieving it.  Maybe it wasn't much, but we knew it would be there for us every Sunday night!  And besides that, we were part of the most loving church in America.  If anyone found out we had a need, someone would run to help meet that need.  So were we really depending on God during those years?  We were surrounded by family and friends; we had many PEOPLE we could lean on. 


Then last year we started deputation and said good-bye to our loving church and family, good-bye to our dependable salary, good-bye to STABILITY and SECURITY.  This can be a scary place to be.  Scary but marvelous!  Scary because there is no one to turn to for help and marvelous because it gives God the opportunity to really show himself.  There is no greater help, no greater provider than God. 

"Some trust in chariots, some in horses' but we will remember the name of the Lord our God"

Psalm 20:7

It is easy to trust in things that we can see and touch.   Not so easy to just completely trust the Lord, but HE is trustworthy, and faithful.  Just when I think I've finally trusted the Lord with my "problem", I find myelf worrying about it again the next day.  I have to keep reminding myself that God is in control, that God has promised to take care of us.  When I find my faith faltering, I go to my Bible and search for His promises.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things (food& clothes) shall be added unto you."  Matt. 6:33

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" Phil. 4:19

This morning was one of those mornings when I woke up worrying about our finances, and feeling overwhelmed about some financial obligations we have.  That in turn gave way to worrying about whether or not we would EVER get enough support to go to the field...  Funny how if you give way to worrying about one thing, you can really start worrying about a myriad of things!  Satan always magnifies things before our eyes and changes our perspective.  By magnifying our circumstances he can really steal our peace and get us in a frenzy.  I'm thankful for the Word of God and how it helps us get our firm footing again.

This morning I read, "...go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; an when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money; ..." Matthew 17:27

When I read that, I remembered that my God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He CAN provide. God's resources are not limited, and He is not limited by circumstances. He doesn't need special circumstances to fall into place in order to provide.  He creates the circumstances! Many times God does provide in unique and unexpected ways; not the way we plan or think He should. 

So this morning, comforted by God's Word, I began to sing Living By Faith:

I care not today what the morrow may bring,

If shadow or sunshine or rain,
The Lord I know ruleth o’er everything,
And all of my worries are vain.

• Refrain:
  Living by faith in Jesus above,
  Trusting, confiding in His great love;
  From all harm safe in His sheltering arm,
  I’m living by faith and feel no alarm.





Melvin is doing GREAT!

Thank you all so much for praying for the Moran family, and for Melvins surgry this week.  The major risk in this surgery is that th cancer was over the area of the bran that controls sppech, and doctors were afraid he woud loose the abiliy to speak.  I was able to go see Melvin this afternoon, and he is doing very well!  His mom said his surgery went unexpectedly fast, and the doctors were amazed at how easy it went!  Melvin awoke from surgery VERY hungry and talking up a storm!  He is recovering well and will be released tomorrow or Sunday to go home!
Doctors want Melvin to go to the CHildren's Hospital in Philadelphia for specialized radiation he can't get here in MD.  He will be there for six weeks of treatment. 

We serve an amazing God!  Thank you for your prayers, and please continue to pray for Melvin as he recovers from this second battle with brain cancer.