Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Good News!!

I just wanted to update anyone who has been following that we will be making our first payment toward our mission trip to Alaska this week!!  God was there for us, communicating that He had a plan and we are to follow it and is showing us some open doors and some encouraging people!  We have a long road ahead of making it work but my feelings of blessing and gratitude tell me our faith is going to pay off.  Thank you and please keep leaving me messages as this little, tiny step develops.  I know this is just one piece to a much grander scheme.  God can be cunning like that!!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Our Future

As some of you may know,we have been working on some big decisions.  We had a big fall that was stressful for us financially but we survived and came out the other side possibly better for it.  We have felt very compelled to teach others the things we have done to change our lives in the last few years.  It has really come to our hearts to evaluate what kind of Christian we truly want to be.  We have become comfortable with the little things we do.  Praying for others, volunteering some here and there, send a little money out for others to do the work.  But what are we actually doing
We took a few days last week to do some much needed family bonding.  We stayed 3 nights in a  little cabin in the mountains removed from as much normal as we could in an attempt to regain composure and reconnect as a family.  It was quite successful and we became pretty secure in our path and mission as a family.  We have been facing an opportunity, which to some, may seem trivial and easy, others could possibly relate, and yet to others this may be the last thing you would ever consider.

Our church is sending a team of people to a remote area near Juno, Alaska where a youth camp is located.  There is little known about Jesus or Christianity and much love needed.  Most of these kids come from homes that know nothing about God and in a lot of the cases, the camp may be their only source.  I cannot quite do justice to what this place offers.  You can check out some of the stories here.  We have always felt like our own country needed this kind of love too but seems to be neglected.  When this was presented we felt it was perfect.  But as the details have unraveled, we are struggling with it.  We have differing opinions as to which is the number one difficulty but since this is my blog I will state my number one which is we cannot bring our kids and will have little to no phone contact for 10 days.  There is computer, but lets face it, that is not the same for someone who stays with her kids pretty much 24/7.  Next is the cost of the trip being about $3000 total for us both.  This is also going to cost most of Mike's vacation and since he works 7 days a week every week, that limits the time he would have to take off for the rest of the year.  Not to mention a loss of some of his pay while out.

I have been praying and praying...and praying and praying...that God would reveal some unforeseen thing that would give us a clear answer but all I have heard from Him was Noah, Abraham, Job...they all did it!!  They had faith that God would provide for them and their families. I thought I even heard Him tell me they they just did it, and with a lot more at stake and for much longer and with much less and what the heck are you whining about??  Ok, well, maybe not in quite that eloquent of words!  But you catch my drift. 

I do not have a clear answer, possibly because I am blinded by fear.  But I do know it is time to stretch my reach past the Children's Ministry at The Church at Southlake and it is time to get out of my comfort zone.  Is a trip to the remote Echo Ranch Bible Camp a good place to start?

Please pray for our decision and our faith as we need to make it soon.  Our deposits are due next week and we seem to be riding Rockin' Roller Coaster!  Please drop me an email or Facebook message.

If you feel compelled to donate a few dollars to help us get there, you can call me too.  We could use all the help we can get!