Colossal Changes

Colossal changes?  Well, that may be a slight stretch, but not too far from it.  2017 has brought with it a tremendous amount of change in a very short time.  In December, our youngest made the decision to join the U.S. Marines.  We are so proud, and were happy to have the whole family together briefly in January.  Our oldest son also received a pretty impressive promotion in January, as well.

 I graduated from the District School of Ministry in January (and my hubby graduated in December with his Master's in Organizational Leadership).

 Our missions appointment has kept us so terribly busy that we decided it was best that I quit my job, so I could be on the road full time.  On my last day of work in January, I left straight from work to head to the airport.  I will really miss my job and friends, but I know I can't continue burning the candle at both ends.

 I  joined my hubby and the team on the ground in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where a major tornado had hit.  We were set up at Venue Church, where you could tell they loved their community.  We had some amazing volunteers that helped us get through the deployment.

 The day after we returned to the Dallas area, we were back on the streets feeding the homeless.  Without trying to sound like I'm whining, we have realized that we simply cannot keep up the pace we have been going.  Deployments are frequently 14-16 hour days, with no "weekend".  When the deployment is over, it is vital that we take time to rest.  With that thought and much prayer, we feel it is best to locate a local person who can head up the homeless outreaches for us.  

 After the outreach we said our goodbyes to our son before dropping him off at Dallas MEPS for the Marines.

 The next day he officially swore in and then flew to California for Basic Training.

 And then the packing began.  My hubby even helped label a few boxes.  :)  We have been planning this move for a few years, and are so happy to finally see it come to pass.  It took about 2 weeks to go through our entire house, and either get rid of stuff, move it into the RV, storage unit, shipping container, or Mercy Chefs storage. 

 Of course, we did more than just pack during those 2 weeks.  Homeless outreach continued.

 We also worked at a church for their Men's Ministries meeting.  They set up the parking lot to look like the homeless encampment.

 It was great to have the opportunity to speak to so many about our vision at one time.

 At the end of those 2 weeks, we left our house, moved into our RV, and got a first for us-a puppy!  Meet Dozer.  We sure hope he likes being on the road!

 In any given month, a minimum of at least 2 of those weeks are on the road.  We felt like we were paying rent to just live in hotels, and never home to do upkeep.  It just made sense to move into the RV. We will still build our dream house some day, but for now we just don't have the time to commit to a building project.

So full time in the RV means when we aren't deployed we can office from the RV anywhere we can get Wifi.  We decided to celebrate our change by spending a couple days in Surfside, Texas.  I cannot even begin to tell you how grateful I was for a beautiful 80 degree February day.  I felt renewed!  We even had a divine appointment with a stranger while we were there who prayed over us.  Even though it was just a couple days it was very refreshing both spiritually and mentally.

 On the ride home, we saw the Stephen F. Austin statue.  While we had been past the Sam Houston statue many times, I never knew this one even existed.  The grounds were closed the day we drove through, but the gardeners were great and let us go in to take a picture.

 Back "home" on our land near Dallas, we decided that the standard RV brown and beige had to go.  It was fine when we just took the RV on trips, but now that it was home, it needs to feel like home.  It will probably be a work in progress for a while, but this made a drastic difference!

 We spent a couple days at Lake Whitney State Park.  It is very freeing to know that we can work wherever there is Wifi!

 And then we headed to Virginia, home of the Mercy Chefs headquarters.  The drive there was an interesting one-after we got halfway there (a full day of driving) we thought we were going to be diverted back to respond to the wildfires.  We had to stop for multiple conference calls, but ultimately, we were not needed so we continued on our way to Virginia.

 We stayed at Davis Lakes RV Resort in Suffolk, Virginia, which was just a short drive fro our meetings.  The lake was beautiful, but it was much too cold to sit on the sand.  

 We arrived one day early, so we visited my hometown (John had to take a break for a conference call), and then enjoyed an afternoon with my grandma and aunt and uncle.

 The next day all the chefs came together and prepared dinner for an organization that has helped provide water purification around the world.

 We also had several days of training, and got to tour the new Mercy Chefs headquarters.  It was stunning!  It really is amazing the favor God has given in obtaining the building.

 Next on the agenda for a few days was repairs and outfitting one of the mobile kitchens.

 Have I mentioned that I am cold-natured?  We have a water hose that prevents the water from freezing despite the below freezing temps.  However, that doesn't stop the faucet itself from freezing.  John had to place a space heater to get it thawed.  Live and learn!  (And hopefully stay in warmer climates as much as possible!) 

 On our last day in Virginia, John had a meeting that I didn't need to attend, so I visited the home of Planter's Peanuts in downtown Suffolk.

 I also enjoyed the historic churches in town.

 And then it was time to head west back home.  This time we took the northern route through the beautiful mountains,

 John has family not too far from the halfway point, so we stopped to see them.  Isn't Jourdyn adorable?

 I finally gave up trying to take a selfie with my sister-in-law, and made her take it because apparently I'm too old to have acquired proper selfie-taking skills.  It was so good to visit!

 John with his grandparents.

 It was Spring Break in Arkansas while we were there, so we visited an Escape Room with some extended family.

 While there, we stayed at Craighead Forest Park, which is a city park in Jonesboro, Arkansas.  Through the trees you can see the lake.  It is a huge park, primarily for day use with a small RV area.  I absolutely loved this park!  I wish we could have stayed longer.

 Back home a few days later, maintenance as usual continues.

 We returned to the Village Oaks apartments, which we first served during our 17 Days of Christmas outreaches.  It is truly in a food desert-an area of Dallas with no grocery stores.  Once we arrived I needed to run out for a couple pounds of sugar-only to realize, there was nowhere to go.  I ended up at a dollar store.  What an opportunity to serve!

 We have received several letters from our son in Basic Training, and it has been great to hear from him.  One difference from when my husband went through Basic training 20 years ago is the fact that the recruit depot has a Facebook page where they post semi-frequent pictures and videos of what the recruits are doing.  It was so great to see this image (a still-shot from a video) of who I am 99% sure is our son sitting on the far right.

 It is now spring in Texas.  I'm loving my daily view on our land.  We are home this week, always watching the weather as tornado season is looming.  I'm excited for what adventure awaits in the coming months.

I'll Pray About That

Change is in the air!  A few weeks ago I decided to apply for a part time summer job.  I was drawn to Lakeview for several reasons, but primarily due to proximity to my house.  It didn't really go any further.  A few days later, I was at Lakeview eating lunch for my DSOM class when I saw one of the directors, so I figured I would inquire if they had done all their summer hiring yet.  She mentioned that they had a position available at the fitness center working at the front desk.  That sounded to me like a great summer job!  I turned in my application, and they called a few days later to ask if I could come in for an interview.

I went into the interview thinking about how great the new job would be-it would keep me busy between Mercy Chefs deployments, give a little bit of extra income, and working in an environment I was already familiar with.  Almost as soon as the interview started, though, I was told that they would like me to consider another position they thought I was more suited for-which happened to be a full time, permanent position.  My immediate thought-reaction was "No way!  I just want to work for the summer, and definitely not full time!"  But the more they described the office job to me, my interest piqued.  The position would be using exactly my gifting of administrative abilities and attention to detail.  Still, on the inside I was screaming "No! I don't want a permanent job!"

I believe strongly that if an opportunity arises, it may be for a reason.  While not all opportunities are meant to be taken, they at least deserve some thought and prayer.  I walked away from the interview saying I would pray about it-almost sure that I would come back and let them know that I was not interested.  We agreed to meet again after 5 days.

I went home and immediately talked to my husband, who really encouraged me to think about it seriously.  So I prayed.  Strange-that feeling of non-interest seemed to change a bit.  The next day as I read my devotions, the very first words illuminated themselves to me:  "Are you searching for peace?"  Absolutely I was!  I was searching for peace about the whole situation.  While the entire situation isn't "perfect", I began to realize that God opened this opportunity to me.  Maybe some day I will understand why!  Yes, I will miss being able to go on Mercy Chefs deployments during disasters, as that flexibility just won't be there.  But I have peace in knowing that I will still be able to continue working in the homeless outreaches, and perhaps some local disasters on weekends.  

I met with the Lakeview staff again and accepted the position-and it just felt right!  I definitely had the peace about it that I felt like I needed.   I am excited to start my job training on Monday, and then begin at the beginning of May.

Reaching America

This year I began a new endeavor-I started the process to obtain credentials with the Assemblies of God.  In order to meet the educational requirements, I enrolled in NTDSOM-North Texas District School of Ministry.  Each month this year (minus a one month break in the summer and also in December) I take a new class, which includes mostly personal study times, and once a month I come together with the class to hear lecture and take the exam.

Here is a picture of this month's book-and my blanket as I enjoy being able to study from the comfort of my own bed.

This month we are studying Assemblies of God History, Missions, and Governance.  I found the chapter on U.S Missions (the first part of chapter 12) the most intriguing as my husband and I are U.S. missionaries.

Much of the U.S. Missions material was somewhat of a review for me.  When we attended Candidate Orientation two years ago, we learned about the role of the U.S. Missions (which I usually refer to as AGUSM) as related to being a facilitating and sending agency-the department appoints us as we go through the missions process.  We are a part of the Missionary Church Planters and Developers Department, which is led by Darlene Robison.  She has been an incredible support, advocate, and cheerleader to us and I can't imagine being on this journey without her!  There are 6 other departments that we got to know in our missions process-chaplaincy, Chi Alpha, Intercultural, Teen Challenge, MAPS, and Youth Alive.

There was also some material in the text that I learned from regarding U.S. Missions.  Much of the historical information I had minimal knowledge prior to this course.  The chapter described how the department grew throughout the years.  Starting off in in the early part of 1900's, the "department" was referred to as pioneer evangelism, and then in 1939 it became it's own official department-Home Missions and Education Department, with the first director being Fred Vogler.  At that time emphasis was primarily on church planting and Bible institutes.

Over time, specialized ministries began to pop up as the need arose.  Prisoners, various ethnic groups, Native Americans, and other special needs groups were added to the list of areas receiving missionaries.  (These areas of ministry were the reason the various departments I listed above were created.)  Over time, the department changed names again to the Division of Home Missions in 1971 and to U.S. Missions in 2003.  The current AGUSM director is Zollie Smith.

Names, dates, and places are probably some of the most difficult things I have trouble remembering.  The stories, though, stick with me.  As I read the material about the different departments, my mind went to the missionaries I know in some of those departments within AGUSM and what incredible work they each represent.

Chaplaincy-Nate and Sarah Moore are fellow North Texas missionaries, and friends of ours, to the rock climbing world.  They can relate to the lifestyle of rock climbers because they live that lifestyle day in and day out.  They live out of their van and follow the rock climbing scene around the nation.  I don't know many people who could live the way they do.

Chi Alpha-Lennon and Christal Noland are also North Texas missionaries, and happen to be one of our neighbors, as we both currently live in missions housing.  After serving on the campus through Chi Alpha missions in San Angelo, they went to North Carolina before coming back to Texas to serve as directors to all North Texas Chi Alpha missionaries.  Since his time in this new role, we have seen an influx of Chi Alpha missionaries begin to seek national appointment.  I am excited about the work he is doing for the department, as our work as Youth Pastors has shown us first hand that many students turn away from God in their college years.

Intercultural Ministries-Steve and Sandra Hogue are AGUSM missionaries out of Florida.  They specialize in adoption and foster care-specifically training the church to fill the need as foster, and potentially adoptive parents, and in turn giving kids a chance to hear about God.  Since so many orphans in America come from various ethnic groups, they were placed in this department.  I can't remember how many kids they have-but it is over 10!  This is certainly a calling, and no doubt God has His hand on this family!

Missionary Church Planters and Developers-Josh Holder (and what is his wife's name?  Remember that thing up above where I said I wasn't good with names?  Prime example!)  Josh and his wife moved to New Orleans (I believe from Illinois) to work with the low income in the crescent city.  He sticks out in my mind, as we (Mercy Chefs) had responded to tornadoes in Reserve, Louisiana a couple months ago, and since it was just a few miles away from his city, he came and joined us one day to help out.  He regularly works with the homeless, and in the cold of winter made sure his outdoor friends had plenty of blankets to keep warm.  This type of work is very close to my heart as we work with the homeless regularly in Dallas and Fort Worth.

Teen Challenge-Paul Ecker is one of the first U.S. missionaries I think I ever met.  When John and I first married was when we began attending an A/G church, and our pastor invited him out to our church annually.  He typically brought the Teen/Life Challenge guys out with him, and their music ministry always touched me.  They sang "My God is real..." with such passion-they knew He was real because of the change He had made in their lives.  On a side note, Paul was originally from Philadelphia and I always laughed at his reference and desire for Tastee Cakes-which at the time was a treat reserved only for the east coast, but has since become available in Texas.  But I digress!  Again-this is one of those ministries that you really must have a heart for, and Paul definitely is in his niche!

MAPS-Ken and Peggy McGowen entered my life a few years back.  I worked at the district office at the time, and they had an opening for a part time front desk receptionist.  Ken's current MAPS assignment was at Lakeview Camp as an electrician.  Peggy applied for the receptionist to give her something to do during the day.  She was so sweet to work with and an incredible encourager.  Since their assignment at Lakeview, they have been to many places around the country-California, Maine, and Florida among others, and also out of the country to Senegal through A/G World Missions.  I love to see what God can do through the layperson's abilities to further the Kingdom!

Youth Alive-Kyle and Janelle Embry are North Texas Youth Alive missionaries.  They work so closely with the district youth department, particularly at summer camps, and provide incredible training to teenagers through their Together Trainings (which we have participated in when we were youth pastors) which prepare students to lead Bible clubs on their school campuses.  The thing they are most known for is their Seven Projects-school assemblies where they typically teach on secular topics such as bullying, and then invite the students to a local church later that night and preach a gospel message.  During Candidate Orientation we met another Youth Alive couple who were pioneering a Youth Alive in their district and one of their biggest troubles is churches understanding why this type of ministry is needed.  I was shocked-Youth Alive is such an integral part of district life and camps here in North Texas that I simply cannot imagine not having such a vital ministry. 

While history is not one of my preferred courses of study, there was enough material in this month's book to keep my attention.  Some was stories of real people and what they accomplished.  Other had information that I could relate to for one reason or another.  As this month comes to a close, I am looking forward to my next study on the book of Acts.

Road Trippin' in the Fall

Nothing soothes me more than a road trip.  When I'm stressed and busy, there is nothing quite like a road trip to help me unwind.  Last month, it was almost as if God just placed the perfect opportunity for me to enjoy a road trip.  In the midst of an incredibly busy schedule in multiple areas of life, plus additional stressors flying at me, we had a missions meeting scheduled in St. Louis.  My hubby was at a Mercy Chefs site in Mississippi the full week prior to the event and was going to have to drive to St. Louis directly from his feeding site.  I considered flying to St. Louis and meeting him there, but in the end, decided a road trip was truly what I needed-alone time with God on the road.

I stopped many times along the way; the first stop was in Hulbert, Oklahoma at Sequoyah State Park.  I just enjoyed the beauty of the area for a little while...the changing color of the leaves, the view of the lake, pine straw (we don't have pine trees in our area of Texas), the sound of the leaves crunching under my feet, even the smell of the forest.  As I was leaving town, I saw a tin man that I just had to stop and take a picture of. 

Spavinaw State Park was my next stop.  This was a gorgeous little park...a dam was on the far end of the park, and a huge cliff ran the full length of the campgrounds, with a creek running below the cliff.  The foliage here had lots of colors spread throughout.  Most Oklahoma State Parks are free to visit (camping does have a charge), so it was nice that I was able to stop at several of them without paying an entrance fee.

Once I left the state park, I crossed the bridge, and drove up a small incline on the other side of the lake to this gorgeous view.

Later I stopped in Bernice at Grand Lakes State Park.  It had a nice cement trail along the lake there.  I was very impressed with the parks in Oklahoma.  As you can see, it was starting to get dark, so it was my last stop of the night.

I spent the night in Miami, Oklahoma, one of the stops along Historic Route 66.  I did a quick check on TripAdvisor and Yelp to figure out what unique restaurants were in the area, and came across multiple great reviews for Waylan's Ku-Ku Burger.  I wasn't incredibly hungry, so I ordered the Ku-Ku fries (essentially chili cheese fries) and a drink.  I'm not sure why I forgot tot take a picture of dinner, but this was a great choice that I would love to go to again with my hubby or kids.

The next morning, I decided to drive along Historic Route 66 for a little while.

I stopped briefly in Riverton, Kansas at the Rainbow Bridge.  It is the last surviving Marsh arch bridge along the whole road.  It is only open to one direction of traffic, and a new bridge is just east of it, which most traffic now takes.

After that I stopped in downtown Galena, Kansas just a block or two off Route 66 to catch a glimpse of Tow Mater.

It was at this point that I realized my slow trip was about over, as I had to get on the road to our conference.  I had a wonderful time decompressing, and my road trip with detours was just what I needed to relieve stress.  I got back on the interstate in Missouri to be greeted at the welcome center by this guy.  I thought this might mean I would be experiencing a great deal of road construction, but thankfully the slow-downs were minimal.  

It was great to be reunited with my hubby after about a week.  We had a wonderful conference, and enjoyed a little bit of St. Louis before having to head back home.

A Day in the Life of a U.S. Missionary

About six years ago I taught a weekly discipleship Sunday School class to teenagers, and one of the things we did each week was pray for one of the missionaries our church supported.  I would email the missionaries in the week before their prayer emphasis to find out what their needs were.  During this time, I frequently found myself wondering, "What exactly does a missionaries day look like?"

Fast forward six years.  My husband, John, and I have now changed roles into U.S. Missionary Candidates with the Assemblies of God.  We work with an organization called Mercy Chefs.  In short, we respond when disaster strikes to feed the victims, volunteers, and first responders a restaurant quality meal in the midst of their hurting.  Today I found myself laughing when I had the same thought, "What exactly does a missionaries day look like?"  No two days are alike.  Today was unique, with its own set of challenges, but God had His own way of blessing us as always.

We have been on Fall Tour the past two weeks-meetings with pastors, where we give a brief explanation of our ministry in hopes that they can help us reach one of our current goals:  becoming fully funded.  We have traveled all over North Texas during these two weeks.  I still have a full time job that I have been juggling-and am very blessed to have a boss who is understanding of our role and love for missions by allowing me to take vacation time!  Ultimately, I will join John full time on the field, but for now, I am working while we are raising our budget.  Today there were no Fall Tour stops, so I got up extra early, made sure to get my devotions in, and then headed to work to get caught up on what I have missed the past few days.  Part of the U.S. Missions process requires we meet with a coach every few weeks, and today happened to be a coaching day as well.  So I took a break from work for a conference call.  During this call I had a realization that I am still not sure how to handle, "Do I have time for my job?"  The one day I was able to work this week, and here I am still doing my missions job.  Please pray with me about this-I absolutely love my job, but I don't want to stay a moment longer than the Lord wants me to work.  Since we are not fully funded and my department is in the midst of a major transition, this decision is a difficult one to make!

After the coaching phone call, John left to pick up the mobile kitchen.  We drive a dually 5th wheel truck which tows the 37 foot mobile kitchen trailer to each disaster site.  It has been in the repair shop getting a new hot water heater, and some other repairs.  While towing it back home, one of the dually tires had a blow out, and hit the tire next to it, causing it to blow out as well.  Did I mention he was in a school zone while school was dismissing?   Praise the Lord, He kept John safe!  Yes, life is always interesting with large equipment involved.  We are no strangers to vehicle issues.  Nearly every trip we have been on we have experienced some sort of truck or trailer trouble.  He called me at work-thankfully I was just a few miles away and was able to bring him a better jack than he had on board.  Again I found myself questioning, "Do I have time for my job?"  Wow, twice in one day I had this thought.  What is going on?  Lord, I need you to provide! Trailer removed from the fifth wheel, two tires taken off the truck, one spare put on, trailer re-attached to the 5th wheel, and driven just a short distance to a local restaurant.  I was grateful today that we live in a small town where I knew the restaurant owner by name, and she had no problem with us leaving it there a while.

My boss happened to be away from the office when I left work for the tire incident, so I had texted him to let him know what was going on.  He asked if we were getting rained on, because where he was, less than 20 miles away, it was pouring rain so hard that he had to pull off the highway.  Wow!  The Lord was really watching over us!  Thank you Lord for holding off on the rain!

Fast forward four hours...all six tires on the truck are replaced, and I head back to work while John heads back to the restaurant to pick up the mobile kitchen.  I spent an hour at work, and meanwhile, John gets a call...there has been severe flooding in Arizona and New Mexico, and we need to respond.  He brings the Mercy Chefs trailer to the house to load it-when it was in the shop, we had pretty well emptied all the equipment out of the kitchen into our garage.  We began by pulling all the equipment out of the garage and into the driveway...speed racks, warmers, coolers, a grill (not usually taken on our trips, but the generator has been acting up, so we need an alternative method to cook in the event it wants to quit, and thus not allow us to use the stove), Cambros, 18 cases of to go boxes, 6 folding tables and chairs, 2 easy up tents, 2 boxes of t-shirts for our volunteers, and lots of other boxes.  John worked on repairing a wheel on one of the warmers, and then...the rain began.  Again, the Lord was watching out for us.  It never rained too hard, mostly just a light sprinkling, but the cool air that came with it was a welcome change.  About that time, our boys, 16 and 18 years old, got home from church.  We wanted to go to church tonight, but had been a little pre-occupied!  They helped us get the mobile kitchen loaded a lot quicker than we could have ourselves.  Again, a little miracle from God that he sent at just the right time!

Partially unloaded from the garage awaiting to be uploaded onto the trailer

The rest of the evening has been spent moving the truck to a large parking lot for deployment, getting necessary laundry done, ironing a chef coat, packing a bag, and making final plans.  Well, there it is..a day in the life of a U.S. Missionary.  A day unique to itself, with its own bit of challenges, but time and again God proving Himself to have it all taken care of.

Would you please pray for the victims of this terrible flood?  Would you please pray for John as he heads towards southwest to respond to this disaster?  Would you please pray for volunteers to help in the relief effort, not just with Mercy Chefs, but also for all the other relief organizations?  Would you please pray for us and we continue to raise funds?  Will you please pray for God to speak to us about His timing for me to be able to join John full time on the field?

Thanksgiving Festivities

What a great Thanksgiving weekend so far!

I started celebrating on Wednesday with a special brunch at work.

 

But I ducked out of work early to head to the airport to pick up my hubby from his trip to the Philippines.  He was there with Mercy Chefs helping with the need for fresh water water after the disasters that country has been through.  Here is a picture of him building a shed for the water purification unit.

It is so good to have him home!  That night we went to church for our annual Pie Social-we always have a good time there!

We enjoyed a nice fire that evening.

For Thanksgiving this year, we had planned to stay home-not being sure just how tired and jet-lagged the hubby would be.  We woke up to no running water, but after a call to the water company, we were able to start cooking a couple hours later.  Ahhh, memories!  It helped us to be very thankful for running water when it came back on!

I ended the day by running into town for an hour to buy a few Christmas gifts with the boys.  It was a nice, quiet day and we are all looking forward to the rest of the weekend together.  Happy Thanksgiving!