Ordination Day

Today was my husbands ordination.  I was not sure what to expect...but I can tell you it was nothing like what I thought it was going to be.  There were 7 great men of God my on husband council, and we were so honored they could all be there!!! 

 

Our pastor's wife sang "Across the Miles", and I was OK until then....then the waterfall started...

 

Our pastor preached an AWESOME message....of course....

 

Pastor had each man on Brian's ordination to give us words of

encouragement and then they prayed over us.

 

Starting with Bro. Whitmore from Anchor Baptist Church in Pisgah Forest, NC

 

Then a close pastor friend, Bro. Keith Troyer from Grace Baptist Church in Greenville, NC

 

Our family, from L to R, my mom, my mother-in-law, Brian's grandparents

 

They Bro. Mike Qualls out of Morning Star Baptist Church in Cleveland, NC

 

Next was Bro. Robert Taylor, Pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Chucky, TN

 

Now, it was Bro. Phillip Willis turn out of Life Baptist Church in St. Stephens, SC

 

They kids listening intently

 

Finally, it was Bro. David Trivette, a preacher out of our home church

 

After all the preacher's prayed over us, our pastor and the deacons of our church prayed...

 

Precious memories :)

 

Pastor giving Brian his signed Certificate of Ordination!

 

Our family :)

 

Some of my friends which I will miss dearly...

 

What a mighty God we serve!

The last couple of weeks have been filled with ups and downs like you wouldn't believe.  Other than stressing about packing and shipping our stuff and what's going on in Ukraine, I recently found out that I would have to have a hysterectomy.  Big news, especially since we are leaving so soon, and you need at least 6 weeks to completely heal (according to the doctor).  But PTL, let me tell you what happened!!!

Several weeks ago while at one of my doctor appointments, my doctor suggested that I have a biopsy on my uterus.  So I did (an it did not feel good :( ).  Several days later, my doctor called me with the results.  She said that they found that I have hypoplasia and they found A typical cells also.  She told me that I would need a hysterectomy and possibly a full hysterectomy (ovaries and uterus).  But we scheduled a time for the next week to review and talk about what we need to do. So at this point I was really stressing.  Brian and I trying to figure out when we could possibly do this so I wouldn't miss any meetings and still have enough time to heal before we fly out.  But here comes the amazing part....drum roll please.... after my phone call with the doctor, I called some people to ask them to pray.  At the doctors appointment on Monday, my doctor told me, the previous week after we had talked, she run into a doctor friend of hers who was a gynecological cancer specialist.  She told him about me and he suggested doing a D&C first.  This way all the trouble I was having and verifying whether there is cancer could be done at the same time.  And if there is no cancer found from this procedure, I would not have to worry about having a hysterectomy at all.  PTL, right?!  On top of that, she will be able to place in my uterus a device that will slowly give me the hormones I need to regulate me and to thin my uterine wall (take care of the hypoplasia).  God so intervened and answered our prayers, not in the way we thought, but just much better.  He took several difficulties and took care of all of them at the same time!!  What a mighty God we serve!!!!!

What a Blessing

What a busy and anxiety feel couple of days.  We started this last trip in Indiana in which I will talk about more later, then on to Ohio, and now we are in Pennsylvania.  It is cold here in Greenville.  Our main mission this week was for Brian, Briana, and I to get some dental work done. Brian needed fillings, I needed a pre-crown tooth pulled and some fillings, and poor Briana needed to get her wisdom teeth cut out.  You probably asking why we would come to PA to have this done instead of at home.  We were introduced to a dentist who gives missionaries free dental work.  I will not mention his name for the pure fact that there are missionaries that would take advantage of his kindness, and there already has been some that have. 

 

On Tuesday, we took Briana to get her wisdom teeth cut out.  I know she was very nervous about the whole procedure, I wish I could have went back there with her, but I guess with her being 20 years old that she could handle it.  When she came out of the anesthesia, she was crying and shaking, not something that you want to see your child doing when you go to sit with them during recovery.  They told me that was normal.  She tried talking to me, but I couldn't understand her with all the gauze in her mouth.  If she was talking out of her head, it's a good thing I couldn't understand her, because I would have noted it and told her children about it...lol...anyway...she did great, PTL!!!  Only a little discomfort, until this afternoon.  I tried to get her to stay home from church, but she insisted on going.  About the end of the service, she started hurting a lot and got very pale.  I checked her when we got back and she was running a low-grade temperature and really in a lot of pain.  Couldn't figure out why, because we had been very careful to keep up her pain meds. But praise the Lord, she started to feel some better and was able to go to sleep. 

So now, I am a little more relaxed than I was.  With all that has been going on in Ukraine and with the boys having colds, and bleeding noses, and Briana in pain, my anxieties were having anxieties again.  It's very hard to even think about sleep with all this going on!  But I am so thankful to Pastor Troyer, his wife and family for there kindness to us in letting us stay with them during this time.  What a blessing.

As I mentioned before, we started our northern mini-vaca (LOL) in Indiana... the meeting there went absolutely wonderful.  I praise God that He was able to use us as we ministered in song during the service.  The Pastor told us it really helped him.  What a blessing.  The Lord so moved in the services the Pastor didn't even preach!  Wow, I'm also so thankful for when the Lord shows up and show off :)  It's also a blessing and encouragement when the Lord uses us as we try to use our talents for His glory!!!

Singing for our supper

We'll, not literally....  we were invited by one of our supporting churches to do all the special singing for their missions emphasis Sunday.  What an honor!!  There were two preachers preaching in the morning and evening services.  One brother from the Rock of Ages prison ministry, preached on not being a respecter of persons.  That was something the Lord has really impacted on my heart in the last year or so.  He was preaching primarily on race, but in my heart, I was thinking more along the lines of social standing inside and outside of the church.  Just like in the book of James, how he spoke of a man in rich apparel and one not dress so nice, and the rich sticking their noses up at he poor fellow.  I hate to say it, but that still happens a lot.  If your not part of the preacher's family or the deacons family, or have some "position of honor", your not worth socializing with.  That is so sad.  God is not respecter of persons and we should not be either!  The bible calls it sin!  James 2:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.  Jesus said, By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John 13:35  That's how lost people know that we are one of Christ's', is because we love the brethren, not respect the brethren because their not exactly like them.  God made us all different for HIS glory!!! 

Now, I will step down from off of my soap box.....lol.....

The day did not go off without a hitch though.  Nothing really bad, pretty humorous I think.  In the evening service, we were going to sing 2 songs before each preacher.  The pastors wife played the piano for the choir.  Now this piano is a fancy electric one.  It looks like a baby grand, but has all the fancy do dads that can make it do all kinds of things.  We'll anyway....she had transposed it 3 keys higher for the choir, and forgot to change it back.  So the first set of songs we sang was 3 keys higher than we were used to singing them.  Needless to say, Corey had a very hard time hitting those high tenor notes.  It took me till the second song before I really noticed there was something wrong (even though I did think the first song was little high).  I think the Lord was keeping us humble.... we all just laughed about it.... no reason for us to start throwing chickens :)

We did eat lunch in high style.  A precious couple from the church took the preachers and missionaries to the county country club for a buffet lunch.  The food was awesome!!! We had prime rib and sea bass with delicious cheesecake and ice cream for dessert!  We ate in the Heritage Room, which reminded me a lot of a old classic ball room with 3 large chandlers.

 

Crossroads

 

I do not even know how to start.  My heart is so overwhelmed, every time I think about our current situation, I break out in tears.  Sometimes I wonder, why is everything so hard for us.  It seems like our deputation was harder for us than for others.  Situations always seem more dramatic and harder than it is for others.  I know the Lord has a plan, but it seems like he is taking us the long way around to get to our destination.  There are so many things we need to pray for.  The most important is direction from the Lord, so we know which way to go.  Right now, we are at a crossroad, and have no idea which road to take.  So many things have changed over the last couple of weeks, and I personally do not know how to react to it all.  All I know to do is to walk by faith!  Wait on the Lord. Psalm 37:7a Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him:

♪♫ Stand still and let God move,

Standing still is hard to do

When you f eel you have reached the end,

He'll make a way for you

Stand still and let God move ♪♫

So Close...Yet so Far Away

In the beginning of 2013, it was a struggle.  I struggled with whether God's was really calling us to Ukraine, struggling with the seemingly empty deputation schedule, struggling with the fact that no one seemed to care, so I started not to.  The support was not coming in and we didn't have as many meetings as I thought we ought to. But you know, the Lord has helped me grow through all that.  Strengthen my faith through those struggles.  Building my "faith" muscles!  I have heard over and over that your time on deputation helps you with the situations you will face on the mission field.  And I do believe that now.  I am defiantly more dependent on God now than I was 2 1/2 years ago!  I started to pray more, and trust God to work.  Yes, my husband stands before and church and shares our burden, but that is just information.  Behind the scenes, we prayed and put the raising of our support in the hands of the one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The one who can turn the heart of man like water.

The last part of 2013 was the opposite of the beginning. We have seen the Lord work and move in the hearts of Pastors and people in support, prayer, and giving.  I think the Lord has rewarded our complete trust in Him as Provider!  And now, we are only 12% away from stepping foot on Ukrainian soil, to begin our training... I am so humbled by my Lords kindness to me and my family!  I am no stranger to GRACE... and never get tired of experiencing kindness that we do not deserve!

 

A look back.....

My oh my...it has been a very long time since the last time I posted anything.... I guess it's just the business of deputation.  We have been all over the US...and are currently at 81% support.  Getting anxious and excited!  I have been mentally preparing all the things that need to be done in preparation to move.  Passports, visas, and packing....

I have been thinking a lot about when we first started deputation and how heart breaking it was for us to experience life as a missionary.  When we first started deputation, we thought that everyone would be so excited for us and for the call God had placed on our life's.  We had a specific work to do for him in a specific place!  Just like when God calls men of God to the pastorate. But we were so wrong.  People and Pastors that we knew seemed to not want to have to much to do with us after we submitted to go to the mission field.  We saw pastors that we knew at meetings, and they would see us and turn around and walk the other way.  How that made my heart break.  Here we are, willing to leave our home, our families and friends to go to Ukraine, and we are treated like we have the plague.  But after 2 1/2 years on deputation, I have come to realize that there are churches and people out there that love missionaires and do what they can to be an encouragement because they know that we will need the memories of all the good times and times of being edified to make it through the tough times on the foreign field.  Those times when we desperately miss our moms and dads, our family, our church family, or even our favorite comfort food (mine being salt and vinegar potato chips) :)  But despite all this, I am ready to go. 

I get knots in my stomach thinking about my mom, and how she will be here alone, with no family to help her.  She is almost in her 70's, but very independent and in good health.  My brother lives in Korea, so both of her children will be overseas.  What if something happens to her while I'm gone, what if I can't come back when she needs me most?  But in all this, I just need to trust the Lord. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:  Isaiah 26:4

 

Mission Possible

 

Mission Possible should have been the theme of this missions conference in Charleston, SC.  This was one of the top 2 missions conferences we have ever attended.  The people were genuinely kind and caring. The Pastor and his wife had a passion for missions and for missionaries, and so did the church body.  The preaching by Bro. Scott was deep and really made you do some soul searching!  Over all, 5 out of 5 Stars

 

During the conference,  unbeknownst to them, God provided for our needs.  Items we had been praying for were provided by this church!  PTL!!!!  We needed luggage for our children for when we flew to Ukraine, and PTL, they got each one of our kids a piece of hard case luggage, and even in there favorite colors!!!!  Also, my husband got 2 brand new suits.  He has been rotating 3 suits for the last 2 1/2 years on deputation.  This was truly a blessing for him!!!

 

We had the privilege to sing at this awesome missions conference!

From L to R, Bro Scott, Brian and I,  Bro. and Mrs. Worley, and Pastor and Mrs. Sears.

And met some wonderful people while we were there!!!

 

 

They took us to Fort Sumter, the boys absolutely loved the guns, cannons, and ammo on display! My favorite part was riding the ferry and seeing the dolphins jumping in and out of the water close to the ferry!!!

 

 

They also took us on a tour of downtown Charleston :)

 

 

The boys made some new friends as Mrs. Clark (far right) volunteered to take my children to the Fire Museum, as all the adults went shopping :)

 

We came out of this missions conference with renewed energy to keep on going.  Deputation can suck the life right out of your being, and can really hurt you spiritually if you do not stay on top of your personal devotions and relationship with our Lord.  But knowing there are brothers and sisters in the Lord that are truly concerned about you and your ministry and that they will be praying.  It sure does help when you have to deal with the negatives of deputation.  I can think back to this meeting a smile, knowing that we are not alone in the ministry God has placed us in.

 

To see more pictures from this missions conference, click on the links below....

 

Costal Light Baptist Church 2013 Missions Conference

 

Downtown Charleston

 

Fort Sumter

 

Fire Museum