Monday, April 29, 2013

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Top 5 questions we have been asked

Are you crazy?

perhaps. We don't actually think so though.

Why would you go on the road full time as missionaries with kids?

Why wouldn't we? We have been homeschooling since Arianna was in pre-K because some mom (thanks Bonnie) had the guts to tell me I could do it. And road schooling looks easier than even traditional schooling honestly. Maybe it's because we are adventurous. But going on the road full time WITH our entire family actually makes sense to us. Ask me this 30 days after we are on the road and I may have another opinion (just kidding ;)

Is this a way for you to make money from complete strangers just so you can tour the US on vacation?

Are you kidding me?
For the record... we are going on the road unsupported. The only source of income is USMC retirement pay... which is meager at best with a family of 9. We are selling everything we own (except a few things we are mailing to family members) to fund this endeavor. Our extra large flat screen & couches were some of the very 1st things to go. We are giving up our nice little creature comforts and luxuries ( yes luxuries) for this ministry endeavor.
The amazing part is..... it is totally ok.
While we will get to see and experience some amazing things with our kids this ministry side of this.. the vision God is revealingis to expose people that would not otherwise go to church
  • to Christian films
  • to Christian music
  • Using puppets to share the Gospel
  • using crafts to share the Gospel
  • reaching folks that might never step foot into a church & maybe even connect them with one in their area...
and that is just the beginning of the vision. We are certain God will accomplish far more than that.

Are you sure you have everything you need?

No.
We are in need of a projector to show Christian films & are certain God will meet that need.

as far as everything else. We are probably taking too much.

but we will decide what stays & what goes once we get on the road.

We are praying to sell our home here in the desert.

but we know God will supply ALL our needs.


Are you scared?

Yes.
We know this sounds CRAZY! 
But we also know we are in good company
They thought Abraham was crazy when he believed God for a son in his old age
they thought Noah was crazy when he built an ark just because God told him to
they thought Gideon was crazy going into battle with such a small army
they thought Esther was crazy going in to approach the king
they thought Jacob was crazy when he wrestled with God
they thought David was crazy.... and yet God called him the man after God's own heart
they thought Hezekiah was crazy when he said ( and did) defeat the assyrians
they thought Moses was crazy for going toe to toe with Pharoah
They thought Isaiah was crazy... just because he submitted and said
Here I am Lord. Send me


 
"Sometimes, stepping out in faith means doing something so bold that people on the outside might call it stupid." Jarrid Wilson

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Well, Hello Shawn!!

We started to tell our puppet Shawn about the upcoming trip....
see his reaction to the big news on YouTube

Tune in Soon for more Shawn vlogs.

Monday, April 15, 2013

"7" & clothes

well.

the INTENTION was to choose 7 pieces of clothing and wear just those this past week.

we failed.

I read a bunch of the "how to do it" from Jen Hatmaker's book "7"

but there is something about a husband finishing school, buried in sorting, keeping things going, getting out of the house so hubby can study, raising & homeschooling 7 kids, excuses as to why the clothes factor for this family of nine never quite got off the ground.

what I realized is  "7" is challenging enough without throwing into the equation... " hey. let's sell everything & be full time missionaries" but on pg 56 she quotes Isaiah 58 & being who I am I went and read the whole passage but this was what stood out to me personally... vs 2-7

For day after day they seek me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near them.
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
    and exploit all your workers.
Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard on high.
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

It is a fast

But it's  not about shouting it from the rooftops. 
If I do this & nothing at all in my heart changes.

there was no point.

and if it makes me feel better to be having so little...
then I have also missed the point.
it's really really not about me. 

not at all. 

It's about bowing down & offering all of it {my stuff} 
before a Holy & Righteous God.
and laying it down as a sacrifice of praise.
in HUMILITY.
in an attitude of prayer & thanksgiving.

and if I can fast like that look at the promise!!!

It is acceptable to the Lord. 

& it has the fragrance of what ministry to others should really look like.

now it's up to us. 

we are trying to lay it all down for God.

with humility. & humble hearts. and a fast... of sorts. 

from our worldly "stuff"

and hanging onto the fact that sharing the Gospel with others as we reduce and prepare our hearts for this journey is just the beginning.



 



Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Moving Forward

The BIG SALE is Saturday

and our church has agreed to be our sending church.

we are missionaries.

now all we have to do is sell all our stuff.

get Frank through the last 6 weeks of school

get our horses and critters to new homes ( or in some cases where they came from)

get our house rented.



some days the obstacles seem ginormous.

other days...

not as much.


some days the amount of negativity surrounding this journey is downright overwhelming

other days

I just breathe & don't let those negative voices get to me.

It has been another emotional week.


its time to get to selling all this accumulated stuff.

& prepare our hearts for this journey.