Just Float........

                                             

85 and Sunny.....feeling the warm sun on my face, toes in the sand, feeling the ocean waves trying to knock me down........JUST FLOAT

     Chad and I went on vacation to Panama City Beach Fl for our anniversary last week. His parents have a time share and let us go every year. Its a blessing because if we couldn't use it we wouldn't be able to go. 

  We left last Monday after our Fall Festival which was amazing!!! Having the fall festival before we went this year was the best way to do it, we had great weather and when we got to Fl we could just relax! Every time we go to the beach we think of it as our last because with us being faith based missionaries we are never guaranteed that we have the money to go. So we treasure every moment while we are there, from the ride down there, to going to walmart and buying groceries,to going down on the beach and putting our toes in the sand for the first time! Its a true blessing from God every time we go.   

  I get up almost every morning to watch the sunrise. We have Mts all around us and we don't get to see it, so I take it all in and know its a gift from God to be able to see it come up. Chad and I sit with blankets around us, because we are always on a high floor, this year we were on level 15 not as high as other times. The wind is always blowing and we cuddle up and and watch this amazing bright orange-yellow sun come up over the buildings. WOW, every time I see it, I'm always amazed. We of course eat breakfast,pack our lunch in a cooler,and head down to the beach. We have made friends with a lady that works for a beach chair rental, she is there every year and we love seeing her and talking about what happen in the last year. We enjoy seeing kids with their families there. This year I think every school has gone on fall break that week and it was pact, but still nice to enjoy the sun! I thought of our youth many of times while we were on the beach. Thinking of their senior year and we might all be on that beach laughing and making so many memories one day. I didn't think I could miss them that much, but they stole my heart,and I thought of them all every day!

  We ate some great sea food, most places had gluten free menu so I was able to have mahi mahi sandwich  and it was nice eating a bun again!! Chad and I just enjoyed laying on the beach and reading books and just being with each other. We don't get to spend a lot of Just Us time and it was really nice to have that gift. We would get in the water and it was amazing to feel the fish swimming around my feet and hearing the waves break on the shore. JUST FLOAT...wow if only we could do that every day when life gets crazy and we want to scream, we should remember to float! When I see the ocean, the sting rays, dolphin's and the sun set I always think of Chris Tomlin's song " Indescribable" God placed all the stars, the ocean , the waves, the grass, every part of it on this earth, and only He could do that!!! It amazes me when I look off our our balcony and see the mass ocean and sting rays floating. Its a huge blessing to be able to see that part of what God created."They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works" Psalms 145: 5

  We went to shell Island for our anniversary and had a great day picking shells, and Chad found 5 whole sand dollars! That is something we do when we go to the beach we love looking for sand dollars. We saw dolphins while we were on the boat going back , and watching the sun go down was priceless. To end the night our favorite place to eat on our anniversary was closed Sunday so we ate at a pizza place, had great gluten free pizza and gelato  for dessert....Yummo! Then we ate the last night at Capt Anderson s, had grilled grouper, steak and lobster tail! We look forward to that every year!

  We had a wonderful 6th year Anniversary! Our family and church family checked on us through out the week and our youth text us seeing when we were coming home!!! Its great to be loved and missed! Back in Benham Ky, left FL  80 degrees to 38 degrees, but its great to be home, see the Mts and see our sweet church family and youth! Thank you all for making it special , and for all the sweet wishes!!! God is so good!

"Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;let the sea resound, and all that is in it; Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then allthe trees of the forest will sing for joy" Psalms 96:11-12

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins........

               

                                 
 

       This is some of our amazing youth! They know how to put a smile on your face and melt your heart! We took them on a community service trip last night.........

Every year for our Fall Festival at Shekinah Village we have pumpkins in the field for the kids to go out and pick and decorate. Two years ago our church in White House Tn took their youth and some of the people from other churches and picked pumpkins to bring up here. Now we took our youth from Dione to pick the pumpkins for our Fall Festival. Some of our youth are coming out to help with the Festival and that's what its all about . Helping our community and just having fun!

One of our youth Taylor, her papaw grew pumpkins for us this year and boy were there a lot. The youth had fun picking their favorite ones to put in the back of Chad's truck. They were laughing and falling because of the wet grass, and they just had a blast! Wow to see youth want to come and pick pumpkins for one of God's big day, its priceless! Some of the youth we picked up and some met us there. Its a blessing to see them grow in God and watch what He has done in their lives!

"But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness" Galatians 5:22

" WHY WHY WHY?" We always ask

REASONS......We don't understand them, and we always ask WHY when either we don't get our way or if bad things happen from God. BUT He always shows us in His timing why He allowed the things we don't understand to happen

Last May 2012, our pastor from our church we go to ask Chad if we would pray about taking over the youth ministry. Chad and I prayed for a month and seeking God, we had peace about it, even though we are really busy with church groups coming up and helping us in the summer at the Village.We knew this is what God wanted us to do.  We started the youth in July with 2 kids. It was interesting and our pastor Luke kept saying "Don't get discouraged it will take a while".Well the next few months it started to grow and Chad & I prayed on what bible study to start with and we started Experiencing God for youth. We are taking it slow because it still in depth and we want them to get it. So we do a day per week, and  we also have fun Wednesdays with them and play games. So as the months progress God is bringing new youth to our church. We had them pick a name , and they picked Aftershock with the scripture Acts 4:31. Through spring it was getting challenging because they mostly all play sports and they had practices on Wednesday nights, but God was showing us His plan.  We had VBS in July at our church and another missionary lived here for two years (she helped us with youth ) we co-teamed VBS together.We had new girls come through that, three of them are regularly coming on Wednesday nights, they go to their church on Sundays. So Aftershock is growing quick and hard to believe this fast. But when ever God is doing it its going to be like that!!!! We drive the church bus and pick up kids and take them home every Wednesday night and Sunday mornings,there were too many to keep squeezing in our car!! Plus that gives us more bonding time with them!  Carrie , missionary that helped with youth, moved back home in August her 2 year journey was up and she is now in New York doing Gods work there. So that left me to start teaching 7/8 grade girls Sunday school. Now here comes the REASON for it all.........

In January of this year one Sunday after church I felt like God saying you are taking over the girls Sunday school class. So for two hrs I went back and forth with God not wanting to because I love the Sunday school I was in, I was getting fed and I thought that is what " I" needed. Well of course God won that one, and I had peace that night when Carrie left  in August I would be their teacher. Well.... in my first blog I wrote about being sick and God healing me. Chad and I want to have children but we know I have to get healthy first. So there has been a lot of WHY'S in the past, but we know God is in control. I shared with Chad shortly afterwards that I will be the teacher for the girls and that this is all God,and of course he was excited. I've gotten very close to "my girls" and God is showing me why He called us to the church we go to and why Chad and I are youth leaders there........ They are our Kids!!!

Through prayer and devotions,I have realized the reason why it hasn't been the right timing to have children yet is because we are parents to our youth. If we had a baby right when all this started with our youth we wouldn't be as close to them, we wouldn't have this  relationship with them that we do. The girls come over to our house twice a month and we talk and do a bible study. We have parties at our house for them, I absolutely love them with my whole heart  . And when the time is right for us to have children our kids are going to still be our kids and we will have that time and bond still with them, plus have a lot of babysitters!!!!!!!  We just have a bond with them that's forever and if Chad and I didn't have that time to spend with them, it wouldn't be. Through going to their games, talking to them and just laughing with them has helped me so much this year. Our church family always say we are a blessing to them, but they are a blessing to us. There is something about youth that is amazing, our youth is, and no matter what happens that day or how I feel, when  I see them, my heart melts!! They are my world and I'm forever grateful to have them as my girls!!!!!

" Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" Galatians 6:9


REASONS....Now I know WHY.....He is teaching us and this is all for His Glory!

Sometimes Its Hard to Live by Faith

 Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like can anything else happen, or you feel defeated in any way ? Well some days I get that way, but I have to bounce back and realize God allows things to happen to get us closer to Him.
  

Today's devotion is on Trusting God, now I have said plenty times , "Oh I trust Him on this or I know and believe God has this".  But can we say that for EVERYTHING. It's says in Isaiah 26:3-4 " You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always , for the Lord God is the eternal Rock!"

With everything that I do, I must trust him. It's hard being five hrs away from family, and living faith based but know God supplies everything we need when we need is the best way to be. There are things we do without but knowing He gives us the things we need in His timing is priceless. It makes up for what we don't have. And when you think about it, it's not ours any way. It's all God's what ever we have, is His. So we shouldn't just keep things for ourselves we should give it to help others when he tells us. And that goes back to trusting Him, if he gives us something and then tells us to give it that person we must obey, and trust He will supply back to us when we need it. 

There are plenty of times we have had bills to pay, and the money hasn't been here. Then always right before its due, we get the money to pay them.  Sometimes it comes from people we don't even know. But that's all He wants from us is to trust Him and know He will take care of us. We don't even worry about it because we have seen Him supply. We pray and trust that it will be there in His timing and always it is   

He just wants us to give Him complete control and allow Him to work in our lives. The only way to do that is to seek Him daily and have that close relationship with him. And we will hear everything that He wants us to do. I couldn't imagine living any where else, and doing anything else. Kentucky has taught me a lot and Harlan county is my home. It's ok that we live 1 hr and 30 min from any big area, serving God is worth it all and knowing He is using me is the best. God wants to use all of us we just have to open our hearts and fully trust Him! 

Psalms 91:1-2 " He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty, I will say of The Lord  He is my refuge and my fortress , my God , in whom I trust"! 

God almost killed ME.................

As I sit and think about the last three years and how God has used me and actually healed me I'm just so thankful. Maybe you also are struggling with a health issue that you don't understand. Read On ........Maybe I can help.

 I'm a missionary in Eastern KY and my husband Chad and I have been here for 7 years. We were both called by God to KY and move from White House TN , at the time we were just friends. Chad moved up in September 2006 and we started dating while I was still In Tn. We prayed for God's will and that Christmas he asked me to marry him. I was so excited because through prayer and listening to God I knew that's the one he created me to be with. We got married in October 2007 and I moved up and we started our ministry together. It was a huge adjustment , we go to both having jobs, I was a hairstylist to living Faith-based, where we just depend on God to give us what He wants us to have when He knows we need it.

Through the next few years I start getting sick and have no idea what is going on. I have mood swings, I gained a lot of weight , I was having migraines and constantly sick. Until one day when God wanted it to be revealed what was going on. In Feb 2010 I got so sick that I couldn't stay out of the bathroom. I kept migraines and I could feel the pressure in my head. We went to GA the first of march for a GIC missionary conference and then it all happened. My eye crossed and I started to see double I was so sick, there was a dr there, he got me so meds and the rest of the week was hard. We had to share what God was doing in our lives and our ministry which is building a youth camp. I had to be obedient and still believe He had me and was going to get me through it. So we got home I saw a dr and he took ct scans and everything was fine but told me to see a ophthalmologist  .  In 3 seconds after her looked in my eye he saw it, a pseudo-tumor in my cerebral brain! I have never heard that and I instantly heard tumor and that was it, I was scared. But he went on telling me my body thinks I have a brain tumor and that's why I have been so sick. I saw this dr four months prior to get glasses and he didn't see it, so that's how quick it developed. When i got home that day, I went out on to our porch and cried out to God I was angry because I moved 5 hrs away from family gave it all up for His work and now I'm sick. He instantly said " that's not your body but mine, Galatians 2:20 says I no longer live but you live in me, and your mine" WOW, He gave me that so I would have the peace that everything is going to be ok! And I felt the peace the whole time. I went months not hearing from Him but felt Him and I knew He was teaching me things. I learned a lot about myself, a lot of things I had to change! It was a God thing, you will see that shortly! 

So I started going to UK hospital to get spinal tabs and seeing a neuro dr twice a month for 10 months. The pressure got so bad they kept warning me I could wake up blind. My eye went back to normal 6 weeks later and they kept me on high dosages of meds. I was loosing eyesight and I couldn't go anywhere I was so sick. Through the next few months they talked to me about the next steps and how I should prepare myself. In sept 2010, I had to have eye surgery because I was loosing my eyesight and they wanted to stop it. It was very painful and....... It didn't work. So the next few months they kept saying you need to get a shunt put in, and I was so scared of that. The last few months I knew it was all God and I had peace but not about the shunt. In Nov they said its time to get the shunt my pressure is bad and you need to come in two weeks to do it. Well that would be in Dec

And I love Christmas so I said I'll pray about it. We had so many people praying for us over us these last few months, and we were all seeking Gods will.
 

The exact week I was suppose to go and get the shunt my daddy called and said there is a chiropractor in our home town and he wants to look at me before I do the surgery. Well I've never been to a chiropractor and I thought he cant help me. Chad and I prayed and I made an appt for dec 20 when we went in for Christmas.   Chad and I prayed before I went in and as we walked in the door they were playing Christian music, I instantly had peace. When the drs at UK hospital told me to get the shunt I didn't have peace at all, but with this I did. He prayed over us and gave it to God before he started working on me . He worked on me for 5 hrs and I went one hr with no migraine ! God is amazing. So I saw him the two weeks we when in TN for Christmas and for the next two months. We would go in every two weeks, I was getting better no migraines, I came off all my meds, and the chiropractor prescribed natural supplements and God was healing me! But there was still something going on so my chiropractor found another chiropractor closer to us and he specialized in women's health. 

I met with this new chiropractor August 2011 and he did a muscle test on me and found out I'm allergic to gluten, I have Celiacs.  I started seeing him once a week every week for 6 weeks then every other week for 12 weeks. Now I am up to every 3 months. I've been gluten free for 2 years and I feel like my old self again. I've lost 62 pounds no more headaches and I'm healed! So if God didn't allow me to get sick with the pseudo-tumor I would have never found out I'm allergic to gluten. And that's what caused the pseudo-tumor, I've had celiac my whole life and didn't know it. I was diagnosed at 17 with IBS but drs didn't know much about gluten then. This was Gods plan all along. He had to take me through it all to get me out on the other side and now I'm so much healthy. 

Sometimes we don't understand why things happen, but God always knows the end results and He knows what's best for us. I'm totally blessed and would do it all over again. I've learned so much about the healthy way to eat we are going to incorporate that into our youth camps. I've grown closer to God, and I've seen Him work in ways I can't even explain! He is the great Healer!