So excited...

I had to post this as I am one proud momma. Andrew came home yesterday telling me he had a surprise for me. You never know what you're going to get when Andrew says he has a surprise for you. It could be a kiss, a gigantic rib-crushing bear hug, or whatever else he feels like doing. I was prepared to receive either of the former but much to my surprise, he hands me a paper that states his artwork would be on display at the Coastal Carolina Fair - I was so super-excited! I have always thought he may have a talent for drawing but I am a mom and we all know how we can be when it comes to our own children ;). Well this time, I just may be right so if you are heading out to the fair in the next week or so, stop by the area behind the gazebo and take a look. (btw, he has no idea what artwork was chosen -- silly boy).

It's the little things...

And yes, I know my husband is not going to like this post since he never likes me to post pictures of him or write much about him but it truly is one of the reasons I love him so much!! A couple of days ago before school, Kira was "acting up" and just not behaving. Well, Dave kinda got angry (as all us parents do at times) and yelled at her, probably more than he should have. What is the awesome part is having a husband that is sensitive to God and admits his mistakes. I was on the phone with him when the kids got home from school and he apologized to Kira for getting so angry, not that he was wrong in being upset at her disobedience but that he "lost his cool" with her. She said "it's ok daddy, I love you". Ahh, such music to my ears, a father apologizing and admitting when he's wrong and a little girl that just loves her daddy. I would have been so ok with just that but here is the icing on the cake -- Dave comes home with a bouquet of flowers for Kira -- does that just not melt your heart? She was sooooooo excited - she kept saying "I got flowers momma, I got flowers, aren't they beautiful?" Yes, of course I had to take a quick picture - not the best, but still super cute of my girl and her flowers :)

Blessed once again...

Words cannot begin to describe the love we have for our GFA family. These people truly exhibit the love of God in such amazing ways including blessing our family. As many (or maybe not that many - lol) who view this blog know, the last couple of months have been "dry" as far as our support-raising goes. It is certainly not for lack of trying - we call many churches every week and seem to hear a lot of the same answer - "the economy has really hit us hard". There are definite times of discouragement but Dave and I realize that God is teaching us many things through this process, especially since we are going to have to do this for the rest of our lives. Anyway, I digress...
Last night we received a phone call from Dave Chupp - this is the man who will be "Dave's boss" at GFA. He wanted to just let us know him and his family have been praying for us and they want to see us there very soon!! I just broke down crying - good thing Dave was the one talking on the phone. People we have met for one week last November have become such a huge part of our lives and we just love them so much. I think for a number of reasons. One, we have a like-mindedness with them in wanting to reach the lost for Jesus. Two, they are so down to earth and just love the fellowship of others. And three, they are funny and even the leaders at GFA don't think of themselves highly, they are just humble people used by God and are willing to share their individual struggles with you -- wow, what if the whole business world (or for that matter world) was like this??????
It made us want to get to GFA that much quicker. Please pray for us as we continue to seek out God to where He will lead us to raise support and please if you know of any church, or anyone that loves the Lord and would love to meet with us, let us know.
We are praying for God to do a miracle and send us QUICKLY!!!

Joshua 4:24 -- so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever."

Date with my son...

Yesterday the kids had off from school for some teacher's meeting. I always get excited when they have off from school so we can hang out and just enjoy each other. Well, Kira had decided to spend the night at a friend's house so it was going to be just me and Andrew. WooHoo - I have been wanting to take both my kids out for special one on one times with them and here was the perfect chance. We woke up early and I asked him if he would like to go on a breakfast date with me. He said "sure". We really enjoyed ourselves and just have a great time talking and sharing with each other. I really encourage you to do this with your kids. It truly opens up the doors of conversation and it means so much to them. Anyway, here is a pic of him and me before we left. Yes, he has a black eye from walking into a pole the day before at school - yes, like mother, like son :)

West Farm Corn Maze

This past Saturday we had the wonderful privilege to go to a local corn maze with Dave's friend Brian (from his work) and his family to West Farm corn maze. We had such a great time! We played in the cornbox (like a sandbox except with corn :)), ate some yummy food, got through the crazy huge corn maze, played with the apple slingshot, fed the goats, and went on a hayride around the farm. To top it off, since Fall here in South Carolina is pretty non-existent (even though the cooler temps in the 80's are very much appreciated) on the way home we stopped at Sonic for a yummy cool treat. It truly was a perfect day and I am so grateful to have spent it with new friends and the most awesome family anyone could ask for! Enjoy the pics :)

Support trip back home...

Last weekend we made a quick support trip back home to Pa. It was a whirlwind but we are so grateful for God's provisions and helping us to share more about what God has called our family to at Gospel for Asia. Our flight arrived late Thursday night. We rented a car (a Ford Edge - God blessed us with free upgrades - we went from a Toyota Yaris all the way up to a Ford Edge) and headed to my parents for the night. We slept in and since my parents were home Friday, Dave and I headed out by ourselves to local churches in the area to see if we could raise more support. We went to 7 churches in the area and praise God for one pastor that was very interested in the ministry of GFA and having us come back and share with his congregation. God is faithful and we need to be faithful as well to His calling on our lives. We are not sure when we will be heading back up to PA but we are going to be sending this pastor our information and keeping in contact with him as we move forward to raise support.
Friday night we had a wonderful dinner meeting with 2 couples from a church that just wanted to meet us and encourage us through prayer. Sylvia and Carl and Joel and Allison. Allison was an MK herself so it was neat to be able to share with her and what a blessing to meet their beautiful daughter Katarina. So fun to hold a healthy baby in my arms :)
Saturday, after a quick visit to see my grandmom - a faithful supporter - we headed to Dave's mom's house and to visit his dad in the hospital. Dave's dad's health is failing and he also has Alzheimers and was admitted back to the hospital the Thursday we arrived. Please keep his mom in prayer as she needs to make many decisions on the future care of dad. God's timing is perfect in ALL things and we realize that he allowed us to go and spend some extra time with his dad that we would not have been able to have without this quick trip. Please pray for his salvation. We were able to talk a little to him about Jesus and he just broke down crying. Only God knows each heart and we rest in that.
Sunday was a big day for us. We had the opportunity to share at a church on Sunday morning for a short time in both services and then with the adult Sunday School. It was a blessing to let people know of the need in Asia and how the majority of this world lives on less than $2/day. God has blessed us here in the US for a purpose - to reach and help others with the love of Christ! We do not know specifics of how much support we may have raised while speaking at the church but we know God does and that He will send us in His time. After the services, we were able to spend some time with more new friends, Ivor and Krystal Griffiths at lunch. They were such a blessing to us and we pray we did not scare them off from having children - lol!! It does always amaze me the awesome bond we, as believers, have in Christ. We can just meet someone and share a meal and just love each other knowing that we have a Savior that loves us and died for us. There is never any awkwardness, just love as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Sunday night Dave and I went to CC Philly for their service which was a complete and utter blessing to us. We prayed with people from the church and again it is just awesome sharing your heart with other believers!! After the service, we met with the missions pastor and shared with him about our calling. He was an encouragement and stated they were going to have another missions board meeting where they would bring us up for support. Again, only God can raise our support and we trust in Him to do it quickly.
Monday, we spent some time with Dave's mom and brother and then headed home on our flight back to SC.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we move forward to what God has called our family to and please pray that many will realize that God is soooo much bigger than this economy and help support us and the work God is doing!!!! We have heard of many missionaries that are struggling to raise their support right now due to the economy and churches that are struggling financially - please pray for them as well.
The verse that I am clinging to right now is...
1 Thessalonians 5:24 -- The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.