Trusting God and Living Life

It's been almost 2 months since we returned to the US. I can't even begin to count the number of times that I thought to myself "I need to update my blog," or even had blog ideas rolling through my head and just never took the time to follow through and post an update! Just in case you missed the details of our return trip and why it had to happen so quickly and so much sooner than we expected, the gist of it is that the North declared war on the South and the airport in our town was shut down, so we took a UN helicopter out of Wau. You can read the more in depth story on my husband's blog HERE or my sister-in law's blog HERE. It was definitely a crazy experience, but through the whole situation I was able to rest securely in the peace of my Heavenly Father. I think it helped a lot that Christopher remained so calm and in control, even when we watched the Northern bomber plane fly over our city. The Lord was so faithful and provided for our every need all the way home.

This morning as I lay in bed at 5:30 AM - the new time my body likes to wake up thanks to pregnancy insomnia - I listened to the sound of my husband breathing next to me, the birds chirping outside, the hum of our AC and the crow of the rooster, I began to think back at how faithful He has been to us!! There is no doubt that He was faithful in getting us to and from Sudan, for providing for our every need and even some of our wants while we were serving in Sudan. There is no doubt that He was faithful on the mission field. Now here we are almost 2 months after returning to the US and I find myself having to search to see how He is providing for us. You see it isn't that He has forgotten us, surely He hasn't!! However, it is a lot easier to see His faithfulness when He is all you have to depend on. When we were in Sudan and things were hard which occurred more often than we imagined it would, we had no one else to run to, no one else to really help us, we HAD to rely completely upon God!! Now that we are back here in the US we expected things to be easier, we expected for Christopher to be able to get his job back when we returned to Texas, we expected things to be a lot smoother than they really are right now. What I am learning is that often times we have to throw our expectations out the window and continue to trust God!! If Our God is faithful enough to get us out of a war situation, to provide for our every need in Africa, to give us amazing amounts of safety while I was pregnant in Sudan, than He can surely provide a job for my husband (even if it is not what we had expected) and He will surely provide for all of our needs!!

 I rolled over this morning and just watched as my husband slept (yup, I'm that creepy wife! ;-) There is a lot of weight on his shoulders right now. He is supposed to be able to provide for his family, his daughter will be arriving within the next month and yet the job market is harsh right now in his field. One would think that because the man has no job that he has a lot of free time on his hands. This is just not the case with my husband. I watched yesterday as his foot slipped through the ceiling in his parents kitchen while he was trying to get another electrical line run out to our trailer. Praise the Lord that he only has scraps and bruises and didn't fall all the way through!! He has spent countless hours at the birthing center where I am going to give birth in a few weeks, helping do construction and other things in exchange for our midwife's services. He is currently outside in the 100 degree weather building a shed for us to be able to store our stuff in since this trailer is just a "little" smaller than our 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom rental was! :-) He has spent hours fixing up an old truck that we bought to haul our trailer to Texas so that he can flip that truck and get good money out of it. You see, some men who are unemployed get stressed and depressed because they have nothing to do, not my husband, he adds more odd jobs to his list, he keeps himself busy and continues to do the best that he can to provide for our little family, but most importantly HE TRUSTS GOD!! Every time we have a discussion about this job situation he says with confidence that God is going to provide, that the Lord is faithful!! Sometimes its hard to see His faithfulness when things are grim, when you are jobless and it just seems like the storms of life are pouring down on you. However, you just have to keep trusting in His faithfulness!!

My sweet baby girl is due in 20 some days and in spite of the fact that neither my husband or I have worked a real job since February, she has everything she will need and then some. The Lord has been faithful in providing our every need for her! I know that my God is faithful and so I am throwing my expectations out the window and just trusting that He has the perfect job for Christopher and that He will provide it in His timing and that we need not fear, just trust!!

My husband - My Amazing Man of God!!!

I know that many of my blog updates recently have been bragging on my husband – hopefully you don’t mind them too much, because here is another one!

Christopher has a huge heart and passion to go to unreached people groups – these are people who have really never heard about the love of Christ at all! It can be dangerous and is not the easiest ministries, but my husband has a passion for it! The two American YWAM leaders that are with us (the ones that you prayed for their safety) are taking a trip to the unreached people today. Many staff and leaders wanted to go with them and it was decided that Christopher needed to remain behind to be here in the classroom with the students, handling anything that was school related. He was disappointed, he was a little frustrated, but I watched as this man that I married 10 months ago handled this disappointment and frustration with so much humility and so much understanding!! I watched as he allowed his frustration to turn into an opportunity to let God teach him a lesson about being a leader, to grow him, to stretch him! I watched as this man of God truly allowed God to work in his life! One of Christopher’s other desires is to help start other YWAM bases – his heart is set on Juba next – and I know that the Lord is using these hard experiences that don’t always make sense to prepare him for the next phase! I love my husband with all my heart and have always been grateful for the man that the Lord blessed me with, but this weekend I am grateful for the way that the Lord is stretching my husband, for the way He is teaching my husband to be a leader, for the way my husband is growing in the Lord! The number one characteristic that I always said my husband had to have was that he had to truly LOVE JESUS, not just go to church, but to be passionate about Jesus – I knew Christopher really loved Jesus before I married him, but watching Him continue to grow in the Lord has brought me so much joy. My husband not only loves me and takes very good care of me, but he loves Jesus and loves His people, he is willing to let God mold him and for that I am SO very grateful!!

Married for 10 months and 5 months pregnanat!!!

Where has the time gone? Yesterday my husband and I celebrated 10 wonderful months of marriage!! As I think back to our wedding day and the days, weeks and months leading up to it, it seems strange to think that it has been 10 months since all of that. It was such a beautiful day and I couldn’t have asked for it to have gone any better! It doesn’t seem possible that it has been 10 months since I walked into that Sanctuary and looked at my future husband and watched as his eyes welled up with tears. We had done it, we had made it to that day that had been anticipated for months, even years – we were going to be married later that evening. We would stand in front of family and friends and our God and make a lifetime commitment to each other. In a matter of hours we would say our vows, wash each other’s feet, say “I do,” he would kiss me and we would walk out of the sanctuary hand in hand and begin our real journey together! Our life!

Fast forward to today – married for 10 months, expecting our first child in 4 more months, and serving the Lord together in South Sudan!! I wouldn’t change a thing! Standing beside my husband in ministry, working together with him to accomplish the things that the Lord is calling us to do is such an honor! To stop and think that the Lord handpicked ME to walk through life with this man, I am far undeserving of such a privilege! So with 4 more months until our lives are drastically changed again, my husband and I are enjoying this life and praising God for such a honor – to serve Him together as husband and wife, to shine His light in the darkness, to walk hand in hand through this journey!!

Urgent Prayer Request!!

Urgent Prayer Request, we need an army of prayer warriors to pray for two American YWAM staff traveling to Wau (our tomorrow - your night April 4th) by road from Juba. This is the last option of transport to get them here as there was a plane crash in the Wau airport and it has now closed completely for the time being. The road is dirt, VERY bumpy and will take 12 hours...as if all of those things weren't enough there have been several armed robberies on these roads and because they are Khawaga (white person) they will stick out even more - PLEASE, PLEASE pray for their safety! We know that God wants to use them in mighty ways and that is why the devil continues to try to throw road blocks in getting them here! Our God is a protector and we are trusting in His good and perfect plan, even when it is not the plan that we would choose - He knows best! Thanks for your prayers!!

A sneak peak at life in Wau, South Sudan

We keep pressing on here in Wau, South Sudan! We have made it through the first month of the DTS lecture phase and have another amazing 2 months to go. We have 7 students and are enjoying having the opportunity to pour into them. As is typically of YWAM Discipleship Training Schools we have many chances to pour into them and to watch as God speaks into their lives! I know some of you are curious as to what a typically day here in Wau looks like, so I thought I would give you a quick overview. We leave the staff house around 7:45 am and walk the half-mile to the classroom. From 8 am until 9 am we either have Base Prayer (on Mon), Group Devotions (on Tues, Wed & Fri) or Intercession Prayer (on Thurs). We give the students a quick break around 9 before diving into the lecture or class time. Each week we have a specific topic that we are covering and normally we have a guest speaker to share on that topic. We are in class from 9 am until 1 pm with a 30 minute break for bread and tea at 10:30. We are so grateful for our speakers and the way the Lord has been speaking through them. Teaching for 3 and a half hours in a small classroom in 100 + degree heat is no easy task and we are so grateful for their commitment to our students. After class we walk the half-mile back to the staff house where the whole school eats lunch together, typically either rice or posha (a very bland cornmeal mixture with very little nutritional value) and beans.

In the afternoons we either have staff meeting (Mon & Wed) or small groups with the students (Tues & Thurs) or we have a One-on-one time with our chosen student (Fri). We are attempting to start an English class at least a few afternoons a week as well, because we have several students who speak little to no English but have the determination to learn! (Everything we do in class and small group times is translated into Arabic for them.) Typically at least once in the afternoons we make the walk back to the classroom (a half-mile each way) either for English class, small groups or just to pick up phones and computers that we leave behind to charge completely. Dinner is served around 6:30 and the students have work duties that are to be completely before dinner. These work duties range from carrying water from bore holes to be filtered for drinking, carrying water from wells for showering & laundry, sweeping and washing the main floor at the staff house, cleaning bathrooms or helping with dishes.
We have one indoor bathroom at the house and an outdoor bathroom. The indoor bathroom has no running water but the toilet – which doesn’t have a seat on it - can be used if you bring your own bucket of water in with you to dump down after you are finished, we take buckets of water in to bath with in the mornings or evenings. The indoor bathroom is connected to our guest speakers’ room, so depending on your timing if they are sleeping or whatnot – you may or may not able to use the indoor bathroom. The outdoor bathroom has two doors similar to outhouse doors. The squatty potty – a deep hole in the cement that you squat over – is in one door and in the second door is the shower basically just a drain on a slab of cement that you again bring your bucket for showering. The squatty potty has cockroaches crawling all around in the evenings and the shower often has spiders. We were blessed last night when the shop across the street from the house agreed to allow us to pay 150 SSP (South Sudanese Pounds – $1 USD =3.6 ssp) a month and they hooked up our house to their generator! So whenever they are running the generator (mainly in the evenings for several hours) we will now have power at the house. This will help in charging computers, phones, having light to see while showering and even a ceiling fan!! We feel VERY VERY blessed!!
Our weekends are spent relaxing and doing laundry (in buckets!) typically, although we are hoping and praying that soon our weekends will be spent at the YWAM property on the Nile river to build permanent buildings so that the next school can be held on our property rather than in a rented house, a small compound with mud huts (where the students are staying) and in a rented classroom. I just thought I would share some little details of our lives and of the school here in Wau. We covet your continued prayers and are so blessed that you are walking this journey together with us!
I know many of you have seen the newest pregnancy picture on facebook and just wanted to add that both our sweet little monkey and Mommy are doing well. It is hot and some days my feet swell, but my husband does a wonderful job taking good care of both of us. We check her little heartbeat every other week or so and she continues to kick and move around – just little reminders that the Lord is protecting her!

The true love of a husband!

As I was preparing for our time here in Sudan, the Lord continually pressed on my heart how important it was that the devil was not allowed even the smallest foothold in our marriage. During the move out of our house and the start of packing for Africa it was evident that the devil wanted that foothold, he wanted to divide my husband and I – he wanted us to not be a united front. I was nervous, we were not even in Africa yet, we were not even in the hard part, and he was trying to separate us. Prayer became my main weapon as I began to fight against the devil and his schemes. I was determined not to allow that foothold – but like I said we were not even in the HARD yet!

As we traveled through airports and across countries it became clear to me that this man traveling with me was not the same man that I married. He was far better than I could have EVER imagined. His desire to put my needs and even basic comforts before his own was stronger than ever before. In the 5 days of travel that it took to get to our final destination Christopher made sure my ever need was met. He allowed me to sleep across several plane seats, gave up his fruit on the plane so that I had good food to eat, carried all the heavy bags, (and let me tell you they were HEAVY!), he made sure I was comfortable and encouraged me to walk around on the long plane rides.

There have been many bumps in the road since we have been here. It has not been easy, pioneering a brand new school, but we have been blessed and my husband has gone above and beyond to take good care of me. Filtering gallons of water a day – that he carries from a half mile away – to make sure that I am drinking good water and plenty of it. Buying me crackers at the market to dip in my jar of peanut butter so that I am getting a good amount of protein! Checking baby heart beat often, making sure that I am getting enough vitamins and nutrients, washing my feet several times a week, killing cockroaches in the latrine (squatty potty) late at night, carrying bucket after bucket of water for my bucket showers since I am not very good at just using one bucket yet, but I am getting better. J He has been so faithful to me and protected me and cared for me more than I ever could have imagined. It has been hard, it is hot, my feet are swollen, all the dust is making allergies crazy, the food is not always agreeing with my stomach, but I know that God is faithful, and I know that He has called us here – so I will keep trusting Him – knowing that He has my best interest in mind and praising Him daily for blessing with a husband who is willing to take such good care of me!

Thank you for praying for us, thank you for covering us in prayer, thank you, thank you, thank you!! Please don’t stop praying, the bumps are still coming and we are still in the hard, but God is faithful and is moving in the school in great ways. Our students are doing well and learning to hear the voice of the Lord this week. Pray specifically for finances as a school – that the Lord would continue to provide for our daily needs and that as a staff we would use wisdom in handling the finances. Pray for the students that the small bumps we are facing would not distract them from all that the Lord has for them! Pray for the staff that we would remain unified!

Sweet Baby Girl

Dear Sweet Baby Girl,

We are about to embark upon a journey, one that you won't remember because you will stay safely snuggled in my tummy while we are there, but one that I am sure you will hear stories of as you get older. Your Daddy and I want you to know that although we haven't met you we both love you so very much! Your Daddy has been a hero in making sure that Mommy has everything we will need while we are in Sudan. We listen to your little heartbeat and we are filled with joy! We know that God has created you so special and is continuing to knit you together in my womb. We haven't picked out the perfect name for you yet, we want the meaning of your name to define who God is creating you to be and so we continue to pray and search through baby name books finding the name with the perfect meaning for YOU...we will know when we find it! :-) So for the next 3 months hang on tight as Mommy and Daddy embark upon this journey that the Lord is leading us on. Stay snuggled safe in my belly and continue to grow and thrive as the Lord knits you to be the perfect sweet baby girl you are going to be! We love you little princess and can't wait to meet you in 5 months!

Love,

Your Mommy