Nicholas

Recently we had the privaledge of celebrating Nicholas' 11th birthday.  What a blessing this young man has been to us and our family.  We have seen him grow over the last few years, not only in stature but in the creativity that the Lord has given him.  He has made several items out of left over wood and would much rather be creating with his hands than solving math problems - can't say I blame him!!!

The Lord blessed us with a wonderful day together, as a family, celebrating his birthday.  No school for the children, no work for Gary and no chores for Nicholas.  We took our bikes and went for a ride.












Not long into it though, a screw fell off Gary's bike and it seemed that our family outing was over, but after praying and searching for about 15 minutes Deanna found the lost piece.










Gary was able to get the bike back together and our ride continued.









A couple of hours later we moved onto the next part of Nicholas' day - fishing.





Daniel and Nicholas were the only ones with fishing poles, the rest got creative.

The fish were biting, eating the worms and swimming off before the kids could hook them.









There was one fish caught - by the birthday boy !!  I think that made his day.


Michelle

I Am Blessed

The Lord has blessed me so incredibly, beyond what I could ever have imagined.  I have an incredible husband, who loves the Lord, me and our children

and our six wonderful kids

Daniel

Elaina

Nicholas

Naomi

Jeremiah

Deanna

and praying that the Lord would give us more to love and raise for His Glory.

Michelle

Do Something!!!!

I struggle to find the right words.  I need to plead for the case of the fatherless, for the case of the 160,000,000 orphans around the world and specifically for over 200 that are in desperate need of rescuing.  Children who have been neglected and starved in a European orphanage.   I cannot find the words to tell you of how my heart is breaking for these kids, and how I struggle knowing we can't do much about it.  We give, we pray, but we can't go and rescue a child.  In this post I told you why we can't, (at least for now) but what is your reason?  Or for some, should I say excuse?!!  Could it be I'm not sure I could love another child?  or have you ever told yourself this - I just don't have the time or space or money or ..... you fill in the blank.

Sure some have genuine reasons why we can't adopt, but I don't think I'm understating the fact that many who can, make excuses not to.  

I know it's hard to take in someone you don't know and be prepared to commit to loving them for a lifetime.  I know it's hard to take on the financial responsibility for another person, including their medical costs.  But are these reasons or just excuses for not trusting God?  All too often in the Western culture, we rely on our own strengths and abilities NOT GOD'S!!!   Doesn't God promise to provide for our needs (Matt 6)?  Doesn't He command us to take care of the orphan (James 1)?


My heart is especially burdened today after reading the blog of a friend who is adopting a child from Bulgaria who is 14 years old and weighs only 14lb - yes, you read that right 14 pounds!!!!

This child, along with over 200 others are being starved and neglected and we sit here comfortable, complaining we can't do anything because we don't have anything to spare or even enough for what we want!!!   Really??

'Enough' is a very subjective word.  For one it will mean a nice house, two or three cars, vacations, 6 month emergency fund, retirement account etc, yet for another it may mean living paycheck to paycheck!  But seriously, even living paycheck to paycheck - what could you sacrifice for a child that is being starved?  

We live on an income that is considered below poverty level in America, and trust the Lord to make ends meet each month, but do we have extra?  My immediate answer would be no, there isn't any left at the end of the month, BUT do we really need to buy chocolate chips to put in the muffins? Do I need a birthday present from my husband?  Do I really need to rent movies for the family?  Do I really need _______________ what is in the blank for you?  Seriously do we need to drink soda when children in Bulgaria are being starved - wouldn't water be sufficient for us?  Do we need another pair of shoes when we have several in our closet already when children lie without blankets?   Do we need an emergency fund when children are dying of starvation - THAT is what I call an emergency!

If nothing else it comes down to this - we are so like the rich young ruler (yes most in the Western world are rich - including Gary and I) who thought he was doing everything right until Christ told him to sell all he had and give to the poor and follow Him (Matt 19:21).  That young man went away sorrowful because he had great possessions.  Aren't we the same?   When someone tells us to sell all we have aren't we sad and try to make excuses, such as I really don't have that much?  BUT, WAIT - look what we are missing if we don't obey Christ.  Jesus told the man that if he sold his stuff and gave to the poor THEN, he would have treasure in heaven!!! Not only can we help meet the needs of these starving children but there is also a reward for us in doing so.

The golden rule - Matthew 7:13 "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets"  

Would we have wanted others to leave us alone in a crib 24/7 everyday of the year?  Would we want to have our diaper changed just once a day and left to lie in our own waste?  Would we want to be starved and abandoned or would we have wanted someone to rescue us and love us?  Please let us love our neighbor as ourselves, lets rescue these children (and many others like them around the world) or at least give to someone else who needs help to rescue them.  None of us would want to be treated that way so why are we doing nothing to rescue those that are?

We need to repent.  Ask the Lord to soften our hearts toward the suffering and show us how we can make a difference in their lives.  Is it to give?  - then give sacrificially.  Is it to adopt? - then trust the Lord to provide for your needs as you step out in faith to help the least of these.  I know $25,000+ is a lot of money, but I have seen time and time again how our God who owns the whole universe is able to provide.  Hey, what about the money that is sitting in your retirement account? What better use is there than to rescue a child with it?  So, you worry about how you will provide for your old age - don't!! Store up treasures in heaven not on earth where rust or moths (or a weak economy) will destroy (Matt 6).  Trust the Lord for your future, He is faithful :).

DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.

Michelle

The Reality of our war!

This is why...

...WE WON'T GIVE UP!!!!

We will not give up

Yesterday we had some disappointing news, that because of where we live we are not able to be a safe home to children whose family are in crisis.  This broke my heart, but not just mine,  the children's too.  BUT - we will NOT give up.  We CANNOT give up.  To give up is to say, 'that's okay, someone else will take care of them, someone else can be responsible for meeting their needs'.  But that goes AGAINST God's word!  God's word has told us to take care of those in need, to take care of the poor, the widowed, the orphan.  Matthew 25 tells us that when we take care of the least of these it's like we are doing it for Christ and also if we turn our back on them we have turned our back on HIM.  WE CANNOT DO THAT.

Do you hear my heart?  Do you hear my passion?  These families in crisis need help, need someone to love them, someone to help them walk through their crisis - someone to point them to Christ.  There is such a great need in our own community for foster/adoptive and safe families.

But, I have heard the argument that 'you have done enough - you have already adopted six!'  But while there are still those in need and there is still breath in my body then I have not done enough.  Please tell me where in the Bible it says we only have to do so much?!! Hasn't my life been bought at a price?!  Don't I owe everything I have and all that I am to Christ?!  Paul tells us to run the race, hard.  To train for it - does Paul ever mention giving up?  I don't think so - and I will not.  If my life ends early because I have worn this body out for Christ - then so be it!! but I will not live my life the easy way.

So what will we do?  That I am not sure.  I will continue to work at recruiting other families to be safe homes - I will continue to point others towards the joy of adoption, I will continue to do whatever the Lord puts in front of me ... and most importantly ... PRAY.

I will pray that the Lord would move us to a place where we can be a safe home or adopt.  This isn't just to satisfy my 'need' for more children.  Believe me when I tell you there are days when I don't want anymore, there are days when I certainly don't feel like I can handle the ones the Lord has already given me.  But it's not about ME!!  It's about Christ and what He has called us to do.  He has called the whole family to help children in need.  Our kids have the desire to share what they have with someone else.  They long for more children in the home.  God has not put this passion in 8 hearts just to drive us crazy!!!  I believe He will bring it about.  He will move us.

Last night as we talked about the situation we started recalling all the times the Lord has done the impossible in our lives and all the times He has proved Himself faithful.  This time is no different!  This time He will work again.  We need just be still, know that He is God, wait and watch as He brings His work to fruition and then give Him ALL the glory :)

Michelle

So where did I end?

Sorry that this has taken so long. It has been a very busy week. I have had to get over jet lag, a cold that I have had for more than 2 weeks now, that I still have some lingering affects from. I have also been busy doing projects around the house that desperately needed to be done. I built Naomi and Deanna a bunk bed, they now have their own beds after 2 years of sleeping together. I am putting 2 windows in our family room to let in some outside light and air. This room is so dark that we have 5-60 watt light bulbs burning all day long to light the room up. We have spent a lot of time together as a family this past week, it has been a great time together.

Well, the project in England had its ups and downs. When I left we had everything and everyone in place so that the project would be finished. As I said in another post, Phil, a local guy who used to be a builder, was lined up to complete the project. In fact, he had entered the picture sometime around the 2nd week that I was there, so he had been involved in putting the pieces together with me.


As far as the work that was accomplished while I was there, all of the walls had been framed up and insulated. Most of the drywall had been hung and taping of the joints had begun. The electrical rough-in work was complete and all of the bathroom plumbing was done. We had leveled the floor in both the bathroom and kitchen after removing the tile floor. All of the kitchen cabinets were on site just waiting to be installed. All of the colors had been chosen for flooring, countertops, paint, and the wall tile for the kitchen and bathroom.


I have to say that I really enjoyed my time with the folks there. They were so good to me and my family. They fed me a meal most days and provided me with money each week. They sent me home with gifts for Michelle and the kids, as well as a financial gift at the end. Thank you so much to all of you at Springhead Park House for your hospitality and your generosity. We have been so blessed by you all.

Thank you for your prayers for this trip.  They were really appreciated and I would ask you to continue to pray as I consider the next project the Lord has for me.


Gary

Sara

Sara's Story from Trinity Grace Church on Vimeo.

I made it home!

I just got in. It has been a very long day and now for bed. It was an uneventful day of traveling. The only problem we had was a delay at the Atlanta airport. First it was delayed by 15 minutes and then they sorted out some problems at the gate. The pilot said that we would have turbulence most of the way to Saint Louis but I thought it was a pretty smooth.

I will post about the project after some sleep.

Gary

To top it all off...

I came down with a really bad cold this week. On Tuesday evening, after dinner, I started to get a sore throat, achiness and heat flashes. I went to bed and woke up Wednesday with a bad sore throat and all my joints hurting. I spent the day dragging just trying to keep going. I took some Ibuprofen before I went to bed that night and sweated all night long. When I woke the next morning I felt GREAT, having a lot of energy, I was able to do my work with ease. I thank God for His healing so that I could continue with all my work that is still ahead of me. I am feeling much better now, still not completely over it.

Thank you all for praying. Please continue to pray, it has certainly been a battle here as well as on the home front.

The work is going well. The electrician is nearly complete with his Rough-in. The Plumber still has not been able to start his work yet, because of the problems we have had the Plumber had to go start another job and has not been able to get back to us. He is to start his work on Monday. The apartment is coming together despite all the set backs that we have had. We have all the walls framed up and have started insulating and hanging the drywall. It is looking like an apartment now. We should be able to hang some kitchen cabinets on Monday.

I have a very busy week. Some friends want to see me on Monday evening, my Brother-in-law is coming up to see me on Tuesday evening, I have a meeting planned with another friend and I still need to do some shopping, as well as do some work on this apartment.  Don't get me wrong, I am very excited about this week with all the busyness seeing everybody and all, especially the fact that I will be seeing my own family on Thursday, that is the day I will be traveling back home. So, I can't forget to pack too!

I have some very exciting news too! My phone rang today and I answered it to hear Elaina tell me that she has repented of her sins and is now trusting Christ save her. I am choking back tears just writing this. Oh that was so good to hear! Thank you, Lord! Michelle hugged her for me but that just isn't the same. I am so looking forward to going back home.

Gary

Set back after set back

This past week has been very challenging. Every day we seemed to encounter something else that set the project back.


To begin with we needed a concrete core drill, so we called to rent the unit but they didn't have it in stock and it took them 3 days to get for us. This meant the plumber had to pull off the job as he couldn't begin his work until we had a core hole drilled.


Finally we were able to core drill the floor today but then the unit got stuck a couple of times and it took a long time to pry it up out of the hole. We also discovered that the original design of the bathroom won't work because the drain pipes were going to hit the top of some water lines. So, we have had to redesign the bathroom so that we can run our drain lines, again more delays.




In answer to prayer the Lord has provided Phil to help with the project.  He arrived last week and has been invaluable to me.  He has been a local builder but he is now working with the Gideons distributing Bibles. He has offered to help us with this project and is willing to continue to do some maintenance around the property.


Then on Friday Phil's dog ran off,  which meant he had to pull off the job to find her.  Thankfully, several hours later she was found, 6 miles away .







Yesterday I found out that Merriam (the German girl who has spent a lot of time helping) has an infection in her leg.  She went to the hospital last night and is now on an antibiotic to clear up the infection, but is now unable to help on the project.  She has been a great help to me and I am hoping she will be healthy again soon..

So, yesterday we got a group of people together to pray in the apartment about the set backs and the Lord has been gracious as we have things start to progress in the right direction.   We now have the holes drilled through floor and plan to finish framing the rest of the walls today and hopefully start hanging drywall. The plumber and electrician are scheduled to be back on Wednesday to complete their rough-in.   We have also been able to get the floor leveler down on the floor that we removed the tile from. It looks good now, ready for vinyl flooring to be installed. We are hoping that by Friday we can do some painting.

Please pray with us that the Lord will allow us to accomplish much over the next few days while keeping those on the job safe and that He would bring healing to Merriam's leg.  I would love to see this project completed before I return to the States in just 9 days.

Thanks.

Gary

Make disciples by David Platt

Casual Acceptance or Absolute Surrender?

Katie Davis with David Platt at Brook Hills Church

I know this video is long but please take the time to listen all the way to the end.

So What is happening?

The work is progressing here in England. I will give you some information on how far we have gotten in a moment but first let me share a picture of the team of people who has helped me so far.

Two Americans, two Germans and Two British
plus another British lady not pictured here.

When I left the States, I still had no idea what project I would be doing. Upon arrival I was promptly told that I would be doing the original project that we had discussed, the apartment renovation. We were able to finalize the drawing toward the end of the week...

The new kitchen and bathroom, which is all one room right now.

...and quickly started getting proposals for the work, for which a plumber has agreed to do the bathroom work. The electrician, window company, floor layers, hardwood re-finishers and order kitchen cabinets are still needed. This will be done at the beginning of this week. The first material order was made by the end of the week which was delivered Saturday.

So, what physical work was done, you ask? Well, a portion of the brick wall was removed, pulled up the vinyl flooring and started removing the tile floor that was underneath.

Before

German Power

Complete

They are on there good!

There is still one more area of the brick wall that has to open up so that a door can put in between the kitchen and the lounge (looking closely at the photo below you will see the word lounge written over the window in the right hand bottom room)

The new door will go in this wall!

Location of the new door in the wall behind the pipes.

Still a lot of work has to be done but it is progressing. I am pleased with what we have accomplished so far. I am trusting the Lord to bring it all together in the proper time, so that, we can accomplish this project before I have to leave. So far we have seen answers to our prayer. The other 2 plumbers we called couldn't come until Tuesday and Wednesday of this next week. The last one we called was out within the hour and submitted his quote by the end of the business day Friday. He is rearranging his schedule to do the work within the time constraints that we are under.

Keep praying for the project, please!

We still don't have Council approval for this project, but they have told us we can go ahead and start the work - albeit, at our own expense. We have been in contact with the inspector and he knows our situation and is working with us.

We need the other contractors to be of the same mind as the plumber.

We need the kitchen cabinets ordered and delivered quickly.

Thank you all for your continued prayer for us.

Gary