FAITHFUL

This past week was one that tried our patience to the max.  We had our summer pretty well laid out, with a timeline of things we wished to accomplished before we head to Kenya, exactly 15 days from now.  

Ordinarily, minor setbacks wouldn’t be such a big deal.  You just roll with the punches, be flexible with unexpected interruptions that life throws at you, go with the flow, Hakuna Mata - No worries, etc, etc....

However, for whatever reason it was this week, those unexpected “twist of events”, hit me like a ton of bricks.  

Much of my emotions were on the surface.  

Beloved friends of ours, said goodbye to their precious daughter, knowing it would be the last time they would see her - this side of eternity.

Our van which has been a source of transportation and great dependance to get us through this past two months, traveling many miles, decided to “break down” on us at the most in-opportune time.

The sense of urgency that “what if we couldn’t make it out to PA to see my family...would it be that last time that I would ever see some of them??”  

Plus add in the heightened awareness of time rapidly evaporating, and the longing to see my family, who I have not had the chance to see yet this summer, made me extremely emotional.  

I felt my determination to “roll with the punches” crumbling all around me and my normal calm demeanor breaking down in tears and wondering if God would be faithful to answer our prayers.

When I think of faithfulness, I tend to think of people who model that characteristic like my parents. They have been such an example of serving the Lord for all of my life.  Modeling selfless sacrifices with their children, demonstrating it with their words and with their actions and blessing the lives of countless people. Their quiet example of faithful obedience and steadfastness even in the midst of great trials and trusting in the Faithfulness of God.  

You see my Dad has Parkinson’s.  

Living with Parkinson’s is a lot like living with a villain and a thief.  

It robs him of his speech, memory loss, 
the ability to cope withstress, his strength, his manhood.
At times, it cause great despair and worry about the future.

I have seen them demonstrating their love and trust in God's faithfulness, which is but a mere reflection of God's never failing faithfulness towards His children.  
Even as I trust that my parents will try to be faithful to do what they say, they are still human and will fail at times.  

So, how much more will my heavenly Father, who loves me more than my parents, be all that much more faithful to do what He says He will do. He is the author of faithfulness and will always demonstrate His great love for me above and beyond what my parents can attain.   

Part of the enemy’s attack this past week was to put fear in my heart and doubt God’s faithfulness.  He knows what is important to me. His intentions for me are never good.  

But God says:  

"For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you....".  

This week was another reminder and opportunity to depend fully on God's Faithfulness

This week, I am thankful that my heavenly Father will ALWAYS prove to be

FAITHFUL!

“Yet we did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God.."

 At times, we find ourselves getting stuck in questioning God’s direction, wavering in unbelief, not sure if He will come through in all the details or even that He will be faithful to provide for us when it is blatantly evident that “God will do what He says He will do” which is right in front of us in His word.   

Its at that point that we begin to question our own ability to think clearly, or in some instances wondering “what in the world were we thinking”.  Did we actually hear from Him?  Have we made the right decision?  Inspite of the fact that over and over, time and time again, He has made it very clear to us that He has indeed called us out and that He IS faithful to fulfill his promises, even when we are not capable to keep our promises.

Having spent four weeks on the road, many miles traveled, left us much time for reflection, marveling at God’s love, His faithfulness.  In awe of His creation so evident and masterfully done and seeing Him present even in the midst of unknown danger, His protective hand stayed upon us, evidence of His faithful love and protection and provisions.

It also left time for notes of unwanted worry, fear, doubt, grief at the painful goodbyes to loved ones and loved things, a time for letting go...all those things, if not guarded against, can have such a subtle way of crowding in and intruding your thoughts and overshadowing the evidence of God’s presence.   

                                      

As we entered back into our home state of WI, a few days ago, we sighed a sigh of relief, welcoming the many familiar sights.  We were finally HOME!!  However, the dawning realization that even though we were returning “home”, we do not have a home to come home to.  At that moment, it became increasingly more evident of the sacrifices our family have made to follow the call God has on our lives was a stark reminder, that accentuated that unfamiliar and uncomfortable feeling with a raw sense of sacrificial loss.

What I love most about God is how in the moment of your greatest needs, His word is right there to encourage you, to strengthen you ….all for the sake of GLORIFYING Him in the midst of every situation. And so our prayer continues to be:

“Yet we did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God,  but was strengthened in our faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God has power to do what he has promised. “

Romans 4:20

“God is WHO He says He is

God will DO what He says He will do

We are WHO God says we are

We can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us

We are BELIEVING GOD!!”

Packing, Shipping, Moving, Homeless, Traveling...Our 50 Day Journey to Kenya

Monday, June 3rd marked the first day of our very REAL journey to Kenya!   

We packed up pretty much our entire household (minus all that was sold in rummage sales, to friends, on craigslist, consignment shops plus the things given away, thrown out and contributed to thrift stores) beginning the journey towards our new adventure, new life, new calling.

Its hard to describe how it feels to see all that you worked hard for, saved for, lived with, either be sold or given away!!  Often times, for pennies on the dollars. Much of what we sold, were things we didn’t necessarily have emotional attachments to, yet at the same time, still very bittersweet at realizing that letting go is sometimes hard to do.   

It did help our kids knowing that some of their special things, are able to go with them.  Some of those comforts that will help with our families transition and change.  Its not realistic nor healthy to give it all up.  Easier to say than actually having to do.

We didn’t really think how much it would affect our kids to see their belongings moved out or even when we moved out of our home of 5 years two days later. Some seemingly unemotional with the goings on, but as our house began to empty, we began to see the hearts of our children exposed and the tears in their eyes as we said goodbye to our home of five years and many of our possessions! A heart wrenching thing as a parent to see!   

As much as we have jokingly referred to temporarily being homeless, we are never truely without a home. "Whoever 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."

So, as we begin our journey, we are feeling the pangs of saying goodbyes, to what we had, to family and friends, to those things we hold so very dear and even that that was not so dear. We keep our eyes fixed on Jesus an press forward!   

Bloomington, Minnesota (Nairobi, only 8,181 miles away)

Wimbledon, North Dakota

Mount Rushmore, South Dakota

Somewhere in Wyoming

Missoula, Montana

No gold, nor silver, nor copper...

A recent post from our good friend Mike.  A very good read!!

"No gold, nor silver, nor copper...

In Matthew, Luke and Mark we read of Jesus sending his disciples out to the world.

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. 9 Acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, nor two tunics nor sandals nor a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.                                                                                   
Matthew 10:5-10

In verses 9 and 10 Jesus instructs the disciples to go without making additional preparations for their journey. I believe this instruction serves two purposes. 

The first purpose is to have the disciples rely completely upon God for their provision. God provides for the disciples through his children - the church. Learning to depend completely on God is essential for all who would be His disciple and providing physical, emotional and financial support to His disciples provides all of us with an opportunity to receive the blessing of spreading the good news of the gospel. 

I believe the second purpose of this instruction is to get busy now. We can prepare, wait, hope for better timing, etc. but there will likely never be a better time, we probably won't be more prepared and the only thing you are guaranteed to get by waiting is older. When God calls us to go and do something He wants us to go and do it as Elisha did - right now with no looking back.

As I was thinking about Matthew 10 and Luke 10 I started wondering what does it take to "go" when you are a family of six, like the Kellys, and the place you are called to go to is very poor, like Kenya. The first thing to understand is how far it is from Green Bay to Nairobi. There are several different routes you can take when traveling to Nairobi. Most involve flying from the United States to Europe, and from Europe to Nairobi. If you fly from Green Bay to Chicago, on to London then Nairobi the trip is 8226 miles. That is a lot of going!

As a side note, while I was figuring out the total distance from Green Bay to Nairobi, I learned that you can actually drive from England to Kenya. Driving adds about 2000 miles onto the trip but that would be an epic road trip. Something new on my bucket list :)

The Kelly's have budgeted $130,000 in start up costs. This includes their travel costs, the costs of their household goods (appliances, furniture, etc.), costs for a vehicle, security deposits on an apartment, utilities, etc. and everything else you would need if you moved around the world and set up a new home. So, a little math and I realized it costs about $15.80 per mile to send a missionary family of six to Nairobi, Kenya.

We have done a lot of fund raising lately. When I say we, I mean all of us, everyone at Living Hope Church. We have been blessed by the Peder Eide concert, the Great Commission Banquet and the Rummage Sale. The generosity of God's people is amazing.

Through these three events we have helped the Kellys raise almost 25% of their start up budget. Another way of looking at the funds raised - we have helped raise enough funds to get the Kelly family 2080 miles along there journey. That will get them someplace over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Only 6146 miles to go!

Now, if we could just find 6146 people who would be willing to donate $15.80 we'd be all set. The only problem is I don't think I know 6146 people. I do know all of you though and between all of us we know way more than 6146 people. If we assume there are about 200 adults at Living Hope Church and those adults all know 30 other adults and those 30 adults also know 30 adults we are three degrees of separation from knowing 180,000 people. So, if we all took the time to share what God is doing through the Kellys with the people we know and we could get them to share with the people they know 180,000 people would hear what God is doing in Africa. If just 3% of the people who heard would choose to get involved in supporting the Kellys by donating $15.80 the Kellys would have all of there start up budget and they won't have to swim the rest of the way to England.

I believe this is what God intended for all evangelists, missionaries and disciples. Some He calls to go and others he calls to provide. We can't all go and we can't provide 100% of the support that is needed. But we can share what God is doing and how the believers we know can be involved. I believe we will be blessed for sharing, they will be blessed for listening and we will all be blessed by being involved with God."

Posted by Mike at 6:02 PM

Thanks Mike! We appreciate all you have done to help us go! We love you!!

..IT GOES ON and ON:

  

As we are approaching the end of a two VERY busy months of preparation, with at times juggling multiple schedules, each with varied intensities.  We are tired, weary and just a bit fried both mentally, emotionally, physically and somewhat spiritually.  So, much has gone on, with most of the time, feeling like we are running a marathon over and over.

So, far in the last month and half we have had a whirlwind of fundraisers going on and personal family functions.

April:  Benefit concert fundraiser    (profit $3110)

           Personal Family Rummage Sale #1 (profit $1050)

May: Banquet/Auction fundraiser  (profit $12,389)

          McKenna’s graduation from High School

          Graduation party #1

          McKenna’s Senior Recognition night at Youth Group

          Graduation Party #2   

          Rummage Sale #2  (profit $4200)

Interestingly enough, the last five events all took place within one weeks time....

The remainder of this week we finish packing up and cleaning out our house, in preparation for packing a shipping container that will arrive at our house on Monday the 3rd.  We will have several hours to fill it with the items we are shipping to Kenya to help furnish our home and start our new life.   

TIMELINE

June 3rd   pack up our belongings into a shipping container to Kenya.

June 5th   Move out of our home.  Begin our travel schedule.

June 5th-10th   Bethany, Mpls MN.  Meet with our Organization’s leadership, finalize            

                    last minute requirements and details.

June 10th - 11th    North Dakota, visit with some friends

June 12th-18th    Montana,  spending time with Tim’s sister Shannon and family

June 19th - 25th       Colorado, spending time with Tim’s sister, Sue and husband Brad,

saying goodbye to our beloved puppy Patch as he joins Sue and Brad’s

family

June 26th - July 1    New Mexico, spending time with Tim’s sister, Sara and her family

July 2nd - 13th   Back home to Green Bay, WI.    Spend time with family and friends.   

McKenna attends Camp for one week, Tommy spending time with

friends for the week as well.

July 14th - 15th        Canada, stopping and visiting with classmates and friends from

College

July 15th- 18th         Massachusetts, spending time with Chrissy’s brother, Michael and

family, as well as meeting with new friends

July 18th- 27th        Pennsylvania, spending time with Chrissy’s parents;  brothers:Kirby,

Eric, and Joel and their families

July 27th- Aug 5th Return to Green Bay, WI.   Spending time with Tim’s mom; friends

August 6th Moving day!!

THANKFULNESS

We are EXTREMELY thankful and grateful for the sacrifices of many who have helped us in so many ways:  through serving with a servants heart in the various fundraiser events, financial gifts, faithful prayer warriors standing in the gap for us, encouragers who come at the right time to speak life into us, cheer us on as we run this race, God’s promises and word spoken to us daily, dear friends who step in time and time again to offer a helping hand and serve us with joy and love.  To all of you who fit into these categories....We can never say THANK YOU enough!!  We love you and appreciate you so very much!!

Serve Him with GLADNESS!!

A HUGE thank you to all who came, supported, participated, served and worked and enjoyed a GREAT Banquet and auction, Saturday night!  The food was amazing, the spirit of the evening was uplifting, entertaining and a great encouragement to our family!!  It was a lot of fun!  

We are greatly encouraged by the body of Christ, who comes alongside and shows love, serves and gives in such a real and practical way. A comment heard from a guest was: “I’ve never seen a church put on this kind of fundraising banquet and have so much fun serving and working, all at the same time."   

Which got me thinking. Serving the Lord should be fun! A lot of times, myself included, have served with not so joyful of a spirit.  I was reminded of that, throughout this past week, that God delights and wants me to be a cheerful giver and to serve Him with joy and gladness!  Whether it is as a stay at home mom, wife, missionary, construction worker, student, teacher, co-laborer, with finances, servitude to Him, or more importantly in the day to day mundane things of life.  I am to serve the Lord with gladness!!  Its easy to grumble, to complain, to find fault with everything, everyone or to feel sorry about life's circumstances.  Its harder to serve with gladness because it requires us to take our eyes off ourselves and to focus on those we serve and putting others before ourselves.  

I was reminded of this by three little girls who stayed with us this past week. Our house was quite full - with 4 adults and 8 children (of varying ages from 1 - 17). However, throughout the week, what impressed me most, was to watch them live life with joy, even without them seemingly trying to. These girls were full of giggles, screams, laughter, tears, questions, and just a "little" bit of drama at times :). But at any given moment, one or more of them would break out into singing or humming as they played, ran, and interacted with each other....made up songs about Jesus in their hearts, how they loved Him, as well as many renditions of “Baby, Baby, oh Baby” and “So call me Maybe” too.

They, as a family serve the Lord in a place, most people would fear to go and visit, much less live!!  To see them model joy, even in the midst of hardships, pain, difficulty, sacrifice....truly inspires me, motivates me, challenges me and encourages me (us) as our family is about to embark on a major life changing experience.  Will I choose to serve with gladness?  Will I rise each morning with a song in my heart and an eagerness to serve Him in all I do and say?  I pray that will become my hearts desire.