January and February 2012

So the last couple of months have been filled with lots of things! I really dislike getting so behind on the blog, but we were moving and were without internet for a while.

January 2012 started off great! We had lots of quality time with family during the holidays and we loved every second. It is always refreshing to get home and settled in. We were gone for a couple of weeks so I had LOADS of laundry to catch up. I also decided it was time to SHED another layer for Belgium. It is a new year and the kids have outgrown clothes and toys so it was time to donate some things. The grandparents love to spoil our children so we needed to make room for new toys and narrow down to the toys we will actually bring with us. We plan to dedicate one luggage bag to toys when we move. We want them to be comfortable since it will be a big adjustment and they are still very young. We have also been told toys are expensive in Belgium.

January 18th Jackson turned 1 year old! What a blessing he has been to each of us in the past year. God is so good. We are so thankful for his little life. He is now able to walk/run, climb up and down the stairs, he says Momma, Da Da, Bre or Bry Bry, Bye Bye, No No, Cookie, bubble and several more. He is becoming our little mockingbird. He nods his head Yes and No. LOVES to dance and giggle and turn in circles. He really likes Thomas the Train, Yo Gabba Gabba, Mickey Mouse, and Little Einsteins. He enjoys knocking down the houses and castles his sister makes with the blocks. They are definitely developing the "sibling" relationship which is precious MOST of the time. :) Below are some pictures from his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday party.




He has changed so much since we brought him home from the hospital


After his birthday it was not long and he got pretty sick for a couple of weeks. He had a stomach bug followed up with pneumonia. We spent one scary evening in the ER. It was his first ER trip. We are so thankful God carried us through that. It was tough seeing him so miserable and the sleep deprivation begins to get to you after a little while. So glad he is back to normal. He had to take lots of breathing treatments, steroids, and antibiotics.



February 2012 we were so excited to be able to enjoy Romance and Roses that Lifepoint hosts each year. It is a night of Romance and fun with your spouse and friends. The food is always so yummy, music is great, and most importantly they help you remember what a Godly marriage looks like and work to hold us accountable to that. Below is a picture of part of our team that is still in the States! LOVE them dearly. It was such a fun night. Special thank you to my wonderful Aunt(Gigi) for watching the kiddos so we could have a night away.

We had originally planned or thought we would be leaving for Belgium in the spring of 2012. Our church has asked that we wait until Fall to actually depart. At first it sort of knocks the wind out of your sails a bit and then you realize who is in control. God is in complete control and as we have said throughout this whole process we trust his timing and we know his plan is perfect. We will be there on the exact day he has planned for us to arrive. We also trust our church leadership completely. They are wonderful to us. We also still need more funding before we can officially depart to Belgium so this gives us ample time to get all of our ducks in a row. If you are interested in becoming a monthly partner please contact us or the information is located on the right side of the blog at the top.

Since we received news that we would be in the States a little longer than planned we needed to come up with a game plan and try to figure out where we would live for the next 6 months or so. We needed a place where we did not have to sign a lease and preferably some place furnished since we have literally gotten rid of ALL of our furniture. God again opened the perfect door at the perfect time. We found out at the beginning of February that we were able to move into a completely furnished missionary house that was available in Murfreesboro, TN. We were so thankful for this provision. So we spent a couple of weeks getting settled in and got internet installed yesterday. The kids love it here and Tennessee weather has been beautiful so we have been getting out and walking and spending time at a Park that is nearby. Our teammates already in Belgium have said to walk as much as possible to prepare for life in Belgium since we will not have a vehicle there. We will depend solely on public transportation which is wonderful in Europe.





With every passing day we see God's fingerprints all over this whole process(which will be 3 years in May). We understand why we are still here and we know God is using this time to train us and prepare us for the time we will spend overseas. We have grown closer in our walk with HIM and feel a closeness to him that only comes from being totally reliant on him to guide us and provide for us. It is a closeness that I never want lose. While moving overseas may not be what he has called everyone to, I do urge you to really seek God and see what he has for your family. Saying YES to his plan can be a little bit uncomfortable at first, but once you start to see all of the ways he is working the peace you feel far surpasses those uncomfortable moments. I LOVE our savior so much. I would not trade one day of this journey. I am so thankful for a church that pushed us outside of our comfort zone to a place that is so much better.

Psalm 130:5-6
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,

He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Luke 10:27

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
more than watchmen for the morning

Provisions

Every single step of our journey to Belgium continues to blow me away. With every exciting moment or hardship along the way I have learned to lean on and praise God no matter the outcome. Times when I least expect it God shows up with a provision at just the right time. I know God is with me ALL of the time. I am never alone and I know that, but I am also thankful for those moments of weakness when God shows up in a big way!

Support raising can be a bit stressful for me, but also an exciting opportunity to partner with friends and family for a God driven mission. I read on a friends blog recently that "it is againt our nature to ask for support" and that really hit home with me. I was raised in a family where we are to be strong and independent and work hard for everything we have. That being said it is also biblical to partner with other believers to do the Lords work. Being a faithful servant is what we are so passionate about. We want desperately to share the gospel with those who have not been fortunate enough to grow up in an area where there are active growing churches on every corner. In Belgium there are many cathedrals, but they are all being used for tourism and some are even being turned into clubs or Mosques. When I stood in those breathtakingly beautiful cathedrals and saw where the wood was worn at the confessional booths it really broke my heart to know that all of those people turned from God at some point. You can tell that they use to be visited frequently and now they are empty and cold. I was so full of sadness I cannot put it into words. I knew long before that trip we were being called to Belgium, but at that moment I felt a new sense of urgency. We have to be willing to do whatever it takes to do what the Lord is leading us to do no matter what. Even if that means moving to a different country and raising support to work and plant a church in an area that needs to hear the love of Christ desperately. Since we have begun this process of support raising it has grown new friendships. We have felt love and support from others like never before. It truly is a partnership. We could not do this without those that God is choosing for us to partner with. We hope that those of you who partner with us through being part of our prayer team or financially supporting us will visit us once we move to Belgium. We would love for you to get your feet on the ground there and see what is going on first hand. We would also love to fellowship with you. We mean it! It is a team effort and we thank you.



"5 Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you. 6 They have told the church here of your loving friendship. Please continue providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God. 7 For they are traveling for the Lord,[a] and they accept nothing from people who are not believers.[b] 8 So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth." 3 John 1:5-8

Weekend of Celebration!

Cake at the Send Off Worship Service

Tonight at Lifepoint Church we will have a worship service celebrating a family on team Belgium who will be moving very soon. We are so happy to be able to serve alongside this sweet family. They have become like a second family over the past couple of years. They were the first of our Smyrna friends to meet Jackson when we brought him home from the hospital. It is so bittersweet to see them go. We are so thankful to have more of the team there, but we will miss them until we get there. Ultimately we are excited to see God's plan unfold as they continue to be obedient and join team members already there. Once they leave that will leave 3 families remaining in the states and 3 families in Belgium. We are halfway there!! Woo Hoo!!! So much work, training, and planning has gone into this. We are all so ready to be there and function as the team God designed, but we trust his perfect timing. Please pray for the "E" family as they transition to a new culture. Please pray for their four precious daughters as they make friends and learn the language so that next school year they can attend Belgian school which is completely in French. Please pray for safe travels and for them to find an apartment quickly. If you are in the Smyrna area come and love on this sweet family with us. God is faithful and we are so happy to serve HIM!

I have added a few pictures from their special day below!
Bryanna playing with Ruby E and her friend Nathan

Ebensberger family singing Revolution

Praying over the Ebensberger Family

Why Belgium? Updated post

I originally wrote this blog two years ago and so many things have changed as we have prepared to move. I wanted to repost as a reminder as to why God would lead us to Brussels, Belgium to plant a church with 5 other families. This is a place in the beginning we literally knew nothing about other than we were suppose to go. After my trips there God completely broke my heart for the Belgian people. As I rode the metro, trams, and trains I kept looking around at all of the faces and all I could think was that I hope they know how much God loves them and wants them to love him in return. I felt the urgency to return as soon as possible to tell/show them what a real relationship with a very real God looks like. I wondered if they knew how much he could change their lives and community. I wanted them to know of the sacrifices he made for them and if they opened up to him and asked him into their heart they could be saved and spend eternity with him. Below are some of the statistics from a couple of years ago from my original post so these could have changed a bit. If you have questions please feel free to message me.

In the country of Belgium 90 percent of Belgians claim Catholicism, but almost none regularly attend any kind of religious service. In fact, less than 1 percent of the people in Belgium are practicing Christians. LESS THAN 1%. The Muslim faith is the fastest growing faith in Europe. If you have watched the news recently you probably have seen European politicians begging America to not go down the same roads they did. They see us making the same mistakes. In a trip Bryan made to England and Greece in 2005, he noticed very different fashion styles. Over the next 2 years those styles crept in to pop culture in America. What happens in Europe does not stay in Europe. It eventually gets shipped to America. This goes for fashion, politics, and religion. This post-Christian society needs to hear of God’s love so that cultural and religious exports to America are once again biblically based. While in Belgium we spoke to many Belgian nationals and all used the word "lonely" to describe what life was like in Belgium. They know something is missing and they are searching for answers. We need to be there to help them find answers. We cannot save them, but we can build a church, mentor, encourage, and love on them.


Brussels, Belgium is the heart of the European Union. People are constantly coming and going in Brussels. We NEED to reach these people to help turn Europe around. They need to understand what a personal relationship with a real God looks like.This mission cannot be accomplished alone by us and the five other families that are being sent. It will take a whole community to make this possible. If you feel like God is tugging at you to join in this ministry please contact us. Several friends have joined already and we thank you guys so much! We will keep you all regularly updated.



Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Luke 10:2

Things Checked off our list!

Over the past year we have accomplished some pretty big tasks that had to be completed before we could prepare for the move. From January through June we got rid of some larger furniture items in our home and got rid of lots of clutter in order to prepare for our move, and we did lots of planning. Our hands were sort of tied as to how much we could do since we had both of our children in our home and in our custody, but since the adoptions were not final we could not get their new legal documents like birth certificates, passports, and social security cards. These are all essential documents we must have for them before we could begin the VISA process and purchase plane tickets. We were beyond thrilled when our adoption attorney contacted us in June with our finalization date for both children. She contacted us in June but our actual date was July 22nd. In June we were also approached by a family interested in renting our home. After a few meetings that quickly turned into a lease/purchase agreement and we moved out of our home on August 13. God's provisions have continued to amaze us throughout this journey. A dear friend opened his home to us for the next few months until we depart. It is saving us a lot of money and we didn't have to sign a lease agreement!! We are so thankful for the support we have received from friends and family who pray for and want to serve the people of Belgium as much as we do. Since we moved into a friends home that was the perfect time to get rid of EVERYTHING we owned other than essential items we will take with us and beds(we will get rid of when we leave). Selling and giving away everything you own is very freeing, but it can also be a little stressful. It stressed me a little more even though it shouldn't have and I felt guilty for stressing. I am a woman, I am sentimental about some of the things we have collected over the 5 years we have been married. Some of our team members reminded me of a very important scripture about our earthly possessions. I find comfort in this verse and I also realize anywhere that I have God and my little family I will be at home. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." Matthew 6:19-20

It is now October and we are working harder than ever to tie up all loose ends. We have to finish our support raising. It isn't cheap to live in Belgium and we alone cannot serve the people of Belgium. It will take a host of people stateside who believe in the cause who are willing to support us not only financially but we need a large prayer team as well. In the last couple of weeks we recieved our childrens birth certificates, ordered new ss cards and numbers, gotten new pictures taken and ordered updated prayer cards. Next on the list is ordering the kids passports and in November we will begin the long list of VISA documents. I have already begun collecting some of them. I am also going to start working on French with our 2 year old. In Belgium children start school at 2.5 as long as they are potty trained. We can use our discretion, but to help her learn the language she will be attending some of the time. We want to work to prepare her as well.

Well I am off to to work on todays list! I want to sign off with this little message. In May of 2009 following the "YES" series our church preached on this opportunity of moving overseas was put on the table. Months before the "YES" series we knew God was working in our lives in a big way. We felt our time in our home was coming to an end. We weren't content with where we were. We felt the change months in advance. We not only put our "YES" on the table to move to Belgium we put our YES on the table to follow God wherever he may take us. We want to live in his will for our lives no matter where that may take us. Over the past two years that has moved us to sell/give away everything we own, sell our home, adopt two children with no assistance from an agency, Bryan a promotion at work, friends and family supporting us and blessing us in ways we could never imagine. We have connected with Team Belgium and they have become our second family. The Lord has continued to provide and bless us at just the right time. These past two years even with all of the change and transition and even stressful times. I have felt so at peace knowing that God is in control he is leading us. This is his battle not ours and whatever he ordains he will orchestrate. We are so thankful to him and pray that ALL we are doing is glorifying HIM. Don't be afraid to completely follow HIM with your whole heart even in the stressful or hard moments HE is with you.

At the city gates


Some of our team


Our tree in Belgium :) LOL

Adoptions are FINAL!!

We have not blogged a lot in the past year. What a whirlwind it has been! Who knew when God led us down the path to move to Belgium he would also answer our prayers of having a family with not one, but two precious children. Bryanna is now 2 years old(28 months) and Jackson is 9 months old. We were able to finalize both of their adoptions on July 22nd! What an awesome day of celebration and praise that was. A day we will forever celebrate and remember how blessed we are. Who could have known that we would move overseas and take two little cutie pies with us. :) Now that the whole legal process is behind us here are some pictures from this past year.

I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 1 Samuel 1:27


This is the first weekend we kept Bryanna in our home. She was 13 months old!


Mommy meeting and holding Jackson for the first time. He was 6lbs and 1oz(So tiny and precious)


2 Became 4


This is Mother's Day 2011. We were able to dedicate both of children at Lifepoint Church on Mother's Day. What an awesome way to spend my first one.


Brother and Sister


Adoption Day! Judge Corlew was wonderful.


GO TITANS!! SEPT 11


Love our little family!