Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

I hope you all had a very wonderful time celebrating the birth of our savior. I know we did! So thankful for the birth of Jesus. We were fortunate enough to be able to spend a couple of weeks in West,TN. Bryan had to come back and work for a few days, but we(the kids and I) stayed in McKenzie. We are trying to get in as much time as we can with our family and friends. They are such a wonderful support system and were all very thoughtful to be sure gifts they purchased for our family were things we needed and could travel with to Belgium. We got lots of stuff like luggage, gift cards, carry on luggage for both kids, children's travel DVD players, and warm clothes. The best part of being in West, TN was not the gifts it was quality time with those who are dear to us. I know how fortunate and blessed we are and we are so thankful. Throughout this whole season those who had recently lost loved ones have been in our hearts and on our minds. There are so many lonely or starving people and it breaks my heart all year round, but particularly during the holidays. I pray that those who feel hopeless and alone know that their is hope and they are not alone. We have a savior who came to us in the form of a tiny baby and who died on the cross for our sins and he is waiting for us to let him in and he loves us more than anyone living on this earth possibly could. Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday and this year we had a great time celebrating with our two little ones and beginning to teach them that this season is not about Santa Clause it is about the birth of Jesus and celebrating HIM.



One of the highlights of all of our celebration was Christmas at Lifepoint. This year was terrific. Loved the music, painting, stories of waiting. Our family was featured as a story of waiting on God's timing. Click on the link to watch our adoption story.

The Wolski Story from Justin Crutchfield on Vimeo.

Bryan and I also celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary on December 30th. Bryan has been a blessing to me in so many ways. I am so glad God chose him to be my life partner. He is a wonder Daddy and spiritual leader for our family. I love the values he is teaching our children. Even on a day he is completely exhausted he will take time to get in the floor and play with our kids. He is so sweet to me and makes me laugh a lot. We celebrated with a steak dinner ALONE. :)

5 Years!!

He suprised me with beautiful flowers! Love him!!

We are on the fast track to Belgium now. Our list has been narrowed down to where the only thing that is holding us here is our funding. We are still needing monthly financial partners who are willing to join us in planting a church in Brussels, Belgium. Once we reach a certain level of our funding we can apply for our VISA!! I am finding there are so many things to do to prepare it is hard to stay focused on one thing for very long so I am going to have to really work on my time management throughout the rest of this process. We are planning to get our fingerprints and background checks done within the next couple of weeks. We are beginning to look at apartments online and we are still undecided as to whether we will get a furnished or unfurnished apartment. There are pros and cons to both and we know God will plant us in the right apartment and the right location.



We are also going to shed another layer or "stuff" this month. I have already gotten 1 full bag of just toys ready for Goodwill. When we moved from our condo we got rid of most of our big items and a ton of the smaller things, but as we have watched teammates move we are realizing we still have way more that we need to actually move with. I want to be sure we have clothing that is in good shape, warm clothes, some toys for the kids, and our sentimental items. Most other things can be purchased at a later time.


There are so many things to do to prepare, but we must not forget or neglect our day to day responsibilities. We need to be having a our quiet time with God everyday and drawing ourselves closer to him, we need to take care of our physical health, have family time, and care for those around us who are in need. Prayers are appreciated for us along with the two other families who are in the US with us that are moving to Belgium soon. We are all in the same boat. I am so thankful God is sending us as a team. Our teammates are awesome! I know I have said this in previous post, but it is a new year. I feel refreshed and ready to see what God has in store.

Happy New Year friends!!

Wolski kids have passports!!

We can officially leave the country as a family of 4! That excites me beyond belief. So thankful we have all of the documents now to begin our VISA application. It will be a little while before we can actually apply. We must reach a certain point in our funding before we can actually apply. We know God is in control of this so we aren't stressing. Just thankful to be to the place in the process we are at at this exact moment. Please continue to pray for the financial provisions we need in order to move and serve the people of Belgium. Hope you all have a blessed weekend!

Thanksgiving!

I originally wrote this post on Monday, but we had a pretty eventful week so I am just now posting. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

We are so thankful to be able to spend the holidays with family this year. I(Cassi) was able to take both kids down to West, TN a few days early so we were able to spend a full week with family. We split our time between my mom's house and Bryan's mom's. They are always great host and make us feel so comfortable. We are spending as much extra time as we can since we may not be there next year during the holidays.

We had three delicious dinners and Bryan was able to golf a couple of the days we were there(his Uncle owns the golf course). I went black Friday shopping and got the deals I wanted to get to save some extra money this year. We had lots of relax time. It was just what we needed.

As we ate each meal I couldn't help but think of all of the families here in the US and all over the world who probably were hoping for anything to eat or a family to share it with. I can honestly say that I have not had one Thanksgiving where I didn't have multiple meals with family and an abundance of food at each one. I am so very thankful for every blessing I have. God has truly blessed me. I want to reach others for his glory. I want to make a difference with what God has given me. I do not come from a wealthy family, but when you look at the big picture there are ways for all of us to dig in and help. We all have been blessed with individual talents and personalities and I am guilty of not using mine like I should. The scripture below has been on my mind a lot lately and as we all prepare for the Christmas season let us remember the true reason for the season, the birth of our Savior. Let's remember to love others like Jesus does. We should not overlook the opportunity to give of ourselves and help others It may not be easy or convenient and the timing may be horrible, but God doesn't promise us that following him will be a bed of roses. Loving others where they are at and encouraging them in a time of need is what it is all about. I know the Holidays are so very busy, but I challenge each of you to take time out and look at your surroundings and see if there is one life you can make a difference in this Christmas.

27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

Passports

We have officially ordered the kids passports! What a praise! As an adoptive parent I cannot express the excitement I feel inside to be able to go and get passports for my children. I know it probably sounds silly, but when you are fostering for a long time and there are restrictions on your travel it is a really nice feeling to be free and know that these are YOUR children. God has really blessed us in a HUGE way.

Now that we have their passports ordered we can start collecting documents for our VISA. I cannot believe we are finally to this phase. Two years into the process it is nice to know we are getting so much closer. It is hard to describe how you feel when you are in preparation/transition for so long. We aren't in our own home right now so it is a little different with the Holidays and how we would normally celebrate putting up the tree and opening up gifts. Also since we are working diligently to get moved we will have to cut back how we spend at Christmas time this year. Right now every holiday and family dinner is extra special because it may be the last one you attend for a while. Currently our entire family is sharing a Master bedroom and bathroom. It is very cramped! All that being said. This is another way God has provided for our family. We are happy and thankful to be here. It is helping us in a big way to get to where we are being led. I will not sugar coat it. I will be thankful to get settled into an apartment in Belgium that we can make our own again. With everything being so unsettled for the past two years I am so ready to get moved and dig in to the ministry there full force.

I have posted the kids passport pictures below. I must say I think they are pretty cute. :)

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

Is the Bible the Complete Word of God; Part II

This is a dangerous subject. Until my words are written clearly and the message is clearly conveyed, I am going to hold off on answering this question. I did attempt to answer it but I fear it was certainly inadequate for such a huge question. Give me time. If I feel I can do a better job than what was posted I will reengage the question.

Halloween

So we really debated on celebrating this holiday and we are still unsure if we will in the future. The kids had a blast and we had fun and fellowship with friends so I am glad we chose to this year. This was Bryanna and Jacksons first year to trick or treat. Bryanna was a princess and Jackson a football player. This holiday season is extra special because it will likely be our last in the States for the next few years. I am so thankful for our family and friends. God has truly blessed us with a support system out of this world! I hope you all had a safe and happy Halloween.

Trick or Treat

Jackson our little football player

The kids playing before hand

Bryanna our little princess

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

Is the Bible the Complete Word of God

Now this is an interesting question. It can be answered from many angles. It also depends on "what your definition of 'is' is." I definitely can't type it out with my thumbs on this phone. I have been asking myself and others. I have been researching it. I can gave a dialogue about it. For now I just wanted to pose the question.

Peace