Interview with the Kids

This week we want to feature a video of our kids, their thoughts on missions, and what they are looking forward to while in Mexico.

But first a couple quick updates….

This past weekend we were blessed to help and participate in FMC’s Proclaim Catholic Missions Conference.   There were so many graces!   Elijah and Aron got to serve with Fr. Louis Merosne from Haiti and well as Fr. James and Fr. Paul from the SCJ’s.   There is something really cool to see the boys serve with priest from the order co-founded by Fr. John Ignatius (Aron Little).   Yes, our Aron spells his name with one “A” after him!

Regarding Mexico, this Thursday we leave for three-week missions trip.  Please keep the rest of Intake and us in your prayers.  We will most likely learn our first long-term assignment during that time.   While in Mexico, our Internet capabilities will be limited.   Hopefully we will be able to keep our weekly blog posts, but there maybe more a little more radio silence.

Without any further ado…. the kids.

I don't know how to be a missionary

Intake and training at FMC is beautiful!   Life, community, service, the teachings, workshops, etc. are all so blessed and grace filled and the missionaries, their families, the other people in training are all amazing!   But of course that doesn’t mean that everything is easy.   I once had a spiritual director say something along the lines of, “Without tension there is no stretching and growth.”

God loves me so much that He is providing so many opportunities to grow.   As a perfectionist it is so hard when I find something I don’t know how to do.  There have been times when I realize my own weaknesses and I have to pray, “Lord, I don’t know how to be a missionary.   You need to teach and show me.”   The Matt Maher songs “Your Grace is Enough” and “Lord, I Need You” have taken on whole new meanings.   

When praying for God’s help and guidance, I use to pray in such a way that I was basically asking God to help me do something perfectly, to be flawless.   But if I am perfect, then I don’t need God.   Lord, don’t help be to be perfect, but help me and teach me to lean on You, to rely on You.   You are my strength and my shield.   The readings from mass today include Psalm 24.

Lord, this is the people that long to seek your face.

Who may go up the mountain of the Lord?

Who can stand in his holy place?

The clean of hand and the pure of heart,

            Who are not devoted to idols,

            Who have not sworn falsely.

They will receive blessings from the Lord,

            And justice from their saving God.

Such are the people that love the Lord,

            That seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Lord, help me to seek your face!   Help me to be in your presence.   Help me not to rely on my strength but yours.   Wash away my idol of perfectionism, as I wait on you.

This past Thursday we had an opportunity to meet up again with Dorothy.   She was so excited to see us and model her new threads!   The joy on her face just spreads like fire!

After about six weeks down south, we are learning about Louisiana, Cajun culture and the South in general.

Here are some of the things we have learned…

1.     When some thing cute it is “cher.”   But not pronounced like the singer, but like sha (with an “a” like “apple”).   It is actually a shorten version of mon cheri in French.   But it actually sounds nothing like it.

2.     The people of Louisiana are very proud of their state and frequently use the shape of it to designate state routes.   Is the route number too long to fit on the state?   No problem…  just stretch out the state.

3.     Maybe I was sheltered in the North, but I've never seen this flavored of chips.

 

4.     When praying in the chapel, you never know when the silhouette of cowboy hat will show up.

New Friends and the Lessons They Teach Us

This week has been another blessed week!!  First, I’ll share my favorite moment of the week…the time I burst out laughing at a totally inappropriate point in prayer.  There was a group of about 10 adults praying Morning Prayer sitting at picnic tables outside the Community House.  Aron noticed a lizard on a nearby fence post that was separating us from the horse pasture, so he asked if he could leave prayer to go catch it.  I nodded as he ran off to catch his new best friend.  He approached the lizard carefully.  When his hands were about 3 inches above the lizard ready to make the catch, a cat that was sitting on top of the fence post suddenly pounced, and grabbed the lizard right out from under Aron’s hands.  The look of shock and confusion on Aron’s face was absolutely hysterical as he watched the cat proudly waltz off with the lizard in his mouth.  It didn’t take Aron long to recover, and he went off in pursuit of another lizard, but it was truly the funniest moment of the week.

Now on to one way the Lord worked in my heart this week.  On Thursday through several acts of divine appointments, Josh and two other adult missionaries went to an incredibly poor part of town we have not been to yet.  We were working at the Christian Service Center (an outreach to the poor) when Josh asked a woman, Delta, if she had anything he could pray for.   She said no, but that Bill, the gentlemen that she came with, his wife, Mary, was home recovering from a broken leg that she received about 6 months prior.   They lived about half mile away and were using an electric scooter, so they decided to meet up at their house. Josh and two other missionaries drove over to the house and ended up waiting in their vehicle for about 20 minutes.   Just as they were about to leave, Bill and Delta showed up in their scooter.   As they were getting out, Bill said that their neighbor, Alfreda, was recently having heart trouble and could also use prayers.  So they decided to go to her house first.   And while they were there, in came Dorothy.

Dorothy had just been kicked out of her friend’s house and she had absolutely nothing except the clothes on her back.  That afternoon, one of our fellow missionaries was able to run to Walmart and buy some clothing, and a few other women at FMC pulled out some of their clothing to give to her as well.  Within a couple of hours they had two bags full of clothes for Dorothy, and because Josh and I had plans to go in to town anyway with the kids, we were given the clothes to drop off to her.

I don’t know what I expected, but when we gave Dorothy the clothing (she did not know we were coming) she was absolutely overjoyed.  She kept hugging us, literally danced around out of excitement, and thanked us over and over again.  I have never had anyone receive anything I had handed them with that much joy.  The light in her eyes truly showed that she was not seeing us, but the Lord providing for her and reaching out to her through the little bit we had to give her. It was absolutely amazing to be able to deliver what the community was able to pull together for her. 

Once we got back in the car and drove off the joy of the encounter quickly melted into guilt. Guilt that while this Dorothy was rejoicing over a bag of shirts, pants, and socks we were headed out for an evening as a family that include a simple but delicious dinner out.  Guilt that she thanked me for bags that I did not contribute to from my surplus of clothes.  Guilt that I didn’t think of bringing a meal, or even ask to make sure they had the food they needed.  I saw that while I had the amazing job of delivering what Dorothy needed, I felt that I was the last person who should have had that honor. 

Thankfully, I have a wonderful small group that I got to talk this one out with.  I was reminded that while conviction is from God, guilt is not.  For some reason, the Lord asked Josh and I to be the ones to deliver the clothing and Christ’s love to this woman.  It became so apparent to me that everything we do now is possible because of other people’s generosity and sacrifice.  We could not even be here in Louisiana doing any of this service and training without the friendship, prayers and financial support of you all.  Everything we do from here on out can only be done with the support of the Body of Christ behind us.  For some reason we have been given the best “job” in the world, to carry Christ’s love to those who so desperately need His message of hope.  We get to see the brilliant light of joy in the eyes of those who had previously felt alone and abandoned, and now see that Christ is reaching out to them through our hands.  Thank you!!!  Thank you for supporting us, praying for us, and sustaining us on this mission!  Thank you for walking with us on this journey.  Thank you for giving us the chance to meet the Lord face to face in the poor.  Thank you.  I am not the best person for the job, and I am sure to make an awful lot of mistakes along the way, but I trust God’s grace will make up for all the ways I fall short.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you!!! 

The ever cliche mustard seed and a plea for Haiti

Our journey towards missions has not always been smooth sailing.   There have been various potential obstacles and stumbling blocks.   When they first surface, I often find myself with a lot of mixed emotions and thoughts. “Man people already think we are crazy, and this is well… KRAZY with a capital k.”   “We have already sold almost everything and have told our jobs that we were leaving.”  “What if this prevents us from doing missions?!”  

At one point Maria share this last question with her spiritual director.   She then shared a very grace-filled insight.  She pointed out that if anything this last question further confirms that this is where God is calling us.   The desires of our hearts now included missions, otherwise we would be reacting differently and feeling a sense of relief that missions might not be working out.

And so we are left with trusting in God and praying the words of the Apostles in last Sunday’s Gospel, “Lord, increase our faith.”   Jesus responded by talking about faith the size of a mustard seed.   We were blessed to hear Archbishop Rivas preach last week.   When it comes to faith, it is not about the quantity, but the quality.  If we have much faith quantifiably, we can fall into the snares of self-righteousness.  When our faith is small but of great quality, we are forced to rely on God and to remain humble.   In our weakness, we are left crying out, “Yes, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief,” (Mark 9:24).   It is through Thomas’ doubts that he comes to declare, “My Lord and my God,” (John 20:24-29).   We when have faith the size of a mustard seed we realize that God has the strength to throw mountains into the seas.   He is the one that softens that hardness of my heart.   When I am willing to let go of my idol of ego, there is nothing that God can’t do!

Aware that there is nothing that our God can’t do, that there are no mountains too big, there is great need in Haiti.   FMC currently has two families and two single men in Haiti.   In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, the people of Haiti have experienced yet another devastation.   As one our missionaries, David Quinn, put it:

We went out to a couple outer villages today. The damage is unbelievable. The people are shaken. The government did NOTHING to prepare and is doing nothing to help…. Please continue to pray and consider donating to help the people here. It will take months to rebuild.

The people of Haiti need our help.   We are called to be Christ’s hands and feet.   According to World Bank (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=HT) the GDP per capita is a hair over US $828.  The average Haitian lives on a little over $2 a day.   Can you support a child, a grandmother, an adult for a week and give at least $15?   FMC is collecting for an emergency relief fund to send to Haiti.   Please click here for more information.   We pray that our gifts, no matter how large or small be multiplied with a faith the size of a mustard seed, because there are some large mountains for our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

A stowaway!

This week has been another busy but amazing week!  We had Archbishop Rivas of St. Lucia here visiting this weekend.  During Praise and Worship Friday evening with the families (and of course a lot of little ones playing in the middle of the room) he coined my favorite quote of training so far “It has been a very long time since I have found myself contemplating the Divine amid such chaos.”  It was a perfect description of family and missions…  it is absolute chaos, but it is a sweet sweet chaos where the Lord keeps showing up, speaking, healing, and working among us.  It is blessed, wonderful, and exhausting.  I wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

We are continued with our “regular” schedule, the study of Acts of the Apostles, St. John Paul II’s, “Mission of the Redeemer,” a scripture study, praise and worship, morning prayer, and so much more.  This week we also added our Thursday morning service time.  When our service teams were announced, Josh encouraged the kids to come up with our team name.  Somehow Josh our kids came up with name “Team Fun Ninja Unicorns for Jesus.”  The T-shirt design is still pending the approval of the FMC directors. 

This week’s service assignment definitely stretched me outside of my comfort zone, we were asked to do door to door ministry.  One of the seasoned missionaries and his family led our group, and he showed us how he goes to the door, introduces himself and his family.  He then just asks if there is anything we can be doing for them, if they have any prayer intentions they want us to pray for, and invites them to our Wednesday night Mission Formation meetings.   We then pray with them if they have intentions and are willing.  It sounds so nice when I write it out, but it was really difficult to do!!  But after spending a morning doing that I can honestly say it is something I would like to do again.  There were not many people we got a chance to speak with, but there is one in particular who stands out.  Her name was Amy, and her mom, Joyce, had just been moved to her home in hospice care for stage 4 cancer.  The weariness on her face was so apparent, my heart just broke for her and the grief she was experiencing.  Being able to pray with her and see the peace on her face after made the whole morning more than worth it.  She has been on my heart ever since, could you please join me this week praying for her and her mother?

One of our assignments this week during our teaching workshop was to prepare and present our witness story in 10 minutes or less.  It was so amazing to listen to the different stories of the others in Intake with us, and see what the Lord has led each of them through to bring them to where they are today.  Although all of the stories were different, each one had the fingerprints of a God who pursues our hearts tirelessly.  It is absolutely incredible to hear first hand accounts of just how deep the Love and the Mercy of the Lord is. 

Last (but definitely not least) we wanted to share some very exciting family news with you!  It ends up we have a little stowaway making this crazy journey with us!  Little baby “Stowey” (short for stowaway as an in utero nickname) is due March 30^th, 2017.  The kids are incredibly excited and we feel so honored that Lord has given us another little one to love who will be a missionary from the start.  To answer an obvious first question…. we still don’t know logistically if we will be giving birth in the US or in another country, we have obviously began praying and discerning where our first mission post will be with “Stowey” in the forefront of our minds.  Thankfully FMC is very accustomed to families growing, and are truly here to help guide us through this process.  We know this baby is a beautiful part of the Lord’s will for our family, and we cannot wait to see the glory He has planned!! 

We are carrying you all in prayer this week!  Please let us know if you have specific prayer intentions, we would love to be able to lift those up for you.