Christmas Concert!

How far would you travel to go to a concert for music you really love?  In early November I noticed that my favorite Hammered Dulcimer musician Joshua Messick was going to have a Christmas concert.  Having a love for Christmas music and for Joshua's music, I was excited to think about the possibility of going.  Only, at first it didn't seem like we'd be able to, it's about a 12 hour drive, and that wouldn't be so great with our youngsters (especially if it were a very short trip).  Things quickly fell into place though, and so we decided to go for it!  Grandparents took the kids and we left on Wednesday morning.  In the evening we arrived slightly more than halfway at a friend's place in Kentucky.  Tom showed us around the new church he's pastoring, and Gela wowed us with her hospitality and cooking.  We served alongside them in Romana, and it was nice to catch up. 

The next day we finished up our traveling to North Carolina, and our first stop was the Community of the Cross in Black Mountain.  This is the HQ of our beloved PRMI, a ministry we work with a lot at church.  It was a lovely day so we wanted to hike around on their beautiful property before it got dark.

We hiked up to ascension point, the highest part of the property.  The views were better than normal because the leaves were all off the trees.

It's such a beautiful area, we've always loved waterfalls so we had to stop by this one.

It was great to see friends from the ministry and to see the progress on their building projects as well.

That evening we enjoyed dinner out with Joshua and his wife Stefanie, we really connected and enjoyed their company very much!  I've talked with Josh many times and even bought my Hammered Dulcimer from him, but it was so nice to finally meet him in person!

Friday morning, the day of the concert, Joshua invited us over to try out his Dulcimer and to see his studio.  It was a really fun time, I loved the instrument!  It's one that Joshua designed, called a Dulciforte.  The sound was amazing and it was really fun to play, I have dulcimer envy now.

I have a lot of practicing to do before I'm deserving of this instrument though, but boy do I ever hope that I can own one someday!

During the middle of the day we decided to take a hike, so we a trail nearby, because it said it had a great mountaintop view...

What do you think, was it worth it?  We thought so! The sign wasn't kidding when it said "Hard" though!

On the way down we questioned our sanity a little, we aren't in shape to climb mountains, but the reward was too hard to pass up!  The leaves made it really slippery, but with the help of some big sticks we made it!

That evening we went into town and they were having a special Christmas celebration where the businesses were all open with treats.  Everything was decorated wonderfully and it was a really inviting.

Our last event of the trip was the concert, and it was so fun!  Two hours of wonderful music on the Hammered Dulcimer, Stephanie joining in on the Celtic Harp, and a friend, James Kylen on percussion.

The concert was totally worth a 12 hour drive!  We did get the award for having driven the farthest to attend, and Joshua played one of my favorites at my request: Woodsong Wanderlust.  So many great songs and a very fun atmosphere, complete with a lot of personal stories and shout outs.  We traveled back home the following Saturday, our friend Stephanie watched the kids at our house until we arrived.  We are really thankful to Joshua and Stephanie for their hospitality and for making this such a fun time for us!  Also for all those that watched the kiddos that made this possible for us.  Even though it was a lot of traveling in a short time it felt so nice to have this time away, we felt very blessed.

By the way, please check out Joshua's music, I really think you'll like it as much as I do!  

September & October Update

Hi everyone, how is it mid October already?  This year has been flying by!  Our word of late has been transition, with me transitioning roles at church and Michael coming into our family unexpectedly, it’s been crazy!  But the Lord has blessed us and we are starting to feel more like humans again… we are so thankful for all of your prayers and your encouragement as this has been a very challenging time too!

Michael: Just in the last two weeks or less, Michael has been doing so much better at night!  He has been growing like a weed and has started drinking more, which has translated into sleeping more.  We’re now down to one or two times awake to feed him, instead of at the worst every hour.  What a difference that makes!  Even though he still cries like crazy sometimes due to gas, he has been more able to let it out.  He’s started to smile and coo and play and become more interactive, so this is wonderful!  Michael's case is still ongoing and really slow going, and the process is much different than last time since it's happening in a different county.  So please be in prayer for this, and also for the judge to have Michael’s best interest in mind, he has a lot of power over this but the ultimate power lies in the Lord, so we pray that He brings the best outcome for Michael.

Raelyn: We’ve had so many ups and downs since Michael came, which is understandable since she got a baby brother in one day.  We recently realized that she tends to fight bedtimes less if we let her go to bed later (it seemed that no matter when we started the process it would last until roughly the same time), so we’ve made that shift, which has the unfortunate side effect of taking away most of the time that we had after bedtime to connect as a couple.  That’s why we didn’t want to make that shift but it seems necessary for her to go to bed without fits.  Other than that she has been experiencing some separation anxiety for Daddy, she has a hard time letting me go to work, being without me at her naps, and if I’m not there for bedtime on youth group nights. She’s having more fits over not getting her way too, but that is most likely just a normal phase for her as she tries to control her surroundings. We’re praying that she learns to trust God the Father to be with her always and that she can ask Jesus for help when she misses me.  On a fun note, she has been really interested in the story of Jesus and how he died and rose again, we’ve just finished reading through the Jesus Story Book Bible and she can retell the story already, so that is exciting!

Us: We were recently blessed to be able to go on a day away, a wonderful friend watched the kiddos for a day/night and we headed over to Saugatuck, we hiked some dunes, had some great food, and were able to relax for a little bit without the kids, something we haven't done for a long time.  It was such a tremendous blessing!

Prayer Walking:  We’ve continued our neighborhood outreach of prayer walking and it has been so fruitful!  We decided to continue through the end of this month and we are praying about how to continue in the winter months.  We’ve connected with so many people, prayed for the neighborhood, seen Jesus heal people, and ministered to many broken hearts. We are praying that the seeds planted are watered and grow, a few have come to church but we are praying that more people join us in the body of Christ.  Would you please pray for wisdom and discernment for how we can continue when the weather turns cold?

Transition: I am so excited to be more involved in the day to day planning for things at church and for leading our outreach and enfolding ministries.  I am part of a team that is praying into a vision for a new outreach ministry, and we are dreaming how having a ministry like this again would be a wonderful way to share Jesus with our neighbors and to give people a place to use their gifts.  I’ve been busy designing and making connection cards for our church and have been updating policies and getting involved in other teams like the Deacons and the Discipleship team.

It’s been a challenge though because we haven’t found anyone to take over leadership of our children and youth ministries yet, it’s been a prayer for a couple years now!  I haven’t been able to fully step into my new role, and some of those things I mentioned I’ve just been scratching the surface of because I’m feeling tied down to my old role.  My desire is really to equip the people involved in these ministries to lead as I don’t have the capacity to DO everything, but I can empower others to lead.  This is really following our approach to ministry at Gold, as we follow the Spirit, we equip leaders who learn to do the same.  We can accomplish much more for the Kingdom of God if we are growing leaders instead of doing everything as a staff.  So please pray for more leaders and for our current ones to be equipped and able to take on more leadership.

Growing the Church:  At the beginning of November we will be putting on a conference called Growing the Church in the Power of the Holy Spirit.  The title is pretty self explanatory I think, and in the same idea of equipping leaders to lead following the Holy Spirit as He leads.  All of our staff and many others from our church will be playing roles in this at all levels.  The conference teaches an approach and not just a program, and it is this approach that we use at our church to discern and follow where God is leading.  We are excited that many pastors and elders from local churches are coming, and we are hoping for more, as we really believe that this approach opens up the door for churches and individuals to understand how follow the Holy Spirit's leading in ministry.  Would you pray for us as we lead and all of those coming?  If you are interested let me know and I’ll get you more info!

Computer:  I’ve been wanting to replacing my computer which I use for all of my work, since I got it our first year in Romania almost 10 years ago!  I am so amazed that it has kept working so well up to now, but it’s showing its age now.  I am working on raising funds for it, and only have $300 to go before I can go ahead and buy it.  If you are interested please let me know, donations go to the church and are tax deductable!

I could keep going but as usual this is getting long, there is so much going on!  Thanks so much for your prayers, and please continue to pray for God to hold us as we navigate the transitions we are in.  Also, trying to get all this done has been a challenge and coupled with poor sleep it has seemed even harder.  We need wisdom and discernment and to trust the Lord that as we give our all he can take what little that is and multiply it.  We also need prayers for continued growth of our family, fund raising support (which God has been so faithful in), and how to stay connected as a couple and with family and friends as things seem so busy and overwhelming sometimes.  We really appreciate your prayers and support!!!

Blessings, 

Mark, Rebecca, Raelyn & Michael

Enjoy some pictures!

 

 

 

July/August 2019 Update

Hey everyone, it’s always hard to believe that a month and a half has gone by, and I always wish I would have gotten to sending out an update sooner!  So much has been going on it’s hard to keep track of, and with a newborn in the house our brain capacity seems to be cut down quite a bit too.  Thanks for keeping us in your prayers and for your encouragement through this challenging time!  Please let us know if there is any way we can pray for you as well!

Michael & Raelyn: Wow is about all I can say to summarize this season!  Having a newborn come into our home on one day’s notice has been a huge blessing as well as a huge challenge.  We love Michael very much, and Raelyn continues to adore him.  Michael started off eating just fine but seemed to struggle with gas and digestion issues, which have seemed to get worse as time has gone on.  We suspect that he has developed an umbilical hernia as well which aren’t supposed to be painful or a big concern, just that when he’s straining his belly button inflates so big it looks like it will pop!  Also we’ve been starting to suspect that he has silent reflux, he doesn’t spit up nearly as much as Raelyn did but the rest of the symptoms are there.  This has made sleeping difficult, as he’s self regulated how much he eats so he doesn’t feel bad, but then he’s not eating enough to sleep for long periods.  We’ve been perplexed and dazed as our sleep has been so bad, and we’ll get to how Raelyn plays into it in a moment.  We are seeing a doctor tomorrow to talk about these issues, and we pray for wisdom and for healing.  We need prayers for rest, it just seems hopeless now but we are hoping for better soon.

We are praying for Michael's case as well, the case is staying on the other side of the state which is a bummer, and there will be a pretrial soon to determine the direction it goes.  Please pray for wisdom for all those involved and that this would go much faster and be much more straight forward than last time.

So Raelyn, as much as she’s had great love for Michael, has been having difficulties adjusting and they have manifested in difficult ways.  She can sense that she’s not getting our undivided attention, even as much as we like to, in caring for Michael and having him come so suddenly, it’s been hard for her.  During the day she can be a little naughtier than normal and we are sleep deprived so it probably seems worse than it is, but nap time and nights have been the hardest.  She’s not been napping very well, not every day but many times she’s resisted the nap which leads to being more difficult later.  At night she has been using every trick in the book to stall, and she particularly won’t let me leave.  We’ve been trying different things to various degrees of success, and we received prayer at church last week and have felt that it’s been going better this week, but we still need prayer for resolving this completely.  I won’t go into all the details of what we’ve done but if you can think of it or read about it on google chances are we’ve tried it :-)  What we really need is wisdom and discernment to get to the root of it, and for God to bring healing there.

Church Work:  Things have been busy at church too and I’ve been trying to balance all this out amidst the sleepless nights, continuing to transition roles, stepping into new teams and still trying to find people to help in most areas of ministry.  I am enjoying it but am realizing that I need to take it easy too to avoid burning out.  Many of the points from last time still apply, so I’ll include that here as well:

• My transition into my new position at church has been going well, just a lot of things that still need to happen for me to be able to transition fully
• Upward Challenge camp went really well, even though I wasn’t there, I got to hear stories from many of the kids and leaders that experienced God in new and fresh ways during that week.  One person who is a UC veteran said it was the best one yet.  I thank the Lord that my hard work of planning paid off and was helpful to those that had to step up into my place to help direct the camp.
• Prayer walking has been going wonderfully, we’ve had so many wonderful encounters and have been blessing the neighborhood with our prayers and love.  We will soon be discerning whether we will be continuing beyond the summer
• We are still in dire need of more children’s workers at church, can’t seem to get ahead on that one
• We are praying for what do do without a worship leader, things are going well though but the role of worship planning is just one more thing added to myself and the others helping with this
• Prayer Ministry is still full!
• We are pursuing a new ministry partnership with a church we’ve had a long relationship with, so prayers for that process requested.  We are hoping for a meeting with their missions team early this fall.

Health: I’m still struggling with my stuffy sinuses, it’s now been almost 10 years since it started and I’d like it gone (without paying an arm and a leg or being on medicine the rest of my life) ie I need a healing miracle.  I’ve been trying Flonase which seems to help temporarily.  Also Raelyn came down with a cold this week which always makes things harder for sleeping.  Please pray for protection for our health and for healing of these and some other aches and pains that seem to crop up.

Thanks so much again for your prayers and support!  We can’t do this alone and are so thankful to have such a wonderful group that is lifting us up in their prayers.  

With much love,

Mark, Rebecca, Raelyn & Michael

June/July Update - Huge!!!

Hi everyone, thanks for all of your prayers and support!  You must have all been praying a lot because wow, what a crazy past couple of months!  I’ll start off with our international adoption process… we got started on our paperwork, we had 8 classes to take online, and had to jump through lots of hoops.  We were getting close to having all of the paperwork done, we took a whole weekend away to finish our classes, and… This Monday we got the surprise phone-call of a lifetime!  Turns out that Raelyn’s birth mom just had a baby boy on July 4, and since we have his sibling we are the first ones who they asked to take him (also there is no one else in either family who is able).  We turned to the Lord for guidance and for what steps of faith he was calling us to take, and felt that it would be right to take him, so Tuesday evening we went to get him on the other side of the state this time.  He is a little peanut of a guy, we’re calling him Michael, he’s beautiful and healthy and transitioning well to our home.  I’m writing this as he’s napping on me :-) Even though we didn’t feel like we could do this Foster Care journey again we are all of a sudden embarking on it once more, and we know it will be worth it just like it was for Raelyn.  

Speaking of Raelyn, she is just over the moon with excitement, when we asked her if she wanted a baby brother she said "YES, and I want to hold him!”  And indeed she has been loving having a baby brother… she is a great big sister.  However we didn’t get back from the hospital until after 11pm when we picked him up, so that combined with the excitement, plus we moved Raelyn to another room and bed so we could use hers for the new baby, she has been off on her sleeping and has been a little difficult.  This is a huge transition for her so she needs prayers to be able to wind down and go to sleep without a big ordeal, to listen better, and to be a great big sis.  Also, today is her Gotcha day, one year ago today her adoption was finalized!  We are so blessed to have her as our daughter, and are praying that the process goes even faster with her brother, who we would love to adopt also.

Upward Challenge:  This new change has also presented a huge dilemma for me, as I have been working really hard to prepare to direct the Upward Challenge camp in North Carolina.  That is just over a week away.  We have 7 youth and 4 other leaders going, and I have been looking forward to it for a long time.  Now though, with a new little baby and getting everything reset in foster care, it just seems like the best thing to do is to stay home and to let the other capable people who I was going to co-direct the camp with take it over.  It has been a hard decision and I will miss it a lot but I am trusting that the Lord has it in his hands.  The other leaders need special prayers for wisdom and leading as they direct without me, I am sure they will do great.

Other updates: 

• Raelyn’s eye has healed wonderfully from her run in with the couch arm
• My transition into my new position at church has been going well, just a lot of things that still need to happen for me to be able to transition fully
• I’m still struggling with my stuffy sinuses, it’s now been almost 10 years since it started and I’d like it gone (without paying an arm and a leg or being on medicine the rest of my life) ie I need a healing miracle
• We had a wonderful vacation up north last month, the weather was great and the place we stayed was beautiful, right on Cathead bay in Leelanau Peninsula
• My playing the hammered dulcimer has progressed, though has been slowed by the adoption process and now having a new baby means I am already behind on sleep, so it’ll be hard to find time to play.  Also I was going to meet my HD role model Joshua Messick at camp but now will miss that too
• Prayer walking has been going wonderfully, we’ve had so many wonderful encounters and have been blessing the neighborhood with our prayers and love.  We’ve had up to 21 people go out one night!
• We’ve had more youth come into youth group, one returned from being gone over a year, and he recently accepted Jesus!
• We are still in dire need of more children’s workers at church, can’t seem to get ahead on that one
• We are praying for what do do without a worship leader, things are going well though
• Prayer Ministry is still full!

Thanks so much again for your prayers and support, we really covet them right now as we’re in yet another transition time.  We are feeling so blessed and so thankful, we give all praise to God for how he’s orchestrated everything!

Love,

Mark, Rebecca, Raelyn, & Michael