Health Update: We have been pretty healthy of late, and have been sleeping much better in general. We are so thankful for this, it is amazing what a great night sleep will do! I had a check up recently (Mark) and I decided that I should address my breathing issue that I believe started while staying in moldy places in Romania. My doctor has me on some allergy medicine to see if that takes care of it, since it seems to be an ongoing reaction. But since starting that I’ve felt more congested, it seems to be doing the opposite of what it is supposed to. I am going to talk to the doctor about it to see if a different medicine would be better, and I am also seeking prayer and asking for the Lord to heal this. Please pray for clarity (pun intended) and healing.
Last week Raelyn and I were playing on the couch, tickling, and she launched herself into the arm of the couch, which gave her a big gash above her eye. It was very deep so we took her to the ED at the children’s hospital where her doctor is also. She ended up with 3 stitches, she did really great through the whole thing, which took 3.5 hours because at one point a major trauma patient came in which required the attention of all of the doctors. We prayed from our room for the people affected. By now she is healing well and the stitches are supposed to be coming out on their own. We are thankful that nothing worse happened, and are asking for the Lord to minimize the financial impact this visit may have.
Church Position Transition: I am preparing for my transition to be the Director of Outreach and Enfolding. I and the other two people who are coming on staff will be commissioned into our new roles on May 19 during our worship service at 10:00. There are many exciting things happening, and lots of prayer to discern where the Lord is leading. I am forming a team to lead our summer outreach activities, which we usually call prayer walking or listening evangelism. We will go out each week in teams of two and talk with and pray with our neighbors. I am also giving leadership to another different neighborhood outreach ministry. We are following our approach to ministry in which we sense Jesus leading, pray for discernment, ask Him to show us steps we can take, then take steps in faith, and continue to pray as something new is birthed.
Our worship leader/coordinator has also recently stepped down so we are each pitching in to help fill that void, namely in the coordinating part. We are praying for God to show us how he will fill that spot for our congregation.
CYM: As I make this transition I am praying for more help with our children and youth ministries, ideally there would be a volunteer coordinator that would be able to help with the running of these ministries. There will be a lot on my plate through this transition so praying for God to send/call people to help with these two areas!
In our youth group we have had some disrespect and teasing crop up recently so we’ve met as a leadership team and have a plan to address it. Unfortunately many of the kids who we’ve been having problems with are very inconsistent so it’s hard to make any headway. Please pray that Jesus works in their hearts to make them more like him, to give them love for others and respect for the leaders.
Also, we are gearing up to go to camp in North Carolina again with some of our youth group. I will be co-directing again, and we have a couple apprentice directors who will be working with us to spread the load around a little. We have a great team forming and are praying for the God to call the youth that need to come. The topic is the Gifts of the Spirit.
Prayer Ministry: Prayer ministry is still really busy, we’re seeing many people experiencing healing at emotional, physical and spiritual levels. It is really exciting to see the Lord work, and also really busy scheduling for Rebecca.
Family: For many many years we’ve had adoption on our hearts. We were tremendously blessed last year when we were able to adopt Raelyn. We’ve been wondering about God’s timing for next steps and on Easter our pastor played a video of a family who were adopting a boy from Columbia. We both felt moved and sensed that it’s time to start. We had a call today with an adoption agency, we are looking at international and are exploring the options. Would you please pray for God’s leading and blessings, on us and the to be adopted child, and for his provision of the finances that we’ll need to do that.
Vacation: Soon we’ll head up north to the Leelanau area for a week long vacation! We are really excited, and have some planning left to do, even as it is coming up so quickly. Please pray for time to prepare and for a wonderfully restful time.
Music: I’ve been really enamored by the music of the hammered dulcimer, and have recently purchased one so that we can learn to play it. I’ve been praying for a special gift to play this so that it can be a blessing to us and others. Thanks for praying along with us about that!
Thanks again for praying! Please let us know if there are ways we can pray for you!
Mark, Rebecca & Raelyn
PS, enjoy some pictures!
