Ludington Fun

Last weekend we headed up to Ludington for a mini vacation with some friends.  Our friend Jonah's work gave him two nights free at a hotel there, and one of his coworkers gave him their room so we had two free rooms for two nights.  

Rebecca was popular with all the kiddos, Lexi, Sam, and Precious.

We spent some time each night swimming in the pool and hanging out in the hot tub.  It was the biggest hot tub we had ever seen.  These are our friends Scott & Kayleen with their kids Lexi & Sam.

This is Jessica with Precious...

And this is Jonah with Precious.

On Saturday the guys went fishing at Ludington State Park.  It was a gorgeous day!  We didn't have much luck fishing though.  Scott just about hooked a two foot long dog fish but his hook was too small.  Just before heading back we decided to try one spot out again, and Mark had a bite.  The bobber went down and then the battle began, with a roughly 12" large mouth bass.  Unfortunately the bass swam right into a downed tree and the line got stuck, so he got off.  Man, the disapointment, but there will be another day to catch him.

Sam loved going fishing, and he kept saying "I'm going fishing" over and over.

On the walk back to the car we let Sam carry the worms.  To every person we passed he proudly exclaimed "I'm carrying worms!"  It was so cute and funny, boy was he having fun being a good helper.

Saturday evening we went out to eat at a local brewery and then ordered dessert to go for later.  Who could resist the chocolate mousse cake and snickers cheesecake?  Mmmm.

It was great spending time relaxing and hanging out with our friends.  It was a refreshing weekend and it was nice to get away for a couple days.  Too bad we can't do something like this more often!

Could They Be The Ones?

There are two big goals left in our journey towards becoming missionaries to orphans in Romania; raising the rest of our funding and selling our house.  We put our house up for sale at the end of September.  Since then there has been some interest but not as much as we had hoped for.  We have been learning patience and reliance on God as only He knows the right timing for our house to sell.

Two weeks ago we had an open house and the only person to come was another realtor who was having an open house near by.  He stopped in because he has a customer who will soon be looking for a house in this area.  We recently found out a little more about these potential buyers, and we were greatly encouraged and excited.  First of all, they are relocating to the area for a job they already have.  Since many people around are losing their jobs it is pretty amazing that they are coming here for a new job.  Secondly, they are looking for a country setting and a house with a large lot, both of which our house has.  Our house is in their price range too, and it sounds like they're approved on a loan already.

Could these people be the ones God will use to buy our house and get us one step closer to starting our ministry in Romania?  We certainly hope so and are praying that God works in their hearts and leads them to buy our house.  They are supposed to be coming to look at houses around the first week of May, so we would like to mobilize many prayer partners to bathe this issue in prayer.  Would you please join us in praying?

Perspectives Class Fires Us Up

We have been taking a missions class since the beginning of the year called "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement."  It has been a great class and we have been learning a lot that will help us better serve God in Romania.  This week had the opportunity to share with the class about our upcoming ministry to the orphans in Romania.  We talked about the orphans there and the great needs that they have for love and to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  We shared how we will be working with them, how God has called us to this ministry, and where we are in our support raising journey.

To wrap up we shared prayer requests and then led an open prayer.  The response from the class was awesome, many people offered up heart felt prayers and we really felt God's presence in the room.  It was an incredible affirmation and encouragement to us to know that so many people are behind us and that God's Holy Spirit was at work in so many people's lives.  

Even our guest instructor, the founder of Mission India, prayed for us and the orphans.  He has a heart especially for the minority Gypsies in Romania, because India is where all of the Gypsies are from and he has worked with them there quite a bit.  The lesson he presented was very challenging and stretching, and it was very applicable to the ministry we'll be doing in Romania.

We left class very energetic and excited about the work that God has yet to do in our lives. We're excited to see how he provides for getting us from here to Romania and about the ministry He'll have us doing there.  We're praying that he'll use us to transform not only the orphans but all the Romanians that we interact with.  

Peeps Roasting Over An Open Fire

Last weekend we had some really nice weather.  We had our friend Mandy over for dinner and we decided it would be a perfect night for a bonfire.  We had a brush pile in our backyard that we had been wanting to get rid of anyway, and so we lit it up after dinner.  

This is the brushpile as it was being lit.  It was created when we cleared out the woods behind our house, and we had been throwing weeds and dead plants on it for around a year.  Needless to say it was really dry and it really took off.

The conditions were perfect for a rip roaring fire.  The wind was blowing directly away from the woods so we didn't have to worry about burning anything down.  The wind really whipped the flames up until it was so hot that we could stand no closer than 10 feet.

This is our friend Mandy, from Madison Wisconsin.  She brought lots of peeps and we figured since they are marshmallows that we should be able to roast them.  What a great idea!

This was about as close as Rebecca could get to the fire in order to roast her peeps.  Good thing we have long roasting forks.

Here's some peeps roasting away.  We were afraid that the sugar would burn, but it actually caramelized, creating a hard shell around the molten marshmallow.  We liked them so much and we decided that this was the creme brule of marshmallows.

Of course no fire would be complete without smores, so we tried peeps smores.  Yum!  It doesn't get any better than this!

Springtime

Spring is finally here!  It is so nice to see the sun for days instead of hours at a time.  It is great to be able to go outside and not have to bundle up.  After our record snowfall winter we've been more than ready for spring to come, and we're so exited to see the signs all around.  Flowers are starting to poke through the ground and trees are starting to bud out.  There's even a hint of green in the grass.

This week is also spring break for most of the schools around.  Last night we had a beach bash at church for kids who didn't go away for break.  There were games, contests, music, and flashing lights all around.  There was pizza, pop, candy, slushies, and popcorn to keep the kids full and hopped up on sugar. Kids could also get temporary tattoos and have their hair colored and styled. The most exciting thing for the kids was the raffle for the free iPod and Nintendo DS.  Everyone there had a blast and it was fun watching the kids enjoy themselves so much.  

The coolest thing about the event was that all of the proceeds will be donated to our mission to support us in Romania.  A LifeGroup from church came up with the idea and did all the planning and work, and they decided to support us!  A big thanks to all those who helped with this, what a great idea!

Spring is a time of new beginnings, and that is true of Mark's job situation now too.  Extol has been so slow and hurting for orders that the temporary layoff has now turned into permanent layoff.  Now we can only wait to see what God has in store for us next.  Somehow this must be part of His perfect plan, just like how He tells the flowers when to bloom, He will send us to Romania at just the right time.  We just continue to pray and try to be patient.

Fun Day At The Zoo

This was my third week being laid off and the weather was finally a little warmer so we decided it would be fun to go to the zoo.  We invited our friends Scott and Kayleen since Scott is also laid off, and our friend Jess.  So we headed out to the John Ball Zoo and had a great time.

Scott & Kayleen's son Sam liked the fish, someday he'll probably be catching them like his dad.  Sam had a ball seeing all the different animals.

This is Lexi, Scott & Kayleen's daughter.  She liked the monkeys and the penguins.

Precious enjoyed watching the wolverine and just about anything that moved.  She is Jess & Jonah's daughter.  Jonah was working so he couldn't make it to the zoo.

Pelicans.

We saw lions...

And tigers...

And bears, oh my!

An iguana just hanging out.

 This small alligator didn't even blink for the picture.

Colorful chameleon.

After the zoo we went to Scott & Kayleen's house and hung out the rest of the day.  We had black bean chili with rice and tortillas and Filipino beef for dinner.  Then we had a chocolate cake roll for dessert.  Even though it isn't good being laid off it was nice to be able to get out of the house and hang out with our friends.  Next we would like to go to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, we just need some free tickets :-)

The Great Up North

Each year around this time some of Rebecca's family goes to their cabin in the upper peninsula for a snowmobiling trip.  This year since I (Mark) wasn't working I got the chance to go too, and I really had a blast.  Rebecca's dad, uncle, cousin, and I left on Thursday morning.  We had lunch in Mackinaw city and then headed over the bridge.

The Mackinaw bridge as seen from St. Ignace in the UP.

The road that the cabin is on doesn't get plowed so we had to park the truck and ride the snowmobiles the rest of the way.  This is the one I drove the most, it's a classic, 1979 or so.  Even though it's so old it still hauls and I really enjoyed driving it.

This is the family cabin that we stayed in.  Throughout the weekend we shoveled all the snow off the roof.  

The cabin is one room with a loft and a few sets of bunk beds.  The cabin came with "Fred the Dead Deer Head", mounted above the fireplace.

This is the view from the cabin.  There is a creek down there which you can hardly see because the snow is so deep.  There was about 6 inches of fresh powder which made the scenery very beautiful.  We snowshoed and cross country skied through the forrest and it was great to be in such a wonderful setting.

We rode our snowmobiles to Tahquamenon Falls, which was really flowing due to recent rain and some thawing.  The ice all around was spectacular and it was a beautiful day out.  Notice the rainbow created from the sunshine reflecting in the mist from the falls.

This is me standing by a massive icicle.  We walked up to the falls as far as we could but we couldn't go behind them because there was too much ice.

There were lots of really cool ice formations all over around the falls.  On our way back to the cabin from the falls we rode our snowmobiles on the river, which was a little scary, but Dad said that there was probably 3 feet of ice on there so it was OK.  It still was a little nerve wracking especially because some of the snow on top was melting and forming puddles.

We saw some cattails in a beaver pond that we skied to.

On our way home on Monday we went through Hulbert, the nearest town to the cabin.  There were lots of deer there feeding, right in town.

This was a great vacation, lots of time to relax and also lots of fun activities.  The best part of it all was being in the wilderness and being able to appreciate God's great creation.

Cookbooks For Sale!

We are excited to announce that we are selling cookbooks as a fundraiser for our mission to the orphans in Romania.  Several of our friends from our original LifeGroup at church came up with the idea and are doing all the work and donating all the profit to us!  The recipes are being collected from members of our church and we will have a few of our favorites in there as well.

We are selling these cookbooks for only $12, what a great deal!  This will be a great addition to your cookbook collection, after all, can you really have too many cookbooks?  They also make great gifts, and they will be ready before Mothers Day!  The best part is that the profit goes to support our ministry and will help get us to Romania sooner.

To order please send your check (made out to Fair Haven Ministries) to our friend Angie Hordyk: 620 Broadview St, Grand Rapids, MI 49507.  Please include how many cookbooks you want, your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address.  Please have your orders in by March 22, which is less than two weeks away.  If you send your order out and don't think it will make it in time please e-mail us so we can make sure it gets put in.  The cookbooks will be ready just before Mothers Day, either for pickup at our church or we can send them to you or arrange for pickup.

Thanks in advance for your order, we are looking forward to seeing how God will use this fundraiser to support us as missionaries to the orphans in Romania.