A Beloved Man of God

Last night and very special and dear friend went home to be with the Lord.  It will be very difficult for my family to say goodbye.  However, we rejoice that we will see him again.  I am firm believer that those who are in our circles here on earth will be in our circles in heaven.  I will once again be able to laugh, smile, and hug Kevin.  Here are some photos to show who he really was:  A wonderful man of God who invested into the lives of my children.  

He took all my children to Belize on various mission trips.  He showed such character and heart of God that can only be demonstrated by a person sold out for Christ. 

So we will mourn him and grieve for our loss.  But we rejoice with the Angels as he is with our Heavenly Father.  

Love you Kevin!!!  

 

Intentional Splatter

This is so much fun. These ladies were creating art to bring the idea with them when they journey to Belize this summer. www.spacetospire.com 

Roomie

I was so blessed to have shared 7 nights with this wonderful, godly woman. 

Altun Ha

This afternoon we went to some Mayan ruins called Altun Ha. On our way back we stopped by The Snake Man. And yes I held a snake. 

Packing Up

Getting ready for Belize. 

About 24 hours

In about 24 hours Stephen will return from Belize.  Very eager and excited to see him again and hug in hard!!!!   The last few days have been tough as we have not gotten too many updates or any photos.  They are on Caye Caulker which is one of the islands off of the main land and they are just starting to get into tourism hence the lack of internet and technology.  (Believe me when I say a place without technology is good for vacation but for a mom of a mission teen, not so much.)   I miss the updates as it was such a blessing to read and see what they were accomplishing.  I thoroughly enjoyed knowing what to be praying for too.  Now, I guess, it is just prayer for safe return and ease of travel.

He's Off

Stephen and I woke up at 3:30 am to get him to the Trenton Train Station to meet with most of the team to get up to Newark airport.  

He was extremely excited.  You could hear and see the excitement on everyone's face.  Even at that hour of the morning.   They have a lot of bags they were transporting.  I hope it all went well.   It was nice to be there.  Had the opportunity to pray with the group before they got on the train.

The updates from facebook let us know that they arrived okay.  Each leg of the trip went well.  At least they did not report anything differently.  I am sure Barb is a little at ease as she was worried.  She has a "no child left behind" rule.  BTW - it also applies to her, she is not a good air traveler.  She even posted that she was feeling sick.  Yuck!  

I know that all will go well.  I am very excited to hear about the updates as well as hear about all that will occur while they are there.  Stephen even took a camera, I do hope he remembers and has the opportunity to capture some moments to share with us upon his return. 

Be praying!!!

I actually had to nap twice today to adjust to the wake up time.  I can only imagine how they are feeling.  The young ones were good today, allowing me the necessary rest my body required.   It should be interesting to see how the days unfold.  I already noticed some changes in Abigail.  She was always the "bossy" one, but I heard her talking to Josh in a manner that Stephen usually does. 

So Proud

I cannot say enough how very proud I am of my eldest.  Stephen is just such a wonderful young man and I am just so pleased with the decisions he has been making.   

There has been a lot of preparation for Belize and he has made each and every one of them.  No other person can claim that.   While there were times of frustration in his voice about always showing up he still rose to the occasion and did it.   This weekend was a lot for him.  He was out Saturday morning, at a meeting on Sunday morning, and then off to Kevin's house for the puppet show.  

My only advice to him during this time of frustration was that he was doing it all for the Lord.  So he can know that he is prepared for whatever the Lord has in store for him while he is in Belize.  I know beyond the shadow of a doubt he will come back changed.  He will have a deeper relationship with his Savior!

I am truly blessed to be his Mom!!  I love you Ste!

Working on the Weekend

Saturday and Sunday were precursors to how our lives will be sans Stephen.  The Belize group was working off some debt at two different houses.   On Saturday, Stephen and only 1 other person showed up at the home to spread out mulch.   Thankfully it went quicker than expected!  

Sunday was the meeting of the group and then off to a house for some debris removal.   That one lasted a lot longer even with most of the group showing up!   There is still more to be done, I think they will have a second work day!!!  

It did make for the weekend to go very fast.  I know Stephen is not too thrilled with that but he needs to get used to the idea of working as that is what all 10 days in Belize will be. 

Something New

All week I have been working on helping the homeschool sports team with the website.  Well mostly I have been updating it so that we can generate business a.k.a. money for the team.  One Mom worked hard at getting the information from the affiliates and then asked for someone to put it out there for people to see.  So I volunteered.  It is not hard work to do but it is time consuming as each affiliate has different procedures and such when placing the links on the website.   I actually enjoy doing it!  It has been a lot of fun trying to figure out what to use and where to place it for the best traffic and such.  This is a way for the team to make money.  What do we need money for you ask?  Well the fee is high and we are trying to minimize the cost.  The rental fees are high too.  You see we don't have a gym that we call our own so we get charged money!   The uniforms cost money.   The plus side is that baseball is run by the same organization so my hope is to be able to cut that cost too!!   While we are very excited about Stephen playing in this league, it has been a challenge due to all the driving (and the cost).  So I too decided to see if there was a way to add it here.    As you can see by the Amazon link off to the side, I was able to do just that.  You just need to click from here and you get on the Amazon site.  It just has the teams special code imbedded to earn the moneys from your purchases.   You do nothing different.   I have also spent some time emailing lots so people are aware of this.  So my apologies if this information is redundant.  But saving money is what I like to do.
Just a warning there will be more as we get closer to Stephen going to Belize as that too costs money.  I would like to say that we love all of you and understand completely if you are unable to help financially. Another way to help is by praying!   We covet those prayers!  This new stage in our life is a change that we were unaware of but walking in faith that the Lord will honor and bless us!

End of the week

Friday was a very mellow slow day. We did not get started around here until 10-10:30. The good news is that we were finished by 2:00p. I like light easy Fridays it is such a great way to end the week.

The only downside was when we tried to go over to the inside ball court here, it was being used so Joshua was very bummed that we could not get on to play. Since Stephen has started his practices, Joshua has been feeling the itch to shoot some hoops. Yet another thing we miss from not having a home and a yard to play around in.

Stephen handed in his Belize application and had the first of many monthly ministry training meetings at youth group. It appears to be a small group going. They discussed some things like are you okay with sharing your testimony and okay with taking charge and talking to kids about Jesus and his love. I am very excited that he gets this opportunity to go and see God's hand at work abroad. We can get so comfortable in our surroundings and not fully understand the scope and magnitude of what others go through in regards to faith, the bible, and salvation. I am so proud that he truly wants to go and humbled all at the same time! (He turns 13 on Monday!!!)