First of all, my apologies for being so quiet in the recent months.
In past blogs, I talked about big changes that have been happening, including getting married!
Those changes are most of the reasons for being so silent. It's been a crazy transition time, but things are finally getting settled and the updates will resume!
Change no. 1 - I got married.
Yes, yes, I keep saying that! But other than that being a very exciting thing and me loving to say it, it's a key element to all the ensuing changes.
Change no. 2 - I switched jobs.
Everyone who knows me, knows that God has created me with the innate need to give everything in me to what I'm doing. After many tears, prayers, more tears, questions, conversations, and many more prayers, Miguel and I reached the conclusion that the wisest decision for our marriage was for me to leave my position with Destiny Rescue. I have poured my heart and soul into the project here and it didn't take much to realize that, if I continued for much longer while trying to give as much attention and focus to my marriage and husband as needed, something would have to give. For a while I felt like a mother bird might feel while watching her children fly on their own. I was concerned that my "baby" (the project and all the people in it) would fall and not make it, but it's been a true delight to rejoice in seeing her fly. The month of April was transition month and one of my prayers was to leave the safe home with a fully equipped staff. Through a lot of small and some large changes, I was able to walk away knowing that the team there is growing stronger and the girls are doing amazingly well in their journeys of healing thanks to those wonderful people.
While we were contemplating this decision, I received several offers for other positions, both in the DR and in the USA. One of those offers was an administrative position with Fellowship of Christian Athletes here in the Dominican Republic (see the DR specific website here). Human trafficking to sports related ministry is a huge leap, but the administration is what I love doing. Above anything, though, the factor that made it an easy decision to accept the position is that fact that this is the ministry Miguel works with and early on in our relationship, our deepest desire was to be able to do ministry together. May has been full of adapting to a new organization, role, and expectations.
Change no 3 - We moved.
No, not out of the Dominican Republic. We moved from a one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom house with a yard, to the town of Higuey, 45 minutes away, which is where most of Miguel's work is (he travels to different baseball fields, discipling coaches and athletes in the Word of God). Once a week, he works in the area I lived before getting married, so it works out for me to hop along and spend time and stay in touch/involved with the staff and girls at the Destiny Rescue home. The move has been an exciting one, especially since it means being able to attend the church of the pastor who married us and having a strong community to plug into. Miguel still studies in the university on the weekends close to where he has lived most of his life (1 1/2 hours away). Most of the other FCA staff also work closer to his original hometown, so when we had teams this month, it meant a lot of traveling for us. Between the moving and traveling for teams and university, plus an impromptu specialist visit for a severe infection I was hit with this week, we've been gone more than we've been home this month. We're looking forward to being able to finally settle into a routine soon (hopefully).
Change no. 4 - Blog overhaul (sorta)
Pretty soon, you'll see new changes to the blog, including revamped newsletter option, as well as an option for supporting financially. The look and content may slightly change (although the layout will still be the same) to tweak it to more of an "us" blog instead of a "me" blog. Stay tuned!
Prayer requests -
1. That our internet would get installed quickly. Like I said, we've been on the road a LOT and this means that it's been hard to schedule stuff, like internet installation, that didn't get done the week of moving. Internet is vital for my job and for us to be able to stay connected with everyone. It's one of the main reasons why I've been sluggish in getting the new updates done.
2. For our marriage. That sounds weird - no, we're not having marriage problems ;) But with all the change and new adjustments added to new married life in general, we beg for your prayers in keeping our hearts open to continue allowing God to take control in every area of our lives (even if that means forever living without routine!). We desire to have a marriage that honors God and inspires others - nothing mediocre for us. And we realize that this can only be done through lots of prayers and intentional choices.
3. Finances. As a missionary, I still don't receive a paycheck, and with the change of job, I'll need to double fundraising efforts. Please pray for wisdom as we pursue open doors for this.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
~Matt. 28:19
In past blogs, I talked about big changes that have been happening, including getting married!
Those changes are most of the reasons for being so silent. It's been a crazy transition time, but things are finally getting settled and the updates will resume!
Change no. 1 - I got married.
Yes, yes, I keep saying that! But other than that being a very exciting thing and me loving to say it, it's a key element to all the ensuing changes.
Change no. 2 - I switched jobs.
Everyone who knows me, knows that God has created me with the innate need to give everything in me to what I'm doing. After many tears, prayers, more tears, questions, conversations, and many more prayers, Miguel and I reached the conclusion that the wisest decision for our marriage was for me to leave my position with Destiny Rescue. I have poured my heart and soul into the project here and it didn't take much to realize that, if I continued for much longer while trying to give as much attention and focus to my marriage and husband as needed, something would have to give. For a while I felt like a mother bird might feel while watching her children fly on their own. I was concerned that my "baby" (the project and all the people in it) would fall and not make it, but it's been a true delight to rejoice in seeing her fly. The month of April was transition month and one of my prayers was to leave the safe home with a fully equipped staff. Through a lot of small and some large changes, I was able to walk away knowing that the team there is growing stronger and the girls are doing amazingly well in their journeys of healing thanks to those wonderful people.
While we were contemplating this decision, I received several offers for other positions, both in the DR and in the USA. One of those offers was an administrative position with Fellowship of Christian Athletes here in the Dominican Republic (see the DR specific website here). Human trafficking to sports related ministry is a huge leap, but the administration is what I love doing. Above anything, though, the factor that made it an easy decision to accept the position is that fact that this is the ministry Miguel works with and early on in our relationship, our deepest desire was to be able to do ministry together. May has been full of adapting to a new organization, role, and expectations.
Change no 3 - We moved.
No, not out of the Dominican Republic. We moved from a one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom house with a yard, to the town of Higuey, 45 minutes away, which is where most of Miguel's work is (he travels to different baseball fields, discipling coaches and athletes in the Word of God). Once a week, he works in the area I lived before getting married, so it works out for me to hop along and spend time and stay in touch/involved with the staff and girls at the Destiny Rescue home. The move has been an exciting one, especially since it means being able to attend the church of the pastor who married us and having a strong community to plug into. Miguel still studies in the university on the weekends close to where he has lived most of his life (1 1/2 hours away). Most of the other FCA staff also work closer to his original hometown, so when we had teams this month, it meant a lot of traveling for us. Between the moving and traveling for teams and university, plus an impromptu specialist visit for a severe infection I was hit with this week, we've been gone more than we've been home this month. We're looking forward to being able to finally settle into a routine soon (hopefully).
Change no. 4 - Blog overhaul (sorta)
Pretty soon, you'll see new changes to the blog, including revamped newsletter option, as well as an option for supporting financially. The look and content may slightly change (although the layout will still be the same) to tweak it to more of an "us" blog instead of a "me" blog. Stay tuned!
Prayer requests -
1. That our internet would get installed quickly. Like I said, we've been on the road a LOT and this means that it's been hard to schedule stuff, like internet installation, that didn't get done the week of moving. Internet is vital for my job and for us to be able to stay connected with everyone. It's one of the main reasons why I've been sluggish in getting the new updates done.
2. For our marriage. That sounds weird - no, we're not having marriage problems ;) But with all the change and new adjustments added to new married life in general, we beg for your prayers in keeping our hearts open to continue allowing God to take control in every area of our lives (even if that means forever living without routine!). We desire to have a marriage that honors God and inspires others - nothing mediocre for us. And we realize that this can only be done through lots of prayers and intentional choices.
3. Finances. As a missionary, I still don't receive a paycheck, and with the change of job, I'll need to double fundraising efforts. Please pray for wisdom as we pursue open doors for this.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
~Matt. 28:19
