Not Now Satan!!!!

The World Missions Seminar began today. We have been looking forward to this since last year's seminar ended. So, of course, Satan wants nothing more then to throw a wrench in our plans. I knew yesterday was going to be a challenge. Ben was selected to preach at chapel at the Seminary, so I naturally wanted to go hear him. Annabelle had rehearsal in the afternoon for the Spring Musical that she shouldn't miss. So, I knew the day would be full of interruptions and various car trips. What I didn't know, was that shortly after Ben preached to me about being prepared for when life punches you in the face....that life would punch me in the face!

I had returned to the seminar after he preached in time for lunch. We ate quickly and then rushed out to get Anna to rehearsal. I dropped her off and went to zip back over in time for the first ladies' session (which I really wanted to hear because it was a new topic delivered by a sweet friend). I go to turn onto the main road....and the car just dies. Not that kind where the battery just shuts down, but the kind that can only be described through various guttural sounds. Not Now Satan!!!!!!

I knew Ben would be finishing up at the seminary and would be headed to the seminar so I called him to come rescue us. (I had Annika with me). After messing with it and pushing it off the road, we left it there and returned to the seminar. We spoke to a dear angel of a man from our church that recently helped us with van issues and his over the phone prognosis did not sound hopeful. But, he willingly said he would run up to take a look at it that night.

The whole time I'm thinking: "We do not have time for this! I just want to enjoy my week! Leave us alone Satan!"

By the time we returned to the seminar (just in time to have that session ending), I was a heap of tears. All of the stress, worry, discouragement, and disappointment collided and I just could not take it all. I knew Satan was after me, but this time I didn't have it in me to fight back. I told Jesus; "This has to be Your fight, because I just can't do it!"

Fortunately, he called up His soldiers to fight for me. His sweet servants surrounded me with encouragement and empathy and prayer. He knows laughter is the fuel for my joy, so He even sent some of that too (thank you Ms. Jessie!!!). The Andersons leapt into action and drove back to Whitehall to get their vehicle for us to use (despite it being their anniversary). The Shields invited us into their home and fed us while we waited. We even were able to stay and attend church like we wanted! Satan was losing and losing fast!!!

And then God threw the final punch and knocked Satan down. We were going to praise Jesus regardless. He has our hearts and devotion. It was absolutely unnecessary. But in His Goodness, He chose to bless us in this moment. As church was ending, I see a text from our car angel, Todd..."THE VAN IS FIXED." I about fell over. I could not believe it! Our van lives to see another day, and we can get focused back on God's work and His Will for our lives. I am continually amazed at the power of prayer, and God's sweet, tender mercy. Thank you Jesus! 

None of the people that ministered to us yesterday did it to be mentioned in this blog. I'm pretty sure most of them (if they read this), would prefer if I didn't mention them at all. However, I love the way God strings His people together to accomplish His work. Did He need them? No. God can do anything. He could of just had me turn the key and the van start right back up. However, He lovingly invites us into His plans so that we can take part. It increases our Faith, and further prepares us for the next time life punches us in the face.

Was yesterday hard and stressful? Absolutely! But I am so grateful that once again I got to see our Mighty God at work. I thank God for each one of you and pray that I, too, can be part of the blessing of God's plan for someone else.

Awed and Blessed, Anne

"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good..." Genesis 50:20a

Our Favorite Time of Year

Hello friends! Sorry we have been MIA lately, but Ben's hectic school/work schedule has made for very busy days for all of us. Fortunately (well, for us-not Ben), the semester seems to be flying by! He still has A LOT of work ahead of him, so please be praying!

We are super excited because the World Missions Seminar begins this week. It is always a highlight in our year. It's fun too, because each year we seem to be in a different phase of our journey. We were hoping we would be sent out as missionaries by this time, but we are doing our best to be patient and wait on God's timing. He certainly has had our very best in mind throughout this whole process! We would love for any of you to join us this year. You can even just come for a day. The training is absolutely priceless for anyone that has a heart for missions. Whether you are a missionary, have plans to be a missionary, are curious about mission work, are a pastor that wants to send out missionaries, or a Christian that wants to learn how to support missionaries, this seminar will be beneficial to you! It is held at Faith Baptist Church in North Little Rock Tuesday through Friday of this coming week and the next. Commit to coming and God will make a way!!! If you need more info, let us know and we can get it out to you.

I know everyone gets busy, but if you get a moment, please be in prayer for us. Life is pretty stressful around here and Satan really wants to bring us down. We are relying on God to give us the strength to not let Satan win, so any prayers on our behalf are appreciated.

In lighter news, Annika is getting so big. She is extremely smart but has managed to keep out of trouble.  It really helps that I have a lot of extra eyes and hands assisting me. The girls are knee deep in rehearsing for a musical (Fiddler on the Roof). We cannot wait for showtime! In the midst of all of this, Rianne has been having some digestion/behavior issues. So, we are doing a strict elimination diet with her to figure out the culprit(s). We are making progress, but it is really difficult! We all will be happy when we know what she can/can't eat. It's been awfully expensive cooking for her and A LOT of work! But it will be so worth it in the end. Noah has enjoyed playing in a local homeschool Nerf Wars group and is getting more involved in our homeschool PE class. He is trying to save up for a gaming computer too.

We thank you all for your prayers and support. Just know that each prayer you have ever said for us has helped to equip us to follow God. We could never express our gratitude enough.

Blessings, Anne

A New Year!

I cannot believe we have entered another year!!! 2016 closed out on a really good note for us. God blessed us in so many ways through His people. Despite having van issues just before we were scheduled to head north, we were able to celebrate Christmas with our friends and family. It was much needed time away that helped us to refresh before tackling another semester. Here are some pictorial highlights:

Thanks to Oak Grove MBC, we were able to travel with their van!

Annika's First Christmas

Fun With my family

My Mom and Dad with all of their grandchildren

Gram loves her babies!

Some Northern Snow!!!

Cousins at play

So, now the fun is over and it is time to buckle down again. Ben won't let me brag on him, but he had a very full class load last semester and did VERY well. He has an even larger load of classes this semester (which I didn't think was possible), but I have no doubt that he will impress once again. Annika is growing everyday and is a joy in all of our lives. She just turned seven months and is crawling all over the place! The kids have gotten back into the swing of school once again and are excited about what this spring has to offer!

We got to spend some time with our missionary builder friends from California recently, and have plans to meet with another family that we adore from Texas in the near future. It will not be long until it is time for the World Missions Seminar again. My children are just as excited as I am!!!! I hope some of you are making plans to join us. You do not need to be a missionary to attend. Anyone that has a heart for missions (which should be any Christian), would benefit from attending. This year the seminar is the last week of March and the first week of April.

Noah has recently joined a local Nerf War club, and Annabelle plans on joining in next month. The girls have begun rehearsing for the Spring musical, Fiddler on the Roof, with their Homeschool Drama group. We still go to our weekly Homeschool PE class, the girls go to a monthly science club at our library, and of course we are active with Oak Grove church. We certainly are keeping busy!

We have been praying fervently over the past month for God to begin showing His clear path for us as Ben starts winding down from school this spring. If you haven't been praying for us, please do! We sense that God will be revealing more of His plan soon, so of course Satan is hard at work too. Our van, that we love, seems to want to be a thorn in our side and we know that exhaustion and stress will be perfect targets for Satan's schemes.

We are blessed beyond measure, and thank God for the role that each of you play in our development.

Many Blessings, Anne

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." -Romans 15:13

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I don't have anything particularly insightful today to share, but I wanted to check in with y'all.  (Do you see that? I've finally abandoned fighting against the usage of y'all!) We have so much to be thankful for this year. For those of you that aren't on Facebook (Umm, Srin!), here are a few pics for you to enjoy!

The girls at Roseberry Farms

Annabelle and Rianne performed in Lagooned! with other homeschoolers

If you want to see Noah, you'll have to catch him in person. He is not fond of me taking his picture! (Teenagers!)

We are so grateful for all 4 of our precious children. We may not get to be with our family for Thanksgiving this year, but we are going to have a great day with a family that is precious to us. We hope that regardless of how you will be celebrating, that you will give all thanks and glory to God. It is not by our own doing that we have what we have, but it is because of our most gracious, generous, and loving Father. 

Happy Thanksgiving,

Anne

P.S. We have some new needs listed on the "How You Can Help" page if you are interested.

"I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving."

Psalms 69:30 ESV

Abandon the Gods

I hope today's post makes sense and isn't disjointed. I'll do my very best, but this month has been so God-filled, that I have a million thoughts swirling around in my head.

The first milestone of this month came when I finished reading the Bible in 94 days. I was aiming for 90, but frankly, am pretty amazed that I came even close! Bro. Lynn Raburn is a great encourager for Bible reading and it was always something that I struggled with, so I finally took his advice and gave it a go. Now while some days I'm sure I was just reading to get that check mark, God showed me the beauty of reading His Word in one fell swoop. The knowledge and understanding that I have gained from reading it as a whole, has benefited me tremendously! It is definitely something I will be doing again!




Coinciding with this accomplishment, was our annual MTM training. This year they made it very family friendly and took us to the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, AR. These weeks devoted to learning and growing are always so amazing to me. It was no coincidence that during this same week, us ladies were learning about the benefits of studying our Bibles and memorizing scripture. I gained so many tools and some new friends too! As always, our children had a blast and hated to leave. They got to experience the folk center, go bowling, visit caves, go hiking, go to a pumpkin patch, go on a hayride and have s'mores, go canoeing,  and play in bounce houses. Their week was full of fun and many memories! We are so grateful for everything MTM has provided for us.

This month, our church also had a revival in a local park with Bro. Will Diggs preaching. It did my heart good to gather with our church family nightly and hear God's Word. There was wonderful worship and a definite boosting to my spirit! We also had our local Associational Meeting which I got to attend a portion of. Again, the preaching was FANTASTIC and I got a lot of encouragement from various pastors in our area. It is moments like these that keep me fueled during this difficult journey.

The last bit of excitement from this month brings me to the title of today's post.

My sweet neighbor-friend and I have started to meet weekly to go through Kelly Minter's What Love Is. It is a study of 1John, 2John and 3John. Our Monday mornings have now become my very favorite part of my week. This time together has filled a need that I have had for awhile in such a special way. And it is through this study that brought me to today's epiphany. We are in the third week of this study, and Ms. Minter has us really thinking about what it means to remain, or abide in Jesus. In the Gospel of John, Jesus gives us a clear picture of what this looks like in chapter 15. He discusses the vine and the branches as an illustration and says: "Remain in Me, and I in you..." (vs. 4). For us to remain in Him takes a good bit of effort on our part. The world wants to drag us away in so many directions. When I really started to think about this, I realized that prior to this journey I had a god that kept trying to pull me away from Jesus. This god looked innocent enough, but it can do so much harm. If I'm not careful, he still tries to steal me away. We all have gods that try to do this. I'm sure I have several others that I am still actively battling. However, it is this one particular god that I want to focus on today because I really feel like it can do so much damage to remaining in Jesus.

What is this god I speak of?.....The god of Stability. Prior to our calling, one of my greatest pursuits and joys in life was stability. I loved that Ben had a secure job that paid well. Even though he was salaried he had opportunities for overtime if needed. We had great health insurance and a 401K. His company gave bonuses twice a year that would pay for our modest family vacation and Christmas. His company took really good care of us and valued him. I felt secure. 

However, it was this security that could have completely drawn me away from following God's Will. If I had not been girding myself with sound preaching weekly, devotions, small group studies, regular fellowship with believers, and serving my community....the god of security would have won. I would have attached myself so deeply with it, that the whisper, tug, and shout of God's calling would have been drowned out completely. I am so grateful God had me in a place where I was grafted so securely to His vine. I pray I never let security lop me from it.

The really good news though comes in the second half of what I quoted..."and I in you." You see, Jesus doesn't have to work to remain in us. Once we ask Him to be our Savior He just IS in us. He may prune us from time to time, but He will not remove us from His vine once we have been grafted. I am so grateful for this! 

I hope you will take some time today and consider if the god of security has interfered with your relationship with Jesus. Or is there some other god that is pulling you away? If so, ask Jesus for forgiveness and then strengthen yourself for the battle ahead.

Armed and Ready, Anne

"Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me." -John 15:4

The Cost

We know there is a cost to following God. Before we embarked on this journey we counted it: loss of salaried jobs, moving from our home, distance from family. We did a pretty thorough inventory of losses and agreed to them. However, anyone that has given up their comfortable life to follow God will agree to one thing...sometimes a loss, one you never considered, will jump out and kick you from behind.

I seem to be experiencing these losses quite frequently nowadays. The first one that comes to mind was finding out Annika had a lip and tongue tie. In our former life, we could have immediately gone to the doctor and had them fixed. Perhaps we would have been able to then work through our breastfeeding issues and been more successful. Perhaps I could have still been nursing her now. But, we had to wait for her insurance to go through. And then the ENT wouldn't do her lip tie and a qualified dentist that would, doesn't take her insurance. While I am extremely grateful for her insurance, this is a cost of state-funded insurance that I never counted.

The other such event happened today. The fact that I want to burst into tears over it has me completely blind-sided. It's so vain and trivial, but upsetting all the same.

I took Noah to the optometrist to have his eyes checked again. He has a lazy eye that we have to keep tabs on. While his vision is great with his glasses, the doctor confirmed that he does need to be wearing his glasses all of the time. (Something that Noah is not too keen on). His prescription didn't change much, but it did need modified.

Where is the concern in this? Well, again, his state insurance will only cover some very basic frames. We had spent a lot of time fretting over frames last year to find a pair that he was satisfied with and willing to wear. They were pricey, but with our insurance and steady income we were able to get them. Well, when we asked about keeping these frames and just replacing the lenses, they said his insurance wouldn't cover that but we could pay for it out of pocket. At $85 a lens, that just isn't possible. The part that really broke my heart was the fact that Noah didn't even complain even though I could see the disappointment on his face. It's just glasses, but having my son settle for less then what he wants is hard to bear. I hate that we can only give him a chinsy pair of glasses. Again, I'm grateful for our insurance and that we have access to great optical care. We saw first hand in Africa how amazing this accessibility is. An African would travel miles and weep with happiness over these chinsy frames that I find so heartbreaking. Yet, here I am. Saddened by our loss.

I know we have more unexpected losses ahead of us. I am not looking forward to facing them. However, even though I can't ever count the full cost of our obedience, I know it is all worth it. I wouldn't trade in all this for that old comfy life again. 

So, I will grieve these losses when they come. And then I will count all the marvelous blessings we have and be grateful that God is changing us for the better.

Still a Work in Progress, Anne

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:33 ESV

***Update: Two of God's servants felt called to purchase Noah his new lenses. It is so hard to accept gifts like this, but we are so thankful that God prompts His people to be so generous. This was not my intention with this post, but I have one very happy teenager right now! Praise God!

She's Here!!!!!

I'm sorry it has take so long to post, but life certainly got busy for us!!! If you haven't heard, our third daughter arrived safely on Wednesday, June 22nd via c-section. She is absolutely perfect!!!

With this being my 4th c-section, and a tubal ligation done along with it, surgery was a bit more difficult and recovery was by far my hardest. However, with her about to turn 3 weeks, we are through the brunt of it! We have had a challenging start to breastfeeding because she has a lip and tongue tie, but they should be getting fixed this following Monday. Say some prayers that nursing will be able to resume afterwards. It has been extremely difficult keeping up with pumping in the midst of trying to resume life.

The girls are absolutely thrilled with their new sister! My very favorite thing is to see them interacting with her and laughing at her antics. It is absolutely precious!!! So far, Annika seems pretty even tempted. If we could just get her to sleep at night like she sleeps during the day, we will be all set!

We are looking forward to traveling north with her in August so that our friends and family back home can meet her. My parents got the opportunity to come down for a week for her birth which was absolutely wonderful! I know everyone else is chomping at the bit to get their hands on her!!!

This brings us to our biggest request of this post. WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS!!!! When we started this journey, we began working towards paying off our car, an HHR, with the vision that it would keep our needs until it was time to leave for the mission field. Well, we got it paid off, but now with God's surprise blessing we no longer fit in it!!! We are in desperate need of a mini van. We are not looking to take on extra debt, so we are praying that we can find a reliable used van that is inexpensive. Our HHR isn't worth a whole lot, but we'd like to trade it in and keep the cost above that minimal. We know this is a God-sized task, so please be praying with us! God has provided many opportunities for Ben to preach this summer, which has helped with the time he took off for Annika's birth, and will help go towards a van. We are so grateful! I can't wait to see how God answers this prayer and can't wait to share it with you!

Another update we need to make is important for those of you that currently support us or for those of you that would like to send support at some point. Since we are living in Arkansas now, we have moved our church membership to Oak Grove MBC in Benton. Because of this, we have also moved our mission account. If you are called to send any funds, please send them to:

Oak Grove MBC

2907 Congo Rd.

Benton, AR 72019

Please list in the memo what your intention is for the funds so we can use them appropriately.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers! We have been blessed beyond measure and really appreciate the way God's people have encouraged and supported us. I will update our "Ways You Can Help" page with our newest prayer requests. God Bless!

Under His Care and Provision, Anne

"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:19