Wondrous Love of Jesus- A review of the year

What a wonderful Savior is our Lord Jesus! Looking back over the last year, I am reminded that my God truly reigns over all the earth.
~Psalm 24~
The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. 
Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.  
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

Praise the Lord! Let us allow this King of Glory to enter our hearts and sanctify us to the glory of His Name. May His name be praised...
more to come!

Back in WA?

Hello Friends!

Once again, I find that I haven't updated this blog in a loooonnng time... Ooppps! Here is a quick update on our life right now...



Grant reads Grace and Laura a story



When and how did the idea of coming back to WA begin? I don't really remember myself. However, the Lord has led us very clearly that we are to be in Washington State again for around 6 months... We don't know exactly why, but we trust that our Father knows best. Of course, I still want to be in Belize! But, is that my Father's will? At this point, it doesn't look like it, so I must submit myself to His will... If it is your will, though, Father I sure would love to go back! :)

We arrived in Washington State on the 19th of April, after leaving Belize the 17th. It was a loooong journey, but we are glad to be here for now, with beloved friends and family.

Laura watches Daddy attempt to fix the vacume

Here are some pictures of our recent life... :)

Laura makes 'rock soup'... Want some salt with that, darling?




Gracie got to ride with Daddy and the boys to the hardware store on the bikes!





A Walk Together



Becca picked some flowers and gave us ladies a
little boquet! Thank you, Becca!

The Kings, and Mrs. King's sisters invited us for a walk about a week after we had been here. It was a very pleasant, crisp evening! It was quite cold, but walking kept us warm. It was wonderful to have some time to talk with our dear friends. We are so grateful for their friendship. Here are some pictures from along the way.

Ashley picking some blossoms for Becca and Joshua

I forgot how beautiful Washington can be!



Susanna holds Laurie ♥



Ashley and Mrs. King



Ashley, Elizabeth and Ina found some cute little snails!



Becca and Jonna out in the tall grass



Dad and Mama ♥

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for friends and family!

Thoughts from a sickbed...

Well, I am sorry for not posting before now! The last 5 (almost 6) months of my life have been very trying! As many of whoever is reading this knows, I have had some strange illness since the 2nd week in September 2011. It has been a very long road. For my own sake of keeping a journal of my experiences, I would like to write about the whole story as much as I can, and what my precious Lord and Friend has taught me through it all.

To start at the beginning, we arrived in Belize on August 25th. It was a long trip, but the Lord was very close and dear the whole way! The first month is Belize was a challenge and exciting at the same time. We got to know some dear friends who live here, and also experience this very "diverse" culture. After adjusting to the many differences, we all started to really love it here (and still do!). However, life was so much busier than before. Ashley and I were milking a cow early in the morning, and much of the the work here is done pretty much by hand (no dishwasher, not "real" washing machine or dryer... ect.). I started not making time to spend with my Lord every morning, and I felt like I was getting discouraged... More discouraged than I had been in quite a very long time! I cried out to the Lord that somehow He would help me organize my time better to spend more time with Him in the mornings... His answer to this plea came in a much different way than I had ever imagined!

Giving this burden to Jesus made me feel much better. I knew He wanted the first minutes of my day to be with Him, too... Not with a cow! LOL. I knew He would make a way, and I started to feel more encouraged that week. However, the next week, in the middle of September, I realised something was not right with my health. My heart was continually racing rapidly, my heart actually hurt and my legs were swollen! I was extremely exhausted, and wondered if I was having heart failure. For a few days, we waited to see if I would get better... Maybe it was just a flu or something? However, as a week passed, my health got increasingly worse. On Thursday, October 6th I think it was, we decided to take me to the clinic and get a check up and a thyroid test. Many of my symptoms led to thyroid disorder, so we wanted to have that checked first. When we got to the clinic, the nurse checked my pulse. "Hmmm. Her pulse is quite high..." She couldn't find anything specifically wrong with me though. She said it would take a few days to get the results back about the thyroid test. We didn't want to wait that long, so she said that the Belize Medical Associates hospital/lab in Belize City (about 1 1/2 hours away in good traffic and weather) could do the test and get the results that day. So, off we hurried to Belize City.
Although they were able to take the blood sample almost immediately, we had to wait quite a while to see the Dr. I was feeling especially miserable that day... So tired and weak! I cried out to the Lord, "Father, what would you have me do right now?" It was one of those things that you don't really think of before saying it... It must have been Him that prompted me to say it. Immediately His reply came back: "Daughter, surrender to Me this sickness... Do not fear, but trust Me..." I gave Him my fears and doubts about how I felt, and my spirit felt so much better. Of course, I thought I would just get some thyroid medication and be better in just a few days. However, looking back, I see how He was preparing me for something far more difficult...

 When the Dr finally called us in, he introduced himself as Dr Cuellar. He was a pleasant, jolly, plump Belizean who seemed like not many things could upset him. He asked a lot of questions, and then checked my pulse. It was around 145, and changing all the time. He suddenly had a serious look on his face. "Is that not good?" I asked. "Well, let's see what your mom's is..." Her pulse rate was at 72 or so... and steady. "Your heart is racing very much, my dear. It should be around 70-90 for your age. It was a good idea for you to check for thyroid, Mom," he said, talking to Mama now, "her symptoms definitely seem to point to it. However, her thyroid levels came back normal!" Mom and I stared at each other in blank astonishment. What? What could possibly be wrong, then? After a few more questions, Dr Cuellar said in a very serious tone again, "I am not happy with how she looks and says she feels... Her heart rate is too high, and we need to figure out what is wrong with her. I think we will admit her to the hospital now..." Admitted to the hospital??? My mind was racing in a million different directions. I wasn't that sick, was I? I had no desire for more tests, either! But I silently obeyed and followed the Dr to the hospital side of the building. My siblings were also astonished. They were all scared for me.

The first thing they did was hook me up to the heart monitor... (i can't remember the name... An EKG?). I was crying. "Lord, this isn't what I had expected!" I was at the end of my self. There was nothing left of me to fight for. I felt so humbled in the sight of my Lord and King. Slowly, He began reminding me in my heart of hearts that HE knew what was going on, HE had a purpose for it, and all He wanted was my willingness to comply to His will. It was hard at first, for sure. But I soon found peace and rest in knowing that He knew everything...

More in the next post! :)

Side note: Molly the Service Dog!

Molly at the K's house before we left

Now here I must stop our story and back up just a little bit in order to tell you about Molly, our service dog.

 Sweet Miss Molly the Cocker Spaniel was added to our family a couple months before we left. She fit in so well with our family that when it came time to find our other beloved doggies new homes, we just couldn't part with Molly. Molly was so good with our little girls. One of my sisters has some sensory issues from being a premature baby, and we trained and certified Molly as her service dog. Molly is really my dog, but she loves all of us!

Molly sleeping in the car on my lap. We had to go about 40 mintues away (on the day we were leaving!) to get some paperwork from the State saying she could leave the country.

Molly on Grant's lap at the SeaTac airport

We worried what it would be like to take a dog on the plane, first of all, then through Mexico and then through Belize? Would they accept she was a service dog? How could we figure out all the paper work? So many times, it looked like she couldn't come, but then somehow it worked out perfectly to bring her before we left. Yes, we will admit it was a hassle to have her along. But even in Mexico when we got off the plane and Molly's paperwork had to be checked out by a lady who couldn't speak English, the Lord worked it all out. He even had an English speaking person interrperet for us in the room right when we had a little confusion over something. So even though it wasn't easy to have Molly along, I am so grateful she came!

Being a service animal, she was allowed on the airplane with us free of charge. She was perfect on the plane and never caused any serious problem... biting someone or pottying all over the floor. :) She was a quite a comfort to me... a little bit of home!
We all are so happy to have Molly here with us. And you won't believe what happened to her on our trip through Mexico!
When we got off the plane in Cancun, we took a 15 passenger van taxi to Playa Del Carmen, about 1 1/2 hours away. They allowed Molly in the van; what a blessing! We stayed in Playa for a few days, and then took the ADO bus to Chetumal where our friends were going to pick us up. When we bought the bus tickets the day before our departure, we asked if our dog could come on the bus. "Oh, yes, yes, she can come!" That was a relief because we had heard of other people not being allowed to take their dog on the bus.
The next day, bright and early, another taxi took us to the ADO bus station. They loaded all of our way-too-many bags onto the bus, and then it was time for us to board. Somehow Molly was left with Ashley, and I got on before her. I heard a commotion going on outside. "No un perro on autobus! Put un perro down with luggage, please!" My heart skipped a beat. Put her in the luggage compartment?! Not only would she die of heat exhaustion, but she would get slammed by all the luggage! I heard my dad telling them she was for medical reasons, and she wouldn't potty in the bus. They talked over it for some time, and when they saw that Dad wouldn't put her under there, and seemed to have a reason, they let her on... But not without a BIG laugh! You see, Mexico and Belize look at dogs much differently than we do. They think of them as the annoying, half-starved mangy creatures that are always scuttling around the streets. Quite different from the States! On the bus, everyone was laughing about the "Americano un perro on autobus! HAHAHAH!" Someone even called someone on his cell phone and told them! It was quite hysterical, well to them. We were just grateful we still had her!
When we got to Belize, after our kind friends picked us up, the Belizeans were upset about her too. "You are supposed to have a permit," they told me. Thankfully, after giving them a fee for looking her over, and a fee for not filing the paperwork, she was allowed into Belize without being quarantined.

Now, if you would ask my opinion about bringing a dog into Belize or Mexico, I don't think I would advise you to do so! It was just such a hassle. Of course, I am very happy she is here. :)

Miss Molly and I at the Belize River... Yep, she made it!

On Our Way to Belize

We had stayed at our friends house for a day or two before leaving so the new family could move into our old rental house and so we could spend some special time with the K family before we left. They were going to take us to the airport in their 15 passenger van. We had such mixed feelings spending time with them before we left. There is simply nothing you can replace about a 4 year old friendship, and we had spent nearly one day a week with them in those four years, so they were much more like family. :-) There's not many people you can stay up with until 12:30 at night, talking about the Early Church and eating granola... These are very special friends!

         One of the last times we had around the K's counter, joking ♥

Mama, Ashley, Brother Jeremy and Dad

Well, it was finally time to go. All of our way-too-many bags were packed into our friend's van, and we all loaded up ourselves...OH NO! Our only problem was that we couldn't find my sister Gracie's (age 3) little backpack for the airplane! We figured it was at our old house's garage that we had just locked up that day...All of Gracie's toys were in her backpack, so we decided to stop by the old house and see if we could get inside the garage somehow... 

We said last goodbyes to those at the K's house and then started down the road for the SeaTac Airport. We shared many memories together, joking and crying about all the wonderful years we had shared together so far. How how heart wrenching this was, for us to leave after all these years!

     

We reached our old house, in hopes of finding Grace's backpack. Of course, we figured that we had locked the garage from earlier when we had brought all the luggage over to our friend's house. But, when we got to our house, the garage door was wide open! The light was on, and there was little Gracie's backpack! Although there had been 5 of us there earlier that day, not ONE of us had noticed the door open! We started to joke, "Now you really know the door is open for you to go!" :P
         
                                              ~♥~

                                          Sister Lesa and Mama.

The S family is another family that has been involved in our small fellowship. We have all been so blessed by their family. Sister Lesa has always been so sweet and she always found time to talk with me when others were busy. How we miss our friends back home! ♥

Finally Going to Belize!

To continue our story from the last post, we had finally determined (that is usually when you get into trouble, when you start to decide things :]) that God must not want us to go to Belize; otherwise, He would have to provide in a mighty way for us to get there since moving to another country is very expensive.

We were looking into moving to another state to find more fellowship. We were very much considering PA, since there are many others in that state who believe closely to us. (There are only a few very dear and close families besides ours, that we know of, that believe closely to us in our area back in WA.) Dad, one of the brothers and my brother, Ryan went to a conference in Pennsylvania and then Dad and Mama went back a few months later. However, God had His own plans. :) He showed Dad through many interesting and obvious circumstances that we should not move to Pennsylvania but to Belize. We were all excited when we heard that news from Dad! But the question still was, "How are we ever going to get there?"

  Some of our brothers and sister from back home with us at the airport. Our friends on the right took us to the airport, and our brother in blue in the picture came to help us as well. His wife is not in this picture because she couldn't come to the airport. We miss these families so much!

Through the following situation, we learned never to put God in a box, and also that our Father can provide things in ways totally unexpected.

My older sister and I love animals. We love to train animals, care for animals and especially love baby animals. So when the Lord provided some free and inexpensive dogs (the most we paid was $100, I think) we thought it would be fun to have some puppies. We had a litter of Lhasapoo puppies, Silky-Lhasa puppies and a litter of Cocker Spaniel puppies all within about 2 months! We had not really expected all these, but somehow that is what happened. We were, of course, VERY busy with puppies for a few months. However, when we sold all the little fellas, we found that we had enough money to fly to Belize! That was the way God provided for us to come here. Not the most significant, but He loves to use simple things to confound us by His power. :)

We were so excited to finally be leaving. But, oh how hard it was to leave not only our family but also our beloved brothers and sisters in Christ who seem like family to us, too! We love these families so much! It was SO hard to leave them! But the Lord knows best, and we hope to see our friends soon... Maybe they will come too? We only want God's will. But if He does will them to come, I will be far from dissapointed.  :)

Mrs. K and her sweet little boy

That is the nut-shell version of the story of why and how we came to Belize. We still do not necessarily know what our Lord has for us here, but we know for sure that He does want us here! :) May He get all the glory for what He is doing in His servant's lives all over the world!

Why Belize, Anyway?

Our family was asked this question many times within the last three years of our life.

About three years ago, we had been asking the Lord for a place in this world that we could go and serve as a family for Him. At the same time, we were also seeking for a place where our family could get out of the "American Dream Bubble" for a little while and experience real life! :) My parents went to Liberia, Africa in 2006, and since that time have felt the need for us children to experience what most people in this world live like, and perhaps be the hands and feet of Jesus to those out there who needed help.

~Our family before we left~

It all started with a brochure about Belize. Dad was working at a local bank at the time. We decided to show the brochure to Dad; at the same time joking that he would *never* go for living in a third world country! However, when he came home one night, we showed him the article and he said, "Wow! That looks interesting... Let's pray about it." My mother, older sister and I were amazed. Dad was not usually the one liked to step out of the norm!

                   A view from our current backyard in Belize

The following year, Dad and a couple friends went to Belize. These friends were also looking for a new place/country to live. On Dad's trip to Belize, he felt the Lord showing him very clearly that this is the place the Lord wanted our family. Every time he turned around, the Lord had answered another prayer request of ours to know if we should move there. He also got to meet the Banman family. We met the Banmans through email when we first heard of Belize. The Lord totally planned and orchestrated our two family's friendship, and we have been blessed greatly by it.                                                                                                                                                                                   

                 Gracie M and Wanda B, our first week in Belize

The following years held many experiences. We met a Christian man who had beeen successful in business, and soon the plan was made that we would go to Belize and start an organic farm, and he would fund it. He wanted to get some of his money out of the country, and we wanted to do some farming, so it sounded like a wonderful idea to all! We sold everything we had, and were ready for most of us to drive to Belize and the others to fly in just two weeks! Then at the last minute, our friend decided he needed more time to consider this big decision. We completely understood. However, we were left without a house, a newborn baby, a job and hardly any furninture or kitchen utensils, or clothing! This was quite the test of faith for us.

Some of our best friend's children and my siblings back in WA State ♥

We ended up living in a travel trailer of our dearest friends for about a month and a half (their children above), and the Lord provided a house for us to house-sit for a month. Then He provided a very inexpensive and beautiful place for us to live. Someone also called my Dad up and offered him a job. We were very suprised and grateful to our Heavenly Father for caring for these servants of His Kingdom... Now the question was, were ever going to Belize? And if so, how could we ever leave our beloved friends?

Our family right before getting on the airplane to leave ♥

More of the story in the next post! :)