Saturday, August 16, 2014

Our week...

So we have had a big week this week.  A week of joy and unexpected surprises.  To tell you about this week though, I think I am going to give a little history before getting to our week.

SO....

Sarah Katelyn Davis was conceived very quickly after Michael and I decided we were ready to start trying to have children.  Literally the month we got off birth control, we got pregnant.  While there was a little scare with her towards the end (IUGR), all went fairly smooth.

10 months later, we thought, "hey, let's try again".  I always thought it would be fun to have our kids close together.  Well, that same month we starting trying, we conceived.  Then...the Lord called our baby home to be with him.  We were devastated.  I honestly have never felt more pain in my life.  It hurt like hell.  I remember laying in the bed with Michael after loosing our baby beating him on the chest sobbing for hours.
(Here's a pic of the weekend we told family we were expecting...SK's shirt said "Big Sister!")


Then, we went through almost 3 years of infertility.  I know I have blogged much about the pain of going through that, but the Lord grew my faith so much during that time.  I learned just how much God is in control and holds us in his hands.  He held me each month that I learned we weren't pregnant.  Then the Lord gave us a dear dear doctor in STL who walked with us and helped figure out what was going on and after 3 months of clomid (in order to help me ovulate, which I wasn't doing on my own), we were able to conceive Evelyn Joy.

After she turned 1 year old, we hoped to try again to have another baby before heading to England.  Once again, it looked as though my body was failing to do what was needed in order to conceive.  In the spring, we actually did 3 rounds of clomid again.  This time, the clomid did not end with a pregnancy.  So after 3 months, we decided to take some time off and wait till we got to England to start trying again.

2 months later, I got food poisoning.  It was right before we headed to England.  If you are friends with me on Facebook, you remember me asking for prayers about that?  It was rough.  Well, in the midst of that and I guess due to that, I was 2 weeks late.  I actually took a pregnancy test in England since I was so late.  It was negative.  So after that month being so late, I thought my body was just thrown off from being so sick.

SO then this month came.  Yet again, I was late, but really didn't think a thing about it since my cycle was so crazy last month.  We had decided we weren't going to try right now, so the thought of pregnancy didn't cross my mind really when my cycle was looking long again.

Tuesday.  I get up with Michael.  He and I get up and he needs to get ready to head to presbytery where he is going to be examined in front of everyone for licensure.  I decide to make some eggs for breakfast before he needs to go.  I crack a couple eggs, all is good.  Then I crack a bad egg.  I start gagging.  Had to leave the kitchen it was so bad.  I go to the bathroom, compose myself and try to return to the kitchen.  Then I get a whiff of the egg smell.  Gagging again.  I go back to the bathroom and leave Michael finishing off the eggs.  I remember that I happen to have a pregnancy test already at home, and decide, I am going to take it.  I figured I would take it and it would be negative and my period would start later that day.

To my surprise, it was POSITIVE!!!!!!  Immediately turned positive.  I was doing double and triple takes, looking back at the box and seeing what 2 lines meant and stood there in shock.  Then I come out to the kitchen where Michael is with my hands over my mouth looking like I have seen a ghost I am sure.  He looks at me and is asking if I am sick and what is wrong.  I respond, no....but I am PREGNANT.  His response is, "WHAT??!!??"  We both were completely shocked.  We go back to the bathroom and sit there shocked.  We are amazed.

The eggs get burned since they were left in the kitchen to fend for themselves while we pull our chins off the floor.

Did I mention that Michael had to leave in 30 minutes to head to Presbytery???  He gets ready quickly and I sit trying to pull myself together before the girls wake.  He leaves for the day (till 4 in the afternoon) and I sit all day at home trying to do homeschool with SK.  I think I texted him like 5-6 times throughout the day.  It was hard to be home (without a car) all day knowing I was pregnant and not being able to even tell SK yet (I was waiting till Michael got home).

He finally got home and we told SK (and Evie, but she doesn't really get it at her age :)).  We skyped my mom to surprise her, then we headed to surprise Michael's family and my brother and his wife at a Mexican restaurant for dinner.  We had told the family that we wanted to go out and celebrate Michael passing his licensure stuff and officially being licensed to preach.  Then we got our friend (who works at the restaurant) to bring out a baby bottle with our drinks :)  It took everyone a few minutes, then there were lots of screams and hugs.  It was fun :)

So, that has been our week.  One of the first questions we get when telling everyone so far, is what does this mean for England?  Well...right now, we don't know.  We are still going, but we are either going a little quicker than planned or waiting till after baby arrives.  We are praying and will talk with a doctor in a couple weeks about it.  First we have to get a due date.  Since my cycle was so crazy the month prior, the due date is hard for me to figure out.  The due date should be somewhere around the middle to end of April.   Our original goal was to be in England by March 1.

Things just got a little more interesting for us :)  We are beyond thankful and ecstatic.  We are a whole mix of emotions really.  I am fearful, given our miscarriage in the past.  So will you pray for us.  We need lots of prayers.  Pray for a healthy baby.  Pray the Lord will give clarity to us as to what this means for our timing in heading to England.  Thanks friends.

And to end here is a picture I am beyond thrilled I got to take this week :)
(Evie is wearing the same shirt that I had made for SK...I never could find myself able to get rid of it all these years.  Now I am glad I held onto it!)

And 1 more just cause these kids are super cute :)








Wednesday, August 6, 2014

On Support raising...

So we are back from England and now really jumping into the "full-time support raising" life.  While there are plenty of people that totally get the whole concept of support raising, there are plenty of friends also that don't completely understand why we have to raise our support.

So why do we support raise?  I grew up in the Southern Baptist church, where those who feel called to international missions were sent and were funded through the denomination.  That's really cool in so many ways.

Here's what is different for us though that I do appreciate.

I appreciate knowing that we have so many individuals and churches who are stepping out in faith with us to see God's kingdom grow.  We are so encouraged to see the Lord raise up people and churches who have a heart for England.  We know that those who are financially supporting us are connected to us and are praying for us.  Having people/churches financially supporting us reminds me that we are all connected to a universal church, no matter where you actually spend your Sunday morning.  We are all called to be about the spreading of the gospel "to all nations", and for some that means going and others it means sending.

Sending can mean different things.  Some don't have the finances to give, but instead can be great encouragers and prayer warriors.  Believe me, we need those greatly.

Support raising is hard at times, if I can be really honest.  Calling your friends and asking them to consider financially supporting you is out of my comfort zone.  When we first started last year, I had a hard time with it.  While it still isn't necessarily easy, I have come to a better understanding on why it is good.  Support raising isn't just going around talking to people asking for money so that we can get to England.  Support raising is ministry in and of itself.  Asking for support, is asking someone else to step out in faith that the Lord will provide enough money each month/year so that they can support ministry.

I feel like our money is one of the hardest things to trust God with.  So many times we can look at our money situation and think, "I don't think we can squeeze any more out".  I myself can struggle with wanting to give away our money to others.  I struggle to think that there just isn't enough.

I think we have to think beyond that though.  We have to truly evaluate where we are putting our trust when it comes to our money.  And really, where our money goes, that is where our hearts are.  When we give to world missions, we are drawn to think of the world and God's kingdom coming all around it.  We pray for it more typically when our finances are going to it.  Am I right??

Going to seminary taught me and Michael a lot about trusting God with our money situation.  We didn't know how on earth we were going to make it month to month, much less 3.5 years there.  Now looking back, I am amazed.  The Lord met our every single need truly.

There is something to be said for stepping out in faith in the unknown, trusting the Lord will provide. What a faith builder and an opportunity for the Lord to work and grow us.  When we are comfortable and have control over things, we don't tend to "need" God as much (so we think many times).

We are all called to be about the Kingdom work.  For each of us, that will look different.  Some of us will be called to go.  Some are called to stay where they are and be about God's kingdom right where they are.  But I believe we should all have a heart for the lost throughout all nations.  God does.

So if you have gotten a phone call/text/email/facebook message...know that we are just doing what the Lord has called us to at this time.  We are inviting others in to be a part of the work going on in a little village across the pond in England.  Our hearts through this time in support raising is that we can encourage others to think about their money and resources.  We want people to wrestle with where they are using them and how God might want them to use them.  Whether they end up supporting us or not, is sort of irrelevant.  While yes, it would be great if everyone we contacted would support us, that is not what the ultimate goal is.  The Lord knows who he has in mind to support us.  If you don't support missions in some capacity, can I challenge you to consider it?  If you don't feel the Lord calling you to support us, that is ok.  But what is the Lord calling you to support with your time and money?

And if you are one of the ones we have contacted, we love you and it's ok if you don't end up supporting us.  We still want to be friends ;)

And to end, will you pray for us as we are on this support raising journey?  I can see how the Lord is using this time to refine and shape us.  He is exposing my sin in this and it isn't easy at times.  But I am so thankful too that He loves me enough to teach me and make me more and more into His image.

And if you want to hear more about what the Lord is doing across the pond and why we are going, please feel free to contact me.  If you feel led to support us, that would be cool.  But my prayer is that the Lord will grow us all through this journey, showing us where he wants to peel back the layers of unbelief and point us more in the direction of being about HIS business while we are here on this earth.