Some Things Never Get Easier

Some things NEVER get easier...or at least it seems that way!

As of July 2, 2015, my family and I completed two years of teaching, missions, and relationship building in Taiwan. We loved the people we met and those with whom we worked. We even enjoyed the majority of the crazy cultural differences and experiences we had. We only moved back to the United States for two reasons #1 God's calling and #2 so our baby girl could be closer to her grandparents.

We prayed and prayed and sought God's guidance on what He would have us to do when we returned. He faithfully answered us, and He provided this amazing opportunity to minister to university students--just twenty minutes away from my husband's mom! We had a job and a place to live/minister all before we even set foot back on American soil. It was all perfect...until it wasn't :(

After moving into the dorm and having an amazing first month at our new ministry, things unexpectedly ended. (Let me tell you that I hate politics--workplace or otherwise!) Suddenly, we questioned God's calling. Had we heard Him correctly? Did we misunderstand? Why had this happened to us? We started off so strong and now we were jobless, homeless, and confused. What should we do next?

Well here we go again!

In my experience, it seems like it never gets easier to listen and trust God. Especially when I am in a situation like the one we are in now. It's so much easier to trust and have faith when you are snug as a bug where you think God wants you to be, but it's so much harder in the struggle. The ironic thing is that is when it really matters! I know this is something that I am still learning, and I may never master it until the day I die but I'm trying.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." ESV

Join me in making a conscious choice to trust God today--even if your circumstances don't make sense right now. Choosing to trust God above our own reasoning and common sense can be difficult--don't get me wrong God gave you a brain for a reason--but sometimes God wants us to do things that don't make any sense in our rationale and sometimes those can be the most rewarding things of all!

The Scent of Cherry Blossoms by Cindy Woodsmall

The Scent of Cherry Blossoms by Cindy Woodsmall is about a young Mennonite woman (Annie) and a young Amish man (Aden) and their families. To the outsider looking in the Amish and Mennonite communities may look virtually the same, and they often make very good neighbors. However, some lines are drawn deep and are not meant to be crossed. Annie and Aden begin to discover just how hard it can be to navigate the dangerous waters between their faiths when they start to fall in love. Will their faith, love and families be able to weather the storm brought on by this forbidden love?

All I can say is that Cindy Woodsmall has done it again! She takes you into the lives of the Plain people and lets you see God from their perspective. The Scent of Cherry Blossoms is well written and will keep your interest until the very end. I also love that she brings in a couple of her characters from The Christmas Singing novella to make small appearances in the community. It makes life in Apple Ridge more real since Aden and Roman made an appearance in that book as well.

I highly recommend the Scent of Cherry Blossoms to all of Cindy Woodsmall's fans and to anyone else who is intrigued by the Amish and Mennonite faiths and communities. It is a wonderful addition to her other books, and a great short read (just under 200 pages). I am glad to add this book to my collection and I look forward to reading it again sometime.

Read Chapter One

I received this book free of charge from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing for review purposes.

A Lifetime of Firsts

Bright and early this morning, I drove my sister to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport for her first ever flight. I could tell she was nervous and excited and probably a little scared (although she would never admit it! so I didn't even ask.). Last night before bed we talked about all the important things to know and do and bring on a flight. It was nice to know that my life experience was benefiting someone else. Still all the knowledge in the world can't curb the "first timer" jitters.  It wasn't until all three of the people she was meeting had arrived and they had all checked in that she really began to relax. It's fun watching someone go through a good experience for the first time...not so fun if it is a bad experience.

Life is full of first timer events. Sometimes they are good--like this morning--and sometimes they are bad. We should embrace our first timer experiences and learn from them. Our knowledge and experience may benefit someone else later on down the road.

Anniversary Celebrations

Yesterday, Jimmy and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary. We had made some last minute change of plans since we weren’t able to take the big trip we had planned. Jimmy was so cute when he decided that he wanted everything to be a surprise. It was kind of a challenge because I do most of the driving in our relationship and when we got into the van last night, I still had no clue where we were going. That’s a scary thought when you are driving around in St. Louis traffic.


All the unknown and jitters made for an extra exciting evening. I think this was the first time I have not known any of the details since our very first date! It was cool. When Jimmy had finally directed me to our destination, we were at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Chesterfield. I knew as soon as we got there that he had picked this restaurant especially for me. Jimmy doesn’t even like spaghetti! (He does like alfredo sauce though so I knew he would be in good shape.) It was nice to know that he had truly put me first the whole night.

Yeah, marriage is hard work, but it can be oh so rewarding. Without the work we can never fully appreciate the good moments. They are precious and priceless!

Thank you, Jimmy, for making our fourth anniversary truly special and for all the little things you do to show me you love me each and every day. I am glad that God brought us together. You are amazing!

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24

Dustin's Story

Wow! This week has been something else! I’m going to try and tell you a little about what has happened without going on and on and on…okay I am sure you get the picture.
Geez…I really don’t know where to begin.

A Little History
Many of the youth and college students at Villebrook come from broken homes. We even have several that have never met (or can’t remember) one of their biological parents. This blows my mind because I never had to go through that. I am very thankful that as weird as my family is, we have always been together. Anyway, back to this week…

About Dustin's Past
One of our college students, Dustin, has never met his biological father. Since June Jimmy and Dustin’s girlfriend Shaina have been praying that Dustin would try to find his biological father. Shaina’s grandmother even urged Dustin to find his father for medical history because of the strong migraines he has. Dustin just wasn’t ready yet.

Dustin has had an interesting family history. During the young years of his life, he thought that his mom’s first husband was his dad. It wasn’t until after they got a divorce that his mom told him that he wasn’t Dustin’s father. Then there was a while when he didn’t have any kind of father. Later his mother re-married and the man Dustin now considers his father came into his life. All the while he thought that his biological father wanted nothing to do with him and that he wasn’t around and that he didn’t even send child support to help him out.

About Dustin Now
Now Dustin is 20 years old. He has had some real upheaval in his life. He has been supporting himself for the past couple of years and just like everyone else he has suffered from the lull in the economy. After Dustin lost his job, stopped taking college classes because he couldn’t pay the tuition, and his car got repossessed Dustin’s mom kicked him out of the house and told him that she didn’t want anything to do with him until “you get your life back together.” So for the last couple of months they haven’t really seen or spoken to each other.

I have been proud of the Dustin and the attitude that he has had even through all of these things. Although he hasn’t had a job, he hasn’t let depression win. He has stayed committed to daily Christian disciplines, his relationships, and to church. I am proud of the man that God is shaping him into. Through this process, God brought Dustin to the point where he was finally open to meeting his real father.

As Dustin talked to Jimmy about this we all secretly rejoiced inside. They talked about how to find his father and all the possible reactions that could happen when Dustin found him. When Dustin called his Grandma to find out everything that she could about his biological father, he began to prepare himself for the worst.

Through his Grandma, Dustin learned his father’s name, last known city of residence, and employer. Knowing it was a long shot; he sat down one night last week and typed his dad’s name, employer, and city into Facebook. Only one name came up in the search. Through closer investigation, it became clear that his man was Dustin’s father! Now the question was what to say…

Through his father’s profile he learned that he had two half-sisters. Thankfully they also had Facebook profiles so he was able to send the oldest a friend request. All the time not knowing how to break the ice, Dustin prayed and pondered and tried to find the words to say “Are you my family?”

What Happened this Week
This week, Dustin received a message from his half-sister via Facebook. She was SO excited! It turns out that she had originally accepted his friend request because she thought he looked familiar and might have been someone from her high school, but when she and her mom were looking through her Facebook friends her mom recognized Dustin. She knew right away that he was her husband’s son who had been lost but not forgotten. The message was awesome! Best of all it broke the ice and Dustin didn’t have that burden anymore! God worked it all out perfectly!

Since the original message, Dustin has conversed constantly with them over Facebook. Plus he also talked to his father on the phone for several hours. Then last night at church, Dustin met his dad for the first time that he could remember! Just being there and witnessing it was a truly awesome experience! Now Dustin has the opportunity to know a part of him that has been hidden all these years.

As it turns out, Dustin’s dad (Mike) has made several attempts over his life to find Dustin. He was even successful a couple of times although he was never allowed to see him. The last time he had seen Dustin he was one and half and he brought him some presents for his birthday. Dustin’s half-sisters have grown up knowing about Dustin all their lives and have even had a picture of him in their house. Dustin found out that he has three sisters that he knew nothing about but who have loved him all the same.

Needless to say, it will be a long road as they all get to know each other for the first time. BUT what an amazing road it is! Aren’t you glad that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him?

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13