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!

So...It's been a YEAR!

Two of my English students during Taiwan's 10/10 celebration.

It's amazing how quickly the time can fly. Life has been life. It passes way faster than you realize, and then you look at your blog and realize that you haven't posted anything in over a year! Oh my! I don't know if anyone really missed my ramblings but let me apologize for my absence and move on.

So what have we been up to lately? Let me see...

Last time I posted we had just left McCarthy Baptist Church and were praying about God's next step for us. Shortly after that post it was confirmed in our hearts and lives that God was calling us to Taiwan. I know! I was totally shocked too! If you want more of the low down on how that came about please continue reading on our Taiwan Ramblings blog.

The other really big news is WE HAVE A BABY! After one confirmed miscarriage, one possible missed miscarriage, and years of trying to conceive, we landed in Taiwan and conceived a baby within a week. Talk about life changes. We definitely weren't expecting that to happen! Our beautiful little Noelle is now ten weeks old and is thriving. We love her so much and we praise God for the special blessing that is our baby girl. We are honored and humbled to be her parents, and we are striving show her our love and God's love every day.


I know this is a relatively short post compared to all that has been happening but you can find more details on our Taiwan blog. Until next time!

Grace and Peace,

Christiana

Wisdom I Learned from The Sound of Music

When I was growing up, one of my mother's favorite movies of all time was The Sound of Music. She loved it so much that she actually named my baby sister Gretel after the youngest VanTrapp child. Needless to say, I have seen Sound of Music over and over and over.

A little over a week ago, Jimmy found out he was being let go from his position at the church. It was very short notice and definitely unexpected (since it had more to do with church politics than job performance). Since then I have been praying about what we should do and the direction God may be leading us in now. Which brings me back to--you guessed it--The Sound of Music.

More than once in this musical classic, Maria says, "When God closes a door somewhere He opens a window." That's where I feel like we are right now. God has closed the door on our ministry at McCarthy (for whatever reason) and now He is directing us to find the window He has opened.

So please pray for us as we seek God's direction. It is a very stressful time, but also an exciting time. I know, right now you are giving me a bewildered look and saying "Exciting? Are you completely off your rocker!" But I assure you it is.

Since Jimmy had the weight loss surgery in October he has lost 190+ pounds and we are able to consider more ministry options than ever before. We are even praying about whether or not God may be leading us to bigger and more adventurous things.

I will be sure to keep you informed as we see where God is directing us. Until then I simply want to say thank you in advance for all of your prayers and support!

Grace and peace,

Christiana

God Uses Imperfect People

Life happens. People makes choices--good and bad everyday. Then we judge ourselves and others based on those choices.

I guess I have been thinking about this a lot lately. So when I saw the video "Flaws of Biblical Proportion" on a local churches Facebook page I thought I would share it with you. It's a funny, creative skit about all the "messed up" people that God used to do great things.

I hope you enjoy this video and get a few laughs while you remember that God can use flawed people like me and like you.

Flaws of Biblical Proportions - Finding the Perfect Small Group Leader from rightnow.org on GodTube.