I'm Not The Only One??!!! Whew!

Today after church we started our final meeting (above, not everyone is pictured) and I hear Brandon begin by saying that usually before a trip everyone experiences a lot of difficulties and spiritual warfare.

I couldn't believe my ears...WHY didn't I think of that?!? 

Let me explain...

Yesterday I was emotionally and physically spent...so much so that I skipped dinner and gave myself a "time out" alone in my room for about an hour. Tim has been more tired than usual. Hudson has had a rough week sleeping (he caught a cold), which means I didn't get hardly any sleep for a few days. And the kids have seemed more difficult (and excited) than usual. Roll that into a ball with "we have so much to do" and I was needing a break.

Yet, I couldn't believe that I didn't realize (or recognize) that there was a HUGE spiritual battle going on.

YEA!!!! (no, I'm not being sarcastic) It is so good to know that I'm not imaging it and things have been a bit crazier than usual. You know..."one step forward, five steps backwards" kind of a few days.

I am so glad that the Lord reminded me of this. Twice actually...right after the meeting we stopped by a friend's house to borrow a cooler to keep in our van on the drive. She asked me to come in and get a quick tour of her new home I have been meaning to see. While were walking and talking she shared with me about the sermon that they had at their church this morning: Spiritual Warfare.

Yep. I LOVE how God always encourages me, reminds me and even disciplines me by bring up the same verse or topic in many ways.

We are in a battle everyday. Satan doesn't want me to stay at home with my kids, teaching them about the Lord, making healthy foods to heal them, encouraging my husband, planning a mission trip to Mexico.

NO! Satan would love it if I would spend my days in self-pity, laziness, ignorance or comparison--rather than know he exists and to be fighting for the Kingdom of the Lord. I think in general Americans (even in the church sometimes) don't want to look into or admit that there is a spiritual realm. So it's kind of a touchy subject. 

Did you notice how you responded when I started writing about Spiritual Warfare? Did you get uncomfortable? Annoyed? 

Jesus talks a lot about this in the Bible...and He made a lot of people uncomfortable too. Not just to be mean, but to wake us up to the reality of the world around us. To take action and to be prepared.

All this to say...please keep our whole team in your prayers. We are going to need it and it is such an encouragement to know you are praying for us.

James 5:16 "The prayer of righteous person is powerful and effective."

Your prayers mean a lot. 


Well, the meeting went well (except for the occasional noisiness from our kiddos!)...we reviewed briefly how each of the team leaders are doing in preparing, we covered how we need to be efficient and timely when we stop on the road so that we work as a team to get things done and back on the road again, the last of the money for the company we are using was due today (of course we forgot ours at home! lol! Don't worry, we got it there later!), costs for food on the road, remembering passports (I do keep thinking that we are going to forget these! lol!) and many other little last minute details that need to be covered before we pack up and hit the road.

I have been so grateful at the thoroughness of the notes and detailed plans that we cover. If I was a college age student, I probably wouldn't care too much, but as a mama to young kiddos and needing to feed them a bit differently-it has been wonderful! You can tell this team has done this more than once!

Here is a picture of our kids sitting off to the side eating lunch (the meeting was about 2 hours right after church)...sorry to everyone who had to smell it cooking! They were so thankful to have food (and I was too knowing that they were not melting down from low blood sugar! lol!)...although Auston was bummed about not having any cheese in the meal.

Yeah...he loves cheese.

God is taking such good care of us. Things are coming together more and more every day (although, like I said above, sometimes in the moment it feels like a "five steps backwards" day or two!) So many friends and family members are praying for us and have sent money for our trip. I love seeing all their hears joined to our trip in a beautiful mosaic of support. Every little bit has helped and together it is creating an amazing masterpiece.

I hope to find a minute in the next few days to share more on all the support and love we have received to go on this trip.

Just for good measure, God worked it out to bless me personally:

Today my in-laws are watching the kids for awhile (it was a surprise to me!), Tim and I stopped at the store and got me a salad, some dates and some tea...so here I sit in SILENCE (!!!!!) enjoying some delicious jasmine tea enjoying the snow delicately falling out the windows when we got home, and now the gorgeous puffy clouds and blue sky...makes my heart full and refreshed.

AND!!! I just got a phone call (yes, honestly-right NOW!) from some friends of ours that want to cover ALL the remaining costs of our trip.

IS GOD AMAZING OR WHAT!!!???

But, we already knew that. =)

(George Mueller would be proud..."If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea,' and it will obey you." Luke 17:6)

Serving Him,

tarena

Yep...we're leaving for Mexico in one week!

I totally can't believe it.

This week has gone SO FAST for me (it has gone SO SLOW for Tim)...only because we were snowed in(8-12 in.?), lost power and the kids got into the linen closet last week and pulled every linen and blanket out...then when I told them to put it away, they put it all on the dirty clothes in the laundry room. I am now just catching up and the laundry room has been tamed.

I really like to be on top of the laundry.

And the dishes.

If I'm not, the whole house can go chaotic on me in .5 seconds.

I'm not kidding.

So, now that I'm not climbing laundry mountains, I suddenly find that it is THURSDAY!?! What?! When did that happen? Seriously, I had no idea what day it was...Tim had to remind me yesterday that it was Wednesday when I told the kids it was Tuesday. lol.

So, all that to say-I can hardly believe we will be leaving in one week.

One. Week.

Things are all coming together and I am amazed at how the Lord provides. Just when I start to stress a bit, He reminds me that He is in control and that this whole process is part of the experience-and just for good measure He makes sure another support check arrives in the mail that day.

I love it.

Here are some of our supplies...

Yes, when you are going to be driving a total of 60 hours in a van with 5 kids, you buy an "on the go potty" (pretty cool actually!) and sanitizer.

I found these on amazon.com and I am totally excited about the sanitizer as it is made without alcohol. Totally out of natural products (like plant oils) and STILL kills 99.99% bad bacteria.

Yep, God rocks. He gives us so many plants to keep us healthy!

Here are a few of the other food products we are taking...although, one is "hair conditioner", one is for salads and one is for "sunblock". (Yes, there will be plenty of food, we just eat a lot of salads, so we are bringing some extras so we don't hog all the dressings!)

If you are thinking "Granola Mama" right about now-or that I'm a bit looney... it's ok...I'm used to it! =)

(oh, and I did consider making a batch of grain free granola for the road, but it takes a while...and we eat it too fast, so I think I'm going to skip it this time...I do hope to make some homemade beef jerky this week though! I do love Tim...and he LOVES jerky!)

I have been pleasantly surprised at how much easier it will be than I originally thought to continue to eat the way we do normally at home. This seemed like a HUGE undertaking (or impossible?!), but with getting a chance to see the meal plan last month and by bringing a few things as substitutes, it will all work out just fine! 

We would love any and all prayers for us as we prepare the final things this last week. When I remember that the Lord is in control and that it will all come together, I am really peaceful about this next week...only occasionally have I had a tense moment as I think about packing our family of 7 for this mission trip!


Serving Him,
tarena

Saved $50!!

Whoo-hoo!

We saved $50 per person by committing by today's date to go on the trip!

I love saving money! =)

Well, I guess we knew for awhile that the Lord wanted us to go-but to have Tim able to get the vacation days off and "officially" commit is just amazing. Truly a miracle from the Lord! We still don't know how he got Spring Break off!?!?! That is valuable vacation time-only the Lord worked it out so that no one else at his work wanted those days off!

Thank you Lord!

Serving Him,
Tarena

ps...32 people are already committed to going this year!!

Opps...

There was a pop can fundraiser yesterday and I totally didn't see the info on Facebook.

Bummer.

Good thing we have MONTHS to prepare and do more fundraisers! I do have a feeling that these months are going to go FAST!

Note to self...check Facebook often.

Serving Him,
tarena

Letter from Brandon

Brandon sent out a Facebook letter:

"Can you believe it is less than 6 months until our next mission trip to Mexico? I promise not to start a count down (yet).

Anyways, I want to get some very important info to those of your that were unable to attend last week's informational meeting.

First of all, the dates of the trip are: March 22 - April 1, 2012 (March 24 - March 30 if flying).

Cost is $450 per person 13 y/o+, $350 per 6-12 y/o and $65 for 5 y/o and under. There is a price break of $50 for anybody who commits to go on the trip by December 4, 2011 and makes a $100 deposit ($50 deposit if 12 y/o or under). The discount doesn't apply if 5 y/o or under. This cost covers all trip expenses except food on the drive down and back, and hotel costs if you choose to not stay in the free churches along the way. Of course if you choose to fly, that will be at your expense also.

We have come up with this pricing structure to make it affordable for families to be able to participate, and to encourage early commitments so we can get a jump start on lining up vehicles. There will also be optional fund raising opportunities made available to reduce the amount required, for those that want to participate.

I hope all of you have had the opportunity to visit the mission website at www.gomissionstomexico.com - if not, I encourage you to do so.

Please prayerfully consider joining us for Spring Break 2012. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

In His Service,

Brandon Chase"

Great info to keep in mind...shocking how inexpensive it is to go! (There are a few additional costs: passport if you don't have one yet, $20 to cover lunches for the week as the church we are helping is going to cook for us, meals on the way down and back and some spending money if needed!).

I'm going to have to figure our costs out a bit differently as our family will be driving our own vehicle and paying for our own gas...it comes out about the same per person...so we are looking around $3,000.

Depending on gas prices. Oh, gas prices-why do you rise???

Serving Him,
tarena

First meeting

Today we had the first Spring Break Mexico Mission Trip 2012 meeting. It went really well and there seemed to be a good turn out for those who are interested in attending. There is also a great age range-very cool! Lots of people who have gone before and also a lot of newbies to this group!

We were given a few handouts going over the break down of costs and also what the schedule for the trip would look like. There will be lots of fundraising opportunities and they sound really fun-especially the taco feed.

Now let's pray that we can get the vacation time off and we are all set to go!

Serving Him,
tarena