OH OH!!! Pick ME!!

Man! This weekend was just fabulous!  Saturday, we were actually all home and were able to do nothing...I mean nothing. I did nothing...like nap, watch tv, play.  Nothing productive at all and it felt awesome!  On Sunday, we went to church, then was treated to a  nice lunch at La Parilla by Andys Family.  Andy is going with us to South Dakota until the Lord leads otherwise.  We had our mission night last night and we were honored to have Pastor Mike Brennan from Pine Ridge come and speak to our church and family members.  This is only the second time we have met him and we have definatly connected in an amazing way.  He is a Native himself and has incredible insight on how to reach his people. 

The phrase of the night "it will be hard..." Comforting right? haha! In reality, the Lakota People are one of the hardest people group in the United States to reach.  And Satan has a huge foothold their and he will attack when people come in bringing the gospel.  Pine Ridge is the most poverty stricked region in the United States.  It is filled with people who are hurting, and crying out for truth.  If we can help, if only for a few months, what a huge calling.  We were so encouraged in having him here, and also having Mitch from TeamEffort come down as well.  We will be working with their ministry for 7 weeks as Camp Directors for their youth camps. And the other 3-4 months we will be working along side the local ministry and supporting the Kids Summer day camp.

Some people have asked if Domestic Missions is different than Foreign Missions in the aspect of raising support.  And in some ways it is, some people think we are just moving and getting jobs in South Dakota.  Basically just relocating.  But in reality, we are leaving our home, our jobs, and our ministry and working full time serving the Lakota People.  We are going fully dependant and trusting in the Lord. That's a very humble place to be.  This part is not the most fun, but it's the business side of the ministry.  If you will, pray and trust the Lord to move in your heart to see in what way you can partner up with us.  We are trusting God for our full financial support but we are also trusting that He is raising up Prayer Warriors on our behalf.  All support is through our church and is tax deductible to you. 

I will include the news email that we sent out yesterday, please continue to pray for our ministry as well as our preperation.  You are all so special to us and we wouldnt be in the position we are today without all of you!! Love you!!!

Hello everyone,
We wanted to give you all an update on what the Lord is doing with us.
First thing - if you are free tonight at 7, pastor Two Shadows (Mike Brennan) of the pine ridge Indian reservation will be with us at our church tonight. Pastor Mike is a missionary on the reservation and who we will be working with in SD. I know you will be blessed to hear him tonight if anyone would like to come.
We are still trusting the Lord and ask you to pray with us about our living arrangements there. We are still praying about an RV, either purchasing one if the funds are there or borrow one if someone would allow us to use theirs for the summer.
We are still short of the funds needed to live there for the time we have made a goal of, but are still very much trusting that God has it taken care of.
As of right now Matt is leaving may 3rd to start the 24 hr drive, and Amanda, jacob and Leah will be flying up the end of may to meet up. That is only a few weeks away and it seems like time is going by very fast.

Matt is flying up April 3rd and coming back the 7th, mainly to canvas the area and get some last things settled before making the drive, and to meet with some of the people we will be working with in the coming months.
We are having a carwash on April 21st to help raise some funds.
If you are interested in partnering with us on this or if you would like to pledge some towards this, please contact us and we will let you know how you can help with that.

Some things to be in prayer about on our behalf.
That our trust in the Lord will not waiver.
Our living arrangements would be settled.
The funds would be there for us to stay the full time.
Gas prices. - yes they are going up if you didn't notice, and this is a big expense for us.
Andy Rapson - a friend that is going up with us and staying for a while.
Pastor Mike and his family.
Thank you so much for all of your support, God has been so gracious to us and has ministered to us through so many of you and we are truly grateful. We look forward to seeing what God is going to do in SD this summer and the years to come.

Learning to serve the Lord in all we do,
Matt, Amanda, Jacob and Leah
Mhadden@gmail.com
678-471-9945

If you would like to support us you can send any support to (please add "South Dakota" in the memo line.)
Harvest Park Baptist Church
37 Frank Cook Road
Newnan, GA 30263

Oh the joy!

So for one...I have GOT to get my camera fixed! I am missing all these amazing moments and my blog is looking a bit drab.  My phone SM card isn't working either so I can't take pics on my phone.  So in the next week (hopefully) be looking for some posts with some pictures :)

So today has just been fabulous!! Other than the allergies that I'm fighting, it has been beautiful.  My sweet niece, Ashlyn, is here visiting from Texas so my grandparents picked him up from school to visit with her. So I've been here all morning with my sweet Leah.  I get asked alot if we are going to have more kids or not.  When I think about this I have this wonderful feeling of JOY. Yes, when I think about managing it all, I get a little overwhelmed at the "todos", but what greater blessing or joy?!  No jumping to conclusions, haha!  JOY has been resounding in my heart for weeks now and I have prayed for more times to feel joy and recognize joy in my life in the little everyday moments. I have been wanting to get fit, lose a few or more pounds, and feel good about my body again. Doing something for me, with MY hard work, and MY determination. No one can do it for me. So I was outside doing jumping jacks, and stretching, and here is this beautiful angel beside me doing everything I am doing.  Counting up to as high as she can then starting over. We stretched and did the "jumpy things", then started on our walk to soak up this day.  I prayed in my heart that I would find joy in every moment, and that's what I found.  We were walking and she had a hold of my finger and she was just jabbering away!  I can pick up her words but this was a special conversation. Something was so exciting that she was talking a hundred miles a minute.  I had to stop her and say "leah, baby, slow down!"  She looked up and said "I love you more mommy"....brought tears to my eyes!  This is something we hear all day long.  She loves so much!  And she tells us often.  She wakes us up in the morning to "i love you daddy, or I love you mommy".  But this was just so precious, and unexpected.

So we walked and we sat down for a while and laughed at everything! She was so giddy!  I sat there wishing that I took more moments like this everyday.  Throw out my schedule or to do list, stopped working, and took a second to love and spend time with my kids. The work of a mom is exhausting.  And No, men will NEVER get it!! Matt can clean the house top to bottom in a few hours and wonder why it takes me so long. Don't worry Ladies...he has NEVER said anything like that, because he knows that wouldn't end well, but sometimes I feel like he's thinking it. Then I think, why is it so hard for me to get things accomplished around the house.  My job description is not to just cook, clean, and look fantastic at the end of the day (bahahahaha!!).  It includes incredible amounts of teaching, disciplining, inspiring, and loving.  I would love to have more kids, and we do hope to adopt one day as well, but If God blesses us with more children, I can't wait to pour out our love on them! It is a powerful thing!!

One thing my kids will always be able to say is that they felt loved by Matt and I.  They hear it often, we hug them often, and make sure they know that.  I hope when they have their own families that they love even more than we did! Jacob and Leah both are quick to tell others that they love them, and I hope their love for others grows more and more everyday.  Love it the most powerful thing in the world!! And I hope they feel it always.

Take time out of your day and love on your kids! You'll miss these moments when they grow up!! :)

From this....

To this.....

 

and this....

To this....

I pray that I find JOY in every single moment.

Your way.

So I'm guessing an update is in order! Thank you for being patient with me.  We are at a place where we are starting to plan the BIG fundraisers and really getting our sponsorship in order. We are looking into a wonderful RV that would fit our needs and trusting the Lord to work in this situation.  Defiantly praying ALOT.  The Lord had brought to my attention the things that I haven't brought before Him. And to be honest I was surprised myself at how much "planning" I have done on my own. Now WHY on earth would I go and do that??!!! Well because sometimes I think without thinking if that makes sense.  I should allow the God of the Universe to gracefully and perfectly appoint everything about our time there, but I let myself get in the way.  I say it's "OK" to worry...I'm a mom and its my job to plan and do, but I have been given a more important role in this adventure. That is to TRUST and pray, and be obedient!  To let go of every expectation and expect God to work things out for His glory, in whatever way He seems fit.  Some say that's hard, and if you asked me a few days ago I would have agreed. But in this whole experience, God has allowed my little self shrink a little more everyday.  Did you know that when you totally release yourself, your plans, your family, your hopes, your visions, and completely trust in HIS plans, hopes, and visions, He will give you this overwhelming peace?  I'm not there yet,  but each day (and it may take years...ha!) I am getting a bit closer, and God is giving me a little more peace.  The peace of God is SO freeing!! If you haven't experienced it, I dare you to try it.  Ask for Peace in your finances! Yes...your bank account may be $0 but stand on the promise that HE provides all your needs according to HIS riches in Glory.  Ask for peace in your family! Peace in your marriage, your relationships, your work, your ministry.  Release your worry and your fear and take hold of the promises of God. Trust that He will do what He says He will do, and do not be moved by circumstance. 

I went to visit my parents church this past Sunday, and my sweet cousin, Caitlin, sang a song that has defiantly rang true in my heart the last few days.

It will be my JOY to say...Your will, Your way, ALWAYS!

Some of my PAST worries, (Thank you Jesus!!) have been...."OK...so, we will be living, cooking, homeschooling, working, and playing in a RV with 2 kids, a dog, and probably a few extra visitors throughout our time there!!" Wait for it....wait for it....one....two.....three.....FREAK OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Humph........Yes...even you might stress if you thought about that for a few hours.  So I started to pray that my Father would help me to find JOY in every moment.  While we are crammed and stuffed in the camper, let me find joy in the chaos and take a deep breathe in and enjoy this time with my children.  While I clean up every little thing, 35 times a day, just so it looks like we have a floor in such a small place, help me to find joy in letting the mess be a mess for a while.  Let me find JOY in letting my precious Savior direct our every moment.  And right now, I can't tell you how excited I am to be living in an RV for 6 months!! God has shown me the excitment and fun in doing something out of the norm, and how He is going to bless our time there!  It's not for everyone, but we are being faithful. It will be hard and right now there are a lot of unknowns but I commit in my heart to trust and to be obedient to His calling for our precious little family!

I challenge you to let go of the things you feel you can control. Let go and let God do His work in your life and in your situation.  And just when you think you have let go enough...let go a little more.  And a little more.

Gods peace is real and I know that I will experience that a little more every day that I choose to let Him work.

~amanda