Aug Update!!!

Hello Everyone,I hope this letter finds you all well.

I want to thank everyone of you for supporting us through prayer or finances or just words or letters of encouragement. We could not be here in Pineridge if it were not for all of you guys.
This summer has flown by, it is hard to believe that we have been here for 3 months already. We have been so blessed with many opportunities to stay busy. If you would like to see pictures, you can check out either mine or Amanda's facebook page or you can 'like" the Chanku Waste kids camp page for pictures from camp each week. if you dont have facebook, let me know and I can send you some!
We have been working with a ministry called Team Effort, they do mainly construction ministry in different locations all over the country. We primarily worked on the new chapel and dining facility for the Chanku Waste Kids Ranch but were also able to do some things in the community. We helped an elderly lady get running water for the first time in a long time and then through the graciousness of some of the group we were able to bless her with a water heater so that she could have hot water for the first time in many years as well. We were able to bulid a wheel chair ramp for someone who has just been put in a wheelchair. Things like this are not uncommon at all. I have received a list of several people in this area that do not have running water much less hot water, my hope is to be able to steadily work on that so that each one of these elders can have running water in their home over the next few months.
Friday nights is our teen night at the church. It has been so amazing to see how they have began trusting us and confiding in us. We started our studies out two months ago with "How much are you worth" I feel that many of the young people here, as well as the adults, have placed a very low value on themselves, when we know that God paid an amazing lop sided amount for us so that we can be with Him. we are worth whatever someone is willing to pay. I think that it really stirred some interest among them and each week we have grown with newcomers.  I am looking forward to seeing what God is going to do in their lives as they continue to give their lives over to Him and as He frees them from so many lies that have been told in this place.
We have been helping with the Kids camp as well. Jacob is loving it because he is at camp everyday and partaking in all of the activities, people are always coming up to us telling of how wonderful he is and has a sweet spirit and is always the first to volunteer to pray, I am so thankful for this and am very proud of him as he learns so many new skills and is challenged in new ways.
It is such a blessing to see how things work out. I honestly don't know how things are going to happen sometimes but they do. My dad has always said that "whatever God orders, He pays for" that is so very true, we have seen God answer so many prayers and even some that we didn't know was a need yet. the camp is able to run the bus in every direction everyday (And nothing is close here) as well as feed every child that comes through a breakfast bar as well as lunch everyday, I look at this and say I don't know how you do it, and then I am told by Mike and Monica "we don't". They have so many testimonies of how God has provided for them over the last 20 years and it is amazing. God is so good.

After being here for 3 months Amanda and I have been praying about what the Lord wants us to do for the next season of our lives. We have been answered and wanted to tell you that we know that God wants us to come here full time. We plan to leave here in the middle of September to head back south and hopefully be able to stop in with some of you along the way and visit with your church if you would like us to. we will spend the months over the holiday doing whatever the Lord leads in raising support. Possibly going down through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas sometime in October and November. I have been blessed with an opportunity to go to the Northwest territory, Yukon area in February with a dear friend of mine that has planted a few churches up there. This will be a difficult trip to make. it has to be made in the winter months so that you can drive on the ice roads to get there. Please pray for us concerning this, I am very much looking forward to this as well as a little unsure, when you start talking about -50 f I am at a loss and really cant comprehend that. but there are about 47,000 native Americans that live in that region and are mostly forgotten about a lot of the time.  
Once I get home from that trip our plan will be to head back here to Pineridge sometime the first of March hopefully visiting in some of your churches again.
I know this might be a lot for some of you, but know that this is where the Lord is leading us and we value you and your support in any way. You having a bible study in your home has no affect on these people here, but you praying in your home for these people has more of an impact than you could probably imagine. There is power in prayer and we covet you praying for us as God leads us into a new place.

Here are some things you can pray for specifically -
1. Sharps Corner Church
2. Us as a family
3. The Brennan family
4. That we would be able to raise support by March
5. We are in need of a van of some sort to travel to these places as God opens doors
6. Wisdom

 
If You are interested in supporting us at all, feel free to email or call us and let us know.
if You would like to make a donation towards any specific thing, such as toward helping us get a van, lunches for the kids, the materials for one house to have running water or even fuel for the bus (which costs around $500 a week) Let us know and we will see that it goes to that.
If you would like for us to come visit your church and share what God is doing here in Pineridge, let us know so that we can try and make good use of the trips we are taking in the months to come.
God is so good and I know that He has already provided everything we need. We are grateful for your friendships and your support.

Learning to serve the Lord in all we do,
Matt, Amanda, Jacob and Leah Hadden

He who Sustains.

Thank you Jesus for another productive, patience - producing, God sustaining week!  It has been a while since we've updated you, and I'm so grateful you are still following our blog. We have had such a great time! For Matt and Jacob it has almost be 3 months in this beautiful place, and almost 2 months already for us girls.  For us, it has flown by!  We are growing everyday more and more in love with the Natives. Has it been challenging? Absolutely.  We have had our eyes opened to so many things here, things at home that we wouldn't experience.  Our eyes of ministry have been expanded. We strive everyday to see through the eyes of Christ, not through ours which at times turn judgemental or frustrated. Great things are happening, and God is truly blessing this ministry.  We have fallen in love with the natives and so appreciate their open arms to let us in to be part of their lives.

For Chanku Waste' Ranch, the kids camp put on by Pastor Mike and Monica's ministry is doing amazing things! Every week we get a few new faces in, and Jacob is learning so much too! He enjoys going every day, playing with his friends, doing crafts, and running til he's completely worn out, which seems to make bedtime around here a little bit easier. 

We are in our 4th week of TEAMeffort Mission teams, and boy have we been crazy busy.  Matt's brother and sister, Nathan and Laura, have been here for 5 weeks, and sadly we are taking them to the airport to head home tomorrow. I asked Laura to head back a share that we truly have had an unforgiving schedule, so everyone knows we aren't just ignoring everyone back home. This is also a reason this is the most recent post in a few weeks.  We have had fantastic groups and some challenging ones. Matt is running the work sites like a boss and we are making so much progress on the facility for the Ranch. I am making sure the budget and administration side is in tip top shape, as well as keeping up my work on my own company, JNL Bookkeeping Services.  I try to help on the job site a few days but that isn't always the way it happens. Leah enjoys going to the camp and the work sites but by 12 she is asking for a nap, and with our schedule we defiantly try to accommodate.

A glimpse into our schedule, We are up at the sites by 9, and we break for the day by 3pm Monday - wed.  On Thursday we have a half day, and Friday is a free day for the campers. Sunday - Thursday night we have dinner and Chapel starting at 6 and hopefully get home by 9:30.  On Friday, we try to catch up on our tornado of a house and if we are lucky we get a few clean clothes put in the closet.  Saturday, our groups check out and we head to Rapid City for supplies, groceries, and meal out with our staff.  Sunday morning we have Church, have lunch, and prepare for the next group coming in at 5.  Phew....what a week!  We are finishing out this week, then next week will be our last week and we will continue our ministry with Chanku Waste' and the local Church. Working with TEAMeffort has been such a blessing!  The Lord is using the teams that come in to really take charge of the facility progress. Over the past few weeks we have completed 2 bathroom facilities, both Mens' and women' complete with showers as well for the groups that come into work at the camp; finished out a FEMA trailer that we have filled with bunks and closet space; built 2 decks for the bunk trailer;completely framed up the large facility: got the trusses up, and this week we are working on the decking to prepare for the roof. We are making so much progress for their ministry and really looking forward to this part of Pastor Mikes vision for the reservation coming into fruition.  To God be the Glory!

We repainted the Camp bus to make it the most amazing Camp bus on the Rez!!

We named the Bus "debbie" in honor of Jake's mom, one of our amazing TE Chaperone's that came from Wisconsin.  He lost his mom the week he was serving with us.  We are honored to forever have her name on our Camp bus!

Nathan working OH SO HARD!!  We are going to greatly miss Nathan and Laura, we wouldn't have survived the last few weeks without them. Sad to see them go :(

Trusses up and going! Thanks to a few professionals that installed 39 trusses in 7 hours.

"Greater things are still to be done in this City!!"

Some have asked how we are in our Support.  There is always a need, because all that we have coming in is pouring straight into the ministry here.  We are still taking support through our church Harvest Park Baptist Church (memo: South Dakota Mission).  If you need more information on this, you can email us at athadden@gmail.com.  Thank you for your continued support, and your prayers.

A few prayer needs:
- Please Pray that the Lord prepares our hearts for what is to come in October.  We have had a few opportunities but know in someway we will be connected to this reservation. Pray that we are obedient and at peace wherever He entrusts us to.
- Pray for continued protection for our family.  We live across the street from a community that Satan has a enormous pull.  Our home has been surrounded by an Army of Angels, and don't hear or see anything that goes on until after the fact. Nothing that Satan has even comes close to our house and we know that we are so protected by the mighty Hand of God.  Rejoice in this with us.
- Pray that God will continue to give us wisdom on how to love and reach the Natives. It is a battleground and pray that we are sensitive to the Holy Spirit and His leadings.
- Pray for our growth.  As we seek in all areas, as we grow in ministry, as we see through the eyes of Jesus, as we lay our desires down and take up His, as we fall more in love with our family and each other, as we study the word, pray that we are soaking in everything God has for us. 

We want nothing more that the best the God has.  We want to live a life of obedience, and we want to be a shining testimony of Gods faithfulness and Glory!  He has blessed us with more than we can imagine and He continues to give His best. Thank you so much for your prayers, as Christians, we make our prayers weak and think they don't make a difference. But prayers shake the walls of this world, break chains, destroys boundaries, and open the flood gates of Heaven. Prayer is power and we need them! This reservation needs them, Pastor Mike and Monica need them, our nation needs them. 

We love you all so much and So appreciate your support in all areas. The title of this post is "He who Sustains....", because He has never failed to do so over the past few months.  He has been our rock, our energy, and our drive. He is faithful to sustain, and we are so grateful for that.

Learning to serve the Lord in all we do,

Amanda

Lets Ride into the Sunset...

What an eventful week this has been! I know I say this every time I post but thank you for being patient with us. I know you are waiting on updates and we are trying to find the time to get them  to you regularly. Hopefully, after this week we can get on somewhat of a schedule. Last Sunday night, we were packing away and spending time with family and friends. A special thanks to Kathryn, Daniel, and Liam for staying up late with me, and to one of my besties, Nicole, for having one last sleepover with me (for a few months anyway). We were checking flights and they looked anything but promising.  So, after talking about it for weeks, anticipating the chance to see Jacob and Matt, and the emotions of saying goodbyes to everyone had me on the edge of a healthy breakdown. haha!! The thought of not making it out on Monday got to me.  After a sob fest and pity party, I decided to try a little later flight and try my odds. It was all the emotions of the stage of our adventure. We have been apart for 3 and a half weeks, the exhausting task of packing for a 6 month trip, and the emotional toll of bringing a few family and friends to tears with us heading West. It was wearing on me.

 We got to the airport after an emotional goodbye with my Grandparents and Nicole. Ugh.  It's never a good feeling.   We got the the airport with all our 7...yes 7 bags, unloaded and the Lords favor was on us from that point on. Small things, we were able to check the bags at the curb, which they dont do for standby passengers, and we were escorted to a 'behind the scenes' attendant that gave my parents gate passes to help me get through.  Which is almost unheard of.  They helped me through security and we were able to spend that much more time together. I cried at every opportunity that day I think!! And I'm unashamed! lol! I cried when I missed the first flight, I cried when I was told I'd probably get on the next one, I cried at the thought of having to head home. Long story, hopefully shorter, We decided to head to Memphis, then to Minneapolis, THEN to Rapid City, and hope I made all my connecting flights. I didn't think I got on the flight to Memphis, so I went up and said "is there anyway we are getting on? If not, we will head home and try again tomorrow." "You got on!" And then came the tears. Wow...I sound like a crazy person, but this was my flight out of Atlanta, if I got stuck in Memphis, it didn't matter. I was on my way to Matt and Jacob. I walked back to our seats where my parents had Leah and I just sobbed.  My mom put her sunglasses on so she could cry and not worry about it.  That was tough.  It's a short time to be gone, I understand. But we are embarking on new territory, leaving what's comfortable, leaving our support, and Trusting in Jesus like never before. Leaving my parents was the worst. We had the Gate attendants in tears, and the flight attendants once I got on the flight. Leah didn't understand and fought leaving Noni, which was so hard on me. She cried and we just had to pull her away. This has been tough on her, she doesn't understand quite what is going on.

 Don't get me wrong, it was joy and excitement as well, but that's the only thing I had the energy to do. After that, we were well on our way.  We made every flight and made it to South Dakota for our wonderfully perfect reunion.  I am so thankful that we don't have to be apart like this often. My military friends and family, I have so much respect for you and I'm grateful to not be in your position.  You are strong women!! Truthfully, this was a journey Matt and I started months and months ago, there was an urgency in our hearts to be there, as a family.  So I was ready, but it was very bittersweet!  And I'm sure we will have family and friends visit before we come home in Oct but the unknown is always an uneasy place to be. Praise Jesus He is the calm in the storm and our sustainer!

Ok, bear with me...almost time to wrap this up! We got to Rapid, and joined our handsome men, enjoyed a nice dinner, got to see Pastor Mike and Monica, and headed to our new home. Matt had made it sound rough, so I didn't have any expectations.  He didn't share with me that a ministry a few hours away had come and painted our house, helped decorate, and deep cleaned so all would be perfect when I got here.  Which was one of the sweetest things! I told Matt if I had any more tears to cry I would have cried when I walked in! haha!! The house is perfect for us, it's not in excellent condition but it has everything we need. I'm so thankful, God did this. He provided this home for us, which He knew was important to me. He cared and listened for the minor details, and once again poured His blessings out on us. On Tuesday we opened camp for the summer, so it's full swing ahead. We have about 70 kids a day and we are growing. We feed them, sing with them, teach them Gods word, play with them, and for Jacob and Leah it's a playdate everyday with tons of kids. They have made themselves known and Jacob is known as the football player...Leah is known for simply being adorable at anything she says or does. Blessing #5289451645641....Our children are flourishing!!  Another blessing, we get to work with Daddy everyday.  He is never far away and we have the fun of playing with him alot. We are so humbled friends.  We can't express the thankfulness we have in our hearts. God is so faithful and He is doing an amazing work here through this ministry. We miss our family and friends, but God has truly covered us in Peace and we pray that for our family back home as well.  Jesus wants to be evident in our lives.  He wants to be known.  The little things we do everyday make a difference and we want to strive to be Jesus everyday to these children.  Please pray for us, we do need that more than anything. You have all been so wonderful and we look forward to chatting with you more about the work here.

From the first day of Camp Chapel.  We had a wonderful group from Mississippi come to serve.

Our little ones on the front row, taking it all in :)

With love.

On the Road again.

What an amazing journey this has been so far. Not even being in South Dakota yet but just the planning, praying, seeking, packing, and rejoicing has taken us through an amazing adventure.  Matt, Jacob, and our cousin Kam, who happens to be an amazing videographer, left out on Thursday morning about 4 am Georgia time.  With the trailer, a 5 year old, and a dog, they made a few stops!

Made a stop at the Gateway Arch in St Louis.  This is Charlie walking Jacob :)

Our sweet RUNT of a man got to go swimming at the hotel Thursday night. The ultimate mans road trip wouldn't be complete without a few show muscles and the slaying of wildlife....

Matt hit a pheasant on the drive...he was pretty excited!!

and FINALLY crossed the South Dakota State Line after a 2 full days of driving!

The boys went caving today!

Meanwhile, Leah and I are home holding down the fort without our men, just TRYING to make it through each day! haha!!

Some things we have been doing...

Like having lunch with some amazing friends, and taking Leah to experience Japanese Hibachi, and learn a few new trick from Nicole.

and making sweet memories of our own.

We are so richly blessed.  God has provided every single need for us this far and we know he will continue to do so.  The weeks leading up to us leaving were really encouraging.  A lot of time with family and friends and making some God appointed connections.  As of now, they are staying not far from our soon to be home for the next 6 months, and will be moving in soon.  This blog was started with the purpose of keeping you updated on our ministry and everyday lives.  So you can expect the pictures and posts will keep coming! Thank you for supporting us friends, you mean the world to us.

Learning to serve the Lord,

Amanda

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