Road Trip Video Recap

This is an amazing video of our road trip with Daniel, Justin, Geoff, and Noah back in August from Washington State to Florida and was put together by Noah Potis. Just makes me remember one of the best road trips of my life. Enjoy:)

Introducing our church name...

Redemption Church Delray Beach is going to be the name of our church plant in Delray Beach. We are excited to say that we are registered  and licensed with the state of Florida as an official non-profit corporation and are getting a website put together now. Be praying for us and all the details as we start the church. We are excited to see what God has for the people in Redemption Church!

Shopping together...

For any ladies that are following our blog, you all know the thrill of a great find at a garage sale, right? That perfect little throw pillow... :) You know what I mean! Well, this week, my beloved husband has teamed up with me and tackled at least 10 different thrift stores looking for furniture for our house in Delray. When we moved out here, we gave away most of our furniture, so we needed to find a dining set, living room furniture, beds for the kids, all sorts of stuff. And, amazingly, I think our time out shopping together has been some of the most fun we've had together in a while! It's been so funny hearing Daniel say things like, "What about THIS piece!" and "Do you really thing this goes with the overall VISION for the room..." Ha! It's just great. AND, the other cool thing is how great the used furniture and thrift stores are down here. People actually get rid of really great stuff! So far, we've found our dining table (from POTTERY BARN! Yay!), couches, 6 chairs that match the table, and we are on our way to pick up two twin beds that I found on Craigslist this evening.

Just wanted to share the joy. :) God is so good to provide for us in the simplest and smallest ways.

New worship songs

I am always looking for new worship songs to sing, so I just thought we would share a few worship songs that have been blessing us. Enjoy:)

Mercy Reigns by Elevation Church

Lost are found / God is able by Hillsong

Rise by Hillsong

Here is an e-mail we sent to our prayer team this week. If you would like to be on our prayer team, e-mail us and we will add you! Thanks for your support and prayers!

"Thank you so much for continuing to pray for our family during this season in Jupiter. We have been able to spend some really important time in prayer, preparing for the start of a church, fine tuning the vision, trusting in Jesus, spending time with our family and friends, enjoying God’s creation, researching, meeting people, and growing closer to the Lord.

We are excited to announce that we will be moving in a month to Delray Beach. As we move closer to the move, the needs continue to grow and we are thankful that we have you praying for us. Prayer is definitely the foundation of this church plant. It has been so encouraging to see God answering our prayer requests. We know that Jesus hears our prayers, and we are so thankful. Here are some current things we can be praying for:"

OUR FAMILY

-More faith and love for Jesus

-Our family’s health

-Moving expenses

-More financial support and finding a job in Delray

-Friends and meeting people

-More people to join our prayer team

CHURCH

-Financial start up costs and supplies

-A place to meet for Sunday Morning Services and Bible Study

-Salvations and Discipleship

-All the administration details

-More people for our team to help serve, disciple, evangelize, and pray

-The local pastors and churches that are already established in Delray

PRAISE REPORTS

-A CT Scan of Jeremiah’s brain came back completely normal (he’s had chronic headaches since our move in August, and after several visits to the doctor, we were sent to the ER to rule out anything very serious)

-We have had a number of people come to visit us and encourage us

-We found a home to rent in Delray!!! (waiting on the application to be approved)

-Laura’s parents found a home here, and sold their home in Olympia the next day

-Daniel’s walking pneumonia is finally getting better after two rounds of antibiotics

-Daniel has gotten connected with a pastor network out of Fort Lauderdale

-We have had tornados in our area twice now, and they have not come near us

Praise and Prayer for our son, Jeremiah

We wanted to give an update for those of you who have been praying for our son, Jeremiah. He has had a headache since our move here to Jupiter in August. We have had him treated once for a sinus infection (which helped briefly), and have also had him in to at least two other doctors who just sent him home and told us to keep giving him Ibuprofen. Well, last week, his headache became severe enough for him to really complain and beg me for medicine, and I was frustrated and decided to drag him to yet another walk in clinic. I was really hoping that they might simply decide he had a bad sinus infection again and treat him. (the pediatrician here has not been any help).

Well, as it turns out, I believe we did see the right doctor this time. When we arrived at the urgent care, Jeremiah threw up in the waiting area twice. (quite thrilling for the other kids in the waiting room! :) The doctor who saw us, looked right at me and said, "You need to have him evaluated. You have been given the run-around by so many doctors, and I am not willing to gamble on a child. We need to see what is going on inside his brain. In case. Just in case there is something going on, you need to know that." She was right, but I put Jeremiah back in his carseat, and just lost it. Even the thought of all of this was so overwhelming. And scary. And of course, in my mind I am telling myself not to imagine every possible scenario that might be playing itself out. Just "don't think about it" doesn't do any good. I prayed outloud the whole way home where we picked up Daniel and May and headed to the E.R. 

Once we were there, we were taken back immediately and given a hall bed in their Pediatric Emergency Room. That was AMAZING. Every nurse and doctor only works with children, so they were so wonderful with him. When it came time for him to head back to get the CT Scan, I was holding Mailey on my lap, filling out paperwork, so they grabbed Daniel and Jeremiah and left. I prayed and cried, not knowing what was happening--whether he was scared or sick or what the machines looked like... It turns out, it was an "open scan," so there wasn't a tube he had to lay in or anything. In fact, they gave him a special "cape" and told him he was flying in a space ship! He loved it! :) Funny kid.

The doctor FINALLY came and told us that everything is his brain is totally NORMAL!!! They did a strep culture as well which was also completely normal. Some kids begin having headaches at an early age, though it's rare, and that seems to be what is going on. As for the throwing up, he started running a fever that night and had what was basically a tummy virus for about 24 hours and then it was gone. We were sent home after only a few hours, and I don't think Daniel or I have ever had a better night's sleep. Ever. :)

You can continue to pray for Jeremiah's headaches. It usually isn't severe enough to interfere with his activities, so I am just trying not to freak out and be anxious. I struggle with pretty horrible migraines, so it may just be starting early for him. We are THANKFUL TO JESUS that he doesn't have brain cancer or a brain tumor. But we also TRUST JESUS that He has our family in His hands. That doesn't change no matter what. I don't know whether his headaches are of a spiritual nature or not either. We have certainly prayed for God's healing and against spiritual attack against Jeremiah, and we have not yet seen his headaches stop. But we would love to have you pray with us. For healing. For protection against the enemy (for our children and us!). For faith and that God will use this to strengthen him and us as we keep believing and trusting in Jesus. No matter what. :)