Michigan Day One

Once we got to Michigan, I got us settled into our hotel room.

 

Brady and Presley were so excited. They loved the hotel room.

 

We had dinner with the group and then settled in for the night.

 

Saturday was the first full day in Michigan. The plan for that day was to go out and invite people to VBS.

 

Due to car seat issues, the amount of walking, and the length of time out, Presley and I did not participate in this. We stayed back with our friends, Ana and Nora.

 

We napped, played, had lunch, and helped transport the groceries and food ladies to and from the church.

 

However, I allowed Brady to participate. He joined in with one of the sweet families with our group. They kept me up to date with texts through out the day.

 

Brady did awesome. I am told he never whined or complained. He was happy and excited. He even chose to continue on instead of coming back to swim at the hotel. 

 

The group knocked on 2111 doors inviting families to VBS in just one day!

 

 

 

After getting cleaned up and resting a little, we all headed to the church for dinner.

Brady played with the big kids a lot. Funny story about this picture. They were playing a game and it looked to me like Brady wasn't big enough to play. I went over and told Brady he needed to let the big kids play and quit interrupting their game. All the kids looked at me with a funny face and said, "uhm he can't leave right now because it is his turn." Ha ha! I was like oh I am sorry for interrupting your game.

 

 

 

Brady and Presley were worn out by the end of the night. Presley fell asleep on me during the nightly devotional and didn't wake up until 7 am the next morning. She NEVER falls asleep when someone is holding her and stuff is going on. I couldn't believe it.

 

 

I wasn't quite ready for bed after I got them to sleep. However, there is not really a separate place in a hotel room other than the bathroom and I couldn't really leave them in the room alone.  I spent a lot of nights snacking, talking with Caleb on the phone, studying/reading, showering, and whatever I needed to get done in the bathroom area after they were asleep. Parents do some crazy things. Amazingly, I never woke them the entire week.

Mission Michigan

The week of June 21-27 the kids and I joined a group from our church in a trip to Michigan.

 

The trip was to be a trip where we provide a VBS for the community there and get out and invite and share about Jesus.

 

I have sat down and tried to write this post many times since we have returned home, but I can't seem to find the words to express how much this trip touched, changed, and blessed me and the kiddos.

 

When I suddenly quit my job two years ago this month, I was terrified. It was not MY plan. I had know idea how we would make it. I had know idea what the future would look like for our family. I spent a lot of time in prayer and tears. The reoccurring theme in my prayers remained, please allow me ways to serve you through this phase of my life. I continued to pray for God to open doors for ways for me to serve.

 

 

I still have moments of uncertainty about the future of our family. I still worry from time to time about how we will make it on one income. I sometimes start working on MY plan.

 

BUT one thing that I have learned throughout this phase is that if you ask God to use you, don't be surprised when He does. Sometimes it is small and sometimes it is big. Either way it is good and important.

 

The decision for us to go happened quickly. After obsessing back and forth on what we should do, my sweet husband offered some tough love advice. He simply said, "quit being a baby and go OR stop talking about it." I laughed out loud and replied, "you are right!" He never says things like that. It sounded exactly like something I would say to someone. It was exactly what I needed to hear. (I realize that statement would have a way different affect on most people.)

 

So I decided to go. I decided to take a 4 year old and a 1 year old 12 hours away to help share Jesus with children who may not know him WITHOUT my husband.

 

It was a leap of faith. It was way outside my comfort zone. I was terrified.

 

I began to pray continuously that my children would not make this trip a nightmare for me and that we would all bless and be blessed through this experience.

 

We showed up that Friday morning to load up and head out with the group and I had no idea what the next 6 days would look like.

 

I let Presley eat a fruit bar in the car on the way there and this is what happened.

 

 

Needless to say I was a little concerned about the next 12+ hours.

 

However, like I said before when you pray, don't be surprised when God provides. The kids were absolutely perfect during the car ride. Presley slept nearly the entire way and she snacked or played the other times. She never cried in the car. Brady played the entire car ride. He never whined, complained, or asked annoying questions.

 

I was shocked. Pleased, but shocked.

 

We have had worse car rides the 30 minutes it takes us to get to my parents house.

 

The week continued to provide surprises and blessings I never expected.

 

More to come...