Disturb Us Lord

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

-- Sir Francis Drake

Stove-top Baking: Brownies!

I know, you all think this is probably just a missions blog, but it's our "life" blog too. So you have to suffer through my random cooking experiments, squatty-potty stories and comments on parenthood. 

Now that you've been forewarned, we can continue!

Did you know you can bake on your stove-top? No? 
Yeah, neither did I. I read a blog about it, so I figured I would try it. I was craving chocolate and I just happened to have one of those terribly bad for you but taste so delicious boxes of brownies in the pantry.

It was all very simple. Get a pot with a lid big enough to put a cake pan in. I had to try three pots to get the cake pan to fit. Preheat the pot (no lid or anything on it) for 5 mins on HIGH while you are mixing up the batter. The "oven" pot may start to smoke during this, so turn the heat down just slightly until the major burning goes away. If there is any oil or residue on the "oven" pot it will burn off and be a bit smelly.

Fill the cake pan with your batter. 

Next place some sort of spacer between the "oven" pan and the cake pan. This could be flat rocks, or some other spacer object. I pulled out the pot holder from my pressure cooker and placed it in the middle of my stove-top "oven" pot. 

 

Next place your cake pan on the spacer...VERY CAREFULLY! I ended up using tongues because the pot is very hot and the space wasn't big enough for my fingers. Cover with a lid.

 

The blog I read was rather vague about the heat setting, other than to turn it way down. So I turned it down to simmer level (about a 2 on my stove). After 30 minutes it was cooked on the outside but the middle was rather soggy. Definitely not brownies. Alas, I'm not one to throw in the towel in the kitchen,  I turned the heat up to about med-low (4 on my stove) and put the timer on for another 7 minutes. About 6 minutes in, I heard sizzling sounds and I thought maybe the batter had somehow boiled over. I was happily surprised to find that it was just condensation forming on the lid dripping onto the "oven". My brownies, however, were cooked through! 

The brownies easily popped out of the pan. It didn't have quite the same taste as oven baked, but I didn't care...it was CHOCOLATE after all! 

 Here it is - a stove-top baked brownie! I enjoyed this baby while watching Call the Midwife Christmas Special that I missed a few weeks back. Not a bad way to spend the evening! 

PS I apologize for my terrible food photography. My iPhone photography skills leave a lot to be desired. But trust me, I'll be using this method in the summer when it's hotter than hades in my house! Enjoy!

This is me...waiting...

This is me...waiting for my Amazon package to arrive. Nothing spiritual, nothing exciting. Today was spent working from home, recovering from a nasty sinus infection that laid me out yesterday, and patting myself on the back for having all my "dump" crock-pot meals to choose from when I didn't feel like cooking. 

Back to my waiting: What's in this package that I'm so excited about? Well, it's probably not as exciting for anyone but me. It's my brand new up/down travel converter with adapter set - and usb ports. It's uber lite weight, and has USB ports. My old up/down works fine. It's just heavy, and has no usb ports. Can you tell I'm excited about the usb ports? I know, I'm weird. 

What other goodies will arrive? Well, this pay period we used some funds to get a few items for traveling and living overseas. These include some Exofficio clothing items (quick-dry), jewelry travel case, and a book by Rolland Baker "There's Always Enough: The Miraculous Move of God in Mozambique".  

So now I'm waiting. It should arrive on Friday (except for the book, that will be another TWO weeks...but when I only paid $3 for it...). 

P.S. I should mention that I LOVE online shopping. My kids don't have meltdowns in the store, I can wear my jammies and not brush my teeth or put on any make up and NO ONE cares!! It's a mom's paradise. The end.

The Orphan Spirit in the Church

As I spent the last hour reading blogs, looking at pictures and reading more about Iris Global Harvest School of Missions, it struck me how much of their teaching is on the identity of a believer. They focus instead on being sons and daughters of God, walking in his authority as his children.

Then I read this blog...and a Harvest School Alumni hit the nail on the head in the paraphrase below, I'm camping on this for right now.  

We are not orphans but His beloved children. Stop living like an orphan –  stop coming to Him with that begging attitude, to stop striving or stop being in that pleasing performance but instead to live knowing that He is your daddy.

Whoa! Do I NEED a paradigm shift in my Spirit. Part of what Jesus said was that we would do the same works as He and even greater. That basically God would manifest Heaven on Earth, showing His glory to the nations of the world.

Are we limiting this manifestation of God's glory because we aren't acting like sons and daughters of the King of Kings? Yes! We are acting like orphans. If you see someone limping around in the grocery store using her cart to help her stand up straight [I'm using this example from two weeks ago, because I felt Holy Spirit tell me to ask her if I could pray for her and I DIDN'T do it; God help me be bold as your daughter], do you simply pray under your breath and ask God to "Please heal her Lord...if it be thy will." SHAME ON YOU, SHAME ON ME! If we are sons and daughters of the Most High King, we would know our place. Sickness is NOT from God. We would have gone to her in a very gentle manner and ask her if we could pray for her and then in a very fierce manner taken authority as sons and daughters and brought Heaven down to Earth right there in the supermarket aisle.

I share this not to condemn you or me, but to WAKE US UP! Oh how much I have to learn!
God is merciful, He is teaching me to walk as a daughter of the King, to walk in boldness and know my place as His child.

I think of the testimony shared by evangelist Jim Rogers, about how on an airplane ride back from Africa he prayed for a lady next to him that had a hurt shoulder. He didn't want to, he was tired, but Holy Spirit kept nudging him along. After that, the lady told the stewardess that her shoulder was healed. The stewardess asked Jim if he would pray for her knee that was tweaked. He did. God healed it, instantly. Then the stewardess came over the PA system and announced that if anyone had any kind of sickness or injury to come up to the front because there was a man there that was praying for people and they would be healed. Jim literally experienced God's glory, bringing Heaven down to 35,000 feet in a transatlantic airplane.

When you hear this testimony, what emotion does it elicit? For me, it's one of encouragement. See the same Holy Spirit that nudged Jim into obedience on the airplane lives in each of us. We hear this and we want the same thing, it's an unction that we feel. Yes, Holy Spirit, move in me like that too. Yet, the difference between most of the Church and Jim is simply this: Jim does not operate in the mindset of an orphan spirit. He operates in the mindset of the son of the King of Kings. If Holy Spirit is nudging him, God is telling him: "Jim, let's bring Heaven down to Earth today. Son, pay attention, I want to show you my glory."

I'm ready to see His glory. Bring Heaven down to Earth God!

New Things

This past weekend I had the honor of speaking to the youth at our church. It was one of those things where the youth pastor leans over on the Sunday before and says, "God wants you to speak to the youth next Sunday."...errrr....uhhhh.....ok? 

It's been a long time since I've been around teenagers. I forgot how FUN they are! I spent most of my teenage years deeply involved in youth ministry and even into the first couple years living in Ukraine. Now that I had kids and had "grown up" I haven't spent much time with teenagers. I NEED to spend more time with them. They are so fun. 

God has really been stretching me on teaching and mobilizing young people for missions. It is our mandate as believers to GO PREACH THE GOSPEL UNTO ALL NATIONS. That's what we are supposed to do as Christians, no ifs, ands or buts about it! We are ALL supposed to GO, not just write checks and feel good about our small donations. It's in the Bible, read it. Matthew 28 will tell you all about our mandate as believers to go to the ends of the earth and preach the Gospel. I know, sometimes TRUTH is scary and it hurts, but read it and then go get your passport! 

On Sunday evening, our church showed the Heidi Baker film, "Compelled By Love". It is a MUST see for all Christians. I had watched the premier a couple weeks earlier at home, sobbed through it, and felt a strong impression that we were supposed to go to Mozambique to do the Harvest School of Missions for three months. Eric wasn't too sure....UNTIL he watched the film. Now the question is WHEN? And HOW? It will take about $25k to get our family over there. That means a LOT of changes. Likely next summer, for three months. 

Please keep us in your prayers as we seek God's will and direction for this new season. It's all a little overwhelming, to say the least. We are confident in His provision, His wisdom, His direction and His timing for our family. 

After Harvest School? Ukraine....when? We don't know yet. He is preparing the way.

2013: A Year In Review

After spending the afternoon updating all of the non-profit [I sit on the board of Ukraine Orphan Outreach] communication/website/social media sites, I decided I should jump over here and update our blog.

So what happened in 2013 that we'd like to highlight? In 365 days, there was a lot of things that happened, decisions made, friendships formed, chapters closed and new beginnings. So here's our top 12:

January: We spent a couple weeks visiting our family in Missiouri and Kansas. We got to spend a few days with Eric's brother who was in town from South Africa. Audrey celebrated her 4th birthday!

February: I hit my year-one anniversary with Ukraine Orphan Outreach. It had been a fun year of planning and it was gearing up for a very busy year of events.

March: I got an iPhone. [I still do not like it...I'm an android fan for life after giving it a try.] We took the kids to Disney on Ice where Jace was rocking in his stadium chair and flipped forward smacking heads with the girl in front of him. Poor kids were both banged up and I felt terrible for both of them. Fun times. UOO started it's massive push for ticket sales for our 1st Annual Benefit Gala. We, as a family, started our search for a missions agency. My dad turned 60...on vacation in Mexico....without me...still a little jilted he didn't pack me in his suitcase. [First world problems.]

April: Eric applied for a new position and passed two interviews at a new company, which he wasn't selected for, a downer for sure, but it's a position that you have to apply a couple times before they actually select you. He hit is 5 year vested date with the Sheriff's office which was pretty significant. I did my first "speaking" thing for Ukraine Orphan Outreach at the Town of Lyons, introduced ourselves and was the official representative - it was scary, I won't lie. Public speaking is daunting to me. Thankfully they were all very nice and asked good questions. My mom turned ...no comment...you never reveal a woman's true age.

May: For the first time ever, Audrey was "that child" at the store - totally screaming melt down, that resulted in us loosing our place in the checkout line to go deal with her behavior in the family bathroom. Thankful for the older lady who told me I was doing a good job by sticking with my guns to pull out of the line. We started doing Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred program....it works, but I hated her every minute of the workouts. We really started dreaming big dreams of being back in Ukraine - interviewed with a few agencies and had some meetings, all taking steps to get us back to the land where our hearts reside. Ukraine Orphan Outreach hosted our very first annual benefit gala. It was a massive success and we raised over $10k towards a transition home. What an exciting day that was! Also my long-lost cousin and his girlfriend and daughter came for a visit. He proposed at my parent's house and we all got to be a part of the beautiful moment!


June: This was a crazy travel month for us. We went to two weddings in June - our nephew's and Eric's highschool friend's [which ironically got rained out - pouring on all the guests, it was very crazy but the bride just went with it]. We spent loads of times with the family, a day on the Black River soaking in the sun [and turning myself into a lobster], and celebrated my 29+1 birthday with my hubby at a Cardinal's game in St. Louis. It was a great month of fun and traveling! Also started wedding planning for my cousin and his fiance.

July: Annalise turned 1 year old this month!! I can't believe it! My baby is no longer a baby any more. She officially loves her Hungarian Papa Sandor's chocolate cake - devoured it in record time at her birthday celebration with family! Ukraine Orphan Outreach sent a missions team to the Donets'k region of eastern Ukraine to work on repairing our boy's transition home; they also spent one week at a summer camp for orphans/troubled youth. My great uncle passed away this month, uncle Marvin was a unique and humorous man. We spent much of this month helping my parents clean, pack and re-arrange their home to put on the market in August or September - they are wanting to move to a lower elevation.Crazy time of wedding planning, getting everything pulled together for my cousin and his fiance who live out of state but were having a Colorado wedding.

August: The wedding day arrived! It was such a beautiful family weekend full of restoration [my cousin and his sister hadn't spoken in 7 years, and he wasn't very close to his mom at the moment either]. It really was amazing how God restored relationships that had been dormant for so long. The wedding was wonderful, beautiful and full of joy at the union of two people. What a day! Colorado also had one of the hottest months on record and the first few days of school were actually canceled [we Colorado people don't need no stinkn air conditioners!]. Audrey started Pre-K at Resurrection Fellowship School. We also lost one of our beloved church elders to cancer - he has been around since my childhood, and it's been a strange adjustment not to have him with us. My sister turned 39+1 this month...yep, she's ancient like nearly 10 years older than me ancient. I'm a spring chicken. Ha!

September: Happy birthday Eric! Hubby celebrated his 32nd birthday on the 21st. One of my bestie's came for a visit from Oregon for a week, which is always a highlight because we play a massive amount of board games while she's in town - lots of smack talking and making memories! I discovered the "Lizzie Bennett Diaries" on YouTube...late night marathons. Colorado was hit with a 1000 Year Flood. It was a really crazy week of being surrounded by water, all the canyons up to my parents house had the roads destroyed and the National Guard had our town on lockdown. WILD! We had our friends stay with us for a night that had been evacuated from their neighborhood. It was an intense time, lots of loss for our beautiful state. I'm still processing the memories as I now drive the reconstructed roads to my parent's home and see all the damage that the flooding did. Colorado Strong!

October: We were in full planning mode at Ukraine Orphan Outreach for the Old Russian Shoemaker tour group coming from Ukraine for a month. Last minute venue bookings and schedule planning - lots and lots of hours put in this month! Eric's parents came for a visit, and we enjoyed the family time with them. I also became addicted to the "Call of the Midwife" series...makes me want to take up a new profession.

November: Happy birthday to Jace who turned 3 years old on the 8th of this month! My sweet boy is growing up so fast. It's like all of a sudden he speaks in full sentences and we can actually understand them! November brought the Old Russian Shoemaker group to Colorado on Nov. 26th! My sister-in-law's family hosted all 13 of them along with our family and a few other guests for Thanksgiving. It was a loud and fun time watching the seven orphans from Ukraine celebrate their first American Thanksgiving!

December: The first three weeks of December were spent on tour with the Old Russian Shoemaker group. Ukraine Orphan Outreach in partnership with CBN's Orphan's Promise - Kiev office brought seven orphans and 8 cast/crew/staff members from Ukraine (and one from Virginia Beach, VA) for a month's tour performing the Christmas musical. We completely fell in love with the staff/crew who will be life-long friends, and the kids were just wonderful. Their hugs made my day! We also confirmed that UOO will be making a trip to Ukraine in May 2014 [I'm  GOING!!!] to visit the orphans, visit CBN in Kiev, and visit our boy's transition home in Kramators'k. What a wild adventure we had with the group! We celebrated Christmas with our family, along with Eric's brother who came and spent a week with us.

We are looking forward with great anticipation of where 2014 will take our family. At this time, our best guess is to Ukraine, hopefully by the end of 2014! Thanks for sharing the year with us!

Life's about to get HECTIC!

T minus 8 Days! Life is about to get a little bit insane! 

In eight days, 15 people will converge on us here in Colorado for three weeks of tour performances all over the state. The rockstar (but small-staffed) organization I sit on the board for, Ukraine Orphan Outreach, along with CBN's Orphan's Promise Kiev-Office, are bringing the Christmas musical performance "The Old Russian Shoemaker" on a state-wide tour.

So I'm finally hitting that panicked mode. I'm in hyper-drive deep cleaning my house. WHY IN THE WORLD do I want till the last 10 days to get that done? Well, my cleaning fairies went on strike about 12 years ago, so it's taken me awhile to get into the groove of picking up their slack. My family will be hosting 3 grown men for 17 days. Fun times. My basement is about to be turned into a bachelor pad. I'm glad they will have their own bathroom. Just saying. Don't judge me. 

The past six months have been a learning curve for me. I've never had to book venues and events performances before; while I've organized conferences, weddings and other fundraising events and galas, booking performances is was outside my skill set. Now I can add it to my resume. Six months ago I didn't even know what a "rider" was. (It's a list of requirements from the performers to the venue...so you can feel as informed as I am). I've learned a lot. I've made program flyers, designed and printed posters, booked venues, spoke with organization staff about the said rider requirements, booked flights for the tour group, arranged host homes, written a host home handbook (22 pages, thank you very much), updated the website, sent out Constant Contact please for donations....and it all comes to a head next Tuesday at 3:30PM when our tour group lands in Denver. Holy Moly Batman! 

So on Saturday night I stayed up way too late on Facebook, then I decided I needed a plan to get my house cleaned - a checklist. I love checklists. Thank you to those who make them for me. So this lady - the FlyLady is pretty much a genius in keeping your house clean and keeping your stuff together. I think some people are born with that gift - to keep things clean and tidy. I was not. I can walk pass a piece of scrap paper on my carpet for a week before I even "see" it and toss it - usually Saturday aka Cleaning Day! Saturday night I printed off her deep cleaning check list by "Zones". Basically zones are areas of your house, she breaks them down, pure genius I tell you!

On Sunday morning before church (we went to 2nd service since Eric had to work...slept in), I started on the first zone. The entry hall. By Sunday evening I had the hall all cleaned, coat closet the best it has looked since we moved in, baseboards oiled and windows cleaned. Boom. Zone 1 of 5 down! Hollar! (Yes Lauren, I know I'm white. Shut it.) So now it's Monday over the lunch hour, I'm working from home due to a sick little lady, and thinking about what I will get accomplished from 5-7pm before my hubby gets home from work. Zone 2 is the dining room, which when you have an open-living concept home, it flows into everything else. Not sure I want to tackle the living room tonight too...but considering I have 8 days and baskets of laundry upstairs in our room that need to be put away, it's either the living room or laundry tonight. If you know me at all, you know I LOATHE folding laundry. My bet is on the living room winning this round. 

Debt Update: We have $5700 left on the credit card to pay off! Little by little. That's $800 paid off since we first were rejected by OM International for having too much debt. Baby steps to financial freedom! So worth it!