Take the Pledge

In my HMA post, I tried my best to explain what our purpose for being back in the States was. I’m happy to report that I’ve accomplished on more of those goals! The boys started swim lessons on March 24, and they’re loving it!

Another one of the goals was to build our support team. A support team is made up of people who want to invest in our lives and our ministry at Tenwek Hospital. The most common ways to support any missionary include but are not limited to the following:

1.) Praying regularly for the missionaries and the ministry they do

2.) Maintaining communication with the missionaries no matter where they might be

3.) Helping the missionaries reach their goals

4.) Donating regularly to their ministry

While we enjoyed an awesome support team during our first term in Kenya, we are finding that we need even more support now. We need people who will lift us up in prayer every day. We need people who will call us, send us messages, and check in with us. We need accountability with our goals. And we need financial partners.

This post will focus mainly on how to become one of our financial partners, because we have found that people who invest in our lives financially often do the other 3 things without much effort. They want to see how we’re using their money! Whether you can give $5 each month or $5,000 each year makes no difference. Every penny counts. God delights in the sacrificial gift!

Since the beginning of the new year, we have traveled to many churches and shared our ministry with thousands of people. We are happy to report that our support team is growing each month as we meet with these people and churches. We have seen God move many hearts to join our ministry at Tenwek, and we give God all the glory! Since we can’t meet with each one of you or visit each of your churches, I thought I’d explain what joining our support team means. We call it pledging your support.

Pledging is a commitment a supporter makes to give a certain amount of money to our ministry on a regular basis. It could be $25 each month, $5000 each year, or $500 each quarter. Your pledge can be any amount given in just about any interval you want. It can be $96.35 each week if that’s what God lays on your heart to give! Many of you are already doing this, and we are so thankful! Thank you for being obedient to the call God has laid on your hearts to be a part of our ministry!!

If you are interested in becoming a financial partner, please let us know! Here are the easiest ways to join our team:

1.) Go to www.wgm.org/kelley and fill out the form for a recurring donation.

2.) Request a prayer card from us, fill out the detachable post card, and mail it back to World Gospel Mission.

You can start your donations today, or you can indicate when you would like to begin your contributions. Since our goal is to be back in Kenya by January 2017, you could pledge today to begin your regular support at the beginning of the New Year. Regardless of when you can begin your financial support, the pledge is important! We can not return to Kenya until 100% of our monthly support is pledged.

Please let us know if you have any questions. Either leave a comment or send us an e-mail.

Praises and Prayer Requests:

1. Praise God for His abundant blessings! Please pray that we continue to trust in HIS perfect provision and timing.
2. Praise God for a healthy pregnancy thus far! I am 31 weeks and feeling good (better than I expected). Please pray that Baby Boy #5 would be healthy and full-term.
3. Praise God for all the new people and churches we have met the past few months. It has been a blessing to see the diversity of the Church and the many ways God works in the churches.
4. Pray for all the traveling we have ahead of us. Pray that our van will remain reliable. Pray that the boys will maintain their adventurous attitudes. Pray that Aaron and I have the stamina to drive all those miles.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:1-6

 

 

 

 

HMA

Being married to a doctor has been my reality for quite a few years now. Generally, I don’t think about it much. He goes to work. I stay home with the kids. It doesn’t really matter where his work takes him or what he does. We’re proud of him all the same. However, it’s times when we get together with other medical professionals that I notice a few things…like, the way I can’t participate in any conversations. It’s mostly my fault; I have almost no interest in medical things and therefore make no effort to learn what he does at the hospital or clinic. In my defense, though, doctors use a lot of big, fancy words and acronyms! Who is suppose to keep up with all that?!?

Not me! I just take care of the kids, making sure they have what they need or engaging them in intelligent conversation…I just can’t understand all the tests and prescription names any better than he can understand calculus or why a baby’s diaper needs to be changed when I’m not at home. Which makes me think…do I have just as many weird words in my vocabulary as he does? Probably so.

That list of acronyms and fancy words is growing, and this time it’s happening to us together! As with each profession, there is a lot of new jargon to be learned as a missionary. After spending 2 1/2 years on the field, I thought that I had learned a lot of the ‘Mission-ese’ language. However, with just 4 days of training at WGM HQ, I realized I still had a long way to go. (By the way, WGM HQ stands for World Gospel Mission headquarters.)

Don’t worry. I won’t bore you with all the new lingo I must commit to memory and then figure out how to use in an intelligent fashion. I do, however, plan to explain a few things in the next few months. I hope these informational posts will help you understand what Aaron, the boys, and I are doing while here in the States. And they might help you hold a conversation with us when we get to see you face-to-face!

So…Have you figured out what HMA stands for?

If not, that’s ok. It’s the first acronym that I’ll explain.

Home Ministry Assignment (HMA) is what WGM calls furlough. Furlough is the time when missionaries (or military personnel) leave their field of ministry and return to their homelands. Every time we leave Kenya and return to the States, we are on HMA or furlough.

You may be thinking OK, that makes sense, but what is the purpose of HMA? 

I suppose that question could be answered in several ways. And the answers might vary based on a missionaries’ agency, family situation, ministry needs, etc. I’ll do my best to explain what WE are doing on this, our first HMA.

Before leaving Kenya, Aaron and I had an unofficial list of goals for our time back in the States. Some of those goals have already been realized, but others are still a work in progress. Some of the goals were big; others were rather small and unnecessary. Regardless, we had an idea of what we wanted to accomplish here in the States. Below is at least part of that list in no particular order:

1. Transfer to a long-term sending agency.
2. Spend time with friends and family.
3. Get the boys swimming lessons.
4. Make new friends in Lynchburg, VA.
5. Raise a support team to enable us to return to Kenya.
6. Save as much money as possible.
7. Enjoy America!

How are we doing on this list?? No too badly. Here is an update with prayer requests in bold.

On #1, we’re good! This goal was quickly realized. We landed in the States in June, and by the end of July we had interviewed with WGM and were excepted as long-term missionaries! However, we just did our first training with them in January, so we are feeling like our HMA time has just begun…Now that we know what we’re supposed to be doing!

#2: Spending time with friends and family (most of whom live in Pennsylvania) has been harder than we expected. It takes us at least 5 hours to drive from our home to anyone we know in PA. That’s not a day trip. While I intended to attend all the holiday celebrations and birthday parties that we were invited to, I quickly realized that wasn’t going to happen. We’re either traveling (I’ll get to why in a minute) or we are recuperating from traveling. We did have a great Thanksgiving and a wonderful Christmas with family, but we have missed every single birthday party…I wish I could say that I’ll do better with this for the remainder of our furlough, but I know that having a newborn won’t make the traveling any easier.

Please pray for us and our friends and family. Pray that we will take comfort in knowing that we have eternity together. Pray that we will be gracious with each other, that we can communicate openly with each other, and that we will enjoy every second we do get to spend with each other.

#3: Swimming lessons haven’t happened yet…I’m determined to make it happen, but I haven’t been successful quite yet.

#4 has proven to be more difficult than I expected too. Moving to Lynchburg, Virginia wasn’t our first choice, but it was where God was leading us. We knew we would need to make new friends, and we weren’t thrilled about it. (Being introverts has its drawbacks.) However, it’s happening! Yay! God has led us to a great church with wonderful people. We are feeling plugged in (finally), and we are encouraged.

Praise God for his people! We are thankful for the people who have reached out to us and are making Lynchburg feel more and more like home. 

We are diligently working on #5, which is the cause of a lot of our travels. As you probably know, being a missionary isn’t a profitable occupation. We are supported by churches, friends, family, and some people that we’ve never met. When we aren’t attending conferences (missionary or medical or a combination of both), we are speaking at churches, telling our story, and sharing what God is doing at Tenwek. We are asking churches and individuals to join our support team.

When people leave their careers and move to a foreign mission field, they need to have a large support base back in their home country. We are no different. We need a lot of prayer.We need people who will commit to praying for us daily, and we have been blessed beyond measure in this area so far. However, we can never have too many people praying for us, so if you feel God leading you to support us in this way, please do! Additionally, we need financial support. Monetary support comes in two goals: 1.) one-time gifts and 2.) monthly support. For us, we have reached our one-time gift goal. Now, all we need to do is reach our monthly pledge support.

A monthly pledge can come from churches or individuals. It’s as easy as informing WGM that you (or your church) would like to contribute a set amount of money to our ministry each month. Ideally, you would continue these contributions for the entirety of our time in Kenya starting as early as now or as late as January 2017 (when we intend to go back to Kenya). If you have received our prayer card, the pledge card is the part you can tear off and mail back to WGM HQ. These are tax deductible gifts, which is why they must go through WGM and not us personally. We will not be released to go to Tenwek until we have reached 100% of this goal. Right now, we’re about a third of the way there. If you have questions about this, please read the support page or just contact me.

Please pray that God will raise up a support base for us. We are trusting that our monthly support goals will be reached by December 2016 so that we can return to Tenwek in January 2017. 

#6 just isn’t happening thanks to our Allentown house. Despite Aaron working full-time, we haven’t been able to save like we wanted.

Please pray that God will provide the perfect buyer for our house! And quickly!!

That leaves us with #7: Enjoy America. Well, we have enjoyed parts of America. I’m loving the library, the pizza drive-thru on Friday nights, the consistency of electricity and clean tap water, and Target. The boys are enjoying the traveling more than I expected. Noah, Jacob, and Levi all have spirits of adventure, which makes the long car rides and new beds every other weekend so much more bearable. (If only Joshua had the same excitement!) If it were up to Noah, we would visit each of the 50 states while on HMA. That might be more fun – and more doable – if Aaron wasn’t working full-time and if we didn’t have a 1-year-old and a baby on the way!

While we are enjoying HMA, our hearts – at least parts of them – are still in Kenya. We look forward to returning to our home in Tenwek and serving God there. The traveling is fun and adventurous, but it’s also exhausting. Our bucket list is still long. There are so many people we want to see and so many places we want to visit in the next 11 months. If you would like us to visit you and we haven’t made plans for such a visit yet, please contact us (again if necessary). While our plates are full, we will do our best to put you (and/or your church) on our calendar!

Please pray for stamina during our travels and for great family memories to be made along the way.

More Praises and Prayer Requests:

Please pray for a healthy baby and momma during the remainder of this pregnancy. Pray for a full-term baby and a safe delivery. (I’m looking forward to the American hospital this time around!)

 

It’s a boy!

Praise God for the 100th day of school! I’m thankful that He has brought us this far! Please keep our homeschooling endeavors in your prayers.

Please keep this little guy in your prayers. While he thinks he’s big enough for school, he is in rough shape right now. He has a bad cold and is recovering from a circumcision!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes! It was a great weekend of celebrating me! Aaron and I went out for dinner. The boys spoiled me with presents. My parents visited. It was a wonderful birthday!

Thank you to each and every one of you who have supported us along the way. We so appreciate you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November Blessings

November was questionably the busiest month of the year. We traveled every weekend! Since I didn’t take the time to write down what I was thankful for as the month was going by, I’ll publish my list now…and I’ll include the praises and prayer requests as I go.

1 – I am thankful for my salvation and the faithfulness of God!

2 – I am thankful for my friends, both near and far!

3 – I am thankful that God is the Great Provider! He supplies over and above what we need! Praise His name!!

4 – I am thankful that I can drive to my parents’ and my in-laws’ homes in a day! It’s so nice to see family on a regular basis!!

5 – Aaron and I drove to Lousiville, Kentucky for the Global Missions Health Conference. It was a busy but blessed time of reconnecting with fellow missionaries and meeting prospective missionaries. Please pray that God would call medical professionals to fill the many openings around the world and that those who are called would go!

6 – I’m thankful for all that is going well in the world. There were so many organizations represented at the conference, and they were all serving God. I’m also thankful that I got to meet Jamie Saint!

Nate Saint’s grandson!

7 – I’m thankful for lunch meat. I had the best ham and cheese on rye sandwich while at GMHC. I wish I had a picture!

8 – I’m thankful for Tenwek Hospital. Please pray for the hospital staff, administration, patients, and all involved in the ministry there.

9 – I am thankful for Aaron and the boys. While it’s nice to get away without kids, it’s always nice to be under one roof again!

10 – Levi had his wellness visit and failed both his vision and hearing screenings. We have followed up on his eyes…Praise God that he doesn’t need glasses! Please pray that his hearing is fine too.

11 – I’m thankful for freedom and all the men and women who paid for it. Veterans are awesome!

12 – Aaron and I traveled to Asheville, NC for a time of debriefing at the Cove. It was another fun time of meeting new people and reconnecting with friends.

13 – The Summit team took us to a ropes course. It was fun to work together as a team and then eat a yummy meal as a large group.

14 – I’m thankful for naps and date nights!

15 – I’m thankful for the way God has kept us safe during all our travels!

16 – I am very thankful for new life! We are expecting Baby #6 on June 10, 2016!!

taken at 10 weeks

17 – Jacob and Noah had their wellness checks, and they both passed with flying colors! Praise God for healthy boys!!

18 – I had an eye appointment. When I first went to the eye doctor, he discovered an infection on my left eye. At this follow-up appointment, the infection had cleared but it uncovered a ‘cornea infiltration’ in both eyes. I’m not sure what they means, but I do know that it requires me to where my glasses for another 3 months! Please pray that my eyes would heal completely.

19 – We studied Norway for 2 1/2 weeks this month, and we celebrated with open-faced fancy sandwiches and potato soup. It’s a blessing to homeschool! (Sometimes I must remind myself of this, but it IS true.)

Noah’s sandwich creation was simple and unique.

20 – I’m thankful for my sister! (I’m thankful for my brother too, but November 20 is my sister’s birthday.)

21 – I’m thankful for Salem Bible Church!! It is the best sending church a missionary could ask for! It was a pleasure to see so many Salem ladies on this day!

22 – We spoke at Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church! We pray blessings upon this congregation as they seek God’s will and obey.

Aaron sharing God’s plan for our next term.

23 – I’m thankful for family time. I love seeing my boys play with their cousins!

Pappy trying to build a Lincoln Log house with 3 little people!

24 – I’m thankful for this time of rest! While Aaron had to work, the boys and I stayed in PA to have more family time, which meant I could rest!

25 – I’m thankful for Noah’s creativity. Here is his Lego creation of our family.

26 – I’m thankful for seeing so many of my extended family members today! What a great day of food and fellowship!!

27 – I am thankful for the warm weather. The boys have enjoyed lots of time outside.

28 – I am very thankful that the rest of the year slows down a bit. We should spend the majority of nights in our own beds in December!

29 – I’m thankful for a live Christmas tree! I missed that smell!

30 – I’m thankful for the Advent season. May Christ be at its center!

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever. Psalm 107:1

July Blessings

Oh, July has been a busy month! It’s hard to believe how much traveling and craziness we were able to fit into our second month in America, so here is a brief overview of how we saw God moving in, through, and around us.

July 5-10: Debriefing and Renewal (DAR) in Colorado Springs, CO

We scheduled this time in Colorado Springs at least 6 months ago. It’s a good thing we already paid for it, because when July 5 rolled around it felt like an unnecessary interruption to all the work we were in the middle of doing. We got up before dawn on July 5 to fly to Chicago and then to Colorado Springs in order to get to the Hideaway, a bed and breakfast in the Black Forest. As soon as all the traveling was over and we were able to settle into the room for the night, we took a sigh of relief and were glad for the getaway. The week proved to be very refreshing and fruitful. God, in HIs ultimate wisdom, showed up just when we needed it most. We left the Hideaway remembering that God is bigger than all our problems, struggles, and apprehensions.

July 10-12: Candidate Review at World Gospel Mission (WGM) Headquarters

We left DAR a few hours early in order to get to WGM before Friday’s end. Although we missed the Friday evening session and dinner, we jumped right into the ‘work’ of the weekend on Saturday morning. Really, it was a great time of meeting some people who we’ve been e-mailing for months and reuniting with some other people who have already become friends. We left Marion, Indiana with a peace that God was with us and that He would direct our paths as missionaries. Sure enough, God is taking us back to Tenwek. We got the official acceptance as career missionaries with WGM just a few days after our interview. We are super excited!

July 13-15: Packing Frenzy at our Allentown house. Every little thing left in our townhouse had to be analyzed and then packed either for Virginia or for Kenya. All the while, I had to feed my 5 hungry men and keep them safe! God was gracious though. Noah, Jacob, and Levi have been playing really well together. They had a blast with their old stash of Thomas trains and tracks!

July 16: Hershey Park! We took a little break from the sorting and packing to spend a day with a friend at Hershey Park. The first ride: the Super Duper Looper! Yes, Levi, Jacob, and Noah all rode the roller coaster! Although they insisted that they loved it, none of them wanted to ride another roller coaster the remainder of the day. 🙂

We ended the fun-filled day with dinner with a precious family who remains in our prayers. Thank you, Brackbill family, for such a special day!!

July 18: Church work team! A group of men from Salem Bible Church came to the rescue on Saturday. Another great friend spent Thursday and Friday building crates for our shipment to Kenya. Then, on Saturday, we packed them up and loaded a moving van. Starting with all the stuff for Kenya and ending with all the stuff for Virginia, we filled up a Ryder truck! We also got the gardens trimmed and cleaned up. What a blessing to have such great support from our home church!!

July 20: The Big Move! The caravan set out Monday morning and arrived in Goode, VA by late afternoon. My dad drove the moving truck, while Aaron and I each drove our cars. The boys were split up, so no one went too crazy. God was good in all the logistics of getting us here and providing many hands to unload the van. Our new church, despite the fact they had never met us, rallied around us to get all the Virginia stuff in our house and then all the Kenya stuff into a storage unit. Others watched the boys, stocked our pantry, and provided dinner. Again, we were blessed by the body of Christ!

July 21-23: Unpacking, organizing, etc. We quickly distributed boxes into the right areas of the house and then went to work unpacking and organizing the house. In the midst of all that mess, we had to make our move official with driving license transfers. The trip to the DMV went well, and we now have Virginia license plates and driving licenses! And because it doesn’t feel like home without knowing where  to shop, we located the closest Target and Lowes. Unfortunately, the Lowes is much closer…

July 24: Levi’s 5th Birthday!! I still can’t believe this boy is 5! When did my baby grow up and get ready for kindergarten?? He was surprised with a small gift in his room and then more gifts at the breakfast table. All day was about him, and he loved every minute as the birthday boy!

July 25: Aaron’s Birthday!! The next day was Aaron’s birthday, so we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings for some of his favorite food. Although he didn’t request that I call him “birthday boy” all day like his third born, he did request that we NOT sing to him at the restaurant. He’s always been a little party pooper. After filling up on wings, we stopped at Cold Stone Creamery for his traditional ice cream birthday cake.

July 26-28: Trip to Boone, NC. After our first appearance at our new church, we loaded the van and headed to Boone for two nights. We ate dinner with the new class of Post-Residents headed to the mission field with World Medical Mission. Then, the next day, Aaron and I shared our experiences with them. Meanwhile, the boys got tours of Operation Christmas Child and the WMM warehouse. We all had a great time, but we were glad to be back home.

As eluded to in my previous post, my dad was sick this month. In fact, he went to the emergency room on Levi’s birthday and then was admitted into the hospital over the weekend. My mom was supposed to stay with the boys while Aaron and I went to Boone, but she stayed with my dad instead. Fortunately, he was discharged after only a few nights in the hospital. However, he is still experiencing kidney issues. God was with all of us during the time of uncertainty, and He remains with us as the doctors continue to treat my dad. I know this doesn’t sound like a blessing, but I want glorify God anyway.

When we become Christians, God doesn’t promise an easy road. He doesn’t sweep into our lives and make everything rosy and beautiful and picturesque. No, it’s often quite the opposite. It’s in these hard and uncertain moments that it’s most important to praise God. I’m not sure what blessing is hidden in my dad’s illness, but I know there will be good. We just have to keep looking for it.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

Praises and Prayer Requests:

1. Please keep my dad in your prayers.
2. Pray for the boys and I as we start school, try to make friends, and keep the house relatively clean and orderly.
3. Pray for Aaron as he navigates his many responsibilities at work, home, and as a missionary.
4. Praise God for a family-focused, Bible-believing and preaching church that is right next door! We can still walk to church, just like we did in Kenya!
5. Praise God for birthdays! We celebrated Jacob’s 7th birthday today! 
6. Pray for our boys, that they would grow and mature into godly young men. Pray for wisdom for Aaron and I as we try to raise them to be god-honoring men of the Word.

Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

On the Move

Yesterday marked one month since our re-entry into our home country. In many ways it seems like it’s been much longer than that. So much has happened. Too much to wait until the end of the month to write about!

After living with another family for the first weeks, we moved back into our townhouse. The big boys are sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags, while Joshua is in a pack-n-play in another room. We’re eating either around the kitchen island or outside on the deck since we don’t have a dining room table. Camping chairs and a card table furnish the living room. Boxes and piles of stuff are in every room. The smallish pile in the living room goes to Virginia, and the large pile in the dining room will be packed for Kenya. This living arrangement isn’t ideal, but it’s been our lives for the last few weeks as we sort, purge, and pack.

We’re considering getting one of these for the basement in our Tenwek house!

Last week, we took 6 different planes and about as many cars to get from here to Colorado Springs and then from Colorado Springs to Indiana and then from Indiana back to Pennsylvania. We spent a week in Colorado to attend DAR (Debriefing and Renewal) at a little retreat center in the Black Forest. Each of the boys were in class from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. They had fun playing outside, meeting new friends, and learning how to process being a missionary living in the U.S. While they were occupied, Aaron and I processed our lives too. We didn’t get to go on field trips, but we did take time to pray, talk through life, visit with friends, and remember how big God is. It was beautiful, fun, and relaxing. So worth our time and money!

In order to attend our World Gospel Mission interviews on Saturday, we left Colorado Springs a little early to fly to Indianapolis. Then, we had to drive almost 2 hours to Marion where the WGM headquarters are located. We reached our destination around 10 p.m. and we tried to crash. The big 3 boys did sleep right away. Unfortunately, though, Joshua had enough of the traveling and refused to sleep. Between all the attempts at getting him to sleep, Aaron and I got around 2 or 3 hours of sleep that night. While we missed the Friday evening events, we were able to attend all the meetings and interviews on Saturday despite our exhaustion. Things went really well. In fact, we felt at home at the headquarters even though we had never been there before. God was gracious to us in our sleep-deprived state. Just a few hours ago, we received confirmation that we will be going back to Tenwek with WGM! We are very excited to officially be a part of the WGM family!!

This week is occupied with more packing as we anticipate our move to Virginia. With less than a week to go, we have a lot to do to get ourselves ready for the 6-hours of driving and the unpacking that will follow.

Today, as I was reading my devotional, God took me to Acts 20:24, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus.” What a good reminder that it’s not about me, for my life is about serving God. All the logistics, all the traveling, all the preparing and moving. It’s all for God’s glory!

Praises and Prayer Requests:  

1. Praise God for being so big and yet so interested in every detail of our lives!
2. Praise God for his faithfulness and trustworthiness. While we don’t know how everything will fall into place, God does. Please pray that we remember this truth in every moment of the next weeks.
3. Praise God for the many blessings we’ve seen along the way thus far. From dinners with friends to unexpected provisions, we are so blessed. Please pray for us and the work crews helping us both here and in Virginia. Pray that all the packing and unpacking will be done safely and timely.
4. Please pray for the boys as we move. Pray for a safe and smooth drive to Virginia. Pray for a great week of unpacking and settling into our new house.
5. Pray for Aaron and I as we prepare for another trip at the end of July. This time we will go south and have only Joshua with us. While this will make our travels easier, it means the big 3 must sleep in yet another place. Surely, they are growing weary of the constant change! So far, they are doing so, so well in the midst of all this transition. (Even the DAR experts thought so!) However, I don’t want to push them too far! Please pray for their perseverance.

Never at Home

I’m not one to repost a lot of quotes, pictures, blogs, etc. on Facebook. However, once in a while, I come across something that speaks too strongly to my heart to ignore. Many of you saw the quote I posted recently. If not, here it is:

“You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.” (shared from Third Culture Kids community)

Me and my littlest third culture cutie. 🙂

This quote may not be super profound, but it is timely. As I pack up box after box and as my apartment becomes emptier each day, the reality of these words sets in more deeply. The packing becomes more than a physical chore; it is now an emotional endeavor to finish well, to find joy in the good-byes, and to be content no matter where God takes us.

For whatever multitude of reasons, God has called the Kelley family to be a missionary family. In an effort to be obedient children of God, we follow wherever God leads. Two and a half years ago, God told Aaron and I to go to Africa, to Tenwek Hospital in rural Kenya to be exact. We did it. Joyfully. We sold and gave away the majority of our possessions, and we moved our family of 6 from our happy life in Pennsylvania to a life unknown in a place unseen. So much has happened since that first plane trip across the ocean. We said “good bye” to one member of our family and welcomed a new member into our family. So many lessons learned, so my friendships made, so many changes experienced. After a very full 2 1/2 years, we are different people. And that’s part of the emotional roller coaster I’m on.

I am a different person. The events of my life at Tenwek have shaped me into a new person, for God uses all things to mold us into the person He wants us to be. That’s exciting and encouraging because I want to grow in righteousness and to mature in my Christian walk. I see evidence of this growing and maturing process as I reflect on the past 2 1/2 years of my life. However, that means I return to my friends and family (who have also changed in my absence!) a different person. My mind spins with curiosity. Will my friends understand me? Will I understand them? Have we changed too much? Have we grown apart? Will I fit into the same circles of friends? Or should I just wear a sign that says “warning: weird missionary” on my forehead? Will I remember how to drive? How to get from point A to point B? Will I be able to figure out all the new technology? And what about my kids?? 

With all those thoughts and worries racing through my mind, I must push those anxieties aside and focus on the job at hand. In the next week, I must finish the packing. Every single possession that we accumulated while here must be tossed, given to someone, or stored in a container. The old curtains have replaced my pretty ones. The pantry is looking rather bare. The boys are forced to purge, purge, purge! It’s a lot of work, and to be honest, I was quite grumpy about it for the entire month of April. Fortunately, Father God spoke gently to my heart earlier this month. After we spent a day in Nairobi buying gifts for friends and family, he convicted me of my bad attitude and blessed me with a better one. Now, instead of resenting that I must do this packing and good-bye thing over and over, I’m trying to find joy in it.

No, it isn’t much fun to pack and purge every few years. No, it isn’t fun to say good-bye to those you love. BUT it’s a blessing to have two completely different homes, both filled with lots and lots of people who love me. We love the Tenwek community and the work God has called us to do here. They are showering us with love and support as we face our first furlough. In fact, we eat with a different family almost every day until we leave! We also love our American home. For the next year, I get to fill my time with playdates, birthday parties, and holidays with the family. I can’t wait to see my boys play with their cousins again…and to meet the newest ones! This year in the States will surely be just as full as our life has been here at Tenwek. It’s just different, and that’s ok.

                 Lots of third culture BOYS!

As Aaron mentioned in his last blog, God has shut the door for us to return to the Lehigh Valley as we had hoped. We are trusting that He knows what’s best for us as we relocate once again. This time we will be moving to Lynchburg, Virginia. That means a new church, new friends, too many other news to mention. We are sad that daily life won’t happen in Pennsylvania. However, we are excited to see what God has for us in Lynchburg!

All this moving is a great, recurring reminder that our real home isn’t anywhere on this earth. We were made for something more, some place eternal. Heaven is where my heart belongs, and I can’t wait to finally be there! I hope you’re there with me!

Praises and Prayer Requests:

1. Praise God for our heavenly home!

2. Praise God for the church! We are so blessed by the body of believers!

3. Praise God that Aaron is well. He has made it to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro and is on his way back down. We hope to see him soon!

4. Please pray for us as we anticipate a lot of travel, reverse culture shock, and just plain craziness in the coming months.

5. Please pray for MKs (missionary kids) everywhere. Satan seems to target them in efforts to thwart God’s work through missionaries all over the world. Just pray for God’s sovereign, protective hand to rest heavily on these kids.

6. Pray for all 6 of the Kelley clan. We’ve been battling head colds for over a week now. It’s taken a toll on me as I’m playing single mom and on Aaron as he’s climbing the highest mountain in Africa! Please pray for healing.

I’ll close with the Great Commission, because I need to be reminded of it when things get tough. It’s found in Matthew 28:

⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

One Month Down, One Month To Go!

Another week has flown by here in Kenya. We are so thankful for your ongoing prayers, notes and gifts! Here is a little update of the last week.

Last Friday, we skipped class to do our weekly shopping, try our hand at bartering in Swahili at the Masai Market, and meet some friends for lunch. It was a cold, rainy day. I was successful at finding two more pairs of stretchy, but not maternity, pants at the mall. We stocked up on nonperishable food at the supermarket. Then, we purchased some really cute nursery supplies for Joshua. I wasn’t planning to do anything too fancy if we were having another boy, but I changed my mind. (I already had a beautiful, fun girl nursery all planned out in my head…I guess those plans will have to wait!) I found orange, brown and ivory fabric for sheets and pillows and whatever else I decide to create. We got a cute giraffe and hippo for décor. I still have some things to find and/or make, but I think the nursery will be one of my favorite rooms when it’s finished.

Joshua’s nursery will be orange, brown and ivory. (I just can’t do blue or green anymore!)

Once we finished bargaining for matching Kenyan soccer outfits for the boys, we called the driver to pick us up. He didn’t understand my request, so we ended up standing in the rain for quite some time. Finally, we were on our way across town to eat at an amazing brick oven pizza restaurant with our friends, which was the main purpose for missing the entire day of class!

Aaron and the boys in their Kenyan soccer jerseys.

Although we were late (everything takes longer in Kenya!), we thoroughly enjoyed our time with our friends. They are visiting Tenwek and actually living in our house for 3 ½ weeks. While we’re sorry that Aaron and Allan won’t get to work side-by-side at Tenwek, we are so privileged to share our home with them. It was delightful to meet their daughters. I wonder if they’re sleeping in the boys’ triple bunk…

The Sawyer Family and us after filling ourselves with pizza.

We are also grateful to meet them because they filled two huge trunks for us! Baby clothes, blankets, cloth diapers, toys, birthday party supplies, medical supplies, school books, etc. were overflowing the action packers. What a blessing!

The boys LOVE whoopie cushions! Thanks, Sawyer family!!

Our weekend was quiet and restful. We enjoyed corn-on-the-cob for the first time since moving here. (I’m talking real sweet corn, not maize!) We visited the same church and enjoyed their kick-off celebration for 50 years of making disciples and teaching the Word. It’s so encouraging to be a part of such a Bible-teaching church that actually walks the talk. Although we couldn’t understand all the testimonies since they were primarily in Swahili, we were blessed by how many people could so easily share how the church had impacted their lives and their walks with God. God is doing great things here in Kenya! Praise God!

Monday and Tuesday were full days. We finished lessons 19 and 20, which meant we needed to take the first exam. Giving us much grace, the teachers gave us a day and a half to study. After an hour of test-prep on Wednesday, we started our self-study time. We spent Thursday studying. Then, on Friday we took the test!

Me, my 23-week baby bump, and my test

I think we all did very well. Monday begins a new week. We’ve been told that we’ll learn the ‘yellow chart.’ I guess that’s a good thing, but I’m not sure. Before that, though, we’ll enjoy another quiet weekend. Hopefully, the sun will stay out and we’ll have some special family time. We are taking advantage of the cafe to celebrate Noah’s half-birthday. Since both Jacob and Levi will celebrate birthdays here at language school and will therefore be treated to Mommy-Daddy-dates, we thought we’d treat Noah to his date on his 8 1/2 birthday. We’re considering giving him half of a Lego set, but we think that would be torture for his personality type!

Psalm 146

1 Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.

6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them—
    he remains faithful forever.
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
    and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8     the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
    the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
    and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

10 The Lord reigns forever,
    your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

Praise and Prayer Requests:

1. Praise God for the work He is doing in Kenya! Pray that discipleship will become a main priority in all churches across this country.
2. Praise God for our successful assessments. We are doing our best to learn as much Swahili as possible in 2 months, so it’s encouraging to get good feedback. Please continue to pray for us. We’re half way done, and we have SO much more to learn!
3. Pray for Tenwek.
4. Pray for wisdom in answering the boys’ questions concerning the baby and Hannah. Pray for their hearts, and ours. Aaron and I have been grieving deeply again. It’s hard to know how to answer the boys’ questions. It’s hard to process things away from home, away from our normal, away from our main emotional supporters.
5. Pray blessings upon those people at Tenwek who have sacrificially supported us the past year and a half. We are so far from our American support system, so we appreciate our Tenwek family so much. They walked the journey of losing Hannah with us, and they haven’t forgotten. Now that we are absent from that support system, we are made more aware of how special it is. We love you all! May God bless you for your emotional and spiritual support!!
6. Pray blessings upon Levi and Aaron this week as they celebrate their birthdays! Levi will turn 4 on Thursday, and Aaron will be another year older on Friday.

Hujambo!

As promised, here is my language school update.

We moved from Tenwek to Limuru on Saturday, June 14, which just happened to be our 11-year anniversary. After fueling the car, returning to Tenwek to retrieve a forgotten cell phone, and shopping for the first two-weeks of meals, we finally arrived to our temporary home at language school. We were greeted by some WGM ‘officials’ and the other 3 families who will be walking this journey alongside us. The landlord-ish person met us with keys and we felt like we were entering our very first home…Well, sort of.

The half-of-a-house that we were assigned looks much like a newlywed couple’s home. You know, the small, livable but not necessarily pretty kind. The we’re-living- on-love sort of home. (See Aaron’s blog if you don’t believe me.) It’s actually quite fine; it’s just not as nice as our apartment in Tenwek. The kitchen has almost no storage, there is no washing machine, the table sits at most 4 people, and there’s no hot water. The no hot water thing wouldn’t be so bad if we were in the part of Africa that actually felt like we lived on the equator. Limuru, especially now during winter, is quite cold. We’re wearing pants, socks, and layers of shirts. Plus, it’s dreary most days. Seeing the sun is a rare treat. Then, when we remember the 3 crazy boys plus the one on the way, the whole honeymoon feeling quickly vanishes.

We spent all of Sunday unpacking and organizing and going back to the store to get all the things we didn’t know we needed. (Who knew being a missionary could be so expensive?!?) After the busy day, we were feeling somewhat settled and kind of ready to begin the 2-month journey of learning a language.

Monday began as usual with breakfast and such. Then, we were off to school at 8:30. We all crowded into a room for morning devotionals, which were completely in Swahili. As if I wasn’t feeling enough apprehension, now I was sure that I was going to fail completely at ever understanding the language. The rest of the day was a little easier, as it was an orientation day. The teachers spoke in English as they explained the daily schedule and gave a little historical and cultural background. Whew! Day 1 wasn’t too bad!

Days 2-4 were hard-core. In those 2 ½ days of instruction (Wednesdays are half days), we learned how to introduce ourselves Kenyan style. This is exceedingly important here, especially if you intend to visit churches. Every church service provides a time for the visitors to stand up and introduce themselves, and they don’t just want “Hi. My name is Stephanie.” It needs to go more like this:

Jina langu ni Stephanie. Nimetoka Marekani, jimbo la Pennsylvania, mji wa Allentown. Ninekaa Tenwek. Nimeolwea. Mume wangu anaitwa Aaron. Nina watoto wanne. Mtoto wa kwanza anaitwa Noah ana miaka minane. Mtota wa pili anaitwa Jacob an miaka mitano. Mtoto wa tatu anaitwa Levi ana miaka mitatu. Mtoto wa nne anaitwa Hannah lakini alikufa. Mini ne mmisheni.

(Translation: My name is Stephanie. I’m from Allentown, Pennsylvania, America. I live at Tenwek. I am married. My husband’s name is Aaron. I have four children. The firstborn is named Noah and he is 8 years old. The second born is Jacob and he is 5 years old. The third born is Levi and he is 3 years old. The fourth born is Hannah but she has died. I am a missionary.)

In addition to this lengthy introduction that we had to memorize, we began learning about sentence formation and verb tenses and lots of vocabulary. Our heads were spinning! Fortunately, they took it easy on us on Friday and reviewed. We four families celebrated a successful first week with a communal pizza night. Lots of pizza, soda, chips, salad, and dessert helped us ease into the weekend.

We went on yet another shopping trip on Saturday. This time, it was mainly for school supplies and warm clothes, not for household stuff and groceries.  Saturday was also my laundry day, so I ran down the hill to the one washing machine and then back up to my clotheslines. In between those loads of laundry, we organized our notes and tried our bests to decipher our homework.

This week was equally full. We started to meet with conversants for an hour after our normally scheduled classes. We learned about demonstratives, possessives, and of course more verbs, vocabulary and sentence structure. The boys are learning too. They have been taking turns praying in Swahili for our lunches. The boys play a Simon Says type game with Swahili commands, and they’re learning colors, body parts, numbers, days of the week, etc. It’s exciting to see them learn so much in such a short amount of time.

While their mornings are filled with Swahili school, the boys spend their afternoons doing English school (reading, math, grammar and such). Then, we put them to work around the house. They have been loving their chores! Noah’s favorite chore has been sweeping the house, while Jacob and Levi usually fight over washing the dishes. Whoever doesn’t win that fight usually gets to help me cook dinner. They also like to carry the trash down to the burn pile at the bottom of the hill, sweep the porch, and help Aaron bring in firewood.

Thank you so much for all your prayers. We feel them. I have been absorbing much more Swahili than I ever thought possible. Aaron is trying to keep up with me. 😉 And we both are trying to keep up with the boys!

Praises and Prayer Requests:

1. Praise God for His faithfulness and grace! I totally accredit all my learning to His all-sufficient supply of all our needs! Please continue to pray for us – our minds, bodies and spirits.
2. Praise God that Colleen is on her way! God supplied all her financial needs to get here to help us with the kiddos. Please pray for her travels, her adjustment to the time change and the huge change in elevation, and her patience to handle the kids here. (Thank you to all of you who faithfully donated to her trip!)
3. Praise God for this healthy baby. While we’ll do a more thorough exam in a few weeks, he/she is looking perfectly healthy. I’m 20 weeks, and we think we know what we’re having. You’ll just have to wait a little longer…we want to verify before we share publicly. Pray for a very clear picture of the ‘right parts’ so that we can share the gender with confidence in a couple of weeks.
4. Praise God for this language school and everybody who is working hard to make our experience safe and successful. From the teachers to the guys who bring us firewood to the security guards, everyone has been super helpful and accommodating. Pray blessings upon these people!

Romans 3:8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ.

May our efforts here in language school allow us more and more privilege to reach the ‘gentiles’ among us! Thank you for your faithful prayers!

Turning Points

I’m beginning the Beth Moore study on James. In one of the homework assignments, she asks us to make a timeline of a “period of years in your own life that proved very strategic in your journey toward Christ or with Him.” (page 26, James: Mercy Triumphs) I decided to jot down the major turning points in my faith from salvation to present, and I thought I’d share some of the timeline with you.

1991 Salvation! I was 10 years old. I don’t remember the date, but it was the biggest decision of my life. It was the day my hope was found! Hallelujah!!

October 19, 1996 This is the day Aaron and I started dating. I know not many people can say this kind of event was a turning point in their faith, but I can. I vividly remember talking with my best friend about the possibility of dating Aaron. My 15-year-old self knew that saying ‘yes’ to dating Aaron was equivalent to saying ‘yes’ to spending the rest of my life with him. Looking back, I realize that I was actually saying YES to God’s plan and NO to my plan. Therefore, this was a major turning point in my walk with God.

December 1998 My first mission trip. Aaron and I went to the Dominican Republic with a church group. Our lives have never been the same, for this experience gave us the heart for missions that we have today. (This picture was taken on our second trip to the DR.)

2000 At some point during college (I’m not sure if it was 2000), Aaron and I made the decision to turn down the Air Force. All worldly wisdom told us to have Aaron join the Air Force so that they would pay for medical school. However, we strongly felt God telling us to NOT join the Air Force. While we still don’t understand the decision, we see this as a turning point in our relationship as a couple with God. This was the first time we forsook the world’s wisdom for God’s guidance together.

June 14, 2003 Aaron and I got married. It was a beautiful ceremony where Aaron and I pledged our holy convenant to one another, and to God. (This is the only wedding picture I could find on the computer…It doesn’t quite depict the holy occasion…but oh well. We had fun too!)

2005 We said ‘yes’ to trusting God with the match. We wanted to go one place for residency, but God clearly called us to the Lehigh Valley. It wasn’t a comfortable decision for us, but it turned out to be great!

January 18, 2006 We became parents! Noah Douglas was born, and our hearts grew 3 sizes (at least)!

February 20, 2006 Aaron’s father, Douglas, died. We learn that God’s timing is PERFECT.

August 6, 2008 Jacob is born!

2009 We said ‘yes’ to fellowship. Again, we didn’t really want to extend Aaron’s training, but we felt like God ordained this next step. We later found out that the fellowship made the next step possible. God is trustworthy!!

July 24, 2010 Levi is born!

2011 We said ‘yes’ to the Post-Residency Program. (This was the next step I was referring to in the 2009 event.) We applied, interviewed and accepted the 2-year term in medical missions. Very exciting, but very scary!!

January 22, 2012 Hannah is born!

2012 We discern that God is calling us to Tenwek Hospital in Kenya. This decision was a difficult decision to make because it actually aligned with our desires…That had NOT been the trend in previous turning points, so we were hesitant to trust what we thought God was telling us. We are thankful for the people who allowed the Holy Spirit to speak through them.

January 29, 2013 We move to Kenya!!!!

March 14, 2013 Hannah dies. After a few days, we leave Kenya to bring our baby girl back to the States. Saddest days of my life, and yet I have hope. My heart may have a hole but the remainder of my heart overflows with love from and toward God.

April 30, 2013-May 5, 2013 Yes, I realize that these dates are in the future, but I know these are pivotal days. We fly back to Kenya on Tuesday, April 30. We’ll arrive in Nairobi, Kenya on Wednesday and then stay in the city until Sunday. On Sunday, May 5, we travel to Tenwek and must walk into our home…without Hannah. While these days will be difficult for sure, we see them as integral parts of our healing process. AND we see the act of returning to our mission as a stand against Satan.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)

May 5, 2003 – ??? These are the days, weeks, months and years that lay ahead. It’s when we’ll need to find our new normal, when we must face the empty booster seat at the dining room table, when we must visit Hannah’s room filled with all her stuff, when we must make more big decisions. My eyes fill with tears and my stomach turns in knots just thinking of it, but my faith is strong. I know God’s hand has been and always will be leading us, leading not only Aaron and I but also our children. Please continue to pray for us as we continue to face many more turning points in our lives. “Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.” (Philippians 3:18b-19)

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to hav taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)

A Mother’s Prayer

As some of you know, I spoke at my local MOPS group this week. I wanted to share what God placed on my heart for these women. I trust that the Holy Spirit will speak to you through these words as well.

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Then Hannah prayed and said:

“My heart rejoices in the LORD;

in the LORD my horn is lifted high.

My mouth boasts over my enemies,

For I delight in your deliverance.

“There is no one holy like the LORD;

there is no one besides you;

there is no Rock like our God.

“Do not keep talking so proudly

or let your mouth speak such arrogance,

for the LORD is a God who knows,

and by him deeds are weighed.

“The bows of the warriors are broken,

but those who stumbled are armed with strength.

Those who were full hire themselves out for food,

but those who were hungry are hungry no more.

She who was barren has borne seven children,

but she who has had many sons pines away.

“The LORD brings death and makes alive;

he brings down to the grave and raises up.

The LORD sends poverty and wealth;

he humbles and he exalts.

He raises the poor from the dust

and lifts the needy from the ash heap;

he seats them with princes

and has them inherit a throne of honor.

“For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s;

on them he has set the world.

He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,

but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.

“It is not by strength that one prevails;

those who oppose the LORD will be broken.

The Most High will thunder from heaven;

the LORD will judge the ends of the earth.

“He will give strength to his king

and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

The story of Hannah from the Old Testament has always been a favorite of mine. I’ve always admired her faith, and I was elated when we had a daughter to name after her. I spent time during my pregnancy learning more about Hannah so that I could teach my little Hannah about her namesake. That’s one advantage of naming your children after people in the Bible. They automatically have a role model, and I enjoy telling and re-telling the stories of Noah, Jacob and Levi to my boys. Oh, how I looked forward to teaching my daughter about the faithful and courageous Hannah we learn about in I Samuel. Maybe this Old Testament Hannah can teach my little Hannah…I guess she’d do a better job anyway!

In case you aren’t familiar with her story, let me summarize a small portion of Hannah’s life. While you read this, remember that Hannah isn’t that different from you or me. She wasn’t superhuman or anything like that. Try to think of her as you would a close friend…or yourself, flawed and corrupted by sin.

Hannah was married to a man named Elkanah, a devout Israelite and loving husband. He was diligent in taking his family to the temple for the annual sacrifice. Despite cultural pressures, he loved Hannah even though she was barren. There was a problem in their family though. Elkanah was also married to Peninnah, who could and was giving him children. As if the pain of longing for a child wasn’t enough, Peninnah teased Hannah and made her sorrow unbearable.

As they reached the temple one particular year, Hannah was in such misery that she could not eat her double portion (see I Samuel 1:1-8). She entered the temple and she made a vow to God saying, “O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.” (v11) In fact, her prayer was so heartfelt that Eli, the priest, accused her of being drunk. While she didn’t tell him what she was praying, she assured him that she wasn’t drunk, only “deeply troubled” and as a result, “pouring out [her] soul to the LORD.” (v15)

Her plea to Eli worked, because he blessed her and asked God to grant her the prayer request. (v17) The Holy Spirit must have spoken straight through Eli’s mouth to Hannah’s heart, because she immediately changed. She went from being in anguish to eating and showing a “no longer downcast” countenance. (v18) Sure enough, God answered Hannah’s prayer. Elkanah and Hannah conceived, had a baby boy and named him Samuel.

Hannah raised Samuel in the family home until it was time to wean him. Then, as the time came for another annual sacrifice, Hannah prepared to take Samuel to the temple. Remember, she vowed to give her son back to God. She even dedicated him as a Nazarite. We won’t go into what that means exactly, but you could look it up in Numbers 6:1-21. For now, just know that Samuel was set apart for a special service to God. Hannah left her son, her only son, her only child at the temple to be trained under the care of Eli. Fully knowing that she would only see him once a year, Hannah left her son. She entrusted him to God.

Can you imagine? 

Probably not. Let’s consider a more modern situation. In Kenya, missionary kids can go to boarding school. Most of my friends in Kenya send their kids to Rift Valley Academy for high school, but let’s say you had to send your 5 year old there. You live here in the U.S., but your child, your 5-year old, must go to kindergarten at Rift Valley Academy in Kenya. You could only see him once a year because you can’t afford to fly him back and forth. Could you do that? What if it was the best school in America? What if it wasn’t? What if you profess to trust God with your child and this was clearly what He wanted you to do?

Please know that I’m not making any statements about where your child(ren) should go to school. I’ll entrust the Holy Spirit to instruct you on that issue. I know we are not sending our children to school. We homeschool by choice, and we love it (most of the time). School is not the issue. But what I am saying is this: Are you trusting God with your children?

Because my God didn’t ask me to send my 5-year old to boarding school. My God asked me to send my 1-year old to heaven…And I said, “Yes!”

I didn’t say “yes” because I wanted my daughter to die. I’m not crazy nor am I claiming to be a saint. I’m not a saint. My husband isn’t a saint. We aren’t superhuman or anything extraordinary. We are, however, choosing to trust our holy God with our children. Let me give you some reasons we find Him trustworthy.

Reason #1: We serve a really big God.

We could willingly send our daughter to heaven because we serve a really big God. A God who loves our children way more than we could. A God who knows our children better than we ever could know them. A God who desires them to be with Him in heaven more than anything else.

At some point, back when Noah (my firstborn who is now 7) was a toddler, I asked God to reveal His heart to me, to make His desires my desires (instead of the other way around), and He heard my prayer. I remember sobbing over my 2-year-old Noah as I asked God to protect him, for I knew that he was a gift from God, that life was fragile and offered no guarantees. God spoke to my heart. I don’t think it was that same night, but I know God did something miraculous. He did make His desires my desires. He gave me a new priority in prayer.

Since that point, my number one prayer for my children was that they would get to heaven. Yes, I still pray for protection and health and blessings. However, happiness and an easy life never take priority over getting them to heaven. If it costs me my reputation as a good mother, then I’m willing to sacrifice. If it means that my kids will make terrible, maybe even life-changing decisions, then I’ll walk with them through it. If it means sending my 1-year-old baby girl to heaven, then I’m ok with that, because God is answering that prayer. It might not be my plan, but I trust God. I trust that He would NEVER do anything to harm my children that He wouldn’t use for good. I believe that because His Word tells me this in Romans 8:28.

Reason #2: We have examples to follow.

Another reason I could willingly give my child back to God is that I have an entire Bible filled with examples of people who were asked to do crazy things for God, and God ALWAYS proved Himself trustworthy. Abraham, Joseph, Hannah, David, Daniel, etc. did insane things to show that their God was God. They weren’t superhuman. They just trusted a God who was able to fulfill the promises he made to them.

My God promised that my life would be better than I could ever imagine…IF I trusted and followed Him. He even gave us a double rainbow to remind us of that promise. While it doesn’t feel so good right now, I am holding God to His promise.

Reason #3: God is our perfect example.

Finally, and most importantly, I can still rejoice and say my God is good because He’s not asking me to do anything He’s not willing to do. He knows my pain. He knows what it’s like to watch a child die. He watched His only Son die on the cross. He gave up His only child for me. He did this not because He’s a cruel and unloving God but because it was the best way. It was the only way He could redeem His people. While Hannah’s death doesn’t have the power that Christ’s death did, it is bringing people to God. We know of several people who received salvation because of Hannah’s story, and many, many people have been brought closer to God as a result.

Remember, Hannah prayed that prayer of praise AFTER giving Samuel back to God. While I’m sure she rejoiced the first time she felt Samuel kick inside her womb and surely she sang a song of praise the first time she held that long-awaited-for son, those words are not recorded in God’s flawless Word. It’s those precious words of praise that sprung from her heart after leaving her firstborn son at the temple that were recorded for us to read and study. Like Hannah, I’m choosing to rejoice after giving my daughter back to God.

Are you? First of all, if you have never trusted God with your own life, are you ready to give God your life? Are you ready and willing to trust that Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life, that no one come to the Father except through Him? (John 14:6) And secondly, if you are a parent, are you ready and willing to trust God with your children? It might be hard, but  it will be worth it!

Romans 12:1 instructs, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”

I’m praying for you, dear brothers and sisters. Thank you for praying for me.

Just a sweet picture of Hannah to close this post…