"It's the MOST WONDERFUL Time of the Year" (year end giving..) ;)

Hello Friends and Family.

I'm sure you've had many email reminders from various organizations about year-end tax-deductible giving. I had planned a grand giving campaign, but then my son was born early, and ended up with a broken leg so I'm just now getting out my end of the year request. I trust God will bring in what is necessary to keep the ministry a float, but I would like to give you a brief update if you have the time.

We've added four members to our Staff this year who are working with the Deaf ministry of Cru - Hands of Fire. This is three more people than last year, and the first time to have staff members DEDICATED TO the needs of THE DEAF COMMUNITY. Praise the Lord for bringing workers to the ripe fields! :)

We also currently have THREE Winter Conferences that we are providing Interpreters. This is TWO more than last year, AND there are 5 more Deaf students in attendance than last year (last year there were 2 students, this year 7 students).

I could go into more statistics, but suffice it to say we are finally starting to REAP A HARVEST from all of the years I've put into building the foundations of this ministry. Your support thus far has enabled us to be where we are today, and I hope that you will continue to invest in the growth of the ministry.

As we come to the end of 2018, I am in need of $8,000 to stay on budget. If you are able, I would appreciate whatever generous amount you can give towards that number. Thanks for partnering with me so that the Deaf community can SEE the gospel in their heart language, and share their understanding with others.

Soli Deo Gloria
:D

*(to receive the tax-deduction, your gift needs to be processed by December 31st at 11:59pm)*

On Expecting the Unexpected.. and a lil' bitty hello! :)

It's December 19th - technically I should be 41 weeks pregnant today. And because of that my plans for November were as follows:

November 1st - return home from a month long trip to Honduras (visiting Azael's biological family).
November 11th - drive down to Tulsa, help with prep for Lauren's wedding.
November 19th - drive home to Iowa from Lauren's wedding.
November 21st - purchase a van from our friends in Nebraska (as our van died a week earlier).
November 26th through December 14th - PREP. ALL. THE. THINGS
- for Baby's arrival, and for Cru Winter Conference, and the house for Snow, and..
December 16th - have all the things done, and be ready for baby to come. It may seem "late" but since my first two kids came at 42.5 and 41.5 weeks, respectively, I felt like it made sense to anticipate a later delivery.

BUT here's what happened

November 1st - return home from a month long visit to Honduras = Check
November 11th - drive down to Tulsa, help with prep for Lauren's wedding = Check
November 19th - drive home to Iowa from Lauren's wedding = Check
November 21st - purchase a van from our friends in Nebraska = Check
November 24th - 2:34am WATER BREAKS (this has not happened with either of my other kids = surprising!) Midwife checks on me through out the day, labor stalls thrice, but she decides to stay overnight since there's a snowstorm coming which can induce labor. I'm glad she did, as active labor started at 9:30pm, and Baby BOY was born at 11:31pm.

He was 37.5 weeks, so considered 'term'. We didn't have any complications - we also didn't have a name, as Azael and I had scheduled a date for Sunday, the 25th to discuss possible names!
Lil' buddy just couldn't wait.. ;)

I was woefully unprepared, however, for his arrival. We had ordered the 'Birth Kit' for his planned home birth just 2 days prior (it arrived Monday afternoon, when he was 2 days old.. oops!). Since my water broke in the early morning, Azael did have time to run some errands that day to get the necessities. We also had some of the other supplies left over from Kaspien's birth, so it worked out fine. We got the birthing pool set up just in time - that was wonderful!

I was also mentally not prepared for the transition of 2 to 3 kids. I had a list of things I wanted to do before baby came and I felt like the 5 virgins who ran out of oil. The first week of Baby being on the outside was a mess! Fortunately Azael had paternity leave from work and was able to stay home - but it was crazy. At one week old Baby Boy still didn't have a name, so we put off announcing him to the world. We weren't intentionally hiding him, just lots of adjusting for our hearts and minds to welcome this little one so 'early' (in our minds).




My mom was able to come up by the second week, and that gave Azael and I time to discuss names. In the Bible, we see God give very deliberate names to people, and Azael and I feel that same way with our kids. We've been entrusted by our Abba with these small humans to raise, and we feel like naming them in a way that honors Him is part of that responsibility as well.


As always, His name has a story: click here to read it though, as this post is getting long! ;)






On Saturday, December 10th, at two weeks old, he finally had a name! We sent the picture out to family and close friends and planned to make the obligatory Facebook Official post later that night. However, an unfortunate accident that evening landed Emaias in the ER with a broken leg. It was pretty traumatic for all involved. He had to stay overnight in Children's Hospital. I have a new found appreciation of and understanding for NICU parents. Recovery is slow going. He's in a harness - the typical regiment for this age and injury - but diaper changes and any movement of his leg are still pretty painful. I was overly optimistic that he would nurse sooner than he could - and thus have been struggling to keep my milk supply up as well. I texted a friend saying, "You don't realize how hard it is not to hold your baby until you can't." Things take longer now - diaper changes require two of us - one to immobilize his leg, the other to change him. He was nursing well and had a great latch pre-accident, and now I'm having to pump and use bottles (not bad, just more work.) I can't baby-wear him, and we have to give sponge baths for the next month or so. Our days look a lil different than the typical newborn bonding/adjusting and I'm trying to make sure I'm engaging with him as often as I can. It's hard, but God is good in it, helping me to think outside the box for ways to accommodate Emaias and his injury.

We've thought back through all the 'what if's' and 'if only's' to know that it truly was an unintended accident. It doesn't make it easier, but it is what it is, and we look forward to him feeling better. It's hard to see such a lil baby in such intense pain but he is predicted to make a fully recovery.

Thus the reason that he's a little over 3 weeks old and we are just now getting this announcement out. Jaelyn and Kaspien love their brother and are eagerly awaiting when they can hold him again.

WELCOME EMAIAS!

[what]S'up, Wednesday?

The "[what]S'up, Wednesday?" update comes on the first Wednesday of the month. Peak into my planner to see my upcoming schedule, catch up on any noteworthy thing happening and check out a recent picture or two from my phone (mostly of the kids, cuz they're the cute ones) ;) .. 
          ******************************************************************

Peak into my Planner: 
December 4th-11th :: Heidi and Dakota are visiting. Both WORK and PLAY are being accomplished.  We have *big and exciting* plans for them to be back on campus as soon as they are able. --Stay Tuned!!--
December 21st-26th :: We (Azael, kids and I) fly to California for Christmas (THANKS PaPa Jim for the miles - though it may be self-serving for him as he's not yet met his second grandson!). ;)
December 26th-January 1st :: I'll be in Baltimore working at the Cru Winter Conference. I'll send out a link once I get there, as the interpreters will be on live-stream those few days. :)

[December 27th - {KASPIEN} turns 1! This big boy will accompany me to CWC-Baltimore, his second work trip with only Momma, as sister will stay home with Daddy - If you think of Azael, pray for wisdom in his few days of flying solo!] ;)

:: *Noteworthy* ::
DECEMBER is here! For most of you that means holiday shopping and wrapping gift (no harm in any of that!) - but for me, as a fundraiser, that means Year-end giving! I look at it as a win-win, really. You get a write off on your taxes for the money that God has entrusted you, and I get to have your donation doubled through matching funds (from a generous donor) that allow me to continue to provide access to the Deaf community at Cru events exposing them to the gospel and resources that allow them to walk deeper with Jesus!! :) I have $8,910 left to raise of the matching grant I received for this calendar year. Every little bit helps, so ask our Father what he would have you give, then click the link to allow Deaf individuals to SEE the gospel! :)

<<<< That's all for now - catch you later >>>>

Soli Deo Gloria
:D

A few NEW thing - Welcome!

So, I kinda knew this would happen, but I kinda didn't. I was hoping that I would plan things better, but I knew I wouldn't.. Thus here's two NEW things for the New Year :)

First off, I'll be doing a new approach to my updates, as I've gotten some good feedback from many of you. I've learned I'm not "pithy" enough ;) and that, if I could give more "cliff notes" versions, ya'll would be more inclined to read it.. So, I'll start with bullet points at the top of each update that are succinct and hopefully clickable. It'll look like this.. 

** Cool thing happening in Baltimore! Check out this link for more details.. ( Links in ASL and English)

** Remember that 90's commercial with Bob "WeHadABaby-ItsABoy".. ? (Link in Spoken English and written transcript)

** Matching Grant expires tonight - every little bit helps!

(I'm trying to figure out how to code so that the bullet point will take you down to that part of the update if you are one of the people who said you still like to get the "meat of the story". For now, you'll have to scroll down to the corresponding headline.) 


COOL THINGS!!
Right now, students are gathered for Cru's annual Winter Conference in places like Indy, Denver and Atlanta. However, if you clicked the link for Baltimore's conference Live Stream you will see that they are the only one offering the main session with an ASL Interpreter! This is the second year for the conference to offer the Interpreter on a live stream feed, and the staff has been great to work with us. I'm so grateful for their willingness to help us reach the Deaf community with this solid and refreshing content about God's character. Our hope is to expand this to more conferences next year. If you've got a few minutes, check out the video archives! :)

(Second New thing - BABY!)

WE HAD A BABY - ITS A BOY :)

     He was around 41.5 weeks, "a week late" by medical standards, but when he decided to come it was a fast and furious hour and a half labor. Daddy caught him, the midwives didn't make it in time! As soon as we shared with family and close friends the replies came back - "what's the story behind his name"?? Like with Jaelyn, it took us over two days to decide for sure what his name would be. I always tell people, "It's so hard for me to name a human! It's not like a cat that I can change their name later if I don't like it." ;)
     For Azael and I, the names of our children provide an opportunity for us to create an Ebenezer. We want to honor the Lord in the names we choose for our kids, and allow them to be constant and visual reminders for us of where He has brought us on this journey called Life.
     When you look up Kaspien (pronounced like Caspian) on baby name websites, they will say, "We don't know what this name means, can you help us out?" So I guess we get to decide what it means.  :) It's counter part Caspian - as in the Caspian sea - is near where Azael and I went on a Vision Trip with Cru this past May. God used that trip to stretch us in good ways, so part of the name comes from a reminder of our time there. The spelling of Kaspien includes "aspen" - as in the trees. Aspen trees grow in a communal root system. Azael and I have been in search of "community" since we married, not really finding a thriving place to root ourselves. Our move to Iowa has been a bountiful place to bloom, and connect deeply with like-minded SIGNING (Deaf and Hearing) couples and it's been a breath of fresh air for us. So, to us, Kaspien means "Finding home, settling where community thrives."
     When Azael was offered the opportunity to work in Iowa on the ASLV Bible Translation team, we had only been in California 2 weeks and were quite unsure if we should pick up and move again. The name Adoniram kept coming to mind for me, and I found it odd (since we didn't know if Baby was a boy or a girl). I knew of Adoniram Judson from reading about missionaries when I was younger, but I didn't fully remember his story so I googled him. Adoniram Judson lived in the 1800's, and his main work in Burma was Bible translation. Azael and I felt confident that this was God confirming for us to yet again pack up and move, this time to Iowa. We chose to keep the 'a' in Adonai - the name of the Lord in Hebrew, and were also blessed by the opportunity to honor Azael's mom in the process with her name 'Dona' being included in the spelling of Adonairam.

So, that's the story behind his name..

GIVING
I'm trying to make the transition from the event based budget I've had in the previous years to a continuous operating budget starting in 2017. In order to make that transition, I need to end this year well and start next year strong. Thank you to everyone who has already given. Thank you also for your consideration to steward your resources well! If you've not yet given, click this link for secured online giving. Thanks for your continued support!

May the new year find us doing more kingdom work than before!

Soli Deo Gloria

:D