Not What I Thought it Would Be

If you're like me, you have always been a little afraid to just give in completely to God because you always just KNEW He would call you to do something like being a crazy missionary in some hostile, poverty stricken county! You always keep just enough distance so that you can stay comfortable with the life path you have chosen.

Three years ago Joy and I decided we were tired of mediocre Christianity and we wanted everything that God had for us. Mostly because we began to understand that our ultimate goal and objective in life is to glorify God. But the cool thing about it is that the more we did to bring Him glory, the more fulfilled we found ourselves. The more we surrendered, the more we could see God working around us. The more we allowed Him to work, the greater the satisfaction we found in Him and a desire to bring Him even more glory.

That led us to the mission trip to the Philippines and then to Haiti. The more we surrendered and allowed God to direct us, the more complete we felt and the more meaning our lives seemed to have.

Then came little Josie Kate. She was a miracle baby that God brought into our lives. We thought we were through raising babies. But we had no idea how much sweeter God's plan was than our plan! I will let Joy share that whole story another day but suffice it to say that although our lives are not easier with Josie, our lives are much greater! Things are often times more complicated and more hectic, but at the same time they are more joyful and impacting. As God showed us that, we began to ask what other areas could we submit to him that we were currently following our own plan instead of His plan.

The key is understanding that God loves us so much that He only wants the best, most awesome, most fulfilling, most satisfying, most impacting, and most eternally preparing life possible. The more satisfied and overjoyed we are in Him, the more glorified He is in us. As we began to realize that, we saw that we did not have to 'fear' or dread anything that God would bring our way. We could look forward to it with excitement and peace. If God that created the world is willing to reveal 'The Perfect Plan' for my life (Jer. 29:11) to me instead of me trying to find my own route, I find that exciting. It turns out, God is smarter than me! He sees a little different perspective than I do. I want to live the life that He says is the most awesome life for me, not the plan that my little mind thinks is best.

So that gets us to here. The ironic thing is that for US, full surrender does mean a life in a deprived land with few amenities and extra perils. But it also means we have the opportunity to share the love of Christ with people that are hungry to hear. We can also minister to pastors that labor faithfully for the Lord as they watch their own children suffer from starvation and disease.

God is giving us the desire of our hearts! God is not calling us to something we do not want to do! God is calling us to the one thing in life we are longing to do right now! I know it seems unreasonable, but that is how God works. I just cry every time I sit and think about how He is opening this door to allow us to do this. God is so good!

You don't have to worry. Full surrender to God means he will make it possible to do exactly what it is you want to do! As you surrender, God changes your heart to where what He made you for is exactly what you want! It does not mean He is going to drag you into the jungle where you dread going. He is going to allow you to experience the life you were made for. The life He created you for from the beginning of time. Don't let it slip away. Don't let fear and misconceptions of God rob you of what you could experience and also steal away the opportunity for you to bring God ultimate glory with your life. The fully surrendered life is best you can have now, and for all of eternity.

For us, things are moving right along. Several people have looked at the house. Here is the link for that. http://www.realestatebook.com/homes/listing/101-537874267/28602-NC-USA/350000-400000-price/101-537082728--101-537191104--101-537664348--101-536866583--101-537875082--101-537874267-ls/6-t

We have also had several people look at the land we are selling. http://www.myprivatelake.com/. We are just waiting on God's perfect time.

In the mean time, we are continuing our Creole lessons with Ti Tant. She is coming over tonight for a lesson and to fry us up some plantains- creole style. The railing is being added to our little apartment on the orphanage there in Haiti. Joy and I are planning to take a trip down in July to continue the planning process. We can't wait!

Please feel free to leave comments here and ask any questions.

Our Future Home

Bondieu Bon, Li Bon Tout Tan!...God is good all of the time! God has opened the door for us to be able to live on top of a beautiful orphanage that was started by a precious, God sent couple from Missouri. Jim and Gayle Durham, known by the kids in the orphanage as Papi and Mami, have served the Lord faithfully in Haiti for over 20 years. We will have a secure place to raise our kids and invest in the lives of the haitian children living in the orphanage at the same time. This will be our base for ministry. We will continue to work with the churches and continue the work we are currently doing with Pastor Cesar. We will also be able to start an eye clinic right there on the compound with the orphanage. How cool is that!



In the picture, our apartment is the top floor. A railing is currently being added for safety. The second floor houses the Durham's and rooms to house 12 short term missionaries. That is also where Julie will live. The bottom floor is the orphanage.




This is one of the nicest buildings I have ever seen in all of my trips to Haiti. I can't believe God is blessing us that way. My mom was so happy to see these pictures. She was in Haiti last month and could only imagine where we would be living. She is so excited to see how nice the Durhams have made this place. Merci Jezi! (Thank you Jesus!)



You can get more information about House of Bread ministries where we will be living by visiting http://www.house-of-bread.org/.

Our Recent Calling

Matthew 25 says that God will know the sheep because… “For I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me”.

After our last trip to Haiti, Joy and I both felt that God was calling us to surrender everything here to move there to minister to those people full time. We labored in prayer and after a period of time received confirmation from God that He had a perfect plan for our lives and that we had to trust Him to find it.

So as many of you have already heard, we are selling out…literally! We are in the process of selling our house and all of our possessions here in order to move there. Josie, Judah, and Jacy will be going with us. Megan and Logan are starting college next year, and Luke will be with his dad to start High School. He has been to Haiti with me twice and he will be coming down whenever possible.

We really need prayers. We are going to be going to a dark place spiritually to shed light and the evil one does not like that. We are asking for several people to agree to join with us in prayer for the next few months as we go through the process of ending everything here and beginning there. We do not know God exact timing but we just say yes. In a slow housing market and with other obstacles we face, it could be a slow process but we are surrendered to God's timetable. We are anxious and ready. God has put a burden in our hearts for the Haitian people and we are ready to be among them to serve the Lord.

We will be selling everything and only taking 2 suitcases each. We will be living in an orphanage with another older missionary couple. Julie Wirries, a former missionary to Haiti and one of my heroes will be moving back as well. She is also our Creole tutor right now. God has really opened doors for us there already. We will be working with the orphanage, opening an eye clinic, working with the 8 churches and schools with Pastor Cesar, and training pastors.

More Family Pictures

Here are a few more family pictures so no one feels left out! For those of you that do not know, when Kerry and Joy were married 8 years ago, Joy had Logan and Luke and Kerry had Megan. They had Jacy Klaire together. Then last year Josie Kate was adopted...we'll share that story later. And now Judah is in the process of being adopted...Lord willing.

The Family

Here is most of our family. You have Logan 18, Luke 14, Jacy 6, Judah 3, Josie 19 months, and Joy- age unpublishable at this time...Megan our 17 year old daughter and Kerry are in some of the pictures below. Mama Joy hopes to have a full family portrait before we end up in Haiti.

Thank you for visiting our blog. We want you to be able to be a part of what God is doing in our lives. We need you. We need friends and fellow believers to join with us in prayer as we embarq on this quest to be what God has called us to be.