Setting the Stage

WOW, What a trip…From the timing to each team member. And those four women (Ana, Beatris, Cheryl, and Deb) rocked it. I would love to share in as much detail as possible how each day went. Scott and I have been around the globe, both vacationing and on missions trips. This trip truly stands alone….above every other missions trip. Some details I don’t have because three of the days (Tues-Thurs), we had women’s ministry and Scott spent time with Tim and Pastor Carlos. I will do my best to cover those details though. 
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So to start, God put it on my heart to ask our team if they would consider doing a 21 day fast prior to our trip. Everyone agreed, some with hesitancy because they had never done a fast before. We read through Jenetzen Franklin’s book “Fasting.” If you have never read it, I highly recommend it! We all fasted differently…however the Lord led us to fast.
The fasting emptied ourselves of self. It was like crucifying our flesh. And walking more united in the Spirit. I believe that was key to this team and this trip. Every one of us was given words from the Lord before we went….words of wisdom to share. Every single one of them was spot on. This is something we should expect when we, as believers and followers of Christ, spend time with Him listening.
A few weeks prior to our trip, one of our team members lost her mom. As she navigated through this loss, she was given the word ‘forgiveness.’ Scott and I had been volunteering at the Missions Hub at church when she stopped by to share this word with us. I told her that I believed she was to press in for more because the word was to be shared on our trip. You see, I had received the exact same word in my quiet time, just a few days before this. I know it was for our trip, but I didn’t know who was to present on it. This certainly made it easy to figure out.
Sunday, Feb. 28th, the day of our departure, we were up at 3am, got to church about 3:50. The others arrived shortly after and we were on our way to Newark by 4:30. Checking our bags, etc. went smoothly. Our flight went smoothly and even arrived a little early. The Pikes had already been to our van rental company and had them there with the van when we arrived. We had a small hiccup getting everything through customs upon arrival. But even in that God moved. A young lady wanted to hold us up because of the 6 trunks we were bringing for the family moving here. We even had a letter from Pastor Carlos with us explaining the contents. When she called her supervisor over, he asked her why she would bother him about household items. They did open the trunks to do a quick peek; then let us go.
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From there we met the Pikes along with Javier (worship leader from the local church), Paola (Javier’s wife), and their precious baby Bethany. Scott had no problems adapting to driving from the driver’s seat on the opposite side of the car and on the opposite side of the road. Off to the Pikes for lunch. As it turns out, this set the tone of our trip. While we were there, I felt the Lord leading us to pray for Beth and her health; we also prayed over the house and our week together. Originally, Scott was asked to preach at Sunday night’s service. However, we were told there might be an evangelist in town and Pastor Carlos wanted him to come. So, at this point, we were still uncertain if Scott was preaching or not. We left the McClure’s 6 trunks at the Pikes and headed to our housing for the week. We had 2 villas at HBKvillas in Jolly Harbor, about 30 minutes from the Pikes. Ana, Beatris, Cheryl, and Deb stayed in one, while Scott and I hosted Tim and Beth in the other one.
We unpacked and got as settled as we could before having to get ready for church. Then off to church…Scott still did not know if he was preaching. God had given him a message. So he was prepared either way. Upon our arrival, there was a gentleman sitting outside with a bandaged leg. As the ladies and I all followed Beth inside, Scott and Tim parked the vehicles. Tim then introduced Scott to Jerry, the gentleman sitting outside. When the guys came in, Scott was told that he would be preaching. We mingled and met a few of the people….most know some English because their children are learning in an English school. They understand it when listening, can speak it in varying levels of brokenness. Ana and Beatris did connect quicker because of knowing Spanish. Sunday night’s church service was the highest attendance they have had up until then. It was standing room only. Our team stood in order for others could sit. But there were still others standing! So, we had already experienced His favor at customs, and at this service. Scott preached a Spirit-led message that got several hallelujahs and amens. Jerry had come in and was sitting in the back of the church. At the end of the service, I began walking down the center aisle towards Scott….not by my own will, it was God’s will. I was even thinking to myself ‘what am I doing?’ I stated that we were not done, the Lord wants this entire church to pray over Jerry. Not one person remained in their seats…NOT ONE!! Everyone pressing in together calling out to the Faithful One, believing for a miracle gathered around him and boldly asked for his healing. Jerry had started a restaurant in the community to feed the homeless, but he hasn’t been able to lately because of being diagnosed with congestive heart failure. More on this later….you’re going to want to stay tuned, answered prayer is coming. After service, we headed back to the villa to grab a bite to eat, to share and get ready for day 2.

Some Background

Before I launch directly into my journaling, I would like to take the time to share the most significant moment that nudged me to take on this venture.  It’s like the final push in this direction. But first and foremost, I want to say that this is my personal journey with my experiences. My desire in sharing these is to encourage you to dig deeper and to discover who you were created to be. If you have ever wondered if there is more to this life, the answer is a resounding absolutely, positively yes! You were created for a purpose. More on that later.

If you are just getting to know me, I would like you to meet our four children. Our youngest, Mariah Fei-Li Lan was born in China. We brought her home in 2005. That was our very first major international trip. We have come to love to travel, seeing this world created for us. We honeymooned in Hawaii and returned there five years later; then again in 2012, all 6 of us.468389_4185213191686_764318927_o

Our oldest son is Alex with Tim and Morgan following. More on these precious gifts later. As we began to travel more, we had a stirring to do more than just travel. Upon returning home from this trip to Hawaii, we had our first ever opportunity to learn more about missions. For now, I will just describe missions as serving others in the Name of Jesus. We attended an informational meeting of upcoming trips. Immediately, my husband, Scott said that he thought we were to go to Costa Rica. This was the exact trip I was also being lead to. In July 2013, Alex and Tim joined us for our first missions trip. Since then, we have also been to Africa. (I will most certainly discuss these trips more in the future.)

As to not draw this out, I want to get back to the most significant nudge to begin blogging.  There are surely other moments that brought me to this one and maybe those moments will come up in future blogs. Scott and myself were given an opportunity late last year that was somewhat unexpected…leading a global team from our church to Antigua January 28 to February 4, 2018. Unexpected because our sights were set on a different location. However, we were open and seeking the right place for us. A place the Lord wanted us to go to. This was post-Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria. Our thoughts were that maybe we could work with the Barbudian refugees in Antigua. Barbuda is Antigua’s sister island that was completely wiped out. But until we arrived, many had already moved back to claim their property. As this team and trip developed quickly, we did not have the normal training track. Therefore, I felt led to request our team to fast the beginning of the year. Our team of six all agreed to start 2018 with a 21 day fast. This preparation did not look the same for all of us. Some fasted certain food groups, others certain meals every day. It was not in the how so much as the motive behind it. We wanted to empty ourselves of us, of our selfishness nature. Thus having time and space to fill ourselves with The Word and His Presence. And this certainly set the atmosphere.

We could not have expected all the Lord was going to do on this trip. This is the most significant nudge I received to step out and blog. When we returned from this trip, none of us wanted to forget a single moment. We also wanted to share what happened every day with a family from our church that was in language school in Costa Rica in preparation to move to Antigua. Then there were all those asking us about our trip. Literally, it would take hours to share all that happened…all that God did. We just had front row seats to all He did. Scott would start out by saying ‘to make a long story short’, but it never happened. There was just no way to shorten the story. I am here to share this story. Our day to day of all God did while we were in Antigua earlier this year. Why? Because in sharing, we were being prompted to say that God is God and He is the same here as He is there. What He did there, He wants to do here. Hopefully, this will just be the spark for you. May the spark set a forest on fire, right where you are and all for the glory of God, the lover of your soul.

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

Well, for quite some time I have been experiencing the nudge. You may be asking yourself, what nudge? One to write….not books though. That’s my daughter’s gig. Actually and truthfully, to journal right here. I can recall the first time I ever heard about journaling. It sounded like a fantastic idea…and believe me, it was before blogging ever existed. I sat down with a notebook and pen and nothing. Honestly, the idea was fantastic but putting it into action was not. It took awhile for me to acquire the desire and discipline to begin journaling. At first, I struggled to just make it a habit. Today, however, my struggle is more of letting go of the notebook and pen to embrace this concept of blogging. Now, you may be asking yourself, why journal? That is something I asked myself not once, but numerous times. For me, it became part of my dedicated quiet time. A place of reflection. A time of devotion. I have now been journaling for well over a decade and a half, not consistently, but more intentionally as the years have come and gone. One reason that I journal is to leave behind my thoughts, my dreams, my prayers and petitions, and most importantly the works of God that I have witnessed.  It’s like a gift to my children when I am no longer here.  A gift I hope they will glean from and hopefully continue to grow from, as well. Journaling is also my journey with my closest and best friend…my growing relationship with Jesus Christ. I would be honored if you came along on this journey with me.