Christmas Letter 2011: The Journey Begins

   

Merry Christmas! I can’t believe another year has passed, and believe me, a lot has happened since last Christmas. Bighouse has hit its five year mark and the 2011-2012 school year has been our best yet. We have had incredible teens participate and more volunteers than ever before. As many of you know, last January I was accepted into nursing school. Melissa and I both knew God was putting tension on our lives again in the same way he did when I quit AT&T to start Bighouse. When applying for nursing school our prayer was, “Lord, help us glorify you most.” We desired to continue working at Bighouse if that was going to glorify him most, but if his plan was for me to pursue nursing then I would get accepted into the program. Out of 300 applicants that applied, I was one of the 50 that were chosen. God had answered and we knew we were facing another transition so that He could be glorified.

This Christmas finds us on the tail end of this transition. We have had some challenges. Melissa, along with extra volunteers, has taken on a bigger role in the day to day operation of Bighouse so that I can continue with my nursing education. We believe God is going to use my medical training and our hearts for the lost and broken people who are made in his image, overseas one day. We had no idea where God was eventually leading us when we stepped out in faith to open Bighouse, but we now see that he was preparing us for a ride like no other. Opening Bighouse was an act of obedience, and in keeping with our call to be obedient and to glorify him, we know God is calling us to get prepared for the next step in our journey, full time medical mission work overseas.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27(NIV)

God’s call to care for the orphans and widows has been stamped on our hearts in a way that can’t be ignored.

I will be graduating from nursing school in June 2012 and starting to gain medical experience to prepare me for working overseas. Melissa and I will be stepping down as directors of Bighouse this coming June. We covet your prayers for God to bring the perfect person or group of people to carry on with the Bighouse ministry in Prairie Grove. God has reminded us over and over that Bighouse isn’t ours, it belongs to him. He gave us the idea, he has provided the money, the building, the teens etc… and he will continue to provide for the teens of Prairie Grove because they belong to him and are dear to his heart.

Due to the economy and other circumstances, some of our monthly supporters have not been able to contribute anymore. My most humble request is this: As we move forward for the rest of this school year could you pray and consider making a 6 month commitment for our personal support. By the grace of God, we have raised enough money for the operations of Bighouse, but unfortunately our personal support has decreased. God has always provided for us in unexpected ways and we, in the past five years of living on support, have never gone without. Join us as we pray for God to continue to provide through June. If God leads you to help please fill out the donation card included in your letter.

We not only get the privilege to work with teens at Bighouse we now have a teen and pre-teen in our home! That’s right, JT is 15 and Claira will be turning 12 in February! JT, through sponsorship, (another way God provided in a very unexpected way) has been attending Providence Classical Christian Academy for his 9th grade year. He loves the interaction with teachers and peers. It has challenged him some but we have seen him grow in his faith and character through this great experience. He continues to become more and more talented on mandolin, banjo, and guitar. He is skilled at video games and knows more about computers and technical stuff than Melissa and I. JT has been blessed with some incredible friends and mentors in his life. We are so encouraged to see him seek God as he navigates through his crazy teenage life.

Claira, being homeschooled, gets the privilege of becoming educated in everything from academics to menu planning. She loves being “big sister” to the children in our apartment complex and developing her abilities in sewing, crafting, cooking and art. She has also developed a fashion senses that comes in handy when Melissa is having a “clothes crisis.”  Claira is our prayer warrior. She loves God and prays earnestly for his will in our life. We are so blessed by how he is using her.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your love, support, encouragement, and hanging in there with us through the thick and thin.