Sing and Play Noel--H.S. Concert

Here is a link to WEDDING PICS from Daniel and Erin's photographer. That is better than me not blogging pics, I guess!
http://www.kellihuntblog.com/2011/11/erin-and-daniel-omaha-wedding.html

Friday night was Nate's High School concert, "Sing and Play Noel." (Notice the decorations we bought from that lady, pictured in post below). The high school music program is really growing! It is fun to see students that Nate has invested in for many years now at a higher playing level.

We also continue to praise God for the auditorium and lights and stage. I'll never forget to praise God for that blessing, after all the times we had rain on the outdoor covered court performances, and wooden platforms for a stage.

Here is the vocal music class. What a group! They are like a select group, so talented, but also so devoted to the Lord. What an encouragement.

We had a little fun with hats...even Mr. Becker. I don't believe in Santa, but I do like the hats. The audience liked this one the best!

I am a proud wife. What a musical man! Luke was a peaceful angel (Sarah, notice the shoes! A.M. notice the necklace--what would I do without you).

This coming Friday will be the K-8 concert, so look for those pics ahead and be praying for us as we finish up another semester in 2 weeks!

24 Pics from Cebuano Ladies' Retreat

It's time for the first-ever Cebuano Ladies Retreat! They're all ready to go! (Mrs. S, I put this one in there for you...what do you notice about this picture?)

The ladies are excited and ready to board the ferry!

The theme is "Awit Sa Kalipay", the Song of the Happy/Rejoicing One. Ladies will learn that it is not we who sing only to God, but He sings His love to us (Zeph. 3.17).

At the retreat center, Weng-Weng gets the journals and gifts ready on each person's bed.

Look at that smile!! SO HAPPY! The ladies had a make-up night called "Fruity Mama" (some pics were excluded here--silliness!). It was some of their first time to wear make-up or own it, and some of them felt like this: "I dreamed to be a beauty queen--now it is my dream come true!" They encouraged one another that they were made in the image of God, and we can celebrate what He has made--beautiful sisters in Christ!

(This make-up was a gift from one of our supporters. Look at all that came about just because of that gift--thank you!)

Emi leads in prayer. I couldn't do anything without her!

Early morning--Dawn Prayer. Sisters went down the pier to pray together at sunrise over the ocean. Most peaceful and beautiful experience ever!

Here are the sisters praying together and lifting their hearts to the Lord!

Unity, love, and joy. Thank you, Lord, for these ladies, and for hearing their prayers.

My camera went with me on Friday, but I came later with Luke on Saturday. I had my first Cebuano sermon ever in my purple bag (Sarah will notice) and my mandolin (Micah will notice). I hopped off the passenger ferry and grabbed a motorcycle (Daniel and Erin will recognize--I thought of you; last time I was here it was with you!). I felt like a real missionary--bringing music and God's word to the people in their own language on an island in a foreign country!

Luke had a lot of other friends too; 5 babies were there with their nursing mothers too.

God graciously gave me my first song in Cebuano--straight from Zephaniah 3.17 "Ang Ginoo nga inyong Dios, anaa uban kaninyo..." It was so fun to hear the ladies singing it together!

Here I am preaching my first sermon in Cebuano. It was amazing how God gave me such understanding, a fluent tongue and eyes to read my notes. The ladies laughed and cried with me, and I really feel it was a supernatural gift of ability in language just at that moment. Praise the Lord for that. May His Word bear fruit in their lives! (Thanks also to Ate Bebe for translating my sermon and recording it for me so I could practice!).

Here's the lovely ladies, the chosen ones. One woman, who normally sells vegetables in the mountain, said "This is the best thing I have ever done in my life!"

Another woman said, "I'm a new Christian, the only one in my family and in my neighborhood community, and this is the most refreshing time for me. It feels like a family for me of sisters in Christ!"

Here is Ruen on her "Date with God." Emi and I wrote a Bible study for the time after my sermon so ladies could read for themselves what God says to them about His great love for them! It was their first time for that! (Beckie and my Canadian sisters, I put this one up for you!)

One woman said of her date with God: "It really was a date with God, because He paid for everything!"

Ladies really felt the love of God with all the special gifts and experiences they had. Praise God for that!

Here's God's Word: "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3.17. It is the first time for them to learn that God is singing over them!

All the food was provided for. Ladies said it was the first time they didn't have to worry about what is the food they will eat and they don't have to prepare it. Just enjoy! What a gift--a true retreat.

Ruen is jumping for joy! She prayed for a long time for "rubber shoes." Our partner in the U.S. found a whole box full of them, and now she is wearing them at last! God answers prayers!

That afternoon my friends, Jeralyn and Louise, came to join us and share in the crafts. They taught the ladies jewelry-making and card-making. It was a "smash hit", as my sister and I would say. They just kept making more things and having fun and fellowship!

Hard at work--very creative!

They made me feel so loved, but I put this pic up for all those who helped me make this retreat possible, as though I were the representative receiving the boquet for each one of you. You know who you are!! And Emi, I could never do anything without you!

My lovely friends came to join me in the joy of giving! The Canadian, the American and the Irish woman...what a trio!

And here we are saying good-bye! Luke is a little missionary already! His name means "light," and indeed he has been shining the light of God in the Philippines!

The ladies wished it was longer! Also their husbands said, "What about us?!" So if anyone wants to take this up as a project feel free to pray about that! I always have more ideas! =)

24 Pics From The Last Three Months

WOW! Has it REALLY been 3 months since I last blogged?!?! Where did the time go? Where have the pictures been????

1. September--Preparing for the US

2. October--Going to the US

3. November--Recovering from the US

It is a big deal to make an international trip, especially for a lady with three small children. Here are some of my random thoughts about these last three months and the pictures you missed:

1. September--It was quite a big deal getting me to the USA. The biggest barrier was Luke's paperwork. It is a LONG story, each day God provided for more miracles through trials like:

A. Error made on Visa--Redo it, send back to Manila

B. Typhoon Strikes Manila--Government offices closed

C. Package put on airline with Passport and Visa inside for Luke--Airline goes on Strike, package sits in cargo of airport

D. Alternate Airline does not carry cargo, Package stuck in Manila---time for us to fly!

E. God parts RED SEA and opens the way for me to fly, holding Luke's passport and visa in my hands 4:30 A.M. just three hours before I flew. WHEW!

So you missed all that because it was too intense and really a struggle for me letting go and surrendering that I might lose my plane ticket and my time with my family....not to mention all the planning and details I had to sort out (menus, help for kids, schedules, etc)...before leaving Nate and the 2 older boys without me!

2. October--Finally I see my family (well, my OTHER family...my heart was in 2 places!). I took maybe 1000 pictures in the US. I am almost too overwhelmed to even go back to blog those ones. It seems like a trip separate from the rest of my normal life. I got back and felt like it was a whirlwind "Did I really do that? Who was that lady wearing high heels, talking on a Blackberry and driving at 70 mph?" At the moment I really feel like leaving those pictures out of the blog. My emotions and thoughts about that are all a jumble.

3. November--Reunited with my OTHER family...Nate and 2 boys! Recovering from the trip, reconnecting with my boys and my man...and my computer breaks. No laptop, no place to unload pics. Good thing I had them backed up and all. Well, I finally got through that month...a funeral (pics below) and a ladies' retreat (pics ahead)...lots to plan and do. Lots of people to love and serve. So the month is over and I am in December now.

So, here's 24 pics to tell a tiny part of the story recently. I did leave out TONS of cute pics of our 3 boys, (sorry, Mom), but I don't want to overwhelm the general audience with those family pics (I do insert a few).

Elijah feeds Luke his first food, rice cereal. Luke wonders, "What is this funny thing in my mouth?"

Very SAD! I was pregnant with Malachi at the same time as Cindy (wearing black) was pregnant with Shalom Love Joy. Over Halloween weekend, she died (age 2) after a struggle with dengue fever and some breathing problems. I can't tell you the whole story, but I did share in this grieving with them.

Shalom Love Joy, age 2 (born just 3 days before my Malachi...so sad!!). Mom, do you recognize the dress? Emi was a jewel giving up this special treasure of hers (for Eunice's dedication) to share with the bereaved. My heart breaks.

Why was I taking these pictures? Because the 2 ladies were just waiting at the place where the baby was embalmed, until SOMEONE arrived to pay for the casket and body! It is unreal to me how the poor can make it through deaths of loved ones with all the money they need. Praise God for His provision to these sisters in Christ...we are the Body of Christ.

Emi and Elijah are in the taxi at the market ready to bring the flowers over.

The body lays in a room of the home for about a week. The candles are lit, and many visitors come to grieve with the family. Meanwhile they look around for a place to bury their loved one, and try to find the money to pay the hospital bill.

The 2 older brothers and the parents...

At the funeral, under a tent. The community gathers to love and support.

Pastor Brian (front right) prays. A tradition I had not seen before, the family holds balloons and then "releases" them as a symbol of releasing Shalom to the Lord.

A "last look" at the body before she is buried. So sad to hear the moans and wails and crying of children and others. The most sad thing for me was to watch the girl's mother, Cindy. I can relate to her imagining if that had been Malachi! No, I can't even imagine it.

Very definitive...they actually put the casket in this "tomb" case, and someone from the cemetery comes and cements her in there. I held the mother and she said, "Sulod na sya" (she is inside now). It was amazing how much I was able to understand of the language and to be able to comfort the family was such a blessing to me (also emotionally draining!). Praise God for giving me the wisdom of words and actions to show love to this family.

And here is my Malachi! I cannot stop praising God for him! Well, if you ever get impatient with a 2 year old, just think of that funeral I went to and stop and praise God for your child. Or perhaps you have lost a child yourself--that has to be one of the deepest griefs a mother or father could ever experience...burying a child. I pray for you and my heart goes out to you, if that is your story. Please remember to pray for Cindy and her husband and boys, as they continue on without their precious Shalom Love Joy.

2 weeks ago I helped to lead worship at our day of prayer retreat. That was a refreshing day for me!!

So peaceful...all the flowers and the blue sky! I need to get out into God's creation more and spend time with Him in the garden.

Here I am in my hammock (with Luke!) spending time in my prayer journal (thanks D & E!). I could do this for HOURS!

Mrs. S, I put some of these on for you. Emi and I thought of ways to use the make-up you sent--have a ladies' retreat for the Cebuano ladies!

Some of our young friends came to help decorate bookmarks with the theme verse for the ladies.

They helped make little "care packages" for the 30 ladies.

Here's Ruby with the boxes! We're getting ready for the first ever Cebuano ladies retreat.

Luke is now 6 months old! He is so peaceful and fits into our family perfectly! Elijah is teaching him the Bible!

We got our little Christmas tree out on Sunday, and the boys had fun putting on the ornaments!

Nate and our 3 boys! What a loving father he is! (Such serious expressions!)

Luke is growing so big! He is 6 months to the day in this pic.

Malachi has such a servant heart. He loves to wear an apron and help with the dishes. Sometimes he helps me find my shoes, sweep the floor or get the stroller over a bump. What a gentleman!

Here's the Filipino Christmas decorations for sale. Just when Nate and I were trying to find something to decorate for our Christmas concert tonight, these ladies came by our gate! (Mom, we laughed when we remembered: "Electric Fan REpair!"). How handy! These ladies are so creative and resourceful. The ones on the right (yellow and green) are made of plastic straws.