New Feature on Blog

If you look just below our family picture at the top to the right you will see a link to MMS Aviation that will enable you to make a donation directly to our ministry. To ensure that the tax deductible donation goes to our family, please put our name in the "Designation" box. You can give a special gift or set up a monthly gift.

Thank you for considering ministering to us through giving. If you already give, thank you for blessing us! Without the gifts of family & friends, we could not serve. We are supported 100% by the gifts of His people.

May you have a blessed day!

Love,
Melinda & family =0)

Ahhhh... Much Better!

Now this is what our living room looked like when we went to bed... and when company arrived! Thanks to Kelly, we got lots done today!! Overall, I think I got rid of at least 6 tubs of clothes!

Actually, we were expecting Dano and the gentlemen to arrive around 5:30 p.m. Shortly after 5 there were still tubs in our living room. Kelly & I were running around like crazy! She was moving tub after tub to the garage as fast as she could. I was picking up lose ends, making sure the kids were dressed, Emma was using the potty (Yea, Emma... she's doing great!), putting the couch slip cover back on, etc. It was crazy. I still needed to change & put some make up on (for everyone's sake). Just as I was finished doing that, I could hear Dano & our guests trying to get in the front door. Derek was trying to open it for them unsuccessfully. So, I greeted them & ushered them into our empty living room. I still had to sweep, but other than that, we got it all done... just in the nick of time!

I may have mentioned we were expecting 3 guests, but one had prior arrangements, so we enjoyed the company of two men: one from Minnesota and the other from Pennsylvania. They didn't know each other until arriving here. They are both giving up a week of their time to come here & volunteer. They are painting the inside of one of the buildings. Neither is a painter by trade, but they are willing to be used by God wherever! Isn't that neat?! Also, they are PAYING to do this (travel costs & lodging)! What an awesome sacrifice!

They were such a blessing to us. We were looking forward to blessing them & getting to know their stories, but they wanted to know ours. So we got to relive many of the miracles God has worked to get us here where we are today. It was kind of a mountain top experience remembering all that God has done for us. It reminded me of Psalm 126 that I was reading for my Bible study. Thank you God for the wonderful things you have done in our past! Thank you for the wonderful things you are going to continue to do in our future! And as reminded in Psalm 125, thank you for always surrounding us... especially during the hard times. I love you, Lord!

Thank you Mike & Bob for sharing a meal with us & wanting to hear our stories! May the Lord bless you 100 fold for the sacrifice you have given to come & serve here at JAARS!

Have a blessed day!

Love,
Melinda =0)

What a Mess!

This is the current condition of my living room... and I love it! "Why?" you may ask? Well, these are the tubs we keep the kids clothes in that they have outgrown or have yet to grow into. We are blessed beyond measure with hand-me-downs from my sister's kids and several other friends. We SELDOM have to buy clothes for our kids. Usually, our Easter outfits & July 4th t-shirts are the only clothes we buy with an occassional other purchase here or there and shoes since my kids either have WIDE or DOUBLE WIDE feet... yes, even little Emma has wide feet!

The other reason I am loving the condition of my living room is because with Kelly's help we are almost completely finished going through ALL of our kid's clothes (boys & girls) newborn throught size 7 or 8, winter & summer! This includes shoes! Yea! I am weeding out some that we have never worn for one reason or another or are just ready to part with.

So, what are we doing with them? I mentioned before that Kelly works at a children's resale shop. Well, she's taking some back to Ohio with her that she thinks will sell in the shop. So this will help us make a little extra pocket change. The rest I am going to give to my friend who helps the orphans in Guatemala. She will either sell them to make money to help the orphans, or she will take them with her on a trip to Guatemala to give to the orphans.

Well, the reason I'm writing is to ask you to pray that today would be a VERY productive day... you see... we're having 3 people over for dinner tonight! I'm not sure if you can see the table, but it is completely covered with stacks of the girls' clothes. They are all sorted by size & season, but I need to still weed some out & put them in tubs. All these tubs need to be filled & put back out in the garage! This task is doable. Well, if it is to be completed, I need to get busy!

BTW, the three people we're having over for dinner are volunteers at JAARS that have just arrived & will be here for about a week. We have volunteered to host folks like this or missionaries coming back for furlough, etc. We have someone over about every 6 weeks. It is always such a blessing to us & our kiddos. I hope we are a blessing to them. Dinner will be underway soon in the crockpot... so that is the easy part today! =0)

Have a great week and a blessed Monday!

Love,
Melinda =0)

The Business of Being Born

http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/

If you live in SC/NC, I urge you to go watch this. I'm really hoping to go. It will be very enlightening! A friend is showing it on the mentioned Saturday at her church. Above is a link to find out more. If you don't live here, you can rent this movie.

BTW, no childcare is available, but nursing babies are welcome.

The Business of Being Born

a new documentary about maternity care in America

July 19th at 10am
Matthews Orthodox Presbyterian Church
2701 Rice Road Matthews NC 28105

potluck lunch and discussion to follow

space is limited - please RSVP:
Stephanie Tursi 803.366.0686
dtursi@comporium.net

Potty Training! Please Pray!

(Emma posing on the little potty.)

With Kelly here, I am able to camp out in the bathroom with Emma! One of my friends who has lots of kids recommended this "method" of potty training! Emma and I have been playing all morning in the bathroom. (Thankfully it is a large bathroom so we've got plenty of room to stretch out.) We've done sequencing cards, playdough, pegs, puzzles, & reading. Emma has had lots of success! Yea! After lunch she was getting tired & less cooperative, but she'd put in a hard morning's work! Now she's napping with a pull up. We'll see how the evening continues. I'm worn out, too! Tonight Kelly, Olivia, Derek, & I are going to church, so I'm not sure how that will work with Dano & the two little ones.

Please pray for Emma to continue to want to use the potty & pray that I will be able to keep a sweet spirit. So far I've done good! =0) (Potty training frustrates me... I know... I need to work on that.) We want to be finished with diapers for good (for Emma). Of course, Wesley is still wearing them!

Thanks for praying! Melinda =0)

God's Gift to Our Family

This is Kelly! She is our friend from Ohio. She has a servant heart! So much so that she e-mailed a few of months ago asking if we'd be interested in her coming to stay with us to do whatever we wanted! WOW! It didn't take us long to say YES! =0) We've told her before that we'd adopt her! She's almost 20 and serves the Lord by serving missionaries as a nanny. She also works (not that being a nanny isn't work!), but she's able to take time off to take trips to serve. She's been to Brazil & plans to go back.

She'll be with us a couple of weeks. I'm trying not to think about her leaving! She got here Monday night & has already been a big help! Oh, did I mention that the kids LOVE her? They loved her in Ohio & the love continues strong!

Please pray that I will make GREAT use of my time while she is here & that I will know the most effective & efficient way for her to help me.

(See the clothes in the background? She's going through hand-me-downs for the kids. She's perfect for this job because one of her jobs in OH is working at a children's resale shop that belongs to some other friends in OH from our church there.)

Have a great day!

Love, Melinda =0)

I'm Finished!

Yesterday I finished my Wycliffe Application! Yea! I still have to do a Bible Quiz which they will send me. I still have to send them all my stuff, but I have finished all I can do at this point! Thanks for praying for its completion. (I had actually finished all of it while in TN except one part of one question. Yesterday I was finally able to put words to that answer.)

Dano's is progressing. Keep praying for him & for his application to be complete!

Thank you!! Love, Melinda =0)