Anonymous - offtopic

To the anonymous person who put such a kind comment on one of my posts... Thank you so much. I have not blogged for a while because... well... I have 5 kids, one being an 8 month old... not sure where my heart was the past year... but my mind has been full lately....

the future
Baltimore
ministry
the lost
a place to call home... not that the Raleigh area is not home... it always will be. My family is here... but my husband and I have never found a church where we felt "at home." We have been at some great churches where we have some great friends and were involved in some great ministries, but as two seminary grads, that was just not what God had called us to. I guess we have never used the gifts God had really given us for church planting.... but... there is hope on the horizon. We can see it and feel it and love it... it is called Baltimore... Streetlite to be exact. We love the people. We love the pastor and his wife. We love the area (I did inner-city ministry there when I was single just a couple of years out of college). Our hearts are already there... We are just waiting...

There's also a little hesitation to now uprooting 5 kids to go live in a more different place than I have ever been as a mom.... but I want this so bad for my husband. He glows when he gets to use his gifts to help this pastor regroup and brainstorm and create a place where lost people want to come. I want this so badly for him.

"Father we believe You have brought us to this place... to this church... to Brian and Carol... and I know your timing is perfect... so I will just trust you...

It's A New Day

I think it's about time I put up a new post. It's been about 6 months, a new baby, and a new direction in our lives, so I guess I will start sharing with all my friends who have been so sweet to email me and ask me what's going on.

Well, February 20, 2009, we had our 5th child, and I will say all the way up until he was physically out of my body I was stressed about having another child to take care of. I am not very organized, I like to fly by the seat of my pants, I was single until I was 30... and now 10 years later I have 5 kids. How did that happen!! Okay I know how that happens, but there is still a little bit of singleness in me that loves the quiet, wants to go on long runs and coach high school kids and tell them about a Savior who loves them, wants to go on mission trips and use my running as a tool to reach athletes and anyone else that will listen, isn't prepared to be challenged every moment of every day with discipline and the training of children. So needless to say I didn't understand why God would give someone like me so many kids to manage. I'm just not a very good mothering type.

But I will say, the second I saw my son (who we named Nathaniel Chase) my first thought was, "he's so cute", and I knew everything was going to be okay... except for of course everything I told you in the last paragraph. Chase is the sweetest baby, laid back and content to take everything in in stride. His brothers and sister absolutely love him, and there has not been one ounce of jealousy from any of them. I am truly blessed... overwhelmed, but blessed.

So on to this next phase in our lives. Well, God has closed the door with the International Mission Board with the Southern Baptists, and we are totally clueless as to what God wants of us and why He has taken us down this road. We still have a heart for church planting; we still have a heart for Europe; we have no idea why He has given us this passion; or why He has closed this door 3 times... but we are at peace. More peace than we have had in a long time. I can say we never had complete peace with the IMB, but were willing to walk down that road.

I say we now have peace because our future is truly in God's hands. We have no idea what tomorrow brings... but He does. We cannot tell anybody even what we think God is doing or might do, but it doesn't matter. We are pushing into Him and experiencing peace and love like we have never know. We know God will use this and is already using this greatly for Ken to minister to others in similar situations. So I will share more later, and you can call or email if you want more detail... but for now pray for us and the millions of others who have lost their jobs and homes and retirement and have no idea what tomorrow brings.

My sweet husband has also began blogging again and has a very honest openness about his /our struggles. If you've ever had a dream fall apart or seem like it will never happen, go read his blog.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my friends. Yes I am still alive, and life is good. I'm not sure why I haven't been blogging lately... but God has taken this past year and has been doing a new thing in me. He has taken away all my desires for my "vices" and given me Himself. He is transforming me as a mom and wife... and it is a very quiet and still place, yet gut wrenching sometimes... and I don't think it is over yet. I truly desire to be a woman that my kids rise up and call "Blessed"... and I KNOW they are not there yet. :-)

So I will continue to be still and discover who this God is that I have followed and served my whole life, yet don't really feel that I know.

On a more real note... in a couple of months I will be runnermom5 (of course I guess I already am the mother of 5 kids, one just still in the womb)... I don't think that has really sunken in yet, except for the fact that I am ready for this pregnancy to be over!!! No I do not have difficult pregnancies... in fact they are really very easy and simple compared to most people and my labor lasts about an hour. I don't even get that big... it's just another part of my selfishness God is trying to rid me of. I like being Gina the runner in my own skin... and I don't get to get out in the fresh air and find quiet sanity in my favorite hobby. I have also been out of the baby stage for a couple of years and am not sure I want to go back (Cealan will be almost 4 when this baby is born). God has such a sense of humor... and someone's getting a surgery after this!!!

Anyway, I don't think I had mentioned it is another boy!! Yes, Phelicia and I both cried. Oh well, I guess it's taken 5 kids, 4 being boys, for God to get my attention attempt to rid me of my self. I know the refining process is not over yet, but I am very excited about this next year. I believe God has some exciting stuff for our family, I just have no idea what. We are still in the process with the IMB (International Mission Board) ... but have given all that to God and His timing and purpose. We know where our hearts are and we know what our gifts are, and God has been working overtime on us this past year to prepare us... we just don't know for sure what that looks like yet. So continue to pray for us. There is a lost and dying world out there many who have never heard the gospel... we just want to be a part of reaching them.

I pray God blesses you in this new year and you find yourself unable to escape His refining fire in your life so that we all can reach the masses for Him.

In His love,
Gina

Santa Clause is Coming to Town?

Last Friday my kids, after breakfast, decided they wanted to make their Christmas lists, seeing all the new toy magazines coming in the mail. So seeing that the "toothpast has already been sqeezed out" (meaning once it is out you can't put it back) thanks to all the retail stores and the mall beginning their decorations for Christmas two weeks ago and toys already on the mind of my children I thought, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." So as a writing assignment for those who write in our family I helped them make a list of what they wanted. Now after beginning this whole ordeal they began saying was their list for Santa. Yes, we sort of play the Santa game... We did Santa at my house growing up and I still knew what Christmas was really about, and still chose to follow Christ and be a missionary at the age of 7.

So to get on with the story, we decided to go to the mall as a family Friday night with Daddy. We joked around about wondering if the Christmas tree would be up yet... thinking that was preposterous... but little did we know not only was it up, but when we arrived, there were Christmas carolers outside singing Christmas songs, the snow machine blowing snow off of the building as it does every Christmas Season... And at 7pm Santa arrived and went to sit in his Santa chair as kids lined up to tell him what they wanted for Christmas and for their family to pay for expensive pictures. Now this is Nov, 7 mind you. 7 weeks before Christmas. We haven't even eaten all our Halloween candy yet.

So what did we do? Well since our kids had made Christmas lists, and Austin had even brought his, we got in line with all the other crazy parents, and went and saw Santa. The funny thing was that he didn't even ask them what they wanted for Christmas. He sort of lectured them on how to make a Christmas list and letting mom and dad help, and since we weren't taking a picture they just sort of stood around him (that's what they do to keep anyone from trying to sneak a photo from a distance with a telephoto lens without them knowing it). They didn't even sit on his lap (not that I really want them to :-) It was a very strange experience and Levi and Austin were a little sad because he did not ask them what they wanted for Christmas.

So, what an awesome opportunity to remind them what Christmas is really about!! Jesus would never put them off. He even died for them because he wants to hang out with them for all eternity, and will give them anything they want when they get to heaven... and much of what they want here on earth. :-)

God in the election and in our Dreams

Does anyone else feel relieved that this election is over. Today just seemed like a new world. Maybe it was because we just elected our first African American (bi-racial) president... or maybe it's just because we don't feel like we are in a fight as a nation through all the talk shows and news media. I am literally exhausted from it all and feel like a long marathon is over. That being said I feel a lot of peace about he future, not because of who is president, but because who is really in control. I am excited to see what the future holds for our country.

So today what did we (the kids and I) do... we started playing Christmas music. We love Christmas around here and usually start celebrating it soon after Halloween. My son Austin asked election day if we could listen to Christmas music, so I found two satellite stations, and Christmas songs ring through our house most of the day.

For our exciting news... about a week and a half ago we entered back into the missions process with the IMB. No we have not sold our house yet, and we have not paid off all our debt, but God put someone in our life that has taken the burden from us (sound familiar - like what Christ did for us). This person has had all of our debt put in his name, and he said when our houses sell (the one we are living in and our rent house) they will pay off the debt that we have. So now, if all goes on the schedule as the IMB have given us, we will go to a week long interview either in December or January, get appointed a month later, and then will be scheduled to leave late spring or summer for Albertville, France for language school. It just seems too good to be true. Ken can hardly concentrate at work.

Ken and I have been a little wary of telling many people in case something didn't work out. Last month at the darkest point in our finances (Ken got a 10% pay cut, and his van and our rent house got broken into putting more expenses in our laps... and I could list about 10 more things)
God showed up with a light at the end of the tunnel. While we were wondering if we were truly going to have to claim bankruptcy God was preparing to take all our burdens away. It has made me think over and over about what God did for us on the Cross by taking our burdens away. It has made me trust him even more and has driven me to be even more passionate about spending time with him.

So if you are in a dark time and want to give up... please hold on to hope through the testimonies of others, because God will never let go of you and He will always show up... and often it's at the 11th hour.

Election Night '08 Barak Obama is the president of the United States!

I feel a little like David when he prayed and fasted and layed before the Lord pleading for God not to let his son die... but when David realized his child with Bathsheba had died, he "got up from the ground after he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house ... and he ate." (2 Sam. 12)

I will now go worship my God and praise Him for what He is doing and is going to do... and then go eat a bowl of ice cream.

I will say this is a little bit of an exciting time in history electing the first African American president (well actually he is bi-racial, something Fox news reminded me of), something many of us never thought we would see in our lifetime.

Now is the time for us to pray for this president. God loves him and died for him and can move in his heart and ways to effect this country. No matter what happens I know my God is still on the throne. He is still faithful and will continue to take care of his own. Who knows, maybe this will be the greatest time in American history that people will come to know the if things get worse financially. Our ways are not God's ways...

And on that remark Ken and I have some exciting news, but because it is so late I will wax long on that later. But for now I am sooooooooooooo ready to get on with my life. The Olympics are over, the elections are over, and now it is time for me to get back to my life, AND GET SOME SLEEP!!

Election Night

So what do you do if it is election night and you have been a crazed follower of the election... you have prayed, you have talked with others about voting, you have encouraged others to pray, you have attended a rally, and you have voted... it is 6pm on election night and what do you do? I heard this question on Fox news about what all the candidates and their pundits do.

So I thought I would ask the question after I find myself cleaning, cooking, not sitting down and relaxing for fear of thinking too much about the outcome. I have done all I can do in the physical and spiritual realm... and now I must wait on my God to determine the outcome... and I still believe He can pull off a David and Goliath.

David vs. Goliath was an easy victory because of who really had the power

The last couple of days as I have prayed and sat before the Lord and thought much about the election, the story of David and Goliath came to my mind continually and that David did not sit around and figure out his odds of winning the fight against Goliath, he Knew who God was and he proclaimed who God was, and just went to the fight. I have also thought of the Story of Jehosaphat who cried out to God and God told him to go to battle and the victory would be his. So Jehosephat sent out the singers in front singing praise to God and they won... and so many other stories in the Bible where the extremely overpowered underdog won over the confident prideful enemy because God showed up.

Starting yesterday, I felt we as Christians need to continue to fight the battle in the spiritual realm for those who have not yet made up their decision and for those who maybe have, yet could be persuaded, that they would see the truth of the two candidates and the consequences for our future before they went into the voting booth.

We then need to praise God for who He is and what He can do. God has put such a passion in my heart for this election and that He wants to bring us victory, we just have to cry out to Him and seek Him and praise Him for who He is and that He put the stars in the sky, He can put someone who honors His name and protects His people in the White House. I believe this is our battle to lose, and I believe the battle is already won if we would not lose heart and keep going to the One who can fight the real battle going on in the spiritual realm.

I believe we will see God's power in the land of the living!

I was surfing around last night, something I have not done in I don't know how long, and came across this post. It's really encouraging to come across a blog of someone you don't even know and hear the same things coming from their blog that is on your heart and want to spread to everyone who will listen. I have been praying in the seclusion of my home that God would put this on the hearts of believers around the country, and I am beginning to see it.

I pray you will make this commitment over these last few days of this election. I do believe this will be a historical election in one or two ways. We may see the first black president, or we will see the power of God over money, media, lies, deception, and man's ways to reveal His power especially when His people humble themselves and call on His name to do something they cannot do. We are powerless, but He is all-powerful. David beat Goliath, Gideon won a battle 135,000 to 300, and many more battles were fought in the old testament where the underdog won because God was on his side.

Jehosaphat in 2 Chronicles 20 cries out to God saying, "For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." God said to him, "Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the Battle is not yours, but God's... You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you...Do not be afraid; do not be discourages. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the lord will be with you."

Jehosaphat then, "appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying, 'Give thanks to the Lord for his love endures forever.' As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Minnon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated."

I believe this battle is already won if we as Christians will stay on our knees crying out to Him for our country; seeking forgiveness for ourselves and our countrymen and His people; and then begin to praise Him for what He can do and what He is going to do. I believe we are going to see his power like we have never seen before in the land of the living, and the world will know that it is God.

Dr. Mr. Obama

Watch this video and send it to everyone you can... and get your kleenex out.

www.goptrust.com !!!!

I want all 3 of you out there who are probably still checking my blog every once in a while or who have me on their blog reader to go to this website (www.goptrust.com) and watch this incredible video about Barack Obama or go to this website (praythevote.com) and sign up to pray for this election. Then put this information on your blog or send it out to everyone on your email list or facebook page.

I have never given to a political campaign in my life but I did last night to www.goptrust.com. I confess thought, I love following politics, and this election has driven me to my knees. (Which is probably the truth in why I have not been blogging the past few months) First the Olympics, and now the election. I confess I have had to ban myself from watching Fox News all day long to see what the polls are doing or to see what October surprise God is going to bring up to answer the prayers of those of us who are continually in prayer for this election.

So, I ask that you join us in this fight. This is a spiritual battle and will only be won if the children of God will rise up and humble themselves and pray for freedom and truth, and that the eyes of our fellow Americans will be open to the reality of the candidates and the reality of our future on each candidate's watch!!!

RevolutionRaleigh.com

I am very excited to introduce you to our new church. It's called Revolution, and they have a heart to reach the urban population in Raleigh, NC.

The story of this church is really amazing, and the pastor an equally amazing person.
I came across this church on a bulletin webpage of the Raleigh Baptist Convention advertising a new church plant needing nursery items. The name was Revolution and I thought that was a very interesting name, and if their pastor reflected the name of the church, I and my husband would love to see what they are about. Well, I drove by their meeting place that week and met a couple painting the kids classrooms. Their building was very retro and I was very impressed with the look and the people that would be attracted to that.

My husband then called and talked with the pastor and we visited the next weekend. Oh, I forgot to mention they meet on Saturday night which I also thought was an interesting idea. They also have a graphics guy who is amazing. You can tell by the website. He is into doing everything top notch and does graphics for some well known organizations in the secular business world.

The exciting thing as I said in my last blog post is they are weak in the area that Ken and I (okay mostly Ken) are very strong in. Ken has been meeting with the leadership team the past few weeks and is going through basic beginning stages of church planting and helping them develop their leadership teams and home groups. He is helping them come up with the purpose and vision and mantra of their church (what they want to say over and over so that people take that away with them and into the marketplace), and asking them alot of questions that they never thought about the why and how to reach the people they are wanting to reach.

I am also helping with the development of greeting and first touch teams, and the women's ministry. They currently have a ministry that feeds the homeless, and we are beginning a number of outreach ministries in the area. Last week fed a local football team their Team Dinner the night before a big game, and that was so successful the coach has asked us to their pregame meal for their homecoming game this next weekend, and since they want it off campus asked if they could do it at our church. How amazing is that. We also last weekend served breakfast at a local biker rally in Raleigh, and our pastor spoke at the Sunday morning service on the streets in downtown Raleigh. Their were about 500 bikers at the Sunday morning event.

The vision and ideas of the pastor and the creative graphics guy are amazing, and God now has brought Ken and I along to help them implement their ideas, and organize the structure of how people get connected int the church once they came. It seems almost too good to be true. All my husband and I have ever wanted to do was full-time ministry... and even though we are not full-time yet, God is giving us the desire of our hearts right now in using our gifts and things we have learned for Him.

On another note, a family is coming from New York this Wednesday to look at our house. Ken and I would love to move closer into downtown Raleigh to be closer to our church and the people we are ministering to. We also need to lower our living expenses so we can pay off our debt which would move us closer to doing what we're doing now overseas.

God has been so amazing in our lives lately, we want to give him all the praise!!...

God's grace, God's suprises, and God's timing

It has been so long since I've posted... I am still alive and growing tremendously in Christ which He sometimes calls us to do alone, or sometimes without those things we tend to hang onto... blogging being a most recent one these past couple of years...

Things in our life seem very normal yet they definitely are not. We are having an opportunity right now to do here what we hope to do in France and/or Europe someday. I came across a not yet launched church plant where the pastor felt called to start this church in downtown Raleigh, yet confessed was struggling with how to do it. We began visiting this church and after a number of weeks Ken had an opportunity to meet with the pastor and he was dumbfounded at everything we were seeing and everything that really needed to take place before you could successfully launch a church. He invited Ken to come talk with their leadership team and he blew them away also with all the information we had learned over the past 3-4 years visiting churches all over the U.S. and going to some really great church conferences. The pastor then invited Ken to basically help them start from scratch with everything they now needed to do, even offering for Ken to lead a conference for their leadership team and/or their core group leading them up to a launch.

For the first time I really saw how God has put together and prepared us (okay prepared Ken) to do what God has put on our hearts to do in France. We want to help people plant successful growing churches in France and Europe relevant to the needs of the people they are reaching. I always kind of wondered what it would look like... and now I really believe we could hit the ground running. God has prepared and trained my husband in very specific ways that are just amazing when he puts his personality and gifts with it.

For an update, we are still "in process" with the IMB (Southern Baptist- Inernational Mission Board) and really have completed all the paperwork and now just have to sell our house and pay off some debt to be able to go through the indepth interviews and training. We have a couple coming next month from New York to look at our house and sound very interested... but anyone who has sold a house knows nothing is a given until the papers are signed... and I know my God knows about the financial crisis here is the U.S., so we are just praying for patience and to grow in those ways we still need to grow in and learn as we wait on Him. BUT PLEASE PRAY WITH US, because maybe God just want more people to pray for this wall to be torn down.

Okay, now for the next interesting news that has kept me from blogging for the past month (you might need to sit down if you know me very well) but... we are expecting our fifth child in late February... I draw a blank even as I write this. It has been something very challenging for me to get my mind around....or to even talk about. We had not done anything permanent to not have anymore children b/c we did not have insurance the past few years... and now that we do have insurance, I guess God just wanted to slip this in in case we were feeling like we were in control of our lives.

So there I said it... I will blog about this more, but for now I just wanted to say hello and I'm still not sure if I'm back regularly... but since we all need prayer warriors to pray with us and for us and sometimes when we don't know what else to pray... for the sake of lost and dying people in France and Europe pray with us God would remove these barriers and we would be able to get overseas and help those who are already there waiting for us and for those we will recruit to help us. I write this with love and prayers to all who read this and especially to those who have been on this journey so long with us.

Pray Pray Pray

I think the only family in America right now that can get a loan is coming to see our house tonight at 6:30pm. Therefore I will continue my cleaning and painting frenzy (yes, I have to paint every time someone comes to see our house. That comes with having 4 kids, 3 of them boys. Next time we'll use satin paint :-) I also have to fit in mowing our acre yard today since we just found a neighbor who will loan us his lawn mower... Yes, our lawn mower is broken, and I have to say from the last time I mowed it and borrowed my parents lawnmower, everyone needs to push mow their yard every once in a while just to appreciate the invention of the riding lawn mower. :-)

Anyway, God is good and his plans are perfect. That is why even if these people do not buy the house, I will rejoice because His ways are perfect... and I do love our house... :-) and it is really clean!!!

"Son of Hamas Leader Turns Back on Islam and Embraces Christianity"

I saw this article on the Fox News page, and thought you might want to read it. It is fascinating and even convicting to me.

Bejing 2008 Olympics!!! ... and life

Can you say Bejing 2008 Olympics. I am literally drowning in Olympics and loving every second of it. Can you say addicted? Can you say Phelps, men's most amazing 4 x 100m swimming relay in history, or USA men's gymnastics? These are just three of the most amazing events so far at the 2008 Olympics. Two years ago when the last winter Olympics were on, I had a newborn a 1 year old, a 3 year old and a just turned 5 year old and Ken was in France for two weeks. Therefore I holed up in my house and watched the Olympics about 17 hours a day. I would divo all the events, and then when I had time I would watch every event, sometimes 2 at a time. It was one of the most fun two weeks of my life. It was almost like being there. Yes, that is how much I love competition.

This year my sweet husband got cable for my birthday so that I could watch as much as you can possibly watch from thousands of miles away. Yes, I will say it does drive us all crazy to have the TV on that much, but it is only two weeks, and it is almost like a vacation for me; the vacation we can't really afford to take this year.

Speaking of that, please continue to pray for the selling of our house. We have been finished with most of the process with the IMB (Southern Baptist Missions Board) and have a job waiting for us in Europe/France as soon as we sell our house and pay off some debt. We are so excited about finally doing what God put on our hearts 4 years ago, yet we know though that God is still working in us. And in this trudgingly slow process God is really getting at the deep stuff in us, and though this process has been painful, we know He is growing us in ways we need to complete the task He has put on our hearts to do.

So please join us in prayer about this. I continue to feel more and more that this is a spiritual battle and during this process God has brought me back to my passion for prayer. We have also started going back to our old church, C3, which is a 45 minute drive for us. We love that church and the people, and just feel like that is where we need to be as we continue to prepare to go overseas. It is also where all my siblings go (with the pastor's wife being my sister), and I just love seeing them every week... but if we could sell our house, move into a smaller house to rent, and not have to drive so far to be more involved at our church, all those things would get us so much closer to getting overseas.

I really do love all of you who stay connected with me through my blog, and I pray for you often as I read about your needs through your blogs. Our God is such an awesome God and is wanting to do great things through all of us, yet so often we just have to get through the growing process to reap all that He has to give us on the other side.