Thankful For Family!

I do hope that you had a wonderful thanksgiving day celebration. I sure did! As we make our way to New Orleans, we stopped in Florida to enjoy thanksgiving with my family. It had been almost a year since we'd seen one another. Everyone was there except for my brother who is overseas in the military. He surprised us though and called on thanksgiving day. We not only got a chance to talk to him but we were able to see his face through skype (that was an answer to prayer). God is so good! Another prayer answered was that my brother in law returned from a military assignment overseas just a few days before thanksgiving (he was not scheduled to be back till January). My parents who are native missionaries to Haiti were also present during that time. All of us under one roof was crowded, noisy, busy, but oh so fun & delicious. Lots and lots of laughter! A strong godly family foundation is so needed in today's world and I sure thank God for my family. 

Here are a few pics from my week:

Grandparents with all the grandchildren (my parents).

Meemaw (my mom) with her grand-girls.

Working hard in the kitchen!

The hostess & my oldest sis, Vanessa.

My mommy...

Some took a much needed long break (my daddy).

Others...took a little cat nap (Joelle - younger sis).

Another taking a cat nap...baby sister (Nicky)

Kids table

Grown up table....how lovely (by the way, that is apple cider in case you were wondering).

Host and brother in law (Roger) carving the juicy & delicious turkey.

My little joy...Reina (my only niece)

My favorite pic of all...Reina, Roger & James (Reina is 2 months older). 

I hope you enjoyed my pics. I sure had a great time with my family and sure hope you can say the same thing. Please continue to keep us in prayer because we will be signing the lease to our home in New Orleans on the 28th of November and starting the work God has called us to do. I will keep you informed on how God is working in our lives. Much love!

Thriving or Surviving

Well, we are now back in Hampton, VA. While making our way from the west coast to the east coast, we made a little detour to our much loved city, New Orleans. The purpose of being there was to look for a house to rent (which we plan to do for 1yr). God blessed during that time and we were able to find our new home. Now the desire to be in New Orleans is even greater knowing we have a place to call home (we have not had a home for over a year). Just thought I would share with you a little praise report.

As we are awaiting our time here in Virginia, we attended two conferences this past week. From these conferences, I've titled my blog for today "thriving or surving." Why? you may ask...well, let me explain it. The first conference was actually a marriage retreat. The first night of the conference, Pastor Kenny Baldwin (Crossroads Baptist Church) preached a phenomenal message asking us "is your marriage thriving or just surviving." He talked about how many christian marriages today are just surviving (i.e. mundane, lifeless, hanging on, unhappy marriages). God's intend for our marriage is to thrive (i.e. prosper, flourish, be successful, grow vigorously). Then, he gave us a few principles to help our marriage thrive. It was great and open up the door for us (Brent & I) to stop and just re-evaluate our marriage from God's perspective (not man's). The second conference was the ICWE (International Conference on World Evangelism) conference in Fairfax, VA. During the conference, Mrs. Becky Calvert (Fairfax Baptist Temple) had a ladies session titled "Women in the Ministry: Surviving or Thriving?" She reminded us that as women in the ministry that we have a high calling (laying treasures in heaven). With that, our road sometimes get tough (real tough). So, she gave us some tips for not only surviving life in the ministry, but thriving there. It was just what I needed...because even though God is really good to us (me), I was just at a point in my life when things were just tough (crying my eyes out tough) and I felt like was just doing what I needed to get by (going through the motions). Both were great encouragements to my life (right now)..God knows what you need & when you need it. Praise His name!

Oh, here are a few prayer requests: pray for a smooth transition time for me & my family (kids are very confused right now), more financial support to come in & for a building to rent (for church service).

**By the way, if you would like the notes from either messages, just email me and I will send it to you,

A Haircut & A Birthday Celebration

Last time I wrote, I mentioned that we were in Canada and said that I will post some pics. Well these are not it. I just wanted to share a few pics of James first haircut and Abbie's 3rd b-day. James was overdue for his first haircut and since Dad was going to cut his hair and Micah's, he decided to chop James' curls (sad day for mom). Dad was also tired of people mistaking his little boy for a girl. As for as Abbie's b-day, her only request was for a princess cake. With limited kitchen access and her food allergies, I opted to bake her a box cake omitting the eggs and substituting them with applesauce (don't make that mistake). It did not turn out how I imagined it, but with the help of my hubby in fixing it, my girl was ecstatic. She loved her cake and ate 2 1/2 slices (it was her first cake ever). She also surprised mom & dad and chose a strawberry shortcake doll for a gift (if you know Abbie, she loves what Micah loves...trains and cars). We chose to celebrate her b-day on Friday the 14th instead of the Sunday the 16th (actual b-day). We knew that Sunday would be a busy day for us and wanted to set a special day aside to make it special for her. All in all she had a wonderful weekend celebration, we did not do much but my girl enjoyed her birthday...praise the LORD! Thank you all for the birthday wishes. Enjoy these pics.

Unknown to what is about to happen...

Not going to well...tears, tears, tears.

Almost done..

Finally...my big boy baby!

Starting Abbie's day with a brunch at Dennys.

Dinner at McDonalds

Her birthday gift from mom & dad...strawberry shortcake.

Coloring a special princess pic (gift from a church member).

Blowing out candle from her special cake.

Strawberry Shortcake had to be a part of the celebration.

Enjoying her cake.

Ending the night with storytime + strawberry shortcake.

Abbie on her birthday (that Sunday)!

 

 

 

Please keep us in your prayers as we are almost done with deputation. In a couple of weeks, we will be back in Virginia and then the big move to New Orleans. Please pray for traveling safety and for housing in NOLA. Ttyl.

God's Beauty & Blessings

My, oh my! It has surely been an interesting few weeks for us. We were in the state of Oregon & in Washington and had the opportunity to see some of God's beautiful work. But first, I must tell you about a couple of God's blessings. I do not want it to seem like I am bragging...but I am just amazed at how God can be so good to us (sinners saved by His grace). So, if it seems like I am bragging...I'm just bragging on how good God is and giving Him the glory.

Well, one of the ways God blessed us in Oregon is that we had a Wednesday open (meaning no meeting scheduled). Generally through a meeting, we are able to present our call to New Orleans, give churches opportunity to partner up with us and receive a love offering that helps with travel (gas, food, etc.) and pay bills. With no meeting scheduled that day, we did not have opportunity for any of the three mentioned. Well, God blessed in spite of that once again. He allowed Brent to have lunch with a local pastor in the town we were staying in who handed him a love offering (generous one) at the end of their lunch meeting...that was clearly God! Secondly, we were at a church planters missions conference in Washington. The pastor and moderator gave Brent generous amount of time to present our call to a large audience of pastors & showed our video. Through that, we scheduled 3 more meetings, receive another generous love offering and had more than 3 pastors decide take us on for support on the spot without us visiting their church. If you have ever been on deputation, you will know that that is BIG! Once again....it was clearly God!

We also had the opportunity to do a little sightseeing as a family (we do not get to do much of that at all). We visited Multnomah Falls in Oregon. In driving on this scenic road, Multnomah Fall is the longest & biggest attraction but there are several other falls to see along the way. The kids had so much fun and the falls were more beautiful than I could ever imagine. Our little James also made a little friend during our stay in Washington...they shared everything from toys, tears and food. Lastly, Abbie also made a few friends as well. They decided to dress like princesses...they were so cute! Here are a few pics...hope you enjoy them.

The Givens Clan

How beautiful...

Still in love....

If you take a close look at the top of the fall, you will see my hubby who climbed all the way to the top of the fall in his dress shoes (he almost gave me a heart attack).

My babies - at the bottom of one fall.

is it not just beautiful...

Mommy & her rugrats.

This one is the biggest (longest) fall - taken in 2 shots. Shot 1

Shot 2

Jimmy saying "cheese"

Kiddos playing in the water.

Jimmy & his bud, Isaac.

The Princesses

That is it for now. We are in Canada right now. So the next time, I will share with you about our trip. Ttyl.

Memorable Quotes

Just wanted to share these quotes Pastor Rick Clark of the Greater Portland Baptist shared in his message this past Wednesday (the last few are his own)....

"You be humble or you are going to stumble."  ~ D.L. Moody

"To be fruitless is to be faithless."   ~Spurgeon

"God said it that settles it whether we believe it or not." ~R. Clark

"If commission from an earthly king is an honor, why is a commission from a heavenly king a sacrifice (speaking on the Great Commission)." ~R. Clark

" There are 4 kinds of believers: 1-those who think they are saved but are not, 2-those who we think they are saved but are not, 3-those who are saved but don't act like it, 4-those who are saved and act like it. Each one of us fall into one of these kinds." ~R. Clark

"You are either a peace-maker, a peace-breaker or a peace-faker...examine yourself and see which one you are." ~R. Clark

Hope they make you think like they did with me...

Its Been A Long Time

Wow! I cannot believe that it has been so long since I've even looked at this blog. We have been traveling so much and have been so busy that I have not stopped to say much at all. My baby James turned "1" and he is now walking and destroying everything in his path. My big boy Micah is now being road-schooled and is now smarter than his parents (at least that is what he thinks). As for my girl, Abbie, not much is going on with her...she is getting tall and will soon be "3". As for Brent and I, we are counting down the days till we arrive in New Orleans. We are thankful for the deputation experience because we have experienced God first hand...that has been amazing. Just to name a few blessings:

   1. God used a church to purchase the Abeka K-4 curriculum for Micah.
   2. God used a couple men to supply us with gas when we ran out of gas in the California mountains.
   3. God allowed thieves to break into our vehicle and steal much from us then allowed us to see His sovereignty and receive most of our items back (this included the Abeka curriculum).
   4. God used another church to replace our a/c unit and all of the tires in our truck.
   5. God used many men and women to open up their home and teach me the meaning of giving and hospitality whether you have little or much. 

These are just a few ways that God has been good to us over and over again. I am just thrilled to see how and what He is going to do in New Orleans.

Here are just a few pics from this summer:

With our good old friend Cicely & Olivia on play date

Kids with Uncle & Auntie Cindy (Pray for my brother, he is in the military & on his way overseas).

 

 

 

 

 

James 1st B-day

Abbie & I in Quita & Daniels wedding.

The happy bride and groom ( + my little shy flower girl)

Hoover Dam - WOW!

Brent & I - last minute hike with Heritage Baptist Church near Yosemite National Park

Micah and his new school books.

Micah & one of his buds from OKC (parents are missionaries)

The family in San Diego, CA

Where they broke into the truck.....God is GOOD!

One of my favorite pics of kids...everyone is looking at camera and smiling.

Well, I hope that this will not be the last time you hear from me and that I will keep it up. Thank you all for your prayers.....please continue to pray for our safety & our transition to New Orleans.