LOS LANES

Joy.   My word for 2016 was joy.   God has an odd sense of humor sometimes… Little did I know all that I didn’t know about the meaning of joy.   At the time that I chose this word we were fostering   our 4 month old boy (“K-man”) who had very quickly stolen our hearts.   As most of you know, we had already fostered 2 children prior to K-man, and my heart had never been in such a raw place. By the time the New Year came around, we pretty much knew that K-man would be reunited with his biological family, but that didn’t stop us from loving him fiercely.   By the time he was removed from our home to be with his family he was 8 months old.   In the grand scheme of things 8 months can seem pithy.   But those were some of the fullest, yet challenging months I’d have ever experienced. You never think that you’ll be the girl who can’t get pregnant.   At least I didn’t.   I was always babysitting and dreaming of opening orphanages so I could take in all the forgotten babies in the

God is Good!! We just finished our 3 rd  service of itineration and it went incredibly! We are 3 for 3 – meaning we visited 3 churches so far and all 3 are supporting us!  Itineration is a unique phenomenon, there’s really nothing quite like it. It’s part traveling evangelist, part fundraising, part small business promotion, and I’m sure there are other parts that I’m not thinking of at the moment!  Emotions play a role in adjusting to new circumstances – there’s something about the fact that if you haven’t done something before, you feel a little nervous. I’m not sure why because if you take the different parts of itineration, they are familiar to me and to us, but put together as a whole they form a different reality that can be intimidating.  I generally try to downplay my nerves and anxieties and attempt to stand on certain truths that give me confidence. For example, I know that God is our provider. Therefore, I should never be nervous or concerned about raising f

I still can't believe I'm sitting here writing our first blog post on our first website for our first missionary term.  I can remember a time when I thought this season would never get here soon enough!   As mentioned in our "about us" section, Noah and I both have felt a desire and calling to become missionaries since a very young age.  It was something that continued to resound in our lives and beat in our chest no matter what season of life we were in.  There were many years for me specifically that were filled with frustration as I maneuvered and pursued this calling, but to "no avail".  Or so I thought.   Isn't it funny how we say we trust God with our whole lives, yet we live not trusting the details in which that life is being formed?  I wasted a lot of time thinking I was wasting time.  Fortunately God is God and I am not (I think we can all be thankful for that for MANY different reasons), and He really did have an ultimate plan.  

One of my favorite movie quotes is from Shrek: "I can't feel my toes!!  I don't have any toes!! -pause- I think I need a hug." (It really just doesn't have the same flair when I type it, but, what're you gonna do...) The other day was a big rainstorm day.  No matter what I did, I couldn't swallow the tears that kept welling up inside of me.  As most of you know, Noah and I are in Springfield, MO right now for missionary training.  So while the speaker is speaking of reaching indigenous people groups and how to effectively reach them, it might be somewhat appropriate for me to shed a tear or two out of passion for the lost.  And believe me, I was banking on that being my fall-back.  But the few lonely tears started to turn into a flowing mighty river that was getting uncontrollable, and I knew I probably couldn't blend in with the group as we sat there taking notes on how to translate Bible stories. Noah, being the amazing guy he i

When I was 11 I went to Disney World, and I remember that it would be a super sunny day, gorgeous breeze, and then out of no where a rainstorm would come.  So, we'd pull out a poncho and stay on line, waiting for our ride. In some ways I feel like that 11 year old girl at Disney World, except that instead of a rainstorm its tears, instead of a poncho its tissues, and instead of waiting on line I'm just living life. Our little K-man, Tub of Chub, K-money, bambino left us a week ago.  I can't believe it's only been a week... it feels like a month.  The days drag on like there's no tomorrow, and the nights are filled with restless sleep.  Add to that the fact that this entire week we've been moving out of our house as we wrap up our time being on staff at Life Chapel.  This Sunday we embark on our new journey as we follow God's leading to share His love with the people of Mexico (which is super bittersweet AND exciting!) I think the hardest part about be

I have this awful habit of making a LOT of New Years Resolutions, which I really have no intention on keeping.  When people start lamenting about New Years goals and how lame they are, I start to fidget in my seat.  I have to fight every urge to blurt out how I've been planning them since the 4th of July.  (we can exaggerate in blogs, right? Isn't that a thing? Like, LITERALLY.  No one actually means literally when they say literally).  I know full well that these resolutions are kind of pointless, but I genuinely hope that one morning I'll just wake up a new person and start doing them. Well, one of those goals was to start blogging once a week.  Bummer. 
Anyway.  I read something the other day that completely slapped me in the face: "It is a positive crime to be weak in God's strength" -Oswald Chambers-  For the past 5 months, Noah and I have been fostering a baby boy, who we affectionately call "Tub" (short for Tub of Chub.  of cou