34 Years in a Nutshell!

Tomorrow will be my 34th birthday! I had to think about that for a moment, as the years are passing so quickly. In my defense I have a lot of birthdays to remember, and mine just falls lower in my list of importance. 😀
Roger will be working tomorrow, but the important thing is that we are together as a family this year. For the past two years, Mother's Day and my birthday have been events that we've celebrated without Roger as first he was in Arizona, and last year he had already come to Maine. The last two years have been a bit of mad craziness in our lives, and I think we are both relieved to find some stability and routine to our lives. That's not to say that everything couldn't change quickly, but I'm enjoying where I am for the time being.

As I reflect back on my 34 years of living, I could count for a long time on all the blessings God has bestowed on me. However, I wanted to take a few moments to just look back on a few significant phases in my life.

1) On May 17th I came into this world. I think that's a pretty significant day in my life! 😜 I was born the second child to my parents in East Hartford, Connecticut.

2) My earliest memories are of time spent with my dad working on the church building that he was helping to pastor. Through my dad I learned the value of hard work.

3) My dad felt the burden to return to his home state, Wisconsin. He felt the Lord leading him to help start a church there or assist in one. We moved from Wisconsin while I was in first grade. Looking   back at how hard it was for me to leave my familiar comforts to come to Maine, I can relate some to how my mom must have felt as she said good-by to many dear friends.

4) Berlin, Wisconsin, became home for many years as my parents faithfully served in the church. Through their examples of faithfulness I learned the importance of being faithful to the local church,  and loving and ministering to those God has brought across my path.

5) I attended a week-long summer camp at a great Christian camp in northern Wisconsin for many of my elementary, junior high, and senior high years. It was through these Christian camp experiences that I was exposed to great Biblical preaching, Godly mentors, and a desire to know God deeper. It was at summer camp at about fifth grade that I surrendered my life to do whatever it was that God wanted me to do.

6) I attended a Christian school for my junior high and high school years. I had a piano teacher, Mrs. Hammond, who gave of her time and invested in my life both through her music lessons and her Godly direction. She instilled in me a love for playing in church and using my talents to serve God however He directed.


7) It was only because of my parents strong persuasion and insistence that I went to college. My parents had told us often while growing up that they would like to see each of their children attend at least a year at a Bible college. I had no idea what I wanted to do, but I decided to obey what they were asking of me. Off I went to a small Baptist Bible college, and those years at college were life changing. I knew that God wanted me to finish college and obtain a college degree, so I pursued an   education in church ministries. It's a bit of an "everything " degree since it covers everything from learning how to teach a Sunday school class to a year of Spanish to a class on emergency response! If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably aim for a degree that is a bit more specific. However, I was   able to sit under the teaching of some fanatastic Bible scholars, and I am so very thankful for those years!

8) After my freshman year of college, I had the opportunity to return to the far north on a missions trip. I had been to northern Canada after my junior year of high school, and I had the opportunity to return to work in a camp up there. Little did I know that I would meet my future spouse that summer as well! Roger was also working in the camp, and we became friends over the summer. I have some wonderful memories of serving in that little Bible camp, swatting mosquitoes and black flies, and praising Jesus!

9) I returned to college, and figured that God would keep Roger in Canada. 😀 I went back to    running cross country and college life, while God was working in Canada to move Roger to the   states. Roger ended up moving to the states and started working to obtain his pilots license. Having  grown up as a missionary's kid in northern Canada he had developed a great interest in flying. We remained friends...and eventually became very good friends. 😜

10) Roger and I were engaged in the summer of 2004. I still had a year of college left, and Roger was  working hard with my dad on fixing up a home for us to live in after we were married. Since Roger's parents were out of the country, we wanted to wait until they could attend the wedding. (I know...that was really nice of us!😀) In hindsight, I wouldn't recommend that long of an engagement for most couples, but it did give us plenty of time to figure out how to fight and how to sort through our problems!

11) Marriage....now that's a life changing event! In the fall of 2005, Roger and I committed our lives to each other until "death due us part". I learned quickly how much I still needed to learn about not being selfish, meeting the needs of my spouse, and living in unity together.

12) We didn't get too much alone time, as we found out in January that we were expecting! Garett greeted us three days before our first anniversary, and he was five and one-half weeks early! Another wake up call in my life was becoming a mother...who knew that a baby was so much work?!

13) Life was busy as Roger worked for a local business and I was a stay-at-home mom. Roger took a survey trip to Canada, and we felt that perhaps God was directing us to go help a missionary  there.  We began to prepare for a move to Canada, as in packing boxes, completing mounds of paperwork, and in touch with the Canadian government about moving to Canada. However, God shut that door  about a few weeks before we actually rented the moving truck. We had learned that we were expecting our second baby, and for a long list of reasons, we wouldn't be able to move to Canada. Looking back, we can so clearly see God's hand of protection and guidance on this situation. Although disappointed we knew that God had a plan for us. (And we discovered a method of birth control that was definitely not effective!) However, when we welcomed our second son, we could only rejoice at how good God was to us. We were blessed with another healthy child.  

14) We had moved out of our first home because we thought we were moving to Canada, and now we were unsure about what God had in mind. He directed us to a small home that was offered to us through a couple in our church. We decided that maybe God wanted us to stay in the area for now, and we began to house hunt.

15) In the fall of '08, We found a foreclosed house that fit our budget and needs.  I also discovered that I was expecting baby number three and baby number two was seven months old! (Round two of birth control that is not completely effective!) I was a bit devastated to discover I was expecting again so soon and we were in the midst of trying to fix up a house to live in, and living with my parents while that was happening! It was a bit of a stressful time in our lives, but God proved himself strong. My dad is a great carpenter and he really helped us get our house ready to move into.

16) We moved into our home in February and welcomed baby boy number three in April! To say our live were full and overflowing would be a gross understatement! Roger found it hard to balance being a dad, working full time, and trying to work on the house...understandably so! We did the best we could at making ends meet, continuing to serve at our local church, and working on raising our children to serve and love  Jesus.

17) Our lives were busy and full, but I learned to depend on the Lord in a way that I probably   wouldn't have learned to do. He gave me grace to get through the long hard parenting moments, to forgive myself for many, many failures, and to love my children. I had to take a long hard look at my selfishness and ask the Lord to help me be content where I was at in life.

18) Around January of 2010, We found out we were expecting again! By now I was convinced that all I had to do to be pregnant was to use the same bathroom as Roger! (And for the record, I can tell you three different types of birth control that didn't hold up to their 97% effective rate!) I was so very overwhelmed at this point, and I felt like the Lord was not being kind to me. I struggled with anger for a while, until one day I realized that it was affecting me, my relationship with our children, and my relationship with the Lord. I told the Lord that if this is what He had for me, I would do my best to be the mom that I needed to be to these children. (And I fail....a lot!)

19) In August we welcomed our fourth boy into our lives ...and our oldest was not yet four! We had a lot of kids in diapers, a lot of children that needed mom all the time, and the days were the longest of my life. Yet when I reflect on the pictures from those years, I miss those little faces. Yes, it was hard to find joy in the moments, but again God provided grace as needed on a moment to moment basis.

20) Roger started developing health concerns shortly after Travis was born, and through a series of tests,  We found out that he was allergic to the substance at his work place. This was a place of uncertainty for us, as we faced life with four little kids, and Roger was in need of a different job.  

21) Roger was offered a different position at the same company, and his healthy issues faded as his exposure to the substance was limited.

22) We sailed along with relatively smooth sailing for about two years. I say "relative" because there is nothing smooth about four boys in four years! (Potty training..."Mom, I couldn't reach the toilet paper, so I used the shower curtain!")

23) Roger had the opportunity to go on a missions trip in the spring of 2012. He went to the beautiful state of Alaska. He came home excited about what God had done and eager to serve there if God  opened the door. He had had the opportunity to visit this little village called "Manley Hot Springs", and it reminded him of many similarities to his years in Canada.

24) Meanwhile, I agreed that it would be nice to visit Alaska someday and maybe take a missions trip. However, in my heart I was rejoicing that Roger had a job that kept him fairly tied down. After all, who wants to travel on a missions trip to Alaska with four small kids?! I assured Roger that maybe we could save money and HE could go again next year on the trip.

25) And that is NOT what God did! In September shortly after our seventh anniversary, Roger lost his job. We didn't know what God had in mind, but it was a time of fervent prayer to the Lord for direction. A few days later the missionary from Alaska contacted Roger about coming to Alaska in December.

26) Many, many details followed that phone call as well as a deep conversation I had with the Lord where I surrendered my life to whatever He had for me. God provided the funds for that trip through a wide variety of people who gave a monetary gift to help us get to Alaska.

27) We arrived in Manley Hot Springs, Alaska, on the first Saturday in December in 2012. We had traveled over 5,600 miles, and we were exactly where God wanted us to be. We grew together so much as a family during our time there, and I'll forever have good memories of frozen outhouses, cozy fires, family talks, and new friendships made. We made a few deep lasting friendship during our time there, and we left part of our heart with that small body of believers up there. We spent  Christmas dinner with our new friends, Art and Damaris, and we have come to love and appreciate them like dear family. I also told our boys on Christmas Day that God would be giving them another sibling. 😀Too soon  it was time to leave Alaska. We are still open to idea of returning there should God open that door again.

28) Back in the lower forty- eight,  Roger obtained a job driving a milk truck route. It was a job that God provided in his perfect timing. Yet God kept working in Roger's heart to pursue his aviation interests. Emma was born in August while Roger was also in the hospital with foot surgery...there's a memory! http://mudandmanners.blogspot.com/2013/08/  

29) Roger sold his Piper Pacer in the spring of 2014, and followed God's leading to pursue aviation. We knew this would be costly, but God provided the funds for the training through the sale of the airplane. Roger headed to Florida for flight training while I kept the home fires burning in Wisconsin. What a summer it was! It was a long summer for me and Roger, and it is only by the grace of God that I stayed sane! God used several friends to come alongside and encourage me at moments when I felt like I was hardly above water. My parents also helped out in many ways,  but their is no substitute for a daddy and my husband. 

30) Roger finished up the majority of the training before late fall, but he had to return to Florida to finish up some of the training in the spring of 2015. By then we knew that we needed to sell our house since Roger would be getting a job out of the state. We began to get the house ready to go on the market, and Roger accepted a job in Arizona! Since we needed to sell the house before we could go to Arizona as a family, Roger headed to Arizona, and I got ready to sell then house. What a fun time we had trying to get the house ready to sell and keep it ready for showings with five kids?! Or not...but we survived it! God sold that house in less than six weeks! I still reflect back in amazement at how God  brought all the right details together! 

31) On Father's  Day of 2015, we headed to Arizona. I wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospect of this job in Arizona, but God used it to strengthen and stretch our family. We had a small space that had lots of issues, and we didn't know anyone! God used those months there for us to renew our relationship with each other and our children in a way that would have been much harder if we had been around all that was familiar to us. We found a local church to be involved in and came to love that pastor and his family. We pray for them and that ministry often, and we have so many great memories of things we did as a family while in Arizona. 

32) And the job ended suddenly on October 31! Roger had heard of this small flying company in Maine, and he decided to call the company. The boss told him to plan to come out and see the company and see if it would be a good fit for Roger. We headed back across the states, dropped our kids off with my parents in Wisconsin and came it took visit this job in Maine. 

33) Roger accepted the job and moved out to Maine in March of 2016. God provided Roger with a job in Wisconsin during the winter months, and we lived with my parents while waiting on God to show us where to live in Maine. 

We arrived as a family in Maine around the middle of June, 2016. It's been an eventful 34 years of my life, and I figured I better not wait until I was 60 to try to remember some of these details! Through it all, the faithfulness and grace of God are the things that stand out to me. We have had some separation in our marriage due to Rogers training and jobs, and but for the grace of God, we would have failed. I am blessed to be married to a man that loves me, lives out his faith in quiet conviction, loves our children and faithfully works to meet the needs of our family. I am blessed to be the mother to five beautiful children, and although I fail every day, God's grace is always sufficient. I obviously left out a lot of other details because who knows....maybe one day I'll write an  autobiography!😜 

We so appreciate those of you who love and pray for us so faithfully. May God richly bless you!