Happy Birthday!!!

I just wanted to take a moment and say happy birthday to my mom!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

Magen wishes her a Happy Birthday too!!!

Still here

For our loyal readers out there, we are still here...we have not left you, but rather have just run into some busy times in our lives. Work for both of us has picked up, so our days are occupied by those things and our nights have been filled with moving, spending time with family, friends, madie, and doing the usual grocery shopping...and of course a little rest. We have gotten back into King Bible Club saturday mornings, which has been a real delight for both Daniel and I. Even though it takes up half of our Saturday, there is nothing else that I could imagine being better than sharing Christ with these kids, while playing games and hanging out with them!! Not to mention the smiles on their faces as we approach their trailer each Saturday morning to invite them out...priceless!

Our lives are just going to continue to be busy, but I promise either Daniel or myself will keep up with this thing...just be patient.

Daniel leaves for Colorado on Friday and I have to say I have very mixed feelings...in one emotion I am so excited for him being able to spend quality time with his two best guy friends, while at the same time another emotion of sadness that we will be away from each other for 5 DAYS...the longest EVER since we have been married....I will make it though! They will have a blast.

We are still going to the beach in April for my birthday...which I am looking forward too! We are also going to Minnesota at the end of April for a week long class on Church Planting...SOO EXCITED! At the end of May we will head to the beach with my family for Memorial Day weekend (its a tradition). Lots of things coming up, but looking forward to each one of them! We will keep you posted!
I will leave you now with one of our favorite pictures of Madie...it makes us laugh every time! :)

Needed Vacation

I have been wanting to take a vacation with Daniel for a while now, but it just seems to never work out.  We had two trips last year (both of which were not "vacation" although I had to take my vacation days at work.)  One to France...which was amazing, but we stayed at 5 different missionaries houses in which we were constantly on the go...with no time for "vacay".  The other was a trip to Chicago for a week where we went through training for TEAM.  Both of these trips were fabulous don't get me wrong, but we both came back from them overwhelmed and worn out...I think of a vacation as relaxing.   So that's three weeks right there dedicated to us preparing for the mission field where I used my vacation days at work...

Anywho,  since money does not grow on tree's in our family (meaning Daniel, myself, and Madie), then our funds are limited...living on one income is difficult!  Just as a side note...Daniel and I always kid Madie about not pulling her weight financially in our family..haha.

Ok, like I was saying, our funds are limited, but my desire to get away is still ever growing.  A dear sweet lady and her husband at our Church have a place at the beach, and just last week she offered it to Daniel and I for a week.  What...a getaway for us...for a week...7 days...no way!  Not to mention, the days she offered us the condo/house at the beach just happen to fall on the week of my birthday...how perfect is that!  Anyways, I am truly thankful for this families generosity in opening up their vacation home to Daniel and I.   We leave for 7 days at the beach on April 6th...I am counting down!  We could possibly have friends join us at the end of the week which would be super fun, but thats not set in stone yet!

I know I promised pictures of our new place, and I would take pictures now, but Daniel is in bed watching a movie so the bed is not made...I will post soon though, I promise!

B'day & V'day

We went to the Schaefer's house Tuesday night to celebrate Ryan's 25th birthday (there is a post dedicated to him...just scroll down). Here are some pics we took!

Daniel and Ryan (and their dog)

Ryan reading his card (i decorated!)

Sam and I (we were tired :))

For Valentines Day yesterday, my sweet and precious husband showed up at work with a beautiful arrangement of flowers! I was COMPLETELY surprised. Then, he took me to lunch (we figured dinner ANYWHERE would be packed). We had a very relaxed night just hanging out with each other...which btw we LOVE to do!

working hard for the Lord

BEAUTIFUL...Thank you Daniel!

The END!

Without Faith

"Without faith it is impossible to please God" Heb 11:6. If we believe this to be true then there are lots of times in our lives that we need to stop and readjust our thinking. If this is true then there is no reason to precede with anything unless we are having faith in God.

This thought came to me this morning as I was filling out some applications for support, and this little voice in my head said "Why am I doing this, there is no way these churches are going to support us." The moment this crossed my mind this verse immediately followed and I realized that I needed to stop because I realized that I did not have faith that God was completely in control. If you asked me if I thought He was in control I would tell you yes, but at that moment I was not living it.
If I was not living it then I was not pleasing God, and I realized that there was no point in continuing if I was not pleasing Him. Nothing is worth doing if it is not pleasing to Him.

I have and still need to realize that it is not me that qualifies me for service as a missionary it is God, and if God has called me then He alone will provide me with success as a missionary. Not success as the world may see it, but success in His eyes. Whether a church turns me down or not does not determine my calling. It does not matter how much or how little experience or education I have. The goodness of anything we do is determined by God's call on our lives and nothing else. If you are called to do something and your first thought is "I will get everything in order and then I will do it" then ask yourself if that is what God wants you to do. If you don't have the money don't jump to thinking that I have to wait until I do. Ask God if He wants you to wait. If the answer is yes then wait, if no then please don't hesitate. Every moment you hesitate will be a moment you are not pleasing God.

All that matters is that we are faithfully proceding with what God wants me to do. From a human perspective it might make no since at all, but isn't that the point. How are we to procede with faith if all we did was rely on our human understanding and what we see as possible. To God nothing is an obstacle. Not money, education, experience or anything that you think is a barrier to what God has called you to.

-- Daniel

Wishing YOU...

Ryan Christopher Smith a very big HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Your 25...half way to 50! Hope you have a delightful day filled with MANY wonderful memories!

On another note, I (Magen) came home yesterday and was blown away by a BIG SURPRISE...I was shocked! That's all I'm saying...you will have to wait patiently until I can get pictures and post...

Pausing just for a moment

I am pausing just for a moment from this crazy busy week of mine to update you on what has been going on (I didn't want you to think I had left or forgotten about my loyal readers :)). Anywho...this is why I have not posted in a bit:

Sunday-work (in the morning) then missions conference began
Monday thru Wednesday-missions conference from 8:00 to 12:00, work from 12:30 to 5:00, and then back to missions conference at 5:30 till 8:30.
Thurday-work a normal day, 8 to 4
Friday-usually my day off, but working due to the time I had to take off for missions conference.
Friday afternoon-loading up and heading for a weekend of fellowship with women who love the Lord (womens retreat with church)--can't wait.
Oh and did I mention we began moving last night...our new place at Daniel's parents is quiet adorable...I will DEFINITLEY post pictures because I know you are all dying to see what it looks like.

Also, tonight will be a first for Daniel and I, and to some of you it might sound silly, but I know there are some of you out there who COMPLETELY understand what we are talking about, but this is Our (being Daniel and I) first time to spend the night away from each other in the 1 year and almost 6 months we have been married...well there was one time when Daniel's dear friend Ryan was going through a really hard time that I thought Daniel would stay with him, but to my surprise, Daniel came home around midnight (this was a year ago). I am some what nervous because he is my snuggle bunny, but I am sure I will survive :).

So when I get home on Saturday around 4ish, I hope to find our new nook complete (or almost complete, just in need of a few touches from myself) and then will celebrate a birthday with friends. Sunday...back to work (which I love). Wow...a day off would be nice soon!

Gracious enough to give a sign

     This is our first display table at the Mission Conference

Throughout this whole support raising process, which some call "deputation", I have to admit that my faith has been challenged more than a few times. It is the most difficult thing I have ever had to do. To sit back and wait for God to work in peoples hearts to give to this mission He has put on our hearts. He gave us this overwhelming passion for France, for reasons that are His alone, and then says wait you can't go just yet. Wait? I would find myself asking. You mean to tell me that You gave me this passion just to make me wait.

YES!!! was His answer. Over the past month I have found the answer to why I have to wait. To put it simply. FAITH. I had none and still don't have as much faith as I would like, but this time spent support raising has grown my faith more than anything I have experienced in my life. As much as I didn't want to realize it, I have to put my FAITH in God to supply all my needs. But even after realizing this I still wasn't living it, and selfishly asked God if He would please show me something that would convince me in my selfishness and unfaithfulness that He was going to take care of me. To my surprise He did...

Through the missions conference that Magen and I went to at Southeastern Bible College this week, God showed me more than once that He had everything under control. First it was through hearing the veteran missionaries talk about how God had taken care of them. Then it was when Southeastern graciously offered to give us last nights offering for our ministry in France which totaled up to $1200. And again through a couple of people saying they wanted to support us monthly through fincances. Finally and most surprising, it was from a man I had never seen in my life came up to me with a check for $250 to support our call the France. OVERWHELMED was and is the only way I can put into words how we felt!

To write it down does not seem to do it justice to how much of God's faithfulness it showed me. It showed me what I already knew which was that God had the power to provide for my needs in anyway He sees fit. In this case it was through people I had never even laid eyes on before giving out of there own pockets to this ministry they new little about. I shouldn't have to say this but, if God has called you to something He will provide for it even if it doesn't seem possible. To put it another way He does not order what He can not pay for.

--Daniel

Joining our lives

So only a year and 5 months later have I gotten around to uploading our wedding pictures and putting them on this blog.  Here is a slide show...if you want to see them in a non slide show format click here.