I2I DTS Week 3!

Hearing the voice of God was our theme for week 3 of DTS! Joel McGill was our speaker and he lives right upstairs with his wife and 2 girls. They are part of the Impact World Tour team. I wasn't in class much this week but when I did peek in and out, I saw that the students got to do a lot of exercises in hearing the voice of God and prophesying to one another. I was able to catch the lecture on Monday morning and Friday morning which was nice.

For Friday's lecture, we had 2+ hours of ministry time, hearing the Lord and praying over one another. I played the piano and worshiped for almost 1.5 hours as the others ministered to one another. It's pretty crazy that the door has been so open to sing and play the piano again after being out of that season for so long. It's humbling and I'm blessed at the same time. Playing for ministry time is definitely more in my comfort zone than leading corporate worship but I'm up for the challenge and have led the last 2 Thursday mornings. Shane and I get to tag team ministry on those days. When I'm helping with or leading worship, he's on baby duty and otherwise I usually take the main role of watching Noah. We take turns going to the prayer room too, which is nice. If I want to go, I just ask and Shane is so willing to stay with Noah so I can go and connect with the Lord in the prayer room. What a blessing!

Some highlights of the week were:
- Skyping with my lovely sister!
- Using Noah's pool from my sweet in-laws for the first time! And Noah's first time running through the sprinkler with mommy!

 

- I got to go to the prayer room 3 times this week! Soooo good!
- Wednesday night. Shane was supposed to teach on Harp and Bowl....well....the Holy Spirit totally rearranged his notes and came in power. I got some awesome ministry from the Holy Spirit and many of our students and staff got a fresh touch of His power and healing. Amen! Soooo good! I love the tears and the laughter that comes when our hearts are touched by the Lord. And, I'm so honored to be married to such an awesome guy =)

- The time I get to spend with my awesome one-on-ones each week
- Noah tried butternut squash for the first time and loved it!
- Family time on the weekend! Soooo glorious after such full weeks! And Canada Day was celebrated in our hearts =)

- Talking with my in-laws on facetime! Gotta love technology!
- Other than one night, we are having much better nights! Noah is only waking 1-2 times despite the teething and all! Praise the Lord!
- An incredibly refreshing 3 hours with a girlfriend! Christina and I went to Starbuck's in Belton (a little town 10 minutes from our place) and it was sooooo refreshing to get away and connect with a girlfriend! I miss that!
- Connecting with our students and the joys of discipleship, including having young adults come through our door and talk with us at our kitchen table pretty regularly!

Some low lights of the week were:
- My first American slurpee from 7-11. Definitely a disappointment if I compare it to Canadian slurpees.
- A cranky baby throughout the week with teething troubles =(
- Shane had a lot of trouble with his head this week. He had a migraine for days which brought nasty nausea and dizziness which really effected his sleep. The attack this week hit our tender spots (aka: Shane's head).
- Noah had a few crawling mishaps where he crawled head first into something or chewed on something that hurts his gums which ends in very sad feelings =( Poor kiddo!
- The ongoing challenges and drama of discipleship and working with young adults. Some days it can get really frustrating!

Praise Reports from last week's requests:
- A one-time gift is coming and we got the news of it this week! Praise the Lord!
- Noah is sleeping better!
- One of our students that needed funds last week got all her funds for lecture phase! Woo! Hoo!

Prayer Requests for this next week:
- Shane's head! Please pray for protection and complete healing, that all migraine effects would leave permanently and that we would continue to stand on the healing he has received and not give in to fear or discouragement!
- The finances that our students still need to cover lecture phase - it is past due and 4 students still need significant breakthrough
- We heard some very sad news (for me) yesterday. Someone is moving in above us very soon =( When we were here in April, a heavy-footed Hawaiian family lived there and they were super loud and had a very different schedule than us. It was super stressful because you can hear EVERYTHING through the floor. Please pray that this will not be a problem, that a nice, quiet tenant would move in, that I would have peace and none of us (mostly Noah) would not be bothered by the volume at sleep times. Thank you so much! This request is dear to my heart!
- For monthly partners and one-time gifts to cover expenses that come up (like my plane ticket to Winnipeg in August for Noah's doctor's appointment and my mom's upcoming marriage)

A common occurrence....Mommy has to be watching all the time now =)

Noah is sitting really well on his own now!

Off for a walk with Mommy...cute hat and teeth!

Many uses for the same object - baby pool by day, frisbee by evening!

Noah is making lots of friends!

Adorable sleep baby with feet sticking through the rails =)

I now have a baby who plays and plays and plays!

He's loving his toys!

And more toys!

More laundry fun!

Noah loves toys that smile at him =)

I2I DTS Week 2!

Mark Anderson was the speaker for our second week of DTS and I was excited about this week! He was my favorite speaker from my DTS and I looked forward to hearing him again! I tried to make it to more lectures this week, as my time with Noah would allow. Noah and I spent a lot of time playing in the back of the classroom, pacing and walking around so that I could still be in listening distance to the lecture =) I really enjoy listen to Mark because he is full of knowledge of the Word, applying it, loving the Holy Spirit and he's super blunt and I like that!

One of these posts, I'll share a day in our life just to give you a glimpse into our every day!

Some highlights of the week were:
- Got to enjoy more of the lectures this week! Awesome teaching!

Mark Anderson explained "the exchanged life" with salvation!

- Got to nap while Noah napped

Noah loves to sleep on his face =)

- Noah started army crawling! (June 19)
- Noah tried broccoli for the first time! (June 19)

And he really liked it!

- Got to go to the Prayer Room on my own again 
- On 3 different days, Noah took a longer nap! (He started boycotting his 4th nap 4 days this week)
- Had some breakthrough on the night time wakings! Started only feeding Noah once a night and he is generally only waking 1-2 times now!
- Noah tried carrots for the first time! (June 24)
- Visiting with friends....Christina and Kristi Cooper
- Getting to bed early....setting my bedtime for 9:30!
- Sunday evening prayer time with the staff....really good for us as a team!
- An answer to prayer! The Lord provided a monthly partner this week! Praise the Lord!
- Led Thursday morning class worship! It was the first time I've led worship since my DTS! I was sure nervous....but willing!

Some low lights of the week were:
- One super rough night where Noah was up every 1.5-2.5 hours....not sure why....later that day he started crawling!
- Some days Noah just wants to stay awake and play for 40-60 minutes when he's supposed to be napping....it's cute but can get frustrating since he does the go-to-sleep routine 5 times a day
- Noah's first goose egg/crawling mishap...crawled into the corner of the door
- Some challenges with students and seeing my own darkness of heart in my internal responses
- Shane carried a lot of the responsibility of leading this week and the schedule was busy because we had to finish up all sharing our testimonies in the evenings so it made for a crazy pace (crazy enough that my husband who doesn't nap slept for 3 hours on Saturday!)

Prayer Requests for this next week:
- Continued rest for our family and of course, that Noah would start sleeping right through the night!
- For grace with teethin
- For partners (especially monthly ones) who want to be a part of our team and catch the vision!
- That our students would have financial breakthrough and have all their fees in this week! We need some miracles!
- That our staff would hear from the Lord who is to lead the team to Brazil
- For more encounter with the Lord and to hear His voice clearer!

I just couldn't wait for Canada Day...had to put on his Little Canadian shirt =)

Look at my teeth! So cute!

I2I DTS Week 1!

Well, we pulled in to KC on Wednesday, June 6th and Arrival Day for the students was Friday, June 8th! Needless to say, we hit the ground running! Over the first weekend, we did some ice breakers, orientation, an ice cream social and a ministry/speaking night on the Sunday evening. It was a good way to start the next 6 months!

We have 11 students and between our staff and students, 5 nations are represented! USA, Canada, South Korea, South Africa and Norway! Our school is a small one but I'm happy about the closeness that the smaller numbers allow =) Our students range in age from 15-37, most are single and we have one married couple with 2 children. Between our staff and students, there are 5 kids in our midst ranging from 6 months to 10 years old and I love the family feel that having children around brings to the whole group!

For week 1 (June 11-15), Corey Stark was our speaker! I got to sit in some of the lectures but my very cute assignment for this season (aka Noah!) didn't allow for undivided teaching time =) So, Noah and I came and went throughout the week in the morning lectures. Corey spoke a lot about the book of Revelation, the Spirit of Elijah and the convergence of the prayer and missions movements. Our students really enjoyed his teaching!

Some highlights of the week were:

- Noah tried bananas, avocado and sweet potato this week! So far, sweet potato is the winner =)

  

- Noah got his second tooth on the first day of lectures!
- Shane and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary!

 

- We started one-on-one with the students, which is one of my favorite parts of DTS! I've got 2 awesome gals to meet with each week!
- I made it to the prayer room by myself once this week!
- I finally caught up on recording our finances, which I've been trying to do for many, many weeks!
- Getting to know the students more and having some over at our place!
- Got to see my siblings, Dad and Rose on skype during their Father's Day gathering!
- Shane's first Father's Day! We celebrated after church by having lunch at the Cheesecake Factory at the Plaza, walking around the Plaza and later after heading home for Noah's nap, we went back to pick up the cheesecake we didn't get to eat =) Going out for lunch over naptime with a baby is sure different than the 11+ years of dining just the two of us =)

 

 

Some low lights of the week were:
- Noah was up between 1 and 3 times per night and we were REALLY tired =( This was the hardest part of the week.
- We worked hard on getting Noah down for naps and nighttime with more self-soothing again. With all the transition in the past 2 months, we've done a mixture of self-soothing and rocking to be easy on him through all the changes.
- The challenges of working with young people
- Less time as a family
- A very busy schedule!

Prayer Requests for the week:
- Rest for all of us and that Noah would sleep through the night
- Grace, patience, unconditional love and wisdom as we work with our students
- Grace and strength for our new roles and our busy schedule
- Partners who would have a desire to partner with us on a monthly basis

This is how we do laundry around here =)

Noah loves time in the exersaucer (this is our living room in the background)

Super duper handsome!

Noah loves looking out the window and staring at the beautiful trees =)

That is an overview of our first week of DTS! God is doing good things!

Changes, changes and more changes!

It has been a crazy month and a half since I last blogged! I've had posts going through my mind on many different occasions but haven't taken the limited time I have and sat down to blog =)

Much has happened since May 6th.....we returned home to Winnipeg, my brother got married, we packed up our apartment of 8+ years, we moved in with my in-laws, Noah got dedicated at church, we drove back down to KC with my sister, my in-laws and a u-haul trailer and our DTS started, amongst many other things. Now we are already finished week 2 of our lecture phase! So, I've got to do a little catching up! My hopes are to blog an overview each week but we'll see what happens!

Here's a few things that happened between May 6 and June 10 (before our lectures began on the 11th)!

My first Mother's Day!

Noah's first walk in St.Vital Park!

Noah's first sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa Reimer's and a bath in their sink the morning of Shaun and Laurissa's wedding!

My baby brother got married! (Here's a pic of the sibs)

Our little family at the wedding!

Saying good-bye to our home =(

Trying the Jolly Jumper for the first time!

 Living at Grandma and Grandpa Farrow's for the week and having a bath in the sink the morning of Noah's dedication!

Noah's Baby Dedication!

Noah's Baby Dedication at Bethel Community Church!

Our little family at Noah's Dedication!

All of Noah's grandparents! He is so loved!

Noah turned 6 months old! And got his first tooth the week before!

Noah learnt how to sit! And we took our first family road trip!

Auntie Stephanie was the best traveling companion for Noah =)

Diaper changes on the road trip!

Noah's first swimming experience!

Noah's first night in a hotel!

Moving, moving, moving!

This kiddo was awake 14 out of 17 hours of travel! But such a happy traveler! PTL!

Noah tried solids for the first time! (We've mostly been doing other foods but we tried a little rice cereal the first few days). He likes eating!

We moved in to our new little home in Kansas City!

We enjoyed some time with Grandma and Grandpa Farrow at their hotel!

We unpacked and spent time with Stephanie (who was such a huge blessing with all the moving and unpacking! Thank you!)

It has been a CRAZY few weeks! God has been so gracious and carried us through. He has given us the strength and grace for each new day and without Him, there is no way we could have pulled off the last month and a half. We are doing well and adjusting to our new place, pace and life in KC!

Staff Training Week 2

Another week is under our belt for our time in KC for staff training and this was a great week! It had a completely different feel than the previous week because everyone was on base for the training!

Monday through Friday this week we did a bunch of things here on base and it was such a blessing because Noah and I could participate in a lot of it. We were given a monitor by a generous acquaintance back home and I'm soooo glad I brought it with us! I am able to put Noah down for a nap in our apartment and the reception reaches the lounge, the classroom and the student services office! All the places that I may want to go and participate when my baby is napping! Praise the Lord! What an incredible blessing since my baby likes to take many short naps in a day!

Some of the things we did as a staff this week are worship and prayer in the mornings for an hour, student service/mobilization for the June DTS, prayer room time as a staff at IHOP (I even got to go by myself once this week!), a meeting with Mark Anderson to review the vision of Call2All, the campus, etc and spent a number of hours sharing our testimonies to get to know one another better. I've especially been enjoying the testimony time and I love having worship together each morning. I feel so blessed to be living in a community of believers and that worship and prayer are something we do together frequently and steps away from my front door =) These YWAMers really value hearing the voice of God and I'm constantly reminded to make decisions based on prayer. We also had a community potluck with all Call2All/YWAM staff on base, supper at our neighbors and a BBQ with the Starks. What a full and great week!

My easily overstimulated baby is adjusting really well this week. I'm so grateful! He gets overstimulated really easily and even at family gatherings and such at home, I really have to watch him. Often that night, he has a harder time going to sleep, cries more and needs a day at home to recuperate. There are many opportunities for him to get overstimulated here and I'm keeping a close eye on him. I feel that the Lord is really providing grace for Noah to adjust to community living. He is a joy to all those he comes in contact with and everybody loves "Baby Noah" =) He's been held by so many different people from so many nations already and I'm proud of myself by being as relaxed as I am handing my baby to people I don't know very well yet =) Everyone wants to hold him =) He has been able to nap in the prayer room and during our meeting with Mark Anderson but otherwise, I really try to give him his naps at home. He is also really easily distracted when feeding and doesn't want to miss anything so I try to do all his feeds at home and then we go back and join the team. It really is working well! He is feeling better this week and has gotten extremely active and mobile almost overnight. He is rolling like crazy now and spends the majority of his awake hours on his tummy, moving and rolling. He's going to be crawling before we know it!

The adjustment for me this week has been a lot better. The noisy neighbors above us moved out and that has made evenings/nights so much better. Noah is still getting up more than he usually does at home in Winnipeg but oh well. The insomnia I was really struggling with back home and in the first few days here has been significantly better and I'm so grateful! I'm feeling more sleep-deprived than I have in months but hopefully we'll all continue to adjust with time. I have cried much less this week =) I have enjoyed being with people and feel the blessing of community. I can see that life will be full and busy here and I need to figure out how to have quiet time with Jesus on my own in the midst of the buzz of ministry/campus life. Looking back, I'm really grateful for the first week here and though it was hard, it was great to start my time here leaning in to Jesus in such a big way.

On Tuesday we fly home to Winnipeg for the month. And now that the staff training adventure is coming to a close, I realize that the next chapter ahead awaits me with TONS for me to do. We have a number of plans with friends and family, my bro's wedding, doctors appointments and lots of errands and packing to do before moving out of our apartment we've had for the last 8 years by the end of the month. Wow. I just need to take it one day at a time so it doesn't seem too crazy!

I really am blessed. God is leading us well!

Week 1 and I'm a survivor!

I survived! Shane has been off base for long hours each day doing the Immerse program through the International House of Prayer with the rest of our team here in Kansas City (except myself and another mom). It was pretty crazy to jump right into transition and have my husband gone all day, when that is very different than our normal has been.

It has been such a blessing to have Shane at home with me for the last number of months. Though sometimes it was a little awkward to figure out working from home, having his presence with us, was awesome. I think of the many daddies out there who leave early in the morning, work all day and come home to briefly see their kids before they go to sleep. The quality time pretty much happens on the weekends. Shane has been soooo lucky to have been a part of the day-to-day, behind the scenes parts of Noah’s first few months. Not many dads get that honor and privilege and I think it has made Shane an even better dad and an even better man to parent with.

Thinking again of the amount we’ve been apart this week…..Shane has never been away from Noah this much and he sure missed him this week. I don’t remember when Shane and I have been a part this many hours in a week. Sometime prior to our time in Kona back in 2010! I missed him and I appreciate the last few months even more =)

So, I survived! Yay! Thankfully, when the Discipleship Training School schedule is busy, he will be still around home on the base so Noah and I can be a part of things or come and go as needed. This week was a special circumstance but wow….what a way to hit the ground running!

I cried a lot this week. I prayed a lot. I rocked my baby a lot. I checked my ipod for texts from Shane a lot. I thought a lot. And I had to lean on the Lord a lot.

My emotions were all over the place this week, with the yo-yo effect. I felt overwhelmed. Then I felt perspective and grace. I felt despair. Then I felt hope. I felt frustrated and angry. Then I felt peace and tenderness.

There were hard parts and there were really good parts about this week. Sadly, my cutie pie has not been feeling well since we arrived. Teething to coughing to a runny nose to fussiness has made for trying times for this mama. But, those smiles, laughs and coos, melt my heart and I love so many things about that little guy. We’ve never had so much time alone, just the two of us come to think of it. We got to settle down in our new home, figure out many different attempts at what works best in our new sleeping/napping arrangements and explore the campus.

Noah discovered trees and loves watching the leaves. We saw a turtle on the road. We sat on the grass (until I discovered chiggers!). We played on the blanket a lot every day. Noah chewed on toys. Noah started rolling like crazy. We went to the prayer room. We got to see a few friends too =)

I did a whole bunch of things that I’ve worked so hard not to do over the last 4.5 months. And that’s ok. I’ve rocked my boy to sleep. A lot. I’ve fed him to sleep. I’ve napped with him.

And the Lord is meeting me. He is sustaining me. I’m in need of a little refreshment after such a crazy 8 days and I’m looking forward to soaking in all that I can in the church service tomorrow morning. I have probably prayed and leaned into the Lord more than I have in a long time because it’s just me, Him and Noah for many hours. And since there have been challenges, I’ve had to cry out to Him. He has been with me. He is teaching me and I think He has special things in store for me.

I don’t think this next chapter of my life is going to be boring. My prayer this week has been that the Lord would speak to me about my purpose and vision in this next season. Not as a wife. Not as a mother. But as me. Kristi. And what He has in store for my heart. He’s already whispering and I’m getting little inklings. I’m looking forward to what He has to say…

Seasons of change...

Much has been happening for our little family in the last few weeks! Shane and I are excited to have some open doors in going south for an indefinite amount of time to help out with Call2All! We are presently down in Kansas City for 19 days of training, returning home for a month and then heading back down here to participate in the June Intimacy 2 Impact Discipleship Training School!

If time allows, I think getting back into blogging would be a great outlet for me! Becoming a mom has been quite the adjustment and now figuring out how to be a mom, wife, woman, lover of Jesus, and so much more in a new environment, far from my friends, family and my “normal” is a big adjustment! The reality of the hugeness of this jump is becoming more and more real over the last 5 days since we got here. There are parts I’m excited about and parts where the sacrifice feels very real.

The new environment, home, noises and schedule have been a bit daunting. We have a 2-bedroom apartment back home, where we’ve lived since Shane and I got married almost 8 years ago. I always hoped that the next step would be a house of our own! Well, I had a little cry when I found out not long ago that we were coming to a 1-bedroom apartment. In my head I worked it out by figuring we’d give Noah the bedroom and we’d sleep in the living room. Now that we’re here, putting our bed in the living room just isn’t practical for enjoying our living space, so we are adjusting to living in a bedroom with all 3 of us.

I’m getting a taste of missionary living with children. My little one naps and begins the night on a little bed that I’ve made for him with a blanket laid out on the floor of the walk-in closet, with his lion, Leo, from home whom he likes to talk to when going to sleep. It’s taking a little getting used to crawling into bed at night, knowing that my baby is sleeping in the same room as us. We haven’t done that since he moved to his crib at 1 month old. When he wakes to feed in the middle of the night, I take him to the living room and feed him on the love seat before transferring him into the pack and play, which is set up in the living room. It doesn’t fit in the closet. There he sleeps until morning. It was a little tender to my mommy heart the first few days putting my beautiful baby to sleep on the floor of a closet. The ache of the sacrifice felt real for me in that moment.

Thinking that this is a longer arrangement then just 19 days has been a little overwhelming at moments. How do we all live and sleep in the same room as a family? I think of all the families during our DTS that did it and wonder how they did. Our school leader, Debbie, has comforted me, telling me that it will only get easier. They’ve done it with their 2 kids in many different housing situations.

Then today, I got a touch of encouragement and perspective. Noah and I were “shopping” down the hall from our place in the newly forming boutique (the place where you can take stuff that other’s drop off…like a free Good Will store). On our way back, I said hi to a guy washing the walls in the hallway. I’m glad I did =) I went on to learn that he and his wife are hoping to move to the base and I believe they are the ones that the other 2-bedroom apartment is being saved for. I sure have wanted that 2 bedroom. They have been living in a 1-bedroom apartment for the last 1.5 years. And get this. They have 4 children between the ages of 9 months and 5 years. That is some serious perspective. I confessed that I’ve been having a tough time thinking of living in a 1-bedroom with 1 child and asked him how they do it with 4 children and 2 adults in one bedroom. He gave me some practical tips and shared the joys that have come as a family from the experience. He said that he is actually going to miss it when they aren’t together in the same room.

My heart left encouraged. This isn’t impossible. God will make a way. Not only will we survive but we’ll flourish. Noah and I pray for our day and invite Jesus into it every morning. As part of our prayer, we ask that the Lord would cause love to abound in our home and hearts with one another. This may be an opportunity that will cause just that.