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!