A Boy Like Sean

Sean was just four months old at Christmas time and we were making the holiday rounds to see family. One night, towards the end of our travels he woke up with a very high fever and was congested. Our first son, David, was a pretty healthy boy and never did we make any trips to the pediatrician with him other that his well child checks. So, having a small baby with a high fever scared me a little bit.

The nurse at Dr. Young's office was nice enough to call me back in the wee hours of the morning. She gave me instructions to help bring the fever down. I thought if I could keep him comfortable he'd be fine for the rest of the trip.

After two nights of fever and more congestion his breathing sounded much worse so Chad and I decided to take him to the children's hospital in Ft. Worth, the town we were staying in. His oxygen levels were low and his fever was worse, but they called it bronchitis and sent us home with a prescription.

The next day was December 30th and we decided to get home to Amarillo, to get Sean well. New Years eve night Sean started turning blue and he was struggling to breath. His fever was spiking, so we rushed him back to the emergency room where he was diagnosed with Pneumonia.

The good doctor set us up with breathing treatments and other instructions to help clear Sean's lungs then sent us home. I will never forget the next few days. I'd take him into the bathroom and run the shower till it steamed up the place and let him cry as loud as he could to open up his lungs. I just remember holding him, praying over him and thinking how badly I wanted to watch him get better and grow up.

Next week Sean will turn FIVE. What a handsome, funny boy he has turned out to be! He says things all the time that give me insight into the man he might become. God has made each of our children with their own personalities and they each shine in different ways. What Sean does best is make people smile and laugh with his stories of wild adventures. He's always observing the world around him and if he can't study a bug close enough with his naked eye he'll use my old glasses to magnify it. He's very open about what's on his mind and takes matters to heart.

The other day he said emphatically, "I want to be a veterarian when I grow up. If I'm ever working on a turtle. . .and that turtle snaps at me. . .I'll keep working on him because it's my job to take care of him."

Happy almost birthday Sean, we're proud of you. It's a joy to be your mom and to watch you grow in wisdom, stature and favor with God and men!

His Spirit At Work In Us

Last Tuesday, Chad and I received a letter from our apartment complex. They had enclosed the fee we had paid to use the leasing office and explained in a less than polite way that we would no longer be allowed to meet in the leasing office for "church purposes". The letter was signed by the lawyers of the complex.

This was difficult to take. We were so excited to have a place to meet and had already invited the families back. We had permission but apparently not from the right person. We hadn't decided what we were going to do about meeting Sunday until Saturday.

I went out to go to the store and kept running in to people we'd invited. Finally the young man from Mississippi stopped me and asked where we would be meeting. They were excited to come.

I came inside and said, "Chad, there are people all over the world lifting up the name of Jesus from living rooms. We need to open up our home to these folks and have church. So. . .that's what we did! We worshipped together and were blessed by the young man's testimony of finding a job.

That night we had a great worship service with Quail Springs Baptist Church. They prayed for us. We shared with them how we want to minister to the children over spring break through delivering lunches. We were overwhelmed with people who wanted to buy groceries and volunteer.

Today Chad was planning to coordinate with the staff of QSBC. He was invited to share in their staff meeting about what God is leading us to do and find ways to facilitate ministry among the congregation.

He called me on his way to the meeting. We both felt the same way. It's awesome to watch God bring all these resources together, but we also feel like it's all for nothing if there is not an open door to talk to the residents of the complex.

Earlier this week, Chad put in a call to the section 8 complex behind us, but wasn't expecting much. He left a message with a the secretary who told him, "we don't want to have anything to do with churches!"

On my lunch break I sat in the car and prayed. If you haven't noticed my now, I do a lot of praying in my car. Apparently the antennae helps. :)

I was walking from the break room when Chad texted me. The manager of the Artesian Ridge Apartments called. ( we jokingly named it Venetian Village) She WELCOMED us to come and deliver lunches next week. She offered us the use of the kitchen in the leasing office and said we could have Bible Club in the common area.

Another way we want to minister to the residents is to make welcome baskets to new comers. She said she would email us when they have new people move in so we can visit them and welcome them. She even suggested we put a card with our churches name on it so they can find us.

Last night I was feeling down. I was really mourning the life we used to have. There is a reason why it's called "being in your comfort zone" IT'S COMFORTABLE THERE! It's hard to be in a new place, doing a new thing and working with new people.

On the inside of Chad's wedding band I had engraved "His Spirit at work in us." Our prayer is wherever we are, comfortable or not, The Holy Spirit at work in us will keep us together and move us forward.

Romans 5:5 says, "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us - they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love."

Answered Prayers

Monday Morning, I had a list of employment opportunities circled from the Sunday Classifieds. While Chad was driving I crossed off the places we had already been. I looked up and Chad was parked in front of The Tealridge Christian Retirement Community. "Why don't you go in here?" He said. It is a very nice looking facility on the outside, but I didn't quite "get" why he thought I should go in. There were no signs or advertisements that they were hiring. I took one of my resumes out of the folder and went in anyway.

I went to the front desk. The receptionist asked if I needed help. I told her if they had any positions available and asked if I could leave my resume. We visited for a minute about my previous work experience. She explained to me that a new assisted living facility was opening and she was losing some of her front office staff to the new office. I went ahead and filled out the application she gave me and left it with her.

Today I met her for an interview. We hit it off right away. She told me about the job. There are 180 residents and the front desk is the help desk for residents and reception desk for visitors. She stopped after I told her where I was from and said, "I just have to ask, why did you stop by here Monday?" When I told her she started to tear up and explained, "I have worked here for seven years. It is very difficult to find good staff who care about our residents and who are dependable. When management gave me the list of staff I would be losing I started to pray about how we would find people to replace them. . . then you just walked in!" We both had a good little praise session about how God hears our prayers and provides.

Another blessing. . . I will be working at night and on Saturday, so I get take David to school and pick him up, and take care of Ruby and Sean during the day. As bad as I need to work right now, I didn't want to take a job where I can't see our kids. I can also take another part time temporary job a couple days a week if I need to.

Since I quit working a Citychurch I have learned how true the call of God is on my life. I belong to Him and don't presume to tell Him how to use me. I am thankful to serve in a way I've never served before and hopefully I'll learn something I don't already know!

Thank you all for praying.

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