Remembering

Greetings from chilly, no, cold Florida.  I arrived in Florida a week ago to help to my sister-in-law (Bev) in any way possible get ready for my brother Bob’s memorial.  I had left Don behind with Savanah and a team.  Thank goodness Vero was there to help him with the team and also with Savanah.  He also had 2 former missionaries and their daughter come in the day the team left.  And that was a real blessing for us.  But I sure did miss getting to spend time with them.  Bud offered to help Don with our Toyota.  Don was having problems with the starter and with the frame rusting through.  From this point I don’t know what was all accomplished, but I do know that they were a huge blessing for Don.  The team had been another blessing, too.  They did a lot of work getting the walls up for the addition to Vero’s house and the women helped out at the IDADEE orphanage.  And they were great…and willing to do whatever was needed.

I am now spending the last two days with Bev before heading back to Haiti.  The memorial was awesome in so many ways.  Oh we worried about things before hand, but the Lord had it all in HIS hands and it went great.  Bev had gotten quite a few calls where people were not going to be able to attend.  We thought we’d have maybe 50 or so there.  We had made a lot of food, and some others offered things, also.  Sunday, after church, I had headed back to the house to get some things to the club house here at the SKP park where the lunch was being held.  I walked back into the church when the memorial service was to soon begin and was totally shocked.  The church was packed.  The service was really great and wonderfully done with the help of Bob’s children and grandchildren doing a major part in it.  Then we rushed to finish setting up at the club house.  I was really totally shocked when well over 100 people showed up to honor Bob.  His family had done an awesome job with the fellowship time and meal.  One granddaughter did a video presentation with songs Bob loved in the background.  Others sorted and helped display photos of Bob’s life.  And many memorial items were also on display.  

I think the part that really touched me deeply was when Bob’s grandson, Lance, asked if he could do the prayer before the meal….  He turned on his computer, and it was Bob saying the grace.  Lance had recorded him praying at a family gathering quite a while before.  I immediately started crying when I heard Bob’s voice.  But it was such a touching start to a really great time of remembrances of Bob and what he had done and what he was like.  After the meal they had a time of sharing.  Anyone who wanted to share their memories of Bob were welcome to come forward, use the mike and share.

Bob had worked as an air traffic controller and progressed higher in that job. He also taught and participated in many scuba diving events.  He and Bev (after retirement) became full time RV travelers, and then became permanent residents of the SKP park.  And he was a elder in his church.  He was involved in many organizations all over the country.  The people present were a sample of each of those things he was involved in. 

Here are a few photos of that afternoon.... the first two are of the display boards and just a bit of the memorabilia shared.  

These next two are some of the many people who were present....the second one shows many watching the continuous video being played.  And the one after it, was the screen it was being played on.

 This is Lance who was responsible for a lot of the "technical things".

 

 Here are two of his children, Jeff and Dawn...  I'm the last one on the right.

We were also blessed to see many we hadn’t seen in YEARS, and to meet and greet new friends that had loved and shared times with Bob.  It was so wonderful to hear people share things we hadn’t know about, things for all of the family to treasure.  Although Bob has been in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ for 3 months now, his life and those who’s lives he touched was a wonderful way for those present to rejoice with us in his life.  Bob is missed by so many, but his memory will hold a place in many, many hearts for a LONG time to come.  

We do rejoice that he is with the Lord and not in pain anymore.  He is not only walking on the streets of gold in heaven, he is dancing and praising the Lord he loved to share with others.

Thank you all so much for the last months of prayers and praises for the hard situation Bob and Bev went through.  We know the Lord heard and He answered those prayers the way He felt was best. 

May your life be filled with the Love and Joy the Lord has to offer, even in the hardest of times and the roughest of situations.  He IS there for you, as He was with us through this time.  God’s love and comfort never leave us, even if we don’t see or feel it for a time.   

Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ

I hope as we approach the Christmas holidays that you are celebrating the birth of our Savior.  I guess I am not into the “politically correct” version of this holiday (or Holy Day).  I AM celebrating the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and proud of it.  

I’ve been trying to download some photos I have to share, but can't get those that I took to load.  But I can download the ones our son sent.  He was sharing what we are missing in Wisconsin this time of year.  It's beautiful....but I don't think we miss the cold that much.  The beauty, yes, the cold, nope!  But we are glad Dale has shared some of the gorgeous scenery with us.  He likes to take pictures and we like to see them.   

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Radio 4VEH (where our English church meets).  There were somewhere near or over 50 people.  We never really took a count.  I had a picture to share, but... it didn't download.  We had LOTS of great food and even had some Haitian dishes with it.  A great meal and a great message by one of our missionaries.  

Many, many years ago, one of our pilots wives sent down a children's Fisher Price manger set.  This year, she added more pieces to it.   Originally it was for Abbie.  Now Savanah loves to play with it.  (Along with Abbie).  She lines up all the people in the set, and then the animals behind them.  Then takes one at a time, moves them up to Jesus in the manger and tells them, "That is baby Jesus, see Him?"  Then that one is moved to the back of the line, and the next one is taken up to see Him.  She plays with it for a long time.  And at least once a day goes through the same thing.  She thought she should be able to play with ALL our manger scenes... I told her nope, the one on the shelf I made in 1978 and it's breakable.  So, she has decided the only one she can play with is on her table.  

We have pretty much come to the conclusion that she will not be home in Canada for Christmas.  But we are hoping it won't be too long after that when she will be.  She talks about Mommy, Daddy, Ruby, Lexi and Natalia (who she simply calls her baby), all the time.  We have photos printed out for her that she carries around and shows everyone who comes through the door.

We are doing small Christmas bags for English church again this year.  Lots of little things in it that have Jesus on them.  Bracelets (one really nice one, and one of the plastic ones), necklaces, pencils, tiny tablets of paper, well lots of things, and of course candy... with the story of Jesus included.  Vero helped me finish bagging everything yesterday...we did 48 bags this year.  We also use these as a challenge for those receiving them to share...we try to put 2 of several things, one to keep and one to share and also share the love of Jesus with people.  We had some awesome testimonies last year from it.  

We are praising the Lord for all He is doing and all He has done for us this whole year.  Through each and every struggle, through each and every victory, God has been at the center and has guided and walked with us.  Isn't He an AWESOME GOD?  I often wonder how we got through things before we knew Him.  And looking back...we had a really hard time making it.  And we had no joy, no victory just surviving.  That has changed so dramatically since the Lord came into out lives and we have turned things over to Him.  So, praising HIM is at the top of our daily list of things to do.  And keeping Him close is a daily thing now.  I hope and pray that you are at that place where you can walk and talk with Him as you do with a friend.  If not, know that He is waiting for you to reach out and take His hand and become a close friend and closer family.  

So, I'll close with a very heartfelt  MERRY CHRISTMAS and may He be the center of your celebrations!!

IN Everything Give Thanks

Greetings are late yet again!

So many things going on and at times you wonder if there is a "normal" in your life.  That is where I've been at for a while.  There is so much to do, and I don't seem to be able to accomplish much.  Then I realized why.  I was looking at ALL the things I needed to do.  Then I'd do a bit here, a bit there and never accomplish any of it.  So, as I've done before, I had to stop.  You have all heard the phrase, "Stop, Look, and Listen" (SLL).  Well that is exactly what I needed to do.  STOP what I was doing (or not doing), LOOK up to the Lord, and LISTEN for His voice and His direction.  And in that time, I came to understand so many things.  I decided to start with ONE thing, accomplish that, then move on to the next.  And when looking to the Lord, I was reminded of one of my life verses....I Thess. 5: 16-18.  16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."   Then taking one step at a time, and focusing on ONE thing at a time, I was moving forward.  But I still didn't have that elusive peace of accomplishment, since there was so much to do. And then I realized, "Be joyful always"...I wasn't.  So, I started singing praise songs to the Lord.  (I am the reason He wrote "make a joyful NOISE unto the Lord.") Once I started with the praise songs, I realized I needed to also pray...for any number of things.  And then I started giving thanks, without realizing I was doing this according to the scripture I loved.  Then, ALL OF A SUDDEN I realized I had accomplish a LOT in that time of singing, praising and praying.  God walked me though it.  But I had to come to the realization that I, myself, CANNOT do it alone.  With the Lord with me, I was doing things I hadn't been able to do before.  And then I also realized my second life verse was a part of it all.... Isaiah 40: 31.  "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; the will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  I never, until that moment realized that those two segments of scripture could get me through anything.

Okay, all of that to let you know, God IS working in me, in a mighty way.  While starting to accomplish things, my mind kept going back to things I have learned over the years about God and how He has shown us how to live in victory over all situations.  No, He didn't say He'd take us out of them, but how we can be victorious IN them.  Just as the scripture above says, "IN all things give thanks".  All right then on to the next step.  And here is where you'll all understand where I've been in this.  I have been praying for Savanah's adoption, as so many, many of you have been doing. And yes, I was believing God was going to answer those prayers in His time.  Then I'd sit back and ask God why it wasn't His time yet.  I wasn't truly believing He would answer.  In my mind, His time was way out there somewhere....elusive.  And it dawned on me... I have been taught better than this.  I read the end of the book, I KNOW we win, I KNOW we have the victory.... oops. I didn't have victory.  Yes, I knew we'd win in the end... but victory was another elusive thing.  Ahhh... Psalm 60: 12 was the answer.  "With God we WILL gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies."  And then:
Matthew 19: 26,  "...With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Mark 9: 23, "...everything is possible for him who believes."
Mark 10: 27, "...With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."

I could go on and on with verses, but you get the idea.  We can have the victory over it all, THROUGH the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Okay, I got it...now to put it to work, right?  Believing it and walking it may end up being two different things.  But I was starting to really believe it enough to want the victory.  We'll go to the one item where I was having problems believing we had the victory.... SAVANAH'S ADOPTION.  Well, that tells you I didn't start with little things, I went right to the top of HARD things.  But that is where I started exercising my faith and my belief that we HAVE the VICTORY.  So, I started praying with victory.  I shared with anyone who asked how things were...I'm believing we HAVE the victory in this adoption.  Yup, it's been weeks, but my faith in it kept getting stronger and stronger.  

I got a note from Guerline (adoptive mom)...that she was writing the lawyer.  It was a good letter, not nasty or accusing...simply asking questions.  Then I thought I should also write a letter...but didn't get it done right away.  So, today was the day...I was going to write him to see where things stood.  Brought up email, and there was one from Guerline... it read, "Well praise God. I just realized that the adoption agency wrote to me at 2:27.  Mr. Gassant had contacted them to tell them that IBESR has approved the adoption. He is trying to set a court date for our case....."   WOW... victory in the works. We had been told long ago, once IBESR (social services here) approved the adoption, it would be a short time to completion. Nope we are not there yet... BUT the victory is OURS.  Savanah will be going home to her family in the near future.  

So, now, all of this to ask YOU to pray with us.  Pray in VICTORY with us over the finalization of the adoption.  God has already moved one mountain, He can move more for us!!  At this time, Savanah is 4 years 1½ months old.  We have had her for 4 years and 1 month.  And now we are claiming the victory for her, her new family and for the Lord to get all the glory in it!!!

Till next time, remember the verses above and claim your victory over what comes against you.  Praise God with us that things are moving.  Praise God with us that He is in this and will complete it.  Praise God with us, that THROUGH HIM WE HAVE THE VICTORY in all areas of our lives.        

 

A letter sent...

I just sent out another email.  And I will post it here, but needed to add something first.  I didn't realize it had been so long since I had posted (YET AGAIN), but life has thrown us a few curves these last six months and we are dealing, but sometimes doing it slowly.  So please, have patience with us (ME specifically) as we try to keep you updated on things here.  I will do my best to try and post more frequently.
In Him and through Him,
Karen

Here is the letter sent out....

 I really was surprised when I looked at the calendar.  So much has happened in the last six weeks and I didn't realize it had been that long since I had sent out any type of update.  Not sure just where to start, but I'll simply type as things come to mind.  So please bear with me on all of this, okay?

In the last email I don't know if I had mentioned that I had gone to Florida to be with Bev, Bob and Dawn.  It was a good time, but also a hard time.  To see my active, in charge, never slow down brother Bob laying in a hospital bed, staring at the ceiling was heart wrenching.  But we prayed and put him in the Lord's Hands, and waited....and waited.  After two weeks I came back home to help and relieve Don from taking care of Savanah, so he could return to his ministry.  Then got a message from Bev.  They had decided to honor Bob's health care directive, that had been filled out way prior to the accident.  This decision had been taken out of everyone's hands at the accident when an airway was installed.  So, on October 8th, I flew out to be with Bev and the family when "life support" was removed.  YES, it was a hard decision for everyone...but the Lord was a part of it.  I'm not going into details, but at one point, Bob was lucid enough to let everyone know HIS wishes.  This released the burden so he could go home to be with this Lord. On October 11th, a celebration of life was held in Bob's hospital room with family and friends. (I think 16 people there, plus others on internet).  He seemed aware of everyone.  And we each were able to sit on his bed, hold his hand, and share our happiest memories with him.  It really was a day of rejoicing of a life well lived.  Early on the morning of October 15th (exactly 2 months after his 83rd birthday) my brother walked into the arms of Jesus!  A time of rejoicing for him, and yet sad for us.  We know, without a doubt, that we will see him again in heaven. But he left a vacant spot in the family.  Thankfully it will be filled with a lot of memories. 

I stayed an extra week and a half to help where possible with Bev.  I don't think I did much, but I think I needed to be there, for me.  Bev has never been a sister-in-law....she has always been a SISTER in the true sense of the word.  I was able to walk with her though some of the things needing to be accomplished.  Bev has some great neighbors and her church family is awesome, too. 

I returned on October 27th.  Since I had missed Savanah's 4th birthday on the 16th, we went yesterday, the 31st, and had a party...first swimming at a local hotel, then home for cake, ice cream and presents.  She had four friends with her and everyone had a great time.  Wore Savanah out, totally. 

I will ask you to keep praying for Don.  The pulled muscle in his lower stomach is SO slow healing.  But that may be the fact he keeps doing things that sort of irritate it.  And of course, he won't stop working, either.  I think his frustration with not being able to do some things is hard on him. 

With this "catch-up" about done, I'd better close.  Remember that no matter what we face, no matter what the situation is, no matter how hard things are, the Lord is there for us, if we only turn to Him and hang on to His Hand!!
Blessings beyond measure to all!