Off the Wall
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I bet your glad you were sitting down when you saw I had blogged. I know, my blogs are becoming fewer and farther between. What can I say, when life doesn’t have much to write. I don’t want to bore my readers. This past week has been emotionally straining for more ways then one but I knew I wanted to blog about it before it was faded memory in my mind. So where do I start, well what about 29 years ago. One day a lady stopped y my Mothers house. She said her name was Marie, she lived in the Gables boarding home next to our house. A quick friendship formed between Marie and our family. Marie was 60 years old at the time, no family and a ward of the state. What little details she shared with us of her life before we met her was riddled with sadness of abuse, neglect, abandonment and being shuffled from place to place because no one really wanted Marie. But once Marie came into our family she found a place were she was wanted. Marie loved babies and I was a newborn when she came. Marie would tell me countless stories of me being a baby, her taking care of me and me being difficult. One such story was me in my highchair thinking it was funny to throw my bowl on the floor repeatedly for Marie to pick up, laughing each time I did it. Oh how Marie would laugh every time she told me this story. I could tell you some funny stories about Marie but it would not be very honoring to her so I will keep it to myself. Through the years Marie lived at the Gables and we would visit her often, my mother took her shopping, to church and what ever else Marie wanted or needed to do. Marie loved Animals, she had her own private room at the Gables. She bought many a hamsters or bird. When ever one of them died we thought Marie would die right along with them she took it so hard. She loved to pray would pray faithful her prayers each night for the ones she loved. Marie grew up Catholic but in the last 10 years of her life she grew to love Pastor Wayne the Cornerstone church family that she informed us, “ Want to become a protestant.” Marie also loved to sew Embroidered pillow cases, They were so beautiful. She would sew them and sell them to the Staff at the homes were she lived. Marie made friends easily. One such friend was a lady named Sandy. She lived at the Gables also. I should write a whole other blog on her but she too became a friend of our family and our church.
Then one day Marie was not at the Gables and the sad reality of being a ward of the state with no one to care for her became reality. Someone came to the Gables and tricked Marie into moving into her Nursing home. I can just see the owner of this home who just needed to fill beds saying to Marie. “Marie would like to come home and live with me!” Oh if Marie had only known that she would be leaving the Gables her home for 20 years to live in a home were there was 6 ladies per room, No privacy and people who didn’t care for Marie. She lost her life long collection of stuffed Animals, nick knacks, possessions and everything else she held dear. When my mother finally found Marie 45 minutes away in a home in Winthrop she vowed to be a voice for Marie so this would not happen again. My mother and father took legal action to become Maries guardians so anyone who wanted to do anything to Marie would have to get their approval first. It took a long time but my mother finally got Marie moved to another Nursing home in Sidney. My mother would faithfully pick Marie up for Church each Sunday, feed her lunch then take her to Wal-Mart and out for Ice Cream or Dunkin Doughnuts. You couldn’t skip any of these since they were the highlight of the week for Marie. Then Marie health started to fail, she got an infection in her foot and again she had to move from her home in Sidney to a nursing home in Skowhegan. My mother didn’t want Marie to live 45 minutes away again but they were the only ones who had a bed open . At first we were sure if this was the right place for Marie but as time went on Marie had won the hearts of the staff and she seemed to like her new home. I liked to call Marie the Energizer Bunny. She would fail in health and be on the brink of Death and bounce right back as if nothing had happen. On Monday my mother got the call and the DR said Marie would pass away in 24 to 48 hours. We all rushed to her bedside. Marie was very tired and weak. We tried to wake her up by talking to her and touching her but she was unresponsive. Wayne & Linda came a while later and we were all standing around her. Wayne was at the foot of the bed when all of the sudden without prompting, her eyes popped open and she looked right at Wayne and with a little cheery voice and big grin said "Hi"! She stayed awake for awhile and sang hymns with us and Wayne read her some scripture and prayed with her. She told us she loved Jesus! We praise God for giving us this special time with Marie. We thought her passing would be at any moment. Well again Marie is a fighter and night turned into day after day. My mother stayed by her side the entire time. Then on Friday afternoon I had just arrived and my mother and I were just catching up and my mother looked over and saw Marie was awake. “Melissa go over and talk with her.” She said. When I went close I could see Marie was not breathing. “I think she’s gone mom.” I said and then Marie breathed one last breath and her struggles on earth were over. So many of the staff came in and paid their last respects to Marie. They loved her so much. Throughout the week when Maries was dying they would come in a sit with her, talk with her and take loving care of her. She wasn’t just another patients to them. One lady nick named her Giggles. She did love to laugh. One of the nurses said to my mother and I “ I am so glad Marie had you guys.” Both my mother and I said in unison, “No we’re glad we had Marie.”
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Merry Christmas from the 6 Wall’s. So much has happened over the past year we want to share a little of our lives with you. In last year’s letter I (Melissa.) just had gallbladder surgery in hopes it would be the miracle cure for my chronic stomach issues and while I was recovering we were preparing to move to Guatemala for 6 months. We flew out to Guatemala on Dec 24th all 12 checked bags in tow along with a carry on for each of us. We had an overnight in NY City and much to our surprise the airline made us take all our luggage to our hotel. How do 2 adults and 4 small children carry 18 bags plus push a stroller with only 2 hands each? Dan is the miracle man and somehow managed to bring and fit all our bags in our little hotel room and back to the airport the following morning. We spent 6 months in Guatemala working with Fuego Christian college. Dan and I loved being involved with our 9 students lives, discipling them, doing ministry and falling in love with Guatemala and the great people of that country. Dan spent lots of time golfing this summer, he even bought himself a new set of clubs. He goes when ever he gets the chance. He also has started teaching Foundations of the Faith Bible study at our home. Daniel Wall Construction is into it’s 10th year of business and we are thankful God has always provided for our family. I keep busy with lots of different things. I retired from Pampered chef last year but have come out of retirement for some special occasions. I am home schooling the kids which I love. I got the kids involved with 4-H this year and they are loving it. While in Guatemala I wrote a blog mainly for my Dad because he asked me too, I had no idea how many people would faithfully read my blog. I had readers from all over the world including some of our student’s parents. I have never liked writing and English has always been a weak point for me yet some how people enjoyed the blog even with all the typo’s! When I think of writing things they always sound so good in my head and then when I go to put it on paper I get writers brain cramp and I can’t convey the wonderful thoughts I had in my head. God really stretched me with blogging. I personally would much rather talk out my thoughts then place them in writing. |
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I know I said I would blog here about once a month this past week we did a few special things and I wanted to jot them down before they are gone from my Memory. It is Sunday and we got an extra hour of sleep last night. Of course I was wide awake at 6:00am and it is now 8:30 and I am ready for church so I have a few extra minutes to blog. A rare occasion for me. The kids asked me 3 weeks ago. “Mom we want to have a costume party.” We don’t celebrate Halloween, they have never even dressed up in costumes before but I figured it would be fun for them to use their creative brains and come up with Costumes. I told them they had to make their costumes from things we had on hand and that they were in charge of organizing it. I would help them with games and so forth but I wanted them to take action on their ideas. The first date I gave them for the party came and went without them inviting a single sole. I figured they had forgotten about it but this past week they reminded me again and I looked at our schedule and the only day that would work for us to have a party was actually Halloween day. I figured it was no harm to have the party that day and told the kids to invite their cousins. You know if the Burbanks come over here then we have a party in itself. They kids only asked them the night before but that is all they needed and before you knew it our house and the Burbanks were in whirlwind of preparing costumes. I started thinking I should call around some of our friends and see if they wanted to come as well, most everyone were busy on such a short notice but the Chamberlains worked out their schedule and came. I was amazed at the creativity of all the kids we had a wide range of visitors, Pirates, Indians, thieves, fairies, princesses, cowboys and more. I took pictures and some day may post them to facebook but don’t hold your breath. I played 4 different games with the kids and they all were just so excited through the entire time. Loralei and Rita helped with the snacks and it was just a fun time by all who were there. I think we will make it a yearly tradition except maybe next year we will have it on a different day. I am not a fan of Halloween but the day itself does not scare me either. If you knew the story of Anton Lavae(Sp?), he wrote the Satanic bible and started the Satanic church. It is a long story but in short a pastor who taught at my DTS in November 1997 had discipled a daughter of Anton’s out the satanic church and Anton kept telling this pastor on Halloween he would get him for this but when the Eve of Halloween 1997 came Anton died of a major heart attack. “Greater is He that is in you then he that is in the World.” Amen. |
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Well enough has happened lately in our lives that make me feel like it is time to blog a little bit to let you all know what is going on. When I started this blog it was every other day, then 2 times a week down to once a week and now I am doing once a month and you know, that seems good to me. I don’t want to get you all excited thinking that I have a novel to write with heart stopping adventure but I do have a few highlights to write about. Dan went on a 9 day moose hunt up in northern Maine. He just went along for the fun since he couldn’t shoot a moose himself, The night before he was to return home his hunting party got the moose. I guess it was pretty exciting but for me I guess I just had to be there. I don’t mind eating moose, deer or whatever else they kill but hunting, well let’s say I would rather go on a game drive in South Africa where I say, “It’s like hunting for which animal you will see but the best part is you don’t shot them!” So with Dan gone for 9 days I was left home alone with the kids. We did tons of special things while he was gone. We did school each day but had lots of company and visit to places, watch way to many movies and ate breakfast for supper a few times. I know that sounds odd but for me, who has such stomach issues I can’t eat breakfast foods so it had been months since I had pancakes and it was a real special treat for me. We did make your own, Banana, Chocolate Peanut butter chip, Rocky road, Coconut Chocolate, Mocha and of all my favorites it was Blueberry. Dan’s Birthday was Oct 21st. While we were gone on the moose hunt I bought 2 tickets to a patriot’s game on Monday Oct 20th. It was a Birthday? 10 year anniversary gift. We have been talking for months on what to do for our 10 year anniversary and we came really close to going to Cancun but just didn’t want to leave the kids that long. So since we both love the Patriots this was a win win for both of us. Dan has been to their games before but this was a first for me. I must say I loved the game but found it hard to stay focused on plays without reply and the announcers. I am getting ahead of myself. My aunt Lisa watched the kids for us allowing Dan and I to make it a little short get away. We decided to get a hotel but when I couldn’t find one available for under $200 I started to use Priceline and we got spoiled with a luxurious hotel 30 minutes from the stadium. Our room was ground level right on the water where we could walk out our door to beautiful gardens and the water right there. We stopped and checked into the hotel on our way to the Stadium since we knew we wouldn’t be back till 2 or 3 in the morning. The Patriots Stadium has changed tons since Dan was last there, they have built shops all around called Patriots Place, Dan and I enjoyed walking around and seeing all the things around the stadium, we chose not to tailgate since I have such stomach issues food is not my friend that eating before and after the game just isn’t something I can do, so we chose to have the Red Robin instead. It is my favorite Burger restaurant. I am in love with their “Let Us Wrap your Burger,” Yup; you guessed it a burger wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun. Perfection for me. I love meat and salad and this is the perfect combo. We got done our supper just in time to go into the stadium for the game. They have lines for Guys and Lines for Girls so I chose to take the bag and my ticket in one line and Dan went in another. Well Dan sailed through and I was stopped, “I am sorry mam, you may not bring that bag in with you it is too big.” What was I supposed to do, Dan was through with the keys to the car and I was there with this bag full of stuff, blankets souvenirs from the Pro Shop and more, so I took all the items out threw the bag in the garbage and carried all our items through in my arms or stuffed in my pockets. Dan waited for like 15 minutes while I managed all this not knowing what the holdup was. But I did finally make it through. Well if you follow football you will know the game was a blow out, the Patriots played really well and not until the last few minutes of the game did the other team even score. Our original seats were up really high so when people started leaving early we moved down to 5 rows right behind the patriot’s team bench. Not bad. I am just happy they won. When the game was over we had to wait 90 minutes in the parking lot to even move but we did finally find our way back to our hotel just after 2am. Thankfully we didn’t have to rush home so we slept in and had a leisure morning before we checked out. Dan kept telling me how much he loved going to game and getting away with me. You know in all our 10 years of marriage we have never gone away just the 2 of us without kids of family with us. I keep telling him I would be willing to go more often if he was. Dan and I have started a discipleship bible study here at our house. I am praying more people join but we are happy with our 3 friends so far. We had a first study last week and our next is in a few days. We are going through the Foundations of the Faith. Well hopefully I haven’t put you all to sleep yet with this mini novel. I love hearing from you. Maybe my readers have stopped even reading this blog since they are so few and far between. Until next time. |
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This one is for Aunt Glenna since I know you love dolls. Faith has been anxiously waiting for her new doll to arrive. Each day we would make guess if UPS would deliver. When 2 weeks passed and nothing showed up I told faith I would call them and see if we could track the shipment. Well when I called them they said the order was on backorder and that they had to cancel the order because the doll was no longer available. Why they didn’t bother to let us know and left faith waiting for her doll to arrive any day is beyond me. To make a long story short, 2 personal phone calls later from American girl herself. They are rushing shipping her a different doll with free shipping, and giving a hair brush ($7.) and the outfit from the original doll she wanted. So Lord willing it will arrive tomorrow. I was able to give Faith back the $10 she had to pay for shipping. I so wish I could post pic’s on this blog for you Aunt Glenna so you could all see photos of the things I write about like Faith with her new doll but alas I am not a computer person and every time I try and put a picture on this blog it says don’t have the space. Plus with dial up you might as well forget it. |
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Where do I start? Really I haven’t written in so long you just are thinking I would have loads to write about but really I don’t want to put you all to sleep with the day in and day out of our lives but I will touch on a few highlights for those of you who check this blog daily. Dan has just finished building Jeremy’s (my brother in-law) Dad’s house. We sold him a small parcel of land and he built a small house. Just a one bedroom one bath combined kitchen living room but it is just perfect for a single man in his 50’s who doesn’t need much. The entire house took 6 weeks start to finish. Dan is still hopeful that our beloved patriots will continue to win this season even with the devastating loss of Tom Brady during the beginning our first season game. Dan also goes golfing each spare moment he can. Dan and I have agreed to teach a Spur group again with the focus on discipleship for new believers starting next month. We also have agreed to be leader for Kids4Truth, it is like Awana and our church is doing this every Wednesday. For myself, I started schooling the kids again and so far so good. We are still in the “This is new and exciting stage.” Emma just wants her own desk so I will have to get her one. I signed up for a Culinary Boot camp. It was a 3 week cooking class a lady in our church did. Loralei, Crysten and Erika were in the class as well and we all loved the class. I love to cook but can always learn more and I learned tons of things I didn’t know. I would highly recommend you take the class if you live here in Maine. You will not be disappointed. The only downfall for me and the class was my stomach. I have good days and bad days but the class has lots of food and my tummy just can’t take it as much as I wish it would. I am really at the end of my option when it comes to my stomach issues. With my last visit to the DR she said that she really didn’t know what else to try on me since I am touch cookie to crack. (She is the DR that diagnosed my mother with Lyme’s, after lots of other Dr’s couldn’t find the problem.) I am at the point where God is my only answer. Not that He hasn’t been there all along but from the beginning of this entire ordeal when I was sick with Hepititas I prayed, “Lord I don’t know what is wrong with me but I know you do. You formed my inward parts. Please heal me.” This is still my prayer today. I have been watching some DVD’s on healing. Although I don’t agree with everything this Man says on healing. One thing that has strengthened my faith is pulling out all the scriptures that talk about healing and how God can and does heal. I watch the DVD’s on the computer and take notes, use the PC study bible all at the same time. Lots of food for thought. The cooking class also inspired me to get more organized with my recipes. So I am working on putting some of my recipes into my recipe binder, making sections for Dessert, Main dishes and so forth. I just don’t enjoy organizing very much but once it is done I like it. Of course that second law of Thermodynamics kicks in, where everything goes from order to chaos. So the other struggle for me will be to keep them organized. When colder weather hits I start to get crafty. Now at times I feel as though I don’t have a craft bone in my body but I do knit, love to paint ceramics and quilt by hand. So I am getting ready to knit 2 more Christmas stockings one for Dan and one for me. Now if anyone has some good suggestion on a design I could place on them I am open to them. Right now the kid’s designs are Christmas tree, Candy Cane, Presents and a Snow Man. My favorite is the Christmas tree but I am looking for something new. So if you haven’t fallen asleep yet I have a little more to write. Next is Faith. She turned 9 August 31st and we celebrated at camp with all her cousins. We had our own Olympics, where all the kids signed up and competed in events throughout the day. We had opening and closing ceremonies. It was really fun for the kids and adults. Faith has been saving for months for an American Girl Doll. I personally didn’t care she paid $90 for a doll but I wanted Faith to learn how to want something, work for her money and save until she got it. Normally Faith will want something and 2 days later I never hear from her again about it. When the catalog arrived in June Faith would spend hours a day pour over it telling me everything she wanted. I kept telling her to save her money so she did. She came up with the idea to sell rocks, have a lawn sale and more and by the time her birthday was done she had just enough money for the doll. When we called we found out shipping was $11 so it took a few more weeks but we have finally order her the doll of her choice. She wanted a “Just like you doll.” But the funny part is she insisted on buying the doll with Blond hair and Brown eyes. She has Blue eyes but since it was her money I let her buy the one she wanted. For $90 she better be happy with it. Eli is enjoying a week with a dog. My aunt left her dog Katie with us for the week while she is away. He wants a dog and this is a great lesson on how much work they really are. The first morning we woke up to trash torn across our garage. I woke Eli up and said, “Eli having a dog is a lot of work, and Katie has made a mess you need to clean it up.” He never batted an eye lash, and when I went to inspect his work he had done an excellent job and cleaning it all up. He is doing really well with this job and I am happy Kathy gave us this opportunity to have a dog for a week. Eli also has really taken off with his reading. All it took was one week of Kid4Truth and Eli wanted to learn his sections. He thrills in reading his bible verses and learning them word for word. I am thrilled that he is catching on. For months I tried telling him he could read but somehow Eli thought he could only read his reading books. We were walking into Wal-Mart this past week and Eli looks up and says, “We sell for less.” “I read that Mom!” Way to go Eli! Alicia is Alicia. She still has unending energy. She loves her school. I bought something different this year for Kindergarten and I really like it. It is from Rod and Staff. She came to me the other day all worried, “Mom I have no clothes for when I get big and then I will have to go naked.” Where she came up with this I am not sure but I assured her I would make sure she would have clothes as she grows. Emma is as cute as ever. She has finally caught onto potty training and having accidents are rare and not the norm. Praise Jesus. There were days I would want to pull my hair out since she would love to poop her pants then take them off and I will leave the rest of the details to your imagination. |
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Happy Birthday Faith, Today she is 9 years old. I remember when Dan and I found out we were expecting our first baby. Dan did not want me BUY a pregnancy test and said “You will know eventually.” So I asked him to go with me to a place that gave out free test. When we did the test together immediately it gave a positive sign of my being pregnant. Dan started reading the box saying, “ That was too fast it says it take 1-5 minutes.” He wouldn’t believe it but I assured him it was true we were expecting our first baby. There is something about the first that is so special. Everything is new. I never got sick but Faith was the only baby that I was always hungry with. For the first 4 months I would eat all the time and still feel starving. I gained the weight to prove it.
When I had my first midwife appointment at 4.5 months, (We were living in Oregon and then moved to Maine so I didn’t go right away to the Dr.) my Midwife weighed me, “Wow Melissa you have Gained 20 lbs, I can see you gaining 20 more.” “20 More!” I gulped. 40 lbs scared me and I figured I would never see my pre-pregnancy clothes again. But God was good and for some reason I never gained another pound. My pregnancy went fairly smooth until Faith decided not to go head down and stayed breech. I did everything naturally I could, you should of seen me, I would go swimming everyday hold my belly flipping and driving in the water trying to get her to move into the right position, I put a flashlight on my belly hoping she would go towards the light, I tried placing a bag of frozen veggies in my belly hoping she would move away from the cold and the list goes on but week after week Faith wouldn’t budge. 2 weeks before my due date I went to see a special Dr who performed an external version that forcibly makes babies turn into the head down position. When the Dr was working on Faith trying to get her to turn she said “I don’t think the baby is going to turn.” I spoke “Oh God, No!” and just like that Faith flipped head down. Praise the Lord. At the time of Faith’s birth Dan and I were building our house and living with my parents. Everyone was sure I was going to have a boy so Dan and I had chosen Seth Robert for a boy name and Faith for the girls name. Since we were so sue she was a boy we hadn’t picked a middle name.
I awoke August 30th 1999 and knew the baby would be coming soon, even though I didn’t realize it was labor at first it took me till 11pm that night to know this was the real deal. We called the Midwife and she came right over. We filled the pool with warm water and it felt so good to be in the water. Dan was holding me in the water as I was pushing, the midwife said to me, “Don’t worry Melissa if you pee as your pushing since pee is sterile.” “I already have.” I gasped. Dan’s hands flew out of that water so fast.
At 2:30 in the morning on August 31st 1999 Faith was born, As I pulled her out of the water up to my chest everyone was saying “He is so cute and so forth.” I finally felt down to see if it was a boy or not and I was so shocked as I said, “It’s a girl.” Although surprised we wouldn’t trade her for the world. After a few days of thought Dan came up with the middle name Summer since Faith was born at the end of summer. So there is the story of the birth of Faith Summer Wall. |
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Wow, time does fly and I haven’t blogged about our personal lives in some time so here is a brief recap of our life from the past few weeks. We have been working on separating our houses, When we built our house to save money we shared a driveway, well and septic with the Burbank’s. Although it saved us money then for the long term it wasn’t wise so we decided we would place a new septic, well and driveway to our house to separate the 2 houses. Freeing either of our families to sell if God calls us too. (No plans on either side presently but you never know what god will call any of us too.) When they came to drill the well we prayed with the kids that God would allow them to find a good source of water no far down. Our shared well and another well on our property were about 200 feet down and neither gave out a lot of water. God proved himself faithful to answer our prayers when they hit a huge vain of water 90 feet down giving us 30 gallons a minute. He drilled just a few more feet after that for sediment purposes but we are very happy with the well so far. We haven’t hooked it up yet or had the water tested but we will.
Dan has been working on building Jeremy’s dad a house right on our property, well we sold him some property so it is now his. It is great having Dan working right at home. I love it. Last week the kids and I went to farm days. A highlight each year. It is a free Agriculture show that is hosted at dairy farm each year. The kids love going and see all the animals having a wagon ride and getting $1 horse rides.
Faith has it in her mind she wants an American girl doll. She has been saving her money and trying to earn extra. She asked me if she could do a lawn sale to earn money. I worked with her, (I did most f the work.) and pulled together boxes of stuff I wanted get rid of. I spent $18 to place the add in the paper and we came away with $40 so not really a great return for our labors but oh well. I didn’t have a lot of stuff and most of the stuff I did have wasn’t worth anything. I am always weeding out and don’t like to let STUFF pile up so I didn‘t have much. We did sell most of our stuff. Our great coffee maker that I love, broke. I called Mr coffee and they no longer made that model. So I wanted to get a good name coffee maker so I bought a Krups. When I took the coffee maker out of the box it was cracked. I called the company and they said they would replace it, well it took them 4 weeks to get me my new one and that one came and doesn’t work right either. They again are going to send us a new one but I will say, “I will never buy another Krups again.” I did retire from Pampered Chef but when Erika said she was getting married I waned to do something special for her. I offered to give her a pampered bride party and she excepted. So I came out of retirement for her. Crysten got a whole bunch of orders from Curves as well and so by the time I was done, I had sold over $1100 worth products and Erika got $100’s in free products. I was so happy for her. I love doing the shows, it is my favorite part. Seeing people get all this stuff for free, oh I just love a bargain. Well I could write more but time does not allow. I need to make lunch and then it is off to grocery shop. I haven’t been in 2 weeks and the list is long.
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Below is the story on how Dan and I met. I typed it out since i couldn't find it on our other computer. I hope you all enjoy even though for me I would much rather sit down over a cup of coffee and tell you in person. It was very had for me to type this out. I just don't feel gifted in writing. In 1997, I was in Antigua Guatemala during short term mission. I didn’t speak Spanish at all and did not have many English speaking people around me. I am a person who loves to talk and it was during this time I was talking with God a lot and He was speaking to me. One night I felt God speaking to me about my future husband. God gave me 7 things I was not to compromise that the Man He wanted me to marry would have. The 7 things where 1. He would be a spiritual leader 2. He would be like minded 3. He would have the same conviction about not dating. 4. He would treat his family well. 5. He would trust god for his family size. 6. He had to like me for who I was and not what I looked like 7. He had to be missions minded. I wasn’t sure why God had given me these things, I was not looking to get married, in fact, marriage was far from my plans but I took note of what God had spoken to me and committed to the Lord to wait for the man who fit these qualifications. 1 month after my return from Guatemala I left for Hawaii to join Youth with a Mission for a Discipleship training School. I had no idea what had God had in store for me over the course of the school but I knew He had called me and I wanted to do His will. A few days after arriving in Hawaii I met one of the DTS staff named Dan Wall. We had a pleasant chat about him being a Mennonite and we became friends. We didn’t get to know each other very well until Dan volunteered to be a male chaperon on our all girls camping trip. During the trip Dan and I started talking more about our beliefs our lives and it was amazing how likeminded we were. One night around the camp fire Dan shared his testimony and my respect for him grew deeper. Dan and I spent many hours discussing the bible, God and how we should live our lives. The more I got to know him the more I realized he fit the qualifications God had given to me about my future husband perfectly. I really liked Dan but I was really struggling with my emotions. I would try and pray away the feelings I was having for Dan, blaming the devil for distracting me and so forth. This was a whole new thing for me since Boys had never issue for me. I had never had a boy friend, not did I want one. I found easier being just friends. As the school was getting ready to go on outreach I knew my friendship with Dan was going to change. I was called to Fiji and Dan was called to the Philippines. I was not looking forward to saying goodbye. Dan had taught me so much about the bible. I was 18 and he was 25 and sometimes I thought he saw me juts as a girl he was discipling. A few weeks before we left I was really struggling thinking about Dan being the perfect man to marry. I was getting articles from my mother labeled, “Can God find a husband for our Daughters.” People would come up to me each day and say something like, “Wow, I could really see you and Dan married.” Or “Do you like Dan!” What was I supposed to say? I was so confused at times I just wanted to go on outreach to clear my thoughts and head. One night I couldn’t sleep so I started praying. I prayed “God I do not know who my future husband is but I pray whoever he is you keep him awake tonight.” After that I drifted off to a peaceful sleep. The next morning I saw Dan playing the guitar so I went over and asked, “How are you doing?” “Awful, I couldn’t sleep at all last night!” Was Dan’s reply. “How come?” I asked. “I have a lot of my mind.” Dan answered. I was speechless, I just walked away wondering, “Was that really you God? I left for Fiji and Dan went to the Philippines for 3 months. I knew at the end of our time there we would both return to Hawaii for our DTS School Graduation. My time in Fiji was going wonderful. God was working in me and through me as I ministered in Fiji. One week before I returned to Hawaii. I started struggling knowing I would see Dan again and was having difficulty sleeping. I was praying and the Lord spoke to me to tell my mother about Dan. Up to this point I didn’t talk to anyone about my inward struggle of liking Dan especially my mother. “No God I can’t tell my mother.” I pleaded Telling my mother I had a crush on some guy she had never met was something I just wouldn’t do, but that voice kept telling me, “You need to tell your mother about Dan.” After a few days of struggle I thought I would out smart God, “God I will tell my mother if you give me a sign!” In my mind I thought he would have to strike me with lightening for me to ever tell her. Once I gave that promise to the Lord I had peace and I was once again sleeping soundly. I returned to Hawaii a few days before Dan’s team from the Philippines arrived. I had a stack of mail I was going through when I got to a Valentine’s Day card from my Mother. She had written a personal note on the bottom that read, “I am praying God reveals a special valentine to you soon.” As I read those words, God spoke to me saying, “Melissa this is your sign.” Although I wasn’t thrilled on telling my mother about Dan since there really was nothing to tell I called her and told her everything there was. “Mom, I don’t want to tell you this but I feel God wants me too and I am not sure why. There is a Man here named Dan Wall and we are really good friends. I really feel like I could marry him. As far as I know he just see’s me as a girl he has been discipling.” My mother listened and was silent. There was no lecture on how girls can let their emotions get away from themselves, she said nothing but just promised to pray for me. Dan arrived back in Hawaii a few days before I flew home to Maine. Dan shared with me how he almost stayed in the Philippine long term but didn’t have a peace so he was back in Hawaii seeking the Lord. He was praying on either going back to the Philippines or going home to Canada. When I said goodbye to Dan at the airport to fly home, I was filled with so much peace, I felt God had showed me that Dan was the man I was going to marry even though I never had any sign from Dan. I just knew I needed to trust God. It didn’t matter if I had to wait 10 years, God had showed me and I would just wait for his timing. I felt like Elizabeth Elliot waiting for Jim Elliot. My only doubt I was having was why God had me tell my mother. A few nights after I returned home the phone rang late. It was Dan telling me he had decided to go home. I asked him why and he said strange things were happening. I tried making small talk but Dan was very quiet I started to try and wrap the phone call up and again Dan said “strange things are happening.” So I asked him “What strange things can you tell me?” Dan went on to tell me how he had been talking with a friend from Canada about returning to the Philippines or coming home and his friend encouraged him to make sure God wasn’t giving him another option. Then Dan was talking with a girl in Hawaii about his returning to the Philippines and she said, “Dan I don’t think God wants you to return to the Philippines till you are married.” Then Dan was talking to another good friend who bluntly told Dan, “Dan, God does not want you to return to the Philippines you are supposed to marry Melissa.” (Mind you I was getting people on a daily basis asking me if I liked Dan or how they could see Dan and I married and so forth yet this was the first time anyone spoke to Dan about anything .) As Dan was speaking I felt I was dreaming. Could he really be telling me this, When Dan finished I went on to tell him about all the things God had been doing in my life and when I finished Dan said, “Melissa, you know that I said once I knew the girl I was going to marry I was just going to ask!” Well the rest is History. As I write Dan and I have just celebrated our 10 year anniversary and have 4 children so far. I just encourage you single woman to trust God, He has your best in mind. Melissa Wall Clinton Maine. Melissa is Married to Dan Wall and God has blessed them with 4 children so far, Faith, 9 Eli, 7 Alicia, 5 And Emma 2.
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I was searching for the testimony of how Dan and i met and came across this and thought I would post it here. I am still searching for the written story on how Dan and I met and when I find it I will post that as well. Hope you enjoy. Melissa Death, The thought of your own death send chills up your spine and fear to your heart. “I’m not ready to die.” You mind screams. What if you saw death looking you in the face, would you be ready, would you have peace or would fear grip your totally body? Take a minute and just think about your own death,……………………What if it was today? Let me share a story about my own life and thinking I was dying yet God delivering me and the peace I experienced. First let me give you a quick back ground on my life. I was born in Feb. 1979, to a very strong Christian Family. In May of 1997, at the age of 18 I was getting ready for my first missions trip to Guatemala. The whole trip seemed to just fall into my lap and I had to do nothing hard to prepare for it. My mother had agreed to go along as the only Adult leader and she had taken care of all the little details, raising money, writing support letters, Even making sure I did the mentor program before I left to help me prepare for going. I was getting very excited about my trip. On my last night of work before I left I was driven home by one of my co-workers Lary Jordan. As I stepped out of the car he said, “ I will be praying for your trip.” “Please do,” I expressed. “This whole trip has been easy so far I just know the devil will want to do something to keep us from doing God’s work.” The thought of the devil wanting to ruin the trip haunted me. I was waiting for something bad to happen. We went to Boston and spent the night in a hotel the night before we flew out. The hotel gave a free shuttle to the airport. We all loaded onto the shuttle and loaded off as we got to our terminal. We hadn’t been there 5 minutes and my mother realized she had left her suitcase in the shuttle. “This is it!” I thought, “This is the thing the devil was going to do to try and ruin our trip!” After a phone call to the hotel the shuttle returned with my mothers bag safe and sound. Everything went smoothly, we checked into our flight, got our seats and headed to Miami Florida. The flight was about 3 hours long, When we started nearing Miami the Pilot came on and said we would have to delay landing because of major Thunderstorms over Miami. We were held up for a few hours this way when finally the Pilot came on and said that we were cleared to descend for landing. As we slowly descending all the sudden the plan was thrown down, to the left then to the right, People were being thrown from their seats like rag dolls, As the plane was descending rapidly, we all knew we were headed for a crash. I heard screams of people calling out to God or anything they could think of save their life. Fear gripped everyone on the plane including the normally calm flight attendant’s. As I felt the plane toss back and forth like a feather I can not express, the peace I felt. I remember thinking, “Wow, I am going to die!” Yet I wasn’t begging God to save my life, I was thinking, “I am going to meet Jesus.” I was filled with so much peace that is was beyond anything I had ever felt. I held my friends hand as we both recited,
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever. NKJV
As I said Verse 4 I was experiencing no fear, and comfort that only can come from God.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me The people on the plane who thought they were dying had no peace, no comfort, because they did not know the truth about life. Jesus is the truth and
Suddenly the plane stopped nose diving and we leveled out. The Flight attendant came on the intercom with total fear screaming for everyone to remain calm and in their seats. Finally the pilot came on and said that we had hit a very bad batch of turbulence. Moments later we landing safely and smoothly at the Miami Airport. I looked out the window and saw emergency crews swarming the runways. I thought, “Oh no, was there an accident.” Not even thinking it was for our plane. We had many people in the plane who had broken bones, including one woman who broke her neck, whiplash and many other injury’s. Thankfully no one I was flying with was hurt. Almost all the injury’s came from people not obeying the seatbelt sign. As we got off the plane we rushed to reach our next flight. Once on there I was able to process what we had just gone through. Rumor came to us that our flight had not been through turbulence but that we had gotten caught up in a tornado. (Picture of the Tornado in Miami May 12 1997.)
You may be reading and wondering what does this story about me have to do with you. Let me ask you a question. Do you have peace with God? “Sure I do!” So you say, but do you really? Do you know what life is really all about, do you look forward to your own death believing there is a heavenly home awaiting those who follow Jesus. The Bible says that all who believe Jesus will have ever lasting life
You say sure I believe in God but the bible says you have to have Faith in God’s son Jesus to save you form your sin. You can never be good enough to reach God or Heaven.
You might be thinking this all sounds to easy. But the bible simply puts it this way in,
You can know Jesus in a personal way, you can experience peace and comfort all you have to do is believed and you can be saved from your sin. Sin separates us from God but because Jesus died on the cross for your sin you can be bridge the gap through Faith in Jesus Christ. Accept this great free gift today. Pray to God and ask Him to help you know him more, read your bible, The bible is God’s word and through it he speaks to us and shows all we know need to know. I look at the bible like a big puzzle, it has all the answer in it you I have to read to find what I am looking for. 2 Tim 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this short story about my life. My faith in Jesus Christ means more to then life it self. I pray you believe the same.
Psalms 23.anyone who believes in Him shall not parish but have every lasting life. (John 3:16). John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast Acts 16:31 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. |
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Wow, where does the time go. It has been weeks since I last wrote. I will just give a few highlights. Dan’s Parents left this morning after visiting for almost 2 weeks. We were sad to see them leave since we love having them but we are thankful for the time we did have with them. The first week Dan’s sister Sharon and her husband Jesse visited as well. We thought it would be fun to go to Conway NH for a few nights and show them the white mountain area. Unfortunately the weather was rainy while we were there so the only thing we got to enjoy was the outlet shopping. If you heard about the tornados in NH 2 weeks ago that was right when we were visiting. The tornado hit about 90 minutes from where we were staying. We rented a condo which was very nice and were looking forward to playing Tennis and swimming but the weather just didn’t allow. While my mother in-law and myself cleaned the condo our last morning there Dan took the kids for a quick dip in the pool. On our ride home from NH we went to Poland Maine for a church softball game Dan had said he would play in. It was our church’s first game together and it was only supposed to be for fun but our team lost so badly they stopped keeping score. While Dan’s family were here we did different day trips and special events like a trip to the coast, mini golf, bowling, the lake and lots of going out to eat. Dan’s dad helped Alicia learn how to ride her bike which has made her feel all grown up. I know this is short but honestly since coming home from Guatemala it just doesn’t seem like I have anything exciting to write about. Like I have said before I am not a gifted writer and would much rather talk to you all in person. So for now, Audios! |
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About 10 minutes after I posted my last blog, Emma came to me smiling saying "Mommy, Faith's glasses." She had found them right where she had put them. She placed them inside a bag. we are just thankful they are found. Now if she oculd find it in herself to completely potty train. We are still struggling. |
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I know! I know! I have written in so long and to my faithful readers “Lociento.” (A little Spanish homework for you.) My reason for not writing is basically I don’t have anything exciting to write about. Life here is settled down since coming home and I and enjoying being able to cook again and practice hospitality. My in-laws called this week to say they decided to come visit in July for 2 weeks. They will come with Dan’s sister Sharon and Husband Jesse. That is always good news for us since we love it when they come visit. Not sure what we will do when they come but I have lots of ideas and we will just have to see. We always do fun tourist things that we don’t normally do. In 11 days Dan and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We want to do something but are not sure what to celebrate. I have looked into lots of different things, trips, cruises, Red Sox game, Patriots game, A condo in New England and lots more. The one that was the cheapest for what you can get is a trip to Cancun Mexico. I had a free ticket and the week at the condo was $150 so all we needed to do was buy a ticket for Dan. What stops us? Well leaving the kids for a week. We never have done anything like. Dan has been working and has a few deck jobs coming up that he hopes to do and finish before his parents come. He continues to go golfing each chance he gets. He is breaking in his new golf clubs. The kids still spend every spare minute they can with the Burbank’s and never seem to tire of playing with their cousins. Emma is talking more and more and is so cute. She wasn’t so cute the other day when she took Faith glasses and we have turned the house upside down and can not find them. If we don’t find them in the next few days we will have to go buy her a new pair. Alicia came to me the other day all concerned, “Mom I have no clothes when I get bigger and I will have to go to the store naked?” Where she came up with that is beyond me. Well I know this is short for such a long absence in writing but really I only like to write if I have something exciting to write about. Adios. |
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Wow, days fly by and I realize I haven’t blogged in forever. We got home at 2:30 am last night after 4 days in New York with my sister Jen. We didn’t plan on getting home so late but we were picking our friend Luis up from the airport in Boston and his flight was 3 hours delayed. Thus making our wait for him that much longer. Thankfully we were visiting my Grandmother in RI so we waited their till Luis was in the air and then went to Boston in time to pick him up. We had a great time in New York and our time went by quickly. The weather was cold and rainy the entire time we were there but that didn’t stop the kids from playing Baseball, Kick the can and a bunch of other things together. We left early Tuesday morning, hit LL Bean at 6am. Great time to shop there since no one was around. We made great time to New York and by 1pm we were there. I am not sure why it is but driving makes you sleepy so by 2pm I asked Ed to make us all Cappuccinos to revive us. I watched Ed make them and from then on I as hooked and made 2 a day for who ever wanted to join me. They are addicting. I had brought a pound of As Green As It Gets coffee as a gift and that Coffee Made Fabulous Cappuccinos. Now of course I think I want a cappuccino maker but I have told myself I don’t want more stuff I have too much all ready. Tuesday night Dan and the boys went to baseball while Jen and I watched a movie and the girls played. Wednesday was the big Birthday party and they had plans to take the boys to play golf but it was so cold and rainy they opted to wait till Thursday. IN the afternoon we went to Mr Shakes for free Mini Golf and ice cream but the rains came and the games were ended premature. Since it was so cold only the kids got Ice Cream. It was still fun and we took some great Pictures with our new camera. I love the new camera it is small and easy to use but they only problem is that it is Small and it has fallen on the floor 3 times already and if I am not careful it would work any more. Wednesday night some went to Schylar’s last baseball game and I opted to stay home since it was cold and wet out. Thursday the boys did go golfing in the morning and the rain held off for them to finish 9 holes. They seemed to have a good time. Thursday night we all went to Ethan’s baseball game which was fun. After Breakfast Friday we left. We visited my Grandmother on the way home and she is in failing health. Please pray for her as she is discourage in this as well. Since Luis flight was late we decided to go out for supper in Rhode Island and then go to Boston. I knew my Dad was coming to RI for a wedding so I called to see if he was close to RI and wouldn’t you know it he was 5 minutes away so we met him and went out for supper together. Well now we are home and unpacking and so forth awaits me. |
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Wow, Where does the time go. I keep hearing, “Melissa you really lax on your blog!” Well I warned you I wouldn’t be posting as much since knew I wouldn’t have time and with the slow dial up it is more of a hassle to post anything since it takes 10 ties longer. I am told to wait till September and the phone company and they might have something to offer so we will see. Life hasn’t settled down yet since coming home but Poco a Poco we are getting things done off the list. Since I continued to have stomach issues even after my surgery I have been working on some additional testing and yesterday I went and had a scope done to see if I had an ulcer. Well they told me I couldn’t have the procedure done if I didn’t bring a driver to drive me hoe since they put you under sedation and are not fit to drive. So not only did I need to find a babysitter I needed to find someone to drive me there and back. So after a few phone calls and so forth I had a friend drive me in and my mother meet me at the hospital to drive me back. Dan was working 2 blocks away and had just finished so he came as well. I really liked the Dr he was new from England but has been in practice for years. When he mentioned that in England 60% of his patients went without sedation for the procedure but that no one in America would even consider this option I volunteered to be his first one. The idea of losing my whole day to drugs and a whole bunch of other things I figured I could do it. The nurses were all shocked I would try this without any drugs. I really didn’t see what the big deal was and they all thought once he started I would change my mind so the put the IV in and got me all prepped just in case I needed the sedation. Well once I got over the gag reflex of the scope going down my throat I was fine and can not understand why people would subject themselves to sedation and lose the rest of their day till the drugs wore off. Since I was in my right mind I could watch the scope in my belly on the TV, Very interesting. I would do it without again in a heart beat and I told all the nurses and Dr’s they should encourage more people to try it. So after all that I didn’t even need my mother or Dan to drive me since I was in my right mind with plenty of energy and my only regret was that I left my grocery shopping list at home because I would of gone and done it on my way home. Now I have to make a special trip today. As for the test results. Well I don’t have an ulcer but I do have irritation in my stomach and he thinks going on a anti heartburn drug will help me. Of course he thought I would be thrilled with the idea of some drug giving me relief of my symptoms but he doesn’t know me. I then asked hi about having to take this long term, “Well yes you might have too.” That doesn’t sound too good to me. Who wants to live on that for the rest of your life. There is no Guarantee this will really help anyways. He did say I could try it for 3 months an sometimes your body heals enough that you can go off it and have relief from the symptoms. Not sure what I will do but for now I will wait and talk with my Naturopathic Dr and see what she says. She also tested me for food Allergies so that is another option. We have noticed about Emma since coming home is she has started talking so much more. We really think having the too Languages spoken to her confused her somewhat and being home has helped her take off speaking full sentences and so forth. Tuesday we are off to New York to see my Sister Jennifer’s family and celebrate Eli’s birthday. He will be 7. On the way home we hope to visit Grandma and then pick up Luis Carlos from the airport. |
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Wow, Where does the time go. I keep hearing, “Melissa you really lax on your blog!” Well I warned you I wouldn’t be posting as much since knew I wouldn’t have time and with the slow dial up it is more of a hassle to post anything since it takes 10 ties longer. I am told to wait till September and the phone company and they might have something to offer so we will see. Life hasn’t settled down yet since coming home but Poco a Poco we are getting things done off the list. Since I continued to have stomach issues even after my surgery I have been working on some additional testing and yesterday I went and had a scope done to see if I had an ulcer. Well they told me I couldn’t have the procedure done if I didn’t bring a driver to drive me hoe since they put you under sedation and are not fit to drive. So not only did I need to find a babysitter I needed to find someone to drive me there and back. So after a few phone calls and so forth I had a friend drive me in and my mother meet me at the hospital to drive me back. Dan was working 2 blocks away and had just finished so he came as well. I really liked the Dr he was new from England but has been in practice for years. When he mentioned that in England 60% of his patients went without sedation for the procedure but that no one in America would even consider this option I volunteered to be his first one. The idea of losing my whole day to drugs and a whole bunch of other things I figured I could do it. The nurses were all shocked I would try this without any drugs. I really didn’t see what the big deal was and they all thought once he started I would change my mind so the put the IV in and got me all prepped just in case I needed the sedation. Well once I got over the gag reflex of the scope going down my throat I was fine and can not understand why people would subject themselves to sedation and lose the rest of their day till the drugs wore off. Since I was in my right mind I could watch the scope in my belly on the TV, Very interesting. I would do it without again in a heart beat and I told all the nurses and Dr’s they should encourage more people to try it. So after all that I didn’t even need my mother or Dan to drive me since I was in my right mind with plenty of energy and my only regret was that I left my grocery shopping list at home because I would of gone and done it on my way home. Now I have to make a special trip today. As for the test results. Well I don’t have an ulcer but I do have irritation in my stomach and he thinks going on a anti heartburn drug will help me. Of course he thought I would be thrilled with the idea of some drug giving me relief of my symptoms but he doesn’t know me. I then asked hi about having to take this long term, “Well yes you might have too.” That doesn’t sound too good to me. Who wants to live on that for the rest of your life. There is no Guarantee this will really help anyways. He did say I could try it for 3 months an sometimes your body heals enough that you can go off it and have relief from the symptoms. Not sure what I will do but for now I will wait and talk with my Naturopathic Dr and see what she says. She also tested me for food Allergies so that is another option. We have noticed about Emma since coming home is she has started talking so much more. We really think having the too Languages spoken to her confused her somewhat and being home has helped her take off speaking full sentences and so forth. Tuesday we are off to New York to see my Sister Jennifer’s family and celebrate Eli’s birthday. He will be 7. On the way home we hope to visit Grandma and then pick up Luis Carlos from the airport. |
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When Dan pulled our car into the garage Friday night he said "And just like I really just wanted to write and say we are home safe and sound and tahnk the Lord for all He has done for us. Our church bought us groceries, our tenent left our house spotless and our family has made us feel so welcomed home. Thank you all for everything. |
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It is early Friday Morning and we leave today to go back to Maine. So far I have hard the hardest time saying goodbye to Eby, Carmen and the Foote’s. It is hard for me to even place in words how I feel. In short, I feel so blessed by God for allowing us to come here to Guatemala for 5 months. There have been ups and down but through it all God has been faithful. I am anxious to go home but at the same time I hate to leave this place I love not knowing when will be back. Goodbyes, packing, closing out the program and so forth are so hard for me. Yet this is the life of Faith, we don’t know what tomorrow holds but we do know God has out best in mind and we must obey and trust Him. I am just thankful God allowed us this time here. Please continue to pray for us as go home and readjust to life back in Maine. Also pray God give us guidance and peace to where ever He calls us, weather it be living in Maine or coming back to Guatemala long term or another option we don’t even know about. Oh what a reunion it will be for us tonight seeing our family and being home. We are can hardly wait to see the Fab Fam. Pray for a safe journey. On a side note. We have a very slow dial up internet at home. So my writing will be even more, few and far between but we will use this to keep you posted to what God is doing in our lives. |
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Do you ever have a day when if doesn't go as planned but you can tell God has a btter plan? I wanted to write about my day Saturday before the details start to slip my mind. I will not post it right away since I would like to share with Dan some of these things first but I will have it written and ready when I feel the Lord’s timing. Dan left for the lake very early and I was left home alone on the campus for the entire day. I had told Eby earlier in the week that I would come to see her Saturday and she promised to be there. When I was getting ready to leave the house I prayed. “God I would really like a ride to town so I don’t have to take the bus with the 4 kids.” I just knew God would bring me something. We walked out our door and there was Carmen’s husband, daughter and Granddaughter getting ready to leave for town an they offered to take us. Another answer to prayer we can add to our prayer list. When we got to the market Eby was not there. I tried calling and no answer. I thought maybe she was running really late so I walked to another part of town and came back. While I was walking. I started to think, “ God I should give my stroller away to someone.” 15 seconds later I walked by a store where inside people were looking at buying a stroller like mine for 1000Q. Yikes. I said, “I have a stroller that you can have if you come and get it.” I also told I felt God had just told me to give my stroller away. Jessica took me up on my offer and I got the sense from her she was no a believer. She is here trying to adopt a baby but the whole adoption process in Guatemala is a mess. That whole story is for another blog. When I got back to the Market Eby still was not there. I was very disappointed since I had plans to take her out for lunch and spend the day with her but she wasn’t there and I got no answer on her phone or Juan’s. So the kids and I sat and discussed what we should do and it was decided to eat at Burger King and have Ice Cream after at McDonald’s. When we finished eating and playing on the play ground I walked out of McDonalds fully intending to go catch the bus but there was a tuk tuk right there and although I never take them since they cost 3 times as much I just flagged him down and hopped in. The whole time thinking I was being lazy and should of done the bus. Then the driver went some really odd back way to my house making me scared for a few moments but I got home safely. I wasn’t home more then 5 minutes when I got a knock at the door. It was Luis Carlos, his wife and twin daughters. They had come to visit for 2 reason. I have been trying to help them find a house to rent here in San Pedro and his wife wanted to look at the one house that Luis and I had seen a few weeks early. It is the home Danny and Daphne Foote are renting. I called them to see if they were home for us to come take a quick peak. They were just about the leave so we hurried over. Luis and his wife loved the house and have decided to rent it in July when the Foote’s leave. Also while Luis was there he gave Danny his business card. On the card it said in Spanish that he was a legal English to Spanish translator. Danny didn’t think much of it but that afternoon he was told from a friend that he would need a legal English to Spanish translator to apply for their long term visas. Danny knew right away that Luis was the Man for that job. The other reasons for them coming to visit was to invite Dan and I to come work with Luis in his ministry here in Guatemala. Luis works with Mission Impact After Luis left Jessica came to pick the stroller up. I made sure to tell her God has told me to give her my stroller and that I prayed it would be a blessing to her. Come to find out she is from the same town as Jeff Sprecher the director of Missions Impact. They plan on having her over for dinner next week and I am praying God will use them to speak the truth of Gods word to her as well. Come to find out Eby did come to the market Saturday at 12:30pm. I left at 12:15 but for reasons only God knows He had me go home so I could be there for Luis and family, the Foote’s and Jessica. I would of missed all those great things if my day had gone according to plan. www.missionimpact.com and his ministry is called Nueva Generacion. He works in the public schools teaching values from a biblical perspective. Anyways, to make a long story short, Dan and I are not sure this is a fit for us in ministry but we are open to what ever God calls us to do so we said we would pray about it. |
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Please re-read my "Peace From God Entry again. Some how part of the blog didn't get posted so I readded it again. Melissa |
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