Some "His Chase" Q & A...

I don't really know how to start this blog. I've deleted four different sentences so far. The fact is this: I'm behind. And, I talk about it too much. But, there are honestly moments where I wonder why in the world God chose us for this job. This last week had some rough spots. Some moments where I believe the enemy was using the spirit of discouragement and confusion and comparison and worry to make me question God's sovereign plan for His Chase and for our family.

And, just as I needed it, Mark said the perfect prayer to set my heart right again. I have the most amazing husband, by the way. He gently reminded me that:

1) God didn't call us because we had it all together. HE's the one capable of all of this. We are clearly NOT. Our job is to follow...and surrender.

2) We have no room to question when we consider how boldly and clearly He called us. This was no mistake. There is no reason to doubt.

3) No matter how much work we have to do in a day...or how many hours we are short on sleep because of His Chase, every bit of it is worth it for these kids. And, none of what we have given up or had to stumble through learning even compares to what these precious ones are lacking in their lives and are needing every day.

4) This is an absolute honor to be joining the work that God is doing, and we are humbled to be doing it. And, being humbled sometimes includes being broken before Him declaring our deficiencies and our absolute ineptness. :)

But, truly, every time we have one of those "enemy attack" kind of days, the Lord so sweetly speaks to us. And, He did that again this week. Not just spoke, but provided. A group of sweet friends sat on our couch and shared our dreams and our burdens and our passions for what God is doing. And, then prayed with us. And, God said "You are not alone in this." God is just so good and faithful, isn't He? I'm so thankful for that.

So, on that happy note, I'll get to the actual point of this blog!

We want to take some time to answer some questions we have received either through email or blogs or conversations, so everyone knows more about what's going on with our ministry, especially in the next few months!

1. How is progress with Chase's Place going? We are so excited to share that, as of last week, the land has been purchased in Ghana for the new Touch a Life village!! So after paperwork is done and final plans are in place, construction will begin soon! We are praying hard for each detail of this work to be done in His perfect timing and provision. It is my DREAM to be traveling to Ghana before the end of the year to dedicate Chase's Place and move some precious children who I love into their brand new village! We have such a deep love for these kids in Ghana and can't wait to be back there again!

2. Is His Chase going to work in Ghana AND Rwanda now? YES!! The mission of His Chase has always been to "join the Lord in His chase for orphans across the world", and it has been our prayer and dream from the very beginning of this ministry to provide for orphans in any country God puts before us. We have always planned to do this by partnering with existing organizations and ministries, to provide for orphans on a project-to-project basis. We are very honored to work with amazing people at Touch a Life Ministries, Global Health Innovations, Mobile Medical Disaster Relief, and The Point Foundation. We dream of the day when His Chase projects exist in many different countries with a variety of focuses and partnerships!

3. Whatever happened with Mark's trip to Rwanda in March? After an amazing ten days in Rwanda, Mark was able to accomplish quite a bit in developing a partnership between his company and a hospital there in Kigali. The details of this are still being worked out, but we are confident that the people of Rwanda will benefit from improved medical care because of companies like Mark's, who are reaching out to those who are in great need, out of their overflow of blessing. We are really excited to see where this leads, and I am so proud of Mark and his work on this project! The last weekend he was there, Mark was also able to visit the Noel Orphanage, where we will be working this summer, to do some prep work for the upcoming trip with our team. I am just so glad he's now been able to experience the beauty of Rwanda as well, before we are there together this summer!

4. When do you leave for Rwanda and who is going on the trip? We leave for Rwanda on July 22, and plan to return to Dallas on August 6th. However, each team will be in Rwanda for only one of those two weeks. In total, we have over 40 people traveling on the first official His Chase trip! This includes people of all ages, all occupations, from many states around the US! And, there will even be children of all ages joining their parents on this trip, including Kendyll and Carlie!

5. How do you feel about taking your kids to Rwanda? Not the least bit worried or hesitant! Rwanda is a very safe place, and I can not WAIT to watch our children experience it in every way. Both the good and beautiful, and the difficult and sad. It's going to be an amazing experience for all of us. And, Kendyll and Carlie are counting down the days! They can't wait to love on these children and have talked about it every day. And, really, I believe they will connect with these little ones in a way we can't. Meanwhile, Abby Kate will be living the Hawaii life with Pops and Grandma. She, too, is counting the days until she leaves for Hawaii! Rough gig, I know.

6. Is this trip tied at all to your adoption? I can totally see why this question has come up, and the answer is NO, although it has everything to do with our heart for adoption and orphan care. We can't be on Rwandan soil without thinking of and longing for our little one. But, we will most likely not be visiting the orphanage where our child will be from. Although our hearts were first joined to Rwanda through adoption, it is obvious that our call to this country was for even more work with the orphans there. Believe me, we would LOVE to be surprised with an approval and referral before we are there in July, and we know all things are possible with God. But, it would pretty much be His unbelievable miracle for that to happen. :)

7. What all will you do at the orphanage this summer? This summer's trip has a few different goals. First, a team of medical practitioners and nurses will be spending a week doing medical assessment and treatment for almost 600 children, as well as establishing medical records and files for each child individually. This is a HUGE undertaking, as you can imagine! Another group of us (who are not medically trained) will be support staff for our medical team, and are also planning to spend a couple of hours each day with the 3-5 year olds, providing some development play time, sensory experiences through crafts, and musical education. We have been told that this age is really needing some special attention, so we plan to do that! In fact, we will be involving all of our children traveling with us in this opportunity, and believe that it is a great way to use their gifts as well!

The second week will be a new team of people, ready to play sports on the new sport court we are having built! Our newest His Chase project is an amazing sporting area for the kids of Noel! And, construction begins THIS WEEK! Be looking for more pictures soon! So, we will play every sport possible, and just hang out in their cool new area. Then, many of us are hoping to spend concentrated time with the older children during this week as well, providing them some new activities, as well as time for art and creative play. We also plan to help make their homes more beautiful and "homey". More to come about that soon.

8. How can I help with your trip? Just as you would imagine, all of the amazing projects we are planning require financial support, as well as supplies to take with us. So, anyone who would like to help in a financial way, can give through www.hischase.org, to the Rwanda Summer 2011 fund.

Or, if you are interested in gathering supplies for us, email us at chelsea@hischase.org. We have many groups of people already involved in collecting donations for us, but even more is needed! We are happy to give you a list of donation possibilities for your family, church, school, or neighborhood to collect for the orphanage.

Some other ways you can help: PRAY for our teams, these trips, and the children we will be serving. Make some homemade encouragement cards for the children. Spread the word. Host a fundraiser. Buy a Rwanda Summer TSHIRT!! (COMING later this week!)

9. What supplies are still needed? We are trying to be very organized about what we collect and how much, so that we use our available packing space well. So, if you want to be a part of donations, please email us first so we can tell you a good amount to aim for! We are still collecting all kinds of items, including first aid supplies, hygiene items, cloth diapers, infant onesies, developmental toys for infants and toddlers, baby mobiles, sensory items, bubbles, books, puzzles, underwear for all ages, art supplies, sports equipment, musical instruments, and the list goes on! Lots of necessities and lots of things to help make their lives happy. :)

10. When we donate to His Chase, how much goes to the orphans? This is a GREAT question. Except for the marginal online processing fees, we are so happy to say that 100% of the money given to His Chase goes directly to orphan care. You can rest assured that when you give a donation, every penny is changing the life of a child in need.

11. What was your final total for your 100th Day of School fundraiser and what did that money go toward? Was it for your own family's travel to Africa? After all was calculated (and the next day's donations were added in from our friends who had missed the 100th Day challenge), our total was $12, 400!! Absolutely unbelievable! You can see the "thank you" video HERE. And, we are even more excited to share that every penny of that money went to finance the amazing sport court that is being constructed at Noel, beginning next week. This project is going to be UNBELIEVABLE, and every one of you who donated to our 100th Day of School, is a part of this life changing addition at this orphanage! So, thank you so much!! (And, no, none of the money donated will go toward our own family's costs!)

12. How DO you fund your own families’ trip? We feel that it is important to communicate with all of our donors about this very openly. We do not fund any portion of our own travel through the His Chase funds. We pray hard, and God provides. Every. single. time. And, He has done that again for us. It's truly the biggest blessing for our family, to watch how He creatively provides what we need. This time it was through a cancelled flight that gave us family-sized amounts of flight credits on the airline we are using. It was through a tax refund we weren't expecting. It was through refunds for some charges we paid last year on medicine. It was through quarters in a jar. It's coming through a family garage sale and a family movie night fundraiser we are planning with our girls. Seriously. I'm not kidding. He provides in the most amazing ways when you just open your hands and ask for Him to make a way.

When it comes to people wanting to GO and love on His little orphaned ones, He shows up...and makes SURE you know that He is able to provide all we need and more. The way we see it, we are very blessed to have stable income and live in a country with great opportunity. As long as we are blessed in that way, we will continue to travel to Africa and take our kids every time it's possible. It's the best way we've ever used money, and it's a more valuable investment than anything else we can imagine.

Okay, I'm sure I've missed a few questions here or there. So, please let me know if you have an additional question that hasn't been answered here! Just leave a comment and I will follow-up soon. I promise. :)

What's Been Going On?

My grandmother lovingly reminded me that I have had quite a lapse in blog updates...so here I am!

Yes, I have big things to cover like important updates on Rwanda this summer (coming soon!) or our amazing trip to Disney World with Mark’s family! That one's coming soon too, but, since I haven’t edited the 600 pictures yet, that won’t be happening tonight.

Here’s a few other mini-updates instead...because those come alot easier at almost midnight.

*I used to think of the Mother's Day/May birthday combination as a bad thing. But, I'm discovering how good it is to have combo holidays, because my sweet girls (and really sweet hubby) spend lots of days in a row treating me to my favorite things. These last couple of weeks, I've had delicious dinners at my favorite places, "mommy-break" time reading, shopping, and an all-day trip to the SPA! I've had my car washed, movie night, dessert baked for me ("Strawberry Slop" as Kendyll named it),

...and the sweetest cards ever. I mean, so sweet that they made this mommy cry. :) What a fun way to be celebrated. I'm so thankful.

One of my favorite moments was on the way to church on my birthday. Abby Kate was SO excited about my birthday, and after we stopped at Starbucks for my favorite treat, she began singing Happy Birthday "like the Ghana kids do". As they all sang "May God bless you now", I just kept picturing my sweet friends in Ghana, and I was so thankful that my four year old even knows "Happy Birthday Ghana-style". Nothing's better than that. :)

Thank you, Mark and girls for making my week of celebration so great. It was so relaxing and so special for me.

*School is, of course, coming to a close for most everyone. Abby Kate just finished preschool for the year on Thursday, and she is really excited about summer. But, she was even more excited about her spring program this week. I've never seen her like this before. She asked me an hour before her program if I was going to bring her flowers. I said "Well, we don't usually take flowers to the school program." To which she said, "But, you always take flowers to Kendyll and Carlie!" Oh my, she melted my heart with that one, because we DO! For ballet and piano, they get flowers for their performances, and AK has never had one of those! So, don't you know, this girl got FLOWERS for her three-year-old five-minute-long singing debut. :)

She did great as a "sun" in the preschool program. And, she was so proud!

Even though we were out of town for the week before, she was ready for the stage. A couple of days before the program, I asked her if she knew the words. She said "Well, I kinda do, but the ones I don't know, I'll just copy my friend next to me." I laughed so hard. Such a third child. :)

One of our favorite things from Sunshine School every year is our girls' ME books. Mrs. Amy did an awesome job creating a book of memories from this year too, and it was so fun to read through it and see how much Abby Kate has grown this year! The best quote from the book:

On the Mother's Day page, "What does your mom always say?" Abby Kate: "Well, she's kind of like, mean." Nice. I'm so proud. What's sad is, lately, she may be right. She's been in trouble a little more than usual, so my mean voice has also been out a little too much. It was a good reminder that those little ears are listening to every word...and every tone. :)

Anyway, she's had a wonderful year of school. Thank you, Mrs. Amy for being THE most amazing teacher and friend to Abby Kate and our family. We have been changed forever by you. You know how much you're loved.

* Even though I'm called mean by my four year old, I am thankful every day for the days I get to spend with my kiddos. They may not all be nice and neat days, full of smiles and happiness, but I'm really liking this homeschooling life I lead. There are also moments that literally take my breath away as I get to watch the lightbulb moment in their learning…or get to listen to their conversations…or get to spend the whole day completely carefree at the Arboretum just because we can. (more about that in a minute).

A couple of updates on the schooling area of life: We have one week of school left! And, we’re actually going to make it through our entire curriculum! (I had really doubted this a few months ago.) Now, one of these days, I’m going to do a follow-up to my original homeschool planning blog back in August. I now laugh {just as I knew I would} at what I THOUGHT our structure and schedule would be. However, I’m so okay with that. We have settled into a daily “thing” that works well for us. I do have quite a list of goals for next year that I want to improve on…but I love knowing that I don’t have to be perfect in this. This is HUGE for me. And, I have loved every minute of learning that…and then relearning that. :)

The other day, the girls asked if they could take a big test at the end of the year to see what they had learned. Ummm…what? Do they not know yet that you aren’t supposed to LIKE tests, much less ASK for them? But, I decided that it would be a good idea, both for me and for them. So, we’re doing it. Our test won’t look like a standardized test {especially since I’ll be the one writing it}, and they may not know every answer. But, I’m looking forward to seeing what “stuck” and what they enjoyed learning most. {Plus, I really want to keep these over the years…what a memory they will be!}

Last week, we had a rough start to the week. Let’s just say the morning after you get back from a Disney vacation is NOT the easiest morning to get back to math and reading. But, we pushed our way through because we really want to be able to end next Friday. There were some ATTITUDES for sure!

So, I literally prayed for God to just lighten our hearts and show me AGAIN that this is all part of it, both the good and bad days. Later that day, they got to listen as I “vented” to Mark about the adoption process and the struggle I was feeling. I’m very down about it right now, but that’s another post too.

Kendyll came in with tears in her eyes, asking if we weren’t going to be able to adopt now. It was such a sweet conversation as I talked to her about true faith….walking forward in total trust knowing God is working it out. But, also knowing that it may not go the way we would like and how important it is to praise Him in the waiting. After she walked away, I felt the nudge…God saying “This is what it’s all about. Not just math or science.” Whew. Good stuff.

The next morning, in Carlie’s prayer journal {side note: They write one person down to pray for each morning. To help Carlie “branch out” from her usual list of two friends and the rest family members, I put a basket of our Christmas cards in her room. She can see pics of families we know and their names are spelled there too. So, she uses these sometimes. But, most of the time she sticks with the familiar: her friends and family.} Okay, back to this one morning.

She came and told me that she decided to write “Home of Hope” that morning…the orphanage we are adopting from. She said “I really wanted to pray hard for them today while they are working on these adoptions so all the children will find the right families.”

Once again, that is what it’s all about. I love the conversation time we have and the life-learning that happens, not because of me, but because of Him.

By Friday, we had really had a good week, and were {kind of} back on schedule. When I saw the weather was going to be beautiful, I looked up the Arboretum to see what was there.

To my great surprise, it was a Peter Rabbit theme!

Abby Kate is truly obsessed with all things Beatrix Potter and of course, Peter Rabbit is her favorite. She knows every word of the book, and she received the entire box set of “little books” as she calls them, for Christmas last year.

So, we spent the entire day outdoors, having a picnic, rolling around in the grass, identifying flowers and birds, sketching, splashing in the fountains,

playing Pioneers and Indians in the Pioneer Village,

...and most importantly, visiting the flower homes of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck, Squirrel Nutkin, and Mrs. Tittlemouse.

Abby Kate brought these four books with her, and I had to read each appropriate book in each house.

It was precious time with my little one. We would crouch down in the corner or sit at the little table inside these houses and I would read the books we’ve read so many times. Her eyes were like saucers as she would look around and find the little objects mentioned in these stories. They truly came to life and it was SO FUN!

Meanwhile, my biggest two were being inspired by two retired women who spend their days in nature, painting. The girls watched their every stroke, and then began sketching similar scenes in their nature notebook. These two women were so kind to my girls, encouraging them to draw or create every day, and to not be hard on themselves, but to enjoy the process of learning. I loved watching Kendyll and Carlie soak in every word, and I thought once again, "This is what it's all about". Not just ME teaching them, but them learning from all kinds of people in all kinds of situations.

It was just a beautiful day, and made us ready for the fun of summer break very soon!!

Well, so much for mini-updates, huh! Guess I had more to say after midnight than I thought. :)