It has been suggested to the mission team that we begin to learn a few words or phrases in Zulu, which is the native tongue of the people we will be working with in South Africa.
I have found lots of written help online, but that is really of no help to me because I don't know how to pronounce what I am reading. lol! Can you see now why I flunked spanish in high school? Ah yes, we fortunately I found some help on youtube.
So here is my first lesson:
Now practice, practice, practice!! :)
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Easter Baking . . .
Easter is coming soon! If you would like to order homemade pies, desserts, breads etc please contact me soon and let me know. I would love to help you provide some homemade goodies for your family this Easter. :)
jeewbee@me.com
or
810-265-4276
jeewbee@me.com
or
810-265-4276
Mom2Mom Sale & Sunday Marathon . . .
It has been a very busy weekend, and here it is Monday morning and I feel like I need it to be Friday today so that I can sleep in tomorrow! That's bad isn't it?! It really was such a wonderful weekend, just very busy! It started off with baking most of the day Friday. I made peach pies, apple pies, and lots of coffee cake, all to be sold on Saturday at our Mom2Mom sale fundraiser event. Saturday's event started at 8am, so we were all up early. John had to work Saturday so it was just the kids and I that went to help at the sale.
We had a baked goods table that Mariah worked at most of the day, and a purse table that I worked at all day. A purse table? Well several months ago we asked the ladies of The Point to donate any gently used purses they didn't want anymore and donate them to our mission trip. So we collected a ton of great purses. Saturday we sold the purses! We probably sold about 10-15 purses for $5 or $10 each, which was fantastic! We still have a ton of purses though, so we will be selling them at a garage sale that we have planned or at a scrap-booking event we have planned. :)
John came and helped with the clean up when he got done at work around 2pm. The kids were troopers and didn't complain too much Saturday, but it was a very long day. I didn't get home until 4:30pm. Then we were up bright and early the next morning, Sunday, for our marathon. The mission team plan for the day was to go to all three gatherings at The Point where we would be introduced to the church and then they would take up an offering for our trip. It was so wonderful attending three gatherings! They are three very different gatherings, and each one was just wonderful in a different way. We normally attend the 9:30am gathering, so yesterday we got to go to the 8:30 am and the 11am also. Our kids were right there with us, and we barely heard a complaint from them. It was a blessing at the 11 am gathering to see some friends from Central Baptist Church visiting, and we got to visit with them and sit with them. Then also at that gathering, Pastor Josh had the church gather around the mission team and pray for us. Wow, what a moment. It was amazing. So we were done with all the gatherings around 12:45pm, but the marathon was not over.
After all the gatherings we had a mission trip meeting, so we all drove over to the church office and quickly ate some subway and then skyped with Dan Smither's (Key of Hope missionary in South Africa). He talked more in detail about what was planned for our trip, and we got to ask him questions. It was really great. Our airline tickets are going to be bought soon, so we will have definite dates for our trip very soon. Airline tickets have gone up quite a bit, so we are now looking at spending about $2,200 on each ticket. Our ticket money is due next Sunday, April 3rd. That would be $4,400 for John and I. I think we are up to $1,400 in our personal fundraising (thank you thank you thank you to all who have donated!!), and we will find out this week where we are at in our group fundraising. We will have to come up with the rest on our own and cut a check this week. So if you were thinking of donating towards our trip . . . this is the week to do it!! All the info is on our donation page, but if you have any questions you can email me also, jeewbee@me.com.
So our marathon Sunday ended at about 3pm when we got back in home, exhausted. It really was such a great weekend though! :)
We had a baked goods table that Mariah worked at most of the day, and a purse table that I worked at all day. A purse table? Well several months ago we asked the ladies of The Point to donate any gently used purses they didn't want anymore and donate them to our mission trip. So we collected a ton of great purses. Saturday we sold the purses! We probably sold about 10-15 purses for $5 or $10 each, which was fantastic! We still have a ton of purses though, so we will be selling them at a garage sale that we have planned or at a scrap-booking event we have planned. :)
John came and helped with the clean up when he got done at work around 2pm. The kids were troopers and didn't complain too much Saturday, but it was a very long day. I didn't get home until 4:30pm. Then we were up bright and early the next morning, Sunday, for our marathon. The mission team plan for the day was to go to all three gatherings at The Point where we would be introduced to the church and then they would take up an offering for our trip. It was so wonderful attending three gatherings! They are three very different gatherings, and each one was just wonderful in a different way. We normally attend the 9:30am gathering, so yesterday we got to go to the 8:30 am and the 11am also. Our kids were right there with us, and we barely heard a complaint from them. It was a blessing at the 11 am gathering to see some friends from Central Baptist Church visiting, and we got to visit with them and sit with them. Then also at that gathering, Pastor Josh had the church gather around the mission team and pray for us. Wow, what a moment. It was amazing. So we were done with all the gatherings around 12:45pm, but the marathon was not over.
After all the gatherings we had a mission trip meeting, so we all drove over to the church office and quickly ate some subway and then skyped with Dan Smither's (Key of Hope missionary in South Africa). He talked more in detail about what was planned for our trip, and we got to ask him questions. It was really great. Our airline tickets are going to be bought soon, so we will have definite dates for our trip very soon. Airline tickets have gone up quite a bit, so we are now looking at spending about $2,200 on each ticket. Our ticket money is due next Sunday, April 3rd. That would be $4,400 for John and I. I think we are up to $1,400 in our personal fundraising (thank you thank you thank you to all who have donated!!), and we will find out this week where we are at in our group fundraising. We will have to come up with the rest on our own and cut a check this week. So if you were thinking of donating towards our trip . . . this is the week to do it!! All the info is on our donation page, but if you have any questions you can email me also, jeewbee@me.com.
So our marathon Sunday ended at about 3pm when we got back in home, exhausted. It really was such a great weekend though! :)
Monday, March 14, 2011
Fundraising . . .
I feel like I have learned so much about the monumental task of fundraising these last several months! Not just in our attempt to raise funds for our mission trip, but also at my kids' school. I am chairing the spring fundraiser at our school and the fundraiser starts today. The financial needs at the school deepen every year with all the budget cuts. This year though, the PTO took a jump into a joyous thing called debt. It was not something discussed at any prior meetings or voted on. Just a mistake that happened and we are paying for now. The school board jumped in and bailed us out, but we are now in debt to them for playground equipment that we bought that we couldn't afford. Oops is right. This all unfolded this winter after the playground equipment was already installed. Nothing to do now but pay off this debt. Well the only income the PTO has is from fundraisers. That means our spring fundraiser has to raise enough money to pay off this debt. That is a HUGE burden for the chairperson (me) to bear. HUGE! I feel the pressure. I see the writing on the wall.
It makes me think about our mission trip though. What would happen if we were $1000 short of the money needed for the trip? Would we finance it? That's a politically correct way of saying, "would we go into debt to make it to Africa?"
I want to tell you that as a person who has recently clawed her way out of personal debt and reached freedom- there is absolutely NO WAY that we are going back into debt, even to get to Africa. I would have to believe that if we didn't have the money in time to go on our mission trip then we would not go on the mission trip. That would be a clear answer from God that we were not supposed to go. We would not go into debt.
On the reverse, though, we are going to continue to work as hard as we can to raise the money that is needed for the trip. It's a lot of money. Especially for a one-income family with three children. However it isn't impossible. Sheesh, in Exodus 35, God told Moses to ask the people to give gold, silver and bronze for the making of the tabernacle. He asked that only those who "were of a willing heart" to bring this offering of gold to the Lord. In just the next chapter we find that the craftsmen tell Moses to make the people stop bringing their offerings because they HAVE TOO MUCH! I get goosebumps every time I read this story.
God will provide if it is His will. He is amazing.
It makes me think about our mission trip though. What would happen if we were $1000 short of the money needed for the trip? Would we finance it? That's a politically correct way of saying, "would we go into debt to make it to Africa?"
I want to tell you that as a person who has recently clawed her way out of personal debt and reached freedom- there is absolutely NO WAY that we are going back into debt, even to get to Africa. I would have to believe that if we didn't have the money in time to go on our mission trip then we would not go on the mission trip. That would be a clear answer from God that we were not supposed to go. We would not go into debt.
On the reverse, though, we are going to continue to work as hard as we can to raise the money that is needed for the trip. It's a lot of money. Especially for a one-income family with three children. However it isn't impossible. Sheesh, in Exodus 35, God told Moses to ask the people to give gold, silver and bronze for the making of the tabernacle. He asked that only those who "were of a willing heart" to bring this offering of gold to the Lord. In just the next chapter we find that the craftsmen tell Moses to make the people stop bringing their offerings because they HAVE TOO MUCH! I get goosebumps every time I read this story.
God will provide if it is His will. He is amazing.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Shots . . .
This week I had the privilege to sit down with a "travel doctor". Well actually she was a nurse, but I don't think it mattered too much. She went over all the potential diseases in South Africa, and some wonderful things like "travel diarrhea". The crazy thing is that the cdc doesn't REQUIRE you to get any vaccinations before traveling to South Africa. Everything is just RECOMMENDED. This means that after this wonderful nurse goes over all the perils of what await you on your trip, you get to make the decision as to what shots you WANT to get! Thankfully I was already up to date on my tetanus shot after our motorcycle accident almost 5 years ago.
However I still ended up getting 3 shots, and one of them was two in one! Ouch! I found out later that I should have gotten the Typhoid shot and didn't pick it. So when I go back in a month to get round 2 of the 2 in 1, I will get that too.
Not only did the shots hurt, but it hurt my nest egg of donation money that I had been saving up. The bill $431 for the visit and shots. Yikes!! A ton of work went into baking my way to that figure and there it was all gone in less than 30 minutes. I was so thankful though to have that money to use! Thank you for buying baked goods from me!! :)
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
March 9th, 2011
I have decided to start a blog to track our progress as we prepare for our mission trip to Durban, South Africa. We are going at the end of July so that means we have a little over four months left before we leave.
I should explain who we is first, just in case you happened upon this blog by accident and don't really know us. My name is Julie. We, is me and my husband, John. We live a comfortable life in Davison, Michigan, with our three children. We attend The Point, in Goodrich, Michigan.
In the summer of last year I got the crazy notion in my head (not so crazy now, as I see it God was just preparing my mind) that John and I should go on a mission trip instead of spending money on a 15 year anniversary vacation. We will be married 15 years in 2012. I also thought that we should go to South Africa, because the year before we had met Rachel and Dan Smithers who are missionaries in Durban, South Africa. I knew how much the orphans they worked with needed help.
Fast forward to the fall of 2010, when we found out that our church was starting to plan a mission emphasis in 2011. This included a few mission trips. Amazingly one of the trips was to Durban, South Africa to work with the Smithers and Key of Hope, their mission organization. John and I jumped right on board from the very first meeting.
There has never been a question of doubt in our minds that this is what we are supposed to be doing, and where we are supposed to be going. Honestly I have no idea what God has in store for us, and I feel somewhat helpless as to knowing how I can actually help these precious children in South Africa. We continue to seek God's guidance, wisdom, and provision for our trip. He has a plan and that is all that matters. So please join us on this journey . . .
I should explain who we is first, just in case you happened upon this blog by accident and don't really know us. My name is Julie. We, is me and my husband, John. We live a comfortable life in Davison, Michigan, with our three children. We attend The Point, in Goodrich, Michigan.
In the summer of last year I got the crazy notion in my head (not so crazy now, as I see it God was just preparing my mind) that John and I should go on a mission trip instead of spending money on a 15 year anniversary vacation. We will be married 15 years in 2012. I also thought that we should go to South Africa, because the year before we had met Rachel and Dan Smithers who are missionaries in Durban, South Africa. I knew how much the orphans they worked with needed help.
Fast forward to the fall of 2010, when we found out that our church was starting to plan a mission emphasis in 2011. This included a few mission trips. Amazingly one of the trips was to Durban, South Africa to work with the Smithers and Key of Hope, their mission organization. John and I jumped right on board from the very first meeting.
There has never been a question of doubt in our minds that this is what we are supposed to be doing, and where we are supposed to be going. Honestly I have no idea what God has in store for us, and I feel somewhat helpless as to knowing how I can actually help these precious children in South Africa. We continue to seek God's guidance, wisdom, and provision for our trip. He has a plan and that is all that matters. So please join us on this journey . . .
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