HCM needs large hard-sided suitcases!

Here is a need from HCM...
Anybody have any old suitcases in the attic they would love to get rid of??

Greetings Friends!

HealthCare Ministries needs your help. We are severely low on large (26 in.) hard-sided suitcases to pack the medicines and supplies needed for our medical outreaches. We are currently packing for two different trips—one to Ethiopia and another to northern Africa—in the next month and we’re short on these suitcases. If you have any and are willing to donate them, please let us know. We need the larger hard-sided luggage in order pack a large amount in one and to protect all the materials while traveling. If you, or anyone you know, have any suitcases available and would like to donate them, they would be greatly appreciated. They may be shipped to our offices at—

HealthCare Ministries
521 W. Lynn St.
Springfield, MO 65802

If you have any questions, please call us at (417) 866-6311 or email. Thank you and God bless you. HealthCare Ministries

Moving: Part 2 (The Miracle Move)

Why is it that when you set a date for any major life event, all sorts of things happen to try and prevent or prolong that event from happening??? You know, all kinds of crazy things that seem to pick the worst possible timing to happen... Yep. That's what happened with us. But, you know.... God is a big God and He has everything under control... whether we realize it or not.

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[SUNDAY EVENING (2 days before the move)]
I walk in the door late Sunday night from running to the grocery store for Benadryl. (Our youngest child had decided to have unexplained hives that second day of moving and we wanted one more dose in his little body before we went to bed.) I see MM sitting in the middle of the floor looking tired and "weepy". Of course, I assume that being less than 48 hours away from a major moving deadline and having packed for about 18 hours a day the last two days in a row might have had a teeny-tiny influence on his emotions at that moment.

Me - "You O.K.?"
MM - "I'm just overwhelmed."
Me - "We'll get it all done, honey. You just go on to bed and tomorrow we'll keep packing."
MM - "That's not it."
Me - "Huh?"
MM - "I'm just… overwhelmed by all those people who just left our house. They just showed up...."
(Maybe I should just stop here and explain a bit.....)


[REWIND A BIT TO LAST SPRING]:
We finally were to a point where we could actually set a goal of moving in September. I think as soon as we started telling people, “Hey! We’re actually moving!”… life happened! MM’s work exploded, kid’s got sick, MM had another knee surgery, I was taking college courses, we traveled back and forth between states to look at houses, we couldn’t find a house, and we couldn’t find a truck… yada...yada….

Difficult or not, September came anyway and the time was upon us to move. We had both innocently thought our last couple of weeks we would pack like crazy and get it all done. Ha! (Note to self: have all packing done 2 weeks before you want to move... you will NOT have time to actually pack those last 2 weeks!!!) Between goodbye parties, honoring services and friends just wanting to have one last meal or one last Ranger party, one last important meeting, or one last test or .... When could we stop to pack?

Then, of course, MM was working crazy hours out of state and finishing one last project. Throw in the last activities the kids needed to complete and, well.... when could we stop to pack??? The calendar was literally full every night the week before we moved (and MM was working during the day).

The week before the move we had some dear friends from out of town stop by to bless us with dinner. They helped pack up dishes and photo frames while we visited, then we all enjoyed dinner. They looked around and said, "My... you still have a lot of work to do!" (umm... ya' think?)

I was selling furniture and packing non-essentials in between everything else happening. One week later though, it all came down to we had a five bedroom house to pack... in 4 days! Literally. Those nice people at the ABF Trucking Center would be coming to pick up their "relo cubes" and we had better have them ready to go. Besides... we had to physically be at the new address in time to meet up with those relo cubes.

Then came the rain. Oh, not a little rain... the biggest flooding seen in our State since 1919! There was no way under God's creation were we going to be through in time. NO WAY! [Can you say "STRESS"... with a capital "S"????]

It was now Saturday evening and we had company. My mom had come Friday night to see the kids’ last Tae Kwon Do testing. A neighbor came to grill out. A friend's family was there helping make special moving "cradles" for MM's equipment. MM was cleaning out the shed. We had been packing all day between everything else going on. I was in the kitchen cleaning up, making dessert and getting dishes out when my mom walks in and says, "What are you doing?!!!" "You need to be packing!" (ummm.... ya' think?)

At this point we are less than 3 days away and no where near packed. I just looked at her and shrugged my shoulders. What could we do? We were going as fast as we could and so much was happening to slow us down. It was downright depressing. We prayed that night with the kids (and Grandmother) for God to help us get the house packed.

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[FAST FORWARD BACK TO SUNDAY EVENING:]

MM and I sat there on the floor humbled and overwhelmed. One friend had stopped by earlier that day and saw how much we still needed to do. He ran home and came back with part of his family to help us pack the rest of the day. Then another friend stopped by and saw the incredible need and said, "I can stay an hour..." (He left at about 10-12 hours later that night!) And they did this all in down pouring RAIN!

MM - "I'm just overwhelmed at the people who just left our house. They just showed up.... and worked like dogs... and nobody asked them to! I told them I'll never be able to repay them back... They just said, 'Pay it forward and help someone else.'!"
Me - [sitting beside him in the floor now, so tired I could barely move after two 18 hour days of moving boxes] "Yes. I do not know what we would have done without their help."

There were still two more days of packing to go. We got ready for bed and said our prayers and praised God for those people!

[THE AMAZING PARTS]

The AMAZING PART was that the next day.... they showed back up! With their families!!! And then another mother showed up to bring us dinner and helped for a while. Then another family came and brought more dinner and their whole family stayed and helped several hours!!! (In the middle of all of this, we still had people stopping by to say goodbye.) Somewhere around 11 p.m. they all left again! MM and I found ourselves in the floor one more time just in awe and what happened! We were exhausted... overwhelmed.... and just flat out blessed!

So... the REALLY AMAZING PART was that the following day.... they showed back up AGAIN!!!!! One entire family came back... then the mother that had brought food came back with her kids and stayed most of the day so she could list and then drive our donation items to the donation center. Then another mother that had brought food stopped by for an hour and helped after she had worked ALL NIGHT at her regular job.

That last day we were actually packing one last relo cube that the trucking company had brought us that morning while they were hauling off some of the other cubes. The funny part was that while we were finishing that last little bit the ABF driver came in the house and helped me take down a curtain that had been left in the kitchen!!!

I have to say that I am not really quite sure what to call it.... maybe the "spirit of helping".... I just know that I've never quite seen anything like it. People just showed up out of the woodwork and, well... HELPED! All of them had the greatest attitudes (even the truck driver).

We had never even asked anyone to come and help… they just did! At one point I looked around at the 10+ adults in the house and the 15+ kids and thought “What a circus we have!” But, you know, they were awesome. Even the kids helped out.

The last relo cube left and the truck and trailer were packed. We hugged the last of the packers goodbye and just sat in a big empty house amazed. We slept in sleeping bags that last night (on the floor again) and I just wondered if this was what Mary, the mother of Jesus, felt like when she just “pondered all these things in her heart?”

[FAST FORWARD a couple more days]
We have been on the road for a couple of days driving to our new home. MM gets a phone call from that couple that had visited us the week before our move. He tells them about our incredible move and the people who just came out of the woodwork to help us. Our friend says to MM, “Good. My wife has been specifically praying since we left your house that God would send people to help you pack and move! And He did!”
(ummm…. Ya’ think!)



[FAST FORWARD even a few more days]
One of the men who helped us move called MM up to see how we were doing. They chatted a while, then our friend shared his take on the move. He said he was out driving home and just felt compelled to come by and see us one more time before we moved. Then he came by and saw the need…….


I have to tell you that MM and I were exhausted and weary from everything else we had going on in life. We certainly weren’t in the best of character during our move. [I think I only had about 3-4 “woman fits” during the whole process.] Packing up an entire home with four children is an emotional feat in and of itself. We certainly didn’t feel like incredibly spiritual people. But, there again, we have an incredibly spiritual God whose got everything under control.

We are so grateful for our special “packers” who just followed that tugging of their heart and came to help us move. If we missed telling any one of you how wonderful it was to watch you work and how blessed we felt… I’m telling you now! Hugs and blessings to each of you. You’ll be getting some “extra jewels in your crown” someday for all your labor.

Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. ……
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Crisis in the Phillipines

Because some of you have asked about this... thought I'd share a bit.

We actually know of several missionaries in the Phillipines and other countries that have been so devastated by the tyhpoons and subsequent flooding. Just thought I'd share from a recent letter we received so those of you who want to can pray a little more specifically.

Crisis in the Philippines

As you have no doubt seen in the news, the Philippines has once again been struck by a strong hurricane. According to one report, the water has run as high as 20 feet in some subdivisions in Metro Manila. Many drowned. The following is an excerpt from an email sent by the Rev. Bill Snider, the AGWM area director for the region, who lives in Manila and was on the scene when it happened:

“Going through the neighborhoods in Metro Manila and seeing so much and seeing so many who have lost everything, the feeling that overwhelms you is how great the need and how small the resource that we bring. But that’s in the natural.

I’m convinced that many people are touched deeply by acts of kindness and compassion in these days. I preach this and believe it that small acts can have a big impact. But those small actions must be coupled with prayer. Can we pray together for our churches in these affected areas for the pastors and leaders and the congregations that they will be a shining light and that our assistance to whatever measure we are
able. Being there shows partnership or fellowship in times of suffering.

In the Philippines right now, we have not only a small Convoy of Hope team, but a fairly large Health care team from the US . . . . Let’s pray for all of these efforts.”

And and update posted from the HCMers FB earlier today....

Healthcare MinistriesPhilippines update :: our team saw over 350 patients yesterday and will move to a different site today. The pastor they will work with today was stranded on top of her roof for 13 hours before being rescued. Please keep this effort in your prayers as they continue to do relief work.

And a newly updated website...
click here

Moving: Part 1

I am constantly amazed at God. I suppose I shouldn't be; after all, He is well... God. But I guess it is because He is this big omnipresent, all-powerful, God that I am truly amazed when He shows up in the little stuff in ours lives. It's this constant reminder that He really does know and care about us that astounds me. That is how I feel about this big life move we just made. Astounded and amazed at all the little "God connections" involved. So, I decided I just had to share a few of them with anyone interested....
[Part 2: "The Miracle Move" coming in a few days]

Part 1 (a/k/a "Desperate for a Truck")

[THE NEED]
Five or six months before we actually started moving, we started preparing for the big move. (OK... those of you who helped pack, don't laugh! I know you probably thought we only started 4 days before we left... but we really did start preparing.) One of the things we had decided on was downsizing a bit. (Again, packers... don't laugh.) Part of that downsizing was selling Missionary Man's current "dream truck" (which only seated 5) and purchasing an economical truck that seated six. We had planned to sell his truck and the small commuter car we had to pay for the truck. No biggie, right? Wrong.

Mix in this crazy, weird economy we have going on right now and the fact that the value of a used truck went up like crazy this past summer. We sold our first truck easy enough (to one very happy teenager who reminded me a lot of MM's personality... what fun). The problem was that we had set a price and a couple of "must haves" on the truck we wanted to purchase. (like seating 6)

Fast forward 5 + months later and one week before the move. (Which also happened to be the day of our anniversary.) We had still NOT found a truck in our price range. MM had been driving that little Toyota and I was starting to freak out because we were moving in a week and needed to pull a trailer.... with NO truck. MM had even been looking at some of those new trucks with the zero percent financing.

[THE TEST]
I had been selling furniture items from the house and trying to clean out stuff when MM comes home and I, well... er... had a little "woman fit" about getting a truck. [I know... there are those of you much more spiritual than I and you never have these.... but PTL we live under grace and God sent me a DH that handles these quite well. 'Nuff said.] Anyways, we sat down and had a heart to heart talk about what we really needed in a truck and that we did not need to incur any debt. Then I left to go buy more trash bags (shopping therapy and quietly praying in the store) and MM had his own little conversation with God.

I came home and MM said, "Well, I prayed and told God what our needs were. We need a truck with...[lot's o' details]... and in town... today.... because we just don't have the time to go and look for one right now.... And I just picked up the phone and called the in town dealerships and there just happens to be ONE on this lot in town... and it's [this price]....and I'd like to go look at it." So off drives MM with our eldest child to this dealership and I'm thinking in my mind..."What's wrong with this truck?" (OH, me of little faith.)

MM had taken our eldest child with him to look at the truck so he could show him what to look at when you are purchasing a vehicle. [A little economic homeschooling in action.] A nice young salesman watched as MM talked through the whole examination process with our son. [We later learned that he thought MM would start "bad mouthing" the truck in order to get a better deal.] Then MM called me up and had me look up prices and values on line. I gave him the info on the truck and the car as a potential trade in. Then I told him something that I had felt for a while, but wasn't sure that we could do.... we should give the car away instead of trading it in.

That man of mine, didn't bat an eye... just turned around and told the salesman lot's of nice things about me and that we weren't going to trade the car in, but give it away through the church. The older, manager salesman had walked in and was hearing all this and looking very oddly at MM. Then MM just asked the manager what his best cash price was.... and after about two sentences back and forth... had a price that made it so we had a truck paid for with cash and were able to give the car away! The young salesman was just astounded... he told MM he didn't know what just happened! [We do... it's a God thing.]


[THE WITNESS]
There is actually a bit more to this story... it is so much more than about a truck.

We had to go back the next day to finish up the paperwork and pick up the truck. When we went back these people came out to meet me! They wanted to meet MM's "bride" and his family. Apparently, in this secular, non-family-oriented world we live in... you don't see a man bring in his son to train him. Or hear a man be honest and straight forward when making a deal. Or see a family give away a vehicle. Or hear a man talk so positively about his wife and family (he was in a big hurry to get home for our anniversary date).

Apparently, MM had made such an impression on this young salesman that he went home and set a wedding date with his long term fiance'. He told us he "wanted what we had after fourteen years of marriage" and that "we had changed his life". The lady that did the paperwork in the office pronounced to all within hearing shot, "I've been married 30+ years... and my husband doesn't call me his bride!" The older manager had actually given MM a couple of hundred more dollars off the price of the truck so MM could take me on a "good anniversary date".

We felt so incredibly humbled. No, we are not so good.... but our God is. We just needed to be ready... Ready to wait for the right time... Ready to give a vehicle away (which was kinda' fun... actually!)... ready to just be patient for the Lord to finish the good work he had going on in those people's lives... as well as ours.

So, for our Anniversary this year, we got a long-awaited-very-blessed truck... within our price range (better actually) and with all the "must haves" that we needed (including seating 6!)... and a great story to go with it!

Blessings...


James 1:17-18 (New International Version)

17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Matthew 6:8
.....for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

I'll be back in a few days with Part 2!