Christmas Eve Morning
The smell of blueberries and coffee drifted through the house early this morning. Christmas Eve Morning, our first official celebration together as a house. We enjoyed blueberry strata, sausage, bacon, a fruit salad and coffee. 7 ladies plus David and Makai sat around the dining room table discussing our holiday plans. Later, the ladies opened up some presents which were donated from East Main Vision Clinic. This was truly an amazing morning spent with remarkable women. We are feeling so blessed this Christmas season!
Seattle Outreach
Dave working at the food bank
We left for Seattle at the early hour of 6:50 AM last Sunday morning to go on our first local outreach. My parents had agreed to watch the kids for the week and arrived the night before. Rising at the early hour of 5 AM we double checked our luggage and prepared for a long day ahead. We were excited to be in a city close to our hearts and to our new home in Puyallup at New Beginnings. That first evening in Seattle we experienced our initial interactions with the homeless population and served them hot cocoa. On Monday morning we woke up early to head downtown. Our purpose was to meet and talk with those who were homeless. We came across a young man named Daniel who explained that he would crash on people’s couches or in their cars when he was able but that he had no roof of his own to sleep under. He was unsure about life and God but allowed us to pray with him. We were able to spend about an hour sharing God’s love with him. As it neared 10:45 AM we headed for Northwest Harvest, a local food bank, to hand out food to people in need. It was amazing to see all the people come through the line and to be a part of such an instrumental ministry in Seattle. On Tuesday we cleaned and painted the church that was hosting us for the week. We were blessed by an area church and were able to sleep on their floor, use their showers, and the kitchen for the whole week. On Wednesday we arrived to the Union Gospel Mission by 6:45 AM to help serve breakfast. After arriving they asked if we would be able to sing while the people ate. Heather, David (one of our leaders) and Amanda (another student) sang worship music as folks made their way through the breakfast line and ate. Along with a couple of the other students I was assigned to serve the grits and other accompanying breakfast items. It was an amazing experience and we all had time to talk with and listen to the stories of the people’s pain, hardships and sometimes bad decisions. After leaving there we went back to Northwest Harvest to serve again. Thursday we finished up the projects began on Tuesday at the church we were staying at. We ended a little early so we could go and serve at The Bread of Life Mission. This is a Christ centered mission that provides food, beds and showers for those homeless who remain clean and sober. We arrived in time to eat dinner with the staff and to our pleasant surprise we were served steak, mashed potatoes and eggnog, my first of the year! After eating we spent some time cleaning the kitchen. Lastly, we had the privilege of serving steak to all the homeless people that came in that night. There was even enough food for them to have a second helping. It was a great thing to be a part of. The people were so happy to receive steak and their smiles warmed our souls. On Friday we left the familiar city; one we had visited often to shop and drink coffee, with a new perspective. Not only is the Emerald city one of the coolest places to shop, it was now on my map as one that needs people to go and serve the homeless population. To me, Seattle has now become a richer place than I previously viewed it as. It is rich with my new friends who sleep under the stars.
-Dave
After School Program
A part of our discipleship training school consists of an afterschool program which is held at a local church every Wednesday. The children in Port Townsend have half days every Wednesday and some of them come to us from 1:30-3:00 PM for care. This has been one of the highlights of our time here. It has been such a privilege to serve these children and their families.
Our theme is Back to the Future which highlights those from the past who stand out because of a particular quality (i.e. George Washington for the quality “selfless”). We even have a home-made time machine that the kids crawl into; it has lights and sound which the kids LOVE!! We also serve them snack, complete a craft, sing a song, read a story/skit, and play a game, all that are centered around the week’s theme. We have the amazing opportunity to give love to 25 children every week! While we always come home exhausted we know that the kids are having fun and the parents are being blessed with free afterschool care. God has asked us to be the body of Christ and this is an awesome way for us to reach our local community and be His hands and feet. We continue to appreciate this unique occasion and time in our lives and look forward to serving the community of Puyallup when we begin at New Beginnings full time.
Our reach broadens as we see more doors open up!
The newest addition to our ministry - across the street from our current ministry house.
“Another application? What will we do with all these pregnant young women that need a place to stay? One has been sleeping in her car and is due in four months, one has been sleeping on her sister’s couch and has six months remaining in her pregnancy, and lastly, one was living with her parents but was kicked out after announcing her pregnancy”. Dave, our staff assistants, Kristal and Autumn, and myself look at each other with bewilderment! With only one bed left we are facing a tough decision. Since the launch of our new website we are receiving the most applications that have ever been submitted in the history of the New Beginnings Home. Maybe God is expanding our boundaries?
Coincidentally, the previous home of Miles and Debi Musick, directors and founders of the New Beginnings Home, sits directly across the street from the current New Beginnings home and has been vacant for three years. It has undergone an extensive remodel and is absolutely beautiful! It sits on 5 acres and can house an additional five young women. After a lot of prayer and a substantial donation to serve as a down payment, New Beginnings is expanding with the purchase of this home! God is faithful to provide! Just recently we have also discovered that the current owner’s mother authored the book “Should I Keep My Baby?” which has been commonly used at New Beginnings for those exploring the possibility of placing their baby for adoption. This is such an amazing connection! God is always at work behind the scenes and the way he blesses his people never stops surprising us!
Our family is continuing our training and looking forward to joining the current staff full time! Thank you for your continued prayer and support. It is because of your faithfulness that the futures of young lives are forever changed.
The Waits
A Day in the Life of DTS!
Thought I would share a bit of our Discipleship Training School (DTS) daily schedule with everyone! I haven’t blogged in a while but after you read our schedule you will know why!
6:40 AM Beep Beep Beep (my alarm)
7:45 AM Breakfast
8:20 AM one of us leaves to take the kids to school
8:30 AM-12:30 PM Lecture
12:30 PM Lunch
1:30 PM Prep for the after-school program that occurs on Wednesdays (we do a two hour after school program with K-3rd every Wednesday) or we are on a local outreach or small group time.
2:50 PM one of us leaves to pick the kids up from school
5:00 PM Journaling/Quiet time (AKA do homework with the kids!)
6 PM Dinner
7 PM (on Mondays) we have another time of lecture
11 PM Bed??
In addition to the above schedule David has work duty once or twice a week from 2-4:30 and must refill the wood boxes three times a week (we have a few buildings that are heated through wood stoves). I have dinner prep two nights a week from 4:30-6. Our family is also responsible for cleanup for all meals every Thursday. We have weekends a bit more free although there are some that are blocked out for special events and outreaches. Phew….not done yet! We have six pages of journaling to do every week and scripture memorization. We also have book reports to do which means having to have the time to read the book! For those of you who know me, you are probably laughing….I thrive on this type of craziness! For those of you who know Dave…pray!! Hahaha!
There are 8 of us total in our DTS and already we can’t even think about the day we have to say good-bye to them. They are amazing and we are so blessed to share our days with them. Today we had to say good-bye to Petra and Jeannine, two girls from Switzerland that have been with us since we arrived. They are fantastic young women who love God. We anticipate seeing them next year when they hopefully come back to WA for their own DTS (we are working on that still!).
Overall, this schedule has been an adjustment for us both but we are appreciating the time away to be in the Word of God and to spend time as a family. We also feel so fortunate to have this time together to build a solid foundation to return to New Beginnings. That’s it for now…..
Back in Business, clarification
Dave and I just wanted to clarify a bit of our blog entitled “Back in Business because of Him”. When Dave and I spoke of giving up our jobs and God calling us to the mission field, we in no way meant to imply that those working a “9-5″ job were not in His will. Praise God for those of you who work! We know that not everyone is called to be missionaries and we also know that those “9-5″ jobs have a mission field of their own that need people sharing the love of God in. We found in our lives that all of the sudden we were swept up with the busy-ness of careers and paying bills before we really asked God what it was that He had in store for our family. Our previous Blog was just an opportunity to share a bit of our story and maybe challenge those who have felt God calling them to do something radical. Be blessed and thanks for reading!
Back in Business because of Him
I drove into town today to pick up the kids from school and passed by a sign that said “Back in business because of you, thanks!” I have passed by this sign before but today I realized its significance for our lives right now, “Back in business because of you God!”
When God began speaking to us about this ministry opportunity and began directing us toward this path, we had a choice to make. We could delay walking in His path and wait for what we consider our “perfect timing” or we could abandon all our senses and obey. When we first began praying about this opportunity He brought about this scripture to us:
But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
-Jeremiah 17:7-8
We had a choice to plant roots deep into the world’s plan for success and rely on our strength which meant keeping our jobs, staying in our house and our community, staying at church with our church family etc; or to obey Him which meant planting our roots in trusting God and drawing strength from Him (i.e. in this situation to quit our jobs, rent out our house, move etc)
Has it been an easy choice? Nope. Not easy at all. Were there tears and pain involved in giving up our old way of life? Yep. Change is tough. Obeying God is tough sometimes. However, our family trusts that God’s words are true. We have chosen to plant ourselves near the water so that our leaves will continue to stay green and that in a year of drought we can still continue to bear fruit. We also get to do something that we love; share life with those who need support and family. While we enjoyed our lives in Fircrest and in our jobs, we feel we were living just to pay the bills. God has given us a new direction and put us “back in business”.
One week in and going strong…
Fort Wardon
Almost a full week has passed since we moved to Discovery Bay. It is hard to believe how easy one can adapt to new situations. We have already gotten into a routine and have managed to survive the small but cozy accommodations. Malia and Makai enjoyed their first week of school and have both made new friends. We joined the C.L.A.N. and spent a good deal of time their yesterday…haha, not the kind of clan that may be crossing your minds! The C.L.A.N. around these parts is an acronym for Cooperative Libraries Automated Network! We are excited at the endless possibilities of entertainment now available for free at our fingertips! Makai spent a good half an hour at the reference desk finding books on the Titanic (he now considers himself an expert on the subject). We have made it to the beach everyday, to Safeway 5 out of 6 days, have found all the “cool” free wi-fi cafes in three neighboring cities and been to Fort Worden three times. I guess these are the kinds of things folks in small towns do for enjoyment. No more fast- paced city life for the Waits. Gone for now are the days of Starbucks on every street corner, several selections of fast food within a mile, and the ability to drive on gas fumes for a bit because you know there is another gas station just up the street! We have slowed down….for now at least….can’t make any promises to stay slow after we return to Puyallup!
Malia and Makai
Malia & Makai
Many people have asked us how the kids are handling all this change…..When our family began this journey we all sat around our dinner table and discussed our thoughts. We prayed about it and we sought out council. From the beginning, Malia and Makai have had more of “charge-on” attitude than we have even had. God has reminded us over and over again that our children are a product of David and me and will reflect our own attitude about this situation. He has also reminded us that His timing is perfect and that He would not have called us to this place in life without also taking care of our children. Still, David and I have both been surprised at their resiliency and their ability to mold to their situations. God has His hand in their lives and it has been a testimony to both David and I to watch them grow. A couple scenarios to share:
1) Not long ago David, Malia and Makai passed by a lottery sign on the side of the road and each discussed what they would do with the money if they won. The responses ranged from buying a house or favorite car to being able to go on the mission field without fund raising! Makai responded differently when he said “I would give half to the church and the other half to missions, God would take care of the rest”.
2) Yesterday, Malia and I chose to help do the dishes for everyone at dinner. Earlier in the day I had been reading Loren Cunningham’s book (founder of YWAM) and wondering at His ability to hear the voice of God in sync with others. That evening (as cheesy as this might sound) I felt the Lord telling me to do the dishes. Malia slid up next to me and eagerly began scrubbing plates. Even as adults were telling her they could wash their own dish she insisted that she would do it. After the dishes were washed Malia and I walked to view Discovery Bay at dusk and she turned and said to me, “You know what mom? I heard the voice of God telling me to do the dishes tonight”.
We marvel at how much closer they are to God than we were at their age. Malia and Makai are doing great. They are learning godly principles and how to be directed by His voice. While this journey has taken sacrifice, it will have all been worth it to see our children’s live be directed by God and to see them love Jesus with their entire being.
Day two brings unexpected lessons….
Day two brings unexpected lessons. How does a family of four learn to maneuver in a living space smaller than our bedroom back home? It has been quite the day.
Lesson one: A family of four cannot all shower and get ready within an hour anymore. Kids must shower at night from now on.
Lesson two: Do not unplug the shower drain except to release the water….under any circumstance otherwise the fresh smell of sewage will fill the entire cabin.
Lesson three: Two children in a small room=fighting
Lesson four: The kids need to spend more time at the cabin across the way deemed our “living space” while Dave and I nap
Lesson five: Multiple flushes per sitting. The toilet can only handle so much.
Lesson six: Cranky children=cranky mother and perturbed father
Lesson seven: Do not unplug the shower drain under any circumstance….oh wait…already said that….
Lesson eight: Do not tell our children they can collect all the sand dollars they can find on an isolated beach…limit the madness!
Lesson nine: Put our children to bed directly after dinner so that maybe by nine they will actually fall asleep.
On our beach walk today, so beautiful!
Lesson ten: God is good and has blessed us with this remarkable and beautiful area to live. We are content with a roof over our heads, children who are healthy enough to give us grief, indoor plumbing, and wonderful people to share the next four months with!
