Please Pray for My Mom

We would really covet more of your prayers right now...please continue praying for Bob's sister Donna.  She has been transferred to a rehabiliation center (praise God for some progress) but has been difficult to deal with.  She got out of a wheel chair at the rehab center and ended up falling on her face and had to go back to the hospital, but is back at the rehabilitation center now.  Please pray for her brother Dave, his wife Vicki, and their mother, Nellie.

Please also pray for my Mom, Miriam, who is currently going through an episode with her manic depression.  She has been stable for 2-3 years now (without drugs..relying on the Holy Spirit) but has been going through some stress lately related to her Mom that is going to be 92 this year.  My grandmother has a bad back and might be having surgery again soon..we'll have to see.  My Mom is worried about her and is afraid of her dying.  She wants to be with her to help her but her Mom lives an hour away.  My Mom does best when she has a regular routine and not alot of stress in her life....I had thought that perhaps the Lord had healed her from this mental illness but from the current circumstances, He has not.  She turned to her Pastor for help because she has no one else to care for her in FL.  We are trying to get her medical help but she continues to believe that she is okay and just needs the help of her church.  There are times when God doesn't heal directly and He chooses to use doctors and medications to help us.  Please pray that she would be open to the help she needs!  Please pray for wisdom for Pastor Chris and pray for his family and the body of believers at Calvary Chapel Cape Coral.

Please Pray

We just got word the day before yesterday that Bob's younger sister Donna was in a car accident that could have easily taken her life.  She survived but is in critical condition..with a concussion (cranial bleeding), broken jaw and pelvis, and other injuries.  Her recovery is expected to be slow and she could be in the hospital for months, most likely needing physical rehabilitation.  She was speeding and her car flipped over 6 times..she wasn't wearing her seat belt and she was thrown out of the car.  We know it was the Lord's will to keep her alive.  He let her live so that she CAN LIVE!  Meaning He allowed her to live so that she can turn to Him and have eternal life.  Please pray for Bob's brother Dave who is bearing the burden of caring for the family since he lives closeby.

We are also grieving over the loss of a little boy named Luke who was going to be adopted by our friend's Kevin & Mandy from our church.  He lived in an orphanage in China and they were going to be traveling to China to get him within a couple of months.  He unexpectedly got sick over Christmas and passed away.  We had a yard sale at our church over the summer to raise funds towards his adoption.  It's so hard to understand why God took him now but God's ways our higher than our ways.  We will see him in heaven!  What an amazing reunion it will be.  They never got to meet him but loved him already as their own son.  They sent him presents for Christmas and he had pictures of their family and knew they were coming for him.  You can check out their blog at:  www.adoptedandappointed.blogspot.com They are also listed under my bloglist in the right column.  I went to the same high school as Kevin & Mandy and now many years later we are all worshipping at the same church.  I'm so sad that I won't get to meet Luke yet but praise God he has his glorified body and is with Jesus.

Happy New Year!

It's the dawn of 2012 and I can't imagine what God has in store for this year.  Our adoption which we started last April is on hold for the time being so that we can focus on our oldest, Antonis.  Bob, Antonis and I have started family counseling together per the request of our adoption social worker.  It is tough being a blended family.  I don't know what the future holds..I hope we will be able to complete our adoption this year and have a new baby to love, but God's timing is BEST! 

God has been making some other big changes in Antonis's life as of lately..back in December he joined the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets.  He will go for drills one weekend a month.  He will attend boot camp and special trainings this summer.  His friend Jonathan from church is a Sea Cadet and he introduced Antonis to the program.  Antonis attended a trial weekend in December and really enjoyed it. 

The other big change is that God has taken Antonis out of our homeschool and placed him at the Lighthouse Academy of Fredericksburg!  This is a small, Montessori Christian school.  His first day is tomorrow.  He is excited.  I will be dropping him off each morning at 8:30am and picking him up at 3pm.  In the hours in between I will continue to school the 3 girls and care for Zachary.  This was a surprising change since I expected to be homeschooling him through high school.  I have always been open to whatever God's will is though and God clearly called him out at this time.

I Love This Song

Already There by Casting Crowns

From where I'm standing
Lord, it's so hard for me to see
Where this is going
And where you're leading me
I wish I knew how
All my fears and all my questions
Are going to play out
In a world I can't control

When I'm lost in the mystery
To You my future is a memory
Cause You're already there
You're already there
Standing at the end of my life
Waiting on the other side
And You're already there
You're already there

From where You're standing
Lord, You see a grand design
That You imagined
When You breathed me into life
And all the chaos
Comes together in Your hands
Like a masterpiece
Of Your picture-perfect plan

When I'm lost in the mystery
To You my future is a memory

One day I'll stand before you
And look back on the life I lived
I can't wait to enjoy the view
And see how all the pieces fit
One day I'll stand before You
And look back on the life I've lived

Cause You're already there
You're already there
When I'm lost in the mystery
To You my future is a memory
Cause You're already there
You're already there
Standing at the end of my life
Waiting on the other side
And You're already there
You're already there..................

Christmas 2011

Jesus is Our Ark

Ok, so I promised back in November that I was going to start sharing about the judgement that is going to be poured out on this Earth in the not-so-distant-future.  As believers in Jesus Christ, we will not be here for this judgement.  Jesus is our Savior and he is going to save us from this terrible time of calamity and death.  We will escape these things.  As believers we do not have to endure the wrath of God!  It is reserved for those who choose not to believe on Him.  God gives us every opportunity to turn to Him and be saved.  It is not His will that any should be lost.  If any remain for this period of tribulation, it is by his or her own choice!!  God doesn't send anyone to hell.  We put ourselves there by denying Jesus Christ.  He is the narrow path that leads to LIFE!!!!!!!!!! 

Do you remember the story of Noah from the Old Testament?  Noah and his family were the only righteous people left on Earth.  The Earth was filled with wickedness.  God decided to destroy the inhabitants of the Earth with a flood.  He saved Noah and his family along with 2 of every animal by keeping them safe in the ark.  They floated above the flood waters until the waters receded.  Jesus is our ARK! :)

The details I will be sharing will be coming from my study on the book of Revelation..the very last book of the Bible..and my use of a Bible Study Commentary by J. Vernon McGee.  The purpose of my sharing is to make you aware of the events that are to come and present to you that Jesus is our REFUGE and STRONGTOWER from the impending storm!  You have a CHOICE and do not have to be left behind for this judgement unless you choose to be.  The world today is being controlled by Satan (as it has been since the Fall in the garden of Eden) and the enemy of our souls is lying to us.  He wants us to believe that all roads lead to heaven..that if we are pretty good people and live a decent life that God will let us in the pearly gates.  The truth is, entrance into heaven has nothing to do with us and everything to do with Jesus.  It's all about believing in Him and what He did on the cross.  None of us will ever be "good enough" to earn our way into heaven.  God is so holy and perfect...we can never do enough good to get in by our own merits.  Our best is filthy rags to him!  A dirty menstrual cloth.  It is by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS that we can join Him in heaven.  When we believe on Jesus His righteousness is transferred to us!  Phew!  The pressure is off.  I just have to believe and rest in Him.

So...much more to come..

Parked at Five

It is the Lord's will that our family is to be steady with 5 children for a while longer...we found out on Friday that we are going to be unable to move forward with our adoption until some issues get worked out in our current family.  The Lord prepared my heart for this but at the same time it is difficult to face!  God has put the desire on my heart for more children and it is hard to have to keep waiting.  Zachary is three years old now and the gap between him and a new addition to our family is ever-widening but I rest in the fact that God is writing our family's story.  God has a plan for The Stephenson Family and it is a better plan than I could ever think up!  God's ways are so higher than our ways.  So I will take it day by day and surrender the disappointment to the Lord.  I am trusting in Him and relying on His strength and love.