Ultimate Blog Party 2014!

Welcome to the #UBP14 party over here!


We are Eric & Kristine Reed and we love serving God, learning about other cultures and meeting new people. Currently we are working towards becoming missionaries with Mission Aviation Fellowship. Eric is a pilot & a software engineer and I have my teaching degree. We hope to be able to utilize our skills to serve God overseas with a missionary organization.

We've chosen Mission Aviation Fellowship because they incorporate both our skills perfectly. They utilize aviation and technology to reach those than can't be reached. In the countries where they serve, there are often no roads between remote village or the way is so treacherous that it takes days or weeks to get to where a 10 minute flight can reach. This saves time yes, but most of all it saves lives. Mission Aviation Fellowship transports people, food and supplies to areas most needed to support the efforts in those areas. They might fly in a doctor in one area, a bible translator in another, food in another, new translations of a bible in another, the list goes on and on. In this way by showing people love and relating to them on a personal level to help with needs, MAF shares the gospel of Christ.  We have friends in MAF that have flown vaccines in remote areas of Africa and others that do emergency medical flights that save lives. It is a much needed area of service because without it, people would die and the gospel wouldn't continue in those countries because of how remote the tribes and cities are.

Here is an example of an air strip in a remote area:


Here is a short video on MAF:


What also excites us is not only the aviation part, but the technology component. MAF has a department called Learning Technologies that works together with pastors and leaders to help them be able to grow and lead their community of believers. We've all heard about the short term missions that go into a country, help teach about Jesus, people become new believers and then the missionaries leave. What happens next? Without bibles or tools to grow in their faith, many fall back to their old ways. Some leave the area to learn and never return.  In several areas people are also illiterate and learn best by oral methods as they have for years. This is where MAF LT comes in.

MAF LT creates and develops methods to help grow those communities. For those without resources they bring the resources to them via digital books. They along with some partners created a digital library on a CD. So the pastors without resources suddenly have a full library of books at their finger tips. In areas where people learn best by stories, they have team members come to the country to teach the bible in oral form. In this way, the people learn and in turn teach others via oral stories about the bible. It's an ever growing ministry. I suggest you check out these links to see more! (Plus videos are more fun anyways right?)

Here is one about a resource sharing program called Estante:



You can read earlier posts to catch up on what a journey this has been for us. We had to take a break a couple of years ago to become stronger people in our faith and in our family life, but we hope to take our evaluation in the next year or so to see if we can indeed go overseas with Mission Aviation Fellowship still or if God is calling us to a different ministry. Regardless, we'd love to have you along in our journey! Please join us on this blog to follow our adventures and learn about our family. Speaking of family....


Two huge blessings in our life are our daughters, Jennavieve and Lillian.
Jennavieve 3 1/2 years


Lillian around 8 months


These two are the little loves of our lives. We adore them and are so blessed to have them. We plan to take them on this journey and to go as a family. We love them and want them involved in everything we do and to raise them to be girls of integrity who have open eyes about the world around them and strong hearts for the hurting. We try to teach them that every new kid is a potential friend so that they don't prejudge those they meet. (Unless they are clearly dangerous or doing something bad!) We also teach them to be cautious and get to know people too. It's our hope to raise them up to be strong believers in Jesus and to share that with others.

If you like to follow us, please join our page! Leave a comment here with a link to your #UBP14 post and we will follow you back! If you want to check out more videos of MAF, want to pray for us or learn more check the links above!

It's hard being the newbie (Kristine)

Moving is hard. I've moved quite a few times in my short life. You pack up your belongings and relocate to a place where you kinda know people, but not really. This last move from Oregon was one of the hardest for me. What I've learned from moving so many times is that it's critical to get involved in things right away. Whether that be church or a program or something to get to know people. Then you spend time investing in those other people via coffee dates, movies...shared experiences. That has been my formula for moving success for years.

When we were at MAF the prospect of moving across the world wasn't a scary one. When you are in ministry, you have a built in set of friends, people who are or have been exactly where you are at and know how important it is to connect. They are your home base of friends from which you reach out and create new friendships. With MAF we fit in so well and felt at home for the first time in forever. We are still working to get back to that "home" and hope in a year or so to have everything together to do another evaluation. We've grown so much in these past few years in ways we needed to as people. Ways that definitely are preparing us for life overseas someday or to be involved in missions ministry or humanitarian efforts.

But back to this move. What's been so hard about this move is that we moved back to my home state, Washington. I knew some people but it's been years since we talked and we were out of sync. All my best friends live out of state or hours away. My family also lives a few hours away and Eric's even further. This move neither of us had family or friends to fall back on, we started new and this time with a daughter. Being a parent and moving is hard.

When you are parent and move you are at the mercy of your kids for the most part. No longer can you just go on a random hike or see a movie or be super involved in church like before, your kid comes first. This severely hampers your ability to make friends. Most people in this area have family here or deep rooted friendships. They have their home base of friends from which to branch out and create new friendships. If they don't have time, they still have their core friend and family base nearby. Making new friends is an effort, and sometimes an effort they don't see worthy of their time because they already have friends from the area or friends in ministry.

This leaves people like me (Kristine), fighting hard to create and maintain new friendships. Friendships not only for me, but for my daughters. (Now I have two) It's so hard to have an adult conversation when you have your three year old running up to you every five minutes wanting to tell you something. Finding time to have shared experiences to build friendships gets harder too because if they have kids, you have to work out schedules for the both of you. But that doesn't mean I stop fighting. It doesn't mean I give up and feel doomed to a life of loneliness outside family. It means that I realize that moving is hard.

 Making new friends is even harder. It takes time. I think many who have deep friendships with people that have been in the same area for years can't imagine how hard it is to be the newbie in the area. The one who hopes they are interesting enough for others to want to be friends with them. It's kinda like another version of high school, only replace the crazy teen hormones with sleep deprived mom brain. Sometimes I try to be the best version of myself, but take away my sleep and give my kids colds and my brain no longer functions. Things get cancelled or moved and it gets that much harder to develop friendships.

I am learning though. In the past few years since we were with MAF I have become way more outgoing. I love inviting people over when I get the chance and I love getting to know people in the neighborhood. I love getting to know people in general and to hear their stories. That part of me has grown tremendously since the move. I want to be a good example for my girls and to show them that just because you are the newbie, it doesn't meant that you are lost, it just means that you haven't come into your own yet. I teach my kids that a kid they don't know is a potential friend they just haven't met yet. That's how I feel in my adult life too. It's important to listen to people's stories and their hearts, you never know what you will learn. It's important to use common sense though. If there's a scary person who is angry and threatening, it's probably not the best time to get to know them. :)

Being the newbie this time has helped me understand newbies even more. I am so thankful that God had us take a break from MAF so we can grow and develop these interpersonal skills and be a good example for our girls. I am excited to see what is to come in the next year or so, even if being a newbie is hard, it'll be worth it.

The cost of a life....

James 1:27

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress,and to keep oneself unstained [a]by the world.

I've been thinking a lot about adoption. Our children are 3 years and 7 months and we've begun to think about perhaps adopting a child some day. Recently I read a little blog that listed things that you should never ask adoptive parents, one of which was, "How much did she cost?". That phrase in and of itself sounds pretty ridiculous. I mean children aren't items from a grocery store we buy. They aren't novelty items.

They are precious human beings. Some of which were tossed aside at birth just because they look different or were the wrong gender or have needs. Some were given up by parents who knew they couldn't sustain the young baby's life. Some mothers died in childbirth and some died afterwards leaving the child an orphan. These kids didn't ask to be cast aside or left by themselves. They simply were born and tossed into a life of loneliness and isolation.

I think about my own kids and how heart broken I would be if I had to give them up and then they spent their days wishing and hoping for affection from someone. Or if I had died and they were tossed around some foster care system helpless. Breaks my heart just thinking about it.

It brings me back to the question, "How much did she cost?" Why does cost have to be such a huge factor in adoption. If your heart is to adopt, then cost shouldn't be an issue. These are human beings being ransomed by the system. If one of our children were ransomed or in trouble, the money wouldn't matter would it? As parents we naturally want to protect our children and if they were lost or in trouble and needed help, we'd do whatever we could, nothing would stand in our way. Isn't this how we should view adoption?

These children need homes. They need love. They need someone to say, "I will move heaven and earth to rescue you out of that pit you are in. I will love you!" If your heart is to adopt, do it. Just go for it and don't look back. Read up on it and talk with people who have adopted. As with all kids, adding another one (or one in general) is quite the transition, but if your heart is in it, you can do it!

If you don't have room, but love on kids, then look into helping others adopt. There are quite a few foundations out there that provide grants to couples who want to adopt. There are also ways to help sponsor children in other countries to help their quality of life. We sponsor a child through Compassion International and love it. I highly encourage you to do the same! It's a great lesson for you and your family.

Above all else, I encourage you to pray. Pray about whether God would have you adopt, help others adopt and/or sponsor a child. You won't regret it!

Only Hope...

I, Kristine, am a major Switchfoot fan. I just find that God speaks to me through music sometimes more than any other medium. One of my favorite songs that sums up where we're at right now is called, "Only Hope". I'll share with you the lyrics and a link to the video:

There's a song that's inside of my soul
It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again
I'm awake in the infinite cold
But You sing to me over and over again

So I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands
and pray to be only Yours
I pray to be only Yours
I know now you're my only hope

Sing to me the song of the stars
Of Your galaxy dancing and laughing
and laughing again
When it feels like my dreams are so far
Sing to me of the plans that You have for me over again

And I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours
I pray to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope

I'm giving You all of me
I want Your symphony
Singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs I'm giving it back

And I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands and pray to be only Yours
I pray to be only Yours, I pray to be only Yours
I know now You're my only hope

Music inspires me, it is where I feel closest to God is when I am singing my heart out or listening to a song that's lyrics seem to speak directly to me. Lately Eric and I have been thinking a lot about Mission Aviation Fellowship again. It's been about a year and a half since we took a break from ministry partnership to work on a few things. I have written about it before, but God has blessed Eric with a job and us with a home that we've purchased up here. We finally have found a church to call our home church and have started to get involved in it. It's been a little difficult with a newborn lady in the house and a fiesty three year old, but we're pushing ourselves to be outgoing and to meet people because we know it will bless us and that's how we grow as mostly introverted people. :) 

To all outsiders, we have "the" life. But to us, we yearn for more. Every time we think, hey maybe this is what God wanted for us, God puts MAF into our heads through an image, or a person, or a song lyric, or a verse. We can't shake the feeling that we were meant for more than this. (Yes...another Switchfoot song is popping into my head.) Lately we've really felt that God still wants us to pursue MAF, but that the original timing was completely off. Technically we were ready, but emotionally and spiritually we weren't. The last two are the most important parts of preparation for ministry, especially the spiritual side. It's likely the reason God closed support raising doors so quickly on us. For that, we are actually thankful. 

I have written about different things that have transpired since we took a break, so I won't repeat them, but in the last blog post I mentioned that we started to look into learning technologies more as a result of this break. Lately we've been taking about it and it seems this area is a real interest to Eric. Especially if he can pair his flying ability with it. So we've decided to change direction a bit and pursue a pilot/LT path (if possible) instead of a pilot/informational technologies path. Yes, even if Eric did LT officially, there would still be other IT work for him to do on the field. There's no way he could ignore someone with a computer problem he could troubleshoot if he was the one there with the skills to do it. 

So our goal right now is to continue to investigate the Learning Technologies path with MAF and see if that is where God wanted us all along. Soon we'll contact that department in MAF and see what we can do to get our foot in the door and build skills. In the meantime we also hope to beef up our marriage communication skills early next year via counseling, continue to strengthen our personal bible study skills and hopefully serve more in the church where we are at. Our initial goal is to be more prepared and ready to re-apply to Mission Aviation Fellowship by January of 2016. 

We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we go through this process once more. Just for wisdom, strength, perseverance and an open heart to where God would lead us during this time. We have two little ladies at home, so it might get hard to update frequently, but we will try to update as often as we can. In the meantime, here are a few videos of the things MAF is accomplishing through Learning Technologies:

It's been a while...

It's been quite a while since I've updated this blog, my apologies! We've had some significant extended family medical stuff going on as well as trying to raise a toddler and it's made us neglect this page. I want to strive to update it as much as I can.

So what's happening lately? I am almost 38 weeks pregnant with our daughter Lily. On August 1st I am due to have a c-section if she doesn't decide to come sooner. (I hope she does!) Lately my life has been centered around doing fun things with Jenna, furiously preparing our house for Lily and trying to navigate extended family stuff. I've been energetic some days and flat out exhausted others. Most nights I have the typical hip pain and have to wake up a million times to use the bathroom. You know...the usual. It's crazy to think in two weeks that we are going to have a new little life in this house. Two kiddos. But we're excited about it.

Eric's continuing to work at his job and he enjoys it. He might get some stuff set up to work at home if he has to continue projects, but we'll see. Currently his side project is replacing the panel in his hiperbipe (enclose biplane). This project has taken a little longer with the extended family medical stuff, his eye issues and preparing for the baby, but he's puttering away at it. An update on his eye: He's able to see almost normal in it. He is looking into different treatments and surgeries to fix it so that he can have 20/20 vision again. If he cannot regain 20/20 corrected vision in it, then our goals of serving God in a flying capacity might not happen.

In the meantime we're working on getting more involved in our church up here in Washington and joining a small group to get connected once they start those up. We figure we are here right now for a reason and we plan on doing our best to continue to seek God and to prepare for whatever role He wants us to serve in.

I've been trying my best to get involved in mom's groups and to make friendships up here to continue to help the moving process get more grounded. I've met some great moms in the area with all different beliefs and it excites me. I love getting to know people of all different backgrounds. I've also met quite a few Indian women up here too! I am hoping to glean some delicious recipes off of them once I get to know them better. I've met some fun moms who like to garden and we have that in common. I have kind of a black thumb when it comes to gardening, but I am hoping to learn some tricks to help me be more successful.

Because of the recent developments with Eric's eye, it's got us looking at other avenues of serving with MAF potentially in the future including in Learning Technologies and Information Technologies. Eric was already looking at pairing his pilot training with information technologies, but there's a chance he could just do the information technologies part in the future as well. There's less of a cap on age with that which means we could go back a little later in life and be a part of it.

Learning technologies (LT) has always fascinated me because it's multifaceted and essentially marries technology with education. It draws on strengths both Eric and I have which means we could be working together in the future. Some examples of projects they work on including developing software to store libraries of information so people don't have to leave their countries to get an education. Many times when people leave the country for education, they don't go back to help enrich their community. This is a way of helping them stay, learn, grow and empower others in their community to do the same. Another area that I am fascinated with in LT is in regards to orality. Basically teaching in story form versus written word. Many cultures are not literate and pass down information via stories. With LT, teams go out into different countries and train up leaders within those countries using this method of teaching and they in turn go out into different communities, villages and tribes and teach their own using this method. It's fascinating and definitely works.

So we'll see! It definitely is an area we hadn't explored much while we were at MAF, but as circumstances have changed we're seeking where God would have us. For right now it's Washington, but we hope in the future it might mean we're elsewhere reaching out to the rest of the world. We have a few things we need to work on before returning to MAF as well, which will take a couple of years potentially. So as always it's living in the moment and preparing for the future. :)

We will try to update this page as things change and especially when Lily is born! We love you all and appreciate the understanding and support you have given us over the years.

Blessings,
Kristine (Eric and Jenna) Reed

Gestational WHAT?

Okay so I kinda knew this day was going to come, but was kinda in denial. I got my test results back from the gestational diabetes test yesterday and turns out, I do have it. Bummer. So tomorrow I call to make an appointment to get educated on what I need to do to help myself (and Lily) through this period. If I play my cards right, it'll only last about a month after Lily is born and then it'll go away. I think of it as an opportunity to continue to eat healthier low sugar, low carb foods. It's just a way to kick start that right?

I also learned that I am anemic again. This I knew a few months ago, but no one would believe me. So I get to take iron pills for that.

It'll be interesting going on this journey of gestational diabetes, I am not sure how it'll affect my plans for Lily's birth, I still have more researching to do and praying to do to think about what's best for the both of us.

-Kristine

Eric's eye

I was having doubts as to the knowledge the walk-in doc had and how he was treating Eric's eye issue, especially since I read the literature and his diagnosis made no sense. So we asked around and got an appointment for a second opinion. Boy are we glad we did. 

Turns out Eric has a different type of eye that heals up differently and is shaped differently from the normal eye. Which completely explains his inability to wear contacts comfortably. But that's another topic... Basically Jenna made a LARGE tear in his cornea. He does NOT have a corneal ulcer. With his type of eye the flap of skin bunched up. If we had continued in the line of care the walk-in doc suggested, Eric's eye would not have healed well and it could have seriously scarred. Which means he could have had really bad eye issues. This doc straightened out the flap of skin and put a protective contact over it. He also prescribed a couple different types of drops for Eric to use. The idea is that on Monday, when Eric has his follow up appointment, he'll get the contact off and continue in the healing process, but hopefully most of his vision will be restored. Right now he can see out of the eye, but it's extremely blurry. The doctor also immediately recognized that Eric's eye has a condition that explains why it's been irritated off and on for years and there's an actual treatment for it. If this eye mishap hadn't happened, we would have never known. 

So we thank everyone who prayed and continue to ask you to join with us in prayer in the healing process. We thank everyone who quickly gave a suggestion on where to go as well, it really helped us out. 

The first part of the day

So I just posted on what happened the last part of the day, I'd like to post about the first part. Last night was kinda brutal with Jenna waking often screaming/crying for some random reason. (We think she might be sick, but aren't sure.) She ended up sleeping with us which meant that we got hardly any sleep.

This morning I woke up at 5:20 or so to get ready for the day. Driving to Kirkland from our house can be a traffic nightmare so I wanted to make sure that I got out early. I got to the hospital for my glucose screening in plenty of time, actually too much time because I was waiting outside the lab for a good 10 minutes before they opened.

I got in right away and the nurse gave me a choice of three drinks: orange, lemon-lime or fruit punch, all of which were nasty she says. I of course already knew this because of the first pregnancy. I chose orange because I thought that was the one I could stomach the best. It's a good thing I chose it because towards the end of the 10 ounces I was fighting being sick. I sat down in the "Quiet Room" in a recliner and pulled out my electronics to have the two hours begin.

Across from me was the room where the rest of the pregnant women would come in, make their choices and then leave to find their seats. There was one lady who chose to sit in the same room I was in. She pulled out her literature and began to read. I won't go into detail about what she did because I wasn't really staring at her the whole time. :)

Eventually we began to chat and I learned she was a first time mom. It was nice because for the first time, I was the one who had weathered the storm of the first born child and had advice and experience to share. I told her not to believe the tv and movies version of labor, it's totally bogus and meant to frighten you. I encouraged her to continue to read up on things to help her feel in control and calm. She reminded me of how I was with my pregnancy with Jenna. Reading up on anything she could find and doing anything she could to prepare.

One thing I told her that I wasn't told, is how important it is after the baby is born to seek out other mom groups for support. Once the hubs goes back to work, it can easily feel like you are alone. Finding a good mom's group not only gives your kiddo friends, but you as well. I learned she was a believer and encouraged her to see what her church offered to meet moms within her own church too.

Talking with this mom made the time go by super quick. It was wonderful. Such a blessing. I feel it was much more worth while than playing Candy Crush (Yes... I fell prey to that!) and attempting to read when I am exhausted. It was fun to talk with the nurse too when I was getting blood drawn because she had various experiences too. I just love getting to know new people and hearing their stories. :)

What a day (Kristine)

   Crazy Crazy day. Got my glucose test done, got groceries and came home right after my daughter had accidentally poked my husband hard in the eye. (I think she fell into him or something.) So immediately I had to go into action finding some place to take him to get it looked at while comforting a crying toddler. Got all the gear packed for the toddler, got the eye looked at by a doc, picked up pain meds, got the hubs and daughter to rest/nap.

      He's got what the doc calls a corneal ulcer, which is basically a large tear in the front of his eye. (Forgot to cut those little fingernails) The doc said for him to take the pain meds, wear the eye patch all day today and take it off tomorrow morning. Then we'll see whether his vision has improved by 80%. If so, then we see on Friday if it's completely healed. If not, then it's back to the doc to see what else needs to be done to repair his vision.

    It was funny, earlier as we were picking up his pain meds I told him, "See, I think I can handle two kids now" and his reply was something like, "Actually you are getting a third kid." LOL I guess I am, I guess I am. It's just amazing to me that in a crisis my brain takes over and gets the job done even though I might be exhausted or ready to nap.

   Meanwhile I am looking outside at this beautiful weather and dreaming about going on a road trip. Kinda bad timing for the hubs to get an eye injury. I was hoping he might be able to take a little time off work to spend with me (and Jenna), but this isn't how I pictured us spending time together. Guess I better find some sun glasses for him if I have hopes of going anywhere this weekend! It might be time to invest in a water table for outside and some play gear for Jenna to utilize on nice days. :)

   

Not Yet....(Kristine)

Lately I'm not gonna lie, I've been down about where we've been at in life. To all appearances we have it all together. Eric's got a great job, we just got a good house, we have great neighbors....we're living the suburban good life. But is this how we were meant to live? Is this what God's plan was for us?

I love Switchfoot and always have. I feel like right now so many of their songs speak to where I am at right now. One that comes to mind is,"Meant to Live". I picked an acoustic version to share with you because I love how raw songs are in the acoustic form stripped from the glitz and glamour. Take a Listen:



In this suburban life, I feel lost. I feel like it's not how I was "meant to live" and it's been troubling me. So much so that I've felt like taking a drive and continuing to go. The other day I had to get out of the house because pregnancy hormones and life was getting me emotional and I needed to just drive. To get out of my suburban surroundings, get into the country, sing some songs, say some prayers and listen to what God would have me do next.

As I was crying, singing and driving (maybe not the best combo) I came across a sign for a church I had on my radar for a while. Now I wasn't anywhere near this church's campus so I didn't know this sign was going to appear. It turns out they started a church plant closer to my house. I've been looking at and thinking about this church ever since we were with MAF and thinking about churches to speak at. Then when we moved up here I was thinking about checking out the church yet never did. I followed the sign prayed for some clarity on whether I was to go to this church on Sunday with Eric, I felt very strongly that this was where we were supposed to be on Sunday.

So we went to the main campus and sat in the rows and I prayed and prayed that God would speak to us and show us what we're to do. I've felt lost and wandering in my own wilderness ever since we moved up here. I've felt without direction, without a plan and feeling quite off with this lifestyle. You know how some people can picture themselves growing up, growing a family and living in a house and doing ministry in some place for a while? I haven't got that long vision here yet. So as I sat down with Eric I prayed and tried to hold back the wishful tears and to let God speak to us. Any boy did He. :)

I didn't know what the pastor was going to talk about on Sunday. I really had no clue other than I felt we needed to be there on Sunday. We sang some songs and sat down to listen to the pastor talk. He talked about being stuck, about wandering around aimless in the wilderness without a final goal. He said what is the point of taking the journey if you have no destination? I began to think about our journey with MAF and what a journey it's been thus far. All the hard work we've poured into classes and training and then to have it cut short because we hadn't done enough preparation. I thought about how that was our goal ever since we met and though we hadn't really given up on it, we had settled for this lifestyle and trying to find a new goal. The pastor talked about how the enemy wants to tear us apart and do everything to keep us from doing what God has called us to do.

It took quite the strength to not cry at that moment. I just felt like God was speaking to us through the pastor, or at least speaking to me about not giving up on our goal of serving overseas. God placed this desire on our hearts for a reason. God didn't just accidentally tell us that we were supposed to be involved in overseas missions somehow. He gave us a goal, it was our job to not settle or give in, but to press on towards that goal.

After church service I talked with Eric. I wasn't sure how he felt about the church or what the pastor had said. I didn't want to lead him to think about anything, so I didn't give him my opinion first. I asked his opinion first on the church, then on what the pastor had said. I was excited to hear that God did speak to Eric too at this church and reminded him to keep on working towards that goal of serving overseas with missions.

We do believe that everything has happened for a reason. We feel that right now, this is where we're supposed to be and this is the house we are supposed to be in. We know that this job is the one Eric is supposed to be working at and this area is where God wants us right now. So we are content in that. We can see how God has worked in us and given us opportunities here to reconnect with family and make new friends. This is a stop along the path in our journey to missions, a small hill to climb if you will.

There will be many small hills to climb along the way as we continue to prepare ourselves and our hearts for missions overseas. But we won't give up on that dream, that calling. We may end up serving in the same way we had planned, or in a different way. It may be three years from now, five years from now or more. That's all up to God. It's up to us to do our part to prepare for the battle God has called us to do.

We ask that you continue to pray for our family and pray for God to continue to give us clarity on the next steps in our life and journey. We will try our best to keep you updated as we go.

In keeping with my Switchfoot theme, I wanted to share with you another song that has been a theme in my life, "Dare you to Move". Again, I share this in the acoustic version because I feel it's powerful without the gimmicks. I want to encourage you to think about where you are in life as well, and "Dare you to move" and not be stagnant or settle for anything less than God's best for your life.

A little update...

I realized we haven't posted on this blog in a little while. I (Kristine) have been updating my baby blog (This Little Life in Mine) more regularly because there's more going on over there. This week we're hoping to sign on a house in Washington, the first house Eric and I are owning and picked out together. It's quite a huge step and sometimes can be a scary one. We don't know what the future holds, but we know for now, it involves purchasing this house.

God has led us on one crazy journey so far in our married life, and it's sure not over yet. With this house we hope to utilize our next few years hosting events, baby showers, kiddo parties, maybe even bible studies... you name it. God's blessed us with a house that has a large downstairs so we hope to utilize it to the fullest. First thing's first, moving in there. If all goes well, we hope to sign this week, get the keys and move in this weekend. We know that things happen and it might not happen exactly according to what we think, but we're thankful that we have family in the area and that the house isn't too far from where we are currently renting. This move should go a lot smoother than our 4.5 hour one way move. :)

What's next after this? Well we hope to get involved in our church more and join a bible study group. Then continue to grow individually in our walks and together in our faith. We plan on strengthening up some weaknesses we had during the ministry partnership phase with MAF through counseling around here and continue to be the best parents we can be for Jenna. When people hear of counseling they automatically think the marriage is in trouble. I clarified this before, but just in case some of you are just tuning in, we're doing fine and our marriage is fine, we just would like some extra communication tools to use when we are working with each other and raising a family 24/7. The best way to do that is to get an outside perspective on things, which is through counseling/coaching. We're quite excited about it, now to figure out a sitter so we can do it and Jenna can have fun while we're out.

Things are still up in the air as to when we'll rejoin MAF. We have a timeline in mind that we both are thinking of, but we're waiting and seeing what the Lord wants from us in these next couple of years. He could turn us in a very different direction, although we both feel a strong pull towards overseas missions so we aren't sure what direction he would be changing. :)  In the mean time, we're focusing on the here and now and accomplishing what we need to accomplish to be the best people we can be. :)

My daughter is pulling at my arm to come and play, so I'd better go. Update with more later!

A Year in Retrospect -written by Kristine

Let me preface this to say that I wrote a long blog post yesterday, then the computer froze and deleted everything, so I am going to try my best to capture what I was attempting to capture last night. :)

Yesterday I (Kristine) was reflecting back upon the last year and it occurred to me that just over a year ago, our life was turned completely upside down. We had just had a conversation with MAF HQ in which we agreed to take a break from ministry partnership to work on a few things before returning to MAF. What a scary and blind leap that was. We had been working towards serving overseas together as a couple our whole married life and individually before that as well. We got accepted, got a country assignment and seemingly were on our way, but life happens and sometimes God puts roadblocks in our journey. At the time we knew it was the right thing to do, but had no clue why. I must confess we are still learning. What I've realized over the past year is that God does have a perfect plan that is NOT our own and He knows what's going to happen in life, we just need to trust Him and have that blind faith to take a leap when it looks like we're heading towards a cliff. 

I know that sounds daunting, it is. But had we not taken that leap we would never have been so blessed by God's grace. God provided a job for Eric at a company he's always wanted to work at and a place for him to temporarily stay until we moved up there. God provided Eric with not only a job, but good bosses and coworkers to help encourage him. God provided us with a rental house so we would not need to live in an apartment and gave us good neighbors so we needn't fear living in our home. God provided mom groups for me to be a part of and wonderful opportunities to branch out and feel welcome in our new city. Recently God helped our home in Salem, Oregon to sell and provided a new house for us to hopefully live in. We are still in the process of buying it, but it was one of those things that God directed us to it at the right time. A day later and it would have not been there for us. We recently found a church near this home that is what we both always wanted in a church, every detail so far. There are many other things I can mention, but the important thing to remember is that God provided and provides for our basic needs if we put our trust in Him. 

There are things we could not have forseen that have happened in the past year. A few months after we moved to Washington my father was very ill and hospitalized. By us being up in Washington, I was able to be there for him and to support my family. If we were on our way to Indonesia, I would not have been able to be there to support them and be strong for them. My brothers both are dating very wonderful ladies. If we were going to Indonesia right now, I would have not been able to get to know them both better. We have never been able to visit with Eric's sister much because she lived in Washington. Now we live about 30 minutes away from her and even though we haven't had the opportunity to visit as much as we'd like, I look forward to changing that this year. Right now I am pregnant and due in August. If we were in Indonesia right now, I would be worried about my level of prenatal care as well as who would do my operation as I would be required to have a c-section there. Instead, I have a wonderful doctor here, have access to the best medicine and have many options for how I want to have my baby delivered. I also have a wonderful support system to take care of my daughter when I do go into labor. If I was in Indonesia right now, I would be very fearful and worried at all the unknowns. 

God knows all the unknowns and plans accordingly. Sometimes it's not what we'd hoped but most times it's better. Lately we've been contemplating some of those unknowns with regards to missions. We still feel in our hearts that we are to go overseas as missionaries, the timing of that is one of the biggest unknowns. This past year we have been questioning each other and God about the details and haven't been given many answers. But every now and then.... God gives us a little direction.

Lately we've been attending a couple of Christian Missionary Alliance churches. It's been refreshing to be among church family that supports local and overseas missions and has a strong strong focus on that in the church. What has amazed me, is the number of missionaries we've met over this past year, not all CMA missionaries too, that know about Mission Aviation Fellowship and tell us about how vital they are to help these missionaries continue the work that they do. We've met people from all over the world and the stories are varied but definitely the same. MAF helps them get to the remote locations they serve, helps resources to get out there and also helps them with the technology they need to keep the mission going. All our time at MAF we had heard this and spoke about this with people, but hearing it from the missionaries themselves was wonderful. It was something we would not have been able to hear had we kept going and were in Indonesia right now. It helped renew our sense of how important MAF is and the work that they do for the Lord overseas. It also helped renew in us a sense of purpose, as we felt before. 

We've been looking at different organizations but none fit us better than MAF. My husband as a pilot/software engineer fits perfectly into MAF as does my skills as a teacher. More and more we believe that we are meant to go overseas still with MAF, it is just that our timing was off. We wanted to sprint into the marathon, and it didn't work. God helped us to pull back, realize what we needed to work on and perfect before we get back into the race. We hope to update you all on a timeline for that very soon. We just recently both realized a timeline that would be perfect, we just need to run it by MAF HQ first to see what they think. We are open to where God will send us, whether that be Indonesia or elsewhere. Wherever the need is, we'll keep an open heart. 

It would be wonderful if you all continued to keep in touch. We know some people have left our Facebook group, "Taking off with the Reeds" because they thought we were out of the game. If that was you, we'd love for you to join back with us. We put our most frequent updates on that page. If you aren't already following our blog, here, we invite you to join us as well. On the right side there should be a few ways to join us whether it be through Google Friend Connect, subscribe via e-mail ...etc. We hope to start keeping people updated in our life as a family and our journey back to missions with Mission Aviation Fellowship. Thanks for your support and prayers, we definitely appreciate them.

Love,

The Reeds

Updates and News :)

Okay, so you didn't think that the last picture post was the one we were talking about on the Facebook site did you? We're  still not quite sure all of what we are going to write in this one, but we're writing it! The goal is to keep this blog updated. We are going to try to post more family related stuff as we do it and ministry stuff as we have updates. So you might see a mix of the two.

Here are some updates on things we're working on:

• Our house in Oregon looks like it's going to sell, Praise God! We're in the final stages so prayer that it continues to go smoothly with no surprises would be very appreciated. This being accomplished will definitely help us move forward in Washington. 
• The house we're renting in Washington seems to be back to "normal" for now. No more crazy mold or fixes that we can see. We're thankful for a place to live and also thankful that we'll be month to month soon to give us more freedom if God brings a place our way. 
• We found a church in Washington that we really like and both of us are working hard to get plugged in with a small group and respective bible studies. Jenna seems to do well at this church too, which is great. 
• Kristine is continuing to do MOPS and is enjoying it. She's also a part of some other local mom's groups and meeting people from all different backgrounds and religions, that's been fun too! 
• Eric is enjoying his job and the challenges that come with it. He seems to get along great with his co-workers and likes the products he's developing. 
• Eric's plane has moved to Paine Field in Everett. This was a great move because it's out of the wet weather and he can safely take it apart without worrying about theft much or losing items. (The last hangar had gravel on the ground...a great surface to lose important small items!)
• We haven't started marriage coaching yet for communication, but figure we'll start that once we get more established in our church, have a stable place to live (no moves), and have a reliable person to watch Jenna during that time. (FYI for those who aren't in the know, we are happy and love each other, so we aren't on the brink of divorce or anything. We just feel we need extra help in the communication department so we can be the best team we can be when we go back to full time ministry)

As far as ministry.... there's been a few people who are worried that we're going to get too "settled" and "comfortable" where we're at and worry that if we get another house that will solidify the deal. Not to worry friends! We mentioned before that we're taking a break from ministry partnership with Mission Aviation Fellowship to seek God's direction and to work on a few things to make us even better prepared for ministry. 

Yes, we're going to look for a house as we're not sure how long this break is going to be. It could be two years it could be five or more. It's much more cost effective to purchase a house at a low market price and put our monthly money towards building equity than giving our money monthly to someone else so they can build equity in their house. We're looking at a place with the mindset that we'll either live in this place for many years, rent it out if we go overseas or sell it. We're not looking for a fixer upper with lots of projects like our last home, we definitely learned our lesson there! But, we are not going to just jump on any house we see. We are praying about it and seeking God's direction in this and essentially, walking by faith because only God knows our future.  

Little by little God allows us a glimpse of His plan and why we were made to take a break from what we were doing and we'd like to share this with you. While we were with MAF and even before when we were thinking of MAF, growing a family weighed heavily on our hearts. Kristine had to have a c-section with Jenna and because of the details of why she needed that c-section, it meant future children would also need to come by c-section. Kristine was worried about how this would look overseas especially not knowing the foreign language there and what would happen with Jenna. We tried to think over and over again about how to plan this out, but as many of you know... you can't just say, "I'm going to get pregnant now" and plan the time, God plans it. She talked with lots of people and we decided just to move forward regardless of the thoughts that were in the back of our mind about it. 

More recently we've felt strongly that one reason God had us delay going overseas, was so that we could complete our family before we go. We didn't need that distraction keeping us from serving whole-heartedly. Many families that are overseas right now are already complete or if they aren't they are able to birth babies naturally and don't have the same fears we did about taking a leap in this regard. How amazing is it that God knew what we needed and helped us? We're trying to get pregnant for a second child now, so prayers are definitely appreciated. We are thinking we might adopt a third child, but aren't sure yet. We're taking things one step at a time. It's just exciting to have this time to grow our family, it's definitely a gift. 

It reminds us constantly of  Jeremiah 29:11, which says, "¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

God has our future all taken care of, we just need to do our job to listen and obey when He speaks, not to ignore it and press on. There are many other reasons we see why God's allowed us to have this time in the states and we know there will be many more reasons that will become apparent to us. We ask that our friends and supporters don't lose hope, just because we aren't overseas yet doesn't mean that God can't use us right here, right now, for His purpose. Keep following our blog and keeping in touch via our facebook page for updates on our journey. 

Thanks for all your prayers! We appreciate them.

In Christ,

Eric, Kristine and Jenna Reed

Pictures!

Lately I've noticed that this blog has had a serious lack of photos! Here's a post to remedy some of that. 

Jenna chasing goats at the Animal Farm this Summer.

We went to the Arlington Air show this year. It was Jenna's first air show and I think she did pretty well. She loved going in the helicopter and watching the airplanes fly. She also decided Mommy should wear a monkey hat. 

This summer is when Jenna started to get really interested in Daddy's airplane too. So Eric took her up for a ride. She wasn't so sure about that part, because she couldn't see out the window. But no tears! So that's a good sign.  

She loves it when Eric reads to her. 

This fall Jenna and I (Kristine) picked a lot of vegetables and fruit. Jenna seemed to like to eat it once she knew where it came from. Who could blame her? :) 

This fall took pictures in the Everett Arboretum. (Pretty sure that's not the actual name) Jenna cooperated for a couple of the shots. :) 

Thankful (written by Kristine)

I know it's a little early to be writing thanksgiving posts, but seriously, we have a lot to be thankful for around here and I think waiting until a silly holiday to do it, well... is silly.

As most of you know, we're in a transition period. Instead of a few months passing, it's felt like a few years! Taking a break from our dreams of serving with Mission Aviation Fellowship to follow the Lord's leading was one of the hardest things to do, yet God's completely confirmed in us that it was the right thing to do. We were treading water with MAF and hoping to find some land, but whatever direction we went, we just stayed in one spot. Once we took a step back, looked at where we were at and listened closely to God, a ship appeared to take us in a different direction.

God's confirmed in us over and over again that taking a break was the right thing to do. He provided Eric with a job that he enjoys, provided us a house to rent and provided mom's groups in the area for me to get involved with right away. On the weekends we worked on the house in Oregon for the most part and Jenna proved to be a great little road trip traveler. Thank the Lord for that! We were fretting about what to do about a Realtor and who to choose and God had a guy call us from a company and offer to sell our house. This was a company we hadn't paid much attention to, but we realized we'd heard their advertising a lot on the radio and had seen their signs around. How amazing that God provided that for us?

We listed our home mid-september and here we are at the end of October and God provided a buyer who is interested in our home! We are in the closing process right now and would love your prayers that things go smoothly. When the e-mail came, we could hardly believe it, but we knew God had a hand in it as He does everything.

Around this same time we feel we've found a church up here that we can call home. It may be confusing to some, because we started going to another church, but God keep nagging us to try this other church that Eric's coworker goes to. So we prayed about it and went in asking God to confirm if this was the place He wants us to be. In the first few minutes we knew God wanted us there. The people were warm and welcoming and understood our desire to be involved in global ministry. Eric is getting plugged in and I've been to a women's event. At that event God spoke in little ways through the women that were there to help confirm in my heart that this is where we are supposed to be regardless of what happens in the future, and that's enormously comforting.

People ask us if we're going to continue with MAF, the answer is that we don't know. Right now we're taking a break for one to two years or more to focus on our walks with God and work on a few things. We know that if it's the Lord's will for us to serve with MAF, we will. If He has another ministry in mind, then we'll serve there. It's our hope and desire to grow so strong in our walks with God that we're open to serving in the moment, wherever He leads us. But things take time.... we want to give God all the time He needs to shape us into who He wants us to be. :)

In the meantime, we're extremely thankful for how He's provided for us and it's showing us that walking by faith is vitally important. A lot of times we want to have things figured out, we need to realize that God's already got things figured out. It's up to us to follow Him wherever He leads.

Where do I fit in? (Written by Kristine)

Lately I've found myself wondering what most everyone wonders from time to time.... where do I fit in? Every time I move to a new place I wonder if this is the place God wants me to be for the long term, or is this just a stop along the journey?

We've been checking out different churches and I've been checking out different mom's groups and bible studies and this question continues to spin in my head, do I fit in here? Should I fit in here? What do I need to do to fit in here? Is changing parts of me really going to make me "fit in" or am I fooling myself?

 I look back on the past few years of my life and I realized I've been trying way way too hard to fit into a culture that I don't fit into. I am not a woman who cares if I have perfect hair or designer clothes, I am happy if my hair is clean and I wear clothes that I like regardless of the label. I am not a hipster, but I love the music most listen to.  I am not a super hippie gal, but I do enjoy helping our family eat healthy. I am not an awesome crafter or decorator, but I do love to sew with what stitches I know and decorate when I get the chance. I am not super mom, but I try my best every day.

I've decided that I am okay with being Kristine. I'm okay with being a person who: loves learning about new technology, who has a million craft projects she wants to do, is kinda okay at the guitar but really just loves to sing with others, tries hard to be a good mom, wants to hike...even though we never get the chance, who enjoys meeting new people and hearing about their lives, loves to cook and longs to travel and learn about other cultures among other things. I'm okay with not being the best or the thinnest or the prettiest one in the room. I'm okay with often being the quietest one in the room, it means I like to listen and get to know others. Yes I am human, and yes I do get my feelings hurt, but I think I've decided to just be me. :)

Out of all the crowds I've been with, I think where I've fit in the most and felt the most at home has been with my missionary friends. My heart still longs to live overseas and to help spread the gospel there. It sounds crazy to people that I've met here, I mean why would I want to give up this culture and everything I own to move my family to an unfamiliar place? I've found over the years that it is in in those countries, that I feel like I fit in the most. Where I feel like I am home. It doesn't make sense to those who "fit in" and feel called to serve in this culture and that's okay.

I know that the Lord gave me the desire to serve overseas for a reason. With everything that's happened in the past year with us getting into MAF yet needing to take a step back, it's been hard to see where God wants our family in the future. Yes, that's been discouraging, but I think it's exactly what I need to rely on His timing even more in my life. I don't have all the answers....heck I don't know ANY of the answers...but I know that God has an even better plan in mind. He gave me the desire to serve overseas for a reason and in His timing that will happen. I just need to be patient, be open and be honest in the mean time to be able to grow. I need to stop trying to figure it out and just live life for God. To be able to be the best person I can be here for God whether I feel I "fit in" or not. The only place I'll ever truly fit in is when I am worshiping my God in Heaven, and I am okay with that. :)

Jennavieve's First Flight -Written by Eric

Jennavieve's first flight in an airplane! I thought it went pretty well, but I couldn't tell what Jenna was thinking. I think from the time the engine started until we were stopped she had kind of a blank stare. She almost looked frightened, but she didn't let out a noise. We had earmuffs on her to protect her hearing and wrapped up her head to make sure they stayed on her, but I think she really didn't know what to make of all the noise anyway. Next time we see how my tighter headset works for her. I think if she can hear my voice she might have a little fun with it.

So now we have to figure out someone to watch Jenna while I take Kristine up again. I haven't taken her up since Jenna was born.

Where did the summer go?

Autumn is officially here, and boy do we feel it in the Pacific Northwest. Almost immediately a switch was turned off and the sun went away, the air became colder and clouds became gray and overcast instead of white and fluffy. This leads us to say, "Where did the summer go?"

Jenna flying at the Children's Museum

Jenna and Eric at the Arlington Air Show

We know we've been kinda quiet over here at "Taking off with the Reeds", but don't let our lack of online presence fool you. We've been here, just extremely busy. As you know, earlier on in the year we decided to take a break from Mission Aviation Fellowship to work on a few things so we'll be more prepared when we return. The minute we took that step back, we felt more at peace and relieved. God began to open doors showing us that this was indeed what we were to do. God provided a job for Eric in Woodinville and a rental house for us to live in near his work. He provided people to help us move as well. Once these things were taken care of in May, we began work on our first major task, getting the Oregon house ready to sell and listed.

Not knowing just how much extra work it would be with a toddler, we had anticipated things to take about a month to a month and a half to finish. Without a toddler, that would be a correct timeline, however with a toddler it ended up doubling. We started work in May and came down nearly every weekend this summer to work on it. We completed work and listed it officially on Monday of this week. While we were working on the house a real estate agent came to us wanting to take on our house to sell it. When we met with them, we agreed completely on their strategy and were thankful God took care of that detail for us. We were thankful during this time for Eric's parents allowing us to stay in their home and for Kristine's (my) parents for watching Jennavieve.

In August we took a weekend off to celebrate our sixth anniversary and Kristine's 30th birthday by going to Canada. Kristine's parents watched Jenna so we could relax and enjoy ourselves. We went to Vancouver Island, visited Victoria and stayed at wonderful restaurant in Nanaimo, B.C. It's definitely a place we want to go back and explore again. We love Canada and are very thankful to live so close to it!

Towards the beginning of September, something unexpected happened at our rental house, which actually wasn't a surprise, so I guess maybe we expected it? Ever since we moved into our rental house, there have been issues. When we first moved in, there was new housing going in behind the house so there were many different construction workers and equipment going down the alley by our home and parking on our property. When we moved in, there was a  smell downstairs that Kristine noticed. It was in the carpet and smelled like mildew. Nothing we tried could solve it, so the owners replaced the carpet. We thought we were done, but the mold/mildew came back in full force and by the beginning of September, we had to move out all our belongings from downstairs to a storage facility so a mold specialist could take care of the house. This is all during the time we were trying to finish our Oregon house and plan Jenna's second birthday party. Crazy Crazy timing eh?

We ended up cancelling Jenna's birthday party with her toddler friends and went to the zoo with Eric's sister Marguerite. It was a great day! Jenna had the opportunity to feed Giraffes and some birds as well as see and pet many animals. We ate at Paseo for lunch and came back home for Jenna to open gifts. She had a good time, and that's all we cared about.

As of today, the work downstairs is finally being completed in this rental house. We have a few months left on the lease, so we've been looking at houses to purchase closer to Eric's work. Of course, our move is entirely dependent on selling the Oregon house, so we'd covet your prayers that the house would sell quickly! If you are interested or know someone that is, here's the link:
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1038-Munkers-Ct-SE-Salem-OR-97317/53023830_zpid/

Another step we had on our agenda was to find a home church. As you can imagine, with us being busy most every Sunday, this was no easy task. After checking out a few churches on the Sundays we had free, we decided to check out a few more. One had ways for Kristine to plug in so for now she's joined a bible study as well as the MOPS group. She feels better to be grounded in a church again. Eric's going to start going to a bible study near his work too. Once we get more settled we hope to start some marriage coaching to help us on communication skills, one thing that we found out we needed to work on while serving with MAF.

But for now, we're taking things one step at a time. We really appreciate those who have stuck with us through this process. We're definitely taking our time and praying throughout this process to seek God's will for our family. We'll update you as we go. If you're not on our Facebook group, request to join. We hope to update there much more frequently.

Thanks again for all your prayers, we appreciate it.

In Christ,
The Reeds

Thoughts on hate (Kristine)

I've been debating for a while to post anything regarding Chick-Fil-A. There's SO much out there. I think it's sad that there's so much hate on both sides of the opinion. It also makes me wonder, do you really know what the CEO's or owners of your favorite organizations believe in? I would bet most people don't and would be shocked as well at most opinions out there in this world. Yet does it stop us from enjoying their products, most times not.

I say stop the hate. Hating someone for believing in something you don't will not change their mind about anything. Yelling at them, taunting them or writing horrible things about them will not make them want to see your point of view. Instead it will make them want to run as far away as possible from it. There's hating on both sides of this issue. I think instead of despising someone for thinking different, it's important to take a step back and actually listen to their side of the story. Give them a listening ear of compassion versus a fist of hate.  Get to know where they are coming from. Get to know their history and maybe try to understand why they have their point of view. It's the better path to understanding and the better path to peace.

As a Christian, I do believe that Jesus befriended and had compassion on many people, whether they agreed with how he taught or not. In Mark 12:30-31 Jesus talked about the two greatest commandments. The first was "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (v 30) "..the second is this, love your neighbor as yourself."  In this country there's a lot of self-love and we get offended VERY easily. Jesus called us to first love God, but to also love each other.

I don't know the head of Chick-Fil-A. I've never eaten their food but I've heard it's rather tasty. I think he does have a right to express his views as everyone else in this country does. How people react to those views is their choice. I think we should start listening before we start swinging our fists or trying to shock each other to believe in what we do. I challenge every one of you reading this to think about how you react and maybe try to listen, if you pray please pray, and have a conversation with either side before immediately hating.

Love,
Kristine Reed