The Ultimate Blog Party 2011!

Welcome those of you who are joining us from the Ultimate Blog Party 2011! For those of you who don't know what this is, click on the button above to check it out. It's a great way to get to know other people in the blog realm and get exposure for your blog! Now for those who are new to this blog, let us introduce ourselves.....

We are the Reeds (Eric, Kristine and Baby Jennavieve) and we feel called to become foreign missionaries for Christ. Specifically we'd love to use our skills as a pilot (Eric) and a teacher (Kristine) to serve others for Christ. Right now we are prepping for a technical evaluation with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) April 18-29th. That's right...in two weeks! Through this evaluation we'll find out whether they'd like us to serve with their mission agency. We've been working specifically towards this goal for the past five years so it's a huge time in our lives. :) We'd love it if you'd pray for God's will regarding this. We place it entirely in HIS hands.

I'm sure you'd love to know more about us! Well you now know that Kristine has a teaching degree and Eric has his pilot's license. (Above photo was taken while Kristine was pregnant.) On September 12, 2010 we had a baby girl named Jennavieve Elizabeth. You can read about it on our family blog This Little Life in Mine! She's got a great personality and is quite adventurous. Which should serve her well if God wills for us to serve overseas! Right now Kristine is a stay-at-home momma and Eric works full time as a software engineer for an aviation gps company. :) Here are some pictures of our little love:

Over the years God's allowed Kristine to take a few mission trips. She's been to Esperanza, BC, San Francisco's tenderloin district and Nicaragua to name a few. Eric was able to go to Mexico with a church youth group and serve there. We both had the opportunity to go to check out what Mission Aviation Fellowship does in Quito and Shell Ecuador. It was a great trip and helped solidify our desire to serve with them. Here are some pictures of our trips:

In case some of you are unfamiliar with MAF, they use aviation and technology to reach people for Christ. For example, when the disaster struck in Haiti, they were already there in the country. They were able to set up satellite communications, evacuate people in remote areas, do air ambulance work, fly supplies into remote areas and also fly humanitarian crews in to help some of the worst struck areas. You can read more about MAF's vital role serving Christ in Haiti on their website here. They provide a vital service in many countries this way.

Imagine you were injured in the middle of the jungle. Your choices are riding in a canoe up a river for several days, trekking through a dangerous jungle for multiple days or you could take a short flight to a hospital. Which would you choose? Right...unless you were delirious... the airplane choice sounds the best! :) But...how would you let the airplane know you wanted them to come? Well MAF solves this too by helped to establish satellite communications in remote areas so missionaries and aid workers can communicate with the outside world. Amazing eh? You can probably see why we want to join this agency to continue this important work. MAF does this and much much more. Please check them out at their website at http://www.maf.org/home .

Hmmm....what else can we add here for fun? Kristine LOVES to cook so maybe a recipe? Here's one of her go-to recipes found on Allrecipes.com. Photo by Manda taken off the Allrecipes.com site.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 (10 ounce) can chunk chicken
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained

Directions

1. Open the cans of corn, chicken broth, chunk chicken, black beans, and diced tomatoes with green chilies. Pour everything into a large saucepan or stock pot. Simmer over medium heat until chicken is heated through.

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See it's super easy! She loves making lots of recipes but these days because of the little one it's hard to find time to make the detailed ones. We invite you to check out the recipe above. Kristine didn't create the recipe, but she uses it a lot.

Finally, what would our blog be without a bible verse to send you on your way! Here's a little encouragement: Philippians 4:19 "..and my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus. "

How wonderful it is to have a God that knows what we are going through and will help us out in His own way and in His own timing? It's fabulous! No matter how tough it gets, God is there for us. Praise God for that! If you are interested, we'd love for you to follow our journey! On the left you can click to follow via Google Friend Connect, Networked Blogs or Subscribe via blogger. Also you can add our button to your blog too if you like us a lot! :)

Blessings to you and yours,

Eric, Kristine and Jennavieve Reed

Welcome Wednesday

We are participating in Welcome Wednesday! It's a great way to gain more exposure to your blog and to check out new blogs!

For those who are new, Welcome! We are working towards becoming a missionaries with Mission Aviation Fellowship! This blog is mainly about that! If you have questions feel free to ask!

We invite you to follow our blog via Networked Blogs on Facebook or Google Friend connect! They are on the left of this blog! We'll try to follow you back. :)

Blessings,

Eric, Kristine and Jennavieve Reed

WHEN not IF

While doing my bible study this morning God brought the verse Mark 9:23 to me, '"If you can?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for one who believes."'

It's amazing how God just brings the right verse into focus at the exact moment we need it. For those unfamiliar with the context of this verse there was a man who had a boy who was possessed by a demon. The boy had seizures it sounds like since birth, he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, gets thrown to the ground and becomes rigid. The man wanted the disciples to drive the demon out (heal the boy) but they could not and he didn't understand why. The man was talking to Jesus about the boy and said, "If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." Jesus responded: '"If you can?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for one who believes."' The man then responded that he did believe and Jesus drove out the demon. When the disciples asked Jesus later why they couldn't drive out the demon, He said this type could only be driven out by prayer.

So how does this relate to us? I've been saying the word "If" more often then I can remember with regards to missionary work. I've felt called to go overseas and work as a missionary for a long long time and the "If" word continues to float around: "If God allows us." "If it's His will", "If we are able", "If we get these things done". As you can see...there are a lot of Ifs in there. Instead of just writing IF, I need to start writing WHEN. God is all powerful and has a plan for us. We are unsure of the exact plan, but instead of writing IF all the time, we need to have faith and replace it with WHEN. That sounds like a simple change, but that simple change brings along with it a great mindset of belief. It's not a matter of IF something is going to happen, but WHEN.

The other part of that passage that struck me was the part about prayer. Sometimes there are obstacles in our way that we cannot see. We think that we can do things apart from Christ to change it ourselves. But, there is power in prayer. We need to get on our knees and ask God for what we need. Ask God to take away obstacles and to show us where we should go. Sometimes those obstacles can only be removed by prayer. I think we forget that often. It's good to remember!

So with stronger faith in our hearts we are continuing to pray more frequently and change our mindset from the "If" to the "When" mindset. When God allows us on the mission field. When God provides for us. When God brings along relationships. When God works in our lives. No more if words, it's time to believe. :)

Okay my baby is up. I might elaborate this more later...but duty calls!

Blessings,

Kristine Reed

God can use tragedy to teach us

"If you've walked with God for very long, I have little doubt that He has used what you perceived as very negative means to achieve a positive result"- Beth Moore

I read this nugget of information this morning in my bible study and it simply is too true. It also helps us to understand when horrible things happen, that God could be using those things to help push us closer towards Him. What refreshing news. Seriously. I've seen it happen in my own life many many times.

With God, things are both predictable and unpredictable. You can be certain that God is always going to be there. That God always wants you to pray and to stay in His word. You can be certain that God wants you to look at the best in others, even though it's tempting to just see the worst.

In my bible study this morning it took a look at Peter and John and how God called them to Samaria. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Peter and John are Jews. Jews of that time hated Samaritans. They have a HUGE prejudice against them and basically feel they are the scum of the earth. To be called to go there and the preach the Gospel and to accept them into their own fold seemed unthinkable. Yet, God called them to do it. They obeyed and the Samaritans accepted the Holy Spirit. Think if they didn't obey? What would have happened? The people would have not known not received the Holy Spirit. They would have not received the very Holy fire from which God works in us.

I firmly believe that God has called me and my husband to be missionaries. Where or how, that is His choosing. Could he call us to a place where we wouldn't ever think of going? Yes. Could this place be our Samaria? Yes. Are we called to pick and choose where we'd like to go, where it'd be the most comfortable and convenient? No. We are called to follow Christ, wherever that may lead us. If it leads us to a closed country, we'll go there. If it leads us to witness to homeless, we'll go there. If it leads us to a place where we thought we'd never go, we'll go there.

The important thing to remember is that in these places, we are not alone. Yes God could call us to a scary place or neighborhood, but we are not alone. We have Christ. We have the Holy Spirit living within us. I've seen time and time again how God has protected me wherever he's called me. I was called to serve the homeless in San Francisco's darkest neighborhood for a little while one summer. I spoke with drug addicts, prostitutes, drug dealers and I do believe a gang member or two.

Were these conditions safe? No. Were they comfortable? No. Was I safe? Yes. Was I comfortable? I didn't really think of comfort. When I was with those people, my thoughts were solely on Christ and on serving Him. Christ protected me AND gave me the words to say to those who were hurting. As long as I trusted Him, I was safe. When I let my mind wander and let my fear set in and stopped trusting, that was the moment I felt unsafe. I had to pray and reign in that fear, rebuke it even, to feel safe and secure again. Life outside of Christ is scary, I much prefer life with Christ.

But you can see how God can use our fears, our prejudices to really work miracles through us. To speak to others and heal by the power of the Holy Spirit using us. We just have to be willing to be used and to give up our fears.

So what does this have to do with the quote up above? Everything. God can use anyone and any circumstances for His glory. We just have to continue to walk in the light of grace to be willing to see that when the going gets tough, the tough don't get going away, they get on their knees and pray for the endurance to carry on and to see what God is teaching them through the hard times. That's definitely something to remember and to pray about!

For me, one of the hardest times in my life was losing my first precious little one. I was so elated and excited to be pregnant. It's something I'd dreamed about for a long time. I'd even gathered some baby items years prior to this because I knew God would allow me to be pregnant someday. We went to Idaho and served at an aviation camp and I led worship. We went to Hawaii and go to see our dear friends. Life was going great! I got to see my little one's heart beating on the ultrasound and was elated at the new life. Then, tragedy happened and my little one was no more. God took him/her up to heaven. I was devastated. Devastated. Why would God take away my child? Why would this dream end so soon?

I realized that even though I was devastated, to understand the reasoning, I needed to turn to Christ EVEN MORE, not turn away. God led me to talk with others who had also had this happen to them. God led me to council THEM and by that helped heal me of my own tragedy. I couldn't have done this had I been pregnant. Later on in that year God finally allowed me to become a teacher for a short time. If I was pregnant, I wouldn't have ever lived that dream. While I still dream about seeing that little one in heaven and wondering what life would be like had he/she lived on, I praise God for allowing it to happen to me so that I could reach more people for Him. Now I have a beautiful little girl, so God did fulfill that promise of life. It was just in HIS timing, not mine.

I want to encourage those of you who read this blog to think about times in your life where you had the most sorrow, the most pain, and think about what God was teaching you in those times. Did you allow God to grow you? Did you allow God to teach you something from that experience? Did God have you go through that experience so that He could use you to help others who were also going through that experience? I hope so.

Love in Christ,

Kristine

2 Corinthians 5:16-17.

We choose to fight!

1 Timothy 6:11-12

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Paul wrote a letter to Timothy to encourage him to flee away from false teaching and the love of money (amongst other things earlier in the letter). Even though these words were written centuries ago, God still uses them today to encourage the rest of us to continue on. Human nature hasn't changed much since those days. People are still greedy when it comes to possessions, money and trying to figure out life apart from Christ.

Why are we writing about this? As we get closer to the Technical Evaluation date for Mission Aviation Fellowship and start to whittle down our bible classes, medical checks, flight prep requirements and everything else that needs to get done; other things are popping up to try to discourage us from our calling and moving forward. Which is to be expected because the closer you get and the further you get to serving God, the enemy will fight THAT MUCH harder to discourage you and try to get you not to serve.

So... after being discouraged for a few days and questioning everything, we choose to fight. We believe that God has called us to use our abilities in aviation/computers and teaching in some arena for Him. Right now we are pursuing missions because we both feel this is the direction God is calling our family. We are content whatever the outcome of the tech eval because we know that if God tells us that MAF is not the route to go, we'll pray and search out where he wants us to use our talents. Just because He closes a door, doesn't mean he can't open others. We just faithfully fight for what we feel called to do and press on (See Phillipians 3:14) towards Christ no matter what things come our way that try to discourage us so that Christ be glorified through our faith.

We encourage all of you to keep fighting the good fight for what you feel called to do no matter what the enemy throws at you. Nothing is more important that serving Christ. Nothing. Reminds us of a saying we hear moms say from time to time,"I put you in this world, I can take you out!" While this is said in jest, it's really true when you think about it from Christ's angle. God brought us into this world, He can and will take us out. When that happens is determined by Him. So in the mean time it's very important to seek God and to follow Him with all your heart.(see Matthew 6:33) Things of the world will try to distract you, but if you follow Christ...things will fall into place according to His plan for your life.

That is what we are trying to do. It's easy to get distracted by money and other things. Instead of focusing on those unknown questions of the future, we focus on what we do know... Christ. If we focus on Christ then the rest of it will come into place in HIS timing, not ours. We just have to be obedient to listen and follow where He leads.