Changing Mindset (Kristine)

I had a radical thought the other day, well maybe it wasn't so radical to most of you, but it sure was a perspective changing thought. For years now I've been actively seeking out God's will for my life. Wondering, pondering, dreaming about what His plan for me is. I've looked online at different ministries that seemed awesome and gotten involved in many different ministries. All the while I've been looking forward to the future rather than stopping and looking at the present.

As I was driving down the road thinking about my life it hit me, God desires us to serve Him where we are as who He made us to be. Yes, it's good to train for future ministry, but we can't lose sight at the ministry opportunities right around us. I was so focused at finding a church and finding a place to serve that I never realized I could serve just by being me. Simple thought, yet it's so hard to do sometimes. I can serve by how I interact with my neighbors and friends. How I interact with that homeless person or how I react when someone hurts me. I can serve by helping others in their time of need and showing people the love of Jesus but how I live. THAT is serving. It doesn't need a label as "women's ministry" or "children's ministry" or "homeless ministry", it's actively living for Christ and ministering as you live out your life. It's perhaps the hardest ministry around because you have to actively be thinking about where God is presenting opportunities for you to serve Him and mustering up the courage and strength to stick your neck out in faith and do it.

I am going to strive to be more purposeful in my friendships and my interactions with others. To build friendships and relationships to be able to talk with people and hear their heart stories. To be a better mom for my daughter and a better wife for my husband and really focus on what example I am setting for THEM at home. Family is perhaps the most important ministry of all and sometimes we get so outward focused we lose sight of that.

I still hope that God will allow us to serve overseas with Mission Aviation Fellowship, but I don't want to let my desire to serve overseas shadow the work God is wanting to do through me here. We're getting closer to finding a church to be a part of and a community group to join and it's exciting to be a part of a community of believers again. We'd love prayer for our home in Oregon to get completed (we're almost done) and sold soon so we can move forward up here. God is gracious and we are thankful He still works in us.

Washington Residents

We're officially residents of Washington state. I know this may not seem like a big deal, but for me (Kristine) it's nice to be back "home". Right now I am trying to navigate life as a stay at home Momma to a toddler while Eric works full time. It's definitely not easy, especially since this is my first born child. I barely get time to blog let alone research everything I am supposed to do to prepare her. Fortunately for me, she's one bright little lady and somehow, by the grace of God, she's learning things. 

She can identify animals, letters, body parts (head, eyes, nose, knees...), loves to color, loves to read and is a whiz with electronics...all at 20 months.  The teacher in me wants a curriculum to follow, some way to navigate our days so that the mornings aren't spent watching Sesame Street and the afternoons aren't spent with ample toys on the floor with no direction. I'm working on it, but sometimes she's quicker, heck most times she's quicker than me. I think that's the hard part about being a stay at home momma, you don't have time to research what you are supposed to do, you just do it. 

On a different note, we're making progress on the house in Oregon. After painting the past couple of weekends I definitely realize why people have painting parties. Painting takes FOREVER. Seriously. I feel like I barely accomplished anything when I painted for six hours. But we're pressing forward. We are really hoping to list it most likely by the end of June, if not sooner. It's just hard to work on things when you only have the weekends. 

It's been interesting watching and praying for those that were in the same class with us at MAF continue on with  building their ministry teams and getting closer to going overseas. We think about how we could have been at that point too, and get a little sad sometimes, but then remember that God has a plan for us. We have not a clue what it is, but we're trying to seek Him to figure it out. We hope it's still eventually going overseas with MAF, and we're working towards that still, but we're trying to be open in case God wants us elsewhere more. 

It reminds me of something I heard in regards to finding your "soul mate". A lot of us feel there is only one match out there for us. Like one person in the universe that would work well with our personality, and that person is who we are to marry and somehow we have to find them. No other person will do. In reality, there are many people that would work well with us, it's finding the person that fits best. I feel this is the same with ministry. There are many ministries that we may fit us well, but it's finding the specific ministry that fits us best so that we can continue to carry out God's purpose for our lives, that's the goal. 

We hope to update this blog frequently with family happenings as well as ministry stuff. So keep on checking back! We just get little spurts to be able to update here and there. Hopefully soon we will have a few pictures. Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers, we do appreciate them! 

Love,

The Reeds

Moving Onward....

God sure has a way of waking us up to the fact that HE is the one in charge and it's HIS plan that matters, not our own. This past few months have been a major transition for us. We go from being almost certain what God has in mind for our future, to have it completely turned upside down and sideways in a different direction. We don't know whether this direction is merely a loop back to the original trail or is a different path all together, time will tell. 

All I (Kristine) can say is that this is where we are supposed to be for this moment and this day in time. We've both felt such a peace about being up here. Eric is enjoying his work and I've already found a few mom's groups via meetup to hang out with. There are several people in the area that we know, many from when I lived in Washington before, but also Eric's sister is close to us as well. Previous to this we only got to see her maybe once or twice a year. 

We are continuing to work on the things we need to accomplish to feel ready for MAF again. Right now our priority is getting our Oregon home on the market and sold. So on weekends we head down there to work on it. We're making progress, but it might take a few more weekends of driving down there. After it's listed then we can finally start to find a church around our Washington home. Then we'll work on other things once that is taken care of.

One thing we have learned is that this is a process. There is no clear cut path to the finish. While it would have been nice for it to be that way, that's not how God intended it to be. I can already see how our experience with MAF has helped me tremendously to be more outgoing. I've already met a few of our neighbors, as I mentioned before I joined a few mom's groups and I am being more forward in talking to moms on the playground. Does this sound like me? I guess it's the new me. The one God is transforming, pretty cool eh? It's not without prayer let me tell ya! 

I need to go watch a show before Jenna wakes from her nap. If I can get on tonight I hope to post pictures of our place and other pictures from our time here. Our main laptop is down again, which is why I haven't posted any photos from my actual camera. Although, my phone camera is pretty cool. :) 

April Update!

Sorry for taking so long to update the blog. We've been and continue to be busy but we wanted to keep you updated on our progress. Here's the short of it, we will fill in the details later.

• Eric got a job as a software engineer at a company in Washington. 
• We found a place to rent in Everett, Washington only about 30 minutes from Eric's work. 
• We are moving May 5th from Oregon to Washington.
• After we move, we will continue to come back to Oregon on the weekends to fix up the house.
• Once we fix the house up, we plan on selling it. 
• Once we're settled, and get all the necessary things accomplished (Washington drivers licenses, car license plates....etc) we will start in on working on the things we need to work on before our return to MAF.
• We are continuing to seek God's guidance for what ministry we are supposed to be in (whether it is MAF or something else) during this time and will keep you all updated as we go! 

That's the short of it! We'd love continued prayers for our health and for things to go smoothly in this transition. We have a facebook page for those who have Facebook. Join us! It's located here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/116438811725167/  Check us out!

Thanks again for all your support. We really appreciate it!

Love,

The Reeds

We'd love your prayers! :)

Hello Everyone!
        We are so blessed to know all of you. Everyone has been so positive and encouraging of us during this pause in our ministry with Mission Aviation Fellowship. Right now we're really seeking the Lord to see where He would have us be: Oregon, Washington or ?  We are praying for wisdom and direction on what jobs to apply for and which to continue to pursue. We'd love it if you could join with us in prayer for God's wisdom and provision during this time. We're praying for interviews and job opportunities too.

        Lately Jenna has been having issues sleeping again and a few days ago she had some fever. She's had a cold for a while and some stomach issues, although we're thinking now that the teething monster has reared it's ugly head again;. It's hard to tell because we can't exactly reach into her mouth like when she was younger, the girl bites and she bites hard! But after last nights escapade that cost us all but close to three hours of sleep, We're assuming that's the case. We'd love it if you could pray with us for healing for little Jenna, for wisdom for us as parents on how to help her, and maybe, if the Lord allows, for us to get more than three hours of sleep tonight!

          Thanks again for all your support. We really do appreciate each and every one of you. If you have any questions for us about our journey with MAF and what the future might hold, please feel free. We love you all!

Humbly in Christ,
The Reeds