Shared Prayers

I am so incredibly burdened for several dear families we know, and I wanted to share about them with you so you can join me in prayer for them.  So I'll do just a quick update on all of us today...  The kids and I have been battling sickness this last week but maybe, hopefully we are all on the mend.  I think Bodie grew an inch yesterday -- he just seems so big all of a sudden!!!  As for Erin, after five weeks of preschool, we decided that she is in Kindergarten, so I am restructuring, reorganizing, and replanning!!!  Joe has been crazy, wonderfully busy with ministry stuff.  And, I had my platelets tested today, and we'll have the results back next week, so keep you fingers crossed for me!  Mom got her second cataract surgery performed successfully with no anaphylactic shock (Praise God!);  and Angie continues to do well -- she has some infection in her leg now, but she's doing about the same other than that. :)

The sweetness of the Lord is shown so clearly in these families who need our prayers!  These families who are ministering through adoption and/or the mission field are heavy on my heart.  Will you pray with them with us?

* Friends of ours who are ministering in Pennsylvania are in the process of adopting a little boy from Ethiopia.  They are in the process of fundraising (because adoptions are very expensive) and doing all the paperwork required to "bring him home."  Pray for Joel Peoples, that this process will be smooth and that he'll be able to come home soon. :) 

* Pray also for our friends Heather and Bill who within the past week brought their little boy Samuel home from Korea after a year of the adoption process.  What a wonderful homecoming and gift he is.  Pray for their bonding and adjustment!  He's seven months old, and deliciously adorable!

* Another adoption prayer request - friends of ours who are also adopting from Ethiopia could meet their little guy for the first time any day now, and as you can imagine they are filled with joy and anticipation!  Pray for the Mullins as they prepare to travel and meet their son for the very first time. :)

* Also be in prayer for Jessica Hoover and her husband who will be leaving to Liberia in the next week to begin their mission work there.  We are so excited for them! :)

* Our precious friends the Nilsens have returned to the Dominican Republic after a few months of much needed rest in the States.  They are re-energized and their health has returned after their sabbatical,  and we are so very excited to see how the Lord will use them as they return to the work the Lord has called them to.

Thanks for joining us in prayer!  :)

God is Good

                       My handsome little man after I cut his hair!  His first haircut! :)

                         The four of us hiking up Sandia in Albuquerque, NM.

Have you ever experienced moments, days, weeks, years when the powerful presence of the Lord and His work around you was unmistakable?  When each time you turn, each place you explore, every person you talk to, every road you cross is filled with promises and protection of the Lord and His handiwork?  Our weeks have been full of Him.

Last week, we began receiving little gifts from people from our church.  It started with a card with some goodies in it;  then the next day a family brought us a gift;  the next day more goodies from another family...  Joe and I started putting it all together and realized it is Pastor's Appreciation Month and our church has adopted us for every day of the month!!!  We find ourselves feeling like little kids at Christmas, wondering what the day will bring. :) Our church is so wonderful!  What a gift from God!

Then we got to see the Lord at work with my mom. She had an anaphylactic reaction to the eye drops that were prescribed before her second cataract surgery -- you know, the whole NOT ABLE TO BREATHE THING.  My grandma "happened" to swing by Mom's house at that exact moment and was able to help her to the emergency room just before mom's situation became life-taking.  She had a pretty scary week after that, but she was able to have her second cataract surgery yesterday (with different antibiotic drops!) and she is doing well.  She is so resilient;  God is so faithful.  He makes no mistake.  My smile for the day:  yesterday when Erin and Bodie and I were almost ready to drive back to Perryton after leaving Mom's,  Erin told me that I was "cooler than camouflage."  I said, "That's so sweet, Erin.  What's camouflage?"  She responded, "I think it's some kind of food." :) 

We took some much needed "time away" last weekend, too.  Joe, Erin, Bodie, and I drove to Albuquerque, NM for the Hot-Air Balloon Fiesta and were awed at the surreal emotion we experienced as all the balloons inflated and lifted into the air -- amazing.  Even now when you say "balloon," Bodie looks up into the sky to see what he can see!  We explored a great science and learning museum geared for children called Explora, went to the zoo, aquarium, and botanical gardens, met up with some precious friends, swam at the hotel, hiked a trail up Sandia, and enjoyed some great Mexican food. :)  Funny story --  As we toured the zoo and were excited about each animal we saw, Erin would say, "Oh, Mom, look!  A ZEBRA!!!"  or something similar.  Bodie simultaneously searched the exhibit and would yell, "BALL!!!!  Ball-ball-ball-ball-BALL!!!"  :) We returned refreshed and excited.  Great trip -- thanks, God! :)

Then, Dad's shop was broken into.  Things were taken from two of the vehicles, one of which was Dad's pickup.  It was upsetting to them, to say the least, and Dad said it felt like he had been personally violated.  A thief going through your things -- not knowing what he/they saw, touched, took, said, etc. as they were rummaging through my dad's things.  I can see why Dad is so upset.  The last I heard, the police had suspicions and leads but we haven't heard anything definitive.  Our Protector God at work for Dad...  :)

And, I could stand it no longer...  I gave Bodie his first haircut this week. :)  He looks like a little boy.  I didn't cut it too short, though, and he still has some curls in the back.  Such a handsome little guy!  MUCH better! ;)

Pray for me in the coming week.  Since I am no longer working (out of the home) we have been trying to add me to Joe's insurance and they have declined me twice.  We've appealed it, and the insurance company wrote back saying that they'd further consider our appeal if current blood work revealed a normal platelet count.  I need your prayers that my body would be a platelet-making machine in the next week before my blood work is done. :)  And that our insurance will approve.  God cares about the details...

Look around; take a minute to notice.  I hope you see it, too -- God is at work around you, in you, and through you, too!  He loves you.  He cares about the details in your life.

So do we. :)

Good

Today is my precious Mom's birthday -- what an amazing blessing she's been in my life.  She's been a compass, an anchor, and one who has "taught me to fly."  She entered motherhood when she was very young, parented three young children alone while Dad was away in the Army, and stayed at home with us even though she and Dad could have certainly used some extra income.  She never took a parenting course, but she knew to set firm boundaries with us and held us to a high standard. She never pretended to have all the answers, but she also didn't let us pretend that we had them either!  She certainly defied all the odds in her life and been an example of God's faithfulness.  God brings good to those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.

Tomorrow is Dad's birthday as well!  I guess Dad got the better deal with birthdays because no one ever forgot his since it was the day after Mom's!  My Dad is strong, both physically and emotionally, and it was always his arms I ran to when I was hurting.  He worked hard his entire life to provide for Mom and us and was extremely generous, not just to us but to anyone in need.  He has taught me to run to the arms of my Heavenly Father when I am hurting and that my Father is constantly at work in my life.  Things weren't always easy, but he was always there.  God brings good to those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.

Thirty-six years ago this month, Joe's dad died.  I often wonder how his life would have been had his dad lived... The Lord teaches us so many things through our trials and difficulties.  Joe had to learn early on not to rely on an earthly father to fill his needs.  His family learned together how to cling to what matters most and to walk into the unknown without fear.  They learned that "stuff" doesn't matter nearly as much as people do.  They learned that God is faithful to provide all our needs in Christ Jesus. Their loss cultivated great strengths in their lives because in their weakness, God was strong.  God brings good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes.

It has been five months since Joe's mom was told that her cancer is terminal.  On that day, she told her children that it was going to be okay, and that she was not afraid;  if the Lord chose to take her Home, she was ready to go and okay with His will.  She began making preparations and getting her "affairs in order," so to speak, and has encouraged all of us through this process.  She shares untapped amounts of wisdom, sweet and precious stories of her life, and enormous pride and accomplishment in what the Lord has done in those she will leave behind.  God brings good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes.

No matter where you are in your life, I hope you are encouraged that as Romans 8:28 says, "All things work together for good to them that love God (and are) called according to His purpose."  Sometimes the circumstances in our lives are hard to understand.  Sometimes the burdens we carry are extremely difficult to bear.  He is with us.  He never forsakes us.  He is at work in us.  He brings us GOOD.  Blessings to you from the Stepps.