No Thank You!

One way I can love my children is by helping them understand Biblical truths: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving" Col. 3:23-24.  Josh and I are intentional about teaching our kiddos to find their identity and worth in Christ alone-not in their accomplishments or praise from men.  Now in teaching this, we must help them recognize the opportunities in which they get to choose to find their worth in Christ.  Do you ever feel like as an adult, we are learning these things over and over?  I certainly do!

I usually don't start out doing something with the thought in mind, "I hope they appreciate this" or "I hope he/she will recognize my hard work". And I wouldn't acknowledge this struggle or realize it on a daily basis.  However, when I am faced with feelings of not being appreciated, or lack words of affirmation,  this weird thing happens inside me and I feel as I am being wronged or hurt.  Why does hurt set in?, I ask myself.  Because my expectations were not reality.  And the reality was that my expectations were not met.  In our missions training, they say this causes a great 'twang' in our emotions- hence, feeling hurt.

This has happened to me many times in my life, I shouldn't be surprised when it still creeps up on me.  So, when an event occurs - the twang sets in.  I need to go process this.  One of my favorite places to do that is at the local gymnasium.  Here is what happened recently - I am on the treadmill, running as fast as I can (sweat it out girl, come on!).  The ipod is blasting music speaking truth into my ears.  Sensing the hurt... I run,  I sweat, run faster, more sweat, run faster.  I feel the stress starting to leave my body through my pores!     ...BOOM!  The Holy Spirit arrives.  ( I am convinced that the Holy Spirit hovers over the second of five treadmills at the gym.  It just happens to be the one I love to run on because it is in front of the open door- no AC in this DR gym! I am beginning to think the Spirit waits for me there on my workout days)  I hear this Holy Spirit influenced thought:  I am not allowing you to receive the recognition you hope to get because you need to live in confidence of WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST.  And you need to be BELIEVE that. The Father gave His Son to die for you- His love is that big!  Because of His Son, you are redeemed and sanctified.  No person on earth can ever love you as much as He does. He is the only one who will not disappoint you. 

Okay.  I think my response to the Lord was something like "do not let that person say 'thank you' or 'I appreciate you'....Father, I want my identity to be
in you alone.  If I do get thanked or shown appreciation, it may cut this trial short and pro-long learning this lesson.  I need to rest in the beautiful reality that I am Your child,  You love me,  & You have redeemed me.  Who I am in Christ- is what matters.

God uses all things to teach us...

I love having 5 children, all of which I learn from daily.  I can learn from the stupid things they do to the truths that they accidentally speak.

Two wonderful moments occurred recently where I found myself asking the question, "how am I like this or how can I learn from this?"

Very recently my 6 and 10 year old sons came running into the room holding their armpits and almost in tears claiming a burning sensation.  I looked and their armpits were bright red,yet scented with the yummy smell of cinnamon sticks.  Naturally I investigate and question them.  They said they wanted to 'smell good', so they sprayed "deodorant" into their pits. ( I wish we owned deodorant that smelled like cinnamon sticks.  But we don't.)  And why the heck are they worried about their armpits smelling good when they are still several years from puberty?.. why not invest interest in brushing your teeth,  I thought? Apparently Naive 1 and Naive 2 listened their 4 year old sister whom offered them the Bath & Body Works room spray-cinnamon scented- as a means of deodorant. Josh and I had a good laugh, mostly at the stupidity in the fact that the boys listened to her,the story teller in the family, of all people! (May I throw out there that little sister disappeared during the investigation)  As I went for a run that day, I wondered how many times I listen to my emotions or the world's opinion or the next best thing and God is thinking...'what on earth are you listening to them for?'  The silliness of the boys experience gave me a picture of what I am capable of doing myself if not grounded in Truth.

The other thing that spoke to me was a note I found typed on our ipad from our 8 year old daughter, Belle.  She is referencing an event in which we had a small fire at our old place in Montellano and the very next day the Lord provided a place that has been a complete blessing for our family.  It read as follows:

We moved to a new house. We also have an upstairs and a big kitchen. Ollie said, he loves his big room.  We have a big yard.  Our old house was little.  In our old house, I (belle) dreamed of having a new house, with a big upstairs and my dream came true!!  Because god made a good choice! By Belle.

"Because God made a good choice!"  "Because God made a good choice!"  Yes, He does.  Its a truth that is easy to forget.  He always makes good choices.  Because He knows the whole picture.  He holds our past, present, and future.  Her  note encouraged my heart to remember that even when I have no clue why events are occurring around me, He knows.  And He has my best interest in hand.  So may I walk with a posture that shows that I trust that my God makes good choices! 

May I ask you two things:

What voices are you listening to today and is it Truth?

Are you trusting in His Sovereignty through the circumstances that occur in life?

~Jen

May 2013 Newsletter

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzxlwqtBq1vAOUQ2UEcxWEduQzQ/edit?usp=sharing

Hey in case you did not recieve the email, check out our latest newsletter above!  We have been very busy!  

For His Glory,
The Menolds

Pilgrim passing through...

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.  Psalm 84:5

We are called to live a life of pilgrimage.  A pilgrim by definition is one who embarks on a quest for something conceived of as sacred.  Psalm 120-134 and Psalm 84 are wonderful examples of pilgrimage.  Several years ago as I read this scripture I remember thinking to myself that I needed to start looking at my life as if a pilgrim here on earth.  I believe this was the Holy Spirit preparing me for what we are doing now and many more quests.  When the opportunity  came for our family to move to the D.R., I remember that word “pilgrimage” coming to my mind.  Two hard years later, I find myself asking God, “move again? A new quest?  I just went through some of the hardest lessons in life and now I am feeling settled finally.  Are you sure, Lord? Now my heart is here! ”.

Yes Jen.  The D.R. is not your home. North Carolina is not your home. Remember you are on a journey and the end of that journey; you will receive your Heavenly home. So hold loosely to the places you go.   Remember you are a pilgrim just passing through. I have something else for you now.  Be patient and trust in Me.

I don’t know where the Lord is moving us to or to what He is moving us to.  I do know that He is faithful and will give us strength as we continue on this pilgrimage.

“They go from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion,” Psalm 84:7.
~ Jen

New Beginings...

Dear Friends,

( Some of you already have recieved this note but we wanted to post this to make sure we didnt miss anyone)

May I begin with the fact that we have been praying about this decision since December. We never imagined that this decision would be so difficult to make.  It has taken 6 months for clarity from God.  The amount of prayer and counsel in coming to this decision has been in great length.  Our hearts have grown to the love the people of the Dominican Republic and the thought of leaving them is heart wrenching.  Yet God has been faithful in answering us and it is abundantly clear that we are to return.  The Lord has made it clear that whatever we are led to in the states, we will have a Kingdom focus.  We are praying about discipleship, church planting, the possibility of career missions or maybe the Lord is going to provide a job that will allow our gifts to be used within the Body of Christ.   We believe the first step of moving in one of these directions is getting back to the states to regroup.   He has directed our steps as Proverbs 3:5-6 states, “trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understandings, acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths”.  We plan on returning in early August for a time of transition and again will have to practice walking in faith to see what the Lord has in store!

We would like ask that all of our partners in ministry will stick with us through November 1, 2013, as our family goes through this time of transition. We will notify you immediately of any decisions or changes. We need additional financial support to get home.  An estimate would be $5,000.  We are praying about attending a program for missionaries leaving the field and this has been recommended to us due to the challenging times we have experienced here.  The program is called DAR (http://www.mti.org/programs/DAR).  We would appreciate your continual prayers during this time of transition as well.

If you have any questions or would like to speak with us, we would love to set up a skype with you.  Please notify us so that we can make that possible.

We look forward to sharing with you what the Lord has done through us because of your partnership.  God has been so faithful and we are excited to share! Thank you for all your love, care, prayers, and support. We appreciate how you have walked through this journey alongside of us.

For His Glory,

The Menold Family

Cabarete, Dominican Republic

Makarios is Growing!

 Since we last blogged an update,  much has occurred here on the field.  In early January, a team of college students from Austin arrived to serve and in late January a dental team came as well.  What a blessing both teams were to the community here.  This year the dental team consisted of 2 dentists, 3 assistants, and a hygentist seeing the students and the families.  It was wonderful to see them bring relief to many dental problems and so wonderful to hear of the amount of decrease in teeth needing to be pulled in our students! Having our students brush their teeth twice a day at school, as well as the yearly free care by this team is beginning to see fruit.  Thank you Dr. Bud Neeley and his team!

 

Josh's sister, Kristi and her husband, Tony were able to visit us for a week in January as well.  This brought with it many smiles!  They ministered to our hearts by their mere presence. We enjoyed taking them into the villages that Makarios mainly works with and fun to witness the locals shout out "F-in-l-ey" as we visited.  And it was especially heart warming to see Finley gravitate towards her friends from the school by greeting them with a hug or kiss in these villages! And I thought popularity was just an American thing!

In February we took our staff to Jarabacoa for Makarios' yearly staff retreat.  Jarabacoa is in the mountains of the D.R. and has many beautiful sights.   Robin and Heather Allen (Missionary Training International)  flew in to minister to the entire staff and to provide missionary care to the American staff.  The retreat consisted of hearing God's Word, community time, reflecting, and ... fun!  The staff had the opportunity to horse back ride or white water raft.  For many of our local staff, this was the first time to travel from their home town and the first time to do one of these activities.  Our kids were too young to raft, so I took them on the horses and Josh rode the rapids!  Got to love the D.R.-  the 'guides' threw my 3 older children (whom have NEVER been on a horse in their lives) on these (half dead looking) horses... and never said one word to them. The guides took off.  And my 3 inexperienced  un-helmet-ed children rode off too...on their own horse.  Yikes! We rode horses through the beautiful mountainous area to a breath-taking waterfall.  I was a bit worried for the kids safety, and especially worried when I saw my boys smacking the rear of their horse with a stick.  I just repeated that 'God is sovereign' in my head.  And He is!

 

Recently, Josh hired Benjamin Nunez, who grew up as a sponsored child in the Compassion International program.  Benjamin then went on to the Compassion International college and leadership programs and graduates March 18th and has invited Josh to be there which is really exciting to be a part of.  Benjamin is a leader in the church we call home here, Templo Biblico.  It is a complete blessing to see how Josh's prayer of being able to pass on all that he is doing to local Dominicans is coming to life so fast.  Benjamin is gifted by God for this role and is training to fill the Director role here in Montellano.  Makarios also has hired Emmanual "Chorro" Frica who is our maintenance or facilities manager.  He is only just a graduate of high school but is doing a great job managing projects and doing all that is needed to keep the school in shape and running as well as the Makarios House.  Andy Upton previously had this role, and went back to the US in December after serving here for 3 years.  It is just exciting to see God raising Dominican leaders to carry forth the vision of Makarios.  Benjamin has already proven his ability and accomplished so much with Josh. Oh and we must mention our recently promoted librarian, Narolin who is training to help with the accounting and is already doing a great job.  We praise God for how he is bringing all this together in His sovereignty.

Benjamin on the left and Choro on the right in front of the site where we are putting in a well for the school!

This month, Alex Torres came and observed our teachers and trained them and equipped them to be better educators.  We have already seen blessings in the classrooms from his visit!  Makarios will also be hosting a group of around 45 that will come from Hill Country Christian Academy tonight-March 8th.  They will be serving at the school and in our neighboring communities.  We are excited for when we hosted this group last year, we made friends that are coming back to home school our children for that week and offer free babysitting so we can grab a night out minus 5 kids.  The Lord provides relief in wonderful ways.

Satisfaction

What does this mean to you...Satisfied?

Are you satisfied?

I (Jen) want to share with you what the Lord has reminded me of in my own heart recently.  In the midst of a waterline breaking and having no running water for about 9 hours the Lord was speaking ( amazing if we 'be still' and listen in the moments of chaos ). I heard something like this:

 Are you satisfied with Me?  Of course, Lord! What about when there is no water? Oh...  Because I AM your living water (John 7:37).  Are you satisfied with Me when the kids are all in chaos? But Lord, it's been one of those days... Because I AM your peace (Is.9:6).  Are you satisfied with me when you are in stress? If this could just get this fixed, then... Because I AM your burden carrier (Mt.11:28-30).  Are you satisfied with me when you have no power? Try brushing 5 kids teeth and washing dishes in the pitch black... Because I AM full of power! (Ps. 147:5)  Are you satisfied with me when your house is 1100 square feet and 7 people crowd it daily?  Are you satisfied with me when conflict arises in the Body of Christ? Are you satisfied in Me all day long? Ummm, what would that look like Lord?

If I am honest and dig into the depths of my heart, most of the time, I can say no.  IF I was satisfied with Christ every day, every hour, every minute... then why do I fret when my plan is thwarted? Why do I need to feel accomplished?  Why do I compare? Why do I think this or that will make life better? Why does that person irritate me?  Why do I get upset when my born sinner children sin?  Why do I really join that group or league?  Why do I have fears? Why this...  why that?  If Christ satisfies me completely, I would not do the things I do, say the things I say, or think the things I think.

Therefore, I am aware of my lack in complete satisfaction in Christ at all times and pray that the Spirit will transform my heart in this.  Can you imagine being satisfied in Christ alone and what our lives would look like through complete satisfaction in Him?

May we be the Body of Christ that allows our lives to be transformed so that our satisfaction and joy is found in the One who gave Himself for us.