Here We Come!

A1, my husband, and I are leaving for Panama today! There are 8 others on the team. We leave our city, stop in Miami, and then go to Panama City. Once we get to Panama City, we have to drive a few hours to our final destination. 

Please pray for us! 

I am so excited to see all that God is going to do through our team!

Please pray for us!

A2 and A3 will be with my parents and sister-in-law/brother. 

Please pray for them!

Different people have asked if it will be okay for me to go there. Simply put:

He is the one who sends me.

He is the one who will strengthen me to do His work.

Please pray for my physical health!

Domino Effect

We underestimate what God can do through us. We can feel alone and overwhelmed by the culture to do anything for the kingdom. But, God. He can work miracles that can move nations. During our time in Kona, one of the speakers showed us this video to illustrate this point.

What do we need to do? Seek Jesus, stay connected to the Holy Spirit, and move when He asks us to move. We can make a difference for His kingdom.

by smorris123

Unexpected Surprises

 

Last week, this bundle of Hawaiian goodness was delivered to our home. I stepped out to get the mail and almost fell over. I didn't fall for joy (the joy came later), but because of the strategic location the mail carrier had left this box. So thankful that I didn't break anything.

Anyways, memories of Kona flooded my heart...

The person who sent this to us now lives on the mainland, but she had gone to Oahu for a friend's wedding. She was so thoughtful to think of us. It brought back so many blessed memories. God used her thoughtful, generous heart to bring such joy to our hearts!

Thank you, YKL!

This Week Friday

It's time for another round of CT and bone scans. This time, I finally got the courage to ask my oncologist if we could put off the scans another month (so that I could have scans every 4 months instead of every 3 months). Somehow, I haven't felt like the radioactive material, iodine contrast, and radiation have been helping my body. What do you think?

My oncologist said that we could try that after this round of scans. Dr. K told me that certain levels in my blood have been elevating and she doesn't know why. She was concerned because it has been progressive and unexplained. She said that if my scans don't show anything, she might have to order a colonoscopy or enteroscopy. 

She also told me something that I couldn't remember from my first visits with her in 2011. When I first had gone to her office, I had to have some blood work done. That was after returning from Korea with the biopsy results that I did have thyroid and breast cancer. Well, Dr. K told me at my last visit that the initial blood work in 2011 didn't really show signs of cancer. There were certain levels that were a bit above average but they were very minute.

What does this tell me about my cancer? It wants to be different. It wants to go outside of the norms. It is unpredictable. It needs Jesus.

Please pray.

Runaway

On this particular morning, I went to a prayer meeting at church. When I got back home, I looked in the mirror and realized that this was probably what the other pastors' wives had tried not to look at, tried not to laugh at, tried not to make direct eye contact with.

Humidity and my hair don't mix well.

Or could it have been that our prayer meeting had gone to new heights?

*Cricket*Cricket*Cricket*

Kimchi Tears

Did you know that kimchi is considered a superfood? Not just food, but superfood!

World's Healthiest Foods
Kimchi SuperFood for the Flu Season
Kimchi each day keeps the doctor away?

Yesterday, as I was writing a post for this blog, I got a special surprise.

We had run out of this superfood at our home. I had actually been praying about this. Yes, sometimes I do pray for kimchi. And this special delivery came. I told the giver that this was an answer to prayer. Really.

Then, I took the bottle of kimchi and placed it on the floor... and prayed... and cried. God is so good to us. He knows all of our needs: from the smallest to the biggest.

Why am I so faithless at times to believe that He will take care of all of our needs and things that He asks us to do?

Thank You, Jesus.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Our church supports a missionary in the city of Boquete, Panama. For the past few years, we have been sending mission teams to that area.  The team goes and does a mini VBS while my husband speaks to the adults. Last year, they were also able to travel to an Indian village, in the mountains of Panama, to minister to the children/adults in that area. The trek was difficult, four hours of driving (paved and gravel roads) / four hours on horseback, but the team came back so excited to be used by God.

When it came time to prepare for another team to be sent to Panama, my husband and I prayed. As we prayed, we both felt as if God wanted us to go together this year. Side by side. We took that in, and then got caught up with the 35 days of prayer, summer school planning, and vbs.

As time passed, we kept it to the side. There were too many things going on that we needed to take care of. For me, I still had not learned.

Remember Kona? Remember raising the funds to go there within three weeks? Remembering not having to worry and just preparing to go? Just obeying what we felt God had spoken to our hearts?

I put what God had spoken about Panama to the side. The side that is furthest from me. The side that is furthest from God's will.

The worry of finances had squelched the fire that God had started to burn in my heart.

Well, fast forward to last week. I had given up in my heart to go, but I felt myself praying about it again. On Thursday night my husband had to Skype the missionary to talk about last minute details (the team is leaving on the last day of this month). I walked into the room to put away laundry when I heard the missionary strongly urge my husband to bring me to Panama. He gave several reasons why I should go. After their conversation, my husband and I prayed.

Friday night, I slept over at church with the elementary school children. We had a "Sweet Prayer Night." The children learned about prayer and praising Jesus from their hearts. It was such a blessed night. There was freedom to praise and pray.

One of the things that I felt that God was impressing on my heart was to have the children pray for my cancer. So what did I do? I asked them to pray for me! The children lifted up such pure prayers for me. Then, this little girl lifted up two prayers for me that were 1-2 minutes apart:

first prayer: "Please heal Mrs. Monica so that she can go on missions."

second prayer: "Help Mrs. Monica go to Panama."

That Friday morning, I had asked God to give me a sign. Unbeknownst to me, my husband had done the same.

Do we feel like that was a sign? Yes!

Why couldn't have I just obeyed the first time? Why did I waiver? Sometimes, you think that you have come a long way, but then you realize...

Advice: obey the first time God tells you to do something.

Yes, I am a pastor's wife. Yes, I still make daily mistakes. I am human too.

I can't wait to tell you about all that God is going to do in Panama!