Joys of Parenting.

I love my kids. I would do anything in this world for my kids. But I will never put together another swing set for my kids. The problem is the instructions. (Yes, I used them) They don't write out what you are supposed to do, they draw very small confusing pictures for you to stare at and get confused by. Now that it is put together, I am very proud of my efforts and the smiles on the kids faces as they swing and slide are worth it. But I swear that swingsets have more nuts and bolts than the local hardware store. The swingset was going to be their Christmas present but grandmas and grandpas decided that the kids should have it for the entire summer in order to get the best use out of it. (probably true). We are very grateful for their "donation" and will spend many hours in the backyard I am sure. Summer continues to gradually move in and it is supposed to get warmer by three degrees each day this week for a fine day of 27 degrees (81 F) for our family picnic day this Saturday. Tonight is halloween so maybe we will be able to meet a few people from the area as they knock on our door for lollies.

I also wanted to share with you the quote of the week. We were driving in the car the other day and Makayla says from the backseat the following as she was looking at a small cut she had on her ankle... "Mum, I ripped the stuff that keeps the blood in". Hope that makes you chuckle, have a great day, Chris.

On the Mark...!

The moments before a race can be the most exciting. When I ran on the track team in high school, I can remember the moments before the race. Everyone lined up on the start line, preparing for the gun. Heart pounding, blood flowing anticipation of what is coming. That is sort of the way our ministry feels right now. We are slowly making the transition into summer and with that comes a lot of activities for the church. Family picnics & BBQs, school holiday, Christmas and church camping trips. I am so excited about the potential that our church has for reaching into the community this summer and can't wait to see what the Lord does through all of the people in our church. We are also beginning "40 Days of Purpose" in the month of November. Thank you to the Community Wesleyan Church in Baldwinsville NY for the materials for this. Remember the Landsdale Community Wesleyan Methodist Church in your prayers as we get ready to "take off" on this summer run. (There is a link to our church web page on the sidebar if you wish to keep up on what is happening)

Last Thursday we loaded the car up with the tent, blankets, cooler and the kids and headed two hours south to check out the caravan park where we are taking our church this year for our summer camp. Not only did we want to check out the park, we wanted to get an idea of what there is to do in the area so that we can plan family activities that we can do together. We had a great time as a pastoral team and are very excited about the camp over New Years long weekend. Dawson and Makayla had an awesome time camping and they definitely enjoy sleeping in a tent more than their father.

Sunday evening, we finished up our "wonders of the world" series. We looked at several different wonders, like... "I wonder... where did we come from, what are we here for, what happens when we die, what is the difference between heaven and hell, does Satan really exist, do angels exist, do miracles happen?" It was a good series and it brought up a lot of questions and sparked some great conversation between me and others, and also between others and themselves. Keep praying for the few that still have unanswered "wonders".

Keep looking here for pictures of all of the church activities coming up. God is preparing for something great, lets keep our hearts and minds open to His plan. Ready, set, GO!

The Joys of Moving!

For all of you faithful followers of this blog, we are still alive. When you move to a new house there is a certain amount of time that you have to wait for the "companies" that run pretty much everything to hook things up. We finally have internet, even though it is dial-up and very slow. (apparently there is something with the phone lines to this house that won't allow it to have adsl active, long story with long phone calls). But at least we are connected to the rest of the world now. We are loving our extra space and our view of the lake. It has allowed us to be a "drop in" spot for some of our teens that get off the bus in front of our house and walk home. God is truly good in providing this house for us and we are seeing the benefits/ blessings with it already.

Last Saturday, we had several from our church over to our house for the Grand Final. Aussie Rules Football had it's "super bowl" last week and we used the church projector to make the game huge. It was a great time together and gave me an opportunity to use my "new" grill for the first time this summer. (I took the grill from the roadside, some guy had gotten a new one for father's day and was getting rid of it. Free things are wonderful :-)

Summer is starting here so things are beginning to pick up for the church. We have several family bbq days, a bike outing, friend's day, and much more stuff happening. We are planning a living nativity for our Christmas program and are starting to feel the crunch from that. There is much planning to do, and are praying that it will be a great witness.

Face Painting at the Zoo!!!

Things are going very well and we are finally over our colds. The weather is warming up and we are getting very excited, I love this time of the year. Sorry to all of you in the US who are starting to feel the cold. You are always welcome to come visit us in the Southern Hemisphere. That is all for now but we will be sure to update as often as we can. In His Palm, Chris.

We have officially moved out of our older house!
Well, God is good! On thursday last week a mother mentioned to Melissa that the house we were moving into was empty. So, Melissa called the previous renters and found out that they had moved out a day early! This meant we were able to get the keys to the houe on Friday instead of on Monday... (due to the office not being open on the weekends!) So, what was going to be a very tiring move all by ourselvs on Monday turned out to be great! We had three families come help us move on Saturday and all the big stuff from the house was moved by Saturday night at 7:00pm. All we had left was one load on Monday and clean out the old house. But, 7:00pm on Monday we were all moved out, had the house cleaned up and received out bond back. It was great! People in our church can't believe how GOOD, GOD is! He is SO GOOD. This week Chris and I every morning we wake up and feel like we are in a dream. We are in a house that has an extra bedroom, study, and a living room, more than our old house. This extra room makes ALL the difference in the world. The kids now have a place to play while I have people over and am mentoring. We are not sitting in the middle of kids playing anymore! We can now have a Bible study and have room to provide child care at the same time at our house! we had the youth over last night for a movie night at our house, and they had a blast! It has been wonderfull! WE are sooo excited. Also, this new house is not in the shade. So, it is warmer in winter, and it has sunlight all day so you do not have to turn the lights on until the sun goes down. Before we had to have lights on all day in order to see in any of our rooms. So, it has been great. Pray that we unpack into our new house very quickly.

Mentoring!

I am having a wonderful time mentoring a new christian! Her name is Lisa. We have started meeting once a week and are doing a Bible study together on her assurance of being a christian. This week we were learning how the power of God helps us overcome temptation/sin. She is such a joy to partner with. She has a wonderful spirit and a tremendous smile! She is a beautiful person! Here is a picture of Lisa. Please pray for her to grow into a mature woman of God who will love and serve her maker with all her heart!

Makayla Update

About 4:00pm Makayla started to fall apart. She didn't want anyone to touch her, and she hadn't slept since the operation because she was afraid to close her eyes. Chris and I finally convinced her at 8:30 she could close her eyes. So, she is right now in Nana land. Pray that she sleeps like a rock tonight. She is having chills, shakes, and leg cramping. Which are all symptoms of the anaesthesia. so, hopefully she will wake in the morning and be a bit better.They say it takes 18 hours for the stuff to wear off. So, we will see.
Thank you so much for your payers.
Melissa

Also, pray for Dawson. He has an ear infection and a throat infection. We pray that he gets better, but also that he does not get Makayla sick, while her immune system is down.

This fish kept makayla busy the 20 minutes before her surgery. He was really big and Makayla like to watch him swim in and out of the castle etc.
Daddy and Makayla watching the fish. Yes, Makayla got to wear her Dora jammies into surgery. She also got to take her Dora blanket. And, the Anaethetist and the Dentist we're super great at communicating with us and with her. She will actually do practically anything for Dr. Johnson and Dr. Johnston. I know if that isn't confusing... I don't know what is!

Makaylas white spots. Numbing lotion under plastic so she does not

"feel" the IV. It still hurts but, I believe it does help.

Makayla right after she was waking up. She cuddled her baby and slept for a moment. It was really noisy in this room. So, this was about a 1 minute nap. And, then it was just busy and crazy in there until we went home.
Makayla coloring moments before we left.

Surgery completed!

We arrived at the hospital at 7:00am. We went in and Makayla was doing well, a bit nervous. She got a little upset when they put the white dots on her hands. Only because they did this the last time she got an IV. (and she remembered). So, that was a bit upsetting. Then we went in and at 7:20 they gave her chocolate topping which made her a bit woozy (sp?). And, boy was she out of it. She kept insisting on coloring in her coloring book. Except for she really wasn't coloring she was just sitting there staring at the book and her hand wasn't moving. So, Chris asked her if she wanted to color. or just be held. And, she looked straight at Chris and said.... " I AM COLORING SEE!". :) Quite funny. About 8:00. They came in took me and her to surgery where i got to stay until she was asleep. They did put the IV in before she was out. And, actually she was laughing when they put the IV in. So, she was a really good girl. They fixed 13 spots on 7 teeth. They drilled and re filled most of her teeth so, that they would be tough and solid. They completed everything WITHOUT having to crown any of her teeth! (AMEN!) Makayla already had a complex about the holes that were in her teeth. So, crowning was a bit of a worry for Chris and I. Because we were afraid it would upset her. However, the dentist is VERY positive that they have fixed everything and that this is it until her teeth fall out! :) So, we will continue to take care of these and now will stay away from Lollies, juice, toast, etc. All the things that are bad for her, and try to make sure we have no more visits. I did alright during the 90 minutes. It did seem to take forever... It was hard when they came out and said they were done and we had to wait to go see her. It was about 12 minutes,,, but it seemed like HOURS! She was just coming to and we had heard her cry a few times. But, she looked great and was the first child they said they ever had who WANTED to where her oxygen mask after the procedure. Which they say wakes you up very quickly and is very good to breathe in after the surgery. SO, after 2 hours we were on our way home! She is a champ. They say it takes 18 hours for the anaesthesia to really wear off. So, it is laying on the couch and movies and soft foods for the next 48 hours. She has already watched cars, and has a whole list of movies like toy story 1 and toy story 2 and so on. SO, it should go well from here. Thank you to everyone who has prayed! And, to everyone who supported us to have this done! We are TRULY grateful. The doctor said it will be interesting to see if Makayla put on 1-2 kilos after this. She has really been a little bird eater. And, although she likes everything just never eats much at a sitting. So, they said it would be interesting to see if she gets and appetite after this procedure. She has already had 2 bowls of soup! So, we are on our way. Again, thank you to everyone. God bless. Melissa

Makayla's Surgery
Please pray for Makayla on September 4th at 6:45AM (September 3rd 6:45PM USA time) . She will go under general anaesthetic for 90 minutes and then will have recovery time. Her dental surgery will be at a day surgery hospital called south bank in South Perth. Please pray for Dawson as well as he will be gone from mommy and daddy for atleast 7 hours. This will be the longest he has been gone from us since we have moved here. Please pray that Makayla would do okay with the anaesthetic and recover quickly. Please pray for mum and dad as well as we are a bit nervous. And, 90 minutes is going to seem like a very long time!

I went last Monday and visited a boy from our church in the hospital who was having gromits (tubes) put in. So, I have a bit of more understanding for the process at the hospital. But, he was only under for 10 minutes. and, even that seemed like forever. There was a four year old the same age as Makayla who went under and she was really scared. So, pray for peace for Makayla and that she would not be terrified.
She has memorized the memory verse. " I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" to help her when she is scared. Hopefully she will not be scared and that she will do everything they ask her to. Thank you so much for all your prayers.

Youth Alive Concert!

We took our teens to their first ever Youth Alive Concert. We had an excellent time! It was wonderfull. The music was great. We heard Switchfoot and Pillar. Also, there was a speaker and the youth alive worship band. The teens had NEVER been to anything like this before. It was unbelievable for them. At the end of the evening the speaker gave an altar call. And, Jade one of our teenagers went up front and made a decision to become a christian. It was really cool. Because, Jade has been on our prayer list. And, I believe that she decided to make a decision because of all you're prayers! Thank you support team for all you do to make our ministry complete here!

Updated Totals:

Makayla's Surgery Scheduled for 4th September!

as of 27/08/2007

Received: $3700.00

Thank you Hyde Wesleyan,

Buena Vista Wesleyan,

Hess Road Wesleyan, Avon Wesleyan,

Grace Lee Wesleyan

and individual donors!

A new Rental Home for our family!

On monday morning. Chris and I were praying to God to show us ways we could lower our bills. We have had three months in a row because of the exchange rate, where we don't make enough money to cover our bills. Yes, this is a bad thing. So, we have been praying for God to show us ways to make our bills less. And, one of the areas we have specifically been praying about is our Rent.

On monday morning an hour after we had been praying. We got a phone call that a house was available for us to come look at. The interesting thing is... 2 months ago we were told this house was available and that we should look at it. However, the church thought that we were going to buy a house so, we didn't go look at it. And, another family signed the lease to start renting it. But, coincidently on Monday morning, that family decided to move to KAlgoorlie(hundreds of miles from perth.) So, they called us right away to come have a look. And, we looked at it at 1:00pm and by 3:00pm we had the paperwork signed. By today (wed.) at 3:00 pm 48 hours later, we were approved and found out we will move in on September 17th.

This is how God works.... Sometimes you ask for more and you get less ( Because, God knows you don't need more.) sometimes God knows that you need more when you are praying for less! This house is a much bigger house and we will be paying $35/week less. We will have office space and a bedroom for each of the kids. We will also have a play room so the house is not a complete toy factory! Also, the church has been desperate for space to have Bible study and room for child care in the same location. And, well we have solved that problem.

Also, just a side note for those woman who are as interested in crafts as I am ..... I will be able to fit a few more tables in for my woman's scrapbooking bible study.. :) So, this is awesome.. God is good.

In His palm,
Melissa

We have a 4 Year Old!

Our little girl turned four years old today. I feel so old. We started the birthday festivities last night at dinner when we had Makayla's choice... Pizza and Hot chips (french fries for all you Americans). She then openned her presents from her Grandma and Grandpa and great grandma Wilday and Grandma and Papa George. The art eisle and the bike were a big hit and she loves them, thanks to all the G and G's. We then got up this morning and headed to the Perth Zoo. This was mum and dad's present to Mak and we had a great time. We had a barbeque for lunch with all of our adopted "Aussie" family and then continued our time at the zoo. Makayla's favourite animals at the zoo are zebras (Ze-ree-ba). Dawson and Makayla walked pretty much the whole day and never slowed down. Mum and dad started slowing down toward the end and then Dawson crashed on the way to the car. We had a very full day and are thankful to the Lord for the beautiful weather. Melissa and I thank God every day for blessing us with our children. They are little bits of heaven here on earth and we love them very much. Makayla's birthday will continue on Saturday when she has eight friends from school over for cake and ice-cream. Let the festivities continue...

Happy Birthday, girly, we love you.

Lion Cupcakes.

Makayla's Dental surgery has been booked in at theatre.
Please pray with us that the finances would come in for Makayla to hae her procedure done on September 4th. We need to pay the dentist and the hospital one week before the procedure, so please pray with us that God would provide and that Makayla's tooth would NOT get infected between now and then.

A final decision has been made on Makayla's teeth

Today and Last Friday we went in for an appointment where they were going to clean her teeth and while they were cleaning they were going to try to atleast put a cap on the tooth that is really damaged. However, Makayla would not let any work be done on her teeth. And, the paediatric dentist did however get a better look at her teeth and is suggesting that we move to plan B. Plan B is a bit scarey but will fix the problem Makayla is having. Apparently Makayla's teeth are not solid. She has a hole in the middle of some of her teeth which is causing them to be weak and cave in. One tooth has already caved in and has a massive hole in the middle which is very deep all the way to the gum. 7 of the other teeth are starting to have damage that is either nearly as bad or as bad. So, Plan B is Makayla will go under General anaesthetic and while she is under they will do the indepth x-rays, and also then they will fix all the teeth and coat them with a sealant. We are told that this will be the final work Makayla will need until her permanent teeth come in. The tooth that is already really severe will definitely be crowned and the others that cannot be saved will be crowned as well. However, what they can fix with a filling they will. The whole procedure will take 90 minutes in an operating room. All this comes at a cost. For the dentist, the anaethetist, and all the work the most it will cost is $3600.00 We know that God has an answer to where this money will come from. Please keep this in your prayers daily until all the money comes in and then also keep Makayla in your prayers as well while she is preparing for all this work to be done on her teeth.

Thank you Thank you Thank you!

Thank you to the special family who has covered Makayla's first four visits to the dentist. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. God has truly used you to bless our family. We pray that God would bless your family many times over! Thank you!

Thank You!

We want to say "thank you" to our leadership team at Global Partners. When they heard that Makayla had hurt her leg and Melissa and Dawson were sick, they jumped to action. They collected several items that would make us feel loved from the other side of the world. They packaged colouring books, crayons and markers, and several other items that our kids love. It also included something for dad (costa rican coffee). Makayla and Dawson have wanted to watch the movie every day since they got the package. Thank You mobilization team and GP, you made us feel loved.

Makayla with her bundle of goodies.

Tonight at dinner, we discovered that Dawson knows how to make fishy face. We don't know who taught him this but I have to say, I laughed very hard. Whoever taught him this, thanks for the laugh, we had a great time at dinner tonight.

Update!

Well, this is the week that a lot of thought and planning is going to come together. We are opening a youth hang out centre in our community on Friday night. We have ping pong, air hockey, food, music and we are looking to get a gaming system to have games on our projection screen. We are excited about this new venture in our ministry and hope that it will bring about many seeds being planted for the Kingdom.

Our "HomeBuilders" synergy group starts back up this Thursday night and we look forward to jumping back into things with the group. We have taken two weeks off because we have been on school holiday here. We go 10 weeks on, 2 weeks off for school schedules here in AUS. Our six week study is going to be on getting a grip on our life and being able to live a normal paced life in a fast paced world.

We just finished our sermon series called "Survivor: getting through life's difficult times". As a pastor, I enjoyed preaching this series and loved to see the Spirit move and people make commitments to get rid of fear, guilt and disappointment. We will be doing a two week series on "Holiness: truly being set apart" over the next few weeks and are looking forward to the 40 days of Purpose in September. Thanks to Baldwinsville Wesleyan Church for the materials for the 40 days of Purpose.

Another point of praise and prayer is that the South Australian district is interested in helping our church purchase some property. Since the community hall that we meet in is sufficient for all of our public needs, they are looking into purchasing a parsonage/ church office that will allow our church to have a permanent presence in the community. We are excited about this possibility but are seeking the Lord's leading in the matter. Please pray with us as we seek guidance.

On a personal note, we are finally over the colds. Our noses have stopped running and our throats are not scratchy anymore. Thanks for your prayers. Makayla has not mentioned any pain in her leg for the past two weeks and we are thanking the Lord for healing her hip. She had her dentist appointment on Friday and would not allow the doctors to look at or touch her teeth. They are willing to try with her again but say that it may be easier to have her admitted and do the dental work in surgery. Please pray for the Lord's help in this matter as well as we look at the cost of both options. Dawson is growing up very quickly and continues to amaze us. I am sure that he is the only 18 month old that can hold a footy and punt it off his foot from his hands. (I hear that punters in the NFL can make really good money and not have to do much, unless they play for the Bills, then they have to work a lot). Go Colts! Anyway, we are excited about what is going on here in Perth and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store over the next few months. God bless you and don't hesitate to comment, or e-mail, or call or whatever. By the way, our church web page is http://www.landsdalecommunitywmc.blogspot.com/ so check it out. Sorry about the lack of pictures this week, we have loaned our camera to a friend but will post more later.

Ten Wonderful Years!

Chris and I have been together 10 years!!! It was 10 years ago this week that we met each other on a short term missions trip in Jamaica. That seems almost impossible. We don't seem old enough to have known each other that long. But, every day I am blessed to get to know him more, and love him more! WE have two beautiful children that I will say are CRAZY like their daddy! But, that's what makes me love them even more! I have been blessed! I love you Chris!

Even though our family seems to be facing many health issues right now, God is renewing our strength every day! Dawson is feeling much better, basically all he has left is a cough. Myself and Makayla are now dealing with this virus, but it too shall pass. The last few days Chris has been busy trying to take care of all of us and attend church planting seminars. So, our life has been a bit hectic. However, yesterday he stayed home and took care of me and the kids and it was GREAT! I basically slept ALL DAY on the couch. And, I would say that I feel much better after having much needed sleep. I still can not talk, because I have no voice, but at least I can swallow food now. My throat was so painful it was very hard to even swallow saliva. Yeah, it was growse. But, Daddy came to the rescue and spent a whole day just taking care of us....



Now, about Makayla's paediatric dentist appointment. PRAISE GOD! He says that he is pretty sure the spots the dentist was worried about are staining. I really liked this dentist. He reassured me that the decay on the took is NOT from "bad brushing". He has reasurred us that it was a bad tooth, and that from the shape of the cavity you can tell the tooth caved in and this is the tooth, that needs immediate attention. HE also explains that because the middle of the tooth caved in, that is why one morning when we were brushing her teeth we just all of a sudden noticed it. Becuase I couldn't believe personally that I had NOT seen that cavity when I brush her teeth twice a day. So, we have two options. The Dentist would prefer to clean the tooth and put a filling in it. Hoping that it will be alright until it falls out in the next 2-4 years. However, if Makayla will not let him fix it in the chair in his office. She will have to go to the children's hospital in perth and be put under general anesthesia and have a crown put on the tooth. That is how bad this tooth is... However, we much prefer option number one. So, we are asking EVERYONE to please pray for Makayla to sit in the chair on July27th at 10:00am. (10pm on the 26th for everyone in the US). If they can clean her teeth and she is doing well then the Dentist will fix it quickly while he is cleaning the teeth. He thinks that from Makayla's reactions in his office that he will be able to do it. So, I know we serve a big God and that He could get Makayla to do anything. So, please pray that Makayla will allow the dentist to do the work.

Now, about our Ministry. Chris had 6 guys come to the Men's Outing that was on Saturday. He said it went really well. Sunday night's worship went really well. CHris preached about letting go of our pasts and letting God give create in us clean hearts from Psalm 51. WE had atleast 15 people make commitments to let God have their past. It was awesome. WE had our yearly annual meeting. This is a huge praise and a COMPLETE SURPRISE to Chris and I. The Sr. Pastor of the John Wesley Church suggested to both churches that they pay for Chris and I to get permanent residency in Australia. This was approved at the annual meeting. This is a huge step of faith financially for both churches. But, it was a huge acknowledgement to Chris and I about how gratefull the people here truly are about our ministry here in Perth. WE had all positive remarks it was a great annual meeting.

Well, I have probably written enough for now. I will write more next week.
God bless,
Melissa

On Saturday June 30th, Chris and I went back to the hospital and received the results from Makayla's blood work and xrays. A Doctor had looked at them when we were in the Emergency room. But, a Specialist had picked something up on Makayla's xray. She has a displaced fat pad which is caused from fluid on the hip. So, they were right about the fluid. Now, the interesting thing is that some days she is perfectly fine and walks normal and runs around. But, yesterday was a bad day and she needed Nurofin, a Pain killer just to get out of bed and get dressed. She woke up screaming about her leg at 9:00 in the morning. So, please keep praying that Makayla's hip would heal quickly.