Letting Go and Looking Up

We have decided to postpone our Vision Trip to Indonesia indefinitely.

My health has continued to decline to the point where it would be impossible for me to go.

Unable to follow the dream, I am letting go of all I had planned for the future. But I am looking up because I know where my help comes from.

I believe God has a plan and that He will use this illness. I believe He will carry me through the dark night and that I am not alone.  I may feel alone and I can't see clearly all the time, but I hold on to the TRUTH:  He is GOOD. He is FAITHFUL. He is With Us. He is Healer. He is Provider. He is Good.

Since I started this blog I've been sharing about one thing... following a dream God gave me to go to Indonesia.  But it was never really about following a dream... I was just following God and the path He was showing me. The road may be changing, but the One who leads me never changes.

I don't know what this new journey will hold but I'm sure it will be interesting!  So keep following and let's see where He takes us!

believing God for what we cannot see

I know it's time for a new blog post ... and I want to give you all a good update... but I also believe in being honest about where we are because we are a community built on trust and faith and prayer.

so this is an update filled with prayer requests.

this is what has changed since the last update:

The fibromyalgia and chronic migraines have gotten worse. Like severe, bad, horrible, emergency room visits kind of worse. I'm bed bound more days than not. And I'm broken, humbled and hurting but trusting, hoping and waiting because even though my body aches my heart is believing that the healing IS coming.  And I believe it will come before we leave for Indonesia this October. I don't know how or when but I KNOW it IS coming. "The Darker the Night, the Brighter the Day" as Kristene Mueller's Song Redemption says, and I can see the Dawn is coming!

Healing has happened!  I have been completely healed of endometriosis.  There is NO sign of it in my body!  The doctors cannot explain it. There are no scars from my previous surgery. My uterus is whole and healthy!  We are PRAISING God for this miracle and believing it is a sign of more healing coming to the rest of my body!

We are still planning our vision trip to Indonesia this October, but we are no longer going with a team... it will just be the three of us, so our cost for going has decreased significantly.  We are also planning a simplified trip which may mean we stay on only one island for this trip. But we will have the same goals: to seek God regarding our future calling to Indonesia and to serve and minister at every opportunity.

We will be launching a fundraising campaign this Sunday so watch for more updates on how to give and please be praying with us that we will be able to purchase plane tickets SOON!

God Math

$10,000.  

That is how much money we need to raise if we are going to go on our Vision Trip this October.  

That is a lot of money. 

No....  That's a lot of money to me. 

It's not a lot of money to God. 

That is what I have been wrestling about this week ... God Math. 

If God says go, I go but how do I do that?  How do we save that much money when we are just barely making it every month to pay bills and buy diapers?  Do I find another job? Do I sit and wait for a magic check in the mail? These are the questions that have kept me up at night. 

And the real question: Will we ever get enough money together to go to Indonesia or will I be disappointed again?

After talking with Matthew last night and praying again this morning I feel so strongly that this is the year that we do this!  This is the year of Redemption.  This is the year of God’s promises fulfilled.  My devotional this morning was from Micah 4:10.  “You will soon be sent into exile... but the Lord will rescue you there, He will redeem you from the grip of your enemies.”  Although I have in many ways felt like coming to Woodland was like being sent into exile (away from all that I had known... all my family and friends) I know that God has used this time to do an amazing redeeming work in my whole family.  He has brought us many new friends and brought so many good things into our lives through this time.  But Woodland is not home for us.  It is not the promised land.  This is the time.  It is time to go home...

My heart was sick. Very sick. Because for so long hope had been deferred.  So when Matthew said “now is the time” I was apathetic.  I didn’t want to hope again. But wrestling with my doubt has produced a new fire in me.  A renewed desire to go.  A fresh calling. A renewed commitment to the people of Indonesia. But my heart and mind is clearer now.  I know this is not just me this time.  This time The Lord is leading us just as He led the Israelites out of Egypt to the promised land. I’m following His leading.  Trying to not run ahead.  But my heart is excited again!  I am alive! I am ready! Let’s go!

Okay, so I'm ready but  the question remains: HOW? Well, friends, this is where YOU come in.  
There are five members of our team. (including our precious one year old Amelia).  Each of us needs to find 20 friends who are committed to partnering with us for this vision trip.  It is a commitment to pray and a commitment to give.  If each of us has 20 friends who can commit to giving $20 every month for the next five months then we will have all that we need.  20 friends is not that many. $20 is like a trip through the drive through with the family. Or One Starbucks a week. It is nothing. And yet it could change everything.  I am calling this the 20-20-5 plan.  20 friends. $20. 5 months.  So now there is a new question: Will you be One of my Twenty?

That, my friend, is a question for you to answer!  You can let me know your answer by replying on the blog or emailing me.  We are still putting together the tax deductible giving plan so I will forward you that information as soon as I have it.  But if you want to pledge your $20 let me know! And Thank You for being One of my Twenty! (if you'd like to be one of Matthew or Amelia's Twenty that's great too!  Just let me know in your message!). 

Vision Trip 2013

What else do I need to say?  We are finally going on our vision trip to Indonesia in October of this year.  All the years of praying and waiting and planning and dreaming ... and now the time has come.  We have an awesome couple from our church that are going with us to support us as we seek God as a family and travel to the islands I have seen only in my dreams for the past 10 years...

Your prayers are appreciated as we continue praying, planning and fundraising for this adventure.
So far it looks like we will be gone about three weeks in late October/early November.  We don't know exactly where in Indonesia we are going yet.  We are still praying about the details.  We need to raise a LOT of money because airfare is expensive (although much cheaper during our travel dates because it is the off-season).  But everything seems to be working out for us to go this year, so we are trusting God for the provision for our whole team to go!

A Step Forward in 2013!

Matthew and I are looking at attending a Perspectives class this spring. 

For more information about what Perspectives is check out their website:

www.perspectives.org 

This is a very important step for us towards following the dream for Indonesia as it was a recommended step during the Pioneers Orientation we went to a few years ago. Attending this class will not only connect us with other Pioneers missionaries and help Matthew and I begin to speak the same language when it comes to missions, but it will also encourage unity in the churches here in Woodland since it is a multi-church class.

Rather than asking for our friends to help sponsor us (the class is about $200 for each of us plus the cost of childcare), I'm asking any of you who have ever thought about hosting a jewelry show to consider hosting one in the next few months. You get free or half priced high quality, high fashion jewelry, get to hang out with your friends (and me!) and we get money we can use towards this class. 

If you want to know more about the jewelry check out the link to Our Premier Family. 

Thank you for considering supporting us this year!

Merry Christmas to customers, friends and family!

Dear Friends,

Happy Holidays from your favorite Premier Designs Jewelry Lady!

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones this year!  The time to purchase gifts for Christmas may be over, but jewelry is a great gift item all year long! Our jewelry is high quality, high fashion jewelry with a golden guarantee and a great exchange policy so you won't be disappointed!

To help you start the New Year right, I’m offering my friends, family and past hostesses and customers this special now through January:

Every customer who purchases $75 or more will receive any item
(up to $50 value!) for ONLY $5!!!

Also all watches AND rings are 30% off!!!

If you would like to see our line of jewelry (hundreds of pieces for every woman, every age, every style!) just call or email me and I will get a catalog to you ASAP!

Now is a GREAT time to get that something sparkly you didn’t get at Christmas!

You can only get in on these specials if you order by January 31st!

However, you can still earn a shopping spree on me by passing around a catalog and collecting a few orders from some friends.  I’ll even bring my jewelry playground to YOUR house for you and a few of your VIP guests! Call me to schedule a personal home show with me in January to earn up to 50% hostess benefits! Sales are great but Free is better!

Thanks for being a valuable customer these past two years!  Here’s a little about what our family has been able to do because of your support…   
                                                                                                                                    

In February of this year, Amelia Ann Parsons joined our little family!  She was seven pounds one ounce and a true joy.  The miracle of her story can be found in an earlier post on this blog.

In June, my “little” brother came to live with us in Woodland.  It’s been a difficult transition for us all, but he is doing well as he explores life after high school.  Amelia LOVES her uncle!     She lights up whenever he enters the room!            

I still dream of going to Indonesia and serving with Pioneers, but right now we are still working on getting healthy, paying off debt, and taking care of family.  Your support has been vital through this journey of following the dream.  Thanks for your encouragement, financial support and prayers. We couldn’t do this without you!   Here's to an awesome 2013!                                                           

Dreaming with God for Indonesia,

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

      Erica, Matthew & Amelia Parsons 

Dreaming for Woodland

"When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I."

This week my heart has been overwhelmed.  With stress.  With sadness.  With longing.  When you dream for so long that dream seems impossible and far away and you wonder if you will ever see your dream come to pass... but for some reason, I just keep following the dream and living each day the best I can just waiting...

But I'm kind of tired of just waiting.  I need to DO something!  And I'm here, in a city that DESPERATELY needs to know the Hope of Christ.  At Christmas time especially there is an extra feeling of heaviness... of sadness... of loneliness. But there is a light in the darkness and a hope for the waiting and that is the good news of advent!  And as I see brokenness all around me, a new dream is forming in my heart... a dream for the town of Woodland.

In this dream, the churches are united. Not just tolerating one another, not just ceasing the competition and bitterness that has ruled them for generations, but loving one another as family and coming together for a common purpose.  I continue to meet people who refuse to go to church here because of the politics or they were hurt by one of the churches.  This has to stop!  I don't know how yet, but I know it starts with prayer and it starts with healing and forgiveness in my own heart for past situations in other congregations.  Unity begins with selflessness.  Setting aside our ideas of how it should be done and seeking God together.  Praying until something happens.  Only when we are able to press through this great division in the church will we see revival, hope and healing brought to the lost of this town.

I've had this dream mulling in the back of my head for a while, but it is becoming a heartfelt desire more and more.  This past week a friend from our local church family spoke up on facebook about wanting to walk around Woodland and pray for people we come in contact with. Her desire to see God move in power through her struck a chord in me that said "it's time to take action!" I have started walking with her and we hope to go out several times every week with open hearts ready for whomever God places in our path that day.

My heart still aches and longs for Indonesia.  But I am here now for a reason. And my purpose is to bring God's light and hope wherever I am not to just sit and wait for the day I can return to Indonesia.  God has not abandoned me in this place until I can get my act together. He has placed me here intentionally out of love for the people here. And He is softening my heart towards them.