A New Journey!

I've never been great at journaling or even keeping people updated on our lives.  But this new journey deserves to be documented!  A little background for those of you who don't know, Caleb and I have hoped to expand our family for the last 6 years.  We knew before getting married there was a chance we would not be able to have children the "regular" way and had to make the decision to be happy together even if it was only ever the 2 of us.  I realize that we were blessed to at least have a heads up that we may have fertility issues and were able to start our marriage with our eyes open to that.  There are so many couples that wrestle through the unfortunate surprise of infertility and I've seen it be a MAJOR strain on relationships.  Don't get me wrong, Caleb & I have dealt with the strain on our relationship as well.  But through it all, we've seen God moving and working in us.  I have been OBSESSED with being a mom since I was 13 or so and Caleb wants kids but is the kind of person that needs to prepare, prepare, prepare.  In the last six years, I have been working through my own identity and who I am as me; with or without kiddos.  Caleb has been avidly listening to FamilyLife Today and Focus on the Family radio programs and hearing/learning so much about dealing with every stage of parenting.

We made the decision from the start of fertility treatments that IVF was not an option for us.  Don't get me wrong, IVF has helping to bring many beautiful children into the world and I know adoption isn't for everyone.  FOR US, IVF wasn't our choice.  We felt that it was wiser for us to look into adoption options instead.  We did some Clomid rounds and HCG shots followed by IUI (Intrauterine Insemination) but nothing took.  I think it was a total of 7 rounds in 2 batches.  Besides dealing with the emotional ups and downs of hoping that THIS ROUND would be THE round, the hormones were causing me to be not a nice person!  And the hot flashes!!  So we chose to discontinue the treatments and paid off the bill for the next 10 months.

2013 led us to an adventure in missions; 3 months in Australia that we wouldn't trade for the world.  We came back to a transient housing situation (housesat for a cousin for 9 months, lived in a camper for 5 and lived with Caleb's parents for another 5) until we found a sweet little house to rent.  There was a 2 year span that wouldn't have worked at all to pursue adoption so that was on the back burner as well.  We felt like we were in a holding pattern for so long but it was truly a time that God was lining out our paths in other ways. 

Fast forward to October/November 2016 - There is a ministry in our valley called ChildBridge and they provide support for foster families as well as go into local churches to make them aware of the needs of the foster children in our valley and recruit support and new foster families.  I was aware of this ministry for a couple of years but when they came to speak at our church, Caleb and I were able to speak at length with the staff about how to go about becoming a foster to adopt family.

We took the 19 hour course this past weekend and even though our brains were toast and our hearts were broken for the young lives affected by loss, abuse, neglect and addiction we are pushing forward with the licensing process!  We went in yesterday with B (my adorable babysitting charge) to get our fingerprints taken and background check paperwork started.  B was concerned that the fingerprinting was going to hurt Mr. Caleb but was so patient as we sat there filling out paperwork!

Now we wait.....and clean!  We have a checklist of things that need to be done in the house to be ready for our home visit as well as personal projects that we want to get finished.  I hope you bear with me as this becomes a place to vent frustrations, share joys and a way to remember this journey forever! 

Cheers to a great start to 2017 and all the adventures God will bring us!

Week 10 Update!! Wait, what??? Week 10 ???

Hey everyone! It’s that time to share again with you what we have been experiencing and accomplishing the past three weeks. Starting the last big push to finish flats 4,6 and 7 by this Saturday for staff moving in to kick off the July quarter. The hope is to finish flats 1,2 and 3 as well, but we will see. We have had lots of help on the Blitz from staff and more volunteers all over the world from New Zealand, Germany, USA, Canada and Australia. This week we will be installing kitchen cabinet kits, counter tops and all of the furnishings inside. Outside will see more tiling on the stairwells and the walkways upstairs and down. Surprising how fast three months can race past with you standing in the wind remembering all that’s happenedJ

We hear “Oohs” and “aahs” from staff each day as we make progress throughout the worksite. Caleb picked up spray painting the exterior of the building for the last two weeks after assisting and learning on a portion of the flats. Each day brought lots of cleaning of the machine and paint overspray on himself! About 95% of the tiling inside the flats has been accomplished. Interior painting, plastering, tiling the inside of showers, creating wardrobes, washing and pantry closets. Whoo! So many aspects of a building project. Dawn has been busy in the office with administration, making wonderful treats for the workers, gathering info for quotes and encouragement.

For Caleb’s birthday we drove to Airlie Beach to see the WhitSundays. We had a thrilling Ocean Rafting ride as we explored the WhitSunday beaches and went snorkeling. A beautiful green ocean with white white sandy beaches! We enjoyed the local cuisine and hiked a short distance through the bush to the beach. We were amazed at the millions of pieces of coral and shells washed up on the beach!

Prayer Points:

• Safe travel back to the States
• Fun and encouraging times with friends and fellow workers
• Perseverance for those that have been working since the beginning of the project
• Blessings for all of those who have prayed for and financed our trip

 

Just Chilling at Billabong Sanctuary

Holding a "Saltie"

On the Jobsite



Week Six....I mean Seven update

Week Six Seven update! We can’t believe how fast the past three weeks have gone. We spent last weekend near Rockhampton, QLD. We actually stayed in a cabin in the dry rainforest near some limestone caves which we got to explore one afternoon. We also spent a few hours at the Rockhampton Heritage Village before heading for the Capricorn Coast and seeing some beautiful coastline. We got to see almost 1100 miles of the Australian countryside in four days. Even more importantly, we were able to spend time together doing it. Being in Townsville is great, but it was even better to be away just the two of us.

The past few weeks have seen quite a bit of change in the flats! There is some tile in every flat with mainly finish work to do once the kitchen and baths are in! Caleb worked on putting in the back fence last week and is painting the exterior this week. The kitchens have come in and will be installed by the end of the week. There is heaps of work to do but we are confident we will be ready for staff to move back in the weekend of July 20.

Dawn is continuing to help in the administration side of the Blitz as well as jumping in to makee a special dessert for Outreach Report Back Dinner. It’s always great to hear from outreach teams soon after they return from the various locations. There were teams in Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Cambodia and around Australia. So many individuals impacted in lots of different ways.

We have so many pictures from our time in Rockhampton that we will share on Facebook, but here are a few from the last couple of weeks.

Caleb can always find a fence to work on

Cream Puffs

Styling inside the caves

Styling outside the caves :)

Visiting the Rockhampton Heritage Village

The Capricorn Coast

Sugarcane harvester

Four Week Update

We can hardly believe that we’ve been in Townsville for a month! Well that is until we look at the progress made on the flats! There is tile laid in three of the 12 bedrooms, final coats of paint in two of the flats, and a LOT of mudding and taping happening in the downstairs flats. We are a bit behind the timeline that was laid out for the project so if anyone is interested in coming to help out PLEASE DO!!! We’re excited to have Discipleship Training School outreach teams here for two weeks to work alongside us on the Blitz. They are on the second half of their final outreach so it’ll be encouraging to here how God has already used them on outreach.
The last two weeks have been filled with physical labor for Caleb and office work, babysitting, baking, and a bit of physical labor for Dawn. The evenings have been a mix of relaxing with each other at the flat, getting to know our flat mates a bit, and spending time building relationship with YWAM Townsville staff. We’ve enjoyed Heritage Day (history of Townsville) with Mel Davies and the Hoovers, a night of laughter with Caleb’s DTS mates, dinner and coffee with a few new friends and a night at the Strand (beach) with old friends.
There are lots of exciting things happening here at YWAM Townsville and God is calling the ministry into huge new things. It’s an interesting time to be here in the midst of those changes and see for ourselves how the ministry is growing.
Enjoy the pictures and we’d love to hear from you!!
Blessings,

Caleb & Dawn
Prayer Points:
Continued Safety on the Worksite
Wisdom to manage our time effectively
Strengthening of our spiritual relationship individually and as a couple
Guidance for YWAM Townsville in this time of growth


　

 

 Enjoying a tasting of crocodile, Kangaroo, Possum & Emu at Heritage Day

Caleb going a bit bonkers after another day of mudding the drywall

 

 We've been so blessed by a staff member who is away on outreach. She's allowed us use of her car while she's gone! We feel SO blessed!

 

 

Another blessings is the flat we're staying in. It's usually used by the guest speakers and is one of the nicest flats on campus. We've had flatmates three of the four weeks we've been here but it's been good having a chance to get to know them.

We drove up Castle Hill to see the town at night. It was fun to see the layout of the city from a birdseye view.

 

The First Two Weeks. . . .

We Began Our Journey With This. . . . . 

 

 And Ended Our Journey With This. . . . .

We’ve been in Townsville for about 2 weeks now and wanted to share some of that time with you.  We arrived with 3 days to settle in and say hi to friends before the Building Blitz began.  It was nice to see familiar faces and meet MANY new people in that time.  Monday May 6th started our work experience here with YWAM Townsville.  The team of 30 people from around the globe rolled up their sleeves and started tearing apart 6 apartments.  It’s amazing how quickly a difference is seen when that many people pepper the work site. 

Caleb is a team leader and was originally working with two other team leaders to make sure only the right things were torn out of two flats.  He worked hard for four days and then woke up with a mysterious fever.  He actually missed the next four days of work due to a surprise case of Hand, Foot & Mouth disease.  A few other people around the ministry came down with it as well but we weren’t excited to start out our time here that way.  He’s back at work and is now mudding the “plaster” (dry wall) in two of the flats.  The team is broken up a bit differently and everyone is doing their assigned jobs in all of the flats.  For example, a framing team, a plastering team, etc. 

Dawn has a range of job duties while here; two days a week she is having a blast watching two toddlers for a couple hours a day.  Also, she is jumping into paperwork two mornings a week to take some of the load off of the Blitz planning team.  She has also baked some muffins and cookies for break times, snapped photos of the progression of the work so we can recap each Friday at our wrap-up dinner. and in her spare time she jumps in with the team on the work site.

Our first weekend we headed to Saunders Beach to enjoy some Indigenous dances, a free sausage sizzle and some quality time with Rebekah and her children.  We were blessed to stay  with Jared and Rebekah for the first few days until our accommodations were ready.  We are now in the Hospitality Flat which is one of the two flats at the work site that are NOT being renovated as they were upgraded a few years ago.  Our evenings have been quiet since we’re focusing on recovering from the Hand, Foot & Mouth and Dawn’s cold.  Welcome to a new environment!! 

We’re excited to share this time with friends here and to be able to share pictures and stories with friends far and wide!!  Thank you for taking the time to invest in our trip planning and now we can show you how God is using your investment.

God Bless,
Caleb & Dawn

Prayer Points

• HEALTH and energy to be effective during our time here
• GUIDANCE on how to use our time here in Townsville
• WISDOM to see God’s next chapter for our marriage
• PRAISE for a safe and speedy arrival
• DISCERNMENT for ways to bless staff and students here at YWAM Townsville
• SAFETY on the work site

Here's some photos of our first two weeks.  Check out Facebook for more!

Caleb scraping linoleum

Dawn at Saunders Beach with Elianna

CJ & Krista scraping paint

Caleb mudding (not the fun mudding :))

Dawn sanding trim board

New Year, New Adventures

I'm sure everyone has thoughts about how quickly 2013 has crept up on us, but here's a new thought for moving into this New Year.

Just a little something to make you think :)  God Bless!

Where are we off to now??

 

Caleb and I have been presented with an awesome opportunity!  YWAM Reef To Outback (Townsville, Australia) is planning a Building Blitz during the months of May, June, & half of July 2013.  The ministry purchased a block of 8 flats about 10 years ago and its time to bring them up to speed!  Two of the flats have already been renovated and the other 6 are next.  Instead of dragging the project out over months (or possibly years), YWAM Reef To Outback has made the decision to ask volunteers to come in force and complete the project in 2 1/2 months.  That way staff and students are displaced for the shortest amount of time possible.  We have been asked to come and be a part of this Blitz as a crew leader (Caleb, of course) and Hospitality coordinator.  We've prayed about this opportunity, looked at the logistics, talked to our family and employers, and feel that this would be an important bonding and learning experience for us.  Also, the first voluntary service that we're doing together!  Weird to think of it since we've both been involved with YWAM before.

We're planning to be in Australia from mid-April to mid-July.  But that can only happen after lots more prayer, fundraising, planning, and support from our friends and family.  We are very open to talking about the Blitz with anyone who wants to come hang out with us in Townsville:)  Or anyone who would like to join our prayer or financial support team.  More details to come soon!!