God is Amazing

I sit here on June 25^th, 2012 at 3:30 pm local time, 7:30 am back home, ready to write to you about how amazingly awesome God is. He really is so astounding, remarkable, wonderful, incredible, marvelous and miraculous. His ways are staggering, mind-boggling and astonishing. He knows us so well that we can be completely stunned and startled at the mere thought of who He is and what He really has done for all of us.

Yesterday, Mindy and I (you are now figuring out that it is Josh blogging this time) celebrated our 7^th wedding anniversary. The day started a bit rough as I have been battling a bit of fatigue and exhaustion. I haven’t slept well since we arrived. I think a combination of heat, change of culture, excitement and different sleeping arrangements has all played a part in my lack of sleep. I’ve also figured out that being in very close proximity to all of my children 24/7 is much more taxing than I realized. Regardless, we started our anniversary by wandering over to the church a bit late. Church starts at 9ish here in Pemba. It was exciting to see Papa Rolland here in Pemba. He arrived on Thursday in his new plane. Very cool!! As the service went on for a few hours, we left a bit early as Josiah was asleep in my arms and Gracie in Mindy’s arms. We arrived home, a short walk, to something new for lunch: rice and beans!! Ha! The meal didn’t appeal to me and my wonderful wife let me lie down in bed and brought me a lunch that was much more charming. I was able to get a bit of sleep but, more importantly, I rested kid-free for a few hours. My lovely wife is amazing for taking such good care of me. God has given me new vision for how much I have been blessed by such an extraordinary woman. 

The rest gave me new energy and after we fed the kids dinner and got them to bed, we were able to get out to the Clube Navale, a beautiful restaurant on the beach a short walk away. We enjoyed a great chicken salad, veggie pizza (much better than we thought), a Portuguese roll, and some French chips (fries). It was a wonderful meal. We sat outside in the dark with the waves crashing in the background. They also had a very large screen on the beach where many of us have been watching the soccer matches from Europe. Our anniversary ended with ZERO kids in our room – the first night this has happened since leaving Idaho (more details about a change in living conditions in Mindy’s next blog). Woohoo!! We also found out last night that we wouldn’t have any class today as it is a Mozambican national holiday. Although it was nice to have a morning off, I was looking forward to hearing Papa Rolland speak today. We’ve been waiting for him to arrive for a few weeks now, not that I’m complaining about the other amazing speakers. 

This morning we set off early to a private beach where we could relax and have fun with the kids. We arrived to a scene out of a movie. The white sand beach was gorgeous. The tide was just starting to go out and we were alone for quite some time. Christian and I were able to go exploring in the tide pools and found some cool blue crabs and some grey, spotted ones too. I took Jade out into the surf so she could learn to snorkel. We dodged the nasty black sea urchins and she was able to spot some cool fish. I headed into the tide pool on my own and spotted some of the most beautiful fish I’ve ever seen with the most amazing colors, as well as a few eels and some large urchins. I was able to see fish I’ve never seen before or only seen on TV or movies. God’s creation jumped out at me there on the rocks and I was overwhelmed by how amazing He is. We ended our beach time with some Orange Fanta from the restaurant. 

I say all of this to let you know a bit about our life here but also to ask you to look for God’s miraculous in your own life. I challenge you to find the amazing in your life and thank God today for all that He has blessed you with. Jesus is so alive in the Masonclan and I can’t wait to share our experiences with all of you. 

Blessings to you and your family,

Josh and Mindy Mason

Feet on the Ground

God’s favor has been upon us the moment we stepped out of our front door in Meridian, Idaho.  Upon arriving at the Boise airport, I laugh at the memory of Josiah leaking through his diaper onto my shirt before even entering the security check.  We, of course, forgot to change his diaper before leaving the house… and so our travel journey with 4 kids begins!  Our luggage fees through Alaska Airlines were waived after the lady overrode their standard policy – thank you Jesus and to those that were praying and standing in the gap for us.  The kids enjoyed their first plane ride and even got to experience a little turbulence.  They giggled at the roller coaster sensation in their tummies; although, Christian kept asking when we were going to ‘crash.’  What he meant to say was ‘land’.  Gotta love the innocent language of kids.  When we got to Seattle and were carrying our 13 bags to the shuttle to head to our hotel, a guy happen to walk by with a cart, hallelujah!  What a blessing because Josh was making multiple trips up and down the stairs with our luggage while I stayed with the kids since there was no elevator.  After going for a swim at our hotel, we ordered pizza for dinner.  Two hours later, yes two hours, we finally got to enjoy our dinner around 9:30pm MST.  Apparently they went to the wrong hotel.  Gracie fell asleep waiting for it, but God blessed us again with a 50% discount off our pizza for the long wait.  The next day we flew out to Amsterdam, a 9-hour flight.  We were blessed with the fact that all of our luggage was going to be checked through to Pemba so no more lugging it all around, praise God!  The kids all traveled well with no flight nausea and very little jet lag.  LAM Airlines is notorious for losing luggage (or having luggage broken into) so prior to our departure I just prayed that God’s angels would link their arms around our entire luggage.  Even after an overnight stay in Johannesburg (without luggage in our possession), our entire luggage arrived safely in Pemba.  That is miraculous and we give all the praise and glory to God!!  Many students arrived at the same time, and the IRIS staff was there to welcome all of us.  We were introduced to our “house parents” from the UK and then took a ride to the Village of Joy where we are living for the summer.  Our wonderful housemates, originally from Germany but live in South Africa, have two children ages 2 and 3 ½.  We have really enjoyed getting to know them and may even come back speaking a little Portuguese AND German.  Our “house” is similar to the size of our house in Idaho, but there are currently 12 people total living in this one space.  Our bedroom, which our entire family shares, consists of a bunk bed, crib and full-sized bed.  After a few nights of adjustment in our new home and praying peace over the kids individually, they began sleeping through the night and the 3AM prayer cries of the Imam – one of the Muslim leaders directly outside of our village.  Josiah even lays down “awake” in his travel bed all by himself.  Thank you God!  We had a pet gecko and back porch banana spider welcome us into our new home.  Stay tuned for pictures!  Fortunately, we haven’t found much else besides 1 dead cockroach and some mysterious bugs that keep biting Josiah and Gracie – possibly bed bugs for which we have sprayed their mattress.  Christian has experienced some bumps and bruises and got a good gash above his right eye, but it has healed up nicely and did not require any stitches, thank you Lord!  Recently Josiah and Gracie have been fighting fevers but no other symptoms have followed.  We believe Josiah might be getting his molars in but it’s difficult to tell.

Josh made a joke about gaining 20 lbs in weight prior to leaving Idaho so that he could lose 40 lbs while in Africa.  However, God may spoil that idea because we are eating better than expected.  Along with our wonderful house parents and housemates, we’ve been able to come up with some creative meals to make good use out of the rice that IRIS provides us.  We went to town and were able to purchase things like peanut butter, jam, eggs (all of which IRIS provides for free weekly now), milk (hallelujah!), veggies, oatmeal, pasta, bananas, etc.  Cost of items is quite expensive compared to Idaho so we limit our purchases to very little, but we also know the Lord is asking us to truly live a simplified life while in Africa.  He is showing us how little we CAN live off of and how so much of what we are used to is based on the world’s standards.  We are provided 2 rolls for breakfast, rice and beans for lunch and then rice and a topping for dinner (i.e. beans, cabbage, matapa aka “green slime” aka spinach, fish, cabbage or chicken).  We do experience consistent crunching with our meals due to the sand and rocks that end up in it, but we are just blessed to have food on the table, and on multiple occasions Christian has given me the arm/fist pump and said, “Yes, we’re having rice and beans today!!”  Definitely God working on his sweet little heart.  Christian is the one who was most rooted in his routine back in Idaho, but he has adjusted very well and God is molding his little heart of clay into something special.  The other day our housemates’ 3 ½ year old daughter ate the entire fish head.  Bless her heart!  Nonetheless, at the end of the day our tummies are full and we feel very blessed.

On our first Friday in Pemba we had no water and that continued for 2 whole days.  This means either no showers or showers by the bucket, no flushing the toilet, no drinking water, etc.  There is a saying at IRIS Harvest that goes like this, “If it’s yellow let it mellow.  If it’s brown flush it down.”  Haha, I think you get the point!  We did have large jugs full of water for such occasions and were able to make due until the water turned back on Sunday afternoon.  We are grateful for the donation of money to buy a water filter because it has come in very handy to build up our drinking supply for when the water source is low or unavailable.  There is no hot water on the base so we have the joy of taking cold showers.  A simple prayer of, “I’m doing this all for you Jesus,” has helped me to rather enjoy the shower now.  The kids did great taking their first cold shower, probably because they were exhausted and hot, but now they take baths in a large tub and we fill it with cold shower water and boiled water so that it’s more bearable for them.  I also experienced the “washing station” where it took me almost 2 hours to hand wash, rinse and hang our laundry.  After the first week IRIS provided laundry ladies for the families to do our laundry twice a week at the cost of 70 mets each load + detergent, which is the equivalent of almost $4/load.  I was planning on doing our second load of laundry myself on the weekend, but Josh and others have talked me into receiving the blessing of having laundry ladies and also blessing them for their service.  If we were to do our own laundry, it would need to be washed, rinsed and hung prior to 8am so that it can be drying while we’re attending class.  All clothes have to be taken down from the line by 5pm because of the mosquitoes.  That means I would need to get up around 5am to complete laundry, shower, eat, get kids ready, etc. prior to leaving for class.  In the end, I’m grateful for the healthy persuasion from Josh to receive the blessing of a laundry lady. J 

We got to love on the IRIS and village children at Children’s Day, and as a family we got the joy of washing their hands prior to eating.  Christian absolutely loved it and would get sad when the children didn’t enter into his line.  He just wanted to bless them so much!  He was also put in charge of blowing bubbles as the children lined up.  Most of these children have never tasted chicken before, or only get it on Children’s Day and Christmas, so the IRIS kitchen staff prepared chicken and rice to shower the love of Jesus over them.  We would see young girls carrying babies on their backs or in slings with bright smiles on their faces because they knew they were about to enjoy a feast.

We’ve been to the Indian Ocean a few times and saw many hermit crabs, sea urchins and jelly fish.  Jade wanted to get baptized this summer on her birthday in the Indian Ocean.  However, we just found out that we are leaving for our bush-bush weekend outreach on Thursday, July 5^th (Jade’s birthday) so we’ll see how the Lord guides her in this decision.

As a family we’ve walked into the village directly outside of our base and had many Mozambican children follow us to the market and back home.  Many just wanted to hold our hands, receive a smile or high-five and simply be noticed.  They loved Gracie and her long, beautiful blonde hair.  At first Gracie was a bit shy and probably intimidated, but after awhile she warmed up and began sharing smiles and high-fives with them.  She’s even speaking a few words in Portuguese!  It amazes me the conditions that some people live in.  Just walking through the village market, our feet were saturated with garbage and stench.  We’ve made good friends with an IRIS boy named Bernardo.  He’s even teaching me a little Portuguese and wrote down my name in his school notebook so he could remember it.  Wherever we go, he spots us out in the crowd.  One night while eating dinner with all the children in the cafeteria (yes, I ate Mozambican style with my hands), I asked him what he had planned for the next day.  He said, “Me spend time with my Jesus.  Me love my Jesus.  Me spend 10 minutes with Him!”  I love the passion that the children here have for Jesus.  It’s humbling to see them seek Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit as their “entertainment”.  At the end of these 11 weeks I will definitely have learned how to spend more intimate time with Him.  Josh and I have had some “intense fellowship” at times, but God is cleansing our hearts and bringing us closer together and one with Him.  Please continue to pray for unity over our family and that all attacks from the enemy would be severed.

We have completed our first 2 ½ weeks of school.  We’ve encountered some challenges with going to class together as a couple and family because of the kids and adjusting to the new schedule.  They are going to bed around 7pm and waking around 6am.  There is an 8 hour difference between time here and in Idaho.  12pm MST equals 8pm in Pemba.  It makes for a long morning stretch because the kids eat at 6 or 6:30am, class goes until usually 1:30pm, and then they don’t eat lunch until afterwards.  As of recently, one of us has been staying behind with the kids (or at least with Josiah), but we are going to pray about this and try to continue to go as a family.  We will share more of what God is placing on our hearts in a later post, but for now we just wanted to provide a general update on our transition into Africa.

We are truly grateful for the ways in which God has opened our eyes.  We are learning to lay down the ways of this world and focus on what’s really important – receiving and sharing the love of Jesus with others!  Starting next week we will be participating in a weekly outreach.  Josh will be teaching English to some children in a village and I have my selections narrowed down to either helping with the Children’s Ministry (arts & crafts) or a village outreach (treasure hunts).  This encompasses a lot of evangelizing, healing, words of knowledge, prophesying – whatever the Holy Spirit wants to do that day.  We want God to use our hands and feet as His own to reach those that need more of His love.  The gospel is really quite simple – it’s all about the love of Jesus!  As said in 1 Corinthians 13 - without love there is no gain.  Wherever you are in life, we pray that you will experience His love in a new and deeper way today!  Let Him take you deeper into His heart.  Let Him free you of any walls or limits that you have placed on Him.  There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that is impossible with God.  I’ve heard this truth growing up but never really experienced it until I put my full faith and trust in Him.  Know who you are in Christ and walk in your true identity!

Going With His Flow

When He moves to the left, then we move to the left.  When He moves to the right, then we move to the right.  We’re gonna jump, jump, jump, jump in the river!!  There is a song called “Deep Cries Out” which has these lyrics in it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ncGqFyGqTc, and it depicts where we are at in our walk with the Lord right now.  Wherever He is, we want to be.  Whatever direction He is going, we want to go.  We simply want to be drenched by the streams of His living water [John 7:38] so His life will flow in and out of us to reach others and bring Godly encounters to them.  With that said, we definitely weren’t expecting to live out Matthew 5:11, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me."  When we received confirmation from the Lord that we were to go to Africa this summer, Josh knew that at some point he would need to talk to his boss about his plans.  For those that don’t know, Josh is a teacher at an alternative high school.  In order for us to arrive in Africa on time, he needs to miss the last week of school – when finals are administered and grades are finalized.  Kind of an important time for a teacher to be there, but we knew that God would work out the details.  Josh found out that he had exactly enough “personal leave” hours to cover his time off, and although the principal was not keen on him missing the last week of school, she did not say no to his request or that there would be repercussions.  Since this meeting took place, Josh has experienced persecution in the workplace like never before.  To honor those involved, I will not go into detail about what happened or mention names, but I will say that we have been called to love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us [Matthew 5:44] so that’s what we’re going to do.  We also know that we do not fight against flesh and blood but against rulers, authorities, the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12].  As easy as it is to seek revenge, justice or hold bitterness towards someone, God has reminded us that the only way to fight against the darkness is to NOT partner with it but combat it with His love and let His light shine!  He will bring justice on His own terms and we must trust that – whatever the enemy tries to use against us, God will turn it around for good (for His purposes) to those that know and love Him!  God has given us such a peace in the midst of a storm, and we know that His seeds are being planted in areas of darkness.  A few months back Josh made the comment on how He wants to live a life that is fully dependent on God.  Well, his prayers are being answered as God continues to reveal to us what exactly that lifestyle looks like.

As of September 1, 2012, Josh will no longer be employed at his current school - a choice that was made by his principal for personal reasons.  The enemy would sure like to make a twist in “our plans”, but what he keeps forgetting or hasn’t quite figured out yet is that we no longer want to live life by our plans but by “His plans”, and there is nothing that he can do to deter us from a life with our Lord!  We are keeping our eyes focused on Him and moving in whatever direction He guides us.  Right now Josh is being led to focus on our mission trip to Africa this summer and will not be looking for further employment until the Lord gives Him the green light.  The good thing is that teachers get paid through the summer, so we will at least have some income coming in while we are gone.  We trust and know that God will open another door for Josh when we return, and we cannot wait to see what’s on the other side of that door!!  If spending $25,000 to go to Africa and coming home to NO job isn’t fully dependent on God, then I don’t know what is!!

We have experienced so much freedom in trusting God!  He also continues to pour out His blessings upon us financially.  Between an amended tax return (for 3 prior years) that wasn't expected for a few more months, our first yard sale and a reimbursement from insurance for Josh's vaccinations, the Lord has blessed us bountifully with over $1,500 in 5 days.  Wowzers, He is so cool!!  On top of that, during our second and final yard sale to raise money the Lord brought in almost $1,000 more.  All glory to Him!!  Through this yard sale, the Lord has humbled us and taught us how to receive from Him.  In life it’s a lot easier to give than to receive sometimes, but the Lord has shown me how to honor and value the gifts He wants to give me through others without feeling selfish or guilty.  An amazing man of God even took a step of faith to buy both, yes both, of the generators that were donated to us.  He trusts that God will help him to resell them, and we are praying that he will sell them for more than he purchased them for!

A few months ago I began waking up with a stiff back on the whole right side……just another one of the enemy’s attempts to “kill, steal and destroy.”  It hurt so bad that I could barely turn or lay in bed.  I received prayer one Sunday at church, and the next day not only was my back healed but a few days later I woke up and said to Josh, “Oh my gosh!  I just realized that my neck no longer hurts like it used to.”  Not only was I healed of back pains, but I was also healed of neck pains that had been going on for 20+ years.  Thank you Healer!  Around this same time, the right side of my body was attacked with what we believe was shingles (i.e. adult chickenpox for those that don’t know).  I took authority over my body and prayed over the bumps, and thank the Lord, they did not spread any further.  Again, I received prayer at church and that same evening the bumps began to dry up and scab.  By His stripes we are healed!  I’m not sure why the theme of attacks is against my “right side”, but it really doesn’t matter because I am protected by the blood of Jesus!

Earlier this week one of Josh’s students came up to him after graduation and handed him $50.  Her family runs a business and normally she doesn’t begin working until the summer, but she asked to work a little early so she could earn money to give to Josh for our trip to Africa.  Wow!  This student is one that didn’t even like Josh at the beginning of the year, but now she says that Josh has impacted her life in so many positive ways.  Josh’s students also honored him at graduation with a loud ovation.  He has been so blessed to work at an alternative school and has been greatly impacted by the kids there.  We wonder what the Lord has in store for us next.  Whatever it is, we know it’s going to be great with Him as the head!!  We also received a $500 check and very encouraging letter from a lady we’ve never even met.  It turns out that she also has her church body praying for our family as we venture off to Africa.  I love to see the unity in HIS Church.  It doesn’t matter what “church label” people have because there really only is one true church and that is HIS Church.  We are His Church, His body of believers, and as it says in 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, we all serve a purpose!

Phew, we made it through our first flight to Seattle.  I received the surprise of Josiah leaking through his diaper onto my shirt BEFORE we even made it past security.  Ooops, somehow we managed to forget to change his diaper before leaving the house.  Good thing they allowed us to bring a diaper bag for our carry-on.  When we went to check our baggage in, the lady told us we’d probably have to pay the standard fees.  Alaska has an agreement with Delta where if you are connecting to an int’l fight then they will wave your fees.  Well, that only applies if you are connecting within 8 hours.  We do not fly out from Seattle for 20 hours, which means we would have to pay $20 per checked luggage.  The lady told us she’d give it a shot to see if they’ll honor our connection and wave the fees, but then she processed it and said they wouldn’t be able to.  As we got ready to grab the rest of our bags, Josh asked if they were just going to charge our card then or how we were supposed to go about paying the fees.  The lady said she went ahead and took care of our fees.  Haha, she overrode the policy and WAVED OUR FEES, thank you Father!  I sit here typing the rest of my blog while everyone else sleeps.  The kids were wide-eyed with excitement as they experienced their first time flying.  We hit a little turbulence as we prepared to land, and it felt like we were on a mini rollercoaster.  The kids giggled at that part!  Jade and Christian both enjoyed the window seats, and Christian asked a couple of times… “When are we going to crash?”  What he meant to say was, “When are we going to land?”  He wanted to know when the wheels aka “landing gear” were going to come out.  I’m sure my friend, Katie, will love hearing about this!  Josiah slept almost the whole way, about 1 hour.  Tomorrow will definitely be a test as we face a 9 hour flight from Seattle to Amsterdam, have a 2 hour wait, then board another 11 hour flight to Johannesburg.  Good thing we came prepared with some toys, books, coloring and games.  Gracie has done awesome with her potty training and stayed dry the whole day and plane ride, so thank you for those that have been praying over this and for your continued prayers.  We take flight again Sunday at 1:40pm and will be in Africa around 9:30pm the following day.  Hopefully we will have internet connection there, but if not, we will do our best to provide updates as soon as we can.  Blessings to you all – much love – the Mason Clan!

His Goodness Never Stops

During the first week in April we mailed our visa applications to the Embassy of Mozambique in D.C.  Along with the applications, you have to mail all original passports.  Many people get nervous about this process, but God gave us such a peace about it, and we simply asked that His special angels watch over our documents and bring them safely home to us!  Not only did our passports return to us after 3 processing days, but they also included the correct timeframe for our stay in Africa.  Thank you angels of God!!

Originally we were thinking that we would drive to Seattle somehow – either have someone with a big enough vehicle drive us there or rent a vehicle, but after further research and prayer God confirmed that we were to fly from Boise to Seattle.  We’ve booked our flight to Seattle, received a discounted rate for our hotel through a friend of ours (God bless you Bob!), and have also reserved a hotel in Johannesburg for our first overnight stay in Africa prior to arriving at the Village of Joy where we will be living for the summer.  We will post pictures of our living quarters once we get settled.

We completed our first “mock” suitcase packing to see how much we can fit into one large suitcase and still stay under the 44lb weight limit for our international flight.  Yikes, this is going to be challenging, but we serve a VERY creative God who knows what to do and will share His wisdom and creativity with us!  First attempt – 37lbs – and that only included most (but not all) of Josh’s clothes.  Haha, I can’t wait to see what our suitcases look like in the end!  Maybe a little something like this…………….. =)

The cost of diapers in Africa is $20 for 18, ouch!!  Although they don’t weigh much, 700 diapers minimum sure would take up a lot of space in our suitcases and spending roughly $800 in Africa for 3-months of diapers isn’t feasible, so please be praying with us that Gracie will be potty-trained before the summer so we only have to pack diapers for Josiah!!  We looked into cloth diapers, but unfortunately running water for laundry is not always guaranteed and we would rather not collect a pile of soiled cloth diapers, if ya know what I mean!  Toilet paper is also expensive in Africa, costing $1/roll for very poor quality, and if our calculations are correct we’ll need to pack about 35 rolls based on our normal usage at home.  With the change in weather, diet, etc., our bowels are bound to be impacted so please also keep this in your prayers, haha!

Immunizations are complete and Malaria prescriptions ordered.  I’ve been trying to keep up with all the ways God has been good to us and our finances, but He’s always good, so I’ll just start with some praises of how keeping our eyes focused on Him and trusting in Him has really blessed our lives!

Praise Report 1:  After multiple phone calls to various travel clinics, they all kept telling me that insurance would not cover the kids’ Typhoid vaccines.  I felt like the enemy was trying to put fear and doubt into my mind through the wisdom of man and I was not about to cave.  Thinking that we may have to pay 100% out-of-pocket, I had the opportunity to “settle” with a clinic that offered reduced fees for lower income families and appeared to be the best option for us at the time.  I even called to schedule an appointment but was told they were a walk-in clinic.  Even better, I thought, because then we could plan it around the kids’ naps.  However, the Lord kept telling me to look into this other hospital clinic first.  I was reluctant and had my doubts because I had already called one hospital and received very poor service.  The idea wouldn’t go away and I knew God was trying to get my attention so I went ahead and made the phone call.  Not only did this hospital clinic end up having the lowest fees (even if we paid 100%), but after a recent follow-up, it turns out that because we did everything by the books the kids’ insurance is going to reimbursed us 75% of the fees ($226).  Josh will also get reimbursed $202 of his expenses.  Praise God for His direction!  God continues to teach me a valuable lesson in life – don’t settle just because something “appears” to be good (like the clinic with reduced fees) or out of fear of man.  He reminds me often that as I allow Him to be my guide, His ways are better than all other ways!

Praise Report 2: We also discovered that insurance is going to cover 100% of our Malaria prescriptions (except mine since I’m not on insurance).  Lord, you are rich!!  He had His hand all over this one.  Let me explain….  I’m one who likes to be proactive so I called Jade’s doctor to schedule an appointment for a few weeks down the road since I know how busy doctor’s offices can get.  The receptionist informed me there was an opening for the following day so I thought, “Sure, why not.  We might as well get it done.”  It turns out that scheduling her appointment that early was a blessing in disguise, because had we waited even a few days later, insurance wouldn’t have covered all the refills for her prescription by the time we needed to leave the country.  I love how God cares about the little details just as much as the big!  We quickly scheduled appointments for the other kids to be seen by their doctor later that same afternoon.  The enemy even tried to steal Jade’s appointment time with certain events that transpired that morning, but God’s peace was upon me and everything worked out as I laid it at His feet and remained in the presence of His peace. 

Praise Report 3: We got a notice stating our ISP (internet service provider) is increasing our bill by $10/month.  I don’t think so!  After doing some research, we were able to find another ISP for $15 cheaper and faster speeds.  Wahoo!  We’re also going to receive a $50 gift card (just like cash) for switching over.  To top it off, I thought our final bill from the original ISP was going to be prorated, but it turns out that we were a month ahead and are now going to be receiving a pro-rated credit of $27.  CHECKS IN THE MAIL!!

Praise Report 4: Our monthly mortgage payment went down because of our escrow balance AND we received another CHECK IN THE MAIL for $57 because there was an excess amount left in our escrow account and they are required by law to mail a check for any amount over $50.  Lord, we praise you for the big things, we praise you for the small.  We praise you all the time, in good times and bad.  We lift up your name and praise you!!

Praise Report 5: We received a quote for our airfare from Seattle to Africa, but after we purchased the tickets and all charges cleared, the total decreased by $54!!  An unexpected decrease from our awesome God!

Praise Report 6: God encouraged us to sell any items in our possession that we could simply do without to help raise money.  On April 23 I posted an ad on Craigslist for a bed frame and dresser.  2 ½ hours later a lady e-mailed us to see if these items were still available.  I told her yes so she asked if she could come by the next evening to look at them.  When she came by, I also shared with her that we had a night stand available but wanted to give it away for free to whomever purchased the other furniture.  The night stand had some water stains on it so we didn’t feel right about “selling” it at a cost.  Not only did she purchase the furniture for the original asking price of $325, but after hearing about our upcoming journey to Africa, she felt prompted to bless us with additional money to help us along the way.  To top things off, she insisted that we keep the furniture until mid-May so that we can enjoy having a bed for at least a few more weeks.  God blessed us through a complete stranger – how awesome is He!!  May He bless this woman with more than she could ever imagine!

Praise Report 7: Not only is God continuing to bless us through others with monetary donations, but our “needs list” continues to decrease as people have lent or donated items such as suitcases, head lamps, outlet converter plugs, books, etc.

All of these blessings were not expected or planned for.  Some of you might see these amounts or items as small or insignificant, but to me, it’s God’s way of showing us just how much He loves us and is honoring US for our faith!!  His goodness never stops!!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW0UOxwepJQ

Psalm 150 says it all:

¹Praise the Lord!

Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
² Praise Him for His mighty acts;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
³ Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
Praise Him with the lute and harp!
⁴ Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
⁵ Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Leavin’ on a jet plane – don’t know when we’ll be back again!  Our wonderful God has blessed us with 6 plane tickets to Africa, and we are excited to take flight with Him in less than 7 weeks!!  There’s no better pilot to be flying with than God!!  We are flying out of Seattle May 27^th and will return home August 14^th.  Wowzers, our total flight time is around 27 hours each way, but we praise the Lord that He provided a perfect route for our family.  Our departure and arrival times are perfect because we serve a perfect God who knows our needs!

Just to give you a little history, when God told us to attend the mission school in Africa, of course we wondered how in the world “we” were going to pay for it….key word “we”.  We know God is our provider and will not leave us stranded when He has called us to do something, but living on one teacher’s salary with a family of 7 has already stretched our faith.  However, He continues to remind us that there is always enough with Him!!  He changed our focus from, “How are we going to pay for it?” to “Lord, we trust that YOU will provide the way as we seek your will.”  He has taught us a lot about finances in the past 3+ years, and we are learning to manage His resources given to us more wisely and to trust that He will always provide even if we don’t see it with our natural eyes in that very moment (Hebrews 11:1).  The enemy has tried to keep me in bondage and throughout my life I allowed a wall to be constructed around my heart which blocked me from fully trusting God in my life, but in the past year God has chiseled away the jagged edges as I have allowed myself to be clay in the Potter’s hands.  We are learning to trust Him more and more, and He has shown us that He is faithful to uphold His promises to us.  Allowing this truth to penetrate deep into our hearts has really given us such a peace, and we have learned to submit all things to Him instead of becoming anxious (Philippians 4:6-7). 

The cost of our plane tickets did go up by $2,000 from our original quote a couple of months back, but God has blessed us with the resources to cover this expense.  He brought about personal revelation to me through the scriptures and began to open my eyes and speak to me in a very personal way.  He asked me – Are you willing to lay down everything for me?  Are you willing to give everything you have right now and then trust in me for the rest?  Do you trust me?

Mark 12:41-44 This is the story about the widow who gives all she has.  The Lord began speaking to me about all of the funds we had access to and how these resources are from Him.  He has graciously blessed us with a bountiful tax return, cash from Josh’s IRA and donations.  Although we had other plans for our tax refund, and of course retirement funds, in our hearts we knew that the Lord was asking us to give all that we had for His purposes in Africa.  We were given a peace about using a portion of Josh’s IRA to pay for our plane tickets, because in the end, it’s all God’s resources anyway.  We want to take what He has given us and be faithful with it when He asks us to.

Matthew 6:34 – God has asked us to live for today and not worry about tomorrow.  Some may think we’re crazy for spending thousands of dollars to go to Africa when we could save up for a “rainy day”.  Yes, the Bible does talk about saving up and being prepared, but sometimes the things we save up for aren’t the things that God wants us to save up for.  We know that from the world’s perspective what we’re doing may seem like a waste of time, money and energy, but the Lord has reminded us that we are not to live by the ways of the world (Romans 12:2).  Everyone’s situation is different, but we know that in our current situation God is guiding our steps and has told us that it’s time to use the resources He has given us (even if WE had other plans for them) because He’s got the best plans in mind for us (Jeremiah 29:11)!

Matthew 25:14-30 – God has reassured me through this parable that as we invest in Him with all that we have been given (our time, money and energy), we are honoring Him and He is pleased.  Sharing this parable doesn’t mean we are looking for monetary gain or for our portions to be doubled.  When I think of “riches”, I think of eternal blessings and richness in spirit.  If God chooses to double or increase our finances, then we will humbly and graciously accept His goodness towards us, but in the end, we are already rich in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 8:9)!

Some may question our decision to go to Africa, but we know that our loyalty is in God.  "How do you know that the idea of going to Africa is from God?" you might ask.  The Bible tells us that God, "by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of - infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes" (Ephesians 3:20).  If a dream comes from God, it will be so big in your life that you can't do it on your own.  If you could do it on your own, you wouldn't need faith.  I recently read a "Daily Hope" message written by Rick Warren, and it is so relevant to our family's journey in this season that I felt prompted to share it below.

Decision Making: Use Your Muscles of Faith

by Rick Warren

"But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone.  Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind... Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do." (James 1:6, 8 New Living Translation)

After God gives you a dream, the next step for building your faith is decision - God challenges you to do something about your dream.  Nothing is going to happen to that dream until you wake up and put it into action.  You have to make the decision to go for it!  For every 10 dreamers in the world, there is only one decision maker.  A lot of people have dreams, but they never get to step 2 - making the decision to trust God and follow their dream.

Faith is a verb.  It's active and not passive.  It's something you do.  Decision making is a faith-building activity.  You use your muscles of faith.  Faithful decision making requires two things:

1. You must decide to invest your time, money, reputation, and energy.  You lay it on the line; you take the plunge.  You say, "God, you've told me to do this, and I'm going to be faithful to do it!"
2. You have to let go of security.  You cannot move in faith and hold onto the past at the same time.  You have to move forward.  Moses had to let go of his position in Pharaoh's kingdom in order to do God's will.  Nehemiah gave up a secure job in order to go build a wall around Jerusalem.  In other words, if you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat.

God brings you to a point of decision so your faith will build as you move toward the dream God has given you.  What step will you take today to work toward the dream God has given you?  What do you need to let go of so that you can move forward in pursuing your dream?

JOYFULLY SOARING AND DREAMING WITH GOD!!  Preparing for take off.........

Let the Journey Begin

As previously mentioned, we were officially accepted into the Iris Harvest School of Missions: http://www.irismin.org/missions/harvest/about on Tuesday, February 7, 2012.  We will be traveling to Africa sometime around May 25^th and returning around August 13^th.  We are so thrilled for the opportunity to serve God across seas and are excited for the direction He is leading our family!  We could allow ourselves to become overwhelmed by all that needs to happen between now and then, but instead we are choosing to put our full faith and trust in Him – knowing that He would not call us to go to Africa without providing the means to get there.  Years ago God began to walk us through the process of simplifying our lives.  We went from two incomes to one, experiencing financial decrease after decrease.  We downsized our home to one of under 1,000 sf and added 3 more children to the Mason Clan.  Josh switched from the corporate lifestyle to that of teaching/coaching.  Many times the numbers never added up, but God always took care of us.  We began this journey with roughly $200 in our savings account, and for those that know us well, a teacher’s income stretches us month-to-month (on paper).  HOWEVER, we have always given 10% or more back to the Lord and He has blessed us tremendously for our faithfulness.  Yes, we don’t have a lot of materials, and yes, we don’t fill our lives with a lot of entertainment, travel and eating out, but God has given us all that we need and then some!  He has taken our “5 loaves of bread and 2 fish” and multiplied them!!  He is giving us the richness of His Spirit and we no longer see ourselves as “poor”, even though the world may define us as such.  Romans 12:2 says to, “Not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.”  The Father does like to give us good gifts so having these things isn’t wrong necessarily, but in the last few years He has personally shown us where we were getting caught up in the world and that certain things were hindering us from having true freedom in Him.  We didn’t have the freedom to support the promotion of His gospel and further His Kingdom in the way we wanted to.  Jesus paid a great price for us, and we simply want to lay all that we have down for Him!

The Bible is full of so many promises, and He has taught us to trust in Him and grab hold of those promises He’s so freely given us!  I, personally, have learned to let go of control when it comes to finances, and I know that He was preparing our hearts and increasing our faith for this very moment.  Knowing that we need roughly $25,000 to take our family to Africa sounds like a large sum, almost impossible especially on a teacher’s salary, but we know that nothing is impossible with God and He is a very rich God [Luke 1:37 and Philippians 4:19]!  We have an amazing testimony to share when it comes to finances for Africa.  Our deposit (reduced to $600 because Ethan isn’t going) was due on February 17^th.  On February 15^th we were expecting our tax refund, which we were going to use to pay our deposit, however there was an error with the IRS system and the refund got delayed by a few weeks.  We submitted this to the Lord and agreed that we were not going to resort to putting our deposit on credit (even if we could pay it back once our tax refund arrived) because that would take away from our faith and trust in the Lord and we want to fully trust and depend on Him through this entire process.  On February 16^th, the day before our deposit was due, an amazing man of God stepped forward in faith and offered to pay for the full amount of our $600 deposit…..praise God!!!  We give all the praise and glory to God for His good gifts, and we are truly grateful and humbled for this man and many others who are willing to be vessels for Him!

On Monday, January 23, 2012, God also won another battle for us when we received permission from Jade’s birth mom to take Jade with us this summer to Africa, yet another praise report!!  Jade lives primarily with us, but this could have gone either way given some history.  We all prayed and prayed and prayed that God would soften her heart, and as if He were putting the “cherry on top”, we received the permission we needed with absolutely no hesitation!!  Haha, He is so good!

Our passports were expected to take 4-6 weeks, and Josh was concerned that we might need to expedite them and pay an additional fee, but then we agreed to go with the standard process and trust that God would take care of the details.  Not only do we now have our passports, but they arrived in 2 ½ weeks!!  Here are a few photos of our boys "attempting" to be serious for their passport photos.  They have strict criteria for what they will accept: no facial expressions, no head tilts, eyes looking straight ahead.  Do they not realize I'm working with a 1-year old, haha!?!  Fortunately, I was able to capture some acceptable photos for their passports, but these ones just made me chuckle!

The next step for us is to purchase our plane tickets.  Josiah will be flying as a lap seat for a minimal charge.  The last airfare quote we were given was approximately $9,500, but we’ve recently been told that prices are starting to increase a bit.  Please keep this in your prayers.  Thank you!

We have invited God into this planning process and are seeking His guidance every step of the way.  He has saturated us with His peace and we are simply enjoying the journey!  We’re getting out of the way and letting God be God in our lives!  Thank you for partnering with us.  We hope you enjoy the journey too!

Dreaming Big

We love how God speaks to His children through such creative ways!  Back in October 2011 I had jokingly made a comment to Josh on Facebook about how maybe someday God will call us to serve a mission across the nations.  Of course, we didn’t expect this to become a reality in our lives, especially so soon, but in the past year God has been stirring up our hearts for more of Him and we simply want to lay down our lives and take up our cross for Him (Matthew 16:24).  Soon after God started guiding Josh into researching mission trips, but nothing was really jumping out at him until he came across the Web site for Harvest School of Missions.  He tried to shake off the stirrings in his spirit because he’s never really had the desire to go on a mission trip to another country.  He even wrestled with God but could not let the idea go.  I remember the day when he casually made the comment to me about going to Mozambique, Africa.  I thought he was just messing with me so I shrugged it off.  Within the next week or two, Josh shared with me what God had laid on his heart – about going on a short-term/long-term mission trip.  He said that the mission school in Africa really caught his attention.  Right off the bat I saw a few obstacles in the way and didn’t know if it’d be possible.  I’ve always wanted to travel to another country, but I never thought it’d come to fruition.  The enemy had been trying to divide us on family matters, so to come together on a major decision like this was a struggle at first and we questioned whether this new stirring was from God or from our own pursuit.

On Thursday, December 15, 2011, we asked for prayer from our Life Group.  Josh explained to them that God had placed something big on our hearts and we just needed confirmation and clarification.  He let them know that the enemy had been trying to divide us in other areas of our life.  We didn’t share any information about the direction we believed God was leading us because we didn’t want any personal opinions/emotions to influence people’s prayers, and we wanted to hear directly from God on the matter.  A beautiful couple prayed over us.  This amazing man of God prayed how we’ve spoken into his life without even saying words, just by our example, and how we will speak into many others’ lives as well.  He prayed for God’s clarity, clear direction and peace as we make our decision.  This beautiful woman of God (this man’s wife) prayed over Josh and said that he would lead our family and I would be willing to follow wherever he goes.  She prayed for unity over us and safety for the family.  She declared truth from Jeremiah 29:11 and how God’s plans are not to hurt us – that we have nothing to fear as we keep our eyes focused on Him!  She prayed that “where one is there the other is also.”  I did have thoughts that maybe just Josh was supposed to go to Africa, but that never really settled well in my heart, so this was a huge confirmation for me that whatever was in the horizon wasn’t just for Josh but for all of us together as a family.  Another member of this amazing family prayed that “two would become one,” again another confirmation that we would be united in our decision and God’s direction in our lives.

I felt at peace and united with Josh after receiving prayer, and the affect of the enemy’s division on us had been broken, but it wasn’t until I spoke to this same beautiful woman of God that we received a direct answer from the Lord!  While in the kitchen she came up to me and said, “Someday we will be going to Heidi Baker’s Harvest Missions too.”  I wondered why in the world she would be bringing that up out of the blue, especially when that’s exactly what God had laid on Josh’s heart for our family this summer.  I shared this information with her and she said, “I knew without knowing!”  The Holy Spirit had spoken to her of our situation without us even sharing a word with her about it.  Come on Lord!!  Another Kingdom warrior shared a word with us from Psalm 27 and said that Josh and I should read it together so we did later that evening and stayed up talking until after 11:30pm.  We thanked God for the affirmation and unity we received that night.

When ordering the kids’ Christmas gifts, I came across a movie called “What If”.  I’d never heard of it before, but it sounded really good and was only $5 so I decided to order it from the Christian Family Bookstore.  On Monday, December 19, 2011, Josh and I decided to watch it after the kids went to bed.  During one scene the main character was opening a letter from a former sweetheart, now currently a missionary.  I kid you not, you’ll never guess where she was serving…..MOZAMBIQUE!!  The movie hadn’t mentioned it, but on the letter it had referenced Mozambique.  I asked Josh if he saw that and he said, “Saw what?”  I told him how the letter said she was a missionary currently in Mozambique and the first words out of his mouth were, “Very funny God!”  I even rewound the movie so he could see it!  I love how God creatively grabs our attention!  A few days later, on December 22, Josh was at the store chatting with a guy (sounded Russian), and the man was asking Josh why he believed in Christmas because he didn’t.  Josh shared his testimony with the man and his response was, “You seem like a nice man and ‘your’ God is going to use you to speak to many!”

Every disciple of Jesus Christ is commanded to go out into the world as His witness to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, and through His power and authority – heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, set the captives free…….  Josh and I do not want to go through the motions of life.  We want to do what Jesus has commanded us to do.  We are hungry for more of Him and want to lay down our lives for Him, no matter the cost!  Does this mean we have to go to Africa to share the gospel?  No!  However, this is where God is currently calling us to and we want to obey Him.  When I was a teenager I dreamed of running some type of a shelter/camp for hurting children.  Although the details are still fuzzy, I believe God is bringing this dream to fruition because it is also His heart to love on the lost and hurting.  Without Jade even knowing about my dream, God also laid a very similar dream on her heart when she attended Kid’s Camp last summer.  God is uniting the dreams of our family as we keep our eyes focused on Him!!

God is taking care of the big and little details.  When Josh checked his personal leave hours for work, because he will have to miss the last week of school, he discovered that he had exactly enough time off to cover his leave.  A God thing!  Josh was beginning to feel some pressure from this decision and doubt was trying to sneak its way in, but one morning God laid something on my heart that I shared with Josh.  He gave me such a peace about it, and I knew I was supposed to share it with Josh.  Rather than worry about whether or not we were clearly hearing from God, rather than worry about all the hurdles we would have to jump over – God reminded me that we needed to surrender it all to Him, not worry about being right/wrong and to step out in faith.  As we laid it all down at His feet, He promised that He would open the doors that needed to be opened and would close the doors that needed to be closed.  TRUST in ME!!  I am not one who is known for taking risks in my life.  I like to play it safe.  However, I have learned that faith is spelled R.I.S.K., and in Hebrews 10:38-39 it teaches how we should not shrink back but move forward in faith.  Even when I do fail, His grace will cover me.  Recently, Jesus freed me from the bondage/fear of failure, and He’s showing me what it really means to have faith in Him and trust in Him for EVERYTHING!

On January 11, 2012, we met with our pastors to share with them our hearts about Africa.  We wanted their blessings and prayer support for this new journey we were about to enter in to.  They were very excited for us and prayed that God would stop us if this was not His will because we are moving forward in faith.  The application process for the school did not open until Sunday, January 15, but we did not waste any time completing ours.  We had them submitted by 8:45pm that same evening.  On this same day our pastor also introduced Josh to a couple that just returned from the same mission school we had applied to.  This was the first time they had attended our church and had actually been living in California prior to their arrival.  It was so awesome of God to place this couple into our lives at this exact timing.  Praise the Lord!

As you can imagine, we were checking e-mail multiple times a day to see whether or not we had been accepted.  Our excitement was overflowing, but we were at such peace with God!!  The official announcement arrived on Tuesday, February 7, 2012, two weeks after our entire application was complete!  Josh had just gotten off work and asked if we had received anything in e-mail yet.  I told him ‘no’ and that I had just checked it.  He suggested that maybe I should log into our account to check for anything there.  I got all excited and said, “Why?  Did we get accepted?!?!”  He said, “Yes,"  and that he felt prompted to check his account before leaving work that day, and sure enough, he had been accepted!  Of course I screamed with joy!!  I also logged into my account to confirm this great news!  We received our acceptance letter via e-mail 1 hour later.  We have dared to dream big with God, and He is partnering with us to fulfill the passions in our heart so that we can further His Kingdom here on earth!  We’re excited to go deeper with Him, and so our journey begins…….