It's been a long time!

Helloooooo to all our friends in the blog-o-sphere! Wow, it has been a looooooong time since I blogged. Why? Because I just don't seem to have the time to keep up a family, a mission field, a website, Facebook, AND a blog too! And I won't even mention the laundry! haha 

We are not sure where the months of Jan-April went. We were SO busy with mission work that they flew by unbelievably fast!!!
 
I am writing to apologize for being such a slacker in the blogger world. I post almost every day on Threesixteen's Facebook page but then it just hit me that not everybody gets on or even has a facebook page. So please accept my sincere apologies. I will try my best to do better to keep you guys informed!
I love to write and I especially love to share our crazy insane interesting stories of what goes on in our daily lives.
So if you all will accept my sincere apology I will take that as an encouragement to write more often! 
Thanks for loving us! We love you guys too!
Blessings,
Shawn

Too Blessed To Be Stressed, Too Loved To Be Forgotten!

Life is hard everywhere you look, its how we deal with our struggles that matter.

When I got to the DR I realized that my only hope is in Christ Jesus. Now don't get me wrong, I have known this for many years now, but new life has been formed with those simple words. Today I don’t eat unless HE provides food for me. I don't have electricity unless HE provides for me. And ultimately none of us breathe unless HE provides us with air. I have been humbled by this experience, that is for sure! When I am having a horrible day here complaining about not having hot water to shower ... or not having water at all, I can look out my window and see people with a LOT less than I have.

It is then that I am reminded that our joy should be solely in the Lord and not in earthly treasures. If I have less than what I am accustomed to, I should still give thanks to Him who is the giver of all things and I can still depend on my Savior to take good care of me.

Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? Matthew 6:26

Here I can look out my window and see people without shoes, clothes, and probably just rice and beans on the table for dinner. It is then that I eat some humble pie and know that I am blessed. I have taken EVERYTHING for granted ....

"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body.” Matthew 6:25

Sometimes it is when we are stripped of all the luxuries that we can see the Lord for who He truly is and ultimately who we are at the core of our being.

When we have nothing left, who are we? When we are no longer self-dependent on our own income, who are we? When we no longer have “things” or “toys”, who are we? My friends, this is when things get a little tough and our faith can become a little “iffy”. Take away my lunch and I am not a very friendly person. I start to get grumpy and a couple hours later nobody wants to be anywhere near me. Take away all the money in my bank account where I cant pay any of my bills, and you are gonna find a stressed out girl!

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Philippians 4:6,7

The lesson the Lord is teaching me here is that I have to let go of all those “worries” and let Him have complete control of my life. I can tell you that this has been somewhat of a struggle for me. But it has given me the opportunity to see the Lord for who He is. He is my Father, and I am his daughter. There is no one better capable of loving me. There is no one more capable of providing for me ........ And this my brothers and sisters, is the same for you!

My prayer is that no matter what you are going through, that you will know that He loves you. The Lord ultimately wants to bring you into a deeper relationship with Him. Sometimes that means stripping you of everything you depend on. That was the case for me. I no longer have an “income”. I do not know if I will have money to buy food to put on the table tomorrow, but I do have a Father that loves me so much that He gave His precious son Jesus to die for me ... and my dear friends, that is more than enough for me :)

Obedience is Bliss

Some of you have seen the title of this blog as my status on Facebook a couple of weeks ago. It was then that the Lord put this post on my heart. I feel as though the Lord is wanting me to confirm something for you all. This isnt gonna hurt ;)

For those of you who know me know that I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart. I have never hid my relationship with Him. He rescued me from a life of sin that was taking me straight to the pits of hell. I am so thankful that He saved me! On that day, 15 years ago I would have never thought He would ask me to go and be a missionary to the deaf. If you would have told me that, even after many years of serving Him, I would have laughed in your face and said "That is as far fetched as anything I have ever heard of ... I am NOT 'equipped' to do such a thing". Even today I feel as though I am not knowledgeable enough to do what He has called us to do. Then I have to reflect on the story of Moses ... In Exodus 4:10, Moses tells the Lord that he is not qualified to do what the Lord has asked him to do. Wow ... if you go back to chapter 3 and even the beginning of chapter 4 you will see that the Lord performed miracles that Moses saw with his own eyes (the burning bush, his walking stick turned into a snake, etc). I am thankful that we have the rest of the story to ponder. Moses had to put his doubt behind him and move on to what the Lord called him to do (with help from his brother Aaron).

This is where you fit in ... I know the Lord has called you to do something for Him. I want to encourage you to be strong, put away all doubt and trust in the Lord of Moses ....
He will strengthen and equip you!

2 Chronicles 16:9a The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

Finally as we sit here looking back at our calling 6 years ago and fast forwarding to the present day I sit here in awe of the Lord's work. Kelly and I are teaching deaf kids ... this is CRAZY! You know us ... would you have ever in a million years thought this is what we'd be doing? I didnt think so, haha!

The Lord might have wrote these verses for Moses, but they are as relevant to me today as they were to Moses many many years ago ...

Exodus 4:11,12 But the Lord answered,
"Who makes people able to speak or makes
them deaf or unable to speak?
Who gives them sight or makes them blind?
Dont you know that I am the one who does these things?
Now go! When you speak, I will
be with you and give you the words to say"

How much more confirmation do we need to do what He has called us to do? Please dont be like Moses who saw the miracles and still didnt believe the Lord, he focused on his inability instead of the Lord's ability. Powlison said this: "It is curiously comforting to know that your calling is beyond your capability." I believe he knew a little something about the Lord's ability to "qualify" us for our calling :)

He may not have called you to the Dominican Republic or any other 3rd world country, but whatever it is He has asked you to do, PLEASE do it. He will reward you with great measure for being obedient. Maybe it is just baking a pie for a shut in, or taking soup to someone who is sick.

Whatever He lays on your heart, do it.
My friends, Obedience truly is bliss!

What's it like living in the DR?

Most of you have been asking what it is like here, so here ya go ....

You CANNOT drink the local water here as

it is full of bacteria and can make you VERY sick. So, they sell you clean water in 5 gallon jugs for about $1. At the stores you can buy a pump for the top of the jug to dispense your water. I no longer need those workout videos! haha

The next time you open up a carton of eggs I want you to appreciate the fact that they are CLEAN ... ours came directly out of the chicken’s booty!!!! Haha ... oh, AND they put them in a BAG for you to take them home. Needless to say with our horrible road conditions not all are fortunate to make it to Kelly’s plate :) (Seriously, who puts eggs in a bag??)

Our milk, now referred to as "Leche" comes in a cute little box. It sometimes has a pour spout and sometimes it doesn't. If you find a box WITH a pour spout, consider yourself BLESSED! haha

Oh and did I mention that you don't refrigerate it???

I never liked milk to begin with ... and I don't think I am going to now either!!! yuck!

Do we have a washing machine and dryer? Oh yeah right, WHATEVER!!!!! Clothes are washed by hand (I have a new-found respect for my Grandparents generation, Bless Their Hearts!!) And yes, I have a clothes dryer, it’s called a barbed wire fence ...

What about electricity? Uhm yeah, sure we have it ... I think .... Oh yeah, that's right I do have electric ... sometimes .... No, seriously, I must have it because I get a bill each month for it, and its REALLY cheap - like $20 a month!!!! Maybe its so cheap because we only have it for a FEW HOURS A DAY!!!!!!!! Well when we moved here a lady told us that it was only off for a few hours a day I think she meant to say it was only ON for a few hours a day!!! They sell inverters here which is a battery charger. So, when the power is on it will charge the batteries so that when the power goes out you can still run your lights (nothing else, though). Needless to say, you do not use your refrigerator very much. You buy what you need for that day, and nothing else. Did I mention that I have to cook every meal???? Gah, I sure do miss McDonald's!!!!! We have had MAJOR issues here with our power. We have blown out numerous florescent lights and many many electronic items. It could be because of the power lines, I am not sure, as this is just an assumption :) (Check out those power lines)

How do we get around town? We do not have a car yet or the money to purchase one (as they are EXTREMELY expensive here), so we bought two motorcycles to get us to the store and back. A great big thanks goes out to my daddy, Jeff, for teaching me to ride one when I was little bitty - it has finally paid off! You’d be proud, haha!!! Oh yea, the kids LOVE LOVE LOVE it too ... Micah and Jonah want to drive us around since they see little bitty kids driving around. Uhm, I am just not ready for that yet ... Lord help me with this one :)

And if you happen to need anything really large, you can put it on the motorcycle too ... need a sheet of plywood?

How about a fan?

No problem ... they deliver!!! (You would NEVER believe the things you see - so I NEVER leave

the house without my camera!!) Gasoline is about $5 per gallon here, but praise the Lord ours only takes about a gallon and will last us over a week!!!!! And hey, if you run out of gas, someone will graciously push you to the nearest gas station (see picture) ...

You just better hope that our teeny tiny gas station actually “has” gas when you get there!

Oh and there’s a pretty good chance you will get stuck in a traffic jam with some pretty stubborn animals too...

What do you guys eat? Rice & Beans ... and more Rice and Beans!!! Ok, if you’re lucky you might get some Yucca & fried Plantanos (my favorites) and some boiled green bananas (another YUK).

When they cook a fish here -

they dont let ANYTHING go to waste! Same goes for the chickens, they eat feet and all!!!! I have found some things at our teeny tiny “Super Market” (haha ... whatever) that allows us to eat some “normal” things. We eat spaghetti ALOT!!! We have been able to find some good ol pork chops every once in a while. Its just scary as many pigs roam the streets and they eat and drink sewer water ... you do NOT want to eat one of these bad boys, thats fo sho!!!

Also you have to be VERY careful with our electrical issues as meat in the store has been frozen, thawed, frozen, thawed, etc etc ... Where is the FDA when you actually “need” them???

What are the people like there? I will use one word to describe the Dominicans ... LOUD!!!! They talk loud, their music is loud, and their motorcycles are loud! Honestly I am surprised that we dont have many more deaf kids here. And dont think that their churches are any different ... One time Jonah was talking VERY loudly to me right in the middle of the service and NOBODY heard him. It is ridiculous! At 6:30 every morning people are in the streets talking (loudly), driving like crazy on their motorcycles, blaring their music ... most of you know that I am NOT a morning person, and my bedroom window is very close to the road ... thank God I dont own a gun! (just kidding) All joking aside, the Dominicans are very patient and loving people. We have been welcomed in as family here, and for that we are grateful.

Even with all that we have had to deal with on a daily basis, the Lord has truly showed us Grace unmeasurable. He has blessed us with patience (somedays more than others, haha) and He has given us so many reasons to be thankful that we wont let all of the hoopla of everyday living drag us down. We have WAY too much to be thankful for. He has truly blessed us with a wonderful home here, wonderful friends and a wonderful building to teach the deaf (for FREE)!!! We could definitely focus on the negative, but we’d rather PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!!!!

He called us to Manzanillo to start a school for the deaf ... and one look into these kids eyes and their eagerness to learn ... well, it sure does make it all worth it!

America ... Land of the FREE? I dont think so :)

Things are quite comical here in the DR.
In America we have this false sense of freedom. In fact, we are not free at all. We are held in bondage to many laws. Some good, some bad, some ugly. Let me explain:
In America, you cannot

• Ride on a motorcyle while carrying a washing machine, or a 20 foot long piece of PVC pipe, or ride 3 other passengers. (these are all things we have SEEN with our own eyes!!)

• Put 40 people in the back of a pickup truck and allow them to jump out at their destination (without fully stopping the vehicle)

• Let your child go into a store to buy your beer and cigarettes OR let them drive your scooter to pick it up for you. (no I am NOT condoning, just sayin)

• Put 50 speakers into the back of your car/truck and BLAST music at such a decibel that you could immediately go deaf.

• Stack 10 ginormous bags of rice onto your head and walk around. I mean, afterall they "could" fall off of your head and hurt somebody else!

• Rip all your doors off of your mini-van, call it a "taxi" and pile 100 people into it.

• Stack so much bagged rice into the back of a pickup truck that it is leaning! Oh, and lets add a few people to the top and let them ride too .... I knew you'd have to see the pic of this one to believe it, so here ya go! (look closely and you will see 2 ppl on the top)

Other things we have noticed here:

• You do not have to wear a seat belt (probably because there just arent enough seatbelts for 10 ppl in one car, so why wear one if you all cant have one??)

• There is no such a thing as a speed "limit" and stop signs (if you are lucky enough to find one) are merely "suggestions". The only thing that will slow you down is a 16" tall speed bump that could probably launch you into outer space. And the fact that there are missing man-hole covers that could eat your front motorcycle tire. Oh, and I cant leave out the fact that there are pot-holes big enough to SWALLOW a Mini Cooper (maybe thats why I havent seen any of those here).

• You can wear whatever you want to here, as there doesnt seem to be much of a fashion rule ... if you want to wear neon orange shirt with baby pink pants, you CAN!! If you want to wear your hair rollers to the grocery store - GO for it!! If you are a guy, you CAN wear pink shoes. Seriously. I am not kidding!!! I love not having to worry about how I look!!! I havent worn make-up in forever - afterall I dont have to look at myself, lol ... we only have one tiny mirror in this house so I never have to see how bad I really look!!!!!

• You can walk into a Pharmacy and buy anything you want ... I walked in and bought some antibiotics, albuterol, and steriods. Yep, sure did

Oh my word, there are so many more things I could write, but I am sure you all have better things to do today. I just hope you got a little chuckle out of some of the things that have amused us!
I have vowed to keep my camera in hand at ALL times .... surely dont wanna miss anything (:
For those of you who Facebook, I am sure you have already seen some of the sillies that I have posted. Enjoy!!

Dajabon ~ Home Sweet .... Home????

Well, we made it! After almost 6 years of prayer we are finally here! Glory to God or as they say here, Gloria a Dios!!!!
I cant wait to share with you some of the quirks or as I call them, DRisms. Things are so funny here! Well of course, the first week I didnt think they were funny at ALL!!! To be honest a lot of it got on my nerves - they are a VERY loud culture. And to top it off, they party EVERY single night of the week here ... it never stops!!! About fifteen years ago I might not have minded so much, lol!
Ok, on another note, the Lord has truly blessed us with another American Family that lives in Dajabon, but is doing ministry work in Haiti. Clementi Family, you are the bomdigity! Love you guys!!!
Please pray for us as we are adjusting to a brand new way of life, as we are learning Spanish & Sign Language, and how to live without chicken nuggets from McD's.
I am thankful that the coffee is so strong here that you only need like 2 tablespoons to get the jitters or I would be having withdrawals, fo sho!!!!
Love and miss you all so very much ....