3 Years Ago Today…

Disclaimer: This article was written yesterday but I was unable to publish it. Please indulge me & pretend you are reading this yesterday! 



Life is filled with ups & downs, twists & turns, & occasionally moments of complete & total shock.

Our life has been no exception to that rule.

There are those moments in life where your world simply stands still.

For our family of 5 Nelsons, that day was March 9, 2011.

Chris is wearing the yellow shirt.

Our moment of shock came at the realization that Chris had been in an accident that nearly took his life.

The moments, days, weeks, & months that followed were filled with a variety of miracles, trials, fears,

pain, tears, & joy.

Today, we stopped as a family to remember all of those moments.

3 years ago today, our life was forever changed.

3 years ago today, our family faced a challenge that we never had planned for.

And 3 years ago today, God did the miraculous & showed that He is always present & faithful.

We all remember the events of that day differently.

Each of our boys sees it from their own unique perspective as they were only 6,8, & almost 10.

Each friend that helped us along the way has their memories as well as each family member.

Chris remembers absolutely nothing! 

But we are grateful for that as well.  It is best.

This is our fabulous team, Henry, Yanethssy, Miryect, Us, & Yubisay.  Notice the girls with neck braces who were also in the accident. This picture is about 2 days before I flew Chris back to the states for further treatment.

But out of all of the memories & accounts of that day….

Mine will forever be the most vivid. 

I am blessed to have these memories permanently burnt into my brain & locked inside of my heart.

Every detail,  every tear, every second….

forever they will be a part of me.

I was there when God miraculously provided the money so doctors would begin treatment.

I was there when the surgeon entered & the peace of God filled my heart because I knew that that man

was sent by God to treat my husband.

I was there when the doctor called me into the operating room to have me calm Chris & to tell me that 

he could possibly lose his left hand if they didn't work aggresively.

I was there when the head injury began to manifest & show how serious his head had been hit.

I remember the desperation & the fear.

But I am also filled with the memories of miracles that filled each day for several weeks.

So many miracles happened, that it would take me a small book to include them all. 

Our children were blessed to be with missionary friends who loved them & prayed over them & to 

this day are still very much a special part of our family.

We could not have made it through that day without the prayers of so many faithful friends all over the 

world, touching heaven on our behalf.

Those kinds of prayers bring a peace that only comes from the Spirit of God.

The accident left many scars.

Obviously, there are physical scars like the ones you can see on Chris's body.

There are also many emotional scars that are deep inside of us all.

Chris's recovery was nothing short of a miracle, but his body is still not whole.

Hands don't cooperate, arms aren't as strong, & the brain still needs a touch from God.

But through it all, God has continued to open doors & use our family to bless others.

So today, on this highly momentous occasion,

we thank God for giving us more time with Chris.

We remember the past so that it rejuvenates our faith in the present.

And we continue forward towards the plans that God has for our family.

This tragic moment in history is part of our story.

It is part of the testimony that God has blessed our family to have.

And on this special day, Chris is playing soccer with our 2 oldest boys, our neighbor who has become 

like our son, & about 10 orphaned kids who simply want to know a father's love.

3 years ago today, our life was turned upside down.

And today, 3 years later, I can't think of a better way for him to celebrate the life that God has blessed 

him to keep living!

Patience & Endurance...

In 1998 our family was forever changed.

My niece, Amber, was born.

She was the first of the grandchildren so she was destined to be spoiled.

She was the apple of our eye & the center of every visit.

Amber with her Daddy (my brother, Phillip) and his friend, Beavis at their college graduation.

She remained the only grandchild for 2 1/2 years until Isaiah joined the party. Isaiah was

 actually a month & a half old at the time of this picture & my sister in law, Amy, had just

 learned that she was pregnant with my second niece, Anna. We kept taking turns having 

babies, I suppose!

We enjoyed lots of "Amber-isms" as she learned to talk & communicate.

I have 3 that will forever remain my favorites.

The first is the fact that she referred to the Disney movie "Pocahontas" as "Pokey-honk-us."

To this day, I will always think of her when a reference is made to Pocahontas.

My second favorite & the inspiration for this blog was,

"Patience & Endurance!"

I think she picked it up from her mom, but if ever anyone was frustrated with something or fretful, 

Amber in her 2 year old voice would quickly chime in....

"Patience & endurance, An-shuh-shuh!

(That was another of her Amber-isms for how she pronounced my name! And it would be in my top 3 favorites!)

To this day, when my boys are aggravated, frustrated, anxious...whatever,

they will hear me respond with the phrase, "patience & endurance boys!"

These words have been ringing in my ears in light of all of the unrest in our surrounding world.

We are natured to always GO & DO!

What is all of that talk about being patient?

Ain't nobody got time for that!

And what of that word, Endurance?

I decided to consult the wisdom of our friends at dictionary.com to see what these words really mean.

According to them, 

Patience is the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.

an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay

quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence: to work with patience.

Wow! 

I am not sure that being patient always sounds pleasant!

In fact, I think that true patience might even at times seem uncomfortable.

In the Bible, Proverbs 19 tells us that a person's wisdom yields patience & in 

Ecclesiastes 7, we see that patience is better than pride.

We are familiar with the common phrase that patience is a virtue. 

Patience is being able to conduct ourselves with calmness & wisdom in the midst of 

annoyance or in many cases, chaos.

Now, let's take a look at Amber's other word....Endurance.

Endurance is the fact or power of enduring or bearing pain, hardships, etc.

the ability or strength to continue or last, especially despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions; stamina

something endured, as a hardship; trial.

lasting quality; duration

Endurance sounds a bit overwhelming too!

Did you see the part where it mentioned trials & hardships?

The Bible refers to endurance as well.

In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, it mentions that endurance is inspired by hope in Jesus.

Patience & endurance often go hand in hand it seems.

Our family is in a place of learning these principles.

Being patient is not always easy & enduring trials is most definitely a challenge,

but our hope in Jesus continues to be made stronger.

Amber is now 15, yet her words spoken as a 2 year old, still ring true.

May you be encouraged today that whatever situation you find yourself in,

God is still there.

So, Patience & Endurance, my friends....

Our hope is in Jesus.

The Hiatus is Over...

I am pleased to announce that the hiatus is over!

According to dictionary.com, a hiatus is a break or interruption in the continuity of work.

Where I do not feel that the continuity of our work has been on hiatus,

I know that my blogs have...

Venezuela sort of shuts down from mid December til the end of January for the holidays.

I guess they take a sort of hiatus of their own!

Our life has been very full none the less since I last posted.

Our Ian, or Sweet Beefy as we affectionately refer to him, turned 11 years old!

Chris welcomed another birthday... actually, I don't know how welcomed it was, 

but for those of us who have come close to losing him on several occasions, another birthday is 

always a welcomed & cherished event.

I too celebrated another year in December.

Our holidays came with much enthusiasm. Traditional hallacas were made along with some of our 

family favorites. Lots of people passed through our house to both love on us & be loved back in 

return.

Our sweet love, Imanuel turned 9. (insert tears!)

We welcomed 2014 with much enthusiasm & expectancy.

Each year since Chris' accident has been filled with its own challenges & struggles.

Our family is looking at 2014 to be a year of favor & open doors.

We have many teams wanting to work along side of our family & we will also be welcoming Tech 

Carpenter in May. Tech will serve with us for the next 2 years as a Missionary Associate just as the

 Smith family is doing now.

We are in the process of transitioning the ministry of Global University over to the National Church.

We are very excited about this decision as it is time for the Venezuelan church to assume this 

responsibility & ministry.

God is opening the doors for us to purchase a property in Cabudare (a suburb to Barquisimeto).

With this new land we will be able to build a ministry base that will house Latin America Child Care

as well as a plethora of other ministries. We want to use this property to launch a church focused on

families. If you are interested in helping us purchase this property, please contact us by the emails in

 our blog info or comment on this blog.

As we were praying about this property, our neighbor, who is like a son to us, told us of an orphanage

close by that he had visited.

We too visited this home to find 42 children along with 2 single sisters who are caring for them.

They receive next to no support from the government. They care for the children because they know

 that no one else will.

The "God part" of all of this is that the orphanage is literally 2 blocks from the property we are

 purchasing.  We are excited to see just exactly what plans God has in store for our family & this 

house full of very needy children.

We are also excited that God has given the church in Pavia great favor with many of the local 

schools.

The schools are giving them incredible amounts of time to teach the children & disciple them.

We look forward to seeing how God is going to put all of the pieces together for this amazing

opportunity to reach hundreds of children in Pavia. We are also overjoyed that the building & land

for the Pavia Project have all been 100% paid for! What a blessing!

I was thinking about the word "hiatus." 

I remember being a kid & being so frustrated during the summer because all of the best T.V shows 

were showing re-runs! The good stuff wouldn't begin until September!

I think life is sometimes the same.

Sometimes, we feel that we are living in re-runs. The same things happening every day or week.

Those moments can be frustrating, especially when we are hoping for something new!

I have decided that God uses those times of being in a hiatus to teach us & even stretch us a bit.

You see, the longer the hiatus, the more excited we are when the new season begins.

I have great anticipation for our family & ministry in 2014.

I am pleased to announce to myself.... The Hiatus is Over & a New Season has Begun!

A Moment of Silence...

Have you ever been so busy that you just prayed for a moment of silence?

Peace & quiet... 

Tranquility... 

Usually, I find myself wanting those peaceful moments in times of busyness & often confusion.

Living in Venezuela, moments of peace are few & everything seems to come accompanied with confusion & a side order of chaos.

One has to look hard & intentionally to find the silence.

The last few months have been yet another whirlwind.

Thus my terrible communications since July... *my apologies*

Team season wrapped up early for us here in Venezuela so that we could head to the good ole' USA for a month.

I wish I could say that we found the silence & quiet there, but we didn't.

What we did find was a sweet time with family, LOTS of doctors appointments, a fabulous time with fellow missionaries & friends, & some much needed new clothes! We ended the trip helping my mom after an unexpected surgery was planned.

All in all, we had a great time... but those moments of silence & peace were still few.

We returned just in time to celebrate the graduation of our dear friend Henry from the Bible School here in Barquisimeto.

Then we began digging our heels in to prepare for the arrival of the Smith family. Not ONE but SEVEN people whom would be coming to work with us!

The Smiths arrived on September 16 & for the next month lived at our house.

We were one big family of 12...

Seriously people... every time we went anywhere we were at least a party of 12 & normally a party of 15 with a few Venezuelan friends thrown into the mix.

We were quite the entertainment for many Venezuelans I am sure!

And again... you can imagine that peace & silence were non existent during this month.

In early October, we did get a few days away to celebrate the wedding of the AMAZING Henry Medina & the FABULOUS Fernanda Vielma.

And yes, that is my incredibly handsome little man Imanuel & the beautiful Merci

What a precious union of 2 lives & a reminder of God's faithfulness to those who save themselves for the one that He has designed for them.

Our time in Mérida was wonderful & I think a little peace managed to creep its way into our hearts & minds.

But, all good things must come to an end & so we returned home to get the Smith family ready to move.

After a month, they were in their home... but we are still working on phone lines, internet, gas service, & several other "fun" things.

Life here is a bit more complicated & those 2 friends, "Chaos & Confusion," accompany most everything.

But God is faithful & has a great plan for our family & for this nation.

Now that brings us to today...

For the first time in months I hear complete silence.

(minus the hammering of construction workers building an overpass beside our house)

Chris & I have been praying about our next steps here in Venezuela...

What to do more of??? What to do less of??? What to begin??? And simply, what to end?

Even in the midst of our craziness over the last few months where everything has been LOUD & CHAOTIC....

We have been in a moment of silence.

Moments feel like lifetimes when you are waiting.

But to God... they are moments none the less.

I am sitting here in the silence as my husband runs errands to help Scott get the phone connected & my kids sleep in because they have been sick.

And I am thankful & blessed.

Thankful that God is in control of both the noise & the silence.

And blessed that He has chosen our family to be a part of His plan for Venezuela.

Wherever you find yourself today...

Rest in the knowledge that God is in control & be blessed.

What's the Difference?....

What's the difference?

An I really making a difference?

I think lots of people spend at least a portion of their lives asking those very questions.

We all get to the place where we wonder if the things we are doing are actually making a difference....

Chris & I are no different & honestly ask that question A LOT!

Missions... Venezuela.... Teams... Sacrifices... Stress... Craziness

Is it all worth it?

We are coming to the end of a second team. Right now as I type & ponder, our team is 

ministering in a nearby church while I stay home on Mommie Duty taking care of a young 

one who feels bad.

I have been doing a lot of thinking & soul searching recently as life has been a bit more 

on the crazy & frustrating side.

God brought my mind back to a story... a testimony, really... of a special couple in Pavia.

Three years ago, we welcomed our very first team to Venezuela.

The team was an AIM team of mostly teenagers from Raleigh led by their youth pastor... 

Ashley Penley (who by the way is now with his family in Costa Rica learning spanish before they head out to be missionaries in Ecuador!)

The team went well & we learned a lot. We learned things that worked, & things that needed to be changed.

We always look back on that team experience fondly & our friends in Pavia have often even compared every team since to that very first team.

The reality, is that the team wasn't perfect & there was lots of room for improvement all the way around...

Yet we hold that team in a special place & look back on them with great nostalgia.

Three years have passed.

We have hosted around 7 teams, went through Chris's accident, itinerated again, & have been back in Venezuela for a year.

The whole time we have still asked...

Did it make a difference?

All the way back to the first team.... Did it matter?

We have received report after report of specifically teenagers, who felt that God confirmed their calling in to ministry or missions during their time here.

Kids whose lives were radically transformed despite of the craziness with the bank, a transportation mix up, food shortages, or an outreach that went crazy.

Last month, we hosted the team from Burlington, NC. 

We sat down with the leadership team in Pavia on our first day there as we always do.

In the midst of the introductions, something caught our attention....

A young couple, the children's pastors in the church, began to share about who they were, what they do, & why they were there.

As Cheo (his real name is Jose but no one calls him that) began to speak, he began to share 

that 3 years ago he was a pretty bad guy & was running with a gang in Pavia.

He had been in & out of the church as a kid but had never really made any commitments to God.

He had just started showing back up at the church & then our first team came.

During one of the services, Cheo decided to turn his life around.

Because of the investments of teenagers, a youth pastor, us missionaries, & the pastors in Pavia, a kid's life was forever changed.

Today, Cheo is 20 years old & is the children's pastor at the church in Pavia & ministers to hundreds of children each week.

His fiance, Jaikel, who also grew up in the church serves beside him in ministry.

So...

Did it matter?

Are we making a difference?

Sometimes we ask those questions & look for immediate affirmation.

But when we invest in people...

the fruit is not always instant.

However, once they begin to show fruit, we realize...

We are indeed making an eternal difference.

...an investment into souls

Then the fog lifts & we know in our hearts that we are exactly where God wants us to be.

A Few Little Highlights...

It seems that I spend a lot of time convincing myself that I will do weekly blog updates.

And then... well, life happens & the expectations I place for myself fall thru.

I could accept that it is failure...

But I will choose to believe instead that it is simply part of life!

I want to give everyone a few updates about our lives the past few months.

And with any luck... My updates will truly be much more frequent. *smile*

Our first stop in this trip down update lane takes us to Coro, Venezuela.

We were thrilled to host our Regional Directors, Dick & Cynthia Nicholson, for a marriage event at one of our largest Assemblies of God churches in Venezuela.

It is always a treat to have someone from the states visit us, especially for our boys!

Our boys quickly adopted Dick & Cynthia as grandparents & I think the feeling was mutual.

While packing for our trip to Coro, I realized that the rolling bags we have are actually 8

 years old! I am feeling very good about my Target special. Each bag was on clearance for 

$7. Not too shabby for a newly appointed missionary's budget. Just think... It was less that $1

 per year. Now that's cost effective!

Venezuela has been experiencing food shortages.

We have had shortages of flour, oil, toilet paper, sugar, toothpaste, & the list goes on!

Ian was quite excited that on his Dad's trip to the grocery store he bought a selection of 

cereal that we had not had for quite some time. Ian is our cereal lover!

June 13th we welcomed a team from Burlington, NC. It was a great pleasure to welcome

 UTURN Youth Ministries. God used them to do amazing things while here. We will forever

 be grateful to them for their flexibility & the love they showed to our boys.

There was definitely NEVER a dull moment with this group!

And finally,  we want to thank the Women's Ministries at Calvary Church in Greensboro for

 sending us a little love from home! This is Imanuel showing us his very last goldfish before it

 went into tummy heaven. And I have to thank our dear friend, Alina Snuggs, who 

coordinated the endeavor & even hand delivered it to us! 

I have one more update but it is so special that it requires its own post. Thanks to everyone 

who prays for & supports our family. We are truly blessed!

Did You Just Call Me a Frog?...

Yes... indeed I did!

Frogs are interesting creatures.

They are green, slimy, & gross to most people.

My sister-in-law detests them...my boys like to do gross things to them...

my cat likes to chase them...7th graders dissect them... fairytales tell us to kiss them...and some people even like to eat them!

There has always been this old adage about if you put a frog in a pot of cold water & turn up the heat gradually, the frog will not notice & will eventually face his fate... death by boiling!

He will not sense danger... he will not jump out!

Recently, some new friends asked how we liked living in Venezuela & how we thought we were adjusting after being here for 4 years.

My response was simple...

We are like frogs in a pot!

They didn't understand my humor.

Apparently that old frog story is not cross cultural!

I explained what I meant...

that we were adapting & adjusting fine, but sometimes we felt like we were sitting in the pot of water & the heat was rising but we were somehow not aware.

I explained that we have to be careful.  We don't want to eventually be cooked because we have become too comfortable or complacent of the things around us.

Their response was insane laughter as they imagined a pot of frogs literally "croaking" in a pot of boiling water.

For that moment, they thought I was the most profound thinker they had ever met!

I tried to explain that it was an analogy used frequently in the states but the laughter overshadowed my words.

Now every time we see each other they always ask me...

"How are the frogs doing today?"

I will never forget that moment.

A moment of laughter... a moment of cultural craziness... and a moment of wondering...

"How many people around the world are actually frogs in a pot?"

It is common for missionaries to feel this way.

We must adapt to new cultures, customs, foods, languages, governments, etc... and sometimes we become so adapted that we miss the reality of what is actually happening around us.

Other times, we become comfortable & complacent because we can't imagine our lives outside of the pot we are in.

Where jumping from pot to pot when the water gets warm is not always the best scenario either, we need to keep our spiritual eyes open & our senses alert to our surroundings, always listening for God's direction, being aware of the external things we need & feel, letting our noses lead us into things that are good & worthwhile, not gossipy or none of our business, & tasting the fruits of the spirit...not chewing on negativity & using harsh words.

Our "frog like" selves need to find contentment in the pot where we live,

but may we not confuse contentment with comfort & complacency.

Contentment is satisfaction or ease of mind; happiness.

Complacency is the feeling of pleasure or security all while being unaware of potential dangers.

It is important to pray daily for missionaries & for all of the struggles we face, whether it be physical, emotional, financial, or those simple daily struggles like going to the grocery store! Ugh...that one's rough right now!

But if you don't mind taking advice from a fellow frog...

Never forget that we are all living our lives in the pots of ministry, work, families, etc.

It's not only missionaries that face the risk of being cooked in a pot!

As our world is in a state of chaos from country to country, please pray for all of the "frogs" out there that just might be so complacent with their surroundings, that they are unaware of the potential dangers around them.

Death by boiling!

I couldn't resist using this picture that was going around fb!

What a mental picture this is! *laugh*