Christmas in Ohio

Fall Pictures

We had a fun birthday party for Daddy in October.

Mimaw and Papaw came to visit and raked up some leaves to play in.

The boys had fun trick-or-treating with our star wars friends.

Eli and Quintin with their 1st pet goldfish, Goldie. Sadly she "almost died" so we had to flush her to the sewer to live. (shhh)

Half-eaten

This is when you know a 2 year old has been in the veggie tray.

Pray for little Cozzette

Last year (see post from Sept. 07) our friends James and Joni had a little miracle, Cozzette. God answered our prayers in bigger ways than we could have expected. But now she is sick and in the hospital with some sort of infection which they think might be in her bone tissue. So we're asking again for your prayers. Joni also just found out she's pregnant again and so she is not feeling well and very tired on top of the exhaustion of staying in the hospital and stress of caring for a sick child. Please just lift them up and pray for strength and healing. Thanks!

Friday Night Kids

So an update on Friday nights for those of you who've been praying (thank-you by the way!!!) :

We had our first official bible study last Friday night and there were 5 kids who attended! We did a game and lesson about Noah's Ark and how God protected him and will protect us too if we put our trust in Him. We sat on a grassy patch next to the bus and it went well but was a little too distracting of a spot. (Cars honking, fire trucks blaring by, the bus stop, etc) This week 4 of the kids returned plus 1 new one. We did our bible study on the bus where there is a small counseling room, just enough space for me and 6-7 other kids. I taught them about Adam and Eve and Psalm 139, how God created us and knew us before we were born. Then we learned that sin came into the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and we did the object lesson on how God can make our hearts pure again b/c of Jesus Christ. Anyway, I think for most of the kids it was the first time they had heard about Adam and Eve and that God loved them and created them. After the bible lesson and story they each got a prize for being good listeners. I was so excited by their hunger to know about who Jesus was and why he died for them. (We'll do that lesson next week.)

The last few weeks they have greeted me with smiles and hugs and I'm learning each of their names (that is a little difficult.) Please pray for my friends: Al Shaquam, Qualiel, Tasaan, Malik, Quayana, and Samantha.

Thank you so much for your prayers. I'm so excited about what God is going to do in these kids' lives! >>>>Darcy

Accountability Please

Darcy here... I have a new mission from God and knowing myself, I need accountability to follow through. So please ask me how its going and please, please pray.

A few years ago when we lived in Indiana there were several of my students that lived in our neighborhood who liked to stop by and say hello. I thought how cool would it be if I offered them a pop-sickle or something and played games and told them about Jesus? Well, I know I should have done it but for one reason or another, mainly the great American excuse "I'm too busy with my important life", I didn't do it. I regret not acting on that calling, especially since now at least 2 of those kids are in juv. detention. Anyway, I'm not beating myself up, but God has called me to do it again and I will this time. I figure the more people I tell, then I can't back out. So here's the scenario:

One of the relief buses goes to a spot in Newark, NJ only about 15 min. from our house. Its on a Friday nights from 6:30- 9ish. But I'll drive and that way I can leave when the kids start taking off. Its located in the worst projects Austin and I have seen yet. We were both astonished and broken hearted. The first night I was there, we had the boys with us and they connected with a few of the kids in the neighborhood. I wanted so bad that night to tell those little boys about my Jesus, but I couldn't because I had a cold and had lost my voice. So my mind went on an idea spree of all the things we could do.

Here's my general plan: Face painting, balloons, etc to draw them in, share with the kids during a lesson time about Jesus through picture stories and object lessons, hand out gifts, snacks and tracts. One of my friends who does inner city children's ministry in NYC is getting curriculum- Thanks Maria! This Friday I plan on handing out about 15 pencil boxes with school supplies. Then when we come back from break we can start in full swing. But here's what I still need to do this so please pray:

• A few volunteers on a consistent basis
• Confidence b/c oh my gosh I'm scared to death!
• Churches to send teams on Friday nights
• Snack and prize donations
• One older boy (maybe 12 yrs.) who needs to get saved immediately- all the kids are scared of him and so am I. I am claiming his life for the Lord.
  

Summer update

Hi, sorry its been so long. As most people, we've had a busy summer. I (Darcy) have been in Ohio this week visiting my family. My Grandpa ended up in the hospital over the weekend and had to have a stint put in his heart. But he's doing much better and should be home soon.

We've enjoyed a few trips to the shore, the city, and lots of playgrounds this summer. We've also enjoyed having friends come to visit. Fourth of July was rainy but fun with our friends from NYCR.

And, oh, last but not least we found out our 3rd child will arrive sometime around Valentines Day 2009! Yeah morning sickness!

Thankfulness

May 31, 2008

My heart has been heavy today. No, not because I'm 30 now, but because of what I saw yesterday. I don't have a picture to share of this woman but I'll try to paint a mental picture that won't leave my head and continues to bring me to tears. I was on my way to pick up Austin from work. (We were on our way to go out to dinner for my birthday.) About 3 blocks from the Hope Center, I was at a busy intersection waiting to turn and I saw a couple walking across the street. They were about my age. He had on plaid shorts and a white T-shirt and she was wearing orange. All of the sudden in the middle of the street he grabs her and starts beating her up. He dragged her back to the sidewalk and by the neck held her up to the brick bridge. He said something to her and then they were done. He walked away and sadly she followed him. Meanwhile I had been trying to call 911. After being transfered twice I was cut off. By that time they were already walking away so, feeling helpless, I drove on. I was so shocked at what I had just seen.
The rest of that evening and today I've felt so many emotions: anger, sadness, thankfulness. I hate that the woman and so many like her are living a life like that and I pray that she finds a savior in Jesus Christ. I wanted to run that man over with my car but I pray that he finds saving grace from Jesus Christ. And I am so thankful that I have never had to experience violence in my own childhood or marriage. I am so grateful to Jesus Christ for saving me from a life of hopelessness like so many around us face each day.

Home Sweet Home

I'm speaking of the Mid-West of course. New Jersey is a great place to live and we have some wonderful friends here but there is just no place like home. We visited Indiana (very quickly) and Ohio last week and had a great visit. It felt so peaceful and we enjoyed the open spaces and being able to see forever. Austin canoed North Fork Creek and I bicycled with my sisters. The boys had days and days of fun playing with their cousins and being spoiled by grandparents. I left my camera cord in OH, so I'll post pictures later.

The Bronx Zoo

On Wednesday Darcy, Eli, and Quintin went to the Bronx Zoo with their friend, Anne.


Eli waiting for the subway train.








Peeking at the Praire Dogs.








Pretending to be Spiderman was
the most exciting event for Eli!








Feeding the mountain goats.

Opening Day for T-ball!

Saturday the 5th was opening day for the town league and Eli is playing T-ball. He is so excited to be a real baseball player!
They had a big parade with all the teams and some police and fire engines leading them to the baseball field. Go Dodgers!

Easter in New Jersey

We celebrated Easter this year in a number of ways:
Coloring eggs
decorating our windows with tacky window clings of eggs and Easter bunny
family communion
reading the Easter story from a beautiful picture book
finding Easter baskets
turkey dinner
and my favorite the Easter play. This was Eli's idea and under his direction. Austin was the guard of the tomb and the angel, Eli was Jesus, Darcy was Mary Magdalene, Quintin was Peter, the spaceship tent was the tomb and the exercise ball was the stone that was rolled away. The scene started with the guard falling asleep and the tomb rolling away. I think Eli being a director/actor is a big possibility.

The boys had a blast coloring eggs. Quintin kept saying "Ooooh!"





































The finished product.










Easter morning....Quintin found his basket before mommy and daddy new he was even awake and chomped down 3 suckers!

A visit to Time Square at night.

Darcy's parents and friend, Nick, came for a visit in February. Here we are in Central Park.

Lady Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry.

The boys serving bread with Erin and Benny. They had so much fun with the team from College Church in Indiana. They loved all of the attention.

Snow!

So How's the Weather?

This picture was a couple of weeks ago when we had some unseasonably warm weather (60's). Austin and the boys were out back refinishing a table together.

Currently, we've had rain, rain, rain. There have been a few days below freezing but not many. Which means no snow. But let me be clear- I am NOT complaining. Snow is nice but I hate the freezing arctic temps of Indiana. So how's the weather where you are? (I really just needed to get something on our blog so you don't have to keep looking at the gross feet first thing.)

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

My Grandpa, Dean McDonald, turned 84 today! My Grandma, Kathryn McDonald turned 88 last month! Congratulations to you both for your long life and testimony.

2 Children
6 Grandchildren
9 Great Grandchildren

Some Effects of Homelessness... that we don't think about.

I know that these pictures, to some are just gross! This is a friend of mine that has come to our bus for clean socks and some hot soup. After we had prayed with our friend (let's call him Allen), he went to a nearby bench and started to air out his feet. As he started to take off his socks they were very dirty and sticking to his feet in some places taking skin with the sock. He told me that he didn't change his socks very often. I had built a rapport with Allen and thought that I could ask him a few questions. I asked Allen if he had been to the doctor recently. Allen said that he had, and the doctor told him that as a result of sleeping sitting up on the subway, he was allowing all the blood to go to his legs, making his circulation very poor. I took a better look at his body and it was not just his feet and legs, his whole body was swollen. He couldn't tie his shoes and his pants were ripping at the seams due to the swelling.


We got him some socks and some Vaseline to moisturize his feet. Not only does his body swell and hurt it is hard for him to walk on his feet due to the sores and the swelling.
New York's homeless face problems unknown to even the poorest New Yorker's with permanent residence. Pray for Allen. This is just one of New York's homeless that try to find some sort of warm place to sleep on the subway. Which as you can see create even more problems for the people that have no place to call home.

Austin

My Friend, Orlando

When I first met Orlando (about three months ago), he was wearing some sweet shades. The kind of shades you only see the movie stars wear. Nevertheless, he stood out. He was so drunk this day that he was passing out up against the fence. I tried to talk to him, but he had no clue what I was saying. I told him to come back next week so that we could hang outI started to see more of Orlando, as he would come to receive soup and prayer. He would come and hang out for a little longer each week. He would tell me that he loved Jesus and Jesus loved him. One week we were really close to placing him in a detox for his alcohol abuse. He left before a ride could get there.
This past Saturday, Orlando came and looked especially sick. Although he wasn’t drunk, his whole body was swelling up. I did not want to hurt my friend’s feelings, but I felt I needed to tell him that he was going to die. As soon as I said that, he started to cry. He told me that was what the doctor had told him 2 days prior. I asked how I could help him. He said that he needed to get his documents from his wife in order to be helped at the hospital. His wife lived over an hour away but it just so happened that we had volunteers helping us that day that live in the same city that Orlando’s wife does. BINGO! God had already set up this appointment without consulting my day planner or me. I love it when God does these things!
Before we got him back home he wanted to change his clothes. I asked him “Orlando, why waste any time, let’s get you back home.” He told me, “I want to look good for my wife.” You see, Orlando has been living on the streets for over 3 months. He often told me how much he loved and missed his wife. He hadn’t taken a shower or had a place to lay his head during that time. His clothes smelled and so did his body. I felt terrible for even asking him to hurry up. He put on a suit jacket and some nice pants that we gave him. He looked sharp!
Before they left to take him home, he looked at me and said, “You are my angel, God sent you to me to be my angel.” I couldn’t help but cry and didn’t say a word. I know that I am so far from being an angel but it was so humbling to hear him say those words.
Orlando returned to his wife who was so happy to see him. For Orlando, that day, we as a team acted as Jesus to him. “These things we do… that others might live.”

--Austin