Last week, we were blessed to have a missionary couple visit our church. As soon as I heard them speak, I knew I needed to tell you about them! Meet Wayne and Megan Tingle, and their two beautiful daughters, Alison and Emily!

This young couple is doing amazing things in Managua, Nicaragua. Can’t remember where Nicaragua is? It is here:

Nicaragua is a country with a very tumultuous history. This tiny country has been through a lot in the past few decades. Wayne and Megan have been called to reach out to some of the poorest children in Managua, Nicaragua. They do that through serving at Centro Escolar LifeLink – a private, Christian school for these impoverished children.

The school itself is quite new – they opened their doors in January 2010. They opened their doors with 120 students enrolled – ages 3, 4 and 5. Schooling is offered to each child’s family as a scholarship and is funded completely by stateside ministry partners and individual child sponsors. Each year a new grade level will be added – all the way up through the time the children will be ready to go to university.

Not only are these children given a quality, Christian education – they are also fed a hot meal every day and given a daily multivitamin. This is critical for these children who often have go hungry and don’t receive the nutrition they need.

I wish all of you could have heard the passion in Wayne’s voice as he spoke about the work that they are doing. Truly inspiring.

There are still some children in need of sponsorships like Luis, Ashlin and Jefferson.

The cost to sponsor a child is $35/month. If you are interested in sponsorship, visit Lifelink’s Website.

And please, keep Wayne, Megan and their daughters in your prayers. God is going to do amazing things through this family! Keep up with their adventures through their blog: http://hellopapaya.blogspot.com.

Today’s missionary profile is of DaRonn & Angie Washington who are currently serving in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

She is three years old. And she suffers from a disease called Rett Syndrome.

I’m not a doctor, and I’m not going to even begin to try to explain exactly how this disease works. But here’s a synopsis. It is a severe, progressive neurological disorder that causes a lack of muscle tone and a lack of head growth and eventually a (or a series of) developmental regressions.

Here’s the bottom line. Evalyn needs a therapy dog.

A therapy dog will help Evalyn in a number of ways. The dog would help with socialization, her hand movements, and alerting her family to her needs.Such as aspiration alert, or even coming to her family when Chickadee is distressed but unable to vocalize since it seems making audible sounds is difficult for her under stress.

Her sweet mother (the one who gave Evalyn the nickname “Chickadee”) puts it this way:

I want it for her.  I even can admit I want it for me.  I want to see her entertained, participatory in life, without the need for my direct intervention. I want her enabled.  I want her to get what she needs from me without having to find her with silent tears running down her cheeks and a look of isolated despair.

The problem?

Therapy dogs aren’t cheap. They are highly trained and their cost is not covered by insurance.

A therapy dog for Evalyn will cost her family $6,000.

As a soon-to-be mother, I already want to give my child everything it could possibly want. Imagine your child needing something like this, but not having the funds to make it happen. Breaks your heart, doesn’t it?

So, I’m asking. Will you give a few dollars to help fund Chickadee’s therapy dog? Will you?

They have already raised almost $1600.

Now they need YOUR help. Will you give $10? $25? $100? Every little bit helps.

You can follow the family’s story by reading her mom’s blog: Journey Beyond Survival.

You can keep up with her quest to bring home her doggy companion on Facebook here.

And make your donation here: DONATION PAGE.

Thank you!

Today’s missionary is actually a friend of mine – Michael Lundell.

Michael and I met back in 2002 when we were both serving as interns forBuckner Orphan Care International in Targu Mures, Romania. We spent over two months serving Romanian orphans together and I have always been amazed at his heart for Romania and its people. Despite graduating from the University of Minnesota with a very promising future in journalism, he chose to fulfill his lifelong dream and become a missionary in Romania. He serves with OC International in Bucharest, Romania.

Michael works with youth in Bucharest and his primary goal is to mobilize these youth to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. He does this through teaching…

Through serving…

Leading camps for children…

And singing!

Please keep Michael in your prayers as he seeks to impact the lives of people in Romania for Jesus Christ. If you would like to keep up with what he is doing on the mission field, please subscribe to his blog: http://romaniaandmike.blogspot.com/.

I hope you have enjoyed this first installment of Missionary Mondays!

I have to tell you, the Christmas story hit me in a whole new way this year. We sat in church on Christmas Eve, and saw the nativity scene acted out before us. There sat a young girl, dressed in a khaki robe with a blue headress, holding a sweet baby in her arms. Just the sight of that baby brought tears to my eyes. I put my hand on my own belly, where my baby is growing. I think of all the dreams I have for this child. I want to give it everything.

I wonder how God felt as He saw his Son being held by a teenage girl. In a barn. Surrounded by animals, dung, and hay.

I thought about the pristine hospital where I plan to give birth. All the latest technology. All the best doctors. The finest birthing suites in the area.

God could have chose that for His Son.

But He didn’t.

He allowed His Son to be born in the most common and lowly of places. His Son didn’t have a fancy nursery – He had a feeding trough to lay in.

There were no fancy birth announcements – instead, God placed a star in the sky. A star likely overlooked by most.

The visitors at His Son’s birth? Lowly shepherds. Rough men. Likely filthy and dirty.

Why did God choose to have His Son, His only Son, appear on this earth in such a way? He could have given Him everything.

Why didn’t He?

I wonder if it is because we are just like those shepherds and our lives feel so much like that dirty barn. We may feel unfit to approach royalty, but God invites us just as we are. He comes into the messes of our lives, no matter how dirty or unfit. We don’t have to have it all together to draw near to Him. He invites us to come, just as we are. He walks beside us through the messiest of times – no matter how many piles of dung seem to surround us. Perhaps He sought to demonstrate that to us through His Son’s very first day on this earth – He loves us, just we are.

Truly amazing, isn’t it?

Meet Matthew Mickelson Butman. He is 11 years old. But instead of running around with his friends, he is fighting a terminal illness. He explains in his own words on his Facebook page…

I have Leigh’s Disease. To make it easy to understand, it’s a very rare disease that affects the cells ability to make energy. Once a cell is affected, it dies. There are also brain lesions. Unfortunately it is terminal and there is no treatment or cure. I’m hanging in there, but it has me bed-bound at this point. Some days are better than others. My parents make sure I’m comfortable and have no pain.

What did Matt want for Christmas this year? He wanted to meet Santa (which he got to do – see the picture above) and he wanted people from all over the world to send him Christmas cards. And that has been happening too. Just check out his room:

I love the homemade cards in this photo too – what a great project to do with your kids today! Have them create a card and send it to Matt. Or if you’re pressed for time, just grab one of your extra cards and write a personal note to him. What a simple way to bring some Christmas cheer to this little boy! So please, send him a card today!

Cards can be mailed to: Matthew Mickelson Buston, PO Box 1865, Wylie, TX 75098

We have been a little busy lately with a big announcement in our family…

That’s right…say hello to the newest member of the Beams of Grace family!

As of today, I am 13 weeks, 3 days along – the ultrasound was taken at 7 weeks. We are praising God for this tiny miracle. This will be the first grandchild for Lloyd and Dianne so you can only imagine their excitement!

I am finally at the end of the first trimester, and I feel like I have finally started getting a little bit of my mental and physical capabilities back. I had no idea that pregnancy could be so mentally taxing! So as the writer of the Beams of Grace blog, I apologize for being so quiet for so long. Hopefully regular posting will now resume!

Please keep myself, my husband, and our precious little one in your prayers. We are so thankful that God has blessed us in such a miraculous way!

“For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him.” ~ 1 Samuel 1:27

To help her from getting too tired after all she has been through in the past few weeks, Katelyn used a wheelchair for some of the day. This helped her enjoy every moment!

They were able to see most of the park, and even enjoyed the parade and fireworks in the evening.

THANK YOU for making this little princess’ Disney dream come true!

We had been a member of the “three girls club” as long as we could remember. Three sisters. Similar, yet different in so many ways. I was about to turn 15. My older sister? 17. My younger sister? Just days away from 11.

Today we would become a family of four girls. Four sisters.

My parents had gone to get our new baby sister from her foster home. It all happened very suddenly. What a crazy week it had been. My grandma had been in a horrific car accident. She was still in the hospital, still on her way to recovery. Tomorrow was Easter. Our dresses had been bought. Coordinating dresses in navy blue.

Then my parents got the call. A baby girl. Five months old.

The timing couldn’t have been worse. My parents talked it over. We had been waiting for months for that phone call. They decided that bad timing couldn’t get in the way. They went to meet her, without us.

I don’t really know what happened at that first meeting, but something about that baby girl must have captured their heart. They decided to bring her home to meet her new sisters.

At that point in time, her birthparents’ rights had not yet been terminated. But the case was proceeding in that direction. It seemed as though it was only a matter of time. We would technically be her “pre-adoptive” placement until all the paperwork could be finalized.

But in our minds, we were welcoming our new little sister.

So we sat…and we waited…

We knew our lives would never be quite the same.

[November is National Adoption Month! Stay tuned…more of my little sister’s adoption story will be coming soon!]

Angie said, “I am so happy to tell you that we had a very joyous installation day! Our director is so happy that the care givers will be freed up to spend more time with the kids and less time on laundry.”

Enjoy the pictures!

Shirley & Isaura

Christina, the Director

Yamil

Fernando

Washing awaits

The washer & dryer

Angie & Anne

Empty clotheslines!

One of the closets filled with the boys’ clothes

Shirley showing some of the girls’ clothes

The closet in the big girls’ room.

THANK YOU to everyone who donated to this great cause!