The truth about being a mom on the mission field

You will hear a lot of missionaries talk about the difficulties of living overseas. You will hear them talk about bathrooms, food, language barriers, housing, and even shopping. But a subject that is not often talked about, a subject that is kinda taboo is their kids. I have been on the mission field since I was 3 years old but NOTHING could have prepared me for being a mom on the mission field.  As parents we strive to protect our children, we try to keep them from any harm or hurt. Overseas that is impossible and I worry about it every single day of my life. There are certain things we take for granted in America, things that we don't think about daily but would make your stomach turn if you realized you didn't  have them...like trustworthy healthcare and real law enforcement. Let me explain a little and give you some examples. 

A few weeks ago kylee began throwing up in the middle of the night. While I understand thousands of kids do this everyday in America  and it's no big deal, the parents of those kids did not have to run through a list of questions-did she drink water out of the faucet and I didn't see, did she eat meat that wasn't prepared correctly, did she get bit by something that I didn't notice.  Then after asking those questions think about if she went to the hospital what would they do, would they try to take her appendix out just because it would make them some money? What scheme would they try to use my daughter for so they could make a few bucks? Is she even being treated for what is actually wrong? Now I am extremely thankful that she  was able to get better after a few days on the BRAT diet but that didn't keep me from staring at her all night begging God to just heal her little body so she didn't have to go to a hospital here.  Another example is how many times has your child ran through the store at Walmart? Probably a million, do you ever scream bloody murder for them to stop running not because they are driving you nuts but because if they fell and busted their head open you don't know if they would make it to the hospital because there are no ambulances or emergency medical teams? I do. I feel awful that I'm constantly telling my energetic little 4 year old to stop playing. But I can't help it, it is far to big a risk here. We have to be on red alert with Kylee 24/7. Just the other day we got out of the car at the store and a man followed us gawking at her just waiting for us to take our eye off her and let go of her hand. My dad and Joey had to tell him to get away from her and not come back around. Do you know what it feels like to have that pit in your stomach? To know that everyday little girls are bought and sold here just because of their blond hair and blue eyes. To know that if something happen no cop would care.  I burn with anger over these pathetic human beings. I hate when men look at her, It infuriates and terrifies me.

These are daily occurrences for us,  I understand that I am supposed to trust God and I do whole heartedly. But don't mistake trust for ignorance. Nowhere in the Bible does it say to be oblivious to what is going on, or to just run wild and God will take care of it. I believe strongly that God takes care of us and that he watches and protects His children but I also believe that He wants us to be responsible and intelligent in the positions we put ourselves in.  God in trusted me with this amazing gift, He gave her to me to take care of. And I will do that no matter what till my last breath. 

I guess why a lot of missionaries don't want to talk about this is because it's not uplifting, it's gut retching, and it makes me sick to my stomach and brings tears to my eyes just writing about it now. No one wants to think about those kind of things. 

Parents hold your children close watch them closer , enjoy seeing them play at the park, run, laugh, talk to people, and even get their dr check ups. Because if you didn't get to see those things.....you would miss it greatly.

Love 

Jordan

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Ok so being a competitive person I often say things like "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" or "no pain no gain". I honestly believe those silly slogans, I don't think a person can fully appreciate life until they have had struggles and faced hardships. 

I think our relationships with God are the same way. People always say that God won't give you more than you can handle. The facts is that's simply not true. Throughout the Bible God gives people far much more that what they could handle. Take Paul for example, 

2 Corinthians 11:21-30

But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

Paul was pushed beyond every possible limit. He was broken, worn, and tired. He says that he is weak but God made him strong. If you don't believe me that this was more than he could handle then read a little earlier in that same letter Paul says this

 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead (2 Cor 1:8,9,)

Does that sound like someone who had it all under control on his own? No. He is saying "what we went through was so hard and burdensome that we literally thought we were going to die. But we went through all of that so that we would rely on God"

You see God allows us to go through lots of things. Things that are far to big for us to handle. But He does this because we must learn that anything that comes our way can be over come through God. We serve a God who can move mountains so taking care of our problems no matter how big they may seem is a task that He has no problem handling. 

I think that this very thing is why I like racing so much. It challenges me, it makes me find strength bigger than myself. It's the perfect time to talk to God and it helps me realize that without Him I am weak, but with Him I am strong. 

So next time you have reached a task that you feel is more than you can achieve, wether that running a race, a task in your job, or struggles in your family remember that God won't keep you from the hardships but He will pick you up and walk with you through them!

Love 

Jordan

Settled in and we could use you help!

After a long process of settlin in and I am so happy to say that it finally feels like home! Kylee is making friends and Really loving it here. I can't believe my baby is starting kindergarten this year?! Wow! She is going to start ballet soon and she is so very excited. 

My shoulder is not doing any better and I get it checked on Friday. I'm ready to know what's going on and get it better! I am praying for no surgery but due to the increase of pain and swelling I am thinking surgery might be the only option.  

Ministry is going great here Praise The Lord!! We are so excited about all the opportunities God is opening up. Joey and I are working towards raising support for our family. We want to be able to stay on the field full time and to do that we need to be able to support our family. We would like to ask all of our friends, family, all our brothers and sisters out there to prayerfully consider supporting us financially. We need to reach the goal of $1,000 a month. Any amount of monthly support you can help us with would be greatly appreciated!  Without the prayers and support of you guys we could not keep going. We know that God has put each one of you in our lives for a reason and we are so thankful for that. So please pass this on, share it with your friends, Church, Sunday school class, and anyone else you can think of :) 

We know that this is where God wants us an we are trusting in Him, knowing that He will provide! 

Thank you again for all your support and encouragement!!!

Love

Joey, Jordan, and Kylee

Ps if you would like to financially support our family we would love for you to email your commitment amount to us at schools.family@yahoo.com  so that we can keep track of our goal. Money can be sent to PO Box 1331 Athens TN 37371 (please add a note that it is for "schools support")

A little (well a lot) of transparency

As pretty much everyone knows by now I was supposed to be competing in my first ever half ironman this September. Well after my shoulder injury it's for sure I will not be able to do it, even if I don't have to have surgery I have lost so much training time that I would not be ready. I understand that to most this doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but to me this was my dream. I have invested so much thought, money, and most importantly time into this, and unfortunately I cannot get any of it back. I can not explain to you how frustrating and disappointing this is to me. I can't help but feel like a failure even though there was nothing I could have done to stop it. 

Needless to say With all of this going on I have been a downer to be around, I feel helpless, useless, and just plain grumpy. I HATE having my arm in a sling it makes me so mad to not be able to do the things that I usually do to help the family and just to live normally. All of this has made me extremely home sick....which is funny because I actually love mexico. I love the people here, I love the smile they get when we say we live here, and I love a good taco on the square on friday night. But I miss family and friends from home, and the ease of knowing that a doctor who speaks English is around every corner. And this shoulder thing has made me miss all that a little more, and not have the attitude I should be having. I want to take a minute to say I'm sorry to my family for the moody-ness, I love you all so very much and I am so thankful that God has given us the opportunity to work together here.......I mean wow! 

Dad- I I love watching you minister to people, it is the most amazing thing I have ever seen, you truly are a blessing to this country and to me, one day I will be just like you!

Mom- I am in awe of how you can fix a meatloaf and make me feel like I am back at home, you are the best friend I could ever have, and you work so very hard, we would not survive without you.

Joey- I have no clue how you put up with me, I am so thankful for the love you have for my family and this ministry, I could not imagine someone better out there for me...and us!

Kylee- sweet girl you are simply amazing, you never complain and always smile, how do you do that? You are the greatest helper that any of us could have ever asked for, thank you for choosing everyday to serve God with all your heart......you are the biggest asset to this ministry!

So here is my promise....I am going to stay positive! God is in control not me, He has a perfect reason for everything and I know His plan will be better than I could ever imagine. I am so excited that God chose us to be here and to serve here and I am ready and willing to do just that. 

I ask that you will continue to keep our family in your prayers, we cherish those prayers so very much. I am in the process of finding a place to have an MRI done on my shoulder to find out if its torn. You would be surprised to at how hard it is to find that stinking machine lol. Once we know what the damage is then we can assess what I need to do next. Please pray we can find somewhere that I can get it done and that the cost is not to much. 

Love 

Jordan

One proud mama!

We met a man not to long ago and his 4 year old son is in the hospital here with leukemia, they also have a 2 year old little girl who spends most of her time sitting at the hospital waiting. We had talked to the family today and they told us their son, Erik was going back for new treatment tomorrow. Kylee heard us talking to them and decided she wanted to give him a gift. So shortly after she came down stairs with a basket full of toys. I thought most of these toys would be things she didn't want or what have you, but I was very wrong. My daughter came to us with a basket of her most prized possession, a batman costume that she puts on daily, her favorite Christmas present a remote control helicopter from her uncle Justin and aunt Jecka (Jessica), a rapunzel baby doll (for the sister who is bored at the hospital), and much much more. I was in awe to see her wanting to give this stuff away, and thinking that she might not realize that if she gave it to him she wouldn't get it back I explained to her what she was talking about doing, but still she insisted. My dad begin to say "it's ok Kylee we can get him something you don't have to give your stuff we know its your favorite", and in the sweetest voice you could imagine she begin to explain to us "guys he has to sit in a hospital bed all day and can't get up so he can fly the helicopter, and batman is so tough I bet he loves super heroes, and his sister is very bored sitting there all day so she will need toys". By now we were all in tears, how could someone so young be so giving? I can tell you right now I have never in my life been so proud! God most certainly blessed us with a little girl who has a servants heart!

Shoulder news

Well I got to talk to my Dr today and as of right now I'm in a sling for most of the day. I am no longer going to be taking the ibuprofen because its not working so I'm not interested in taking it for no reason. My dr says that most likely it is re-torn so for right now the only thing I can do is make it comfortable. Please keep me in your prayers as we figure out what's the best thing to do!

Jordan 

A little update on my shoulder

I've had a few people ask about what's going on with my shoulder so I thought I would update everyone. Over 3 years ago I had surgery to repair my torn rotator cuff it took me months to recover from the surgery but I haven't had any real pain since. I occasionally have some aches in it but nothing that a couple ibuprofen can't handle. Well almost a week ago I started having intense piercing pain in my shoulder which took me by surprise. I started ibuprofen and icing it and it didn't seem to help, so I called my physical therapist to see if they had the name of the surgical group who did my surgery (cut me some slack it's been over 3 years and have slept a few times since then). Well they had switched to a new filing system so they didn't have a clue, but I talked to the PT there who said it didn't seem normal, but could be a flare up and to try ice and ibuprofen (been there done that). He told me to do some PT exercises and give it a few days and if it wasn't better I was going to have to call the Dr and get advice, which would be great if I knew who the Dr was. The PT also told me that while the Dr here in Mexico might be fine they will almost certainly try to get me to have surgery wether needed or not, sad but VERY true fact. You see surgeries bring more money, and if a "clean up" surgery won't hurt me why not get me to do it (even if it won't help). 

Anyways, it's been almost a week and I haven't seen any improvement, thankfully today I found a file box with the MRI results of my surgery which had the name of my Dr on it.....Score! So tomorrow morning I am calling to see what they say....of course it will take me 15 min to explain that I am in Mexico and I can't just swing by to talk and that's why my phone reception isn't great. Hopefully they can give me some advice on what to do next, cause this ain't no fun, and ain't nobody got time for that!

I'll let y'all know what I find out but keep me in your prayers!

Much Love 

Jordan