I Am Making All Things New...

   It's a new year. You're welcome if you didn't know ;) But in all seriousness, January is when we are flooded with ideas of NEW; "new year new you", new diets, new trends, new beginnings, new classes, new plans, even a new decade! I happen to LOVE the idea of a new year - fresh, un-lived, waiting to be planned out and journeyed through. It feels like new possibilities and new hope. So I thought I would start with a few verse where the Bible highlights new.

We are made new, if we are in relationship with God:

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17

'This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!'

COLOSSIANS 3:9-11

'Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.'

He gives us new strength and new mercy:

2 CORINTHIANS 4:16-17

'That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! '

LAMENTATIONS 3:22-24

'The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”'

God is doing new things:

ISAIAH 43:18-19

'“But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.'

REVELATION 21:1-5

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”

  The reason I decided to dive into this "newness" was honestly because I had been feeling discouraged. At first glance, I didn't feel like much new was happening. No new CR classes, no new volunteers, no new ministries being started, and no new update on finding a senior pastor for the CCF. Where was my new that I crave each year at this time? Through these verses, God began to show me just how much *new* was really going on.

   He is making hearts new all around us, both at church and CR. One of the women at the prison, we will call her Sally, has been coming to the class for 2 1/2 years. In the beginning, she was sullen, quiet, angry. She rarely spoke, but if she did it was to rail against God and all the ways she felt He had failed her. Sally's life was full of hardship & abandonment. "Where was God in that?" she wanted to know. As the months and years have gone by, Sally has continued to faithfully attend the CR class. Slowly she began to let her guard down. She started to smile, we found out she loves to sing, and just last month she chose to answer questions with honesty and volunteered to pray for the class! Just like He has done (and is doing) for me, God is making Sally into a new creation. She is claiming the salvation that she thought had been taken from her by her bad choices. Sally now has new hope.

  While we are rejoicing in the growth and change of those around us, last year was very challenging for our family. We have needed God's renewing and His new mercies in such a real way. After saying goodbye to dear friends, finding out so many plans had changed, and extended our time in the US because of a death in the family, we then came back to St Kitts to try and learn-as-we-go how to co-pastor a church during a huge transition.

   Then Dean started getting sick. He was out of school for nearly two weeks of his first term, which meant he was home with us while we (tried) to work. Addalyn had to go in to the doctor for medication adjustment, and her dose was doubled because she has grown so fast, and she is seeing a second doctor now as well. Then she got strep throat. And needed antibiotics. Then I caught the flu. And needed all the gatorade and soup and ibuprofen. You would think we were trying to send our doctor's kids to college with the amount of time and money we had to spend in his office!

   But God's word says that, though our bodies are failing, He will renew our spirits. That our present troubles wont last very long. That his mercies or compassions are new every day! We have been praising Him for good medical care, for healing, and for sustaining us through it all. Also for co-laborers and co-leaders that kept every ministry going smoothly, even when we had to miss because of illness. I may not have been able write a December blog post, but we survived :)

   Lastly, we have a promise that he will do new things moving forward. He never just leaves us behind! He will continue to work in our hearts and in others. He will continue to sustain and provide. And most importantly, He will open doors and direct our paths in His timing, according to His perfect plans.

  Even with the craziness, the holidays were still full of sweet and special times!

Dean's class had a Thanksgiving Feast full of international foods the represent the class! I made green bean casserole. The non-Americans did not seem excited to eat a greyish-green mixture, but it was delicious lol

The class each made leaves of thankfulness for a thankfulness tree!

Such a sweet project! 

We hosted an American Thanksgiving that evening at our house.

We had around 20 people!

But we made it work :) 

They were such a blessing to us, filling our home with laughter and warmth on that holiday!

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, our church held it's annual candlelight Christmas service. Due to the high number of med/vet students, we try to hold this service early while they can all participate with us. It's the one service where we dress up and Aaron wears closed toed shoes!

Addalyn's friend Rosie came with us!

Dean helped Shackila greet and pass out candles

Aaron & Kistian both share mini sermons with the gospel woven in, and the whole leadership team helped read the Christmas Story between worship songs.

The candles, representing Jesus as the light of the world, and us as we share that light to those around us.

Even the kids participated! They loved it!

On this night, we also pray over and send out those who are moving off the island. It's bittersweet to say goodbye, but knowing they are moving on to pursue all God has called them to.

The kids' school had a Christmas party! Dean puked not long after this photo was taken and had to miss the last day of school.

Addalyn asked if she could sit with her friends! I've never been more proud/insulted in my life.

Dean got some pup snuggles before he headed to the doctor.

After weeks of coughing on and off, culminating in the "incident" at breakfast, I finally took him in and our amazing doctor recognized that Dean's airways were constricted. He set us up with some meds and an inhaler, then played legos with Dean while the pharmacist taught me how to use everything. We are super grateful for Dr. Holness!

My lovely co-leaders at New Horizons. No new news on them, they just deserve some extra appreciation. So do Marlo and Tannis, but I don't have a photo of them to share today. I'll work on that lol

We have REAL St Kitts drivers licenses now! We had paper ones for 3 years until we qualified. Now it's half the price and last for 3 more years before we need to renew them!

Addalyn turned 11! Whew this is going by quickly. And I swear at this age she is older and more mature in some way every time I turn around.

She had a sleepover with some girls from school. We played a ton of games. They loved Empires best! They watched a movie, and then stayed up chatting late into the night. 

I wish I could say the party was awesome, but some of the girls were grouping up, making others feel left out, and trying to break the rules after bedtime. Addalyn learned some hard, but valuable, lessons about friendship, what to do when someone wants you to do the wrong thing, and how to navigate hurt feelings and clicks. I wish it would get easier from here, but I remember middle school. Prayers for our girl as she grows up into the new season would be appreciated! Also - prayers for us because we have a preteen daughter and we may not survive this. Please send chocolate. 

We had to say goodbye to our worship leader, Frank. So we took him to the beach to have some fun before he left!

Aaron taught everyone how to play bocce ball and they loved it! 

Such a sweet group of friends! They mean the world to us.

Then, after putting it off for fear of the ocean, Frank decided to go public with his faith through baptism!

We all rejoiced in his step of obedience, and he was really glad he made that decision. 7 fingers for the 7 letters in baptism!

We prayed over him, as we do at CCF, and sent him out. He will make an amazing doctor and we are excited that he got this residency to continue pursing his dream!

The last week of December, we were gifted a trip to Colorado to spend Christmas with my family!

Island Meets Snow!

We ate the yummy American food. Starbucks was the first stop!

And of course Chick-fil-a!

But the BEST part was family! My sister and Addalyn at the airport when we arrived.

My mom and me

My big brother, mom, and Dean

Unkie Alex (my bro-in-law) with the kiddos

My parents and the kids

Having to say goodbye to Auntie. They almost didn't let her up, and she was ok with that :)

It was COLD, but beautiful! We are so grateful for the time we got to be there.

 It always feels good to come back home; to our own beds, and to the fur babies, and to this January weather. 

Because if one thing is NEW right now, its the highs of 79 and the amazing Christmas breezes (as they are called here). 

That is a change that we ALWAYS welcome.

For 2020, we are about $3800 short in pledged donations for the year. If partnering with us financially, either one-time or on a monthly basis, is something you are considering, we would love to have you join the team! You can give online by going to Shepherd's Staff Missions Facilitators - Aaron and Katelyn Comer 

More information about giving can be found by clicking the Budget tab above!