Category Archives: Family Life Updates

Ain’t no mountain high enough??

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Mama: Hi sweetie! Did you have a good sleep?
Levi: Yup!
Mama: Did you have any good dreams?
Levi: YEAH!
Mama: Do you even know what a dream is?
Levi: Nope! 

Sometimes we get enthusiastic about things that we barely even understand, no?

I’ve been loving Levi’s passion lately… most of the time. He is a normal two-year-old, learning to spread his wings a little and exert his independence everywhere he sees an opportunity. Sometimes this is entertaining and endearing; other times it’s draining and frustrating.

It’s helping us all to grow and learn, that’s for sure!!

Judah’s little personality is coming out more and more too. He’s discovered his voice (WOW, this boy has a VOICE!) and he’s constantly babbling or shrieking or squealing. He’s loud when he’s happy… and he’s loud when he’s not. One thing is clear, when he has something to say he makes that desire known to everyone.

A little prophet in training perhaps?

Just how will our passionate little men grow to shape the world one day?

Time will tell.

If there’s one thing we know for certain right now, is that there’s never a dull moment! Not in our family life, nor in ministry either.

Some events just passed:

  • January 29 – Levi turned two
  • January 30 – Judah turned four months
  • February – We just closed on the property adjacent to our YWAM base, and have converted it into accommodation for 50 students.

Some events coming up very soon:

  • March 1 – Ryan turns 38!
  • March 4-10 – Ryan and Adriel co-teach for three combined DTS, all while camping out bush and rooming in a hot tent with the kidlets! (Ohmygoodness, pray for us!!)
  • March 11-17 – Ryan heads to Perth for the Presidents Gathering, a gathering of leaders from YWAM’s largest training bases from around the world. (Adriel and the littles will stay home.)
  • March 25 – Our 4th wedding anniversary.

Some events for later this year:

  • July – Visiting America for a few weeks
  • August/September – Family outreach to Papua New Guinea
  • November – Visiting Sydney for a week

It’s a massive year for us in terms of commitments, ministry, and family life. We’re having to learn to trust God on a whole different level for our finances as our needs have grown and our support hasn’t.

Our biggest challenge:

We’re still saving for a larger family vehicle. Things were rolling and seemed to be picking up momentum with our savings and donations until about November, but then in the last three months we’ve had very little movement at all.

We’ve managed to continue saving a little toward the car, but in all honesty it’s hard not to become discouraged when the bank balance is growing so slowly and our hatchback is literally exploding from the seems.

You can imagine how two car seats and a double stroller alone take over our little car!! Every trip to the grocery store is a lesson in patience and self-control (and gratitude that we even have a car at all) as we stuff groceries on the floor under car seats and on our laps. Not only that, but we’ve had to put around $2000 into the car for repairs just during this last year. (And ohhhh, it’s difficult to use our “new car fund” money to fix our old car – boo!)

We are convinced that God’s spoken to us about a new (gently used) vehicle, but it can be difficult to remain in a position of faith when staring at the towering mountain before us. (Cars are nearly double in Australia what they cost in the USA.)

Our mountain currently takes the shape of a car, but we also see the mountain range beyond– three international plane tickets to America, three international plane tickets to Papua New Guinea, as well as some outreach fees to live on board the ship while we serve.

I grew up in the mountains. I love the mountains. But at times like this it’s easy to long for the plains!

What we really need:

Probably what we need most right now is some encouraging words and faith-building affirmation. To be very frank, it’s hard to deal with this stuff alongside our “normal” challenges in parenting littles and thriving at home while also helping to lead a ministry of 100+ staff and 70+ students. Both Ryan and I are dealing with different fears and anxieties as we continue to learn how to “cast our cares” to Jesus to carry. We desperately need your loving support as we lean into God during this stretching season.

A close second would obviously be finances toward some of these expenses. At some point, we just need to see these needs met.

We understand that it’s all a matter of perspective. We’re aware that many people have much bigger mountains they’re facing right now compared to ours; each person’s own mountains are real and scary and important, no matter how they measure up to the next guy’s.

We’re humbled every time we see God’s creativity in meeting our needs and showing us kindness when we’re struggling. And we’re pretty sure He wants to include people that love us and care about us (and our work) in the process.

Life is exciting for us… and even though we don’t quite understand how this year will even be possible, we’re trying our best to give an enthusiastic “YEAH!” just like our beloved two-year-old does.

Now, can we boldly and humbly ask that you consider how you can encourage us today? Maybe you can pray for us and ask God for a specific word of encouragement, story, or scripture to pass along to us? Maybe you feel led to give toward our car fund? Maybe you have air miles you’d like to donate?

Or maybe you’d just like to send us cookies and tell us everything’s going to be ok?

Leaning and trusting and learning-as-we-go,
Adriel & the boys xx

levi is two

Levi at two years old.

judah is four-and-a-half months

Judah at four-and-a-half months old.

celebrating levi's birthday

Celebrating Levi's birthday. (We sang "Happy" about five times... it was a BIG hit!)

(Sorry about that last photo showing up a weird size – too long/skinny. I’m having trouble trying to get it formatted right and after 10 minutes fiddling, I’ve decided to leave it!)

Give a gift to a missionary family this Christmas!

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UPDATE February 2012: Unfortunately two major donations (totaling around $8000) that we had included in our figures when writing this post have since fallen through, making our current need much higher than we previously thought.

You probably know that we’re in the midst of a huge faith project as a family – fundraising and saving for a bigger vehicle.

We currently have a hatchback Nissan Pulsar, which has served us well for many years (even before I came on the scene!). We have loved her… but she is now quite literally bursting at the seams.

A little while before Judah was born we went camping with the DTS for two weeks of lectures. This is what the Pulsar looked like on that trip:

Ha ha! There is the proof that we are outgrowing our car – pretty sure we couldn’t have fit another sheet of paper in there!!! :) (And that was with only three of us!)

We’re so grateful for those that have already made donations and helped us toward achieving our goal. We have also learned a lot about saving as we’ve been working hard to be deliberate in setting aside as much as we can from our regular income each month. Combining those we’ve been able to make some significant progress and we’re just thrilled!

We still need to raise another $11,000 (assuming that those who have pledged will be able to fulfill their pledges soon and that we’ll be able to sell the Pulsar for a decent return), so there’s still opportunity for you to partner with us in this project!

Our goal is to get a near-new mid-size 7-seater SUV. These are normal 5-seaters with a big boot (trunk space) for normal running around town as well as trips and outreaches… and they also have a third row of two extra seats that can come up for carpooling, driving YWAM staff and students around, having five children (haha – probably not… but you never know, right?!), doing airport pickups, etc. We hope to get something reliable and versatile that will last us for the next 10-15 years.

Please see our “Give” page for ways to contribute a tax-deductable gift toward this project.


Thank you Judah

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How an unborn* child has taught us to give thanks a little deeper.

[38 weeks and five days pregnant - Judah's birthday]
There are a thousand things I am thankful for. Literally. I’m sure I could write on and on about the good things in my life, the good things I see around me, and the good things I know to be true about life and humanity and the world.

But for my family this Thanksgiving is all about our little Judah.

Our Judah that the doctors said phrases like “chromosomal anomaly” and “down syndrome”… and then “dilated kidneys” and “potential bladder problems”… and even others more recently that I don’t even want to give “print” space to.

Each of those phrases caused concern and question and plenty of tears. But they also forced us to have faith and compelled us to be in hope.

And each of those phrases have fizzled in time as our son was born perfectly healthy.

We will never know whether some of those things actually existed while he was in the womb, or if they didn’t. We will never know if he was healed before birth or “healed” all along.

And that’s ok – we’ve made peace with not knowing.

For all of the “problems” and “abnormalities” and “threats” that turned out to be nothing, we are thankful. We’re thankful for the all the “nothings” but we’re also thankful for the so many “somethings” that have come out of the short few months during my pregnancy and now eight weeks in our arms:

Thankful for the opportunity to see the preciousness of life with more clarity.

Thankful for the peace that comes when God whispers in the storm.

Thankful for those that rally and pray and encourage and write and… bring zucchini bread.

Thankful to see that we are loved perhaps more than we realized.

Thankful to connect with people we never would have otherwise.

And thankful now for each little milestone that Judah makes – one more confirmation that he is in fact healthy and developing just as he should.

And there are other things he’s taught me to be thankful for too:

Thankful that I now see children with special needs with a deeper longing for them to experience love and acceptance and support in chasing their own dreams… because I’ve imagined my son in their shoes.

Thankful that I now see parents of children with special needs with more compassion and understanding and admiration… because I’ve imagined myself in their shoes.

Thankful that I now have a greater understanding of my own influence and role in championing and advocating their cause as I’m able.

There are a thousand things for me to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, but most of all I’m thankful for this year’s most special of gifts: the gift of our son Judah Matthew** and all that his life has meant to us so far.

Without words or actions or intention on his part he’s already taught us so much.

Thank you son. Thank you God.

We are beyond grateful.

*Our son is now of course born, but the lessons from this season began long before his birthday. **Judah means “to call on the name of the Lord and to praise, confess, or give thanks”. Matthew means “gift of God”.

Dear friends, what has been your greatest gift to offer thanks for this year? May you fully enter in to Thanksgiving this year – and offer thanks with a whole heart to the One who deserves it most.

Love, Adriel for the family