Some exciting possibilities for the Van Clan!

"Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world." Psalm 46:10 NLT

Some of you might notice that this is not my usual blog! This blog was one I started way way way back in 2003, we were living in Japan at the time. Our lives looked much different then than they do now!

So WHY am I bringing back this old blog? To tell everyone about an exciting opportunity that our family is pursuing, and to ask for you to join us in prayer for God's perfect will to be accomplished. A few weeks ago (see previous post) I applied to teach at an international Christian school in Japan. This school primarily serves the children of missionaries, and the children of Japanese parents who want their children to receive a Christian education or just to be educated in English. Tomorrow evening (Monday morning in Japan), I have a SKYPE interview! This will be the first of two interviews, assuming we get past the first one.

Mark and I have always felt called to missions. When we received orders in 2000, we thought God was taking us to Japan so that we could save money for our future missions work in Africa or someplace "needy". What actually happened is that God knit our hearts to the beautiful country of Japan, and showed us that it is home to some of the most spiritually "needy" people. Sometime around 2002-2003, we began to realize that God was calling us to Japan. We left Japan in 2007, knowing that someday we would like to return, but not having any idea how that would/could happen. I once heard someone say, "God draws straight with crooked lines." And I would say that is EXACTLY what He has done and is doing with us! Seven years ago, we could never have imagined this as the the path to Japan that God had for us!

So, I am reviving this blog in faith that God is leading us back to the country and people we fell in love with over ten years ago. Mark and I would love it if you would pray for us, for our children, and for God's perfect plan to unfold. Join us on our journey, hopefully leading us back to Japan without too many more crooked-straight lines!

UPDATE:  As I was posting this, Jordan and Kloe's passports arrived in our mailbox.  :-)

School, School, School, School, and School

So the title of my post has school written 5 times.  That is because between the 6 of us we are attending 4 different schools and I have some news about a fifth school at the end of this post.  LIFE IS CRAZY.

My School
Today I took my final Praxis exam for my teaching certification, this week is the end of all my college courses and all that is left is what we call Residency... a.k.a Student Teaching.  I have been assigned to a wonderful mentor and we have an awesome 2nd grade class that we will be co-teaching together. During my student teaching I will be super busy, writing lesson plans and teaching them and doing some things required to graduate, but it is a different kind of busy and I am looking forward to it.

The Girls' School
The girls are attending a classical Christian School about 15 minutes away and the burden of getting them to school and picking them up from school has fallen completely on Mark.  Also the school uses a university schedule for K-3rd grade, which means that he home schools Nik two days a week.  He is doing an amazing job too!  Up until now I have been able to help a little bit but starting next Tuesday we will be like ships passing in the night.  He will leave for work before I get home from school... I'll see him a few minutes in the morning while getting ready, and a few minutes at night before bed.  It's gonna be a long six months!

Jordan's School
Jordan is doing great in 8th grade.  Pulling all A's and B's despite his learning difficulties.  The boy works hard.  This Saturday he will run in the Middle School Cross Country State Championships.  He has a good chance of winning.

Nathan's School
Nathan started PreK and is doing great.  He has the same teacher that Nikki had three years ago.  We absolutely love Mrs. Johnston.  She is my inspiration.  When back to school and get her teaching degree when she was older... just like me.  :-)

Future School?
I have saved the best news for last.  Mark and I have always had a heart for Japan.  While we were living there we felt certain that God would bring us back one day as missionaries.  We didn't really know how that would happen or when, but we have never lost our love for Japan or our desire to go back.   For a couple of years I have been watching the website of a Christian school in Japan for job openings.  Even though it was too soon for me to apply I wanted to get an idea of how often openings came available.  Until recently that was never.  But the other day I was checking just for fun and there was an opening for an elementary teacher for 2015/2016 school year!  Mark and I quickly discussed it, prayed and sent off the preliminary application.  The next day I received a reply and I am not in the process of providing references and transcripts and such.  We don't know where this will lead, and we trust God to open or close any door He chooses, but we would be totally thrilled to be heading back to Japan next summer!!   Prayers would be very much appreciated on our behalf.

Returning to Japan

After more than 7 years, we have a possibility of returning to Japan and reviving this blog!!  Details to come!!

New Blog

If you would like to follow the van clan we have a new blog.

vanclanfive.blogspot.com

Wow, I just realized it has been almost 5 months since my last post! I am now almost 29 weeks pregnant, we are having a girl, and she is a wild child. God gave me an EXTREMELY active little one, so I would not have much time to worry about if she was okay or not. We were a bit surprised to be having a girl (What about the name James, Lord?) but I think both Mark and I were pleasantly surprised. Don't get me wrong boys are great too, but we are really happy to be having a girl!

THUMP THUMP!

We had our Drs. appt. Monday and we were able to see our perfectly sized 8 week baby and his beautiful little heartbeat. Growth was right on target and heartbeat was strong. Weird, I thought I would be relieved once I saw it, and stop worrying so much... and I did.. for about a day! ARGH! The Dr. doesn't want to see me again until I am 15 weeks which is too long from now with no sure way to know all is well. Then I remembered that the first baby we lost measured at 8 weeks 6 days, and my fears tell me it could happen again. Your other baby made it this far too. I keep remembering the verse in my devotional when I had my last miscarriage, the one that said Abraham did not waver in unbelief, but was fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised, and I am realizing that I am not half the person Abraham was!!

I HATE FOOD!

Food is not my friend. Who invented food anyway? I have been so sick with "all day morning sickness" and mostly at home in bed for two weeks now. I have to admit that although I have a high tolerance for things like colds, headaches, and pain, I am a complete baby when I am sick to my stomach. Mark is doing a great job of taking care of me, when he is not at work, which he was for over 80 hours last week!

I got blood work back from the lab and my HCG levels (the amount of pregnancy hormone in your blood) were really high for being 7 weeks pregnant. This is not a bad thing. High numbers have a better chance of being a healthy pregnancy. Now we just wait til Monday morning and pray that we see a little beating heart on that ultrasound machine. Or with my high hcg's maybe there will be TWO beating hearts!

BIG NEWS

Time for an update! Ya know the old saying if at first you don't succeed, try try again? Well, I don't know how much our "trying" has to do with it but we just found out I am pregnant again!

Last year after my second miscarriage in 14 months, I was really wondering what God had planned for us. The day of my D&C I was reading my daily devotional book and the scripture was from Romans 4:20-21. It was talking about Abraham believing God for His promise of a son.

"He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform."

At that time I really felt like God was telling me to keep believing that He had a child for us. Does that mean this pregnancy is a sure thing? I don't pretend to know the mind of God, I can only walk in the faith that He has given me, but I do know that whatever happens it will be good, because God is good.

We covet your prayers over the next couple months!

Walking toward life

We have been studying 2 Corinthians on Sunday Mornings. Today was chapter 5. Last week we talked about how light this world's trials and tribulations are compared to the eternal weight of glory we will one day experience in heaven. It has been so good to be reminded to think about the things that are eternal; To be reminded that the things that are unseen will far outlast the things that are seen. Every once in a while I need to really get a glimpse of the reality of heaven. For when I do, I look at those who do not know Christ through a whole new set of eyes. We who know Christ are walking toward life, getting closer and closer every day. The lost are walking toward death, and they too are getting closer and closer every day. I pray that the Lord uses me to grab hold of a few as they pass by that I might take them by the hand and lead them toward life.

WOW!

Wow! We are getting ready to do our second Vacation Bible School at Grace and yesterday was preparation day. We were encouraged to see over 40 people, men, women, and children, show up to help decorate and do final preparations. Everyone- Americans, Japanese, and Latin Americans were all working together for a common goal... reaching the children of Ome with the love of Christ. It was very cool!

What a month!

Things that have been happening...

Vanessa our dear friend from the states arrived to spend the summer with us.

We went to Saipan as a family, but also to celebreate our 15th wedding anniversary.

We have been feverishly preparing for Vacation Bible School at our church.

What I have been thinking about...

Love bears all things, hopes all things, believes all things, endures all things (1 Cor 13)

What does this kind of love look like in action? My love has been tested to the limit lately, and I have discovered how quickly I come to the end of my own ability to love. Oh, I want to be loving alright, the problem is, I want to feel loving first! But I think real love, is loving regardless of feeling, or maybe even in spite of it. NOT EASY!

Sad news

It has been a sad week. For reasons that we might never know, God has chosen to take our second little one home to be with Him. On Father's Day we were getting ready to eat with some friends at a restaurant and I noticed that I was spotting some. I left immediately and went to the hospital to be checked out. It turned out that our baby had actually stopped growing at around 6-7 weeks. On Wednesday I had another D&C. We are going to Saipan next week, and I did not want to chance having a natural miscarriage when I was away from home.

Although I am so far from "understanding God", I know that He uses everything in our lives for our good. Even if I never understand the "why's", I do know one very important thing- God's plan is to prosper us and not harm us, to give us a hope and a future. What is in the future for us? Blessing after blesiing from our Heavenly Father...

What a blessing!

We had the pleasure of hosting the Kane family from Indiana for the last two weeks. They stayed at Grace, and were a huge blessing to all of us. By helping with the Latin American Fiesta, organizing the storage room, filling in for teachers at the school, and best of all just sharing their lives and hearts with us- they were a huge blessing! Thanks so much Kane Family- you are precious!!

Mother's Day gift

Last month was Mother's day and I got the best Mother's Day gift I could have ever asked for. A positive pregnancy test! We are going to have a baby! There is a really good story to tell about all of this, but I will warn you up front...it might get long....

When Luke (my youngest, now 10) was a baby, Mark underwent surgery for "permanent birth control" if you know what I mean . Anyway it wasn't too long before I began to regret it but Mark was happy as a clam. Mark told me that God would have to write in lipstick on the wall before he would go under the knife again. In 1998, when Luke was 3 I began to pray that God would change Mark's heart. After a few months Mark actually decided to get the reversal! YEAH GOD.

After one year when we did not get pregnant, I began to ask God why He went to all the trouble of changing Mark's heart if He wasn't going to give us a baby. I prayed and asked some good friends to pray for God to give us a name if He was going to give us a baby. I was reading the book of Isaiah, and kept getting the name Jacob. When we went to visit our friends they told us that the Lord had given them the name James. I kind of filed it away, and thought well, we will see. I was suprised to learn that James is the Greek form of Jacob and they have the same meaning. But I did not particularly care for the meaning which was "supplanter" or "one who takes the place of another".

Five more years passed and we never became pregnant. We were at peace with the fact that it would never happen, but every once in a while I would ask God why? Not in a bitter way, just curious as to why. Then last year in March we got the shock of our lives. I was pregnant! We were so excited. The kids were fighting over who would get the baby in their room and would it be a boy or a girl? Finally they just decided to pray for twins! But God had other plans and at 12 weeks we lost our baby to miscarriage. The doctors words that we could get pregnant again, were no comfort to me. He did not know that this baby took five years, and truly was a miracle baby.

Three days after the miscarriage I was praying in my bed, asking God if He was going to ever give us another baby, and I remembered about the name James. And I remembered the meaning "one who takes the place of another". I asked the Lord, does this mean you are going to give us another baby Lord? How do I know if I am hearing a word from You or if it is just the desire of my own heart? Then a card that I had received from a friend a few days earlier came to my mind. I had put it up on the fridge. I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs to grab it, and on the front it said "...for He who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23" Wow I thought, maybe this really is from the Lord. However, I did not really have enough faith to believe 100% that God had promised us another child. But I did tell about 5 of my friends, just so if could be a testimony, when and if God brought it to pass.

Which brings me to Mother's day morning, more than a year after the miscarriage. My God gives the greatest gifts to His Children!

I will confess that I am more than a little worried that this pregancy could also miscarry. Every twinge and symptom, has me thinking of the possibility. I am especially concerned of how Lukie might take it, because he is so excited and so sensitive to being hurt. But I know, that the God of the UNIVERSE holds us in the palm of HIS hand and He will only do the absolute best for me and my family!

Why Me?

Hebrews 2:17 "Therefore in all things He had to be made like His brethren that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God..."

Before the Father sent the Son, He had never experienced the trials, the pain, or the suffering of the human race. After Jesus came, suffered and died for all of us, He could more perfectly empathize with us and He was not ashamed to call us brothers.

Sometimes (Usually!) when I am going through a trial or difficult time, I often ask the question "WHY?" ("Why ME?!") Recently I realized that many times God wants me to experience certain things first hand, so that I will be more understanding and merciful toward my brothers and sisters in Christ who struggle with those same things.

AMAZING... think about it...


If you win a thousand people to the Lord every day for 35 years, you will have won 12,000,000 people.

 
If you win one person to the Lord every year and disciple them to win one person to the Lord every year, in 35 years you will have won 9,000,000,000 people, or the entire population of the world.

Starting from September, Grace Christian Fellowship, will have a school. Luke will start when the school opens in Septemer, but Katie will finish Japanese elementary school next March. So, we decided to let her wait a year so she could "graduate" with her friends.

Two times in two days I came across the following quote...

"Love without truth is hypocrisy. Truth without love is brutality."

And I think about this verse:

"Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed.  Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Proverbs 27:5-6

Matthew Henry's commentary says...

"It is good for us to be reproved, and told of our faults, by our friends. If true love in the heart has but zeal and courage enough to show itself in dealing plainly with our friends, and reproving them for what they say and do amiss, this is really better, not only than secret hatred (as Lev. 19:17), but than secret love, that love to our neighbours which does not show itself in this good fruit, which compliments them in their sins, to the prejudice of their souls. Faithful are the reproofs of a friend, though for the present they are painful as wounds. It is a sign that our friends are faithful indeed if, in love to our souls, they will not suffer sin upon us, nor let us alone in it. "

Loving honesty leads to healthy relationships. I want my friends to tell me the truth... what I need to hear, not just what they think I want to hear. Honesty involves risk. But true friends are willing to take that risk.

Trust His Heart

I love this song, because it is so true. I don't understand, all I have is questions, and I may never have answers. But one thing I know, one thing that will never change, is how very much God loves me, and when I can't see His plan, I can trust His heart. And so can you.



All things work for the good
Though sometimes we can't see how they could
Struggles that break our hearts in two
Sometimes blind us to the truth

Our Father knows what's best for us
His ways are not our own
So when your pathway grows dim
And you just can't see Him,
Remember He's still on the throne

     Chorus:

     God is too wise to be mistaken
     God is too good to be unkind
     So when you don't understand
     When don't see His plan
     When you can't trace His hand
     Trust His Heart

He sees the master plan
He holds the future in His hand,
Don't live as those who have no hope,
While our hope is found in Him.

We see the present clearly
But He sees the first and last
And like a tapestry He's weaving you and me,
To someday be just like Him

He alone is faithful and true
He alone knows what is best for you

When you can't trace His hand
When you don't see His plan
When you don't understand
Trust His Heart

Written by Eddie Carswell & Babbie Mason copyright ©1989 Word Music, Inc.

Jesus is in the Fire

It is with much sadness that I have to share that Thursday night, I started spotting and it continued through the night with some light cramping. Friday morning we went to the Dr. and had 3 ultrasounds which all confirmed that our baby died at about 9 weeks (2 weeks ago). The baby had classic signs of chromosomal defects that would have never allowed it to grow to term. A D&C was scheduled immediately, and I am now at home being taken care of, by our wonderful church family.

Thursday night, when I was praying, I opened my daily devotional book to read that day's message, here is what it said...

April 15
Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Acts 14:22

How do we enter into the Kingdom?- through much tribulation.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew this. They were in a fiery trial indeed, yet they did not come out until they were ordered out (Daniel 3:26) because they preferred walking in the fire with the Lord to sitting in the shade without Him.

What happened to the fourth Man in the furnace? -He remained in the fire (Daniel 3:25)
Where is Jesus- the fourth Man- today?
In the fire.

We have a tendency to try to avoid the fire whenever possible- and it's a great mistake. I'm not saying we should be masochists. I am, however, saying:

It's in the fire, When times are tough, When your heart is breaking.... that Jesus is most visible, Most real, Most precious. *Taken from "A Day's Journey" by Jon Courson.

Even though it wasn't what I was hoping to hear at the time, I knew that God was telling me that He was going through it with me, and that He would prove it true, when our hearts are breaking that is when He is most visible, most real, most precious.

Of course we are devastated, and sad... but as Paul said... "We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed-- 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

And Jesus' own words... "Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4

This is from Mark: We've had many friends go through this and wow, what an eye-opener this has been to me, in order to empathize with them. I think what is hitting me the worse tonight is how Lukie was soooo looking forward to being a big brother, and being like his dad, he wears his emotions on his sleeve. And when Renee mentioned tonight about he would have made such a good big brother, it just about broke his heart again, and mine also...Please pray especially for the kids, as we don't know exactly how this will affect them; especially Katie as she is not quite so emotional so not sure what all she's thinking and feeling.

We love you all, and thank you so much for your prayers and support.