December? Already??

Here's the latest and greatest :)

We had a more than OK Thanksgiving with Caleb's extended family down in Oklahoma (get it? OK - Oklahoma. Gosh I love these jokes haha.) Thanks to God doing His thing, we were able to drive down for the whole weekend and spend the holiday with family. We got to spend some quality time with Mamaw, Caleb's grandma, and met his aunts and cousins, some for the first time.  They were so gracious to us and made us feel very welcome. Can't wait to do it again! Though we may wait til the snow leaves.

Lifeline is moving closer and closer to our Christmas party!! It is one of the highlights of the year for the kids. All the kids who attended club consistently receive a free Lifeline hoodie, which kids ask about constantly. On December 19th, they will receive their sweatshirts, as well as Christmas gifts. The gifts are part of the Adopt-a-Child program we do every year. Many families cannot afford Christmas gifts, especially in such a bad economy, so we bring some joy to the boys and girls of Lifeline and each child receives a gift. We had over 100 children adopted by churches, families, and organizations who are graciously willing to love on them. We will try and get some good pictures of the party so you can see some of the kids we work with.

Caleb and I have continued taking kids out to the Dollar Theater on Saturdays. It is such a great opportunity for the kids to connect and see that we love them. This past Saturday we took a boy named Byron and his brother to see The Smurfs. Byron has one of the biggest smile you'll ever see, but also struggles to stay out of trouble in school. His family includes at least ten kids in his home on a consistent basis, so he constantly has to fight for attention, and that fight flows into school and club. When it was just the four of us on Saturday, Caleb and I saw a completely different kid. He was very well-behaved, excited, and thankful to get to go to the movies with us. He said thank you four or five times. It will be fun to see how God uses us in his life, and he in ours, as we continue to pour out love and attention on him.

Caleb has started coaching basketball for Lifeline's sports league, and is learning how to view basketball from a new perspective. I am pretty pumped to go to the games. My job at the bookstore is going well, though it is hard to resist buying books everyday. Christmas break is rapidly approaching and we are headed home for two weeks!!! We're excited :) We will be in Washington December 21st through January 4th, so if you'd like to see us, let us know! We'd love to talk to you about how things are going, and hear how you have been.

Prayer Requests:
- That we can find a way to get to Seattle while we are home. We don' have the money to fly or rent a car, so be praying that we can find a way to get over there and see the Stantons!
- The Christmas party will go smoothly and we can enjoy the children and have fun, rather than have to spend the time keeping them in line.

Broken-Finger Blessings ;)

So if you have been following the saga that is Caleb's finger, you know it has been a  long process and involved lots of stress and screws haha. Caleb had surgery two weeks ago on his ring finger, left hand thankfully! The surgeon put in two screws and helped rotate his finger back into a normal position. Caleb was awake the whole time and even got to take a look inside the finger! Last Friday he went back to the doctor and found out it is healing well and has about a month of physical therapy to help his finger bend again.

Needless to say, surgery costs alot of money. And sadly Caleb's insurance is not the best in the world, with a deductible of $3,000 and the surgery still $2,500 after insurance kicked in, not to mention all the x-rays and doctor visits. We got our first batch of bills on Wednesday for about $300, which sent me into a panic. I am a huge worry-wart about money, and struggle trusting that God will provide. We had to continually pray for trust and provision. We knew that God would provide for the medical bills, whether we had to pay all ourselves, if we could get the clinic to let us do payments, or if miraculously someone would help us pay. Well, God decided to be miraculous!!

We don't have to pay a dime of our medical bills!!! A very good friend of Caleb's called us and told us they were sending a $700 check to us to help out, my aunt sent some money in a get-well card, and the big kicker came when we went to Lifegroup on Thursday. Ironically, we were talking about tithing. After prayer request time, when we asked for prayer for financial provision, our leaders came up to us and told us that our bills were covered. That they all pitched in to help us get through this. That they were glad we were here and are thankful we are in their small group. HOW COOL IS GOD?!?!?!  And how cool is our Lifegroup!?!?! We are still blown away and not sure how to properly thank them for a gift of this magnitude. God is clearly showing us that He has us exactly where He wants us, broken finger and all. Thank you to all who were praying with and for us. We appreciate those prayers so much and love you all dearly. THANK YOU!!

It's Carnival Time!!

Here are some photos from our Halloween Carnival! We had several carnival games, including bobbing for apples, which was a HUGE hit! Over 100 people came from the community! Tons of kids and parents got to see what we are doing at Lifeline: loving on kids! By only God's provision, we didn't even run out of candy or food for dinner. Awesome :) Enjoy some of the cute kids we see all the time!

The cutest four-year-old bobbing for apples :)

Barbara and Sayra, two of our 6th graders

Our own personal Spiderman! Amarie is a 3rd grader who just started coming to club.

Neil in the orange sweatshirt, Joey in the blue, and Daivon showin' us what's up!

Us :) 

We love you guys!! Thank you for your constant support and prayers!

And the Doctor Says...

So it looks like it's going to be surgery, folks. We have an appointment scheduled for Tuesday (they didn't tell Caleb the time, which was odd.) His finger is off about 23-24 degrees, so when he closes his fist, his ring finger bends over his middle finger. It was either hope that the finger heals a little more straight, but find out after the opportunity for surgery passes, or get surgery now and correct the direction of his finger for sure. So we decided that surgery would be the best option. The doctor will be moving the bottom of the finger about 10 degrees, which will move the top of the finger more than that. They will insert a metal plate to keep it straight. Luckily it is outpatient surgery so Caleb will be out only a few days.

SO! It goes without saying that we need some serious prayer! Pray that the surgery will go well, the doctors will make the best choices and have steady hands, and that the healing will go smoothly. Also if you could be praying about the expenses that come with surgery, which we don't really have the resources to afford. So be praying for the Lord's provision that we can pay the bills. Thank you so much for your constant support. Love you guys!

A Little Lifeline Love :)

These were some of the sweet notes given to us by a couple of our Lifeline girls last Monday :) Hopefully I will get pictures of the other notes given to him this Monday. They are pretty cute! 

For those of you who hadn't heard, the Stantons had a rather interesting week last week! While at tailgating party through our church two Sundays ago, Caleb dislocated his ring finger playing flag football. We went to the store, bought a splint, and prayed about what to do and where to go in case the finger was broken. We woke up the next morning and his finger still wasn't bending straight. Off to the doctor we went! After some x-rays and an impressed doctor told Caleb "Have you seen this?? This is crazy!!" after seeing the x-rays, it turned out that Caleb broke his finger in two places, tore tendons, and ruptured cartilage. Joy :) They sent us straight to an orthopedic specialist, who took more x-rays, put his hand in a partial cast, and we find out tomorrow whether Caleb needs surgery or not. 

The concerned kids are absolutely adorable. At Club on Monday, four or five girls wrote him "get better" letters. This is a great example of how the relationships with the kids are going. The elementary girls are crazy about Caleb! They always want his attention. The boys obviously show their like for Caleb in different ways, playing games with him and thriving under the attention. We have seen fruit come from Caleb's visits from Mary Beck Elementary, as a boy named Daniel came to Club after being invited by Caleb. I am officially a mother of three, possibly more. Totianna, Amairiya, and Ashanti have taken to calling me "Mama," which just makes my day :) Seeing how the kids cling to you and are so excited to see you every week warms our hearts. It definitely makes what we do at Clubs worth it. 

For those of you who aren't aware of what the upcoming Monday brings, it's Halloween! The city of Elkhart has a scheduled date and time of trick-or-treating, and this year it's on the 31st from 6-8pm. Lifeline is having a carnival to celebrate! We are inviting the River Run Apartments (government housing where a large portion of our kids live) as well as Mary Beck Elementary. Face painting, corn hole, bowling, and balloon animals are only a few of the booths. We are excited for the opportunity for the community to come together in our building and to meet parents who come with their children. So pray that we have enough volunteers and candy to make it through the event! 

Prayer Requests: 

- We find out tomorrow whether Caleb will need surgery or not. If you could pray that his finger heals straight and that there is no other damage to the finger, we would greatly appreciate it. 

- Another request is a prayer for financial provision. Caleb has insurance, just insurance with a $3,000 deductible. So please pray that God will provide a way to pay for the medical bills. 

- That God will be present during our carnival on Monday, and that we can meet and reach our community for Christ.

Club is in Session!

I know its been an obnoxious amount of time since we last updated you all. Life the last few weeks has been a little crazy! So...here's your update haha.


CLUB!! We are three weeks into Clubs this year. Caleb is rockin' the Elementary Club! For those of you who attend/attended New Community, Caleb is doing Ten Commandments in a similar way to the Ten Words series we went through which is great. He even made some totally sweet tablets so that the kids have a visual. Learning to teach at an elementary kid level is a challenge, but Caleb is doing great. We have had about twenty kids show up the last two weeks, and as the word gets out I think the numbers will continue to grow! There is a strong team of leaders that help with Elementary, so we are very very blessed to have help (though we always need more volunteers, hint hint, wink wink!) Caleb has also been going to Mary Becks Elementary's 5th and 6th grade football games in support our Lifeline kids, this has a great way to show the kids we care about them and support them. It is really cool to see how excited to kids get when you watch them play.


We have had a little slice of home sweet home the last few weekends! Keri Burden, a friend I have know since seventh grade, stopped by for two days on her journey from Maryland to Washington. There is just something so special about getting a hug from someone who knows you so well and you can share anything with. She also supports us, so we got to show her around town and have her experience Clubs and what we are here for. Last weekend, Caleb's friend Matt Rogers was in Chicago for a business conference, so Caleb drove up to Chicago to see him. They enjoyed some real Chicago-style deep-dish pizza and shared life together. God knew exactly what we needed and decided to send us two best friends to encourage us. 


We joined a bible study! It has four to six other married couples in it, so be praying that we can grow closer to them. We are going to be talking about the book Radical by David Platt. I have only read the first chapter and it is definitely convicting. It's about taking back your faith from the American Dream, understanding that this faith we believe in is radical and often very often uncomfortable. 

We have some serious prayer requests. A little ten year old girl who lives in the house right next to Lifeline died very unexpectedly of an asthma attack! This is very sad and while she did not attend clubs yet she was signed up and she has two cousins that attend. So you can pray for that whole family. Also pray that Lifeline can help comfort and reach out to the kids and parents. I really have no idea how to deal with something like this. But God is Holy, sovereign, and has a divine plan for the earth and for Elkhart and this family.    

Some prayer requests: 
- Christ shows up at Club on Monday-this Monday is a going to be a big day where we challenge the kids with the gospel

- Lifeline can continue to work in kids' hearts for Christ
- We can find where we belong here and a solid group of friends

- Caleb and I can rely on Christ more and allow Him to be in control

Thank so much for all your prayer and support.  

Clubs are coming!!

Romans 2:13
  "For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who OBEY the law who will be declared righteous."

My husband, and God, decided to challenge me with the scary task of trying to go through Romans. This verse stuck out to me while I was having my quiet time today. Our relationship with God has to be more than hearing the words, more than sitting at church, more than listening to Christian radio. It has to be fulfilling God's purpose for our lives, taking his teachings like "Love your enemies" and actually doing it. It sounds easy enough, but the actions are hard in coming. That was my challenge today, to make my faith become more than words, but actions.

We are one week away from the kick-off of Clubs at Lifeline! It is exciting/scary/nerve-wracking/humbling to know that in one week twenty to fifty elementary kids are going to be coming through the doors, ready to be loved. Our prayers are that we are ready to love them. Our biggest prayer request is that God shows up. That we didn't move to Elkhart, Indiana just to find out that it isn't for us, that God has a different plan. Friends and family, if you could pray over Lifeline and each volunteer that will be preparing to share the love and gospel of Jesus Christ.

Some other prayer requests would be: developing strong friendships, consistency and quality in our quiet times, and that Caleb is prepared and confident for his first Club.

We miss and love you all. Thank you for your prayers and support. OH! And we have Skype now, if you would like to find a time to talk to us (jenna.stanton89)! Or feel free to e-mail us or call us too :) we'd love to hear from you!

A Month IN ;)

Hahaha. Get it? IN? Indiana? Bahaha :D Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Can you believe we have been gone a month? I can't! Exactly a month ago, Caleb and I packed up the car and set off on the longest roadtrip we ever had, trying to get over the strangeness that we weren't driving back, that it was for real. Well. Lots has happened since then!

Living over here has had its ups and downs so far. Adjusting to our new life has been much harder than we anticipated. I mean, we knew it would be hard. We left everyone we knew, everything we understood, and moved 2,000 miles away. We just hadn't expected it to be this hard. I don't think we have gone more than a couple days in a row without one or both of us breaking down in tears. We are so blessed to have been asked to make this journey as a married couple. To those who have moved away by themselves, I give you big props. I couldn't do it.

God is definitely teaching us a thing or two though. Caleb and I are getting the very CLEAR message that we need to be flexible. We both have expectations and when those expectations don't occur, we get frustrated. Surprise, surprise, God wants us to ease up on our expectations and recognize that He is in control and not us. He told us to learn patience through a broken fridge over the last week, showing us that we need to rely on Him, not in what we can control.

He has also answered some serious prayer requests :) I found a job that I really enjoy, talking about books and learning about popular authors. Caleb's volunteer meeting last night went very well and it looks like we'll have some strong leaders. Our fridge was finally fixed. We are discovering a church that we are connecting at. We haven't gotten lost in a while. (Knock on wood!) Our apartment in Spokane was rented out and we got a rent refund. God provided enough for us during the time we worried about money to pay for things. God is just so good!!!

Some prayer requests:
- Clubs start Sept. 12th!! Pray that we will have enough volunteers and organization so that we are prepared for the kids
- We can connect to other young couples and begin friendships
- That we can feel loved and connected both to people back home and here
- We can learn flexibility as we get used to both of us working and at different times
- We can gain back motivation to raise support for Lifeline

We love and miss you all! The Stantons :)

Getting Settled

Hello all you wonderful people who read our blog :) Thank you for actually reading this! I never know who actually does lol so thank you for being one of them.

It's hard to believe we have been in Elkhart for two whole weeks!! At times it feels like a lifetime ago we were in Spokane, and at others,  it feels like yesterday. Trying to learn the city has definitely been an adventure! Here are some highlights of what we have been doing:

- Church hunting. It's way harder than I thought. We have been to three different churches so far, searching for where God wants us to be. We really like one but do not want to limit God just because we are comfortable in one setting. (But that is also a dangerous statement haha)

- Caleb is really enjoying his work at Lifeline. He is getting to know some of the boys that visit the office and growing accustomed to the fact that he never really knows what his day will actually look like. We painted his office yesterday, so it looks all fancy and grown up :)

- I got a job! The Lord definitely provided, as the opportunity seemed to come out of nowhere. But I will be working at a small used bookstore in a nearby mall. It's working Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the next six weeks, and then re-evaluating after that. It's not alot of hours or money, but I get to do something I am passionate about. So thank you for your prayers!!

- We finally got  internet!! It took a week from the first time we called, 8 or 9 calls back to Comcast, well over four hours on the phone, and three Comcast service guys, but we are now connected :) which feels wonderful. God really wanted to teach us patience, apparently.

- Lifeline got enough people to sponsor school supplies for around 100 kids from the River Run Apartments (government assistance housing) all the kids who signed up arrive at school on Tuesday with new backpacks and all of their school supplies!! Many families in the Elkhart school systems cannot afford the school supplies necessary for their children, so for the last three years Lifeline has helped by finding people to sponsor those in need. We get the exciting privilege of handing out full backpacks tomorrow night. You can pray for the kids as they start school this Tuesday!! (Yes you read correctly they have to start already!)

Love you all! Look for the post coming with pictures!!

Finally! A Real Update :)

Hello all!! I finally found some time and internet to write a real and full update!

Our Trip:
       The trip was a blast! We took five days to get to Indiana, spending time in Yellowstone and at Mount Rushmore. Yellowstone was positively breathtaking. We wished we could have spent more than just a day there. If you haven't been there yet, you should go! Mount Rushmore was incredible and definitely worth seeing as well. There is nothing like four giant faces to take your breath away ;)
       We had perfect weather up until the time we decided to leave Mount Rushmore. We had beautiful sunny days for all of our touristy stops, and then the rain came. Out of the 36 hours we drove, the 13 hour drive from Rapid City, SD to Davenport, IA was the roughest. South Dakota and Minnesota weren't too bad, but Iowa and it's constant corn were a bit rough haha. All and alll we had a fun trip over, though it was strange to get over the tendency to think we were driving back. Glad we aren't doing that drive again anytime soon!

Elkhart, IN:
       We officially arrived Friday evening around 6pm. The place we are staying in is so nice. We often feel like we are being spoiled, it's just so big and modern. Wood floors, new appliances, and five bedrooms (two unfinished). It didn't feel real the first couple days. Our possessions didn't arrive until Monday night, so we kind of felt like we were camping in our own house! No cookware, dishes, silverware-it was quite a challenge to find something to make for dinner.
       The best part of the weekend was seeing some familiar faces. Russ, Shannon and the Davis kids were in town visiting family, so we received the huge blessing of having them show us around town and invite us to church. As many of you know, Caleb and I loved our church back home, so finding a new church will be a journey, but God is faithful and knows our needs and desires.

Lifeline:
       Caleb's welcome into his office consisted of pink Barbie wrapping paper, Hannah Montana plates, and a Justin Beiber poster. His co-worker, Andy, wanted Caleb to feel welcomed for sure! Today is Caleb's third day of working at Lifeline. He received a work computer, which is another blessing!! He is slowly getting a feel for what is expected, what he should know, and the humor of the other staff members. Caleb has already showcased his mad basketball skills with some of the Lifeline boys and is getting a feel for the kids he will be working with and loving on.
       As for me, I am unpacking and organizing the house for now. Our ReloCube came at 7pm Monday night, so I have been working away at making our house feel  like a home. I miss home and my family alot,  but am enjoying the adventure of living here. Next week, we will hopefully have internet and I can begin a job search. After some direction from God, I have decided to help out with the Junior/Senior High girls club here.
       Last night was our first activity! It was Elkhart's Night Out Against Crime, helping support Elkhart Police Department. We made cotton candy from 3pm to about 9pm last night, so we were hot and sweaty, and a little sugary! ;) It was fun to see the community we live in, and meet those who live in it.
           
First Board Meeting: (Caleb)
       I just got done with my first board of directors meeting and I was very encouraged. I just wanted to share with you a quote from Scott the president of our board of directors. In a rather intense discussion with the advisory board, they discussed the idea of merging/working with other organizations to save money. The problem arouse of possibly losing our central mission at this time Scott finally spoke up only to say "Here is my only thought, I would rather die than be apart of an organization that does not share the Gospel every day!" I was so excited I almost jumped out of my seat. That is why we are here to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the youth of Elkhart.

How you can be praying:
- That we can daily seek God's direction
- Jenna can find a job that is fulfilling
- Caleb can learn his way around and relate to Elementary kids
- Support will continue to come in now that we are in Elkhart
- That we can adapt to a new community and culture

We love and miss you!! Love, The Stantons

We made it!!

Sorry there hasn't been an update lately! And this post isn't it. Our new home doesn't have internet yet, but an update is coming soon I promise!!! We love you all!

Almost There!!

Luke 11:33
      "No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light."

The gospel of Luke is rocking my spiritual world right now. Read chapters 11 & 12. It covers: prayer, our spiritual "lights," a reminder that legalism isn't the answer to heaven, not putting value in possessions, and worry.  God knew we needed to hear that tonight.

SIX DAYS!! How crazy/insane/scary/exciting/sad/happy/anxious it is! It is coming so fast, but yet so slowly. We will obviously miss our home, family, and friends in the beautiful Pacific Northwest (don't forget mountains, we will miss those too! Good bye Cascades!) But we are so anxious and ready to begin our new adventure. To go into the unknown, show up in a town where the only family we know will be out of town when we get there, and pray like crazy that our stuff shows up on time and in tact. It is so scary, but I guess, I have never done it, so maybe it's fun??? I don't know yet.

God has provided amazingly for us. He wants us in Elkhart, Indiana badly apparently. We sold Caleb's car to the director of YFC here in Spokane, which was their answer to prayer too. God works in some cool ways. We sold the desk, table, and couch. All we got left is the tv (Please buy it someone!! You know you want it!!) We chose to opt out of our lease and hope that it is rented out very soon. We put our 20 day notice in that we were leaving, going on faith that we would get the support we needed, and later that day, the support we needed to get to $1000/mo. arrived in the mail! Thanks Mamaw!!! Now we just need all our supporters to send their forms to Indiana.

It has been a wild, emotional ride the last four months, one we are ready to get off. Limbo is a weird place to be, especially considering Caleb is a proactive guy and hates sitting still.

Hey prayer buddies! Here are some requests:
- someone will buy our tv (32'' HDTV, not flat screen, heavy)
- someone will rent our 1-room apartment ASAP!
- safety on the road as we road-trip across the US
- that everything fits in our car and the Relocation Cube
-that those pledged to support us send there forms TO INDIANA
-continued support raising as we transition to Indiana

Any and all prayers are appreciated! We love you all and will miss you dearly. Come to our Going-Away party at 6pm @ New Community Church to say goodbye, or catch us at church this Sunday. If you can't make either, and we haven't said goodbye yet, we are going to miss you!! God bless!
The Stantons :)

12 Days!

John 15:1-2
     I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

This last Sunday, our speaker used this passage in John to speak about pain. He pointed out that pruning hurts. Unfortunately, that is the reality of the Christian life. It's not all rainbows and butterflies. It's hard and hurts sometimes. Considering that I spent the last half of the sermon crying my eyes out, it's safe to say I really identified with this talk.

We leave for Elkhart, Indiana on July 25th. Twelve days. I never thought leaving would be this hard. It feels a bit like my heart is being torn in two, one half wanting to stay in Spokane, the other excited and ready for our adventure in Indiana. How do I reconcile that? I am grieving so deeply for what I am losing, that the joy of what I am going to is lost or unseen. But I think that is my process right now. I don't think I have ever cried this much in my whole life. Thankfully, I am blessed with an amazing and patient husband who lets me cry on his shoulder and understands that I need to cry. I have never lived farther than half an hour from home, and when I did, I still went home every other weekend. I value my family alot, and have a close relationship to my parents. Realizing I can't go over and spend an afternoon talking to my mom or shopping with my sister is brutally hard. I know that it could be worse, that there is worse pain out there, but for me, this is what I am dealing with.

On the other hand, Caleb and I are incredibly excited to move to Elkhart and begin a new life there. Make a difference in kids' lives, meet new friends that know us as a couple rather than individuals, learn to grow and depend on each other, have a new home that we don't barely fit in. It's a great, God-willed adventure that we are ready to take on. Caleb's ready to take on the challenge of a new job and create talks for the upcoming school  year. He is happy to play basketball all the time again, while I am happy to watch him play. We are a little nervous about finding a new church, especially because we love our church here, but God is good and wants his best for us. We are making our 32-hour drive into a sightseeing trip, stopping to see Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, and the town I was born in. Elkart, you better get ready for us! Because we are coming!!

A couple things you can pray for:
  - That we can get everything packed and fitted into the ReloCube we are shipping across the country
  - That we can sell Caleb's car, our dining room table, our tv, and desk
  - Our apartment to be rented out by August 1st so we don't have to continue paying rent
  - That we can continually seek out God for direction and encouragement
  - Support will continue to come in.

OH! We are having a going-away party Friday the 22nd at New Community Church starting at 6. Please come by if you can to say goodbye to us and we can see you one last time. Love you all!
The Stantons

Prayer Requests

Here is how we are praying and how we could use your prayer!

1. That we can trust the Lord in the big things but also the small day to day tasks we have to complete
2. That our pledged supporters would send their support to Lifeline by July 25th
3. That we can sell my car in the next three weeks (It's sweet! :)
4. That someone will rent out our apartment so that we do not have to pay out our lease
5. That we can be fully financially supported!! I am praying for 55 monthly supporters

                       20   @   $25/mo
                       20   @   $50/mo
                       15   @   $100/mo

Thank you for all your prayers,
                                           Caleb Stanton

Dear Anonymous Giver:

Dear Anonymous Giver:
    THANK YOU!!!!!
Coming home from out of town for a week and a half and finding an envelope with your support in it was amazing and just what we needed. We had been praying for God to show up and bless us with support when we got home, and you provided that. Thank you so much. I wish I could say thank you in person, but you didn't leave your name, so I don't know who you are!! So I will thank you on here and hope that you see it and know that what you did made a huge difference. I am still shocked and awed by your gift and so blessed by you! I wish I could know who you are, but I am sure you had reasons not to put your name. At least if you read this blog you can know that your gift made a difference and answered our prayers :) Thank you so much for your generosity. I know that God will provide for you as you have helped provide for us. God bless!
 Jenna

Expectations vs. Reality

Psalm 103:10-12
        He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
(I read this verse today, and it kind of rocked my world! I wanted to share it with you all. How good is our God!)

Have you ever been rocked by a sermon? Gotten the feeling that God is using your pastor as a megaphone to get his point across to you, because you obviously aren't getting it? That's what happened to us this last Sunday. Russ, our pastor, was finishing up a series on Jonah. He chose the focus of expectations versus reality. These are some of the questions he posed:
          Are my expectations of God in line with reality? Do I have unfair expectations of God? Do I expect certain circumstances to occur, and get upset when they don't?

Talk about convicting!! God challenged me on my expectations with the support raising process we are going through currently. Expectation: response cards will flood our mail box. Reality: we haven't received one in a week. Expectation: people will be falling over themselves to support us and support raising will be a piece of cake. Reality: this has been one of the most challenging experiences I have ever gone through.

I expected God to follow my directions, agree to my plans, and say "Yes, Jenna, it will happen exactly as you planned." HA! Sadly, God doesn't work like that. A friend of mine reminded me of a saying, "The best way to make God laugh is to make our own plans." How true that is. I think I am trusting in God, believing that the support will come in (which is God's nature in providing for the needs his followers), but who said it was supposed to be by July 18th? Once again, our departure date has been moved back, in order for our pastor to be at church for our commissioning July 24th. But who's to say that wasn't God's plan all along? I self-imposed a leave date and promptly worried and stressed about it. Maybe God is telling me to take a chill pill and let him be in control. Which sounds fantastic, but is hard to put into practice when you are a fan of being in control.

So, update: We are currently looking at leaving around the end of July. We have $650/mo. raised, praise Jesus!! We have a three-bedroom duplex to live in, a plan on how to move across country, and the prayers of alot of people. Thank the Lord! If you want to sit down and talk with us about what we are doing in Indiana, please let us know!! We want to make sure we see as many people as we can :)
Love you all!
Jenna Stanton

Learning to Trust

Psalm 94:18-19

“When I said ‘My foot is slipping,’ your love, O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.”

It’s a very good thing God has A LOT of patience with us. Somehow He has enough patience to put up with my constant doubt and worry. Raising support, trying to figure out how to move across the country, realizing we actually are moving across the country – I think God should be getting sick of my anxiety and doubt about now. Thank goodness He loves me without fail.

This blog may be very random, as I am fitting a lot in :)

Raising support has been an ongoing process. Most of our support letters have been sent out last week!! (If you would like a support letter and didn’t receive one yet, PLEASE let me know and I will happily send you one!) It has been a huge faith trial, putting my faith in how the Lord provides every time, even though my fear says ‘What if this time is different??’ We are currently at $175/mo. and still have about $825/mo. before we can leave. Be praying that the support comes in!! And pray about how you can help!

Our leave date has continually fluctuated, moving further back as we realize the process will take a while. It is currently sent for July 18^th, provided we receive all the support we need in order to leave!

GOOD NEWS! We have somewhere to live when we get to Indiana! Darrell’s son owns a duplex, and as of now we are clear to live there. Huge prayer request answered!  

So, my friends, what’s next for the Stantons? Well, I am walking across the stage for Graduation on Saturday and turn 22 next Friday. Nothing too big ;) Caleb will be done with work the 24^th and we are off to Seattle to visit family and friends. Thank you everyone who has supported us in any aspect, especially those who have shared some love as we newly-weds try and figure out how to follow God’s will.

Love you all! Jenna

Our Journey to Lifeline Thus Far

Jeremiah 1:5-8:
The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

  “Ah, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.”

  But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. 

The BIG News: On May 17th, Caleb accepted a job with Lifeline Youth for Christ in Elkhart, Indiana. He will be the Sports Director and Elementary Director, working with at-risk 3rd-6th graders.

The journey towards moving to Indiana started at the beginning of April, but I believe it started a couple months earlier than that. Caleb has always had a heart for missions and serving others in Christ and I knew this going in. However, this didn't stop me from panicking every time my husband came home with a new vision of where we should move. About four months ago, Caleb and our pastor, Russ, had coffee together. Caleb came home with visions of Eastern Europe or South America - somewhere new, different, and far away. I shut down, not wanting to talk about it. The next few days, however, God worked his magic on my heart, and I realized that I am no where near ready to go out to the missions field. I needed to be prepared, so I started to prep my heart for what God wanted us to do. Little did I know it would come so soon!!

April began with a bang this year. Caleb received a text from Russ and only told me that I should be praying about what's coming next and a possible job opportunity. Terrified, I ran to God, and he kindly provided the verse I quoted above: Jeremiah 1:5-8. After praying fervently and impatiently waiting for Caleb to come home, I felt at peace with whatever he would tell me.  

 The text message had been about a Youth for Christ job opening up that Russ thought we should apply for. But there was a little catch.....the job was in Elkhart, Indiana. INDIANA!! I didn't even know where Indiana was! (A slight exaggeration, but you know what I mean.) But, because God and I had spent the last three months prepping to go where God leads us, I said I was open to it. I even managed to keep my composure (for the first ten minutes at least). As scary as the prospect of leaving Spokane was, it was perfect timing. I had just graduated from EWU and wanted to find a new job. Caleb enjoyed his job, but ministry is where his passion is. It sounded perfect! (except the 35 hours away part.)

 We took the next week to pray, ask our parents for prayer and advice, and try to decide whether or not we wanted to apply. After receiving confirmation that we should at least try it, Caleb typed up a resume and sent it to the Director we had never even talked to. After two or three anxious days of waiting to hear back, the Director, Darrell, sent an e-mail back and wanted to talk to Caleb on the phone and let Caleb ask any questions he had. (More praying ensued.)

First phone call: Caleb talking to Darrell in the front room, with me in our bedroom, trying not to listen and praying like crazy. The result: a little bit more panic, finding out he wants someone there soon, and getting a little overwhelmed with the job. We were told to pray about it, and the two of us talk on the phone next time. 

Second phone call: the two of us talked to Darrell, addressing concerns like how the job will affect our marriage, how tied they were to YFC, and just big questions. He told us to continue praying and let him know if we wanted to schedule a visit. After the phone call, though , we were both so excited about everything we heard that we were ready to visit. There is only so much we can learn from over the phone and we hit the point where we were interested enough to visit and see for ourselves what God was doing in Elkhart.

We were too excited about the job and the idea of seeing it, so we e-mailed Darrell to let him know we wanted to schedule a time to come over. God had moved some big mountains and provided several situations where the two of us felt confirmed in our desire to do this job. Everyone Caleb talked to was excited for him and affirmed his gift and desire to work with Lifeline. A good friend of mine reminded me of the passion I have for encouraging women, and in turn, adoption and foster-care. Who says they have to legally be our kids? We can accept them into our home and love them as someday we will with our own children. Loving on these kids can show them what the love of Christ looks like. Darrell called us a few days later and we scheduled a time to fly over.

The trip was amazing! (There will be another blog to talk about it later, as this one is outrageously long.) We saw God's hand very present in Elkhart and with Lifeline. After every day we got more and more excited and more passionate towards these kids. The job was ours if we wanted it. Did we want it? Yes, but we decided to take a week to pray and talk to family about it first. We got back to Seattle May 13th and spent the weekend with Caleb's family. They all confirmed what we heard: this sounds like the place for us. Returning to Spokane, we heard the same from my family as well as friends. In the car on our way home from a dinner with my family, we looked at each other and asked, "Do we want to take this?" Yes, we did. The next day, Caleb called Darrell and accepted the job.

What now? We are still continually praying about this job with Lifeline, but we also need prayer for raising support for Lifeline. We do receive a salary, but it is a non-profit organization and survives off support. We would like to raise a total of $3,000/mo. to support the organization, but only need $1,000/mo. to leave. We want to aim for the $3,000/mo. to help Lifeline support these kids who need to be shown the love of Christ, and find it at Lifeline. Supporting us and Lifeline means providing these at-risk kids with opportunities to hear about Christ, to develop into loving men and women. We want to leave around the beginning or middle of July, provided we have our support. Feel free to ask us about it! We would love to have coffee or dinner with you and explain what we are doing to further God's kingdom :) Love you all! - Jenna