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 :)