Snow day!

(Elaine, Amy, Devon, Zoey, Riley, and Angie behind the camera)

So, my life isn't completely filled with dudes and dishes! Last Saturday we got a bit of snow and I wanted to play in it (not really go hiking or anything, but just play). So I gave my friends Amy and Angie a call, Amy has two kids, and Angie has one. I proposed that we bundle the kids up and go play in the snow (having visions of tossing piles of snow, giggling, and rolling the 2-year-old around.) Plus both of these girls are acting as single moms and I figured they could use the help and fresh air.

We got 'em all dressed up (by the way how are you supposed to get mittens and boots on those little things without snapping a wrist or ankle?) and outside we went. Our high hopes were limited to the plowed up snow pile across the street. That turned out to be plenty high enough.

The two girls are right around one, and have just learned to walk. I failed to realized that walking on hard ground is a fine accomplishment for a "toddler" and the balancing act that challenges even me on an icy driveway is unimaginable for those wobbly little legs! Okay, so they can't walk down the driveway, but surely once we get to the sidewalk the light powdery snow will be fine. Wrong. All kids do not love snow. Some kids hate snow. Hate it. It's not warm, it's not grass, it's not carpet, or a dog, and it's not food-- it is not fun.

But as you can see in the pictures above, despite all of my learning experiences we had a great time. We played with the sled, Devon tried walking and did much better than us bigger folks because he wasn't heavy enough to crush in the snow (the little elf).

Enjoying winter with increasing sunshine!
Elaine

Online & Credit/Debit Card Donations

Thank You to all those who currently support us financially, and to those who have done so in the past. For those of you looking for one more reason to donate, or an easier way: look no further!

Credit and Debit card donations are being accepted now!

This option was put in place in December and has been working well for the past few months. You do not need to change the way you currently give (all the "old" options are still available). But anyone wishing to donate to Cadence online can finally do so.
This may be especially helpful for the younger generation of online bill payers (myself included).

Easy steps:
#1 go to http://cadence.org/donate
#2 set up an account if you want to track your donations and give regularly
-or-
#2.1 skip immediately to the donation page without setting up an account
#3 be sure to select an alphabetical category, then select our name (or your chosen missionary).

Please feel free to call or e-mail us if you have questions about this process (or any giving option). You may also refer to the the Frequently Asked Questions page.

Thanks! Elaine (for Wes too)

Please use credit responsibly.

How often do you say goodbye?

(Our soon to be friends in far off places: 

Adam, Kyle, Caleb, Jake, Seth, Brent, Sheila, and Mike)

"Barb, why do we do this?"
"Because we love these people."

Goodbyes are hard for most people, and they should be to some extent. But they are even harder when you're sending good friends to dangerous places. They are harder when you're temporary, they're temporary, and who knows when the winds of change will cause your paths to cross again.

We are safe and sound back in Alaska! We jumped right back into the swing of things, last night we had a crowd over for dinner and to watch "The Office", and tonight we had a swelled crowd at the Hospitality House. It's amazing to see how many new faces have arrived on the scene in just 3 weeks!
We had an evening of send-off tonight for our guys who are deploying within the month. There are about eight of them from our little community. We gathered and honored them, we shared insight on the things we appreciate about each of these guys, and ways they have impacted us. Then we prayed for them individually along with their families. It is such a hard task to send these guys off, but encouraging to know that they are all our brothers in the Faith. God has a great plan for them and their service. As much as we prayed for our friends we prayed for those that they would come in contact with.

This is just the beginning for me of remembering what military life is like. Several of our men have been evacuated with their aircraft because of the simmering threat of Mt. Redoubt erupting. They left for 30 days with only hours notice, their families are still here. And many of our Airmen are already deployed to the middle east. If you think of celebrating Valentine's Day this weekend remember that four of our five military mothers will be spending it with their children alone, without their husbands; the fifth husband/father leaves next week. That's just one simple practical example I can think of to relate the impact of military life to you.

We said goodbye forever tonight to a good friend and a brave man. Why do we do this? Why will we have to do this repeatedly for years to come? Because we love these people.

Thanks for letting us be here,
Elaine

John Calvin & John Wesley

(J.C. and Wes, our first meeting.)

While I can't even begin to express the theological ironies of this picture, I can tell you that we were surprised amused to learn that J.C.'s given name is John Calvin (one of the reformers from the Catholic Church).
Wes met J.C. in 2004 via e-mail from his deployed location in Qatar. J.C. was one of the guys up the chain in the Air Force news office who would read and publish Wes' articles. Somehow through their communication Wes realized J.C. was a fellow Christian, and called him up to ask about it. This began an encouraging relationship mostly of e-mail and the knowledge that "I'm not the lone Christian in this job" for the two of them.
Fives years later J.C., his wife and two daughters live in the Denver area, still in the AF, and are great supporters of our minstry. This past Sunday we were invited to the Woodrings' home for dinner and we finally got to meet them face to face. We enjoyed our time learning how God brought each of us together through our journey with him. J.C. and his wife were actually stationed at RAF Lakenheath at the same time I was (so we surely know some of the same people-- I may even have taught his "Chem Warfare class". :)

Some of our best times over the past year of ministry and Partnership Development have included listening to the stories of others and how God is working out his plan in their lives. He truly does have good plans and purposes for us that bring him the most glory!

~Elaine

The End of Candidacy

(L to R: Rick and Paula Scott, MaryEtta Reynolds, Deedra Bingham, Dick Reynolds, me and Wes)

We really do love this ministry. We are thoroughly exhausted from two solid weeks of Candidacy, but have emerged on the other side not as candidates but as missionaries!

We have been challenged and enouraged by these couple of weeks. We have a renewed desire to see the live of soldiers, airmen, and their famlies touched by Jesus and his redeeming power!
For right now our "next steps" are not immediate. After a short visit here in Colorado we'll return to business as usual in Alaska next week. (As usual meaning piles of snow and threats of volcanoes.)
We are excited to see where God will send us, also to see where he will send the other 5 couples headed for hospitality house ministry in the next couple of years. We have had a great time of bonding with our 'class' and will have these guys as partenrs throughout our ministry!

I'm pretty tired, but I wanted to give you all a short update about our exciting weeks at the Cadence Headquarters.

Prayerfully yours,
Elaine


p.s. The picture above is from our last evening as a group-- our farewell dinner. These are not other candidates but HQ staff members. Dick and MaryEtta are a wonderful couple who have been with Cadence many many years. He is now the VP of Human Resources, and they are a great encouragement! Rick and Paula are also veterans of this ministry, they've run hospitality houses in the past, and hope to again in the future but for right now, he also works in HR and is our "ministry mentor" for this development stage. And Deedra is another great HR lady with the women's ministry of Cadence, her parents were also Cadence missionaries, she grew up at a hospitality house in the Phillipines.