We’re Going! It’s Official!

“…But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!” (Psalm 66: 19-20) 

Missions Update:

We’re going! It’s Official!

We have been appointed by TEAM officially to go on a short-term missions trip to Japan in preparation for possible long-term ministry. This means we are starting to do some pre-trip training, we have a starter budget, and we now have a link where you may donate! (I also added a donate tab to the top menu). At this point, the starter budget is covered! We are incredibly thankful for all the unsolicited money we received from friends, family, and our church this year. All of this money has been saved and was used to pay for this trip. God has also blessed us with extra income from work (and with the restraint to keep us from spending all of it) to fund the extra half. We would still appreciate contributions if you feel led to give, as we are saving up to take seminary classes in the spring and any extra money left over from the trip will go for that.

Family Update:

Rett is enjoying his job, the kids are starting to settle into their new schedule, and preparations for Fall Bible Studies are chugging along. It is a great blessing for me to collaborate on projects that I believe are a great benefit to our community and will hopefully make group Bible study easier and more accessible. In the midst of all of this I (Kim) have run into a few snags: doing the big chunk of a project is fun, but the tiny, over-time maintenance tasks seem impossible… This has always been a problem for me, especially when I was staying at home with my kids, but now I can’t run away from small maintenance tasks because other people are involved. So, what began with a small, seemingly unrelated, prayer a few weeks ago:

“Lord, I want to listen to others, I don’t want to continually interrupt conversations, I don’t want to do 80% of the talking when I spend time with others. Please help!”

Ended with a starting diagnosis of ADHD.

The day after that prayer I found myself describing some of my daily struggles with a feeling of “brain fogginess” the same way my husband had attempted to explain his experience with ADHD. I started to wonder if there was some overlap between ADHD and other things that caused some of my symptoms (migraines maybe?), hoping that if ADHD is treatable, then maybe something with similar symptoms might be treatable as well. I accidentally ran across an article that had different diagnostic criteria for men vs. women with ADHD, and guess what: hyperactivity in women/ girls tends to be expressed most noticeably by excessive talking, as women are typically better at hiding fidgeting and restlessness. A family friend happened to have an appointment with their psychiatrist that week and asked their doctor if he had any information that would help me. My friend was able to give me a paper with some of the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, and I was shocked to see a majority of my life struggles described on one piece of paper (like being hit by a box of bricks, because none of this had ever crossed my mind until two days prior). Among other things, these symptoms include excessive talking, periodic feelings of brain fog, and enjoying big, creative tasks, while having great difficulty with daily maintenance tasks. My doctor confirmed this diagnosis (going through much greater detail than I will mention here), and slowly and cautiously started me on some medication (we will see how this goes).

I am actually quite relieved by all of this (especially after I got over the initial surprise). My husband and I have reached a new understanding of chores, now that we both know we have trouble with them. I am able to be a bit more patient with some of my organizational shortcomings, and I found some articles for people with ADHD that have tactics to help manage a home and stay on-task at work. This is a huge answer to many years of prayer, and a great help in all the tasks God has given me.

Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah

Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him, who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations— let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you, that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble. I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah

Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul. I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on[a] my tongue.[b] If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

Psalm 66