dec 1st

we are doing an advent calendar and learning about the real meaning for all this christmas stuff this year. it was getting out of hand talking about santa santa santa so hopefully we can change that a bit in the next 25 days......

day one......
add one piece to the manger scene-today the lamb was hiding in the stocking!!!

read "the crippled lamb" by max lucado

coloring page printed from disney website-christmas activities

december already???

wow our kiddos are growing so fast...we cannot believe it.

cail just had here 4th birthday with a pony cake to celebrate. she is really beginning to be a great help and fun friend.

averie is 2 and a half. she loves to be funny and is always trying to make us laugh. her lasted is singing the abc's and saying h i j k l m noodle p!!!!!!

tayt jebediah is now 4 and a half months old. he is rolling, smiling, laughing and growing out of his acid reflux he has struggled with since birth. he is a much happier baby now.

josh went to see an asthma specialist yesterday and it really seems as though they can help him get his life back by helping him breath. his big goal is to breath well enough that he can get back to the sports and activities that he loves so much.

i (becca) am feeling a bit overwhelmed with the great responsibility of molding and shaping the lives of three little ones. raising kids is so much more than the diapers, dishes and laundry. God has given me an awesome gift in the "job" of everyday life here at home.

our funds are now at about 65% and we are plugging away at trying to make new contacts. God has called us to minister to those who need a relationship with Jesus and we are doing that everyday. whether we are here in the u.s.a. or home in n.z. God has asked us to serve. so we are trying to be content in any circumstance, wait upon the Lord to renew our strength and be ready for whatever He has for us next.

thanks for all your prayers!!!!!

hello there

so....it's been awhile huh!!!!

well as you might know my dad passed away the first of oct. it was a year and a half of great time with him and a hard battle with cancer. six different kinds of cancer spreading through his body faster than the doctors could keep up with but a transformed man walking through it with dignity. thanks to all who were praying for us through all of this.

the pictures above are of cail and grandpa jerry playing dress-up, making silly faces and grandpa holding his grandson for the last time. this was the last day he was at our house. such a special memory of my dad and my kiddos.

God has been so good to us letting us be home in the states while this was happening.

our little man

Tayt Jebadiah Bowlin
July 10 2010
8 lbs 6 oz 20 1/2 in

the bowlin's today...

well not much going on here. we wish there were more. our due date is tomorrow and nothing happening yet with this little boy of ours on his way. i think he must be a bowlin child just like is sisters. he will have a mind of his own for sure huh!!!!

we got to share at chapel pike last night and eighth street wesleyan the other week. it has been great to have a few places near home so i can go as well.

our wonderful friend at eighth street wesleyan has been supporting us for about 5 years now and she took our challenge to introduce us to someone else you know so we can build up our support team. it was great to share at her small group and meet some of her friends.

it was great to be at chapel pike as well because they have watched josh grow up and sent us out on our way the first time. we haven't been there to worship much with them this year with all the travel but when we are there we feel like they just wrap us up and welcome us in like a great big bear hug. to see all who are so excited about what God is doing in n.z. was encouraging for us for sure.

well enough rambling for me today. i hope this find you all well and well blessed of the Lord. also i hope the next post here will be good news about a new member happy and healthy, newly arrived in our family.

thanks for your prayers

a new generation

the other day in the car i was making the girls listen to mommy's music instead of the usual kids songs (i can only take so many of them before insanity starts to set in). as the next song came on klove i realized it was one of the girls favorite songs. for some reason they love matt redman's "you never let go". i told them their song was coming on and when it was about to start the chorus i said "o.k. girls oh no you never let go" as i looked in the rear view mirror i saw one of the most awesome sights i have ever seen. here is my 3 year old, head tipped back, eyes closed, singing at the top of her lungs

Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me


my eyes filled with tear without even a moments notice and my heart was so full of God's blessing. this new generation that josh and i are given the responsibility to train up is now beginning to see God. of course i am not sure how much of that song she really understands, and how much of her closed eyes head back comes from what she has seen at church. but......she is seeing it she is hearing it and she is experiencing God at the age of three. this really brings to mind the words in mark 10

13-16The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: "Don't push these children away. Don't ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.

i hope today not to get so caught up in my daily worries to forget how loving God can be simple enough for my daughter to understand and handing over my life can be as easy as throwing my head back and singing at the top of my lungs. thanks God for the example my children set for me.

waiting

"when our plans are interrupted, His are not.
His plans are proceeding exactly on schedule,
moving us always (including those minutes or hours or years which seem most useless or wasted or unendurable)
toward to goal of true maturity" (romans 12:2)

elisabeth elliot

prayer requests

just wanted to ask for a few extra prayers for our family this next few weeks. josh is on a plane as i type headed to new zealand. he hasn't been there for a year now and really needed to reconnect on that side of the world. i am 34 weeks this week and that means taking care of the girls has been about all i have gotten accomplished each day. we all miss daddy when he is gone and the girls seem to know mommy is tired and try and take advantage of that sometimes. we are enjoying the sunshine and the paddling pool though so that should get us through the next two weeks while he is gone.

please pray for...
`josh's safe travels

`the formation of a national youth board in new zealand (to take the place of the coordinator who just resigned)

`trip to the south island to scout out a place for new church plant. this will be the start of a new district of the wesleyan church

`the national convention, josh will be leading a seminar for pastors about the third culture church and a seminar for youth leaders about effective youth ministry.

`mommy's sanity while daddy's away

`a safe and happy ending to this pregnancy (but not till josh gets back for sure!!!!!)

mother's day photo's

garden

well it looks like we will be spending another summer here in northern indiana u.s.a. (mixed feelings about this) we are trying to make the best of where we are and let ourselves settle a bit wherever we are and no matter how long we will be there. i think this is the best way to live our lives at this point, not knowing what is around the corner half the time. for some reason i am recalling a wise bit of wisdom saying we should be content in all situations...

Philippians 4:12-13 (New International Version)

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

so with that said we are planting a garden and hoping we can keep up with the weeds long enough to enjoy the produce. the girls "helped" me this morning (for about 10 min and then found the barbie car and puddles! much more exciting!!!) and it turned out to be an enjoyable experience. so gardener i must become for a few months. if our neighbors in new zealand are reading this they must be cringing at the thought. they saw way more weeds and not very much produced at the bowlin house (well maybe children but...). they are wonderful gardeners and were so good at sharing we didn't need one of our own.

anyway hope you are enjoying this warm bit of weather and watching the seasons change. it always reminds me how our God really is in charge huh. i wouldn't be able to make all the beauty around me or make anything grow very well for that matter hahaha!!!!!

so prayer requests for this month.......
our garden (may God be in charge and not me so we can actually eat out of it!!!!!!!)
our lives (may God be in charge and not me so we can actually accomplish something great for Him)

prayer requests

~our funds level is still at 54% and we are praying in the rest of those funds so we can get back to new zealand.

~we need $45,477 faith promise a year to get us on the ground. that would take 100 people giving $50 a month. pray we can find those faithful people to join our team.

~our visas were denied do to the pregnancy. now we will wait on baby bowlin to be born in july, reapply and hope to be on a plane as soon as it is safe to travel. pray for speedy return when we can have them processed again.

~josh will be traveling on a scholarship to israel at the beginning of may and then to new zealand for national convention the beginning of june. pray for safe travel.

~i am just starting the last trimester of this pregnancy so pray all will continue to progress as normal and for surviving the heat of my first summer pregnancy!!!!

easter

this is now our second easter here in the states and another year of making easter dresses for my girls. ( fun fun) it was a great day with our church family here and a yummy lunch with our family afterward. the sunny day made wonderful pictures. although we cannot believe how big our little girls are getting they think they are running the house and grown ups already. this little boy on his way better be tough huh!!!

fun family day

today we took a much needed break in the midst of josh's class becca's pregnancy and the girls naps to have a family day. we spent it with our dear friends the stuller's here in kentucky. it was a sunny warm day (wow that sounds weird to say) so we went to enjoy the animals at the louisville zoo. after, we had a nice dinner and picture time in the sun. more photos later thanks to steph's help on with the camera.

homesick

here i sit in washington d.c. enjoying one of the first sunny days here in the states. spring is coming and warm weather will be here soon. although i know it is only getting colder in the southern hemisphere and new zealand winter is not at all my fav. i am finding myself searching through facebook today for a glimpse of what is going on there. i miss our life there. our friends and our friends that have become family. it has been over a year since we were there. what will it be like to return, everyone has changed. some are married now some are grown up. we left babies behind and now they are children running and playing and not remembering the bowlin's all that well i am sure.
what does God have in store for us? when will we get to return? where is this new baby bowlin going to be born? what will our families here think/feel when we go? how do we continue to wait in faith?
all i know is that God is faithful and His timing is in our best interest. so there are the thoughts of homesick becca today. waiting for warm weather, baby #3, and our return to nz!!!!!

stop me if you've heard this one...

i just heard a story that really helped encourage me in this time of our fundraising/ministry.

out on a day at sea an officer and his wife found themselves in a terrible storm. she was so terrified and looked to her husband for some comfort or direction. when she looked over at him she realized he was so calm and seemingly not shaken at all by the turmoil around them. she had to ask how he was staying so calm. all he had to do was draw his sword to explain. he pulled out his sword and placed it at her neck. he asked if she was afraid of the sword and the wife said of course not. when asked why she simply said because you are holding it i know you would never hurt me. his response was that he knew who was in charge of the storm and knew He was looking after them.

When i heard this it really helped me to calm my wondering mind about how and when we will get to New Zealand. we are praying strong and having faith that God is in control of our lives and so we need not fear or worry about how He is going to work it out. thanks for your prayers and thoughts for us. i hope this can be of encouragement to you today!!!
may God bless you today

18 weeks and counting

5 1/2 inches
about a half of a pound
ultrasound on the 18th then we will have real pictures of our baby!!! until then this will have to do

super bowl sunday in illinois

well here we are, sunday afternoon in illinois. getting ready to enjoy the super bowl, meeting some new friends, and eat some yummy food. we just got back from texas, were home for two very busy days and then off to illinois. God has blessed us with this new contact and a new church family to join our new zealand team. we are also blessed with a super bowl party and fellowship with some new friends. GOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! COLTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so very glad to have a computer

wow, it has almost been a month since my last post. i promise i have not forgotten you... just a lack of internet for mrs. bowlin. mr. bowlin cannot seem to stay away from it though. the combination of emails and keeping connected with nz and his masters work has kept him staring at and typing on the computer almost non-stop. he did finish his first semester at seminary with all a's. us girls are all very proud of him and try to help him wherever we can to get his work done.

we have been traveling and updating currant/meeting new churches all over the u.s.a. it seems. we had the privilege of attending memorial drive wesleyan in muncie a few weeks ago and are now visiting a few new contacts here in texas. we hope to bring a few more team members into our new zealand team over these 10 days we are here. we are at 50% of our funds needed at the moment and hoping to make some big jumps in the next month or so. josh just turned in a big proposal to help lower our budget this last week. we really are doing all we can while we wait for God to bring in our funding. i love how our friend at headquarters put it when she said we were actively waiting. praying, working on paper work, visas, traveling, speaking, and packing everything we don't need right now, are just some of the things we have been doing in preperation to get back "home".
pray with us that we will have the energy and the connections to continue to travel and share what God has called us to do, and the need for partners in this ministry.
until next time.....

christmas new year update

we have had a great christmas and new year season with our families. it was different because my grandmother passed away this spring so it was the first year without her. it was bitter sweet but very good because last year we didn't have any family around at all (we were in NZ of course.) we have been busy traveling but haven't really raised any support the last few months. the economy has effected us but only in small ways. only one of our churches dropped off but we have had a few pick us up as well. i think the ones who are already on our support team won't be dropping off but to ask a church to take on a new commitment is very hard at this time.
our girls are doing well. they are growing and growing. they are trying to get along and learn to share and play with each other. we did find out a few weeks ago that we are expecting a new baby. we are due july 9th and so excited to add another member to the bowlin family. we do really need to get to N.Z. before our last trimester, so we need your prayers that the Lord would give us the places and connections with people to raise our remaining support.
Hope this finds you well and well Blessed of the Lord. we thank you for all your prayers,
The Bowlin's Josh, Becca, Cail, Averie and Baby Bowlin