Happy Birthday Jacob

Our dossier is on a jet plane to Beijing today, on Jacob’s birthday! In the adoption world we are officially DTC (dossier to China)! No turning back now. :)

What a HUGE praise that we wanted to share with you all. Now, our agency says to expect 4-6 months before travel. Jeremy and I are praying, begging really, that we travel as quick as we can. I can go on and on for the reasons we should and want to travel soon, but this morning as I prayed about the timing I was convicted… God has not called our family to adopt only to give this sweet boy a family. He’s called our family to share Jesus with everyone along our journey. This means, adoption agencies, other families, our friends, and guides and other people we will be in contact with while in China. Our calling and purpose here is much bigger than bringing home Jacob, although that is HUGE! I was extremely humbled as God reminded me of this. This doesn’t mean that we won’t still pray for speedy processing, but we will try harder to live out the full calling God has placed on our family! As you pray, definitely pray for speedy paperwork and no bumps or hiccups, but also for us, as the next few months will be a roller coaster that includes many, many preparations in all areas of our life. We thank God for each of you. We feel your prayers. Your encouraging emails and text messages always come at the perfect times. 

Here are the final steps in case you want to pray over them: DTC (today!), LID (7-14 days from DTC), LOA (this step is BIG and can vary from 30-60 days), I800 (immigration-takes a few weeks), NVC (visa), GUZ # and DS260 (these are important numbers we will be given…and right now there are some hiccups with the DS260 system so we are already praying for that part of our process), Article 5 drop off/pick up, TA (travel approval) and then we go to China! Seems like a lot but once we are LOA, everything else goes pretty quickly. 

Jeremy & Nacole 

16 weeks and counting

I started a countdown last week, as I have used lots of estimates from others who are currently in the process of adopting from China. Based on our documents being sent out last week, we should be somewhere around 16 weeks before travel. Unfortunately, our documents did not get sent out as we had anticipated. We experienced a range of emotions from frustration and anger to well, mostly frustration and anger! For whatever reason our documents did not get sent out last week. BUT, I'm still holding on to 16 weeks before travel because I know just what God can do! Praying our documents are on a plane to China tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest! 

One other great thing about last week was summer camp for Austin! He had an amazing time and really experienced Jesus on a deeper level. For those of you who don't know, Austin accepted Christ when he was only 5 1/2. Jeremy and I talked with him and prayed with him for over 6 months before letting him ask Jesus in his heart. You may ask why in the world we'd want him to wait... We wanted Austin to be 100% sure he was hearing from God so that he would never question his decision. Last week at camp Austin heard God speak to him and called him to the next step in his faith. A deeper, closer relationship with Him! It was wonderful to be able to talk with him after camp about hearing from the Lord and what the process of growing closer to Him looks like. God is so faithful and Jeremy and I couldn't be more blessed that Austin is living out his own faith! We look forward to the big plans God has for you Austin! 

It's been a while...

Wow! Every time I update our blog I say that I'm going to keep up with it and not let too much time go by. Since that last post, there has been a LOT that has happened. For the next few months, most of my posts will be adoption related. I expect (and plan) to post fairly often as lots will start happening soon. Most of you know that our family started the adoption process in September 2012 in Bulgaria (Eastern Europe). We chose that country for several reasons but one was the long wait time. Sounds crazy right?! We knew God wanted us to complete this adoption debt free so we intentionally chose a country with a long wait time... We know God had Yin Di picked for our family long before he was born and he knew asking us to adopt debt free would lead us to this sweet boy in His perfect timing. Fast forward to February 2015 and the day before we were to mail out our yearly immigration update, Jeremy and I found this precious little boy on our agency's Facebook. We knew immediately he was our son! So, without hesitation we switched countries (literally overnight) and were on our way to adopting Yin Di from China. It's been a roller coaster ride for sure! Ups and downs, frustrations and miracles. As of yesterday our documents cleared the Chinese consulate and will hopefully be DTC (documents to China) next week! Here is a picture of our little guy. This is an outdated picture and we are hoping for an official update soon. :) He's precious and we KNOW without a doubt he is a perfect fit for our family!

Meet Jacob Yin Di Morgan. More about this sweet boy in the next blog!

A look back at 2012

Wow, I've really, REALLY slacked at the whole blogging thing this past year. Here is the newsletter that we sent out with our Christmas cards this year! Lots of good stuff going on in our family!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

2012 has been a great year for our family! We went to Disney World this past summer on vacation. We all had a wonderful time. It’s been a busy school year for our family. Nacole started teaching 5^th grade at Keene Elementary, Austin is half-way through 3^rd grade, and Carson began going to pre-school a few days a week! Jeremy also took a part-time position with Stonewater, our home church, this past summer.

Our family has made some big decisions this past year, the most exciting of which was to begin the international adoption process in Bulgaria! Adoption is something our family has been praying about for quite some time.  In the next few weeks we will be on Bulgaria’s official waiting list for a child. We expect our wait to be a couple years, but we are so excited to be on this journey. Due to the wait time we have been given, it is very possible that our child has just been born and is only a few weeks old.

 As our family began to talk about Christmas and the gifts we would buy, we have decided to make a donation in honor of you. We are donating to Love’s Hope International, which is an organization that supports orphanages in Bulgaria. The gift will provide food, clothing, and education to orphans all across the country. This gift will very likely impact our child, who is waiting to come home.

We ask that you keep our family in your prayers as we go through this process and that our child will be able to come home soon!

Love,

Jeremy, Nacole, Austin, & Carson Morgan   

Our Journey to Tithing

I've been debating on whether or not to share this story...but after today's message at church I have decided to go ahead!

It was four years ago almost to the date that I finally convinced Jeremy to attend a financial class at our church. We still lived in Ponder and were attending Crosstimbers in Argyle. We signed up for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and it changed our lives forever. We signed up for FPU because we wanted to learn how to invest, save for college, and manage our finances in general. I was almost finished with college and about to have a career and we were ready to get in fit financial shape! I had been convicted of tithing for quite some time before we enrolled in FPU and that was definitely a driving force for me to get our finances in order... See, we weren't able to tithe because we wouldn't have been able to pay our bills because we were in debt. We didn't have much credit card debt but we did have car payments, student loan payments, and had more month at the end of the money EVERY month. I was sick of it...I was sick of not tithing...We needed help to know what to do. So we went to FPU class faithfully for 12 weeks and began the process that has lasted us just over 4 years. I won't go into specific detail about how we got out of debt but I want to share the story of how we began giving our "first fruits".

Since we couldn't financially give a full tithe due to our debt we decided to start with what we could give. I looked the other day and I believe the amount we started with was $30 a month. Jeremy and I vowed to give consistently until we had eliminated our debt and was tithing a full 10%. From the day we wrote that first check my hearts desire was to give more, to get to the full 10%. After a few months of consistent giving (from the heart not out of obligation) we re-evaluated our finances and decided we were able to give more. The preachers always say "give and you shall receive" and we know that statement to be true! The more we gave it seemed the more debt we were able to pay off. As of this January I'm SO blessed to say that we have reached our full tithe! We hope to be completely debt free (other than our mortgage) by March! We have been blessed beyond measure and we can take NO credit for any of it. It was all from God and when we realized that and started giving and making an effort to obey Him, He blessed us.

I would like to encourage those of you who think of tithing and feel like you'll never be able to do it. Have faith...you will get there! My advice is to start giving something today. Be consistent with your giving and work toward a debt free life making sacrifices that will seem so hard at times. It will pay off and before you know it, you'll be tithing and praising God for all the blessings!

One last look at 2011

Has it really been almost 3 months since my last blog? Wow... Well, I won't try to play catch up since my last blog in October because there isn't enough time to write about all that has been going on! Instead I'll highlight some of what 2011 brought to our family. 

Austin & Carson with Santa

December 2011

Family Picture

November 2011

2011 was really a great year for our family. I was able to go to Africa on a mission trip and meet some amazing people. The people in Zambia, Africa forever changed my life and I think about them daily. Austin turned 7 and Carson turned 2 (and will soon be 3) and are the best kids in the world! Austin is a great big brother and Carson adores his big brother so much. Jeremy has a job that he enjoys and started working in a different department (same company) back in March and that change was a huge blessing to him and our family. The new job allowed him to be more available for our family and less stressed! I was hired at Glen Rose Elementary as a Teacher's Assistant in October (which accounts for the lack of blog posts)! I decided to go back to work after staying home for a few years and couldn't be happier to be working in the same district where Austin goes to school. Our whole family is very involved in our church and have grown closer as a family as well as in our relationship with Christ last year. We are so fortunate to be surrounded with wonderful, godly friends! Our family is truly blessed!

Ice 2011 at the Gaylord Texan

Our family also had a great Christmas break. Jeremy and I were off work for two full weeks and we were able to go snow skiing in Durango, CO. Austin is officially a better skier than Jeremy and I! He can ski greens and blues very well, while I can sort of ski some easy blues! Carson enjoyed a few days with Nana and Papa while we were in Colorado. We had a nice quiet Christmas, just the four of us. We all went to the movies on Christmas Day and saw Tin-tin! We went to the Gaylord Texan and saw Ice. The boys both loved that. For New Years Eve, we went to some friends house for dinner and games. Poor Austin burned his finger roasting marmallows on the fire and didn't come inside to tell us because he was afraid we'd make him come in... It looks pretty bad today and I still don't know how he didn't cry (I know I would have). Tomorrow it's back to work for me and while I'm not ready to go back I had a wonderful Christmas break with the family and I'm so excited to see what 2012 holds for the Morgan household!

A lesson in patience and faith!

Back in August, the 16th to be exact, Glen Rose ISD posted an open position for an elementary teacher's assistant. I heard through the grapevine it was for a PE assistant, which would be right up my alley so I applied. I did all the "right" things after applying...making contact with the principal, and then following up after my interview. As the weeks went by, I assumed I hadn't got the position and re-focused my attention and efforts on studying for a certification exam. I even emailed my "prayer force" and told them I hadn't got the job... Then, two weeks ago on Friday October 23rd one of my references contacted me saying the principal from Glen Rose elementary had contacted them! And this morning at 10:35 I received a call from the HR department offering me the job. This has not been an easy 6 or 7 weeks for me. See I began the journey to becoming a classroom teacher and/or getting in the schools in any way possible 8 months ago. I did all the "right" things with every job I applied for and got no where with each application/open position. God seemed to be closing every door that opened so when the Glen Rose position came open I went into it expecting the same results. Little did I know what God had in store. :)

Cute story:
The day of my interview Austin told me he was going to pray for my "meeting" to go well before jumping out of the car for school. This is our conversation after school.
Me: Austin, did you pray for me today?
Austin: Yes mom, I did.
Me: What did you pray?
Austin: I asked God for you to do well and answer all the questions right. I also prayed that I'd see you when you came in the school.
Me: And, did you see me?
Austin: No, but it's okay because God doesn't always answer our prayers right away. And I didn't see you today, but maybe He'll answer my prayer by letting me see you everyday if you get the job!
I'd say Austin is wise beyond his years. :)

A few scriptures that I proclaimed throughout this test of faith and patience!
Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Psalm 37:7
No human wisdom or understanding or plan can stand against the Lord. Proverbs 21:30

Tomorrow begins a new and exciting journey!

Our little yellow belt!

Tonight was a BIG night for Mr. Austin! He tested for his yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do. We started Tae Kwon Do at the beginning of the summer to give Austin something different to try other than soccer and football in hopes that he would take a natural interest in it...and he did! This has been something that has been not only good for Austin, but for our entire family. We go every week as a family and this week Jeremy and I started taking the adult class as well. Carson has even made a friend (Eastman) and they meet up every Wednesday and Friday and play together and watch their big brothers get a workout! It's been great for Austin to get out of his comfort zone and go to a place where he doesn't know the other kids from school...a place he can build his confidence, health, and skills! The video below is a shorten clip of his test this evening. Jeremy and I could not be more proud of him

.


Before Austin tested this evening, he was very nervous and afraid he would fail. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to break the board... I asked him if he had prayed and told Jesus he was nervous and if he had asked him to help him do well on his test. He replied "Of course I have mom. I've also prayed for all of my friends; that they will do well even if I don't." His responses always amaze me! Our 7 year old prayed for the other students testing to pass even if he didn't...I sure don't know what God has in store for Austin, but I know it's BIG and I'm so thankful that God chose Jeremy and I to be his parents!

San Antonio 2011

This Labor Day weekend our family took a mini vacation to San Antonio to spend some time with our friend (family really) Jeff and take the boys to do some fun stuff. This was the first time that we have taken Carson with us on a family trip. As I say that I feel like I have to justify why we haven't taken him places yet...first of all, he's just now 2 and we have only really ever gone skiing and to Schlitterbahn...both of which he was much too small to enjoy until now! So anyway, back to the vacation. It was SO much fun. Jeremy and I had as much fun as the boys did. This blog will be full of pictures of everything we enjoyed!

This is all of us at the Riverwalk! Carson loved the "tourist" boats that came by every few minutes. Austin was busy looking for alligators while Carson would yell "there's a boat, there's a boat!".

After some yummy lunch at Casa Rio on the Riverwalk, we headed over to the Alamo. The boys both enjoyed seeing the old cannons!

Can't you just hear Carson saying CHEEEEESE?! 

Saturday we enjoyed the Riverwalk and Alamo and on our way back to Jeff's house we made a quick stop by KENS 5 so the boys could see where he works. Again...they had SO much fun. It was pretty quiet around the station so the producer let them both have the studio all to themselves! They got to sit where the news anchors sit and even give the weather report! 

The most handsome news anchors I've ever seen!

Austin is trying to figure out this reporting business!

This is Carson Morgan reporting live for news channel 5!

Enjoying every minute. :)

Checking it out!

The highlight of our Saturday was most definitely the stop by the news station. They boys were treated like super stars for sure and it was a blast watching them have fun. Sunday morning we all went to Sea World. We've all been to Sea World before but this was the first time Carson was big enough to really enjoy it and boy did he (and Austin too!). A few years ago we met one of the dolphin trainers in the show Azul. When Austin was an only child (back in 2008) he took Austin backstage after the show and let him feed the beluga whales. Well, on this trip to Sea World we all got to backstage again! We got to see the whales and dolphins, feed them and touch them! One of the baby beluga whales took a likin' to Carson and it was super cute! Thanks Chuck for treating our boys like super stars and taking them backstage. You're awesome!

Austin feeding Martha, the beluga whale!

This is "Atla" a baby beluga whale. She's swimming up to check out Carson.

See Atla looking at Carson?! He thought this was so cool. :)

This is our friend and dolphin trainer Chuck! Some of you might recognize him... Have you seen Spy Kids 4?! 

There were so many fun and wonderful memories created this weekend! Way too many to write about here... I cannot wait to take another family vacation with the boys. We all had so much fun! Thank you uncle Jeff for everything! We'll definitely be back soon. :)

A Mommy Brag Moment!

This blog is simply a moment for me to brag on my 7 year old, Austin! We are in our second week of school and I'm pleased to say Austin is doing great. He breezed right through last week and was SO, SO, SO excited yesterday when I picked him up. When he was waiting for me at cone #2 I could just tell he was excited about something. He was glowing. He literally jumped in the car and announced "I've made the Tiger Patrol"! Oh how we've talked about this day for TWO years! Ever since he started kindergarten he's talked about being a Tiger Patrol... Tiger Patrol is something that 2nd graders have the opportunity to participate in for good behavior. This is a position that you must earn by having good behavior and be selected for by the classroom teacher. Tiger Patrol students must arrive at school and be ready for duty by 7:30am every morning for a whole month. At the end of the month new students are selected based on behavior and teacher recommendations. Austin went to bed about 15 minutes early last night so he would be prepared to carry out his duty as the first grade hall monitor! He was up at 6:15am and asked if he could start getting ready for schools! I walked in with him so I could get a picture of him in his tiger patrol vest...which embarrassed him just a little. :) Jeremy and I just couldn't be prouder!

Austin's first day of Tiger Patrol duty!

Another accomplishment Austin has achieved is all 3 of his stripes on his white belt in Tae Kwon Do. Last Friday he earned his final stripe on his white belt and is now ready to test for his yellow belt! He'll be refining his skills and getting ready to test very soon. We are so proud of him and how well he is doing, but more than that we are proud of how hard he works as a student to do well in anything he does. I know God has an awesome plan for Austin and I am so thrilled to be a part of his life. :)

Way to go Austin!

We are so proud of you!

Nothing sweeter than a praying friend!

It was a year ago that I received a text message from a friend asking me how she could pray for me that day. I can remember receiving that text as if it were yesterday. I thought "really, did she just ask me that" and "maybe she sent this to the wrong person". I have to admit I thought it was a little strange and then wondered how in the world to respond. I had never had a friend ask me how they could pray for me before. Not and really mean it. Sure, I've had people say "I'll be praying for you" and I believe those people did pray for me but I had never had a friend seriously ask me how they could pray for me, for my struggles, for my life. Why was this so weird?

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them....This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

1 Timothy 2:1 & 3-4

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. 

Ephesians 6:18

I believe this seemed so strange to me because I wasn't praying like I was supposed to... I was praying for the things "I" wanted and the things that would make "ME" happy. My prayer sounded something like this "God, please fix all the problems in my life; make the difficult relationships easy; give me the best job; bless us with the things we desire; help us to make a lot of fun friends and so on..." Get the picture? After my friend texted me that day I looked to Scripture to see how the Bible tells us to pray and I found the verses above in 1 Timothy and in Ephesians. I also found the verses that told me how to pray (see below) and my prayer life over the last year has completely turned around. And a few days ago, I reciprocated to a few of my friends the offer to pray for them and for their needs. If you've never asked your friends how you can pray for them, I would encourage you to do that... It's truly a humbling experience to see what their needs are. Honestly, it made me much more grateful for the things and blessings I do have.

Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples. Jesus said, "This is how you should pray." "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. Give us each day the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don't let us yield to temptation." ...."And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And everyone who knocks, the door will be opened."

Luke 11:1-10

...Pray for those who hurt you.

Luke 6:28

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray...

James 5:13

There are many, MANY more verses on prayer found in Scripture, but these are a few of my favorites! I'm not saying I've mastered prayer (because I'm far from it) but my prayer has changed so much. Today I'm praying for my friends and their requests, for their kids that have gone off to college, for the house that is quiet without them there, for my friends who have moved and are longing for friendships, for my friends to grow closer to God, for those that need jobs, for those that are struggling with raising their children, and many more. It has made my needs seem much smaller in the grand scheme of things and I count it a true honor to pray for others! 

The stock outlook on teeth is turning around!

Well, Austin finally lost one of his front two teeth! It's been loose for a while now and finally fell out just after we met his new second grade teacher last night. Austin was discussing how much he thought his tooth would be worth when Jeremy interjected and said "teeth values are down, the stock market dropped over 400 points today"! Of course Austin didn't understand the joke as much as Jeremy and I did, but it was funny! 

Austin's last picture with his two front "baby" teeth!

Missing one front tooth!

I'm happy to say that the tooth-fairy must have expected the stock market to rise today because she was good to Austin. He got a whole $2 dollars for that front tooth. :) Since I'm blogging about Austin today, I want to brag on him for a second... He has grown about a foot tall this summer and is wearing a size FOUR shoe! Not only has he grown physically, but he's becoming a wonderful young man who loves God with his whole heart. He's matured so so much over the last few weeks and Jeremy and I are so excited to see how he grows this year in second grade. Austin, we love you!

How are you handling all this heat?

It's August 18 and we've had record high temperatures for over 50 days straight now. I think we are getting close to the second hottest summer EVER... I don't know about you but I'm SO ready for winter. Well, maybe I'm not ready for winter, but some cooler temperatures anyway! All this heat has gotten me thinking...

How are we really handling this heat? Spiritually speaking, how are you handling the heat and drought conditions?

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and

have made the Lord their hope and confidence.

They are like trees planted along a riverbank

with roots that reach deep into the water.

Such trees are not bothered by the heat

or worried by long months of drought.

Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit!

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Did you read the verses above? Wow... While all these days of over 100 temperatures are surely sucking energy from me, what kinds of heat and drought are really getting to you? For me, it's the months of unsuccessful job searching, difficult relationships, the battle of time, the difficulty of raising children, the frustration of SICK children... Thankfully as of 8:00am we have been throw-up free in our house for 17 full hours! Anyway, while the land we live in is currently experiencing a drought, our spiritual lives should not be. For me, these verses redirected me in where my trust, hope, and confidence should be. My prayer today is that I will put my full trust in the Lord and give him all of my problems so that I may not be bothered by the heat or worried by the drought, but continue to grow "green" in Him!

2nd grade here we come!

In the Morgan household, we are gearing up for the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year. We know who Austin's 2nd grade teacher will be, we have all of our school supplies bought and ready to go, and a deposit has been made into the lunch account! Sounds like we are pretty prepared, right? Well, actually...I haven't felt all that prepared. Austin is growing up too fast. It was just yesterday he was starting pre-k and overnight he's become a second grader. Each year as the school year begins, while Austin is excited about seeing friends and learning new things, I try to convince myself that school is a good thing! I'd much rather keep him at home, wrapped in a bubble so that I know he's safe. Can any of you relate to that?! I worry about how the "bad kids" will influence him or that there will be a bully in his class that is mean to him. I worry that he won't have the best teacher or that he will misbehave in class. I pretty much worry about every aspect of sending my child into the scary world out there...and yes, I think even elementary school is part of this big scary world!

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him. 

Psalm 127:3

Something I've learned over the last two years that has helped me this time is this: Austin is only on loan to Jeremy and I and while we are responsible for his needs here on Earth, he really belongs to God. Instead of trying to be in control of every potential situation, I pray in advance for Austin's teacher and every aspect of the school year. Rather than worrying about those "bad influences", I pray that Austin will be strong in his faith and will be a witness to his classmates and friends. Instead of worrying about him misbehaving, we try to teach Austin right from wrong and see school as a way to practice what he's learned.

I will put my trust in Him, that is, I and the children God has given me.

Hebrews 2:13

So in a sense, we are ready for the 2011-2012 school year to begin! We are going to enjoy the last week of sleeping in and not having homework, for next week will bring on both routines and homework and hopefully NOT parent-teacher conferences!! 

A Zambia Thank You!

Dear Family & Friends,
I am excited to write and share with you a little of what God did in Zambia this summer! First, I want to thank you so much for your faithfulness to the Father in giving unselfishly and for your prayers. It was a privilege to go to Zambia and I would not have been able to do so without your prayers and financial support. God is so faithful!


During our first week in Zambia, we taught discipleship essentials to 15 young adults. Our goal in teaching this group was to equip them with the tools they need, along with some encouragement, to begin leading small group bible studies and witnessing in the townships and bush. This group of men and women were amazing and through email we know that several small groups have been started since we left Zambia!


After the discipleship training was completed, together we all went to the bush to minister to the people there. We split up into groups and went door to door witnessing and inviting people to come see the Jesus film. Many people came to see the film that evening. There were so many men, women, and children that came that we could not count them all. That evening, about 50 people accepted Christ as their personal savior!

The next week we taught a new believers class at the Chande Orphanage. We had about 60 children, from grades 7-9, that participated in the new believer’s class. We taught some basic principles every new Christian should know and how to build their relationship with Christ. While we were teaching these classes, many children became curious why we were there and that opened the door for us to share the gospel with them. Just from interacting with the children at the orphanage, 15 children accepted Christ that week! On our last day in Zambia, we had the privilege of baptizing 42 precious children!! Because of the generous donations our team members received, we were able to take 100 Bibles to the children there. Their faces lit up when they each saw their names written in the Bibles!


While we were only in Zambia for 10 days, I experienced some wonderful things and saw many things that broke my heart. I met some of the most amazing people! The term “brothers and sisters in Christ” means so much more to me than it ever has before. The people of Zambia are so hungry for Christ. Pictures of the poverty these people experience do not do justice. Above all the poverty they face, they put their full faith in Jesus Christ. The people there are very relational and always have the time to stop and talk, something we are not so great at here in America. They don’t have all the distractions we seem to have here in the U.S. Since I returned home, our family has been trying to simplify our life so that we will have the time to stop and enjoy each other and our friendships more!


There are so many stories and things I’d like to share but there isn’t enough space in this letter! I will blog about experiences and put up pictures over the next few months and I’d love for you to check it out. My blog site is http://www.nacolemorgan.blogspot.com/

Again, I want to thank you for serving with me in Zambia! It was such a privilege and an honor to see first hand all of the amazing things God is doing in Kitwe, Zambia. To see a video with many pictures of our trip go to www.youtube.com and search jnacmorgan. There you will see the Zambia 2011 video!


For the Kingdom,

Nacole Morgan
nacolemorgan@gmail.com

Zambia 2011: Part 1 of ??

It's July 4, 2011 and I'm just now attempting my first blog about Zambia. As I sat down to begin blogging I felt bad that once again I've been a terrible blogger...but really I haven't blogged because I'm still processing everything about the mission! I've still got so much to do and so many thank you's to write to all of those who graciously gave in support of our mission in sharing God's word with the people of Africa. But, many of you have been waiting to hear how things went so here's a small preview!

When leaving the good ole USA I had no idea what to expect as I arrived in Africa! I wondered how much I'd miss Jeremy and the boys, how I'd like the food, where I would sleep, if I would make friends in Zambia, and so much more... I received answers to many of those questions and more! I missed my family something awful, was able to try some new foods, and met some of the most amazing people who I will never forget and will always call friend. During our mission, we taught a discipleship class, new believers class, as well as witnessed in the bush and local townships. To say our mission was a success would be an understatement! Our mission was amazing, fruitful, fulfilling, unforgettable...get the idea?! While these numbers are not exact, here is a good estimate of what we came up with: Around 50 salvations while witnessing at the orphanage, bush, and in the townships and 42 baptisms that took place at the orphanage the day before we left to come home! Most of the baptisms were the children who were in our new believers class we taught at the Chande (orphanage) and had been previously saved at Holiday Bible school in April 2011. However, there were mulitple children that accepted Christ while we were there! While we were playing football (soccer) and/or just being at Chande we got to know many of the students there and through that were able to share Christ with them! Not only did God prepare the ground we walked on and the hearts of the people there, but I learned a lot too. I honestly believe the people in Zambia taught me more than I could have possibly taught them. I love and miss them all so very much and look forward to seeing them again!

This was our witnessing team from the bush.

From left to right: Amber, Evan, Ruth, Nacole, Timothy, Vincent, & Chris P.

This was our new believers class that Chris W and I taught.

This is Sophy! I just love her and had the privilege of assisting in her baptism! I promised her that I would pray for her every day that she will do well in school. She is a strong young lady and I know God has great plans for her!

This is Joyce (left) and Dorthy (right)! This sweet young lady accepted Christ, with her mother by her side, as the baptims were beginning on Thursday morning! What a precious day for this beautiful family.

I have so many stories and things I can't wait to share, but there is so much that I can't get it all in one blog! 

Only 9 days left!!

What a terrible blogger I am. I mean really...I keep saying I'm going to blog at least once a week and then it ends up being over a month in between posts. So, where have I been and what's been going? Over the last few months, my life has been nothing but busyness! I've been preparing with the team to go to Zambia and all of the details that entails as well as working on my alternative teaching certification stuff. Combine those two things with my growing boys and this house is full of things we have to do!

So, our team leaves in only 9 days to head to Zambia, Africa to disciple and witness to others! I'm excited to be going with a wonderful group of people who love the Lord so much. I ask for your prayers during the next 9 days and for the two weeks that we will be gone. I'm having a lot of emotions with the departure date nearing so quickly and I'm quite sure that is normal. Even so, I would love your prayers for peace, strength, and unity among our team. I know for me, as I am trying to prepare and am dealing with all of these emotions I have become very sensitive and Satan is definitely using that for his advantage right now... Other things we'd love for you to pray for is our health before, during, and after the trip, and for safe travels there and back. Please pray that the hearts of the people we will encounter will be ready to hear the Word and that God would use us in such a way that only He will receive the glory! I won't have much internet access while in Zambia, so I'm not expecting to post a blog, but you never know...keep an eye out! If I'm not able to, I plan to journal and blog along the way and will post them when I get back to Texas. Below is a picture of our team...a great looking bunch of folks if I do say so myself!

Back row left to right: Chris Williams, Chris Payne, Joel Tischauser, Jeff Collie, & Chuck Schreiber

Middle: Evan Schreiber

Front row left to right: Chisty Collie, Julie Schreiber, Shelby Tischauser, Nacole Morgan, & Amber Higgins

What else?? Well, tomorrow is the last day I'll have a first grader! As of tomorrow afternoon I'll have a second grader...that is insane! He was just a baby yesterday! Jeremy and I are so proud of all of his accomplishments this year. Austin had exceptional grades all year, and is reading way above his grade level. I love that he reads well and enjoys it! He is his momma's boy! Carson is growing like a weed too! He's always happy and smiling and has such a fun personality!



My cup runneth over!

This Easter was one of the best Easter's I've ever had. As I've been reflecting over the many things that happened over the week leading up to Easter it would have been so easy for this Easter to have been the worst... Last week was a difficult week for me in so many ways. I had my heart broken by someone I love very much. Hurtful, untrue words were spoken that pierced me to the core...I was hurt, broken, and sad. So, how was this the best Easter ever? Oh wow, Good Friday was filled with an intense time of Bible study through Secret Church by David Platt! If you've not experienced that you MUST go check it out. It's available free on the Internet. Anyway, from 6pm to past midnight we studied God's word over the crucifixion, salvation, and the Resurrection. It. Was. Awesome. Then, Saturday we spent the day as a family and headed to church and an Easter egg hunt in Granbury! Amazing worship! Wonderful message! Sunday was filled with family, friends, thankfulness for the cross, and of course food. :) So, you're probably still wondering how it was the BEST Easter if my heart was hurting so bad, right? Well, only through the power of Christ's love and comforting arms was it possible. As I was talking to a friend about my pain, she put a wonderful perspective on what I was going through. She said, look to the cross during this time and see the pain that Jesus went through so that I may have healing from the earthly pain. THE CROSS! Yes! I decided at that moment to give my pain to Jesus, and He graciously took it and that is why this Easter was the best Easter ever. It should have been obvious to me to give my hurts to Jesus, but in the midst of the pain I needed  to be reminded that nothing is too big for God! Instead of dwelling on the pain, I choose to let thankfulness overtake my heart! Thankfulness for my Savior, the cross, my husband, my beautiful boys, health, amazing friends, church, and the list could go on and on!

Funny Easter egg story!

On Sunday afternoon, we had a small Easter egg hunt here at our house with the boys. Saturday evening, we had colored eggs and both Austin and Carson had so much fun. Well, we hid about 20 or so "real eggs" and 40 plastic eggs. Hunting eggs were Austin, Carson, and our good friend's son Christian. Carson and Austin would not pick up the "real eggs"! It was the funniest thing I've ever seen, especially with Carson. He'd pick it up thinking he found an egg and when he realized it was real (and not filled with candy), he'd put it back where he found it!! Something I'll remember forever. :)



Zambia Update

Our mission trip to Zambia is getting closer and closer and the excitement is building! The last time I blogged, we had estimated we needed around $10,000 as a team. Well, our God is SO good. Our leaders took another look at the budget and we were able to reduce our costs by a few hundred dollars each and as of now, we only need just under $3,000! How awesome is that?! We have a garage sale on May 7th, and are working Sonic in Granbury on May 14th in hopes that we will raise enough money to complete our trip! God's provisions for this mission has been amazing!

New Dinosaur tracts found in Glen Rose!

A few weeks ago, Austin and his class were able to take a short field trip to see the new dinosaur tracks in Glen Rose and to help with the dig. He was excited to see the tracks but not thrilled that mom had to get a picture of him...can you tell?!

"Mom, can you hurry so I can dig?"

Digging for fossils with his friend Parker.

Austin and a few of his friends smiling with Mrs. Morris!

One of the newly discovered tracks!

Austin had a lot of fun seeing the tracks, digging for fossils, and learning a little more about archeology! I had a lot of fun watching all the kids and hearing about their plans for the dig. We are all excited to see how many tracks they end up finding. 

Zambia update and some recent pictures!

So much has happened since my last post in February. I had really good intentions of updating my blog every week and well, I guess a weekly post may have been too ambitious! So, I'll update you on how the Zambia fundraiser went back in March and where we are at in preparing for our trip.

Zambia Fun Ride

A video of some of the bikes as they started the fun ride!

The winner!

The proudest grandpa there!

What a cool hat!

 

Saturday March 19th our mission team, along with some amazing volunteers showed up with great anticipation and waited on all the motorcycles to start coming in and registering for our fun ride (also known as a poker run). We ended up having 50 or so bikes and 80 riders! We also had a few vendors outside for some shopping and eating throughout the day. We ended the event with a live biker band concert for everyone and a small intimate time of worship for our team led by a couple on our team. The music was amazing in every way! In fact, everything about Saturday March 19th was amazing. God provided in so many ways that day. We all made some new friends and connections and enjoyed getting to know some of the bikers a little better. Everyone who came out to support our team was generous in their giving. A neat story about God's provision from that day that I'll never forget: We had some unexpected overhead for a few things that we hadn't budgeted for that came out to $600. A member of Stonewater heard about that overhead and wrote a check for the exact amount! So, all the funds we raised from the fun ride was able to go directly to the mission trip! How awesome is that?!

What's going on now?

We are still meeting every Monday as a team to pray, prepare for the curriculum we will be teaching, and fellowship. We only have 9 Monday's left to meet together and prepare! I know it will fly by so fast. We are also working on a few other ideas for another fundraiser to finish helping us raise the money we still need. We have a few fun ideas and I can't wait to share them with you when we have all of the details sorted out! Personally, I'm very close to having my trip funds completed and that is because of the many family and friends who have supported me on this journey. I never imagined that I would have such a wonderful response in the giving that I have received. I am truly grateful to each one of you who have not only given finanically but through your many prayers. While I am in good shape financially, there are others in our group who still have a long ways to go. I am confident that God will provide in His time. If any of you reading this would like to donate to the others on our team who still have a long way to go please email me at nacolemorgan@gmail.com.