Setting the Stage

Fall has come and our ministries at Cornerstone are beginning a new round.  Some things that we are involved in include:

Jonerik
-leading a teen worship team at God Squad (teens) and is a leader there
-teaching through the book of James at our Tues. night Adult Bible Study, which is really growing!
-teaching about the Worship of God at Wed. night Adult Bible Study (new)
-leading the worship team for Sunday mornings (practice on Sat.)
-preaching from time to time - including this Sunday
-one on one mentoring/teaching
-other things could be added

Emily
-teaching a new women's sunday school class from the book "Practical Theology for Women"
-helping with a women's Bible study on Wed. mornings going through Ruth
-volunteering at Kid's Club (new)
-singing on the worship team for Sunday mornings

We both do the Food Cupboard together.

This is not a list of things that we are doing that need praise, but I write these things because we could really use your prayers and this will give you specific ways to pray.  We are praying to be refreshed in our work for God.  Through discouraging circumstances and a desire to see genuine change in places where it seems dry...we are praying for God's eyes to see His heart for our church and our neighborhood.

I believe God is setting the stage to do amazing things little by little...we are waiting in the moment, serving in faith that God's word will not return to Him void.

"As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."   - Is 55:10-11

We are going away for our one year anniversary (praise God!) at the end of next week. We are seeking Him for direction and wisdom in our lives.  We have taken this first year to really focus on our marriage and use that time to build our relationship.  This meant stepping away from extra responsibility, saying no to opportunities that came up, and for me (Emily) this meant being intentional about not signing up for every need that came along.  God has been gracious to provide this time for us to learn more about Him, ourselves, and each other.

What does that mean for year two?  Good question....

Farming it up!

We have some dear friends who own a farm, they are a family that has invested a lot in Jonerik since he was a teen.  They were having an open house/farm on Saturday and had the opportunity to help them for the day!  Needless to say we worked hard but had a lot of fun.  It was an educational day so we put up posters with information about cows, goats, and other animals.  There may be more pictures to come but here are a few:

We are encouraged by this family's practical faith and their love for each other and for other people.  Getting out of the city for a day was nice and it was a perfect day to sit outside on a lawn chair and drink chocolate milk!

Some highlights of the day:
-Jonerik got to lay some gravel with a skid loader
-Emily got to mow a maze in a grassy field for the kids
-Emily took the reins for a horse-drawn hay ride - with the expert next to her and ready =)
-We got to spend time with a godly family who is able to encourage us in our ministry and walk with Jesus!

Same God...very different way of life.  We like diversity.

Where does the time go...

So much has been going on that I'm not sure where to begin.  Some things that didn't make it to the blog for various reasons - I got to attend the Women of Faith Conference in September this year with a group from our church.  We were really encouraged and blessed by this event and I was challenged in new ways to expand my view of God.  It is encouraging to see so many women gathered in Philly to praise the name of God!

Limaris was in the hospital for another round of chemo (hence the lack of posting) and Jonerik and I had the kids again.  This was hopefully her next to last treatment!  We love having the kids but this time around was more of a push for us.  There was only one pictures that I captured and this pretty much says it all!" --

Before the kids came we went on a church camping retreat!  This was our first chance to use our tent and we enjoyed getting a weekend of nature in.  It was a great weekend of worship, hanging out, and playing sports.  We canoed, played ultimate frisbee, soccer, softball (Jonerik), and others.  

I was offered a part time job as a substitute teacher's aide at a local Christian school.  It is obviously not something that is a regular income, but it could open doors for things in the future and God might be using that to teach me lessons in life now.  I'm still praying about my schedule and what God has for me now that the kids are in school.  We have two of the kids before and after school so it's important to find things that can accommodate that.  

Also we have a Women's Bible Study on Wednesday morning that I am helping to lead.  We are going through Ruth and it is starting off with a lot of great momentum!  We had 13 women this morning and I am excited about where God is taking us.

Tuesday night we had a Praise and Worship Night at church while Bible Study is still on break.  We had a great turn out and it was a time where we cried out to God for our neighborhood, church, and country.  We desire to be a church of prayer and this was a refreshing time to seek Him and to praise Him for all the things He is doing in our church.  This comes in a timely manner as there were two shootings on our street within the past few weeks and drug corners are appearing more frequently in our area.  There is also a brand new casino opening at the end of Frankford Ave tomorrow which will bring a lot of negative affects with it.  Pray with us for our neighborhood and for the kingdom of God to advance.

That is a short update on how our lives are going.  There is always more to it, but to sum up the past few weeks I would say God is teaching us how to trust Him.  He is teaching us that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.  This has been so true in our lives.

Birthday Fun and Staff Retreat

This past weekend was my (Emily) birthday!  Jonerik and I took Mary and Bub and my mom to Ocean City NJ on Friday!  We had a blast.

Saturday night we had some friends from Philly come over for some dessert and games.  Jonerik made me a delicious ice cream cake.

Shera made me some delicious-looking cupcakes and some other friends made a bobble-head of...yes that's right...of myself.

I feel blessed to have another year and reflecting back I am grateful for all that God has given me this year. 

Monday through Wednesday was spent at Sandy Cove for a church staff retreat.  It was an enjoyable few days spending time with the other staff and their kids.  We had some good meetings and some great worship and prayer.  Please be in prayer for our staff as we work together for one mission: 

"Bringing hope to our community through Christ and his church."

How God is moving!

We went to some appointments with Limaris last Thursday. She was scheduled to have some tests done and to meet with a surgeon to discuss the possibility of them going in and removing the remaining cancerous tissue from around her heart.

Praise the Lord, after 5 rounds of chemotherapy she has been told that the tumor has shrunk from approx. 6.7 cm to almost nothing!  The cells are still there but the surgeon’s are not able to operate because it is so tiny!!  We are rejoicing in this blessing and giving all the glory to the true Healer.  She may have another round of chemo to go.  Please keep her in your prayers as we have hope but the battle continues.

Our first meal in the new apartment!

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We are seeing God’s hand of love and grace in the life of Jonerik’s sister, Ruby!  About 2 months ago she started going to church and she accepted Jesus as her one and only Savior!  She is the mother of Lymarys and Carlos who are with us during the day while she works.  God is providing for her in new and amazing ways and she said that she is seeing things more clearly now.  One of the other pastors from Cornerstone Community has an apartment that he rents out to people. Ruby was looking to move and was able to move into the apartment about a week ago. It is a safe place for her and she has loving, Christian people that share things with her from their garden and share life with her. After her first night there she said, "I think that was the first time I have really slept in a month!!" Ruby also works with a Christian woman who has become a new friend. She is making a lot of hard, but right choices and is wanting to learn more about living a life pleasing to God.  

Please be in prayer for her as she is getting a fresh start.

What a gift!

This past week, a woman from our church gave a generous gift of using her time share in the Poconos!  We went up to the house for two days by ourselves for some much needed time away together.  It was nice to be out in nature and enjoy the quiet of the outdoors.  We did some hiking and swimming and simply relaxing.

On Tuesday Emily's mom, Limaris, and the five nieces and nephews joined us!!

We stayed until Friday and had a blast.  We went swimming every day.  They had an indoor pool that was perfect for the little ones and an outdoor pool that the bigger kids loved.  We had a BBQ and even played another family in a game of volleyball.  I was blessed by the kids and their singing.  Gigi, who is 3, doesn't do anything quietly and so when she sings she belts it out.  We were sitting by the pool while they were swimming and she starts with, "He can move the mountains, my God is mighty to save, He is mighty to save!!!!" (one of her favorites)

Another fun thing that was a surprise to us was that the house had a jacuzzi tub!  The kids enjoyed taking a "hot tub bath" when they came back from the swimming pools.  They were lovin' it!!!

Limaris wasn't sure she wanted to come this week.  She hadn't been feeling well, but it worked out and she really enjoyed herself.  This was a great time for the kids to get out of the city and for us to have some family time together without all the extra drama.  Jonerik's other sister was working so we missed having her there, but we are happy that she is doing well at her job.

We were so grateful for such a generous gift from God and from this individual because it was perfect timing.  

We are back in the city now and I was again reminded of how needy our community is.  I am moved at the spiritual darkness around us.  Trash covering the streets, graffiti all over the place, drug corners peppered all over the neighborhood, and children roaming the streets.  But God is moving and is making himself evident in our family's lives and we are praying that He will continue to move mountains.

In my last post I updated you with the news that we were going to have four of the five nieces and nephews for about a week.  I thought I would give you a glimpse of the fun things we got to do.  

In the Fairmount Park area there is a playground called the Smith Playground.  It is for children under the age of 10 and it is free!  They have a large wooden slide and lots of cool things to ride and climb on.

On Thursday, Jonerik and I had our monthly food give-away to do at Cornerstone.  The kids were a big help in getting ready, giving out the food, and cleaning up.  We had about 30 people come to pick up bags of food.  One woman came in and kept saying with a desperate face: "Thank you so so much! This could not have come at a better time"

The kids loved helping people sign in, get bags of food, and they thanked them for coming on the way out.  They did an excellent job except for when Gigi whispered to me (rather loudly) "I can smell him from over here!"  ...teachable moments.

That night we wanted to reward the kids with something special so we decided to make our own individual pan pizzas!!  Everyone rolled their own dough and topped it themselves.  As one kid was rolling the dough, he asked in wonder..."this is the pizza crust?!?"

Limaris is now out of the hospital after her 5th round of chemo.  She has an appointment on the 30th to talk to the doctors about the possibility of surgery to remove the cancer from around her heart.  Please be in prayer for the doctors to have wisdom in know what steps they should take.

For more adorable pictures of our week go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/Emily.Santiago109/TheKidsJuly2010#