Two Hours to Heaven

I just received a message from the mom (Erica McClure) and my friend from Charlotte, MI who lost her 5 month old baby boy Braden. She had shared her story and the song I posted earlier with me when we were there for a meeting a few weeks ago. This was her message:


I just wanted to thank you again for what you did for us with this song. What a TREMENDOUS blessing...we have had SOOOO many responses....both from youtube and facebook. I am now getting copies all over the country for people. God is really using it for His glory. Thank you for opening another door of ministry to us. Love you so much!!!


Then I received a message from a friend of hers who referred me to her blog: 


http://www.curtismast.blogspot.com/


I read her story, tears running down my face, then read an article that sums it up. I encourage you to read it, and then - if you have time - read Lisa's full story on her blog (start back with Chapter 1)...


Here is the snyopsis:

Two Hours to heaven…

Every time Lisa kissed Curtis, he sighed gently.

Sometimes the most perfect kisses can happen on the worst day of your life. That first kiss came just two hours to heaven.

And with every kiss the clock ticked down. And with each tick his breath grew weaker. Lisa didn’t know how long Curtis would live so she just kept kissing him. With every kiss heaven drew nearer.

Joey Mast and his future wife, Lisa Perez, at his college graduation...

On the outside he looked absolutely perfect to Lisa and her husband Joey Mast… just tiny at only 2&1/2 pounds. But on the inside his organs had never developed. Even before he was born the doctors knew they could do nothing to save his life. They didn’t know how long he would live or even if he would make it to birth. He did.

He was born and died on April 4, 2007… the worst day of Joey and Lisa Mast’s lives.

Joey and Lisa met at college in the mid 1990s. They dated and two years out of school they married. Three years later J.J.

was born. Life was good. Kayla was born two years after Joey and life got even better. There aren’t words to describe the joy a child brings. When a child is taken away no words can make sense of the pain. So deep it never really heals. Ask anyone who has buried a child. Time passes. Distance softens the edge. But your soul never heals.

The Mast's from left to right: Kayla, Lisa, Joshua, Joey Jr. and J.J.

Lisa told me she and Joey have a great spiritual life. Following Curtis’ death, she felt God in a very intimate way. And despite that tender comfort it didn’t take away the sadness.

A year later Lisa gave birth to Joshua… a child who returned a big piece of what was lost. A child who reminds Joey and Lisa every day of the miracle that every life is.

Sometimes we all forget. Life is the greatest gift anyone receives. Even a life that enters this world at 2 AM and leaves it at 4 AM.

I called this post “Two Hours to Heaven.” And it’s true that Curtis Mast was born just two hours before he went to heaven. But I want to suggest to you that this article could just have easily been called “Two Hours In Heaven.” If you have children you know why. An infant in your arms gently sighing with each kiss must be something like heaven. No question it was the saddest moment Lisa and Joey Mast will likely ever suffer. But it might be the closest any mother or father will come to heaven on earth, no matter the depth of pain.

Curtis mast lived on earth for only two hours. For those two hours he experienced the unconditional love of his mother and father. And in those two hours he changed his parent’s lives forever.

MR

PLEASE NOTE! The Mast’s started a website to help other grieving parents: www.curtismast.blogspot.com.

Thank you for reading and we pray that the LORD be glorified through all of this!

Love,

Suz

Hug Him Once For Me

Worked on this for awhile, and just figured out how to "share" it with everyone...hopefully it can be a blessing to someone you know...

if only we all had this much love...

a friend of ours sent us these messages about her 4 year old son...


"So, tonight we were praying w/ the boys before bed and Colin started praying...."pray for 'Joshlyn' and I miss her..." Aaaand then he started bawling!! I said "what is wrong?" Colin "I miss her". Me "I'm glad she's your new friend" Colin "But now she's gone!" So precious and sad and funny!!! Hope all is well w/ you guys!!"


and then the next day...


"Hey, Still driving? Well, Colin had to be moved to my bed so that he would stop crying...fell asleep w/ your prayer card in his hand. When he woke up this morning he asked to call you guys. I said that I didn't have your number and he said..."yes you do,,,it's right here" he pointed to the back of your prayer card! haha...so..I told him we'd call today this afternoon. Have a great day!"

Picture

This was the book Evangeline decided to pick and read.



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Last missions conference of 2010

We just finished up our last missions conference for the year in Theodore, AL. It has been an incredibly full and fun autumn! We have single meetings until January and are trying to fill up our spring.

Our plans are that we leave in April for San Jose, Costa Rica for 9 months-a year. We will be studying Spanish there and immersive ourselves in the culture. We also hope to be part of a ministry there-to learn how Hispanic churches are run.

The LORD has provided 63% of our support during these 14 months we have been on deputation. It is thrilling and we can't wait to see how He will bring the rest in. We have several churches who have promised more support...so prayerfully it will come in the next few months.

Thank you again for your prayers and friendship! We would love to hear from you:)

Here is our latest family picture...


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The Land of Uz

Read this this morning...

Step into the time tunnel with me, and let's travel together back to Uz (not the wizard of, but the land of). Wherever it was, Uz had a citizen who was respected by everyone. Why? Because he was blameless, upright, God-fearing, and clean living. He had ten children, thousands of head of livestock, acres and acres of land, a great many servants, and a substantial stack of cash. No one would deny that he was "the greatest of all the men of the East." His name was Job, a synonym for integrity and godliness.

Yet, within a matter of hours, adversity fell upon this fine man like an avalanche of jagged rocks. He lost his livestock, his crops, his land, his servants, and all ten children. Soon thereafter he also lost his health.

The book that bears his name records an entry he made into his journal soon after the rocks stopped falling: "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).

Following this incredible statement, God adds: "Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God" (1:22).

The logical questions are, Why didn't he? What kept him from bitterness or even thoughts of suicide?

At the risk of oversimplifying the situation, I suggest three basic answers that I have discovered from searching through this book.

First, Job claimed God's loving sovereignty. He believed that the Lord who gave had every right to take away (Job 1:21; 2:10). Job looked up, claiming his Lord's right to rule over his life.

Second, he counted on God's promise of resurrection. "Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God" (Job 19:26). Job looked ahead, counting on his Lord's promise to make all things bright and beautiful in the life beyond.

Third, he confessed his own lack of understanding. What a relief this brings! He didn't feel obligated to explain why (Job 42:2-4). Job looked within, confessing his inability to put it all together.

He rested his adversity with God, not feeling forced to answer why.

When we're looking in all the right directions, we won't take the wrong turn.

And here is a picture of out girls:)


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Drivin...

We are on our way from Azusa, CA to Morgan Hill, CA...doing our very most favorite thing (cough, cough) - driving!:)

Here are some pictures and we'll update when we have something more exciting to say:)












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be still and know that I AM GOD

thank you


The love and support we have received during the last few days has truly touched our hearts.  We appreciate your prayers and thank you for reflecting Christ and loving on us! 

“Peace be still.”

We were going to have a baby, but we had an angel instead. 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways

In our last prayer update, we had shared that Susan was almost four months pregnant. 
As we know in life, sometimes our plans do not match the LORD’s plans, and we don’t always understand. August 23 was one of those days as Susan went in for a checkup.  
They found the baby had gone into Jesus’ arms a day or two earlier.  


We - as do all parents - wished to be able to hold our baby and tell him about Jesus. However, now, Jesus will be the One holding our baby - telling him about us. 

“So are my ways higher than your ways, 

and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Shiloh Eli

We named our baby Shiloh, “GOD’s gift.”  Shiloh was the place where Hannah took her baby...

and gave him to the LORD. GOD never moves without purpose or plan when trying His servant and molding a plan. 

Give thanks to the LORD, though your testing seems long. In darkness, He giveth a song!

AAAHH!!! Where do I start!!!??

We are very very wretchedly sorry about being such terrible bloggers. We have had lots happen...but just too incredibly busy to write about it! Sorry :( Don't hate us....just think...."Well, it is nice that they have picked it back up!" ;)


So....what's new? Well, Nic is currently on his way to Chattanooga, TN to attend the church-planting seminar for the second year candidates. That will be until the end of the week...from there he has a meeting in TN, then Iowa (I don't know the abbrev. for that:) )...then to CO.  The LORD has been moving mountains and has provided 52% of our support! 


The girls and I were supposed to be traveling with him...however, we are sort of....ummm....expecting another baby (I think we're due Feb 23, but haven't had a chance to see a dr. yet)......and with each new baby, comes days and weeks and months of....shall we say.....visiting the nearest available bathroom!! 


And as he was packing everything to take off for this next leg of our trips, I was having a hard time staying AWAY from those lovely bathrooms. Therefore, with all the love and graciousness of an amazing husband, Nic said that it was ok. I didn't need to drive those hours upon hours to get to those meetings. He will drive our van all the way across the country, and the girls and I will meet him at the meeting.  How incredible is he!? :) So, we girls have camped out with my sister (who has been a wonderful help in preparing meals and helping with the girls) for a few more days.


On a different note, we just finished our Smith family vacation (which I need to pause and say - I truly have the most awesome family in the world!) on Saturday. 

Here is a picture of our amazing family :)



Which was the perfect day to finish because it pretty much has not stopped raining since then.  During our family vacation, Jocelyn learned to jump off the diving board by HERSELF! She also had her 4th birthday party - oh my word!!!!! Evangeline learned to count from 1-10 alone (Jocelyn taught her:) ) and, I do believe, is potty-trained! :) Although, she tends to enjoy the method that the dogs use - and go outside. So, we are constantly hollering at her to pull her clothes up while she's playing outside....

My brother, Miah, and his wife, Sonja, got a puppy husky - 3 months old. super cute - his name's Diesel. and for some reason or other, I got selected to babysit him today. along with my two children, barfing stomach, developing baby, and Tucker (my sister's 7 month old Maltese puppy...for half the time).....lovely. ;) I was in the middle of making the girls lunch when I heard scratching. Diesel had jumped up on the screen sliding door (which he KNOWS he's not allowed to do), so I opened it to smack his nose. which then turns into him jumping backwards, knocking over the two almost finished pitchers of sun tea.....which HAPPEN to be sitting in front of Joc - who then falls backwards onto the cement patio...followed by those two large gallon pitchers of tea....So now we have one yelping puppy, two empty pitchers of nothing, Joc sobbing about the whole ordeal, and Eve crying over WHO KNOWS WHAT!!?? she wasn't even involved!!! goodness gracious!

So then the phone rings. and Nic is on the other end. I answer it because I haven't had a chance to talk to him.  He hears Eve hollering and I kinda rushedly explain what is going on. He asks to speak with Eve. She kind of sobs some sort of story into the phone, then hands the phone to Joc.  Meanwhile, I am still chasing the floating tea bags around the patio, try to calm Eve down, and here Joc telling Nic her version of the story, then say, "yeah, and then we were freaking out!" :) 

hahahaha.

Thanks for keeping in touch and for reading. Hope you all have a fabulous rest of your summer:)


Suz

How have I been blessed...

let me count the ways...

BLESSING #34457702 :)
We just finished a conference at Loudonville Baptist Temple in Loudonville OH. While we were there....well let me back up a bit. ....before we left MI, we went to an ear nose throat specialist because Eve was having so much trouble with her ears. There was constant fluid buildup, she wasn't speaking very well still, and had failed a hearing test.

So...the ENT said that she needs tubes, and we scheduled surgery for April 6. Which would cost from $300 + hospital charges. AND even though it only takes 15 min., she needed to be put under (which terrified me).

BLESSING #34457703 :)
So right before we left, we were packing and getting ready, and my parents mentioned to us that possibly a chiropractor could help!

And so, while we were driving down to OH, I wrote our home chiropractor (which we had been seeing until we lost our insurance in Jan), and he said to find a local chiro. Then after church that night, I asked Chris (the pastor's wife) if she recommended anyone. She said she knew the PERFECT person and would set it all up!!

BLESSING #34457704
The next day, she and Dr. Tontoh Simpson worked out a time (on his day off) to adjust Eve. I took the girls to the appt (Nic was at a meeting in the afternoon), and Dr. Simpson not only adjusted Eve, but he then went on to test her for allergies.

BLESSING #34457705 :)
Although this might not sound like a blessing, the chance of knowing how to fix the issue is peace to my soul. He told us the Evangeline has allergies to dairy and gluten. (which, honestly, yeah I freaked out at first-"oh my word! That's everything!!")

BLESSING #34457706 :)
The entire visit-from start to finish-was completely free! And I'm sure he charges quite a bit-it is a very nice facility! And he and his wife Heather were incredibly encouraging! He told us how to adjust her diet and what to watch for, etc. Then I got a bunch more information from other friends as well! AND Evangeline has been talking up a storm-much more clearly than before!!!

So from the background, even though I cannot always see or understand the ways that GOD works, He has-yet once again-proven Himself totally and completely FAITHFUL!!!!

Now here are some "excerpts" from our lives......:)

*I was (quite awhile back) talking to a dear, sweet, older lady-who was just letting us know how much they appreciated us visiting....yet all the while-accidentally spitting in my coffee cup:)

*Everytime Joc sees any sort of blue or white flag, she says-"Look mom-Salv'door flag!":)

*We were getting the girls ready for church-washing them, yet we couldn't seem to find a plug for the tub. So Jocelyn pipes up, "I can be a big helper-I'll be the plug!"

*We were rushing to be on time (bit early) for a meeting...surprise surprise!:)...and while we were driving around a corner, beside a huge cliff and river, I look outside to see my purse-flying on the side mirror!!:) hahaha! So the next time we are getting ready to leave, Jocelyn (ever so sweetly;) ) reminds me, "Now mom don't put your purse on the mirror".

*We were eating pizza at a church (before we had found out that Eve was allergic to gluten), and when she saw the boxes, she hollered, "pizzaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

*Listening to songs from bible verses, Joc asked, "Why it's quench not the spirit?"

*Eve was making "Sssssssssssss" noises from the back, and Jocelyn hollers "but mom! I don't like snakes!":)

*Then the last...it's very hilly here in OH, and Jocelyn informed Nic today that the "hills hurt the body"

:)




Have a wonderful day!

Suz


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Get back on the stool

So.....I would love to glean from the wisdom of any and all parents....WHY is it so difficult for children to remember what you taught them? Why do they require gallons of re-training? Why is it so much easier for them to learn wrong instead of rubbing off the good they know!? (granted-our kids are NOT perfect! We do work continually with them in the process of "training them up"!:) ). YET in a matter of moments, things that we spent hours practicing or "remembering," IT ALL UNRAVELS.......

sigh. Although I do remember my mother teaching me this when I was younger. She had me stand on a stool, then said "Ok Susan, pull me up." And believe me, I TRIED!

Then she said, "Now I'm going to pull on you." And with a simple tug, I was off the stool-with a memory forever embedded in my head.

But why!?

I was just reading Job, trying to remember that no matter how many times we get "knocked down," we need to jump back up.

GET BACK ON THE STOOL.

Anyway, I just needed to write. To remind MYSELF of why I need to keep retraining and remolding. (if anyone has any pointers, I'd love to hear them!:) )

Love you and thanks for reading,

Suz


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Raindrops on...windshields

The sound of rain is such a comforting luxury...I have always wanted to live in a house with a glass roof so you could lay down and not only hear the rain, but see the rain....like you were outside in it!

Well, we have been all over-Kansas, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia in the last few weeks. But in each of those places, have been taken such good care of! It is truly humbling, and we hope to be able to repay the kindnesses one day!:) The last place we were in was Rhodeheaver Boys Ranch in Platka, FL, where my mom's brother and wife live and work. It was an eye-opener and an inspiration to Nic and I.

Then we visited my dad's family-Uncle Mike + Aunt Carol Bennett and Dan and Sarah Wall. I love having a big family!!:) and then having a big family who lives in various place is a HUGE blessing while traveling!:) I don't think we've had to find a landromat once:)

Well, that's all-oh I can see!:) everything worked out with the random (but TERRIFYING) hole in my eye...the LORD works in mysterious ways!:)

Thanks for reading:) please send us updates about you all too!!:)

Here's a picture of what the girls do best in the car:)






Love ya!

Suz








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Pillow fights and hole in the eye

I am sitting outside of "Florida Retina Institute" now and Susan is having laser eye surgery on a hole that is in her eye. We had gone to an eye appointment and during the exam, they said that they she had a hole in her eye and she had to go to a Retina Eye Specialist (which is where I began writing this email) to see if they could fix it. They did. They did surgery on her eye and it will be fine. The funny part is...they said that this usually happens due to trauma to the head. Now think with me what trauma could have possibly happened in the past...let's say... week to Susan that could have possibly caused trauma to her head. Take a trip down back memory lane with me to Sunday night...in the Springhill Suites...up in room 209...pillows swinging...Nic seeing his wife Susan in his sites...perfect shot to the head...open and clear...swinging as hard as he could...wamo...the rest is history and I am still paying the bill. :-) hahahahahahahaha.

Huge blessing out of it though!!!! Just to have an appointment with this guy is starting at $121 per visit, then you have all the testing, and then you have the surgery which costs non-insurance holders around $1058.

The kicker: The Lord allowed us to walk out of there with a total bill of $150. Clean and clear.

And if you remember clearly at the ladies luncheon the missionary ladies received...$150 in cash to spend on themselves. Guess where that money went...yep your right. Paid in full.

What a blessing and God is great!

Nic

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my first entrance into the blogging world...

2.11.10

As I'm sitting here on the airplane, on our way to a meeting in Wichita, KS, I feel so peaceful. My family is all sleeping...I'm catching up on work...we have full bellys...AND the sun is shining....All feels right in the world:)! It's overwhelming at times to think that THE LORD-the all-powerful actually sees me. Sitting here. And He loves me. Wow. Ok. Now that I feel like crying;)....

Thank you all for loving on us, praying for us, and being wonderful examples for us to watch and learn from.

People all over keep saying how encouraging it is to see YOUNG people serving....but honestly-why is that? To me, it just makes sense. It's simple-the LORD gave His life, so we give ours. Right?

This morning, as we were making our way from the check-in counter, Jocelyn exclaimed-"Ooooooh my word!! It's gonna be sooooooooo much fun!" :). And then Evangeline and I had to ride the escalator at least four times! (on the first of which, somehow Joc's feet took three different steps, and she hollered-sprawling on the escalator-doing the splits!:)-all the while, I'm trying not to burst out laughing because that is SO something Joc would do!!!!:)....So.....despite the fact that we had been lugging thousand of pounds of who knows what of carry-ons, walking nearly all the way to our gate, from which they sent us back because they printed the wrong ticket for Eve.....Nic and I both laughed!

THAT is what we need to remember-

"it's gonna be sooooooooo much fun!" :)

and honestly, it's a BLAST!;)

love,