The Scheer Flyer

Morning Surprises

2012-02-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning we awoke to about twenty piles of cat barf and a leaky hot water heater that had started to flood our downstairs laundry room, continuing a string of frustrating trials and setbacks. Before we even discovered these things I actually prayed, "Okay God, I don't know what is going to happen today and I pray that you take these trials away, but if they are going to continue, please help us through them!" Shortly after that we noticed the barf and the leak. Matt and I just looked at each other and had to laugh. "This is ridiculous!" In all of this however we are finding things to be thankful for even in the trials themselves, like how lucky it was that we discovered the leak before it flooded the entire basement!

We have begun to really identify with the verse in 2 Corinthians when Paul says "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." Is this all a coincidence? I don't think so. We are getting ready to serve in a country in which the majority of the people do not know the love and freedom that can be found in Jesus. There is an enemy that wants to stop us and to discourage us, but we know and hold onto the truth that God has called us to serve the precious people of Indonesia and He is more powerful than any opposing force. I believe He has allowed these things to accomplish His purposes and we are being refined on a daily basis. There have been days of discouragement, frustration, and I have cried often, but we have grown so much! He has asked us to follow Him no matter what the cost. When I am reminded of the stories of lives that have been impacted in such incredible ways, it gives me a new perspective on our current troubles. Is it all worth it? You bet.

The culprit

Funny Big Brother

2012-02-07T17:19:00.000-08:00

Answers!!!

2012-01-29T08:54:00.000-08:00

In response to some inquiries on the last post about how God answered our prayers, we thought we'd be a little more specific and answer some of those questions. For those of you who don't know, we are support raising full time this year with the goal of being at 100% of our monthly support and in Indonesia by January of next year. We call it ministry partnership, because those who have chosen to partner with us financially and in prayer are part of this ministry with us and have a heart to see God reach the people of Indonesia. This phase, before we go, is also a ministry. God has already been using our story and how we were brought to this point to touch people, and He has built our faith in so many ways as well!

Having said all of that, things have been extremely slow lately in ministry partnership and we seemed to hit a wall as far as moving forward. In addition to being bogged down with computer crashes and viruses, sickness, and several other distractions, not much was happening in the way of ministry partnership and several doors seemed to be closing on us. Feeling a little discouraged and at a loss of what to do next, we decided to devote a day to prayer, specifically asking God to open doors and open the floodgates of His resources, so to speak. And did He ever!!! Within a week of our prayer day, starting that very night, things started to happen. Here are a few:

We received calls from pastors who wanted to meet with us or speak to the congregation

Our missions pastor was able to arrange a meeting with two local pastors

We were notified of a new monthly donor

We were notified that a current supporter had increased their giving

A church that we met with back in September gave $500 (I will mention that we never expected this church to give!)

A current supporter called to tell us that they were giving an additional $700 and also increasing their monthly donations!

Praise God!!!! He listens to our prayers and He is working on our behalf.

I will extol the Lord at all times;

his praise will always be on my lips.

My soul will boast in the Lord:

let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the Lord with me;

let us exalt his name together.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.

Psalm 34:1-5

Mt. Spokane Prayer Day

2012-01-24T19:42:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago Ellie and I decided to devote a day to prayer for our ministry and fun for the family. The hour long drive up to the top of Mt Spokane was a perfect time for us to pray as the kids slept soundly in the back. Once at the top we had a picnic with all 4 of us crammed on the floor in the back of our van (it was cold outside!), complete with mugs of steaming hot chocolate. Yummy!
After lunch we bundled up and let the kids have some fun in the snow. In such a beautiful setting it was easy for us to continually be reminded of how awesome our God is, and feel at peace about the ministry He's called us into.
One highlight was Blake going potty in the back of the van! We brought his little porta-potty since he's in the middle of training. His comment to me as he sat on the seat was "Coooood (cold) Dad!"
We got home feeling both tired and refreshed after a good day playing and praying together. And now, just 24 hours after spending that time in prayer, God has already answered several of our prayer requests in a BIG way! So thanks God for family, fun, snow, and opening doors for us in response to our prayers to you.

Winter Pictures

2012-01-20T19:19:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent pictures, including the recent snow storm (we got about 8-9 inches) and the starting of potty training Blake. Enjoy!

Blue doggy demonstrating how to use the potty

View of back of house from backyard
View of backyard from Callie's window
Helping mommy make cookies

Thankfulness or Crankfulness

2012-01-13T23:19:00.000-08:00

Thankfulness or Crankfulness. It's a phrase Matt and I heard in a parenting book we are going through and it has really got me thinking. God has been teaching us a lot in the last few days since coming back to Spokane. I will be honest....the transition back has been rough. I'm pretty sure that our household appliances, electronics, and a number of other things have conspired to crash or malfunction since we returned. Between fixing things, doctor's appts to try to figure out my health problems, and dealing with Blake's sudden increase in scream sessions and disobedience, I confess I have rarely felt thankful. How do I take the stress of traveling for weeks on end with two young kids, packing, unpacking, dealing with mice infestations and 45 minute meltdowns and infections and computer crashes....and have a thankful attitude, full of praise? Sometimes I feel like it's so much easier and more natural to choose to be cranky and complain than choose to be thankful. I have so much to learn when it comes to dealing with stress, but God has shown me several things recently. First of all, when we focus on the bad, it's so easy to lose sight of the good, and there is SO much good!

"Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

Secondly, laughter is SUCH a gift. Whether it's being on a road trip and having a spider run full force at me over the dashboard TWICE (yes it happened two separate times, believe it or not), accidentally stepping on a tube of diaper cream and having it squirt three feet over the carpet (just happened today), or putting Dawn dish soap in the dishwasher and having it overflow with bubbles, God is the creator of humor and He intends for us to enjoy it! One day we will look back at this time and say "remember when we were trying to take our family picture in the snow and Blake was acting up and knocked me over while trying to keep him in place?" These are precious memories.

Thirdly, Matt and I have heard, and concur, that parenting is the hardest job we will ever have. There will be stages that will feel easy, and fun, and full of joy. Then there will be stages that will stretch us further than we ever thought possible. The last few days have definitely been the latter. We have failed over and over again, lost our patience, and at times been at a complete loss of what to do with Blake. How do we exercise patience when he just hit or pulled the cat's tail for the fiftieth time and no discipline seems to be getting through to him? One thing that God has clearly spoken to me about is how I use my words with him. I borrowed a quote from a friend's blog that really hit home for both Matt and I....

“Words have the ability to inspire or to depress; to make one happy and feel validated or to deplete and discourage. When we live with our children day after day, we either build an inheritance, a treasure chest of inspiration, confidence, validation, OR memories of anger, criticism, while storing up in their souls hostility, insecurity, and bitterness.” -Sally Clarkson

Ephesians 4:29 says "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." When we are tired or stressed it's easy to be short with our children or focus on the negative aspects of their behavior and fail to acknowledge the little triumphs and positive things.

God is undeservingly patient with us, so why shouldn't we be with our little ones? It is a battle from day to day, but God has reminded us to actively lift up and encourage our kids, even when it doesn't seem like there is much to go on. It's a big job, but I am so thankful for each of them and I look to Jesus for His supernatural strength and patience for the tough times.

*The parenting book we are reading (that we highly recommend) is called "Loving the Little Years" by Rachel Jankovic

January Update

2012-01-07T15:31:00.000-08:00

On Monday we will be heading back to our home in Spokane for a few weeks. Though we have had a wonderful time with family these last three weeks, it will be so nice to be home. So far we've only been home for 2 and 1/2 weeks since September and I (Ellie) am really missing it.

This last month has been so full of blessings......several new people have decided to join us financially and have been such an encouragement to us. We are inching closer to reaching our goal of being in Indonesia by this time next year and are so thankful for those who have decided to partner with us. Tomorrow we will be presenting in a church outside of Seattle, and will pack up and head home the next day.

Here are some things that you can be praying for:

My health: I have had several minor health issues since Callie was born and could use prayer for physical healing.

The transition back home: We will start potty training Blake and also attempting to get Callie to sleep through the night. Please pray for success in these areas. Callie is almost 7 months old and still not sleeping well, and we are hoping to use this time home (while we are finally in one place for a while) to get Blake out of diapers!

That God would prepare the churches and individuals we are going to be contacting in the Spokane area and that it would be an encouraging time for us.
Thank you!

We started feeding Callie solids!

Making Cookies with Grandpa

Annual New Year's Party - Movie Theme

2012-01-01T09:04:00.000-08:00

This year's theme at the McDowell's annual New Year's Party was movie/tv stars, and as you can tell, people had fun with it! I was Elle Woods from Legally Blonde, but we didn't get a good picture of it.

It's Edward!!!! AHHHHH!!!!!

We are the Three Amigos!

Dad was "Tim the Tool Man" but you can't really tell from the picture

Forrest as "Dr. House"

Manuel as "Zorro"

Christmas in Bountiful

2011-12-29T17:15:00.000-08:00

Usually we travel to Denver, Colorado every other year to visit Matt's extended family, but this year we decided (along with Matt's brother and sister) to visit his relatives in Bountiful, Utah. We stayed with Matt's Aunt Chris and Uncle Pat, in their beautifully renovated Victorian home. Grandpa Gordon and Uncle Scott joined us from Denver. I will admit that it was a little crazy......all together we had about 18 adults and 8 kids under age 5 for all of the festivities!!!

Matt's brother Andy had proposed to his lovely girlfriend Jenny a couple days before arriving and we were all super excited for them. They also allowed me to take some engagement photos of them (see below for a couple of the pictures) to practice my photography skills. I had SO much fun!

Here are some other highlights: (from Matt)
Ellie unknowingly put Dawn Dishsoap in the dishwasher resulting in the machine overflowing with bubbles.
Aunt Chris got fake poop thrown at her (see picture below). Later Alan put the poop in the shower and guess who found it....Ellie!
Jenny received her initiation into the family by unwrapping the spooky head...

There was an unfortunate lack of snow, so we took the kids up to Park City (home of the 2002 winter Olympics) to find some snow for them to play in.

These and many other fun memories were made this year. Hope you enjoy the photos of the craziness!

Callie with her new dolls

Cousin Abby and Callie with their matching dolls

Alan put fake dog poop on the living room floor, then picked it up with a paper towel and threw it at Aunt Chris!

Matt and Andy with their matching shirts with a picture of Aunt Chris on the front and the caption "my favorite aunt"....too funny!

Matt's cousin Wizzy holding the creepy head (this was what Jenny unwrapped).

Andy and Jenny

Crazy Family Picture at Park City

Cousins: Kaylie, Blake, Zach and babies Callie and Abby

Coffee and Culture

2011-12-10T10:07:00.000-08:00

I (Matt) like to people watch, and there's something that I find especially fascinating about watching people from another culture interact.

French class was always one that I enjoyed, and though I can hardly string a sentence together now, at one time I was pretty good at it. It wasn't that I was especially good at verb conjugation, or remembering the tenses, it was that I really worked hard at contorting my mouth and puckering my lips to get that accent just right. It wasn't easy! But for me it wasn't just about learning a language, it was about being able to fit into a culture.

Me "fitting in" in Paris :)

All of my hard work at the French language culminated in the ultimate test, which I both passed with flying colors, and failed miserably! The setting was a small cafe on a cold winter day in Paris. Sitting there with a friend of mine who had grown up in Paris, I felt especially confident about fitting in, and I was ready to try my French! When the waiter came to our table I chatted with him (in French) about the weather, about his nice cafe, and then ordered a toasted ham sandwich with fries. "What would you like to drink?" he asked me. Since it was such a cold day, and my friend and I had been walking around Paris seeing the sights, nothing sounded better than a tall mug of hot coffee. "I'll have a coffee." The blank stare I got from the waiter keyed me in right away that something wasn't right about that, but I didn't know what! My friend looked at me with a smirk. "Are you sure you don't want something else?" The color coming to my cheeks was part indignation at being second-guessed about my drink choice, and part embarrasment that I might have just made a cultural boo-boo. "Um, no, I'd like a coffee." The waiter looked at me and finally said, "Oh, you're American!" :) My disguise was busted! He then went on to say that I had him fooled until I ordered a coffee with my meal. Turns out that in France coffee is a post-meal beverage, is much stronger, and comes in a small shot glass. We all had a good laugh about my unintentional cultural mis-step.

I remember that experience because of my delight in being able to blend into the culture for a while, but also for the mild embarassment of being "outed" as an American!

There is such a richness to culture that can only be fully appreciated when we approach it with an open mind, and try our best not to project our values onto theirs, but to fit in. As we prepare to move our family to Indonesia I know we'll never be able to fully blend in simply because of our blonde hair and blue eyes, but I look forward to learning about the way they see the world. And I'm excited that our kids will grow up with not only a rich worldview, but a humble appreciation for the way other people do things. And I'm sure we'll have LOTS of new and embarrasing stories on this adventure as we learn a new language and culture!

Winter Coffee Challenge

2011-12-06T14:49:00.000-08:00

As Matt and I reflect on this season of giving, we are so thankful that we have already received the ultimate gift of all, the birth of a savior, Jesus! It is the meaning behind this gift that has inspired us to proclaim His name to every corner of the earth.

We are thrilled to be a part of a missions organization, Mission Aviation Fellowship, that is overcoming barriers to transform lives around the world. Through meeting peoples' physical needs and providing much needed resources, our pilots, mechanics, disaster response teams and more are making Christ known in some of the most remote places on earth and sharing with them the importance of Jesus' birth and promise to return. Matt and I are so excited to be among the many serving Him in Indonesia! But we can't do it alone... WE NEED YOU!

WINTER COFFEE CHALLENGE

While we celebrate this glorious and festive season of love, lights, and the gift of abundant life in Christ Jesus, we ask that you prayerfully consider helping us make Christ known in Indonesia by answering this simple question: How much money do you spend monthly on specialty coffee drinks? $25, $50, $75?

Would you consider spending that amount as a monthly supporter of our ministry with MAF?

Our goal is to be at 30% of full-funding by January 1, 60% by March, and 100% funding and on our way to Indonesia by the end of 2012. This is a lofty goal, but we know that with God's help and His people generously giving, we can reach Indonesia soon! If you would like to be a part of our Winter Coffee Challenge there are several ways you can give.

DONATE ONLINE: You can log on to www.maf.org/scheer, click the DONATE tab and set up a payment arrangement or electronic funds transfer under the "Support a Missionary" link. If you choose this method, please make sure that donation/giving is allocated to Matt and Ellie Scheer - Missionary ID: 9094.

SNAIL MAIL: Another great way to start giving is to mail a check to the MAF Headquarters - P.O. Box 47, Nampa, ID 83653. With this option, we ask that you make the check payable to Mission Aviation Fellowship and add 9094 to the memo line.

PHONE A FRIEND: For those of you who like to hear a friendly voice at the other end of the phone to assure you that everything has been handled properly (I am definitely one of these people) you have the option to speak with our Donor Services personnel. They are a great bunch of MAF staff at our headquarters in Idaho and will make sure that your giving is done with ease. Simply dial 1.800.359.7623 to phone a friend!

With any of these options, we would love to hear that you have begun giving! It will give us a great chance to catch up with you and help us keep our records straight.
For more information or to let us know you have joined our Winter Coffee Challenge, contact us via email at mscheer@maf.org.

The Scheer Adventures - MICE!!!

2011-12-02T11:14:00.000-08:00

After over two months of being away, including about six weeks in the Seattle area, we finally came back to our home in Spokane. Little did we know that a huge, disgusting, surprise was waiting for us. The entire house had been infested by mice....every last corner! I was finding mice poop in drawers, in between linens on high shelves, on beds, counters....everything. It was horrible! We were exhausted after driving for over 4 hours with the kids, cat, trailer, and car top carrier full of stuff, and then had to deep clean the whole house and sanitize everything. We've been doing laundry non-stop for almost 3 days! On top of that, our computer wasn't working at first and our front faucet has a huge leak, in which Matt is going to have to climb into our crawl space to fix the pipe. Let me just say that we've been more than a little stressed. The last 3 days have been a whirlwhind of cleaning and trying to get settled in again, but we are finally getting caught up and are feeling a little better about things. I will say that other than this unexpected setback, it is good to be home.

Wrapping Up Our Time in Seattle

2011-11-30T11:41:00.000-08:00

Our time in Seattle was extremely encouraging and we were able to meet with several friends, family, and churches during our time there. It was a busy time, involving coffee meetings, dinners, dessert nights, and parties, but many new people joined our financial and prayer team and were excited about serving Indonesia through us! We are so thankful for those who have come behind us, not only financially, but also in prayer and encouragement. We also had a great time staying at my parent’s house and spending so much time with them and my brother Rich. If we didn't get to see you while we were in the area, please don't feel unimportant....it was a crazy time and we all were sick for a while, so we will probably be contacting you the next time we are in town (which will be soon!).

Blake loves his sister!

Eating Gumbi

Future missionary kids. Taken the night we met with the Reeds and the Linds. The Reeds are going to Indonesia with us and the Linds are going to Congo short term. From left: Amelia, Callie, Jenna, Blake, and Levi

Fall Pictures

2011-11-29T12:38:00.000-08:00

While we were in the Seattle area our friend Sonja Morgan, who is a professional photographer, took some pictures of us at Bellevue park. She did an amazing job!

Halloween

2011-11-02T11:33:00.000-07:00

This year for Halloween we took the kids to the McDowell's house....the neighborhood that I spent every year trick-or-treating in as a child. Last year we couldn't get Blake to step foot in his costume and he screamed until we gave up trying. This year he loved wearing his dinosaur costume that grandma made him. We even took him trick-or-treating for the first time with his little buddy Diego...they LOVED it! I think that Matt and I had even more fun than him however....watching him knock on the door and try to say "treat" was just adorable. There were tons of kids out this year too and most of the houses were pretty decked out with decorations.

Blake and Diego

Manuel, Diego, Blake, and Matt

Brittany and Tessa...such an adorable little cow she makes!

Woodland Park Zoo

2011-10-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we took the kids to the Woodland Park Zoo! Kids in costume got in free and the zoo gave pumpkins to several of the animals. It ended up being a beautiful sunny day and we had a blast seeing all the adorable kids in their different costumes. I think Blake's favorite part was the monkeys, though we didn't get any pictures of those. One highlight for us was seeing all of the animals that came from Indonesia....and there were several! We saw orangutans, Komodo dragons, tigers, monkeys, and many others....all from the country that we will be moving to!

Beautiful Sumatran Tigers

Sloth Bear trying to get an apple out of this pumpkin

Blake wearing his dinosaur costume that grandma made!

Cutie in her bear costume

Rainy City

2011-10-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

After several weeks on the road, we have arrived in Seattle! I have to say, it is so nice to be here at my parents house and be able to spread out a little. We plan to stay through Thanksgiving, connecting with churches and friends in the area. One of the highlights so far has been introducing our little Callie to my grandma, who had to wait four months to meet her! The emotion on her face when she met Callie brought tears to my eyes. What a special moment. She also just celebrated her 90th birthday. I was devastated to have missed the party, but we celebrated a little when we got here. Each moment with her is such a gift....I just love my grandma.

Ellie

Random Pictures from Trip

2011-10-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

Mt. Shasta

Cousins with their party hats...what a bunch of cuties!

Whoa look at those cakes!

Late birthday celebrations

Grandpa Scheer

Aunt Jamie and Abby

Blake picking out his pumpkin on Zach's pre-school field trip

Cousins in thier purple jammies (Callie and Abby)

Crazy Life

2011-09-30T17:33:00.001-07:00

The day after we finished re-siding and painting the whole house, we packed up to leave for our several week journey up and down the West Coast. Luckily we found people to watch our house while away. After loading up the van with 4 adults, the kids, the cat, baby swings, bouncers, toys (you get the idea), we were off!

The next several days included stopping in Seattle for the night before heading down the coast to Brookings, Oregon. A friend allowed us to stay in their lovely condo for a couple of nights. Most of the time it was pretty foggy, but what a beautiful place! Blake was a little scared of the ocean, but overall he had a good time.

Driving through the Redwood Forest was amazing. It's hard to fathom that some of those trees have been there for over a thousand years! From Brookings we drove to San Jose....it took us a total of TWELVE hours with the kids and when we finally arrived in San Francisco, after at least 10 and a half hours of driving, we got stuck in the middle of the city in an absolute gridlock. We must have sat there for over an hour and moved only a few blocks. Callie was screaming in the back, and Blake had done amazingly well until that point but then he lost it too. I will not lie...it was horrible. I will say that through all of this we are learning to be more and more flexible. Many nights we are up with the kids and it feels like we are constantly packing up and moving again, finding odd places for the kids to sleep and messing with nap and meal schedules...but we've made it so far.

We have been in San Jose for about a week, staying at Matt's sister's house, and it has been a lot of fun! It's a little tight in the house (there are 4 of us adults and 5 kids, not including the family that comes over during the day), but we've all been doing pretty well. We've had some pretty fun dinners with the whole family too....one night we had a Rwandese meal...last night we had an Indonesian night...yum yum!

So what's the plan? We are now in Oakland for a couple of nights with the entire extended family on Matt's mom's side, to hold a memorial service for his grandma Waite. Then we will head back to San Jose for a week and then leave to head back up the coast, eventually stopping in Seattle for several weeks.

Re-siding our House

2011-09-30T17:14:00.000-07:00

Re-siding our house has been on our list of things to do since moving in six years ago. We finally decided that we'd better make it a priority while the weather is nice, since we plan to sell before we head to Indonesia. We are extremely blessed to have a church that is dedicated to helping us get to Indonesia, so they made and announcement one Sunday and several guys from the church came out to help on a Saturday. We were so amazed and all of the people willing to serve, especially on a Saturday! Matt and my dad finished the rest, and then Matt's parents came to visit and Matt's dad helped us paint. Unfortunately we had to leave and forgot to get a picture of the finished product, but we'll post it later. It looks great!

Home Again - By Ellie

2011-08-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

We are home! We arrived back in Spokane on Saturday and are now trying to get settled after five weeks at the MAF headquarters in Idaho. Our time there was challenging to say the least, but it was also good in many ways. We made some life-long friendships with the other missionary families and MAF staff and it was incredible to be around people that were going through the exact same thing. We had full days of classes, several hours of homework each day, presentations, sickness, fatigue, and often operated on little sleep because of the baby, but it all proved to remind us of God's amazing grace and strength in our weakness. Somehow He pulled us through and showed us that it is by His strength and not our own that we can do what He has called us to do.

As we were driving home, Matt and I reflected on this truth. It seems that the times we are completely out of our comfort zone, we see God work the most. It takes getting us to a point when we realize that we can't do it on our own and we have to completely depend on Him alone, and He blows us away by His grace and power. Things that seem impossible become possible.

So what's next? In the next several months we will spend our time reconnecting with friends, family, and churches and begin building a partnership team. We plan on visiting California, Seattle, Colorado, and Utah in the near future. I feel a little sad thinking about how little time will be spent at home in this next year, but we are also super excited to see everyone and build new friendships.

Please Pray:

I hurt my lower back right after we got home and have been in a tremendous amount of pain and have had to lie flat for the last 2 days. Please pray for healing!

We've Been Assigned to Indonesia!!!

2011-07-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

Today we were told by the MAF Candidate Committee that we have been assigned to the country of Indonesia! We are so excited to finally know where we will be! It's crazy to think that this is where we will be raising our kids......a place so completely foreign to us both. Of course there was a part of us that wanted to serve in Africa, where Matt grew up, but either way we would have been happy and also a little disappointed since we were torn between the two (Africa or Indonesia). We trust completely that this is what God intended and have prayed for years that He would guide us to where He wanted us to go. Two of the other families that we have become friends with have also been assigned to Indonesia so hopefully we'll all be in language school together!

The island of Java (red star on the map) is where we will be going to language school to learn the Indonesian language. The goal is to be 100% supported and to leave by this time next year. We won't know the specific island or base we will be assigned to until closer to our departure date, since base needs etc. may change between now and next year. The islands with yellow stars, Kalimantan and Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) are the areas where MAF serves, so we will be on one of these three islands. We will post more as we learn more! Thanks to those who have been praying and sharing in our excitement!

News from Nampa

2011-07-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

I can say two things about Candidacy thus far:

1. It is SO exhausting and difficult with a newborn and a toddler (being in classes all day on little sleep, running back and forth to the house because I was barfed on, being up in the night bouncing a baby that is wide awake, calming a screaming 2 year old so he doesn't wake the baby up that we spent forever trying to get to sleep.....).

2. It is SO fun!!!!

We have already built some great relationships here with the other missionary Candidates and often stay up late just talking in the grass having root beer floats together or celebrating someone's birthday. Last night we all went out to eat together. In fact we have joked that we want to tell the Candidate Committee that we are a "package deal" when it comes to where they send us. I really hope we do end up with some of these couples....they are awesome!

It has actually worked out pretty well having Callie in the classes with us and she has slept most of the time, which is a huge answer to prayer. The other Candidates are very understanding and even think her little grunting noises are cute :). Another answer to prayer is that she has slept the longest she has ever slept during the night while we've been here, though we have had some tough nights too.

On Thursday we met with the Candidate Committee to discuss our concerns/passions/preferences regarding the different overseas programs that we have heard about. They have made their decision where they will send us but are taking the weekend to pray about it, so we have to wait until Tuesday to find out!

Please pray:

That God will continue to direct them regarding these decisions and that He will prepare our hearts for the news.

For continued strength and energy, and that Callie would sleep better at night.

Candidacy Update - by Ellie

2011-07-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our first day of classes for our Candidate class here at the MAF headquarters in Nampa. I came down with a high fever and chills on Sunday and unfortunately was unable to attend the Monday morning classes. However after talking with my doctor's office back home, I was able to get some antibiotics and today I am feeling quite a bit better. I was able to make it to the afternoon skype session with the director of the Africa programs. It was so good to be able to ask questions about the programs and life in Africa. Today we learned about the programs in Indonesia and were very impressed.

With all of the craziness of this last few weeks I'll admit that I haven't thought much about the big decision ahead...where will God send us? Now that we are learning about the overseas programs it is hitting us full force. We will find out in just days!!! There are so many issues to take into account when considering where to send us, such as where our passions and desires are, what areas have the most need, what my profession is and whether I can use it, what bases would best fit our personalities in regards to remoteness and community....these are just a few. Please pray for God's direction in where we go, both for us and for the Candidate Committee making the decisions. So far we are still open and do not have a definite place in mind. Thanks to all who have been praying already!

June/July Update and Upcoming Candidacy

2011-07-07T22:24:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we leave to go back to Nampa, Idaho for our five week Candidacy/training at the Mission Aviation Fellowship Headquarters. It is hard to believe that it's already time to go back! Candidacy will consist of two weeks of training/learning about the overseas programs in each country and at the end of this two weeks we will be assigned our country of service!!! We are so excited to finally know where God will have us serve. After this we will have one week of security training (which will also include hostage training), and then be followed by two weeks of partnership development training.

So what have we been up to since Callie was born? The last few weeks have been a whirlwind.....I think the word chaos describes it pretty well. Two days after we arrived home from the hospital, Blake came down with a 103 degree fever. He was diagnosed with strep throat and began antibiotics. Soon after that I had some post-partum complications and had to have an ultrasound and start antibiotics as well. At one point I could barely stand because of the pain.

Then Blake developed red spots that looked like hives all over his body. He was extremely fussy and between the strep and this issue, he was up several times in the night. Needless to say we weren't getting much sleep at night between the two babies! The rash occurred over the weekend and we ended up taking Blake to urgent care. The doctor wasn't sure what was causing the spots but speculated that it was a reaction called erythema multiforme, possibly from the strep infection or antibiotics. It is now gone and we are currently all healthy, praise God! Between everyone in the household, we were going to appointments almost every day for weeks! Thankfully my parents were here to help for much of that time. They were an absolute lifesaver.

In addition to the medical issues and transition from one to two kids, we have had an overwhelming amount to do in preparation for Candidacy. We have had to finish books and bible studies, get chest x-rays and tb tests, pack, clean, find a housesitter....the list seemed neverending.

However here we are, about to leave for most of the summer and we are so excited to start this adventure!

Here are some things you can be praying for:

Pray for a safe and smooth trip to and from Nampa. It will be an eight hour drive.

Please pray for energy and strength during the day and good sleep at night. The days will be long and exhausting as both of us will be in classes all day and we will be in a one bedroom apartment for the entire 5 weeks. Matt and I will likely put Blake in the bedroom since he is a light sleeper and we will have to be on a pull-out couch with Callie in the living room.

Pray that Callie will do well in the classes with us and stay calm so that we can keep her with us.

Pray for Blake, that he will do well with the babysitter and not feel neglected as we go off each day to the classes.

Please pray for our country assignment and that God's hand would direct and guide the people making these decisions.

We look forward to updating you as to how things are going. Thank you all for your support, prayers, and encouragment!

Callie Joy Scheer

2011-07-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 11th. That is the day our precious baby girl came into our lives! After enduring weeks of contractions and even visiting a hospital in Boise for pre-term contractions, I was finally full term and ready to have her. Things seemed to slow down after that point though and I wondered if I would go to my due date (June 16th) or beyond. The doctor said that she was extremely low in the pelvis and the head had already come down quite a bit, and I could tell! My feet and legs had started to swell and the pressure was pretty uncomfortable. I had also started to dilate, and was told that this could be a pretty fast labor once it started.
Then at midnight on June 11th I woke up to stronger contractions than usual and told Matt that it was time. We called my aunt Anita and uncle Bill and they came over to be here with Blake. Luckily they answered the phone right away and were here within minutes.

When we arrived at the hospital, we sat in the waiting room for about 40 minutes. My contractions were uncomfortable but I could breathe through them pretty easily. We then were put into a triage room and told to walk around the halls for an hour. I would be checked in an hour to see if I had made any progress and if not, we would have to go home. By the time the nurse was finished talking, the contractions were becoming ruthless and I only made it in the hall for five minutes at most before having to return to the room. Needless to say I was admitted. By the time they had me settled in the room with an IV, the contractions were relentless with barely a break in between. I had requested an epidural and it seemed like an eternity for the anesthetist to get there! I remember sitting on the bed with three nurses working as fast as they could around me to get things ready....they knew this was going to be a quick one. Before the epidural was placed I was checked and already dilated to 8 cm and by the time I laid down on the bed I was complete and ready to push! Luckily the epidural did kick in and I got some relief before delivering.

Callie was born at 4:40am, only a little over 4 and a half hours from the onset of contractions. The doctor did make it in time, though the nurses said that they were a little worried. At first Callie had some difficulty breathing due to the fast labor and she was taken up to NICU for evaluation. Thankfully she only had to stay there for a couple of hours and was able to come back down with us. She has been such a blessing and is an absolute sweetheart! It never ceases to amaze me what a miracle it is.....God created this intricate little life that He loves more than we ever could. Incredible.

Pregnancy Update

2011-06-10T07:36:00.000-07:00

Just a quick pregnancy update for those who are wondering. I'm now over 39 weeks and still no baby here! My doctor thought I would have gone into labor by now, especially considering all the pre-term contractions, but no luck. I've been dilated to 3 cm for two weeks now and the baby is as low as she can get, but we are still waiting. I had forgotten how uncomfortable the last couple of weeks can be......hopefully this will happen soon! I also have strained my back, which apparently is easy to do with the stretching of the ligaments around the spine, and the last couple of days have been pretty miserable. It's hard feeling so helpless and immobile....reminds me of how out of control I really am of my life and how I need to lean on my Creator for strength and comfort.

"Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me." Psalm 63:7-8

Blake Turns Two!

2011-05-16T15:38:00.001-07:00

Nothing is sweeter than seeing your kids face light up in delight! We got to witness that at least 3 times on his 2nd birthday. The first was when he came downstairs and saw the pile of brightly wrapped presents and a Mickey Mouse balloon on his table. The second and third were after his naps when we brought him into the living room and he remembered that he had all kinds of new toys to play with!

Then of course there was the obligatory messy cupcake to eat, which he quickly devoured and then asked for more. Rich and Grandma and Grandpa W were able to watch him blow out his candle via Skype. Blake is such a nice boy that he even offered them some of his half squished cupcake!

All in all it was a low key birthday, which is sometimes the best kind. For Blake it was a day of excitement, special treats, and new toys... and for mommy and daddy it was relaxing... Perfect!

I'm 2 and I'm cute!

Want some??

Blake using his new drill to help daddy install some curtain hangars

What if our Best isn't good enough?

2011-05-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

Fear of failure. What a powerful motivation it is. It drives us to succeed, and keeps us awake at night. It goes hand in hand with fear of rejection..."what if my best isn't good enough? What if they don't want me?" These are just a few of the thoughts that were running through my head and really stressing me out in the weeks leading up to our evaluation down at MAF. But you want to know the cool thing? I learned (actually just had to be reminded and believe it) that my identity is not found in what I do, or in what direction my life takes, but is in who God says I am. I am a child of the Most High God, the Creator and Sustainer of life, the Father who loves me more than I could ever imagine or deserve! So really I never EVER have to fear rejection in life, because no matter what I do I could never make God love me less. That's so important and I hope you don't miss it. Coming to that realization allowed me to enter into the 2 week evaluation that would determine the course of our lives with an overwhelming and truly unnatural peace. The pressure was gone and I was able to relax and actually enjoy the process!

Would I have been disappointed if the evaluation hadn't gone well and MAF turned us away? You BET! But that disappointment, when put into perspective, would not have led to despair because I know that as long as my heart is in the right place, and I am serving Him, I am right smack in the center of His will. Whether that's in aviation or not. Of course, all of that is easier said than done, I'm only human and I love flying! The key is to remember who God is (that never changes), who I am in God's eyes (also never changes), and to draw daily strength and peace from that, not from the circumstances and curve balls of life.

Technical Evaluation

2011-04-27T14:57:00.000-07:00

As much as I wanted to keep this up as it occurred, we have been extremely busy and are now back home in Spokane after spending 2 weeks in Nampa, Idaho at the MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) Headquarters for our much anticipated Technical Evaluation! So much has happened in the last 2 weeks and I can't wait to fill you in! The TE is a two week evaluation of Matt's flight and maintenance skills, as well as an evaluation of us as a family as potential missionaries. Matt has been preparing for this moment for at least eight years and this was the first major step towards serving God overseas! The testing included one week of maintenance and one week of flight, with several written and oral tests in between. Matt and I were also evaluated by a family psychologist for a day and interviewed by a candidate committee. We are happy to report that Matt passed both weeks of testing and the candidate committee has invited us to come back in July for Candidacy! This will include 6 weeks of training and we will not be "official" with MAF until 2 weeks into it. During this time we will also get our country assignment!

Upon arrival we learned that we were put in a small studio apartment for the two weeks that we would be there....a small lesson in flexibility since Blake is an extremely light sleeper and would not do well sleeping in the same room as us. We ended up putting his pack n play in the walk-in shower in the bathroom! This made it interesting since I am in the end stages of the pregnancy and up several times in the night to use the bathroom, so I had to quietly sneak in at night and during naps. It actually worked out better than I thought. I have no doubt that this is nothing compared to the flexibility that we will have to exercise overseas and was grateful for a free place to stay. We turned out the lights the first night there and noticed all of the kitchen clocks (which were directly across from us) were blaring their lights and it was bothering us more than a little, so Matt got up and hung a diaper from the microwave. The sight of this, as well as the fact that Blake was asleep in the shower, got me laughing so hard that I had tears streaming down my face. Several hours later when I STILL couldn't sleep because I was so uncomfortable and worked up from being in a new place, my mood changed quickly and I ended up sitting on the floor just crying with a box of tissues, trying not to wake Matt.....there was nowhere to go! It kind of reminded me of the emotional highs and lows of camp or previous mission trips.....excitement, fun, exhaustion, frustration....

We had such a blast meeting all the other families living in the apartments and found that we had so much to talk about, all being in similar situations and on the same path. Some were there for their TE, some for pre-field training, but overall we loved hanging out with everyone. Many of them will be there when we go back in July. Blake also had SO much fun! He loved all the excitement and social interaction. There was a sandpit with toys (see below) that he played in for hours!

In between the weeks of testing we had a three day weekend and had the priviledge of being invited to dinner with three different missionary families, all staff members at MAF. It was great being able to ask them questions and hear stories of their adventures. We also went to the Boise Zoo with another family there for the TE, Eric and Kristine Reed and their 7 month old girl Jenna (see pictures below). Blake loved feeding the animals!

Two nights before leaving I started having extremely painful contractions, occuring only 2 minutes apart. With Blake I started contracting at only 31 weeks and was on partial bedrest but the contractions were never painful like this and I was only 33 weeks along. It was pretty scary. We ended up having to drive to Boise to check into the hospital there. There were so many awesome MAF families willing to help and one family immediately stepped up to watch Blake. After some testing and medication, the contractions slowed and I was discharged. I will follow up with my doctor this week.

Overall, despite some of the stressful testing that Matt had to endure, we all had an amazing time and feel even more excited about the direction in which God is leading us. We had prayed for direction and confirmation about MAF as an organization and both left with an even better feeling about joining MAF.

When we return in July we will have a newborn baby so please pray for the transition. It could be extremely difficult with a toddler and a newborn and both of us being in classes all day. Please also pray for safety for the baby and that the contractions would not get out of control. This is a pretty busy and stressful time for us both as we prepare for the baby and for Candidacy. Thanks to all who are following our journey!

Mission Aviation Fellowship Headquarters, Nampa, ID

Remains of Nate Saint's Airplane inside the MAF Headquarters. He was martyred along with 4 other missionaries by a tribe they were ministering to in Ecuador.

MAF Apartment Housing

Blake lining up cars in our room

Blake's pack n play in the walk-in-shower!

Blake having fun looking at the ducks at a nearby park

Chasing the ducks!

The Boise Zoo

Blake and baby Jenna

Feeding the Sheeps and Goats!

Bathroom Remodel - Finished!

2011-04-04T07:32:00.000-07:00

In March we started a complete bathroom remodel because our upstairs bathroom was pretty old and disgusting and there's a chance we will be selling our house within the next year and a half if we get assigned as overseas missionaries. Matt had three days off from work and my parents came to help and watch Blake. Of course these things always take much longer and are much more expensive than expected, and it ended up taking a total of two weeks. The hardest part for me was going without an upstairs toilet for a few nights, since I'm now almost 30 weeks pregnant and have to get up several times in the night! We also had tools and chemicals everywhere and it was difficult to keep Blake away from everything. Thank goodness we had my parents helping! My dad also helped quite a bit with the dirty work, as did my mom. They stayed for a week and we couldn't be more grateful. We had a bathtub to use the entire time, since they put the new one in right away, but it was hard to be without a shower for two weeks. Thankfully our neighbor let us use theirs some, so we didn't go completely without. Towards the end Matt got really sick, probably from trying to do too much (working and then coming home to work on the bathroom). He is just starting to recover after over a week. Unfortunately now Blake and I have it. Hopefully it won't be as bad! Here are some pictures of the remodel and finished product. We absolutely love it!

Old Gutted Bathroom

My Plumber Boy. Plumbing took up most of the time.

New Bathtub

Having Fun in the Remodel Boxes!

Blake having fun in the new vanity

Measuring out the new flooring. As you can see, Blake was trying to help!

All finished!

January Snow in Spokane

2011-01-08T10:07:00.001-08:00

When we arrived home from our Seattle vacation, we came back to about a foot of snow! It was pretty cold as well (in the teens) so all the snow stayed on the trees....it was beautiful! One day we took Blake out in it. He liked it for a while but he didn't last long. I think his hands got cold and he was pretty fussy that day. Here are a few pictures while he was still enjoying himself.

Christmas Vacation

2011-01-05T15:34:00.001-08:00

Over Christmas we spent about two weeks in Seattle at my (Ellie's) parents house. As always, my parents were incredibly helpful with Blake and allowed us to catch up on some sleep and spend some time relaxing. Jake and Lindsey were up from San Diego and we spent Christmas Eve together. Matt and I were even able to go on a date....imagine that! We tried a nice little Thai food restaurant in Old Bellevue and then went to the new Narnia movie in 3D. Here are some pictures from the vacation.

Blake opening his new bath toy set

Taz lounging in the storage box

Once Blake opened the lego set, he didn't want to open any more presents!

Grandpa Zorro

Opening the growth chart that Jake painted for Blake. It was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!

Grandpa showing Blake his computer game.....enjoy the moment Blake because I don't think I'll be letting you play these....too violent!

Thanksgiving

2010-12-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

This year we were fortunate enough to have the whole week home in Seattle for Thanksgiving. Matt used some of his vacation time and we made it over the pass just in time, before all of the winter storms hit. While we were in Seattle it snowed several inches, a very unusual occurence! Of course after the first half inch the city turned into a chaotic mess and all of the schools were cancelled. We had a very relaxing week and stayed home most of the time. Thanksgiving was spent at home with my (Ellie's) family and grandparents. Unfortunately Jake and Lindsey weren't able to make it up from San Diego though.

On Black Friday I got up at 2:30 am (I know it's crazy!) and met up with Jennie, one of my best friends to hit some sales. We found some awesome deals so it was worth it! Plus it's kind of a tradition. I also was able to see my other best friend Brittany's brand new baby girl Tessa! When we returned to Spokane after the week was over there was about a foot and a half of snow! Here are some pictures from the week home.

Halloween Weekend in Seattle

2010-11-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

For Halloween weekend we drove home to Seattle and on Halloween evening we went to the McDowell's house. As usual their parties are amazing and over the top! There was the best food there! We loved being able to hang out with our friends Jennie and Clint and Brittany and Manuel. It was fun to get Diego (Brittany's little boy) and Blake together. Unfortunately neither of the boys would put on thier costumes, no matter how hard we tried! Oh well.

We also went to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens with my (Ellie's) family to get some fall pictures. We did get a few, however Blake was pretty cranky and ended up falling and scraping his face. Poor guy! Overall it was a great time though.

Secret Getaway

2010-10-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of October Matt took me on a secret getaway, a late anniversary celebration since the place wasn't available in August. My parents came to town to watch Blake for three nights while we were away. Matt wouldn't tell me where we were going until we got in the car. It ended up being at a beautiful German cabin on Lake Coeur d' Alene! A very generous family allows Moody staff to use the two cabins that they own. We were so blessed!

The weekend was very relaxing and it was nice to sleep in. They also had a canoe that we could use, so we took a little ride around the inlet. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

I Promise to Tell the Whole Truth....

2010-09-16T07:28:00.000-07:00

We have committed to keeping friends and family updated on our family and feel it is important to include the good and the bad. The last couple weeks have been rough to say the least, especially for me (Ellie).

Matt has been working hard trying to replace our roof which was so old that it was starting to disintegrate and pieces of it would come off with the wind or rain. He has been putting in long hours, working full days at work flying and then coming home and getting right to the roof. Luckily we've had some help from friends, which has been such a blessing, but there is still a good portion of the roof to finish. We've been trying to beat the weather but unfortunately it has started to rain and it is not finished.

I have tried to keep Blake happy since he hasn't had much "daddy" time, but it has been a challenge. He has been extremely fussy, throwing tantrum after tantrum, and not sleeping well. He was waking up several times in the night for about a week, crying when we put him down for bed or naps, and only taking 30-45 min naps. Now he's sleeping through the night again though napping is a different story. I'm pretty certain that it is time to drop his morning nap and go to one each day. Honestly I've dreaded the day when he's been ready to do that! I can barely get him to last until his morning nap at 8:30am and now I have to stretch him several more hours! On top of that he has a cold which has made him even more cranky and clingy. When he gets fussy he doesn't just cry and whine (though he does plenty of that). He throws tantrums constantly and has started screaming and throwing tantrums even when I do everyday things like try to put him in his high chair to eat or put him in the stroller. I've had to figure out what to do about discipline b/c he throws toys and has even hit me a couple of times. It's difficult as a mom to tell what is causing this for sure....is it just the stage of life, teething, sickness? Whatever it is, I'm about at my wits end and haven't had much of a break lately because of the roof. I feel drained and exhausted. For those of you who know me well, I do not fare well without my sleep! Today is the first day I'm going to try to stretch Blake and have him take only one nap. I pray that I last through the day! I will add that though I'm painting a pretty nasty picture of Blake right now, this is not the normal. He usually is such a social, smiley, hilarious little boy and he loves to hug and kiss his mommy. He's just going through a tough time.

In addition, I'm sad we aren't able to attend Grandma Scheer's funeral tomorrow. She passed away last Saturday, ending a long battle against cancer. We are the only ones in the family not attending due to work schedules/flight costs. Matt was able to fly there recently and spend some quality time with her before she slipped into a coma, which was a huge blessing. I would have loved to attend her funeral however.

In all this, God has quietly reminded me of His promise..."My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I am so thankful that I have a God that has that kind of power. "For when I am weak, then I am strong."

New MAF Video

2010-09-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

Check out this new video from Mission Aviation Fellowship. Makes us excited to be a part of this!

August News

2010-08-31T09:51:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since our last post. I have to admit, I (Ellie) don't do extremely well with a packed-out schedule and that has what it has been this last month. On the other hand our schedule has been packed-out with mostly fun things and we have had an awesome summer.

We just returned from being out of town almost a week. Matt, Blake and I drove home to Bellevue last Thursday and Matt flew to Colorado that same day to spend some time with family, specifically his grandmas. Matt was able to spend some valuable time with his grandma Scheer and says she was in pretty good spirits and seemed to love the time with family. They prayed and encouraged her every night before putting her to bed. We continue to pray for peace and relief from the pain she has been having.

They also spent a good deal of time visiting Matt's other grandma Waite, his mom's mom, who has Alzheimer's and is now in a full-time care facility. As difficult as it was, Matt was so grateful to get to see both grandmas and also spend time with his parents before they return to Rwanda, however they did have to postpone their tickets and don't know when that will be yet due to the situation.

While Matt was in Colorado, Blake and I spent the last few days with my family and attended the wedding of Jake's best friend Daniel. They've been friends for as long as I can remember so it was almost like having another little brother just get married! It was also great to see Jake and Lindsey and not surprisingly Jake gave a hilarious toast that had the whole place roaring. Daniel married Katie, who is the sister of an old friend from high school, so it was fun to catch up with everyone. Blake loved the music and was one of the first to dance out on the floor :).

Speaking of Blake, he is now walking! He's been walking about a month now and LOVES being able to get around. He is also mimicking most of the things we do. For example he started mimicking my mom walking with her hands behind her back and he looks absolutely adorable toddling along like that! He had a ball pushing the buttons to make the coffee every morning and loved having his uncles around. One morning Jake was drinking coffee in the recliner and Blake piled all of his toys on him, one by one!

Uncle Jake Loaded with Toys!

Priceless Picture with Grandma

Blake at Medina Beach on Lake Washington

One Last Visit from Grandma and Grandpa Scheer

2010-07-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we said goodbye to Matt's parents after a week long visit here in Spokane. They came up one last time before heading back to Rwanda next month. Unfortunately Matt couldn't take any time off work and had an extremely busy week so he didn't get to see them as much as he would have liked, but all together we had a great time. They are so helpful with Blake and love to play with him and I was able to get some time to myself. We went strawberry picking one day at Green Bluff and brought home 24 lbs of strawberries! They just were so good....it was hard to resist! We made jam and strawberry rhubarb pie and froze bags and bags. Yum!
It was hard to say goodbye, but at least we were able to spend some time with them before they leave.

San Diego Vacation

2010-07-10T17:53:00.000-07:00

Matt, Blake and I recently returned from an amazing 10 days in San Diego with my (Ellie's) family. My brother Jake and his wife Lindsey are stationed in San Diego through the Navy and we all met up at their place, only two miles from Sea World. My parents drove down as this is part of a month long road trip for them. What an amazing and fun week it was!

We went to Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, the fair, and the beach.....though I can't say we had the warmest weather. It was mostly in the sixties and cloudy, though it often cleared up in the afternoons thank goodness. I was a little worried how Blake would do with all of the activity since he is still on a two nap schedule, but he did great and loved all of the attention! He definitely is a social little boy. He had everyone laughing hysterically one night as he got them to clap after him and then he would laugh like crazy and clap again.

We also were able to meet up with our friends Ben and Kami and their little girl Summer. Matt graduated from Moody Aviation with Ben and we haven't seen them since Ben took a job in California. It was awesome to catch up with them and enjoy some time at the beach.

Here are some pictures from the trip. We were able to get some amazing in-action whale pictures with our new camera.

Blake watching the Shamu Show. He loves it!

The family at the San Diego Zoo

Classic Meerkat pose. The Meerkats were my favorite at the Zoo. They are so cute!

Amazing flamingo picture that Matt took.

This monkey was busy grinding something along that rock. He barely noticed all the people looking at him.

The Caspars and the Scheers

Blake and Summer have a great time. Aren't they cute?

Matt and Blake looking out at the ocean.

Blake's first try with a straw.

Sand sand sand!

Dinner Cruise

2010-06-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Matt and I had the priviledge of going on a Couer D' Alene dinner cruise with much of the Moody Aviation and Spokane Turbine Center staff and their spouses, along with this year's graduating class. It was sponsored by a man who funds the Spokane Turbine Center and due to his extreme generosity we were all able to enjoy a special night out and celebrate the recent graduates! The food was amazing and we all had a blast! We were extremely lucky to have my parents come and watch Blake. They drove all the way from Seattle to take care of him so we could have a night out...are they amazing or what?!

Blake turns one!

2010-05-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we celebrated the unforgettable day our little Blake was brought into this world one year ago on May 15th. It's hard to believe how fast the time has gone and that he is already one! We had a barbecue with several family and friends present and it was a sunny, beautiful day. The best part was that Blake had a blast and loved all the attention! Here are a couple of videos and some pictures from the day.

Balloon Fun

Cake for the First Time!

First Taste of Cake!

Wow!!!

Mmmmmmmm

I Could Get Used to This!

Blake with Walker

Opening Presents with Daddy

More Presents!

Blake and Costa

Cookie Monster!

The Plan for Now

2010-05-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

We thought it would be a good idea to let people know what the plan is for us as far as overseas missions and a timeline. It seems like we have been talking about going overseas and preparing for years and years (and we have!) and yet we are still here! Is there an end in sight? The answer is yes.

We plan on applying with MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) but in order to apply with them, Matt has to have enough flight hours built up first. Missionary aviation can be very dangerous as they are usually flying into and out of the middle of nowhere (jungle terrain, runways that go uphill etc.). Mission organizations take the experience of their pilots very seriously.

Right now we are with Proclaim Aviation. Proclaim helps missionary pilot's prepare and build enough hours to be able to apply to go overseas. He is working (on loan from Proclaim) at Moody Aviation as a flight instructor, building his flight hours and preparing other young pilots for overseas service. He almost has enough hours! The contract with Moody goes through next Spring.

Matt is scheduled to take his big Technical Evaluation (TE) test with MAF next April. This is a HUGE deal. It occurs in Nampa, Idaho at the MAF headquarters and is a two week, vigorous test of both his flying skills and his knowledge of maintenance. The whole family will go for these two weeks. Part of the two weeks is a wholistic evaluation of us as a family, so Ellie and Blake are not off the hook for this TE!

Upon passing the TE, we will officially be MAF missionaries and will start orientation with them next July. During orientation we will be assigned our country of service and will begin preparations for our language studies. How exciting!!! Of course before leaving we will need to have 100% of our support raised as well. As far as where we will go, we are open to where God leads us, but our top two areas of interest are Africa and Indonesia/South Pacific. Anything can change however so we will see!

Though this preparation phase has taken a very very long time (8 years since Matt first began at Moody Aviation!), it's exciting to see how close we actually are to being able to serve our God overseas. On this journey we have learned a lot about faith, trust, and perserverance. It has also been a challenge for us to remember that we cannot just live in the future. While our ultimate goal is and always has been to go overseas to serve God, we need to be giving God our best every single day, even here in Spokane. So thanks to all of you who are going on this journey with us. Hopefully we can be as encouraging to you as you all are to us. We love your emails, blog posts, and prayers, and we'll do our best to return the love!

We Find a New Home for our Sweet Dog Leyla

2010-05-03T16:40:00.000-07:00

God recently answered a prayer for us regarding an issue that had been weighing heavily upon our shoulders for many weeks. As Blake grew old enough to move around more he became very interested in our dog Leyla. It gave him great pleasure to scoot over and try to tug her tail or pat her face. Up until then she had been fine with him but she became very nervous around him and her behavior changed. It was too risky to keep her.

Though we knew this was best, we were both very sad. We've had her since she was a puppy and even planned on taking her with us to the mission field. She definitely had some irritating personality traits but we loved her anyway. After weeks of looking for the right home without any luck, we became desperate and made an appt for her to go to the shelter. You have to understand, for us this was devastating. We both LOVE animals and this option was my worst nightmare, but we had Blake's safety to think of. I cried a lot of nights thinking of what might happen to her. After many prayers, still no answer.

On the day she was due to go to the shelter a lady emailed me wanting to meet her. We drove out to her house which was about 30 miles north of Spokane. They lived on 20 acres of the most beautiful land. Hills, trees, pastures...this place was dog heaven!!! She and her husband were older with kids grown and out of the house and she wanted a dog with lots of energy that she could take on 20 mile trail rides with the horses. Perfect! They were huge animal lovers like us and had other animals that could keep Leyla company as well. Leyla learned to get along great with the other dogs (another miracle in itself). Since then she's been able to run free and go on several trail rides, running alongside the horses and chasing squirrels, swimming in ponds, all sorts of things that dogs love. We miss her dearly but at least we know that she is even happier where she's at now. What an awesome answer to prayer!

Lakehouse

2010-04-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

After the Scheer Family visit we met my (Ellie's parents) at their lakehouse on Lake Lenore and had a nice, relaxing weekend with them. We even went to the park at Soap Lake to take some pictures with our new camera.

Family Update

2010-04-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

So we haven't been very good about keeping up our blog, seeing as the last post was in 2008, but we have decided to commit to keeping it up now so that we can stay better connected with our friends and supporters. Blake is changing so fast and we want people to be up to date with him as well!

Blake is now 11 and 1/2 months and I'm starting to plan his 1 year old birthday party! How fast this last year has gone. I (Ellie) have been SO blessed to be home with him. I've been able to be present and witness every stage this past year. I can't say that it hasn't been difficult and exhausting. There have been times I have desperately needed a break and have often felt isolated and alone. Without family here we don't have many options for babysitters and we have sacrificed a lot financially so that I can stay home. Despite those times however, Blake is an incredible blessing and we are so lucky to have such a healthy little boy!

He is now crawling and pulling himself up onto everything and seems close to walking. He has started to walk around with his little lion walker and has pretty good balance. He's also starting to understand more and more, like what we say and how to play with his toys. Instead of just chewing on things he is more purposeful about what he does with his toys. For example, he loves to drop toys into the empty bathtub, and when he climbs the stairs he will take a toy with him and work to put it on the step above him before he climbs to the next step. Yesterday for the first time we got him to copy "woof woof" after explaining the sound a doggy makes! That made our day.

Matt is still flight instructing and enjoying his work. He has the priviledge of working with 4 great students and is giving them advanced training in the Cessna 206. Not only is he rapidly building his flight hours, but he is gaining invaluable experience in the 206 which will help immensely once we are overseas.

At the beginning of the month Matt's parents and his brother Andy were able to come and visit for Easter and we had a great time with them. As usual they were so helpful with Blake and he was spoiled to pieces! Here are some pictures from their time here.

Blake with Uncle Andy

Blake looking at the clock with grandpa Scheer

Fun times with grandma Scheer

Class Picture

2008-06-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

Matt's graduating class with the new Kodiak in the background. This airplane was designed specifically for missionary aviation and is known for it's very short take-off and landing abilities.

Cross Country Flight

2008-06-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

Here are few pictures from the Moody Cross-Country flight

Matt, where did you get all that hair?

It is finished!

2008-06-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

Well we have finally started our own blog and what better way to start it off than to tell about Matt's recent graduation! We can't believe that it is finally here.....he is finished! First he had a general Moody graduation, then a couple weeks later was the Commissioning Ceremony at the hangar. That was extra special because several of the instructors spoke and they even gave the wives a "PHT" award (Putting Hubby Through)! Then they took us all outside the hangar for a symbolic flight and let 12 doves fly into the distance. After the Commissioning Ceremony, the guys left a couple of days later on their 11 day cross-country flight. Luckily the wives were able to get together for a couple of girls nights while they were gone. Sounds like they guys had a blast! Now Matt is completely finished!