Callie Joy Scheer

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

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!

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?

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

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!

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!