Today Danner and I are celebrating our five years of marriage!!!! Praise the Lord for walking with us through our fiery tests and trials and blessed us with so many things - our Daughter Allison especially!! This morning she came running into our room, climbing on our bed and greeting us with a huge smile on her facing knowing nothing about our anniversary. I watched my husband smiling at her and studying her every move because he is so in love with her as well. I'm so thankful for such a loving husband and beautiful daughter to have and to hold.
The Lord has been faithful and good to our family. This is a BIG stepping stone for our family. We're ready for a new season that's in store for us!
Happy 2011!!!!!!
Friday, January 7
Monday, November 1
Several years ago the Lord placed the plight of the orphan on the heart of our family. We felt strongly that we are being called into the ministry of adoption. While our circumstances have not allowed us to adopt yet, we have not lost that calling in our lives.
At the beginning of the year the Lord impressed it on my heart as I watched a family from our church raise funds for their adoptive daughter Emaway from Haiti. While I was preparing a meal for my family, I prayed about what the Lord would have me do to support them. I knew that the small amount we could afford to give would not add up to much with the big price tag they had to pay to give Emaway a forever home. Then an idea came to me, I believe it was the Lord prompting me to step out and into something bigger than I could ever imagine and it would involve our entire family. We felt that the Lord was calling us to do more than just give money or pray alone. He was calling us to be His hands on the earth and go to work for the Kingdom. With my husband Danner’s blessing I contacted Shelley Womack and received her permission to make fresh homemade Vietnamese egg rolls and spring rolls to raise funds on their behalf. We moved on to praying for provision of supplies and cooking equipment. One by one people brought their deep fryer, a full tank of propane, and other items to help with our effort. The word spread fast through the facebook community and orders started pouring in to support the great cause.
Danner went from one Asian Market to another to gather ingredients to fill our orders. We packed our daughter Allison’s overnight bag and sent her to Danner’s parents so we could focus on the task. Together we prepped everything the night before and rose before dawn on Sunday to begin wrapping, frying, boxing and passing out of orders after church let out. It was not easy work but we covered ourselves in prayers and met our goal. We truly felt the Lord blessed our marriage because of the fund raiser. We were thankful when all 30 orders were picked up and money came in. We felt even more blessed when our daughter handed the money to the adopting family.
October came and we felt like it was time to do another fund raiser for Randy and Tina Kacirek’s adoptive son Maxim in Ukraine. In Ukraine and some other Eastern block countries, children who cannot feed themselves, walk or talk by the age of four are sent to institutions where they will lived the remainder of their lives. In 2006 Tina visited Torez mental institution to care for the children and pray for more doors to be opened to minister to these children. There she met Maxim and felt a special bond, a connection that could only be orchestrated by God. When she inquired about him she learned that none of these children were being allowed to be adopted because it was unknown where the paperwork for the children was. They were not registered with the adoption authorities in Ukraine. Most of these children when they die are placed in a wooden box and buried in unmarked graves behind the institution. Tina vowed the day she left Maxim, to both him and God, that if a door were opened and if a way made, she and Randy would return for him. In April of this year, Father God revealed to Tina that a way HAD indeed been made for Maxim to be adopted.
It was obvious that the Lord had weaved Maxim into our hearts before we even met the Kacirek family face to face. We were touched by his life and Randy and Tina’s dream to bring Maxim home. This time we prayed to expand our fund raiser further. The Lord answered our prayers by allowing us more time and more strategic planning to almost double our orders of eggrolls and spring rolls. This time we asked for help from family members and friends to make it a successful fund raiser. We even included our daughter in the whole process and now we are so proud that she understands the meaning of adoption at the age of two. Upon hearing about our last fund raiser, several people approached us with seed money that enabled us to get all the supplies we needed. It took us two weekends to complete all the orders. To accomplish our monetary goal I volunteered to detail a truck at a local detailing business in Siloam Springs to wrap up the whole event. When we were done we were able to see how God multiplied our work ten fold. This will not be the last fund raiser we do for families who are adopting. We plan on continuing to grow both the number of families that we can bless as well as the amount we can bless them with. We even created a name for our fund raising, S.A.V.E. (Spring rolls And Vietnamese Egg rolls) for Adoption. More than anything we want to show people that you don't have to adopt a child or give a lot of money to make a big difference in the Kingdom. Just listen to what the Father’s heart tells you and then do it. It's that simple.
At the beginning of the year the Lord impressed it on my heart as I watched a family from our church raise funds for their adoptive daughter Emaway from Haiti. While I was preparing a meal for my family, I prayed about what the Lord would have me do to support them. I knew that the small amount we could afford to give would not add up to much with the big price tag they had to pay to give Emaway a forever home. Then an idea came to me, I believe it was the Lord prompting me to step out and into something bigger than I could ever imagine and it would involve our entire family. We felt that the Lord was calling us to do more than just give money or pray alone. He was calling us to be His hands on the earth and go to work for the Kingdom. With my husband Danner’s blessing I contacted Shelley Womack and received her permission to make fresh homemade Vietnamese egg rolls and spring rolls to raise funds on their behalf. We moved on to praying for provision of supplies and cooking equipment. One by one people brought their deep fryer, a full tank of propane, and other items to help with our effort. The word spread fast through the facebook community and orders started pouring in to support the great cause.
Danner went from one Asian Market to another to gather ingredients to fill our orders. We packed our daughter Allison’s overnight bag and sent her to Danner’s parents so we could focus on the task. Together we prepped everything the night before and rose before dawn on Sunday to begin wrapping, frying, boxing and passing out of orders after church let out. It was not easy work but we covered ourselves in prayers and met our goal. We truly felt the Lord blessed our marriage because of the fund raiser. We were thankful when all 30 orders were picked up and money came in. We felt even more blessed when our daughter handed the money to the adopting family.
October came and we felt like it was time to do another fund raiser for Randy and Tina Kacirek’s adoptive son Maxim in Ukraine. In Ukraine and some other Eastern block countries, children who cannot feed themselves, walk or talk by the age of four are sent to institutions where they will lived the remainder of their lives. In 2006 Tina visited Torez mental institution to care for the children and pray for more doors to be opened to minister to these children. There she met Maxim and felt a special bond, a connection that could only be orchestrated by God. When she inquired about him she learned that none of these children were being allowed to be adopted because it was unknown where the paperwork for the children was. They were not registered with the adoption authorities in Ukraine. Most of these children when they die are placed in a wooden box and buried in unmarked graves behind the institution. Tina vowed the day she left Maxim, to both him and God, that if a door were opened and if a way made, she and Randy would return for him. In April of this year, Father God revealed to Tina that a way HAD indeed been made for Maxim to be adopted.
It was obvious that the Lord had weaved Maxim into our hearts before we even met the Kacirek family face to face. We were touched by his life and Randy and Tina’s dream to bring Maxim home. This time we prayed to expand our fund raiser further. The Lord answered our prayers by allowing us more time and more strategic planning to almost double our orders of eggrolls and spring rolls. This time we asked for help from family members and friends to make it a successful fund raiser. We even included our daughter in the whole process and now we are so proud that she understands the meaning of adoption at the age of two. Upon hearing about our last fund raiser, several people approached us with seed money that enabled us to get all the supplies we needed. It took us two weekends to complete all the orders. To accomplish our monetary goal I volunteered to detail a truck at a local detailing business in Siloam Springs to wrap up the whole event. When we were done we were able to see how God multiplied our work ten fold. This will not be the last fund raiser we do for families who are adopting. We plan on continuing to grow both the number of families that we can bless as well as the amount we can bless them with. We even created a name for our fund raising, S.A.V.E. (Spring rolls And Vietnamese Egg rolls) for Adoption. More than anything we want to show people that you don't have to adopt a child or give a lot of money to make a big difference in the Kingdom. Just listen to what the Father’s heart tells you and then do it. It's that simple.
Friday, September 17
Look What the Lord Had Done!!!!
Dear All,
Look what the Lord had blessed our family with!! Almost a year since last November Danner lost his job so we got down to just one vehicle. We made it work for our family all this time since we live right behind the Resale Store. Coming up this September 30, our lease is up and our landlord wants to sell the house, we had to look for another place. We prayed for a months for the right house for our family that God wants for us to have. Finally we found it and signed the lease! That's a blessing in itself, however, with moving away from the store, with having one vehicle between the two of us and with Danner in school full time it is hard to get me from home to work and work to pick up Allison from our babysitter (her great-grandma). So we prayed for open door on transportation. We were given a bicycle by my Director at New Beginnings so I pulled a bike trailer behind it to pick Allison up. As winter is approaching and leave little day light for me to ride safely with a child, I silently asked the Lord to protect us and provide a beat up vehicle that we can afford. Late that night I had a phone call letting me know that the Lord impressed it on a couple's to give away their vehicle as they purchased a new one. They knew it was for me even though I never met them. So, Thursday this vehicle was brought to me with it's title and everything while I was working at the store. I was like a bowl of Jello all day long as I was so speechless and praise God all afternoon.
It was such a miracle that I got to share with customers who saw it happened. I pray that their hearts were encouraged by God's faithfulness and blessings to our family. We are so blessed with one miracle after another. Since August the Lord blessed us with a vacation complete with free tickets to Disney World and Sea World. It was a very much needed time of rest, relaxation and prayers for me and Danner. Before we left we specifically asked the Lord to give us the following things: Danner's school to be completely paid for, my U.S. Citizenship application, Danner's lost wallet to be found, a house, and a mean of transportation. Shortly after we got back from Florida Danner got his wallet back with everything safe inside; his entire school year is paid for; I was given a check of $675 for my application (I'm scheduled for biometric prints on September 29); we found the perfect and fitting house for our family; given a bicycle; and finally a Yukon Denali for that will allow me to do so much with New Beginnings and of course our family!
None of these things we asked were a surprised to the Lord but they are miracles to us. We have been under attack after attack since last November and finally see God's break through for our lives. We want to share His faithfulness with you and pray that you are encouraged as well and continue to press in. We pray, too, that you'll receive abundant blessings as we have. Thank you for letting us share with you our news!!
Love and blessings,
Danner, Trang & Allison
Monday, August 2
Busy Busy
We have been so busy and enjoying every bit of our summer together as a family. It's been great with Danner going to school and having days off to spend time with me and Allison. We're loving it!! We feel like our daughter has been so blessed by it because she gets to spend so much time with Daddy and then Mommy more than most kids every do each day. The Lord is using this time to grow and nuture our family.
We're praying for a bigger house and trusting the Lord to bless us with the right one. We're not trying to be anxious and making bad decisions, but we're praying and fasting for what He has in store for us! We want Him to bless us with it because we will use it to serve others. We have so many plans of how to bless others at our home! I can't wait for all these plans to unfold!
We're getting read for our vacation in less than 3 weeks!!! Yay!! We can hardly wait. God is so good and making provisions and showing us His blessings every step of the way, of course, we've been through a few tests and trials along the way as well. Ok...more to come, Allison wants to play now.
Blessings!!!
We're praying for a bigger house and trusting the Lord to bless us with the right one. We're not trying to be anxious and making bad decisions, but we're praying and fasting for what He has in store for us! We want Him to bless us with it because we will use it to serve others. We have so many plans of how to bless others at our home! I can't wait for all these plans to unfold!
We're getting read for our vacation in less than 3 weeks!!! Yay!! We can hardly wait. God is so good and making provisions and showing us His blessings every step of the way, of course, we've been through a few tests and trials along the way as well. Ok...more to come, Allison wants to play now.
Blessings!!!
Saturday, July 17
Nice Things We Get to Enjoy As Parents
Last Monday Danner told me not to plan anything for Wednesday since it's my day off at New Beginnings Resale Store because he had a surprise for me. After several attempts trying to find out from him what the surprise was and I failed! Tuesday night finally rolled around and I asked him what we were doing the next day and he left to come back with a beautiful card with a sweet handwritten message and told me that Allison and I were going out for a Mommy-Daughter date. The card also had a gift card to Olive Garden and some money for us! Yay!!! I was all teary at how thoughtful he was. He knew I needed a day off to spend time with Allison alone so he stayed at home cleaning around the house.
So, after Allison's swim lesson we got ready for our important and much needed date!!
Having zuppa toscana before the main dish
What a delicous lunch it was!!
So, after Allison's swim lesson we got ready for our important and much needed date!!
All ready to go!!
Having zuppa toscana before the main dish
What a delicous lunch it was!!
After a delightful lunch we went to Old Navy to find something nice for us to take on our vacation this August. Found a few things for Allison and can't wait to take pictures of her in them. Yay!! We got home and took a nap and headed out again to go a surprise birthday party. What a day!!
Thank you, Danner!!! We love you so much!!!
Thursday, July 8
Do-Over....Part 2
I've been wanting to do something for Danner to redo his Father's Day gifts that he lost along with his wallet. I know that he's really into air soft stuff so I got him a plastic tote and filled it with container of 5000 air soft bee bees, a pair of safety glasses, a big bottle of Gatorade, a variety pack of sandwich crackers, a pack of camo band aid, a canister of bug spray, a pair of flip flops, a wallet to replace his stolen one, and of course a card with Allison's hand print of six fingers (see pic. below) ;-). I know these aren't very much but we are on a budget so we have to be creative with our gifts instead of the old days when we both worked full time with good jobs and can afford to give more lavishly. While I was picking out these items, the Lord gave me an idea of putting descriptions on each item and read them out to Danner as he opened take them out one by one. I even made sure the tote I gave him can perfectly contain the bee bees, glasses, and safety kit inside of them!! Go me! My creative juice is coming out slowly. He was really thankful for the gifts and even kept the descriptions inside the tote to serve as his reminders. :-) Allison was very happy that she got to prolong her bed time a little bit to watch him open his gifts from us.
The result! Allison has an invisable finger
Getting cleaned up after finger painting!!
The result! Allison has an invisable finger
(only shows up on paint and cardstock!)
A little of everything for Daddy
Helping Daddy checking out his goodies
Here's what I came up with while thinking about what to get Danner. They're so cheesy but he liked it :-)
-The wallet represents how giving you are to all those around you
-The wallet represents how giving you are to all those around you
-The bee bees are to remind you of how quick you are to help others
-The safety glasses are to fix your eyes on the Father and not the standard of this world
-The flip flops are to guide your feet toward the purpose the Father had made just for you
-The band aids are to remind you to let the Father fixes your boo boos
-The bug spray to remind you to pray away the enemy
- The cheese crackers are for nourishment and remind you of your daily bread from the Lord
-The Gatorade reminds you to allow the Father to refill your cup daily
Then comes the confession: after getting all the items looked over, Danner realized I bought him women flip flops!!! Oops, sorry honey! He returned for something better. :-) It all worked out and fun was had by all!!
Prayer Room
Our church, The Pointe, formerly known as Antioch has the house of prayer that we're trying to worship for 24/7. We're getting there as the Lord is raising up worship and prayer leaders. Last night I took Allison with me to one of the sessions after dinner and her bath. It was a treat for her because she got to stay up passed her normal 7:30 bed time.
It was so nice sitting and praying (well, kept an eye on Allison most of the time), but I love the fact that our daughter is being raised in the house of the Lord. She was really good and well behaved through the entire set. She was very loving as she got to bring her doll and a blanket along with her so she can play pretend as a mommy. I saw how she loved and took care of the doll like mothers in our church. She's been watching and learning!
The set was very nice and relaxing. It was nice to get out of the house at the same time. Though I was distracted with my baby, I know the Father was listening to my prayers. He heard my heart's cry and I know He was touched. I want to continue to get to know Him in this intimate way. I want Allison to grow up knowing the Father too. My sisters and I are thankful that our generation we get to break off the curse of our ancestors from buddhism and walk in Christ. We get to raise our children in the Lord; to know Him and make Him known. We get to start a new generation of praise and worship. I am thankful He calls me His and bless me with a beautiful family: A wonderful and supportive husband who knows my heart. A beautiful daughter who knows what prayers are. I have supportive friends and in-laws who love me. I am thankful for what I have and where I am even though sometimes I complain. Well, let me take this back, I do complain a lot of times. I am realizing each day that this is the walk with you say "yes" to the will of the Lord. It is hard. It's not suppose to be easy. It's part of laying down our lives; picking up the Cross and follow Him.
I want to commit myself to be like Anna, the prophetess, who intercede for her family and her generation. I get to make a diffence in everything I do. "He'd made me for a purpose."
It was so nice sitting and praying (well, kept an eye on Allison most of the time), but I love the fact that our daughter is being raised in the house of the Lord. She was really good and well behaved through the entire set. She was very loving as she got to bring her doll and a blanket along with her so she can play pretend as a mommy. I saw how she loved and took care of the doll like mothers in our church. She's been watching and learning!
The set was very nice and relaxing. It was nice to get out of the house at the same time. Though I was distracted with my baby, I know the Father was listening to my prayers. He heard my heart's cry and I know He was touched. I want to continue to get to know Him in this intimate way. I want Allison to grow up knowing the Father too. My sisters and I are thankful that our generation we get to break off the curse of our ancestors from buddhism and walk in Christ. We get to raise our children in the Lord; to know Him and make Him known. We get to start a new generation of praise and worship. I am thankful He calls me His and bless me with a beautiful family: A wonderful and supportive husband who knows my heart. A beautiful daughter who knows what prayers are. I have supportive friends and in-laws who love me. I am thankful for what I have and where I am even though sometimes I complain. Well, let me take this back, I do complain a lot of times. I am realizing each day that this is the walk with you say "yes" to the will of the Lord. It is hard. It's not suppose to be easy. It's part of laying down our lives; picking up the Cross and follow Him.
I want to commit myself to be like Anna, the prophetess, who intercede for her family and her generation. I get to make a diffence in everything I do. "He'd made me for a purpose."
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