It’s been two and a half months since you heard from me last... just
before my trip to the Ukraine. I went with a team made up of friends
from Australia, NZ, Sweden and America. I had invited afew of my friends
to join me on this trip... knowing that they would go and be a blessing,
but also aware that if they came, God would reveal Himself to them in a
fresh new way!
That is exactly what happened! What an amazing time.! There’s so much I
would like to tell you about what God is doing in Ukraine, and
specifically with the Joshua House, however, I will try to keep those
details short for now because I have an exciting announcement about how
God had a big surprise waiting for me on this trip!
It is always so hard for me to put into words what I experience when I
am in Ukraine, especially when I am around the Joshua House family. I
just feel such anticipation and expectation about what God is doing and is about to do in that land. This trip in particular happened the week
of the Joshua house camp. It was a camp for the kids who live there in
the house, but is also an outreach to the orphans in the surrounding
region. I never really know what to expect when God sends me to a place,
but He always knows exactly what I need. I went to Ukraine with a heart
to serve, as always, and once again got so much more out of it than I
could have dreamed! I was flooded with the peace of God and completely
refreshed with a new energy to be able to do all that God has put in my
heart. I love to dream! And this trip was all about dreaming. I was so
inspired as I walked the land in Turka with Jim & Sandy McCann talking,
praying and planning how God would use us to rebuild and restore this
broken community.
Just a couple of days before I was supposed to leave to go home, I had a
meeting with Jim & Sandy in which they asked me if I would be the
spokesperson for The Joshua House. Of course I said yes! That is basically what I have been doing anyway...they just made it official. I
knew from my first trip to Ukraine over a year ago that I was supposed
be a voice for the abused and abandoned children in this little corner of the world. I could honestly say that by the end of the week every
expectation that I had for the trip had been met. Then God came in, as
He does, and gave me the surprise of my life!
So now for the really exciting news! I told you before that some of my
friends came with me to Ukraine...one of those friends was Jeremy
Everett from New Zealand. My thoughts were that I would invite my
friend, the business man, to come see what we want to do to build homes
and businesses in Turka. I thought he might have some good ideas of how
we could change the economy of the region. That part went as planned, but I wasn't expecting what came next...
The short version is that I arrived back in Sydney with an engagement
ring, and in a months time will be getting married to Jeremy Everett! If
you have already heard the story, please bear with me!
Those of you who are not so interested in details (the men) you can skip
the next few paragraphs. For the ladies I need to go as far back as when
Beto and I were on our 1st outreach trip to NZ in 2000. This is when I first met Jeremy. Over our next four years living in NZ, Jeremy became
one of the now infamous “Beto’s guys” (as mentioned in my book). After
Beto died I hadn’t really been in contact with Jeremy since the memorial service in October in 2005...until this past March when he was in Sydney
visiting some mutual friends. He was a businessman living in NZ at the
time and after hearing about my involvement with JH and Ukraine, decided that he wanted to get involved with the project as well. Over the next
few months Jeremy made several trips to Sydney...visiting every couple
of weeks to strategize over Ukraine, although he often ended up spending most of his time being "Uncle Jeremy" to the boys. Needless to say he
fell in love with them first and then started to think I wasn’t so bad
myself. Being completely clueless...I was just a mom at the best of times and would have never suspected that God was up to something! In
Jeremy I had found a friend who I could trust without any complications.
Life as a single mom raising three boys and trying to build a community in the mountains of Ukraine has enough complications of its own. Jeremy
was safe because he was just part of the 'team' or so I thought...
Jeremy went to Ukraine already sold out for the vision but by the end of
the trip had realized that this wasn’t something for him to support
indirectly as much as commit to wholeheartedly. For him he needed to
make this decision for himself, outside of any feelings for me which had
developed more in the few months leading up to the trip. Not wanting to
jeopardize the relationship with the kids he’d grown so fond of, Jeremy
was reluctant to make a move. He wanted to be sure in his heart that he
was willing to spend the rest of his life with me, and also take on
these three zealous boys. A decision not to be made lightly… Especially
with him not knowing or sensing any mutual feelings from me.
The week before we arrived in Ukraine, Jeremy made a champion effort to
gain any hint of chance from me, without any success. A comment he left
me with (after what is now looking back a very humorous skype conversation) was that he was going to work on his résumé for the
position of husband to which I had to laugh – he was still ‘Jeremy’ –
Uncle Jeremy, Beto’s friend, my little brothers age, cute but not that
kind of attraction, but he was the guy who I was going to send my next
husband to for training… So with two days to go before I was to leave
Ukraine, Jeremy sat me down (still unsure of whether I liked him or not)
and shared with me that he wasn’t actually joking about the résumé. He
was ready to apply for the position of husband to me and father to the
boys. The best way to explain what happened to me in that moment was
that God literally lifted the veil and in a moment everything changed!
It was as if God let me see Jeremy in the way He sees him and I was
ready there and then to marry this man who God had kept a secret from me
all this time; probably to save Jeremy from me and all my insecurities! As Jeremy shared his heart, the many promises and words spoken over my
life in the past 3 years all began to flood my mind. The pieces of the
puzzle fell into place and God, in a way that only He can, did more than I could ever ask or think. I have often said that if God is able to do,
"exceedingly, abundantly above all we could ask or think" (Ephesians
3:20), then He must have a pretty amazing future in store for me because
I have a pretty wild imagination and can ask for and think about really
big things! We truly serve an amazing God who dares us to believe.
Jeremy followed me back to Alabama and with the approval of dad, Pastor
Rusty, and the boys, he asked me to marry him… I said yes (of course)!
We decided on an October wedding basically two months from when he proposed. After announcing this to the boys (thinking they would be
excited) Isaac responded… “Two months?! Why do we have to wait so
long..?” I'm sure some of you are wondering, "What's the rush to get married so soon?" All I can tell you is that when you know that it is a
’God thing' why wait? Also, if you would have been in my house every
night for the past 2 1/2 years or more hearing the bedtime prayers of my three boys asking for a new dad...you probably wouldn't question if it
was all in God's timing! I believe God just heard their prayers and
answered. So as you can imagine it has been a pretty busy time for
Jeremy and I as we are going through two pre-marriage counseling crash
courses, have a wedding to plan, then Jeremy relocating from Auckland,
NZ to Sydney, Australia, and let’s not forget all of our dreams for
Ukraine and the work that has begun there. All of that is in addition to
the regular everyday routine of maintaining a home, three boys & Jeremy's business. Pray that God will continue to give us the grace to
manage all that needs to be done.
Due to the fact that we have friends all over the world who may be
unable to attend the wedding, we decided to have an intimate ceremony in
New Zealand on October 5th with immediate family only. For those of you interested we will be having an open celebration brunch in Auckland on
October 11th (Sat) – invitations to follow. And for our friends in the
States we hope to be able to do something similar in Alabama sometime in November (if time permits).
Thank you to all of you who continue to support me faithfully. I
appreciate all of your prayers and financial gifts. I know it is hard
for you to comprehend the full impact of your giving, but just know that
what you do is making a big difference. Not only are the lives of
Ukrainians in Turka being impacted, but through the testimony of what
God is doing there, I am seeing people all around the world being
inspired and stirred to action. The ripple effect of your giving is
unending! I pray that God will bless you and your family in all you do because of your generous hearts to sow into my family and the vision God
has for us! I guess the next time you hear from me I will be writing as
"Mrs. Everett" the wife of the amazing Mr. Jeremy Everett! ;o)