March Newsletter

Six weeks! We have made it through the first 6 weeks. To celebrate, we de-hospitalized the house and finally got some much needed work done on our Jeep. The steering was freezing up, our tires were bald and leaking air, and we needed an alignment. I found myself airing up the tires late at night in snow storms and cold temperatures wondering why we didn't take care of all this before John’s surgery. But we didn't have the time or money to do much about it. I don’t want you to feel like I am complaining because really, I am not (although I might have been at the time), I just want you to rejoice with me in God’s provisions! To say God has blessed us through this surgery would be an understatement! From the hospital bed and equipment for our home, that was loaned to us, to the meals, groceries, gas cards and gift cards, to the friends and neighbors who cleared the snow from our driveway and Jose of Jose’s Mexican Restaurant surprising John with a meal one night, we have been awed by God’s love and care for us. And then there were all the generous financial gifts that came in. I cannot tell you how floored we were every time another gift showed up and every time we got another check, we saw God providing a way to fix the Jeep. So this week were able to walk into the shop with cash and drive out with a dependable vehicle. That has been such a load off our minds this week and no more driving around to find an air compressor that works in Baraboo.


The other thing we did to celebrate is go to Madison for John’s 6 week Doctor appointment. The x-rays look good and there is a little evidence of some bone growth and that is what we were looking for. Now John can start some physical therapy and start to increase his strength. He is moving around well but doesn't have the strength to do anything for very long. He tires very quickly and gets really sore easily. He should start working part-time in the next couple of weeks and he is looking forward to getting out of the house some. Please continue to pray for a complete recovery. We know that most major surgeries don’t go by without some complications but really... there haven’t been any so far, and we feel so blessed because of that.

At Expeditions, we are getting closer and closer to covering all the costs of moving and remodeling the cabins. We are within $5000 of our goal! A couple weeks ago, Culver’s in Wisconsin Dells held a Fundraiser for Expeditions where our staff served the customers and a portion of the day’s profits went towards our cabin fundraising. Our family didn't get to partake in the serving but we did get to partake in eating some food and $2063 was raised! Another thing to praise God for is a wonderful Winter Retreat Season. In our last newsletter we mentioned our concern and need for winter weather and God has blessed us with just that! Along with that there have been numerous lives given to Christ, both for the first time and as a re-dedication. We have so much to praise God for right now! Please remember us in your prayers and praise Him with us!

Partner With Us

Currently we are desperately needing monthly supporters! We need to raise $400 more a month. Will you help us? If we had 16 people support us at $25 a month or 10 at $40 we would be there! Please pray about it and see how God leads you. THANK YOU  for your continued support through your prayer and financial gifts. Checks can be written out to Expeditions Unlimited with our ministry number “02103” in the memo and mailed to E11844 County Road D L Baraboo WI 53913.

One week later

Today marks one week since John had his surgery. The surgery went really well and only took 3 1/2 hours. Only time will tell if the surgery did what we were hoping it would do but we have no doubts that God has had his hand in this whole journey. Over and over we see how he worked out every little detail. The staff at St. Mary’s did an exceptional job with John. He stayed there 4 days and 3 nights. I can’t believe you can cut out a portion of a man’s back, replace it and have him standing next to his bed (twice) within 12 hours. The next 2 days were a struggle of pain management but, again, they did an amazing job helping John through it. I stayed at the hospital for the first 3 days (mostly due to the snow and ice storm) and by Thursday night, when I finally made it home to sleep, I figured I had slept 6 of 65 hours. Friday, they sent John home which was an agonizing hour drive home over the ice crusted, snow covered and bumpy roads. The first night was difficult because, as much as we tried, we couldn't find a comfortable place for John to rest. Praise God, the next day my mom was able to locate a hospital bed through St. Vincent De Paul for free. A neighbor was in our driveway shoveling when my mom called and said she could pick it up but needed help. Our neighbor jumped in his truck, met my mom and helped haul the bed into our living room! That morning was such an encouragement to John. He has been able to sleep and rest comfortably since! He still needs his walker to get around but he is getting faster and faster with it. Just 2 days ago his movements were very labored, even with the walker, so I am excited to see him “cruising” around the house. We have also been blessed, beyond what we could have ever imagined, with meals and financial gifts to help us through this time! I have been awed at the generosity of others. God has used each and every one of your encouraging words, meals, groceries, gift cards and gifts to remind us of his love for us! Thank you! Please keep us in your prayers as I know the road is still long. I apologize that this is the first ‘official’ update I have given since the surgery but communication at the hospital was difficult and I feel like I have been sleeping as much as John since we got home. Nonetheless, I knew people were praying for us because we felt such peace and such comfort through it all. There were a couple times that I felt so alone at the hospital (Because of the snow, I couldn't get home and no one could get to us) but God used a text message or an email to remind me that there were so many people praying for us and an overwhelming peace came over me. Thanks again for praying for us.

I Know Who Holds Tomorrow

Today is a day of mixed emotions. As much as we are relieved this day, and the hope it brings, has finally arrived, we are also keenly aware of the trials that await us. I have to admit that my stomach churns a little bit at the thought of what lies ahead. But this is the road God has given us to travel and He has not sent us down some dark and dangerous path alone. No, He is leading us and walking beside us to a place he has prepared. HE has laid the foundations for this path and will never leave us or forsake us! He has asked us to trust him with all of our hearts and not to lean on our own understanding. So we are feeling as prepared as we can be. I am sure there will be times that we question if we did the right thing, days where we will wonder if it is worth it and moments where we struggle to find peace. I pray in those moments we can feel your prayers and that God’s Words will speak to us. I pray that we will remember that “anything that makes us need God, is a blessing.”

January Newsletter

Happy New Year! We hope your Christmas celebrations were blessed and that you are ready for all God has in store for you in 2013. Our family said goodbye to 2012 and welcomed the new year with anticipation. We have no idea what the rest of this year is going to look like for us and that is a little scary. But God knows and we trust him.

January 29th, John will undergo a two level fusion in his spine. We have prayed about this for some time now and feel that there really is no other option. John’s mobility and ability to do daily tasks, even as simple as putting on shoes, has decreased and his pain has increased. At this point all of his energy and strength is expended at work and by the time he gets home, all he can do is recover for the next day. As much as this has caused us to grow as a family and in our relationships with the Lord, it has also been difficult on our family, probably in more ways than we even realize. Ethan is 10 and needs his dad to keep up with him, wrestle with him and do the things that dads do.  This is so heavy on our hearts as parents especially when we think where John will be at next year if something is not done.  It is exciting to see God open the doors for this surgery and we are confident he is leading us down this road whatever that entails. Over and over, we hear wonderful things about John’s Neurosurgeon and feel that is another confirmation of God’s leading. The recovery is what we are most apprehensive about but again, we trust in the Lord. John will be at home recovering for two to three months and then hopefully fully “recovered” by six months. Obviously he will not regain everything he has lost, but he should have more mobility than he does now and a lot less pain.

Before John ‘s surgery, he and the crew at Expeditions have been working hard to get the new cabins up and going. Boilers are heating, water is running and bunks are built in half of the cabins and the rest should be ready by the end of next week. A few warm days here are likely to throw a hiccup in our winter activities but you can be praying for more winter weather. It is a big part of our winter ministry.

Expeditions is already compiling a list of light-duty jobs for John to do as he eases back into work. We hope this will happen sooner than later so that Expeditions will not be shorthanded for too long. We just aren’t sure what it will look like as John resumes working but we desire to serve Expeditions in any way possible. Your continued giving and prayers are greatly appreciated and vital to us, especially through this difficult time.


PRAY for the Doctors and Nurses that will attend to John. Pray for steady hands and clear thinking. And pray for peace for our family as we approach John’s surgery and long recovery.

PRAY for Expeditions as they finish the winter season short-handed and for much needed winter weather!

THANK YOU  for your continued support through your prayer and financial gifts. Checks can be written out to Expeditions Unlimited with our ministry number “02103” in the memo and mailed to E11844 County Road D L Baraboo WI 53913.

October's Newsletter

Whew! What a summer! This summer flew by so fast and here we are halfway through our fall season already. The number of campers Expeditions Unlimited has served has grown from 1000 campers in 2004 to 2,050 this summer alone! This season's campers came from over 50 churches and organizations located throughout the Midwest. With the growing number of campers and the need to demolish some very old cabins, we had asked for your continued prayer in our last newsletter. Now, after six long years of prayer, God provided - in His perfect timing - twelve cabins and a three-bedroom house that have been successfully moved, from the old Pine Beach Resort in Lake Delton, fourteen miles to Expeditions Unlimited.  John and many other volunteers put in 8 foundations and 3 basements. In addition to the work on the cabins, John guided 12 trips. All of this happened during Camp’s peak season with record numbers of campers. So again, I say, “Whew!” Praise be to God that $136,000 of the $150,000 it costs to move and renovate the cabins, has been raised. That leaves ONLY $14,000 to raise! God is so good!

This fall we have kicked off our Outdoor Education Program. So far the response has been amazing and the winter and spring months are filling up. We are so thankful for all the hard work Bri has been investing in this program and are anxious to see what God does with it.

John continues to be in pain as a result of his degenerative discs in his back, so we have been seeing a specialist in Madison regularly to try to narrow down the source of the pain. Through many different tests and procedures it seems as though a two-level fusion of his vertebrae is in the near future. In the next two weeks we will hopefully know for sure but at this point there is no other option besides living with the pain the rest of his life. This is a difficult decision but it also offers hope. Hope of some relief and the possibility of being able to do thing things he used to do. Please lift up the doctors and our family through this decision. Pray for wisdom and God’s timing.

PRAY that we would serve well and be an encouragement to every camper that steps through our doors. 

PRAY for our family as we face the possibility of John’s surgery and long recovery.

PRAY and CONSIDER if you might be able to partner with us financially. We are in great need of monthly supporters. If this is something God is leading you to do, please give us a call or send us an email.

The Training Continues

Today the guides are training in Swift Water Rescue. Tomorrow will conclude guide training for 2012. Let the campers come!


High Ropes

"They call me T-Bird"

Climbing Day at Devil's Lake

A Productive Day

John and several volunteers poured the third foundation today for the new cabins. Only 4 more to go. The other cabins will be sitting on existing foundations.

And here is a shot of the Guides on the Challenge Course. Tomorrow is High Ropes!

Canoeing and Caving

The Guides spent the night canoeing and sleeping on the sandbar last night. Got a little muddy caving today. Tomorrow Challenge Course

Guide Training

Sunday started our first day of Guide Training for the summer of 2012! We had a fun time of getting to know one another and playing some name games. Yesterday they spent the day on the river and they are doing the same today along with a little caving! Pray for unity, spiritual growth and safety. Here is a picture of our guides minus John and Hunter.

Destruction and Construction

Over the last few years, cabins have been torn down here and there to either get rid of irreparable structures or replace them with a usable cabin. Now with the donation of an old resort's 11 cabins, we need to make some more space. This was quaint and maybe a little scary craft cabin that is "on the list" for removal to make room for a new one and I don't think too many are sad about seeing it go. Ok, maybe a few of us :)

Feedback

John and I are trying to figure out the best way/s to communicate with you about this ministry and we would like to know how many people actually end up reading this blog. So I was wondering if you could just leave a comment below, or email me and tell me how you read this blog?

Do you follow?

Do you get an email when there is a new post?

Do you just check it once in a while?

Does the post get emailed directly to you?

Thanks for taking a minute to do this!

A Day of Prayer

Today, our camp staff took the day off from our typical duties and spent the day praying together. How awesome is that! I was able to go out and take part this morning. The rest of the staff should be wrapping up about now but I am asking you to start now. As you are reading this would you pick one thing off the list and spend a minute praying about it. If you want to pick several items and spend an hour, please do, but anything would be appreciated! He is the list of things we spent the day praying for:

Our Full Time Staff and Their Families

Our Summer Staff

The Students Attending Camp

The Hearts and Growth of Both Staff and Campers

Safety of Both Staff and Campers

The Vision, Funding and Logistics of Moving the Donated Cabins

The Nordic Pines and the Ministry that takes place there

Camp's Finances

The Camp's Board Members and their Families

Ops Center

This was the big project of 2011 at Expeditions, an Operations Center. Up to this point, all the tools and supplies were stored in various trailers and cabins. God blessed Expeditions with this building that allows everything to be stored in one place. It also provides a warm shop to work in during the winter months.

John and Ethan examining the bobcat

Climbing Wall Addition

Recently, Expeditions added on to the climbing wall. We have been using it more and more, including opening it up to the community on Tuesday nights. Here are a few pictures of the construction and one picture of it in use during one of the community nights.

Ethan checking it all out!

Finished climbing wall during a Tuesday night. Ethan and John are the two on the far right side.

Thanks for your prayers

John's Epidural Steroid Shot was today and the procedure went well. It was not nearly as painful as the last time he had one in 2009, and we are thankful for that. The rest of day proved to be uncomfortable, but this evening, he seems to be doing a little bit better. Please pray that this steroid will relieve some of his pain. Have a great weekend!

Youth Worker Retreat

We love it when we get to serve the youth pastors and workers that bring their groups to camp! Here are few pictures from the retreat we hosted Monday and Tuesday this week.

Climbing Day at the Lake

Great Day Climbing with Silver Birch Ranch and their NBI Crew

A Shot in the Back

A while back I asked you to pray for John when he received Nerve Root Injections in two nerves. Thank you for praying. The procedure went well, however, the results were not what we had hoped for. We were supposed to see relief within a couple days to a few weeks. As far as he can tell, he still hasn't seen any improvement. He did start physical therapy in the time since and continues to take a couple different pain killers to try and eliminate some of the pain. While he does have some days of relief, he isn't seeing an increased improvement. This Friday, the 20th, John will get another Epidural Steroid shot in his spinal canal. PLEASE pray for relief and encouragement for John. He is pretty discouraged about the whole situation.

I was listening to a Nancy Leigh Demoss radio show the other day and she was talking about trials in life and the one thing that really stuck with me was this quote, "Anything that makes me need God, is a blessing". I have to admit, it is downright difficult to see John's degenerative discs as a blessing, but in the end, if it draws us into a more intimate relationship with him, it IS a blessing. Then my mind went back to a conversation I had with John where he shared a song that had been an encouragement to him and guess what the name of the song was? Blessings! I pray that we can see all of this as a blessing, no matter how hard it is! Listen to it here or read the lyrics below.

Laura Story: Blessings

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
As long as we have faith to believe

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

A Day at the Museum

Easter weekend, John was given 5 days off and we were determined to spend some time together as a family, NOT doing projects around the house. A supporter of our family knew of this and made it possible for us to spend a day in Chicago at the Museum of Science and Industry. This was such a treat and I am pretty sure this is a trip Ethan won't forget. You see, he has been a long time fan of the science show, Mythbusters, and for a limited time, MSI has a Mythbusters exhibit. He was able to see show memorabilia and try to bust a few myths himself! I thought I would post a few pictures and send out a huge "Thank You" to the one who made it possible!

Checking out the U 505

The Wright men checking out The Wright Brothers Exhibit

Ethan was a little nervous here, ha!

He's one bright kid!

FINALLY! We reached the Mythbusters exhibit and the Duct Tape boat.

Trying to find out if you get wetter running in the rain or walking.

The black light showed the water drops on your clothing

Ethan trying to pull a table cloth out from under the dishes.

Bunk Beds

I mentioned in our newsletter that John and the crew were building some new bunkbeds and I have few pictures to share with you of that process!