CFM - First Mission Trip

NOTICE: This update is taking a while to get all the info and pictures together so check back often to read more and see some pictures!

Hey everyone! We got back from our first mission trip with Character Focus Ministries to Richmond, VA a few days ago! We had a blast teaching over 600 children the message of character, of conscience, and most importunately the message of the gospel! God blessed this trip in so many ways!

We left OKC on Monday, June 4 at 7:30am. The first obvious blessing was that we did not have any travel issues at all! The vehicles ran perfectly, gas prices came down just before we left, their were not accidents, and we only sat in traffic one time on the ENTIRE TRIP (Richmond, D.C., and more!)!

We traveled approx. 600 miles the first day and stayed the night in Dickson, TN at Restoration Church. They graciously opened their doors to us and allowed our group or 27 (including Elizabeth) to stay at no cost! In return, we were able to be ministers of Christ by leaving the church facility better than we found it. This completely shocked the janitor and pastor. They allowed us to stay their on our way home as well.

On day two we traveled approx. 650 miles to Chester, VA (south of Richmond) where we stayed in a Best Western and got a great nights sleep! The young people and adults enjoyed sleeping in the next morning while my dad and I went out and scouted the area. By the way, at McDonalds on the east cost they have an AMAZING steak egg and cheese bagel so if you are ever out there you have to try one! After dad and I scouted everything out we went to McDonalds before returning to the hotel.

We had a great time of preparation at the hotel that afternoon. God blessed us with a very hospitable manager who let us use a large conference type room in the hotel at no charge to prepare for the children's conference! We had a great time of planning, praying and ate a great lunch provided by Rachael and Kelli!

After lunch we headed over to Richmond Christian School (RCS) where we would be staying the night for most of the duration of the trip. They were VERY friendly and had a great facility that meet our needs perfectly! They had a gym that we used for a play area and the girls dorm, a chapel for worship and a guys dorm, showers and locker rooms, a washer and dryer, a kitchen area, a park area, and a cafeteria area for use to eat in! We had a great time practicing skits, preparing lessons, playing basketball and dodge ball, having worship services and more at the gym!

On Thursday we had the privilege of meeting the Richmond Volunteers. Thirteen Richmond Volunteers came to the training and all thirteen played a very significant role in the conference. In the training we covered conference logistics, teamwork, the power of praise and more! After the training, we all went to the conference exhibit hall and setup for the event! It was huge! About three times the floor space of building B at WHC! Roger made us a bunch of signs and banner that really made the room pop! He also helped us pull together a superior check in / security system that (from what I have heard) is unmatched by any of the other organizations that handled child care before! After setup we headed back to RCS for a good nights sleep before the big day.

The conference was OUTSTANDING! On Friday and Saturday we had three children come to Christ and over 75% raise their hand to ask their parents about who Jesus is that evening! 613 children attended on Friday and about 400 attended on Saturday. We were able to share Christ with the children on both days and on day two we did a parent presentation right after the key note speaker! The HEAV team was very organized and did a great job. All the volunteers (OKC and Richmond) did outstanding and I have no complaints! Way to go team! After the last day we let out a big cheer and sigh or relief as we saw what the Lord had accomplished through us.

Needless to say we crashed after that. We took it easy on Sunday; slept in, games, rest, etc. We ended the day with a worship service. It was a nice day to enjoy each others fellowship and rest.

Early Monday we took of for D.C. Most of the young people had never been so it was a big hit! We saw the clock tower, Washington Monument, Abe Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol, some Smithsonian Museums, the White House and more! We had a tour of the Capitol setup for Tuesday. It was so neat to be in a place that had been around for so long and to see the Christian heritage that was evident through the building.

One of the big hits and great decisions was to ride the rails into Washington from about 30 miles out. It saved so much time and traffic! The Lord really directed our steps.

When driving things couldn't have gone better. The Lord always put us in the right lane to take us through. At one time we took a lane that lead us around a big accident with an overturned semi! Praise the Lord for His protection!

After D.C. on Tuesday we headed back to RCS. It rained SOOO hard on us we could barely see! God protected us in the rain and we actually beat the rain back to the school by about 5 min... enough time to unload everything in dry weather!

The stories and the blessings go on and on and on for this trip! God has also provided us with new vision on how to reach more children and youth in the future! We are so excited to see what God is doing and how this ministry is positively affecting the lives of children, youth and families across the nation! Please be in prayer with us and feel free to talk to anyone that went to find out more about God's blessing on this trip.

To conclude, all the volunteers made it home safely, refreshed, and Spiritually motivated to impact eternity and walk in the Spirit. What a great testimony to end such a wonderful journey. Keep us in your prayers!

Check out the web album for more pictures!

In Christ,
Brandon and Rachael Werner

Little Fashion Queen

The trip was wonderful. Brandon will be posting trip details and pictures in the very near future. I had a few minutes and wanted to show you these few pics. Elizabeth is very blessed to have aunts that will keep her in style! Mommy is more into comfort clothes. : ) We made a stop at a Wal-mart during the trip and Aunt Lauren got Elizabeth some sun glasses. It was so cute! This was the smallest pair they had - they are a little to big.











Because of the size of the glasses her passy kind of overlapped them. Therefore every time she sucked on her passy to make it go up-down-up-down so did her glasses. We all thought it was pretty adorable!

Conference Update

Things are going very well! The Lord's hand of blessing was evident as we traveled. We made great time and the gas prices were not bad either. (cheaper than at home.) Currently we are staying at a christian school in Richmond. Today is Thursday and we are getting ready to begin the volunteer training and set up day. Tomarrow starts the real fun with all the kids! We are so excited to see what the Lord has in store.
Elizabeth has done great! She is a born missionary. : ) Traveling seemed to be no problem for her. We have some great pictures of her we'll post later.
Overall things are wonderful. I'm sorry I don't have more time to update - you can have the full version later.

Keep praying!

Blessings,
Brandon and Rachael

This should bring you up to date.

As great as my life is right now I must say - it never seems to slow down! We finally have internet connection at our house. However, contrary to my expectation, I still don’t have “extra” time to sit down and blog regularly; maybe after we get back from this conference.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth! Today she is one month old! If the next eighteen years go as quickly as the first month then I had better not take for granted any moments I have with her. We still love watching her every movement. She is just so cute! Our nights are going as well as can be expected. She usually wakes up twice during the night to eat but quickly goes right back to sleep. She seems to be healthy and growing quickly. At the doctor last week she weighed just under 8lbs. I love it that she is starting to smile at me and seems at least a little interested in a few of her toys. A couple weeks ago she rolled over from her tummy to her back twice. Unfortunately I didn’t see it. : ( I thought it was probably accidental but since then she has done it three or four more times. I was glad to finally catch her in the act yesterday. It still may not be on purpose but I suppose that is how she will learn.

We are busy, busy, busy getting ready for our departure to Richmond, Virginia for the out of state pilot conference for Character Focus Ministries. We are expecting this conference to have approximately 500 children for 2 full days as well as a training day for the volunteers we will be working with from there. We are excited about the team the Lord has put together from here and are looking forward to what He is planning to do through us for his kingdom. Please be in prayer for us as we finish all of the many preparations and while we are there June 4-14.


Mother’s Day was very special this year! Brandon did a wonderful job helping Elizabeth honor me. He bought me a corsage, some roses, and a shirt.

At church that day we had the baby dedication service. Although Brandon and I together gave Elizabeth to the Lord in the hospital we wanted to take advantage of this time to publicly dedicate her to the Lord. It was such a special time and made the day even better for me. We pray Elizabeth will follow the Lord with all of her heart, all of her days.


After church we spent Lunch with Brandon’s mom and dinner with mine. It was a wonderful day! We enjoyed spending time with our families and blessing our mothers for all they do for us. Needless to say, they enjoy our new blessing as well. :)



Elizabeth’s first vacation was when she was 10 days old. We went to Lake Ten Killer with Brandon’s mom and dad and stayed in a cabin there. The plans were changed by unanticipated circumstances and mom and dad had to leave the day after we got there. Brandon and I went ahead and stayed a few more days with Justin.

The next week mom and dad went back and at the last minute Brandon and I went with them. The weather was nice so they got out the jet skis and put them on the water. Even though I didn’t bring a swim suit Brandon took me for a spin. It was a lot of fun and Elizabeth enjoyed it too! I still haven’t decided if Elizabeth or Papa and Nanny enjoyed it more.

Papa and Nanny loved going to the lake with their first grandaughter! We are excited about going back this July with the whole family!













Well that should pretty much bring you up to date. Sorry it has been so long. I will try to do better about posting more often.

Blessings,
Rachael

Finally... Pictures of Elizabeth Grace!

Wow! What an indescribable feeling to be a mommy. Elizabeth is doing very well. At night she sleeps, except for her feedings. She doesn’t seem to be a fussy very much at all. Sometimes I wonder if I am going to wake up one day and this will have all just been a “season” or did I just get really blessed with a good baby or is this really the way things are going to be. Either way we have been trying very hard not to spoil her and even at her young age, start getting her used to bedtime routines and schedules.
I love letting her little eyes find mine and her little hands grasp my fingers. Something else I love to soak in is watching Brandon sleep on the couch while Elizabeth sleeps curled up on his chest. He is such a great daddy! Yes, life is different and I am still trying to learn and adjust to life with a baby but it is all going well. I feel so blessed to have this little life placed in our care. What a joy, what a task, what an adventure!

The labor and delivery went really well. Brandon was a wonderful labor support person; I couldn't have done it without him! Labor started on Saturday around 4:00pm, got hard around 10:30pm and ended at 1:04pm Sunday afternoon. What an experience!

To see pictures of Elizabeth, visit our web album by clicking the link below.

Elizabeth Grace Werner - Birth

More pictures soon,
Rachael

New Arival!

Elizabeth Grace is here! I know you all want to see pictures but our life has been a little unorganized recently. Rachael will be writting an update and then she will be posting pictures and a new web album! For now, all I have is the specs.

Elizabeth Grace
Born on April 22, 2007 at 1:04pm
Weight: 6.13 Hieght: 19in.

Rachael and the baby are doing great! I am getting internet at our house so that Rachael can post pictures, updates, and more often for your enjoyment. We are going out of town this weekend so check back soon for updates on the baby, our trip, and more!

Many Blessings!
-Brandon

Just a Waitin'

Although we officially have nine more days until the actual due date of our new arrival it feels like it is just a waiting game now. To think it could be any moment is so exciting! I know the Lord has the perfect day and time for Elizabeth to make an official entrance into the world but the waiting is a little difficult. I am so grateful to still be feeling so well. It seems almost to good to be true. In some ways it doesn't even feel like it is "time".

On the 10th of April our church had a baby shower for us. The love and blessing we felt was indescribable. All of the preparation, people in attendance, and wonderful gifts made us feel so loved! We received a stroller and car seat travel system so now we officially can bring Elizabeth home from the hospital. :) I was also very excited to receive an album and other cropping supplies to preserve all of these precious memories for generations to come. There were many cute little outfits given. Some people say I am going to have to change her more than once a day in order to let her wear them all. The shower was so much fun and...wow... I just can't describe it! Our family, both church and blood, loves us so much and we can feel it!!!
I will be posting some pictures of the shower soon.

After the shower Brandon helped me open all the gifts and organize, organize, organize! It was actually really fun. Not only did we completely organize and prepare the nursery we went ahead and did all of our spring cleaning. Brandon is a great organizer and I could not have done near the things we got done without him! It just doesn't seem like there is much more we could do in order to prepare for Elizabeth. It is wonderful to have a very clean house! :)

Thank you all very much for praying for my family during the loss of my Great Grandma. The funeral services were good and although my voice wasn't "normal" I was able to sing with my sisters.

May the Lord bless each one of your households!!

Rachael

Trust in the Lord

“Trust in Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In ALL your ways acknowledge Him and HE SHALL direct your path.”

Life is full of giants. Giant bills. Giant task. Giant problems. Giant temptations. Giant decisions. At times it feels like these giants are to big for us to handle. The truth is... they are.

We cannot face the giants alone or in our own strength. We grow tiered. We grow weary.

"But those who wait on the Lord will RENEW their strength. They will mount up on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint."

Where is your trust? Where is your strength? When life knocks you down what do you do? Do you grow weary or do you put your trust in the almighty God who is in control of everything that happens? God is still on the throne! He is the same yesterday, today and forever! And no matter what man may try, no matter what happens to you, nothing will remove Him from His throne. He is eternally steadfast.

And what does He ask from you? The same thing He has been asking from the beginning of time. For you to love Him more than anything. “Love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.” Love Him more then sin. Love Him more then self. Love Him more then family. Love Him more then friends. Love Him more then dreams. Love Him more then desires. Love Him.

When we do this, we will unlock a relationship with our Savior that will surpass all others. Why? Because He loves us with pure and undefiled love. He loves us with a love that nobody else can. How do I know? Because He proved it:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; that whosoever believes in Him should not parish but have everlasting life.”



The Lord directed me to share this with you all today. I am not sure who this is for but I pray it will minister to you all. May you stand in awe in the presence of His love today and put your full trust in Him. If you would like for Rachael and I to pray for you please feel free to leave us a comment or catch up with us later. We love you all!

In Christ,
-Brandon