Terrific Tuesday....Our hearts are full!

Sunset at Ludington Beach, August 2012

 Our hearts are full of so much gratefulness to the Lord for His wonderful provision!  Yesterday, after chatting with a Facebook friend,  I opened a message from another Facebook friend.  She asked me if I would be interested in working for a Wellness company answering phones from my home from 3-6 PM, Monday through Friday.  She said what the pay would be and that if I was interested, to let her know.  Immediately, I replied with a few questions and then hooked up with a phone call.  This is such a perfect fit for me.  She said, "For some reason, your name kept coming to my mind, with your health problems and all."  Thank you so much, Lord, for your continued provision for our family!  I told her I wanted to run it by Keith first and call her back.

When Keith arrived home, we met at a fast food place for a sandwich; we call it our cheap date BOGO plus senior drinks, you can't beat it.  Ha ha!!!  After he prayed, I began telling him about this company and then how I got this job offer.  Tears came to his eyes, he was so excited to see how, once again, God provided.
We also get our Internet paid for, and they will provide their own equipment for me to work on, of course.  There is a chance the hours could increase up to 20 per week.  Hopefully, everything will work out great and  I can learn all this techie stuff!  I'm so excited, to say the least.  It's so good to feel that I'll be able to help out our situation by being able to contribute and help out our family.

"Praise the Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord, for

he is good.."

Psalm 106:1, 2

This photo was taken the same night as the above sunset photo, just a few minutes later.

News from "Mr. Keith"

Monday, Keith had somewhat of a rough day.  All I could do is try to keep encouraging him.  Tuesday, he left full of anxiety.  We prayed together before he left and gave the day to the Lord.  We also prayed the Lord would work in the students' hearts to begin to soften them and to focus on what Keith had for them in class.  

Yesterday, Keith called me at noon saying he had one of the best days ever.  One young lady in particular seems to butt heads with him.  On Monday, he was able to talk to her one on one, and ask her why she's always challenging him.  She couldn't believe that she had that much control over the class, when she's there.  She replied to Keith, "You mean the class is different when I'm not here?"  He said, "Yes."  After this talk, she was very quiet during the rest of the day.  Then, she left early on Monday later afternoon, because of a migraine.  She was not in class yesterday; she still had her migraine.  It's just so amazing how one person can set the tone for the class.  It was totally different, he said.  They actually laughed and had some fun.  

On Monday, Keith was also able to pray with one of the young ladies that was on her way to court with her daughter.  Her daughter had gotten into some trouble and it ended up that she didn't get as hard of a sentence as she could have.  They both were grateful.  Yesterday, she thanked Keith for praying for her and her daughter.  

I know I keep thanking everyone for praying and how very much we appreciate you.  They seem like such small words, but they mean so much.  God is definitely answering our prayers, one by one.  We are just so grateful for our faithful family and friends who are praying for us continually.  

Three Down and Three to Go....

Keith has completed his third week teaching his students in Battle Creek.  This week was probably the most challenging that he's had so far.  He has had to come up some extra activities for the students to be able to implement what he was teaching them from his materials.

The subject matter this week was Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power Point.  Because one of the girls in the class seemed to be quite advanced with it, he was able to use her to help teach the material while he walked around to help other students (and patrol them to make sure they weren't on Facebook or some other websites on the Internet).  That was probably one of the most negative things of the whole week, having to to keep them off the Internet.  While he was up in front of the room, he knew some were on Facebook or doing things they shouldn't have been.  He has this one girl that always complains or whines about something, no matter what it is, and is the queen of excuses.

The beginning of the week, he assigned them a paper to write as well as a Power Point presentation which was due on Thursday.  He did enjoy these presentations and papers.  He learned much more about some of the students backgrounds.

Keith always looks forward to Fridays.  This is when he works one on one with three students who are working to pass their GED.  This is always such a rewarding time with them.  They are eager to learn and always ready to work hard.  One particular student he's working with doesn't know her multiplication facts.  So, they are working on that as well as division.  When they finally "get it," they show such excitement.   It's very rewarding for Keith to be able to work with these hungry-to-learn students.

Next week, they will be back in the classroom and he'll be teaching math.  Keith is specifically asking you pray that he'll be able to come up with enough material/activities to fill each day.  Some days get long, especially after 3:00 p.m.

Thank you so very much, everyone, for all your continued prayers for us through this journey.  You just have no idea how much they are appreciated!  At times, we run into various people that we haven't seen for some time and they'll say they've been praying for us.  Thank you!

Friday, October 5...

This is the day that we will depart for our niece's wedding in North Carolina.  Since our flight departs at approximately noon, we would ask prayer especially for Marsha's health this day as well as the whole weekend.  She doesn't eat when she travels; this will be a long day of traveling; as Sunday will also be a travel day.  Please pray that we'll make our connecting flight and everything will go smoothly for our whole trip.

When we arrive in Jacksonville, NC, at 4:25 p.m., our son-in-law, Andy will pick us up and drive directly to the Rehearsal dinner in Wilmington.  Friday and Saturday nights, we will be staying at the beach house of the location of the wedding on Saturday.  Sunday, we will then depart for Grand Rapids in the afternoon and arrive back later in the evening.  We are so looking forward to spending time with family.  It will be a wonderful weekend!  {Yes, I'm planning to take lots of pictures!}

God has answered prayer and worked it out for Keith to have Monday off in order to be able to rest and also finish up his preparation for the week.  They were so gracious to find someone so he wouldn't have to jump in the car and drive to Battle Creek about 6 hours after getting home from the busy weekend.  God is SO good!!!

"My God Will Supply All Your Needs..."

Jennifer Cobb and Evan Martin
Soon to be "Mr. and Mrs."

My niece, Jennifer and her fiance, Evan, are engaged to be married October 6, in Topsail Beach, North Carolina.  They are having a small beach wedding with close family and friends.  Back in June, after Keith had lost his job at Freedom, we had figured there would probably be no way we would be able to afford to fly down for their wedding.  We had taken on an extra cost of funding our own health insurance, let alone meeting our regular bills.  We were trying to figure out a way that we could go, but had just about come to grips that we'd have to pass, even though we knew my whole family would be all together for the first time in years.

A few weeks ago, we had received a surprise check in the mail from a Freedom family.  What a blessing that was!  Even though we had come to grips that we'd probably wouldn't be going, we continued to hope for the airfares to drop or something to work out.  Jess and Andy called us one night and asked us if we had made our final decision.  Jess sounded like she really would like us to be there, since with my parents getting up in years, we don't know if this would be the last time our family would all be together or not.  So, by faith, we went ahead and bought our airline tickets.  Through two more unexpected gifts, we have received just about the full amount to cover our airline tickets.  My sister also offered us to stay at the beach house where some of the family will be staying as well as Evan's family.  (This is where the wedding will be taking place.)  It all worked out for Keith to take the half day off work.  (Fridays he's there only half day.)

The main prayer requests are for Marsha's health issues and traveling.  Please pray that she'll physically be able to
     1. get to the airport in a timely manner for our 12:15 p.m. flight (It's going to be pushing it, as she isn't able to leave the house before 11:00 a.m.)

     2. that we'll make our connecting flight in Atlanta (we have about 52 minutes between flights and need to change gate areas)

     3. Since we'll be going right to the Rehearsal dinner from the airport, pray that Marsha won't have problems after she eats dinner (the beach house is about 45 minutes from the Rehearsal dinner).  Usually, when she travels, she can't eat much.  We'd appreciate your prayers for our safe travels as well as good health and a blessed time with family

     4. That because of the late arrival back into Grand Rapids, pray that Keith would be able to get that Monday off so he's able to prepare fully for that week without few hours of sleep and then hitting the road at 6:30 a.m. Monday morning for his full day of teaching.

Our itinerary will be the 12:15 p.m departure from Ford International with a 4:25 p.m. arrival in Jacksonville, NC.  Sunday, we have a 4:50 p.m departure from Jacksonville, NC and a 10:30 p.m. arrival in Grand Rapids.

We are trusting the Lord will give us a blessed time as He has provided the way for us to be there.  God is SO good!  Once again, we give our thanks to the Lord for His amazing provision!

It's a New Week...

We thank the Lord for the first week of work Keith had last week.  This is definitely very different than teaching elementary students!  His eyes have been opened to many things and as well as the fact these people are needy in many ways.

Keith started out by telling him a little about himself.  One thing he mentioned was that when he married me, he didn't know ahead of time that I was going to have this chronic disease that we'd be living with.  He told them that even if he knew ahead of time that I had this disease, he would marry me all over again.  One of the ladies said, "Well, I need to find someone like Mr. Keith to marry."  They also could hardly believe that he would drive all the way from Grand Rapids just for them, everyday....i.e.  "Mr. Keith, you mean you drive all that way just for us?"

His first week, Keith had to let two students go.  They were being disrespectful and constantly talking not paying attention, etc.  Others would quiet down and they chose not to listen.  After a conference with Jim, the guy from Michigan Works (I believe he's like a case worker for these people), they decided to let them go.  The one girl ended up coming back the next day to be let back in the program.  (Seems they took some of her government benefits away from her.)  She wasn't readmitted to the program.  Jim had two others that wanted to be in the program and they were to start this week, Monday.

On Fridays, Keith has two students that are working on their GED.  This was definitely his most rewarding day of last week.  These two ladies were so very excited to learn!  One lady said, "Mr. Keith, are you going to help us get our GED?"  He said he was going to try.  

Keith, being the creative teacher that he is, is constantly trying to make class more interesting each day.  Since it's not like working with elementary students, it can be a challenge.  I just know he would covet your prayers as he works on making the class as interesting as he can.  We would also appreciate your prayers regarding this position to continue for another six weeks.  I feel like he's putting so much into this, it would be nice if he would have another chance to use what he's put into it.  The Lord has been stretching Keith out of his comfort zone.  But, Keith is up for the challenge.  He's definitely growing through it all.

Thanks so much for all of your continued prayers for Keith as well as for his students.  Pray they would see that Keith is different and want what he has.  Continue to pray for his strength as well as safety on the road there and back.  After he gets home around 6:00 PM, he eats supper, then more preparation for the next day and then bed.  He is up before 6:00 AM to begin his next day.

All in all, God is good!

"Teach me your way, O Lord,

and I will walk in your truth;

give me an undivided heart,

that i may fear your name."

"I will praise you, O Lord my God,

with all my heart;

I will glorify your name forever."

Psalms 86:11-12

First Day of....Class

Text that is used..."Facilitated by:  Keith Wittebols" 

Keith was up before dawn, lunch packed, car packed with his supplies and texts, and ready to leave for Battle Creek.  We prayed together just before he left.

He arrived to his classroom around 7:30 a.m.

I thought about him all morning and prayed that things were going good for him.  Just after noon, he called to let me know things were going good and he was going to try to eat his lunch.  Class resumed for the afternoon session at 12:35 p.m.

Since I didn't hear anything, I called him about 5:00 p.m. to see if he was on his way home yet.  He was just going to pack his car and start for home.

After he got home, he told me about his day:  He had a long but a good day (6:30 am - 6:30 pm). The students were very open and willing to share. They worked in teams all day to implement the concept of team building. (They named their teams: Team Looney Tunes, Team Motivation, and Team Rocket.) 

A Much Different First Day of School...

Photography by James Garringer
Let's pretend this sign says Battle Creek and Kalamazoo.

After much preliminary work of studying and preparing, tomorrow Keith hits the road early in the morning to drive to Battle Creek to begin his temporary job for Davenport University.  Just pray that he would have safety on the roads, a clarity of mind, wisdom, and to be able to relate to these young people in a way they will show him respect in return.  Pray that he will be able to get across the importance of these classes, etc. for their own benefit.

Keith has put so much time and effort getting ready for this.  I just pray everything goes well and that he doesn't feel too stressed out the first day.  Once tomorrow is over, I think he'll feel much better knowing who he has to work with in this class.

Once again, I want to thank you all for your continued prayers for this journey.  We are just praying God's will for us.  If this class goes well, there is a possibility they could repeat the sessions another six weeks.  That would be wonderful!  If they do, then Davenport needs to come up with corporations to help fund it.

Special blessings...

One morning last week, Keith answered a call on his phone.  When I hear him say, "What's up?" I usually assume it's Jessica.  However, with the time being in the morning hour, it was questionable.  Then, he asked something about if the person was all ready for school, etc.  Hence was the conversation.  I then knew it wasn't Jess.  It turns out it was one of Keith's former students from last year!  She wanted to know if it would be all right if she brought over some cookies she helped bake.  So, around 11:00 a.m., she and her dad arrived at our house with a pie tin heaped with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

(what was left of the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies!)

This sweet girl has been to the back to school potluck supper and open house at school and missed seeing Mr. Wittebols.  She wanted to come visit and bring us a treat.  She and her dad sat and visited with us for almost 2 hours.  What a sweet girl.  She's already learning to be a blessing by thinking of others.