Tuesday, November 22, 2016

The Journey's Never Ends

The journey of satisfaction never ends.

I've really been struggling with the concept of prayer:

  • If God is going to do what he wants, why pray? 
  • If it's going to work out in the end, but not the way I asked, why pray? 
  • If we do pray and then He doesn't answer, why should we have wasted the time to pray?
I'd like to say I know all the answers to these questions, but I don't. However, I believe God has brought me to a better understanding of why we do pray.

** Prayer is more about our relationship with our heavenly Father than about Him answering them.**

A week ago Sunday, I asked the Lord if we could be at 50% by the end of the week. At that time we were at 44%. We had an amazing week. By Thursday night we are at 47.8% I really thought we would make it to 50% by Friday.

Friday morning, a lady called to tell me they were going to support us for $50 a month. I was overjoyed. Because of my response to her support, she called her mom to ask her if she was serious about supporting us. Her mom said yes,  and they came on board for $25 a month. This excitement put us at 48.9%!!! Needless to say I was beside myself. I was certain that we would be at 50% by the end of the day!

Well, it's Tuesday morning and even through we've gone up to 49.3%, we're still not at 50%. So if I look at it, God didn't answer my prayer. But, was the prayer being answered the most important thing? I would have to say no. The most important thing to remember was my relationship with God. Not being at 50% means I have to decide, sometimes hourly, to rest in Him. I have to make the choice not to worry and stew over where we're at. I have to decide to keep myself in His word and the truth I find there. I have to keep my faith and believe that His plan is perfect and mine is not.

I wish that I could say that I'm doing back flips over this concept, but I'm not. But it is exciting because slowly but surely I am growing.

So praise Him today for those prayers He is answering. Praise Him for the ones He decides not to answer because it seems, at least to me, that those are the times when we have to hold tight to our Father and trust Him for what lies ahead.


Thursday, November 10, 2016

Counting Up or Counting Down

!WARNING! The blog you are about to read may be filled with cute pictures of our daughter Dottie! Prepare yourself for possible melting of your heart!

Dottie at 1 Month.
July was Dottie 1 old. We had a very trying month as it was a tough one for Mom. Brenda was sick, hospitalized on one occasion, and life seemed very rough for a while. Kent and Grady made an investigating trip to Arizona where we will live and play for the unforeseeable future. Grady came home excited and has been telling Grace about it ever since.
Dottie at 2 Months
In August Dottie turned 2 months old. This picture represents the month of August well as the Rockwell family took on the pose of a fighter and got down to business. We started meeting with other believers about partnering financially with our family. Grady and Grace started at a brand new school with no one they really knew. This was Grady's 3rd school in as many years. He's been through a lot and we recognize that. Without his awesome attitude Grace may not have even boarded the bus on the 1st day. We love our Grady! He's a champ and we hope to keep encouraging him and filling him up. Keep Grady and Grace in your prayers please! We understand that we have asked a lot out of these special little people while on this journey!
Dottie at 3 Months
September Dottie turned 3 months old. We continued meeting with individuals about our role with New Tribes Mission Aviation and expanding the reach of the Gospel. We celebrated Brenda's birthday and attended our 1st Street Fair in over 2 years! Grady and Grace rode nearly every ride the Fair had to offer, impressing Mom and Dad. Grandparents from both sides spoiled their grandkids and created some very special memories for both Grady and Grace.
Dottie at 4 Months
(At this point hair bows have become common attire) 
In October we, like Dottie's picture, were ready to kick it in as we started the month with a huge fundraiser. The Matt and Elizabeth Bertsch Family hosted their annual Fall Festival Fundraiser and choose our family to be the recipients of the free will offerings received that day. We received enough money to cover our start up expenses for our ministry with New Tribes Mission Aviation. Another big event was our Grady's 8th Birthday! It was a great day for him filled with tons of friends, fun and food.We shared and talked with individuals in Sunday School classes at Hope Missionary Church, sharing how God will use our family inside New Tribes Mission Aviation Team. Hope Church also had their 1st Mission Fair and we met many individuals. We felt it was very well planned and coordinated, not to mention a big success! Financial support needed to go on and serve with New Tribes Mission Aviation went from 27% to 42% in this month alone (We just need 50% to go in January...So we're close!). 
Grady and Dottie celebrating Grady's big #8 Birthday!
Dottie's 5 Month Birthday

Dottie just turned 5 months old on Election Day. She looks ready to run for office in her picture! She not only has 1 leg up on the completion, she has both! Better watch out politicians!! We don't yet know what the Lord will behold for us in this month, but we trust Him! We need to continue to build our team of supporters and get ready to move in the next 7 1/2 weeks!
If you or someone you know would be interested investing financially in the gospel of God's grace, please consider our family as a viable option! We would love to have you team up with us as we go after God's great command of completing the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19! Just contact us and we can easily explain how to get signed up and involved.
Thank you and the Lord's richest blessings!

The Rockwells


Call/Text:
Kent 260-273-9149
Brenda 260-273-9152

Email:
Kent_rockwell@ntm.org
Brenda_rockwell@ntm.org

Facebook:
KentandBrenda Rockwell