End of School

So there have been countless times over the past month and a half that I've thought about sitting down and posting a blog, but one day becomes two and the next thing I know...it's June! Where has this year gone?

The kids finished school today. JD said he was sad because he loves school. Though Cora enjoyed school very much, she was also ready for summer break. I'm sure JD will be as well, once he remembers the freedom summer brings.
JD made honor roll all three trimesters. We're obviously very proud. His only non-A was an 89%...I think I can live with that. Cora also did well, 4 out of 6 grades were A's. We were blessed with wonderful teachers this year. We know God put those teachers in our lives for a reason.

Cora's class

JD's class

We're looking forward to my mom and Amy Fike coming in tonight. Tomorrow night (Friday) Amy will be doing a traditional Muslim Tea with the ladies from our church, and my mom will be speaking on how women should act as ladies.
A volunteer team from Wynne, AR will be coming in tomorrow evening to help with our Kids Camp we're having next week. (It's VBS, but because so many people we are trying to reach either have negative thoughts towards "church events" or don't understand VBS, we're choosing to call it Kids Camp.) It will be held M-F evening. Please be in prayer for the children already signed up and those that will sign up this weekend. Also pray for the kids in the park each evening that may wonder over and take part.

I'll be flying the kids to AR on the 18th. They are excited to see family and friends. Though I'll only be there 3 days, they will be staying through July 12th. This should give me a good opportunity to get us settled in our new house. Hopefully we will be able to close on it the end of next week!

Sorry this is a short one...I'll write more soon and promise to get out a newsletter very soon.

Our God is an Awesome God!

Las Vegas Valley consists of approximately 600 square miles and just under 2 million people in residence.
Those numbers are staggering to me, moving here from Rogers, AR, where the square mileage in Northwest Arkansas (Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville and the surrounding areas) is only around 200 square miles total.

You have probably heard in the news more than once lately that Las Vegas is one of the hardest hit cities in America on the financial front. Foreclosure signs are everywhere, no neighborhood is exempt. Coorperations and casinos are going under left and right. Though part of me is glad that a casino doesn't succeed, I am also saddened, knowing 100's if not 1000's of lives are effected by their demise. Most recently in the news is MGM-Mirage. They are looking towards bankrupcy, which will effect 1000's of people. They own multiple casinos and resorts in the city, and were slated to open "City Center" this fall, promising 100's of families a chance of a new career.

People need prayer now more than ever. People need to hear about and discover the saving power of Jesus Christ. As all hope seems lost, we need to reach out with The Hope.

I mentioned in my last post the "Crosswalk", where Southern Baptist churches across the valley would join together to prayer-walk across the city, praying for the businesses, homes and lives we passed along the way. I wanted to share with you the final numbers for that day.
26 churches participated, with 325 prayer-walkers walking 775 miles! Isn't God awesome!?! People all across the valley were joined together in prayer for those 2 hours, lifting up our community to the Lord, prayerfully looking for opportunities to reach out to desperately needing people.

Reaching out to our community is the heartbeat of Northstar. Our pastoral staff has a heart for reaching the lost for Jesus and are infusing their vision into our church. Easter Sunday we had a neighborhood egg hunt with free food and games. The service was held outdoors and was very upbeat. We had 5 baptisms planned for the end of service. Five people gave their lives to Christ during our service and we ended up baptizing 8 people that day instead! What an amazing time in the Lord.
We were also able to form relationships with some area businesses who donated gift certificates for kid's meals and % off at their restaurants. We hope to continue and flourish these relationships in order to reach them as well as more in our community.

God has been blessing Northstar in 2009. We have now seen around 12 people come to the cross and profess their faith in Christ. Seven of those are part of our church family, including 3 children.
We see the spirit moving and are humbled and grateful to be a part of it!

I do ask for prayer for the spiritual warfare that always follows great victories in Christ's kingdom. Where God is moving Satan will always attack; and attack he has. We have several families in our church being attacked by the enemy, our family being one of them. I have chosen to count it as a blessing, however, because I know the enemy wouldn't be concerned if God wasn't moving in amazing ways! Please keep us and the other families of Northstar in your prayers for our spiritual, physical and emotional well-being.
Our family is claiming the name of JEHOVAH-NISSI, The Lord is my banner, my victory.

Jake will be going with the rest of the pastoral staff to Catalyst, a pastor's conference in CA. April 23-24. Please be praying for their travel safety and for the conference as well. Pray by name for Mike, Lead Pastor; Jake, Children's Pastor; Jeremy, Youth Pastor; and Jason, Praise and Worship Leader.
What an amazing group of men God has assembled to lead our church. Remember to lift them up and as you do, remember to lift up your own pastoral staff. It is Biblical to pray for our leaders, and they need and covet those prayers.

JD and Cora getting ready for our Easter service and egg hunt

We laid out around 2,000 eggs, with prizes in them ranging from candy to gift certificates to local restaurants to gift cards for Wal-Mart.

Thank you, as always, for partnering with us in prayer. You are an intregal part of our ministry!

Prayer in Motion

This Saturday, the Southern Nevada Southern Baptist Association is having a "CrossWalk". Southern Baptist Churches from all over Las Vegas have been assigned a stretch of either Charleston or Decatur and will prayer-walk from 9:30-11:00AM.
Now, many of you have heard of prayer-walking, I'm sure, but you may not be fully aware of what it is or how to go about doing it...
The goal of Saturday is to train people to see the world as God sees it, feel the burdens He feels, love as He loves.
As we are walking our part of Decatur, we are to be consciously looking around us, seeing things for which we can pray. An example was given at the training Jake, Pastor Mike and Jeremy, our youth pastor, went to. The man said that as they were prayer walking he saw a satellite dish on a house, so he prayed that it would bring only good into the house, that no garbage would come through it.
Prayer in Motion can be done everyday, where ever you happen to be. It doesn't have to be a planned event, it should be a daily part of a Christ-follower's life.
As you go about your day-to-day life, make a conscious effort to pray for the people and things you pass along the way. Take time to look at the world the way God does.
The Bible says "pray without ceasing". This can be as simple as a one-line prayer lifted up as you drive past a school, "Father, bless the children and staff there, help no harm come to them today." It doesn't have to be complicated or intrinsic. You don't have to stop what you're doing...you don't have to close your eyes (especially if you're driving!), just be in the moment, focus on something/someone other than yourself and see the needs around you.
I think so often people feel too intimidated to pray. They feel like they don't have a good enough reason, or they'll sound stupid...but God wants us to come to Him. He desires a relationship with us!
If you never talk to your best friend, never spend time with him/her, don't listen when s/he speaks to you, is that really your best friend? Do you really have a relationship with that person? Well, it's the same way with God. People claim to love God, to desire to be close to Him, yet are too busy to spend time with Him. That relationship will go no where.
Jesus died on the cross for your sins, He gave up everything for you, the very least we should do is spend time with Him in the quiet of our hearts. But don't do all the talking, take time to listen as well...you'd be surprised!

One last thought for today:
When you are praying for people, BLESS them:
B-Body, pray for physical needs
L-Labor, pray for job/career
E-Emotion, pray for his/her emotional needs
S-Social, pray for his/her social life and friends
S-Spiritual, pray that spiritual needs are met and that s/he has a personal relationship with Jesus

Start today! Pray in Motion!

Leaving for Home

So it's 9:40 PM, CST, and we're sitting in the airport in Springfield, MO. Our plane should be taking off right about now, but we were delayed an hour or so. I thought I would take this time to send a quick blog.
Once we get home and settled I promise to upload some pictures from our week at GIC. What an amazing week! It was such a blessing to us. As we drove through Rogers this past week it was a rather surreal experience. Though we have only been gone a little over a year, Rogers didn't feel like home anymore. However, Wednesday night as we sat in the sanctuary of FBC and listened to the choir and orchestra and worshiped with 100's of other people...we were home. First Baptist has been my home church since 1983, and Jake's since 1993, so being back there was such a blessing to us both. Being members there for so many years we took for granted the 100+ choir, a church building that is permanently there and doesn't have to be set up and torn down each week before and after worship service, a worship leader like Mark Maier, who radiates Jesus in all he does.
Please don't get me wrong, we are so blessed to be serving at NorthStar. It is definitely our home now, but being at FBC just helped us appreciate the foundation that was laid in our lives there.


Okay...so it's now Wednesday, our plane was called as I was finishing that last sentence so I never had a chance to post. Rather than posting 2ce in one day, I'll just continue with this one.

JD and Cora were so excited to see their friends. They each got to stay the night with a friend while there, and it was so uplifting to their demeanor. It was so great seeing them run around the gym with life-long friends.

JD with Best-Bud, Wade

Cora with BFF, Brynn

Jake and I enjoyed seeing our friends and family as well, though the time passed way too quickly, and we don't feel like we had nearly enough time with any of you. Thank you for spending time with us while we were there, it blessed us greatly to be with you.

Jake with good friend, FBC Media Director, Brian Dunaway

We want to make sure and thank the Milner ABF class for hosting our family this week. It was such an honor to get to know you and share with you our ministry. Thank you for your prayers and support!
There is so much that went on during GIC, I'm afraid I will miss telling you about so much of it. Thank you to the senior adults and Saints Alive Choir for the great luncheon! Also, a huge thanks to the staff and men's and women's ministries, so much effort was put into this week and it was definitely felt.

One of the hi-lights of the week was watching Children of the World perform. We have had the privilege of seeing them in the past and enjoyed them equally as much this time. I wanted to take several of them home with me.

One thing that really spoke to Jake and I this past week was something the guest speaker, Walker Moore said. "If you are a willing witness, your next heart beat is one of obedience." We need to say yes to God anytime, anyplace, anywhere, anyway under any circumstance. We want to be willing witnesses. It was a definite challenge to our daily lives.

Something people ask me frequently is, "How long will you be in Vegas?" My response is always the same, "Until God tells us to go somewhere else." Walker Moore really spoke to what Jake and I want our family legacy to be; that we will be ready and willing to go where ever God tells us to go, anytime, anyplace, anywhere, under any circumstances. We want our children to know that above all else, we are joyfully obedient to God's will for our lives.

Continuing to serve....

It's been an exciting few weeks at NorthStar. In the past 3 weeks we've had 4 professions of faith! Jake had the honor of leading one of the kids to Christ during Children's church 2 weeks ago, and there have been 3 adults accepting Christ during the Worship service. We are going through the Fireproof series during service, it is really going well. Sunday evenings we are having a small group that goes along with the series as well, and we've been encouraged to do the "Love Dare" book. If you haven't seen the movie Fireproof, I would highly recommend it, as well as the book. It seems to be starting a spiritual awakening in our church family. Please be praying for those who have accepted Christ.

I have so many pictures on my camera that I need to get uploaded and post, but I keep forgetting to do so...ah, well. I'll get them on here at some point--maybe.
So we're all getting so excited about being in AR next week. Except for a quick 24 hours there last Feb. for a funeral, Jake hasn't been back since we moved.
We're already wishing we had more time there, we have a week, but our schedule is completely booked every day we're there. There are so many people we would like to see, but with our limited time it's just not going to happen.
I'm also going to try to get up very early Wednesday AM and drive down to Little Rock to see my uncle who is in the hospital there. He's in the advanced stages of Lou Gehrig's, and I just can't imagine coming all the way to AR and not being able to see him. It will have to be a quick trip, because I have to be back in time to set up our display at FBC.

So I have this list of things we need to bring with us, for the display, etc. I keep trying to convince myself I need to get on the ball and actually start packing stuff, but my procrastinating keeps stopping me. More than likely we'll be packing at midnight on Saturday night...that's what usually happens when we travel. It's really the only way to go, lol.

For those of you in Rogers, I guess we'll see you next week! Those of you attending GIC, don't forget to come by our booth Wednesday night!

A few prayer requests/praises

Surprise, surprise! I'm writing another blog already! I know, you are shocked! But, I'm lying here waiting for my pain medicine to kick in and I thought, "why not".
It's not going to be a long writing...at least I don't think it's going to be. I just thought I would share I few prayer requests with you.
I have trouble asking for the 1st one, because I'm not good at sharing personal areas about myself, but here goes.
I now have my second kidney stone in one week. I was taken to the ER last Monday because I was in such severe pain. The CAT scan showed that I had a kidney stone and was given pain medicine and sent home. By Thursday I was feeling a little better and then Friday I was fine. Tuesday night Jake and I were at a evangelism conference when I suddenly was in so much pain we had to leave. I asked him to take me to the hospital (something I usually don't do, I'm usually the one saying "Just take me home and give me some pain meds, it will pass"). This pain was 2ce as bad as the pain last week. Labor didn't hold a candle to this pain! It turns out I had another kidney stone, 2ce as big as the 1st one. It is apparently "stuck"...and to top it off he said there is another one up in my kidney that could drop within the next week. YEA!
Anyway, please be praying for me. This has put me out of commission for most of the last week and a 1/2 now.

Now on to more important things:
Last Halloween our church had the opportunity to volunteer at the YMCA for their fall festival. We were hoping this would help give us an "in" and be able to use it to reach out to more people in the community. Since then, however, we haven't heard anything from them...until Tuesday night.
Pastor Mike received a call out of the blue from a different YMCA in town. They are having a family night this Friday night and are needing more help. They were calling around to other YMCA's asking for volunteers and the YMCA close to us gave them our name, saying we were really reliable and great help to them.
The coordinator said we have full access to the families and can pass out any information about the church we want! This couldn't come at a more perfect time. We are starting a new series this Sunday, "Fireproof"/"The Love Dare", based on the movie "Fireproof". We will also be holding a Sunday night couples Bible study. The couple that is leading the Bible study has been praying for 20 couples.
Jake is so excited about the opportunity we have Friday night. We see the hand of God moving, and it is just amazing! Not only will we be ministering to families this Friday, but they will be doing this once a month and asked if we would be interested in possibly making this a monthly event. This is just what we have been praying for! Jake has really been praying for ways we can reach out to the community, and God just threw this in our laps! Please be praying for the families that will be attending, that God will be working on their hearts, even as you read this, that they will be open to Him and that we will take every opportunity to share His love with them.
We are also looking around the area at store fronts to lease. Our rent was raised at the school, so we are looking to see if we can find something that we would have full-time access to, rather than just Sunday mornings that we have now. Please be praying that God would lead us to the place He has for us, if it is His will for us to move.
It would be so nice to have a space that is "ours", that we don't have to set up and tear down every Sunday and that we could use during the week without having to reserve it and pay extra for it.
The evangelism conference that I mentioned earlier was amazing. Jake attended it on Monday evening and came home so excited. He found out there was childcare, so I was able to go Tuesday evening. I was so upset that we had to leave when my pain got too bad. I will write more about the conference and the speakers at a later time.
This brings me to another prayer requests. As many of you know, Jake has been "attending" an on-line seminary, Rockbridge. He has had to take a couple of semesters off because of his work schedule and finances. The school became accredited, which is good, but it also meant their prices went up significantly. We are no longer able to afford them.
While we were at the conference Tueday night he was able to get information on a new program Golden Gate Seminary is offering. They have begun to offer classes every Tuesday/Thursday night at the Southern Baptist Convention offices here in Vegas. He will only be able to take one course a semester, so it will take a little while, but it will be much easier on us financially, and he will actually be able to go to a class instead of just being online. The information meeting is tonight, Thursday, at six. We are really praising God for this. It is still going to be a stretch for us, financially, but we know that He will provide.
One last thing before I crash into bed...(the computer screen is beginning to move around on me, lol) Please be in prayer for the women in our church. I started a new ministry with them a couple of weeks ago. It is a "book club" for lack of a better term. We have tried weekly Bible studies, but schedules haven't met up, it was hard for people to make a weekly commitment, so we stopped. We are, however, beginning to meet once a month for a Saturday brunch/fellowship. I came up with an idea that I would have a monthly study that the women could do at home. I set up an online group page where they can log on and leave comments/questions/thoughts about what we are reading. This way we can stay connected and learn from each other from the comfort of our own homes. Then, when we meet together monthly we can go into deeper discussion about it before we move onto our new study.
After much prayer, our 1st study was a challenge I made to the ladies. I asked them to read Proverbs 31 everyday for 30 days. I gave them each a journal where they could write down their thoughts and insights the Lord was giving them. In addition I challenged them with "The True Woman Manifesto" 30 day challenge. I would HIGHLY recommend every woman go to the website www.truewoman.com and read this manifesto. If you sign up, they will send you daily devotions and podcasts you can listen to. It is truly life-changing!
Our next book is going to be "Power of a Praying Woman" by Stormie OMartian. We will begin this on Valentine's Day.
So, I think I'm going to end this now. I hope I have written this in coherent thoughts...haha...I'll probably come back to read this later only to find that it makes no since what-so-ever.
Thank you for your prayers, for you support for us. We pray for each of you, as well.

The past 3 months

Okay, I know, I know...it's been almost 3 months since my last post. Obviously, our house selling is old news now (though we are still very grateful that it did). I keep meaning to get on here and post, and I actually started to do so once, but...well...you know how it goes, one day turns into two and the next thing you know it's a new year!
Happy New Year, by the way! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that this new year brings you closer to Him!
Now, to catch you up on the last 3 months...

My mom and my youngest niece, Melanie, came out for the week of Thanksgiving. It had been 6 months since I had seen either of them, and we had a great week, full of showing off all there is to do in our "little town". We did everything from visiting all the normal touristy stuff, (this was taken at the Belagio)

to walking with wild mustangs up in the Spring Mountain Reserve, to going to Death Valley (Which is where the pictures below were taken. And believe me, it is well worth the trip if you ever get the chance to go. We will be going back again, as we didn't get to see nearly enough!)

Above at the lowest point in North America and below at Zabreski's Point

We even got to play in mountain-sized sand dunes and slide down giant marble "slides" in Marble canyon (below, Cora, Melanie and JD taking turns going down one area of the slides).
Thanksgiving rushed by and Christmas was here before I knew it! Jake's parents decided to fly out for the week and surprise the kids. JD and Cora were thrilled! (Jake and I were too, it was nice to have family here for our 1st Christmas away from Rogers) We had a busy week full of buying and wrapping presents, preparing for and having our Christmas Eve service at NorthStar, and playing in the snow up on Mount Charleston. (The days surrounding Christmas brought several feet of snow to the mountain, and even caused a white out and the mountain to be closed Christmas day and the day after.)

Our family on Christmas Eve after the service
And below, our trip up the mountain to play in the snow the day after Christmas, we couldn't make it to the top due to the white out.

The kids got WAY to many gifts--you couldn't see the floor in our living room for all the wrapping paper and presents when they were through--and we were sad to see Nonni and Poppi leave.

New Year's Eve was quiet for our family. The four of us went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant in one of the new hotels that opened in our corner of the valley and then we went home and watched a movie and played some games. We got back up a little before midnight and drove to an overlook of the city to watch the fireworks bring in the new year. I've heard it said that what you are doing when the clock strikes mid-night on new year's is a symbol of what the upcoming year will look like for you...Well, I was sitting on a quiet mountain side with my daughter cuddling in my lap, and my husband, my son and my dog by my side...If that's any clue to how this year will be, then I couldn't ask for anything more.
I'm excited to see what new adventures the Lord has in store for our family over the next year.

So, I think that pretty much catches you up on the Bridges.
NorthStar is doing well. Jake has morphed into the Children's Pastor and is loving it. He is currently looking through several options for new literature/programs for the kids on Sunday AM. He is also still leading a Bible Study out of our house on Wednesday nights. Tonight he will start NET training (similar to FAITH). I am heading up the women's ministry and will be introducing a new ministry to our ladies this Saturday at our monthly women's luncheon. Please be in prayer for all our our church's ministries and outreaches. Pray that we will have a renewed love for our community and a strong desire to see our neighbors, friends and coworkers come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

We do have one more piece of news that we are SO excited about. FBC, Rogers, AR, our home church, has invited our family to be a part of their GIC (Global Impact Celebration) March 4-8. This is a time where they bring in missionaries from around the world and have a time of celebration of what God is accomplishing and a time of ministering to the missionaries. The 1st GIC six years ago is where Jake and I surrendered to full-time missions, so to be able to come back to this same event as missionaries means so much to us both. JD and Cora are more than ecstatic to be able to be in Rogers for a week (not just because they get to miss a week of school, either!). They are really looking forward to seeing their friends and family...Jake and I are as well.

I promise to be more diligent in updating this with current prayer requests and things that are going on with our family. (Thanks to Cindy Sigmon for getting me on the ball here!)

So, until next time, from Vegas---Elaine