Getting to know our surroundings.......

September 5th, 2013

It's hard to believe that a month ago we were driving down to Florida.  Time has gone fast!  Last weekend we went exploring our surroundings.  On Saturday we drove about 15 minutes south from our apartment to a town called Safety Harbor.  It was raining as we were driving but you would have thought that a huge storm had  come by because the roads were floaded as you can see in the picture.  By the way, it rains here almost every day, a heavy rain comes down and then the sunshine comes out again.  I like it!  We also found an allagator lake located in Safety Harbor, don't think we'll go swimming there much. We also found a couple of nice parks!

On Labor Day, we had Enoc, Betty and Alan visiting us so we drove 15 minutes north from our place to a city called Tarpon Springs.  We discovered a less crowded beach for future visits and a place called Sponge Docks. It's a place with a lot of little shops and restaurants. This town has a high Greek population, so we had to try some of their Gyros. I also got in my head that I wanted to buy one of their sponges to use in the shower, but after I smelled one of them, I decided that I would be better off sticking with my little washcloth, that is, if I didn't want to smell like fish after showering.:)

Dylan inside a Shark's mouth at Tarpon Springs. 

Thank you for praying for our bible study!  We got together with the couple last Tuesday and just opened up the Word of God from the beginning, yup, Genesis 1.   We read and learned things from God's Word together.  Continue to pray for our time together with them.  We really enjoyed it and we believe God's Word and His Spirit will do the work.  We're just the vessels!

One day this week I was thinking about the excitement that I've always had  when I've gone on a mission trip.  I get all pumped up about going, about the people I'll be ministering to and about God!  Once I get to my destination and see the people, I get even more excited! I know my purpose is to love on the people, share the gospel, and be a blessing to them.  That's what's on my mind every day, every hour, and every minute that I'm there. Then, I come back home and my excitement goes away after a few weeks, maybe because life happens and I have ups and downs or better said I have lost my purpose and my vision as a Christian.  Coming to Tampa, I feel like I'm on a mission trip each and everyday. I've been convicted about this this week because my mission and my purpose should always be to embrace people, share the gospel, teach them God's word, and spend time with them whether I'm in the other side of the world or right here where God has me right now(Acts 20:1-4).  That may be my neighborhood, my kid's schools, my job, etc.  I know right now this is my field and I'm asking God to give me every day people that I can embrace and that I can share something about my Amazing, Faithful, Powerful, Loving God and I know there are many more character qualities that I can share about Him.  This has been one of our prayer requests for our family this week.

The kids are doing well in school! They are making friends and feeling more comfortable at their schools and in their classes.  That's a Praise!!!!  Another thing that we started praying for this week is for a bible study at our house with teenagers.  We don't know how that is going to work but we know that it can happen! Pray with us about that!

Nykki is trying out for a competitive soccer team this week.  It will be a great tool for us to get to meet more people. The league is very family oriented and we would be spending a lot of time with the families. We're praying that God will connect us with some people that are interested in studying the bible through that.

This week Mark was able to go to USF (University of South Florida) for a dinner with international students.  He said the place was packed and he made a few more chinesse friends.  We are planing to spend some time with them and having some of them over to our place for dinner.  We are about 40 minutes away from the university so we can't go over there very often but we're still trying to stay in contact with the students that we've met.

Please continue to pray for Mark's job.  He had a phone interview this week with one company, he has an inside contact for a job in another company and he has a meeting next monday with the owner of another company. So,  we are asking God to lead him to the job that he has for him.  We believe that He will answer and provide the perfect job!  In regards to my interpreting, I have made many contacts this week to offer my services, so now it's a matter of waiting to be called for assignments.  I'm enjoying being a stay home mom again, this is the best job!!!  I am very thankful that I'm able to be with my kids in the mornings before they go to school, hear about their day at school in the afternoons and be here to help them with homework or just hang out with them in the evenings!!!

Thank you for your prayers and I hope you stayed awake as you read this long long blog.:)  I'm just trying to keep you updated and I guess I tend to give lots of details.  Maybe I'll have Mark write some of the blogs so you can have a short and sweet read sometimes. haha:)

We love you all and miss you!

He is Faithful!

The Schaffers