Honduras or Bust

Short-Term Experiences, Long-Term Impact.

Dear Friends and Family,

I want to thank you all so much for the overwhelming support and prayers. Niah and I are very excited to follow God’s leading in this mission trip to Honduras. In case you don’t know, our dear friends Joe, Cortney, Carolina, and Alistair Cash were recently sent out by Life Point and Samaritans Purse to serve as missionaries at Hospital Loma de Luz. You can learn more about where they are serving by visiting http://www.crstone.org/. 

Our trip will be one week long, from August 12th - 19th, 2015. I am excited for God to take me out of my comfort zone and to a place I never imagined I would be going, much less with my daughter! We will be staying at the hospital, where we will also be serving in whatever capacities needed. We will also directly be helping the Cashes, who are near and dear to our hearts as close friends and our own sent out missionaries. It will be an incredible blessing to work alongside them!

I am sending this letter to ask for your support. I would love to have a team of people praying for my trip immediately. Specifically, if you can be praying for the following: good health for me this year and especially in August; that I may be able to quickly begin learning the culture and language in preparation of going; for Niah and the team that will be traveling with me; for the Cash family and the people of Honduras; and that once again, that finances will be taken care of.

The hardest part about saying “Yes” to God and committing to this trip is not the time away from the rest of my family, it’s not the long plane ride, or any immunizations I’ll need. It’s not dealing with foreign bugs and critters (as much as I hate spiders!), nor being in a completely different culture with a completely different language with people I don’t know. I’m not even too worried about the cuisine. No, the hardest part is reaching out to my friends and family once again to ask for financial support. The trip (airfare, lodging, food, transportation, and immunizations) is going to cost about $2,600 for both Niah and me to go. Nearly $1,300 has already been paid, leaving a remaining $1,300 owed. Please do not feel obligated to give financially. However, if you feel compelled to give and want to contribute to the work God is doing in Honduras, then please consider supporting me financially. We have been blessed time and time again by supporters and we pray that in turn, God has blessed them more abundantly! If you belong to a church family that is looking for a missionary to support, please share this letter with them, too! All contributions may be sent to 516Missions by cash or check (write Honduras-Woodring in the memo line) sent to P.O. Box 299, Monticello, AR 71657, or you can go online to http://516missions.org/trip-payments-donations and donate directly toward our trip there (be sure to add that it is for Kristine or Niah Woodring under “special instructions”). If you want to learn more about 516Missions and our trip, you may visit www.516missions.org.  Thank you so much for your prayerful consideration. I cannot wait to share our experience with you!

Lots of Love,

Kristine & Niah Woodring

Behavioral Chart

Yesterday was one of those days that as a mom I wanted to punch the clock and go home. Do you get me? My kids weren't listening, they were being disrespectful in that I had to repeat and repeat myself. It was infuriating. I felt as though it didn't matter how calmly and nicely I asked them to do something, they just didn't do it. Even after a heart to heart my kids just weren't listening. After I put them to bed last and after I'd had a chance to let go of the things that happened yesterday, that made me want to take a leave of absence, I was able to brainstorm some ideas that I hope will make a big difference in the future. I wanted to share them with my friends on this blog, partly so that you can use these ideas if you choose and partly because I want accountability. So feel free to ask me, how is that going?

Here it is: A visual behavioral chart. I saw a few on Pinterest last night that made the clogs in my head start turning. I added to them to help fit our family. So let me explain it to you. The premise is the Green, Yellow, Red light system that many classrooms use. Both of my older two are familiar with this concept but I wanted to take it a little further. So take a look at this picture and then I'll explain my thoughts behind it.

Please excuse the odd angle I had to take these pictures at, I hung this in a small hall between our kitchen and living room. 

The green lights say: 

Get a privilege!!! - read 1 John 5:3-4 

Awesome!! - read Gal. 6:9 

Good job! - read 2 John 4

The yellow lights say: 

Oops - read Eph. 5:15

Warning - read Rom. 12:9

5 minute timeout - read 1 Cor. 10:13

The red lights say: 

10 minute timeout - read Eph. 6:1-3

Lose a privilege - read Col. 3:20

Go to bed early - read Romans 13:1

Daddy J asked why I don't have red at the top like an actual stoplight. I choose to have green on the top so that the kids can visually move up. I also choose to add in the scriptures. I didn't see any behavior charts that included anything from God's word. If I am going to discipline or encourage my children I want them hear what God has to say about it, so that these are not just a current in the moment this is what is happening but that these lessons span time. I want them to remember these verses when they are teenagers and young adults making life decisions. I encourage you to read this verses and if you choose to make your own you can change the verses to meet your family needs. The reason I choose those certain verses for the red light is that my children typically get in trouble for fighting with authority and breaking the rules that we have set as parents so I wanted to remind them that God puts us as their parents in charge. If at any time the kids decide they want to start acting better they can start moving back up the chart. Even if they have already lost a privilege or are going to bed (they will still have that consequence!) but they can still work their way back up to the green lights. They won't have to sit in time outs again as they have already received that punishment but it will get them one step closer to the green lights. 

I will also say that I saw many behavior charts on Pinterest that did not include anything positive. Children need positive reinforcement. I know as an adult I do too. When I worked outside the home positive reinforcement drove me to work hard for my bosses and for God. And working in my home now, it drives me to make Daddy J, Big sis, brother, and baby happy but most of all I want to please my Father.

Basic instructions: 

Red, yellow, green construction cut to fit your needs

Write what you choose

Lamentate if possible

Hang

Use clothes pins with names to show progress/regress 

What would you do differently or what different verses would you use? Please leave a comment!

Fillings

Are you wondering if you read that right? Yes, I mean fillings, not feelings. Yesterday, I went to the much dreaded dentist. Nothing against dentists as a whole but I've had bad experiences and so I had put off dental treatment for 9 years. Yes, 9 years, shameful I know, I can't even believe I'm admitting that to the whole (internet) world! And so I was in desperate need of fillings. I got two of the four I need yesterday. It was painful, if you have never had them done before let me walk you through it for a moment. First they tell you where the decay is and schedule the appointment. The day of the appointment you sit down and endure shots in the jaw to numb the area. Next, they drill and scrap out all of the decay. After all this is done, they fill the empty spaces with a filling. So I had this done yesterday, after a few hours of walking around with a half numb face (go ahead and picture it, it was a hoot!), I finally started to get feeling back and boy was my jaw sore. I could only open my mouth a few inches and every time would I bite down I could feel where the filling wasn't quite like how my tooth used to be. This morning, I can still feel the fillings are different from my old teeth and my jaw isn't quite as sore but its better and I know its healthier even if I couldn't physically see the decay before.

So you're probably wondering what my point is. As I laid in bed last night, God reminded me of a few times I had decay in my life. I might not have been over aware of it and most people probably didn't even know it was there but God knew. And God called me out on it, He told me where that decay was and that it needed to be removed. God knew that it would eventually cause me a great deal of pain and problems, just as the dentist knew my cavities would. Thankfully though God went to work in drilling and scraping out the decay I had in my life. It wasn't all over my life just in 'one or two teeth'. But if I had let it go and not let God handle it, it would have quickly spread and caused ruin in my life. What is so wonderful is that God didn't just leave the hole in my life, much like the dentist filled my teeth, God fills our lives when He was done the work of removing the decay. It isn't without its pain and it will most certainly feel different from the way our lives were before but its better and healthier. Praise God!

Let me leave you with a few scripture references to mediate on today.

If you're 'cavity' hasn't been removed yet and you are wondering if God even cares, I beg you to cry out to Him.
~"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will." Romans 8:26-27

And if you think, "But you don't know what I've done", do us both a favor and keeping reading the rest of Romans chapter 8.

If you're in the midst of having that decay filled, don't lose heart! God is love, He won't give up on you, so don't give up on the work he is doing in your life.
~"Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." 1 Cor. 13:7

And if you've had that filling, let God use you. There are others that are still stuck in their decay, afraid to 'go to the dentist'.
~"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God!" 2 Cor. 5:17-20

Life with my Littles is giving away a Blissful Booty Pocket Diaper!

Follow this link to enter to win a BB Pocket Diaper from Life with my Littles! Give away ends on March 4th so hurry!

Cotton Babies Essay giveaway!

"I'm glad you were born" essay contest ends this Friday so get your entries in now!
Winnings:

• 1 grand prize winner ($100 gift certificate to Cotton Babies)
• 1 second place winner ($50 gift certificate to Cotton Babies)
• 1 third place winner ($25 gift certificate to Cotton Babies)
• 3 additional runners up per 100 contest entries ($10 gift certificate to Cotton Babies)

Gift certificates will be e-mailed to the winners and can only be redeemed online through the Cotton Babies website. You must either live in the United States or have a shipping address in the United States to be eligible to win. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary to win.

Tiny Tush Elite Giveaway!

Read this review and enter (on an easy Google- doc) to win a Tiny Tush Elite giveaway. I haven't tried these diapers yet but I would LOVE to! They sound awesome. Good luck!

Another Blissful Booty Giveaway

This giveaway is awesome a chance to win a BB diaper, a Cow Patties diaper (which I have not tried but would love to), two beautiful bows (that would look great in Niah's beautiful hair), and Scentsy's newest warmer and scent of the month! Check it out here!

Blissful Booty Review and Giveaway

Blissful Booty is by far my FAVORITE cloth diaper! And The Fluff Zone is having a giveaway on her blog. If you win, you get to choose either a diaper or a wet bag. You can't go wrong with either one, that is unless you don't enter at all...

To enter, click here.

We Survived.

So my trip ended up being a little longer than I originally thought. Jon and I had a bit of a miscommunication. I thought we were driving back from WV on Sunday night but apparently the church had arranged for us to stay at a hotel, my hubby forgot to fill me in... Honestly, it was a nice surprise! Though it did mean that I would have to pack two days worth of cloth diapers (and use them). I was a little nervous, okay a lot nervous. Nervous that we would have an explosion of some sort away from home. We did. But. We survived.

Luckily, the explosion happened at the hotel, not in the car and not at church. It was everywhere. Josiah even had to have a bath after the change. I thought ahead and brought some plastic bags from a grocery store, one for wets and one for poops. That worked out quite well, especially since everything he was wearing Sunday night ended up in the poop bag. And when I got home Monday night, all the diapers got washed. And WE SURVIVED! Can you tell I'm relieved? Now I think I will have a lot more confidence when it comes to traveling with cloth in the future. I hope. 

Cloth Diapering on the Road

Tomorrow, we will be- wait for it---- Cloth diapering on the road! Eek! I've got to say, I'm a little nervous. We will be leaving the house about 8:30 AM and won't return until around 11:00 PM. Long day. Luckily, some more pocket diapers that I had ordered came in today! Yeah! I love fluffy mail!

I was planning on disposables for tomorrow but because they came I am going to attempt this. Am I crazy?!? I hope not. At least I won't be using the prefolds tomorrow. Josiah has started acting like Hammy (the squirrel on Over the Hedge) during diaper changes, he just will not lay still. So I think prefolds on the road would just be asking for it.

Wish me luck! I'll let you know how it goes!

Kristine

Cloth Diaper Giveaway!

Makin' It is having a cloth diaper giveaway. And I want it! But I'd be just as happy if one of my friends won too. I promise. Really, I mean it. So go check it out already-
http://beccasclothdiaperblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/bum-covered-diapers-build-your-own.html

Awesome Giveaway

Follow this link and you can enter to win Rockin' Green detergent for your cloth diapers. I have heard some awesome things about this detergent and I can't wait to try it.

Diaper Giveaway at Crazy 4 Fluff!

Follow this link: http://crazy4fluff.blogspot.com/2011/03/jolimini-reviw-giveaway.html

And you can enter to win an AWESOME JoliMini Cloth Diaper!!!

KellyWels.com Sweepstakes

Check this out! You can win a bumGenius starter kit, just follow the link!

"I am so excited to officially launch the second KellyWels.com Sweepstakes to win a bumGenius One-Size Cloth Diaper Kit valued at $370.

The bumGenius 4.0 One-Size Cloth Diaper Kit includes:

* 18- bumGenius 4.0 One Size with inserts

* 1 –bumGenius Sprayer

* 1 – bumGenius Pail Liner

There are many ways to enter! First be sure to like me on Facebook; then enter the Sweepstakes. Continue on to refer the Sweepstakes to your friends on Facebook, Twitter, or via email! Every friend who enters earns you another entry.

Now there are even more ways to enter!"

I so want to win! Please let me win! : ) Go enter maybe if you win, you will share with me for sharing with you!

Updating

Since I have blogged last, we have had our trip to Indiana and our apartment has flooded twice! The first flood came with a hurricane just two days before our trip. It flooded Niah's room (and our room but we didn't realize until after it dried) so we had to move all of her stuff out of her room and a cleaning company came with two industrial sized fans and a special machine to suck the moisture out of the carpet and air. These machines stayed there for several days while we were gone to Indiana and they replaced the carpet padding before we got home. We got home on Saturday Sept. 13 at about 11:30 PM. As we all know, there was a new hurricane blowing in from Texas with huges amounts of rain. So I checked her room and the carpet was dry, so we assumed that the apartments had been fixed and we moved her furniture back so that she could sleep in her room. Sunday morning I went to get Niah ready for church, I walked into her room and the flooding was worse than it had been the last time it happened! So after church services, we moved ALL of the furniture out of her room into the living room (toys), bathroom (changing table), dining room (dresser), hallway (toychest), and guest room (crib and storage from her closet; we didn't have room for it in one room). Then I checked our room, our closet was completely soaked (and like most closets there was stuff on the floor that had to be cleaned, washed or thrown away because it was ruined), the water was also under our bed and one of our dressers. There was no room in any of other rooms for stuff from our bedroom, so we had to push it all against one wall and we had to have our bed stored in our Pastor's garage! (Where it still is because they just replaced the carpet padding YESTERDAY!!!) There is still water damage on the walls and doors and I am extremely worried about mildew and mold. Especially in Niah's room because it got the worst flooding. Not to mention that mildew and mold can cause young children to get asthma! Anyway, as I'm sure you can tell I'm a little frustrated with these apartments. Today, after Jonathan gets off of work we will be going to speak with the office manager about letting us out of our lease or discounting our rent (our air conditioner had to run 24/7 with those machines running because they created so much heat)! I have taken pictures of all the damage it has caused to take with us.

So, now that I have vented, let me tell you about our trip to Indiana. We left Thursday night Sept. 4 after Devoted (our teen bible study), we didn't get to hit the road until 9 PM! After driving for almost 6 hours, we stopped for the night at a motel just outside of St. Louis. Then we left again the next morning and got to my parents at about lunch time. We had a lot of fun there, Niah LOVED Papa and Nana's chickens, cows and dogs! I celebrated my 24th birthday on Saturday. On Monday, we went to Spring Mill State Park and had a great time! Niah even took a dunk in one of the creeks and Nana got pretty wet going in after her! On Tuesday, we packed up and went up north to spend the day with our good friends Josh and Erin Allen. We had a blast spending the day at the lake, where they surprised me with a birthday cake and decorations! After that we went to the park and then had a hurried taco dinner. That night we went on to Gary and Cathy's or shall I say Poppy and Mammaw's! We had a great time there spending quality time with family and Niah got a swing hung in the front yard for her visits (which she fell asleep in when we tried it for the first time)! On Friday, we went to the Children's Museum which was a lot of fun for both Niah and the grown ups. Daddy's favorite part was the comic book section where they had one of the Batmobiles used in the movie! Then on Saturday morning, we packed up and headed for home... Or at least that's what Gary and Cathy thought... We actually went to the church for a surprise 30th anniversay party for them, which Mandy so thoughtfully put together. After a couple of hours though we had to hit the road and come on home. All in all, we had a great time and it was so great to get to go up after not going for six months!

Since we have been back we have had something everyday and evening for Church, and will until Saturday (I'm looking forward to a family day!). Please keep us in your prayers as we stay busy for the Lord!

Niah's Room

The toy chest Jonathan & I painted for Niah's room. It was plain unpainted wood. Below is the Bow Hanger I made for her room.

Busy Busy

So I must say that I have been a little stressed out and anxious recently. I'm not really sure why other than us being so busy. It is causing me to not sleep well. Mainly because I just can't seem to turn my brain off at night, I have so much running through it. Relying on God's promises has really been helping me. When I start feeling really anxious I either pull out the Good Book or I try to remember and walk through some of Scriptures. I am constantly overwhelmed by both God's grace and protection. Speaking of which, my Mom was in a car accident yesterday. She was rear-ended and sent over two other lanes of traffic. She hit the car in front of her because of it but God protected her and other than feeling a little stiff and sore, she is just fine!

Well, the Awana Kick-off last night went well. And tonight, I have the Ladies Auxillary Book Club! I'm still really excited about it! Tomorrow, we're going to help some friends of ours from the Church move. They are closing on their house today and moving in tomorrow. Luckly, the house they are buying is only about 2 blocks from the house they are renting. Then, later in the afternoon, we are having a Back-to-School Pool Party for the kids in 6th grade and under. Saturday is the Noah Musical!!! Next week, we will be preparing for a trip to INDIANA! On next Thursday, we will have 'Devoted' (our bi-weekly indepth Bible study for our teens), we are hosting it at our house this time (we take turns). After it is over, we will be headed for Indiana. We are driving through the night partly because we think it will be easier with Niah (since she can sleep) and partly because we are anxious to get up there and see everybody. It has been 6 months since our last visit and we truly miss everyone!

Jonathan and I have been working on painting my old toy chest for Niah's room. I think it is coming along quite well and I think we will be done with it tonight! I promise to post pictures of it and her room when we move it in there. I also made a 'Bow Hanger' for her, I'll include pictures of it also.

As for Niah, she is going to be 18 months old next Saturday (on my birthday). And she is talking up a storm, unfortunetly we don't always understand her. Niah and I were talking about the different parts of faces as she was pointing to them and she said 'eyebrows'. Strange, yes I know... We have also been working on potty training. She has been doing a really good job at home, she rarely has accidents but when we leave the house (which we do quite often) we aren't very consistant and so we have to put it on hold. We are trying to teach her to tell us when she needs to go, I think then we wouldn't have as much of a problem when we leave the house. Anyway, as you can tell from the picture she is really growing up! Acting and looking more like a toddler than a baby... Makes me really sad!

Hello out there!

I was inspired by a friend of mine (Ashley) to start blogging. As I'm sure you all know, we do have a family website but I thought this might be a refreshing way to keep tabs on our family.

So to get started... Just over a week ago, Jonathan and I joined the Faith Bible Institue course at our church. I must say I was worried that I would be bored and looking at my watch through the 3 hour class. However, I have really enjoyed all that I have been learning. The teacher on the video is quite interesting and he covers so much ground that I don't have time to be bored. The homework is a lot of work but I'm enjoying it. I think Jonathan is a little bored though... Since he just graduated from Seminary this past May, it has all been review to him. He is mainly taking the course to spend time with me (I think) and to keep the information fresh on his mind. Either way, I really appreciate him supporting my interest in taking this class.

Tomorrow (Wednesday), starts Awana at our church. We are teaching the teens and will have our own schedule. I am really excited to see how God is going to use this time with the teens!

On Thursday, our Ladies Auxillary will start meeting for dinner once a month, we are going over the book "Bad Girls of the Bible" by Liz Curtis Higgs. If you have never read this book, I HIGHLY recommend it. I am very excited to see what the other ladies of our church think about this book!

And Saturday, I must say I'm really excited about this... We are going to see the Noah Musical in Branson with some members of our church! I can't wait, if you haven't heard anything about it, it has live animals! How neat is that?

For those of you that are only reading this blog to keep up on Niah... She isn't a baby anymore! She is a toddler by all means! Walking, running, and talking. Yesterday, I grabbed her up and was telling her I love her. She desperatley wanted down so she could keep playing so she said to me (in her babyish talk- it almost sounded like gibberish), "I know you love me." She then thrusted her whole upper body towards the floor so I would put her down!
Niah is showing a major interest in music (she has been for quite a while), any time she hears music she stops what she is doing and either starts dancing or tapping her foot. I must say she has quite a nack for rythm.

Anyway, I know this has turned into a novel. More to come later (and definetly more on Niah)! So keep checking back!