An AMAZING GOD size Recovery

Ben began walking on his own Saturday and played at the park and went out for yogart that afternoon. He has been on Motrin all day and has not complained of any pain. The Loratab was causing some constipation issues and so we are using only Motrin unless Ben needs something stronger which fortunately hasn't been the case. I am posting some pictures of Ben from surgery to Saturday so you can see the answers to prayer for yourself. Thank you so much for the prayers lifted to our Mighty God!

Ben is out of Surgery!

Thank you for the prayers lifted up today and this past week for Benjamin. He cried going into the hospital and we assumed he knew too well what a hospital was and didn't want to visit again. Eventually he calmed down and we checked in.
Ben's surgery took a little over an hour and we were able to console him during his recovery time. He slept for a little while and then asked to take off his "socks". I told him that his casts were not socks but were Super Kid Power Boots and they had blasters. He LOVED his new blue Power Boots and shot all the nurses who walked by and giggled at his enthusiasm.
Since arriving home he has been annoyed with occaisional itching and has complained twice of pain. He has attempted to walk twice which is amazing due to the doctor's prediction that he wouldn't desire to get out of bed until Sunday at the earliest. His first attempt to walk was very discouraging for him and he didn't understand why his legs weren't working like they used to. He asked to go back to bed and we just hung out on the bed for two hours. Cameron and Micah were going outside and he wanted to join them. He got down from bed yelling in a please don't leave me voice "I walk, I do it, I can walk daddy." He held Cam's hand and then asked to let go and took several steps by himself. We all clapped and were very proud of his achievments! He and Micah are in the stroller cruising around with Daddy and I'm off to chase them down for Ben's next dose of Loratab! We will update again soon.

With so much Love and Appreciation!!
Jennifer Phillips and Family

Please Pray for Benjamin!

Hello everyone,



First a praise or quite a few...God has been very gracious to us and we want to say a huge thank you to a God who is active and attentive to our lives. From showing us an inefestation of brown recluses at a home we were staying at during our time of transition and thus protecting us from harm to showing me a problem of bursitis in my hip that I am now receiving treatment for. And now I praise God for showing us our little Ben Ben's problem through the insight of my father in law during a visit in May.



While visiting family in May, my father in law expressed concern over Benjamin's toes on both feet. He noticed a slight tendancy for them to cross over the other toe. I somewhat dismissed it but determined to keep an eye on it because at the time we didn't have insurance and it would need to be an issue worth spending alot of personal money over to get it checked out. I determined that when we received medical insurance in July I would have it looked into. When we arrived at our learning center in July I noticed the toes had crossed over even more and concerned me.

Cameron and I took Ben to the orthopedic doctor on Saturday but we were referred to see a pediatric orthopedic today, August 18th. During the appointment they took x-rays and the doctor informed me that he definately needed surgery. Ben will have surgery next Friday and it will be outpatient procedure. Here is the procedure:

The toes in concern are on both feet. They are the toes next to the big toe and are crossing over the middle toes. The x-ray shows all three toes from the pinky toe forward are growing in the correct direction but the concerned toes are growing in the opposite direction and will eventually cross over and cause more severe problems and pain. Since it is a bone structure issue, they will break both toes, place pins into the toes and he will be in leg casts. The healing procedure will be 4 to 6 weeks. Being aware and sensative to our lack of time left in the states he has graciously scheduled Benjamin's post op appt for Monday Sept 27th to check the healing process. If the toes have healed he will remove the casts and we can head home to texas on the 28th. If the surgery does not take we will have to re do the surgery again, requiring another 4-6weeks of healing. So prayer request are as followed:

1. Surgery will be sucessful and the emotional well being of Benjamin. He is a little guy in transition and has to deal with emotions he is unable to communicate. Unfortunately being in leg cast the rest of the time we are here and thus keeping him from enjoying his much loved play ground may cause a few more tears. So please lift his little heart up, God's grace is sufficient even for little guys like Ben =)

2. We would love for Ben's healing to be complete at the 4 week mark so we can come home and visit five sets of parents before leaving on a tenative flight
Oct 11th.

3. We will need to rearrange two sets of immunizations for Ben as his surgery conflicts. I am sure the medical team here will be more than understanding but it does throw a wrench into things.

4. We need to stay an extra week in Virginia even though our schooling will be completed. Once again I am sure that our learning center will possibly accomodate this extra time but we can't ask anyone until the morning. It will also be kind of sad being the only family left at the learning center because it is the body of Christ being around you everyday that makes it so enjoyable. And knowing that we were previously planning on being home as soon as our learning center was over kind of makes us sad but we definately wouldn't want it any other way.


Thank you so very much for praying for Benjamin and our family!

In His grip,

The Phillips Family

Praise God for toe nails!

Our small group house church consist of six adults and Micah and Ben. We begin our time of worship with prayer and then scripture reading and songs. The kids have been a delightful addition to our worship services and their perspectives on God are always enlightening. During a moment of praising God, Cameron said "Does anyone have a specific praise they would like to share and thank God for?" Micah exclaims as he pulls something out of his mouth "Praise God for toe nails!" and then places the toe nail back into his mouth. Everyone was momentarily astonished! lol Cameron then told Micah "Spit that out, that's gross." And in immediate obidience he spits it out and the toe nail goes flying and lands in the middle of the floor. So there is never a moment in our lives that we can't find something to praise God for, even if it's repulsive to the rest of the world! Praise God for toe nails!
Love you all!
Jenn

A new way to love

There are times in my walk with Christ that God begins to pour out a new direction in my thinking and former attitude. Maybe it is conviction I have suppressed and have become hardened to or perhaps it is that I was not ready to receive the changes He desired to show me. Whether it be one or the other or both, I always share my revelations with others in hopes that they too will benefit and hopefully avoid having to walk down the same path of my mistakes.

So here is what God has been doing:

It all started with the parable of the lost son in Luke 15 (you can read here www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2015&version=NIV if you do not own a Bible). I’ve always hated this parable! I never identified with the parable from the lost son’s perspective or the father. I always felt pity for the other son. I identified with the other son and agreed with his argument. So the other day I was reading this parable and just told God how I felt about it and asked Him to show me why I hated it and show me this parable from a different perspective. So that afternoon I received the thought of me as a mother and my two boys. I tell my boys constantly to stay away from strangers. So hypothetically one day Ben and Micah go out and a stranger approaches; Ben listens and obeys the commands I have given him but Micah does not and gets kidnapped. Though I am grateful that Ben has obeyed, I would be heartbroken over Micah! I would be like the father who waited and watched for his son’s return and upon seeing him would “run to him throw my arms around his neck and kiss him” and I too would throw the biggest party for a son who was lost and in danger but is now found and safely home! The other son would be like if Ben, upon realizing his brother came home, went straight to his room and pouted because Micah was getting a party and not him. It was at this moment that I realized the parable from the other perspective and saw my pride and foolishness for being like that pouting son. God revealed to me that I chase His love with my works and abstinence from things I think would be evil in His sight but my pride is just as wretched! I realized that I have always hated that parable because it reminded me of another relationship in my life that I have always chased with good works in hopes that I would achieve that person’s love, yet have never achieved it. I have transferred that relationship’s attributes to my relationship with God. I try by good works to earn more love from God, more affection and approval, to be better than that Christian and thus be the apple of God’s eye. The truth is that there is already an apple of God’s eye and that is His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. It is by grace that anyone of us is loved by such a Righteous Holy God and that He would even think to run to us is more than humbling. I’ve always known that parable to be that the father is God and the lost son is us and that God ran, but I could never see past the other son and his lack of praise for obeying. So then God showed me a new parable and it humbled me well. Luke 17:7-10: It explains a slave in the field obeying his master and doing his daily work and goes onto ask that when the slave comes in from the field would the master say to him “Oh come at once and sit down to eat?” out of appreciation that the slave did what he was told or would he rather tell the slave “Prepare something for me to eat, get ready and serve me while I eat and drink”? In the days of slavery a slave did what he was told because he was a servant to a master that he was not equal to. So the verse says in the end “In the same way when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are good-for-nothing slaves; we’ve only done our duty.” Now God wasn’t saying I am worth nothing because He sent His Son to die on a cross for this “good-for-nothing slave”. What I am saying is that at that moment God said “Jennifer quit chasing My love with your obedience. Obedience to Me is doing what is right because I am your Master, NOT so you can receive my praise, my pat on the back or gratitude for doing what you’re told." I cannot work for God’s love because then I could boast that I have earned something that Jesus paid a very very high price for when he paid the ultimate price for our redemption. “It is by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works; so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 So then rereading the parable of the lost son is even more humbling! To know that a Righteous and Holy God ran to me! The Creator of the universe ran to a created “good-for-nothing” slave to welcome me home! My tears well up at this moment as I relive this very humbling experience with a very patient and awesome God!

So today I am studying in 1 Corinthians 13 and outlining everything God says love is and then cross referencing each attribute in my Bible and making a lot of confessions! God is teaching me a new way to love Him, His way and reminding me that I never chased Him, He chased me! So let me describe His love from
1 John 4:9-10:
God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atonement for our sins.

Thank you for letting me share. Please pray for me that pride will decrease and a new way to love my Creator will increase!

Week 2 of Training

“It is good to praise the LORD, to sing praise to Your name, Most High, to declare Your faithful love in the morning and Your faithfulness at night.” Psalm 92:1-2

We are in Week 2 of our Field Training in Virginia. It has been such a wonderful experience. We are completely busy but in all the right ways. It has been so nice to enjoy a roof over our heads that we can temporarily call “home” and that has been nice for the boys too. We share a living room with four other families/singles but it seems very normal for our kids. If you ask Micah where he lived before, he describes the seminary housing as: “A really big house and some people had bedrooms on the second floor and some on the third. Our bedroom was on the first floor. I miss living in our house with all of our friends.” =) One day he’ll realize that we lived in a small apartment in a big complex but until then we lived in a huge mansion with all his friends!

The boys started school last week. I was so afraid that this would be a much bigger struggle for them than it was. Kids always prove parents wrong! Ben was a concern for me because he has always been with Micah but he too has handled this transition with great stride. Today (8-2) he is the class leader and I’m sure he will tell us all about it when we get him at 3:15. Micah will sing songs to us that he has learned and has done well at making new friends. During our small group church service on Sunday he led us in a new song called “Jesus was a Child Just Like Me” and taught everyone “Jesus Loves Me” with sign language. It was so awesome to see our four year old taking a part in the body of Christ. He also opened his Bible and told us about Heaven and “Well”. He let us know that Heaven is a good place where all our tears are wiped away and there is a deep “Well” where Jesus will knock out satan and there is hot lava and none of our tears are wiped away. So I’m not sure when we will explain that there isn’t a deep well and that it’s a place called Hell but for the time being its really cute!

Cameron and I have been in deep training and it can be emotionally and physically exhausting as the Lord deepens us, stretches us, and molds us to be His bond-servants. The training for spiritual warfare will begin Wed. 8-3 and it will be enlightening yet intense. Please pray for us during these next weeks of training. I personally would ask that you pray for continued emotional healing over Cameron and me. The last baby we lost was due July 11th and the month served as a reminder of what was missing from my arms. I praise God because I have been healed and restored in a lot of ways since our journey with pregnancies has come to an end, but it is a scab that is covering a deep wound. This week especially Cameron and I have felt satan strongly trying to pick that scab and make that wound bleed all over again. We just want to abide in the healing God has started in us and the peace He has perfected over our lives and in no way want to go backwards in our healing process. Please help us in praying 2 Peter 4:10 over our lives. If you do not have a Bible present it says: “Now the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little.” God has been ever so faithful to us after each loss and has never left us crumpled at His feet in our shattered state. It is in His restoration of my heart that I deny satan access to dare pick apart what God has previously restored in me. So please pray because this is a very sensitive part of our lives and satan is attacking where he knows it’s sensitive.

Thank you all who are coming on board to partake in a ministry that God is also calling you to. Please don’t ever underestimate your part in this ministry by your prayers. Your time in praying for the Roma is essential to advancing the gospel to this people group so THANK YOU!!!!