Not that I necessarily agree with the premise around the Labor Day holiday, but we did have a wonderful day. It’s fun being a young, newly married couple–you can just get up and go! Last night after church, we all of the sudden decided what we would do on our day off. We took a little day trip today to the city of Philadelphia, and had a blast! It took about 2 hours of driving time each way. We left around 9am and got back around 7p. I’ll update with pictures and interesting sights and experiences tomorrow. Until then, have a great day and God Bless.
Something Money Could Not Buy…Part One
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Malachi 3:10
When I came back from Mexico, in the summer of 2008, it was not my choice to leave. I loved doing mission work down there with all of my heart, and it had been like living a dream! But God knew what He was doing, as always, and He brought me back for various reasons. I am very thankful now that He did, in His mercy! However, looking forward to the stewardship year of 2008-2009, back at Fairhaven Baptist Church, I determined that if I could not give my life to God in full time mission work, I wanted to give as much of my money earned in secular work back to the Lord. You see, that is the highest return on our dollars –investing in God’s Work! Also, I knew I would probably be married with in a year, and after that, the stewardship decisions would not really be up to me, but to my husband, so this was my last chance to “prove” God personally in this matter of giving, and therefore I wanted it to be a great Stewardship year!
Well, as I listened to message after message on giving (if you live at Fairhaven, you know August is Stewardship month!), I prayed about what God wanted me to give. Finally the Stewardship Banquet came, and I wrote down what I believed God wanted me to give that year. As the months passed, I began to give that amount each month. However, shortly after making this committment to God, my hours at work dropped severely, and they were not going to increase any time soon. Work was just very slow, and not much could be done about it except to pray. I had money saved up from the year before though, and still lived with my parents, so I was not struggling. Time passed, and my hours were still very low. In November, I was engaged to Dustin Speckhals, who is now my husband. I began to realize then, that I seriously needed more work or another job because now I had a wedding to pay for! I started to fill out job applications and pass out resumes in earnest. First I thought, well, I have a college degree, and I am bilingual so I should be able to get a job teaching Spanish, or translating. But those avenues yielded no fruit. I was really searching and praying now. Again I thought, at least I could get an office job, but still nothing happened for all of the applications and resumes I passed out.
I remember commenting to my mom, “Well, everyone in Northwest Indiana knows that I am looking for a job, because my applications and resumes are all over the area!” And she, as moms are so apt, continued to encourage me, with so much faith that I would find the right job. You know, moms are perhaps the biggest fans we have! For all of the teasing they may receive for babying us or hovering over us, you must admit that when you are discouraged, or make a big mistake, or just really make a mess of things, they never stop believing in you, and they never stop loving you!
So, I kept ‘working and praying’ about my job situation. Now my money in the bank was running out. I knew that if God told me to give this much, He MUST provide that much to give, and beyond that, He MUST provide for my other needs as well. I didn’t want extra money or anything special, but He had to provide for my needs. God’s very character demands it! And He would –in His timing –after He finished a work of humility in me!
Finally, I came to the point where I said, I am nobody, and if I have to, I will work as a telemarketer at Americall. (That was humbling!…Especially after graduating from college with honors, and working in missions for a year! But then again, who am I to think I deserve this job, and that one is below me?) So I obtained an application for Americall. After all, this was encouraging –Americall never refuses anyone! But that would not work for my schedule until after the first of the year, so I went further to say, if I have to, I will fill out an application for Arby’s and work in a fastfood restaurant. I just need a job!
After breaking down my pride little by little in that way, and once I reached an end of myself, God blessed in a miraculous way! One day my mom called from the church office, and said, “Andrea, a lady just called the church looking for a nanny for her two children. Here is her phone number if you want to call her. ” I called Katie Deporter, and set up an interview for eleven o’clock the next day. We met, and I started soon after. I have no doubt in my mind that God Himself gave that job to me. He placed me right there at 1 Woodland Trail, Ogden Dunes, Indiana, and before long, I would discover the reason why.
I will not forget however, as I interviewed with Katie, right in her dining room, with Ella and Harrison (her two children) there with us, we finished up the interview, and Katie said to Ella (five years old), “What do you think?” And Ella looked down and drew her hand back, and threw out a big “Thumbs Up”! And that was my introduction into the amazing world of Ella and Harrison! And for those of you who have never stepped foot into that fantastic place, I shall share some glimpses in with you, but at a later date!
Ella and I on my wedding day!…Soon to come: a picture of the one and only Harrison!
Our Attempt at Italian Beef
Lately, Andrea and I have been missing some Chicago street food “delicacies”–especially the famous Italian Beef sandwich. Our favorite is form Al’s #1 Italian Beef on the corner of Wells and Ontario. It is SO juicy and mouth- wateringly delicious! There is nothing close to it out here in the east. Some York County favorites are crab cakes and pickled beet eggs–not quite a Chicago hot dog or Italian Beef. So last night, we decided to make our own!
We found what looked like a good recipe online, and tried it out. After marinating over night, we heated up the juice and dipped that beef in it…very good! We found most of the ingredients we needed except giardinara (try finding THAT in PA). The thing most native Chicagoans find tasteful (including my wife), is to dip the whole sandwich back into the juice. Italian beef is overflowing with all kinds spices and flavor. We just finished eating a few minutes ago, and were pretty impressed. Now it wasn’t quite up to par with Al’s, Portillo’s, or the Fairhaven cafeteria, but it was close. A valiant attempt indeed!
Life at Fairhaven Baptist College—Junior Year
By early August of 2007, Andrea was teaching in Mexico, and I knew perhaps the most difficult year in college was going to be my junior year. A small part of me had a difficult time returning to college without Andrea there. Our little relationship had grown in the few months we had been together. We communicated a few times a week via a Vonage telephone line, and after her being in Mexico just a month, I felt like I had a little connection to that place because of her.
One of the important things to all returning dormitory students at Fairhaven is who your roommates are going to be for the year. I mean, you are going to be living with that person for eight months or so! I remember calling friends just before college to see who they were with, and then I remember hearing who mine were…
Count It All Joy
Dustin Speckhals, Julian Balatbat, and Nathan Rader—those were the names on the dorm assignment list for Room #2: Ed Weimer Men’s Dormitory. Julian was someone on the basketball team with me who I knew at the time just a little, and Nate was a missionary kid from Vallegrande, Bolivia in South America who came to study for a year after finishing his church’s Bible Institute on the field. What friends they turned out to be, and continue to be to this day! I could not have had better friends and roommates.
Like always, the fall semester began with the Stewardship Banquet and Fall Push. College orientation was in the brand new dining hall for the first time that year, but something was a bit unusual. Mrs. Leslie, Andrea’s mother and the long time Dean of Women at Fairhaven, was feeling sick and was not able to attend the orientation. From what I remember, she continued to not feel well for the next week, and went to the hospital on September 11 to find out what was wrong. That night, Andrea called me with a saddened and heavy heart: her mom had cancer that tended to be terminal. For the next year and a half, she battled that cancer. I know that the Leslie family’s life was changed from then on; for the better and to the Glory of God. For her battle with cancer, Mrs. Leslie gave numerous testimonies of how God had worked revival in her heart. I also knew that Andrea was in Mexico, and would have a little harder time with it compared to the rest of her family. God would certainly work in the coming months through answered prayer and biblical miracles.
I don’t remember too much else from that September, except for a smooth Zoo Day (which is always a blessing and a half!) and a severe drop in our bus’s attendance after the campaign. God would change that, though. By late October, it seemed as if our bus had hit the doldrums. No new families were being contacted, and spirit of the kids was dropping at the same time. It was about that time I remember hearing a sermon on simple faith that God can do anything. We had hit the low point in early November when a family that helped on our bus was scheduled to bring jello cups for a treat. They told us on Saturday that they had made 50 cups. We laughed to ourselves and said, “We’ll never have that many…maybe 30 riders at the most!” I believe God was building our trust in Him. That Sunday, “out of no where” 53 came to church! From then on, our bus never looked back, praise God! People were being saved and baptized, as well as the blessing of good attendance. I loved seeing God do that, and I truly enjoyed my Junior year in southwest Gary on Bus #101!
The Candy Sale at Fairhaven Baptist Academy is something to behold. Twice a year, preschoolers all the way up to twelfth graders try to sell chocolate to win a few rewards here and there and help keep school tuition low (amongst the lowest in the nation in private Christian schools, I believe). Those in college may help a family in the academy if they wish—hey, and you get a day off of school too! I was able to help one staff member’s family all four years of college; so that would be eight times total, I think. It is a joy to go out with a six or seven year old for a day and help them meet there goal. This may sound crazy, but I even learned some things from it too!
In mid-November, we had a mission agency representative (that most of us knew) in to preach a couple of chapel services. I have always loved his preaching, and I would say he is one of my favorite preachers also. After one message, he asked for a couple of college men to accompany him to a church to help him present the work of his board. It happened to be a free day for me, so I asked if I could go with him. It also happened to be one of the most profitable times for me in college. Ironically, the same mission agency that he was representing was also the one that hired Andrea to be the teacher for their language school in Mexico. It was a four-hour one way trip to that church in northern Michigan; but the time flew by. The representative, another college student, and I talked about missions basically the whole time. We spoke of David Livingstone, Adoniram Judson, and many others. He inspired me to read more missionary biographies, one of which is a favorite of mine now: Daktar: Diplomat to Bangledesh. It all happened on my birthday too—what a gift!
My third year of the Christmas Lights activity came in early December, like usual. Five friends and I ventured to Gino’s East of Chicago for a ‘delicioso’ version of the famous Chicago deep dish pizza. I had no idea that at that same corner of Gino’s East—18 months from then I would be making wonderful memories with my wife on our honeymoon taking pictures and eating (of course!). We had a great time together with just five guys. We got to see some $800 dollar a night hotel rooms, drink a way-overpriced coffee at Starbucks, and watch the snow fly of course! Some of the students that year were a bit disappointed, though, because the activity was cut short by an hour so we could have dessert and some entertainment back at school. That was fun, but I think we all liked the time in Chicago better…so we switched back to normal the next year.
Christmas Break of my junior year was full of memories. Andrea had four and a half weeks off from school, so she was able to fly back from Mexico and spend Christmas at home. She came and spent a few days with my family also in Michigan, where we went sledding, ate at the world-famous Zendher’s of Frankenmuth, MI, and got to know each other a lot more. On the day after Christmas, I went with Andrea’s family to take Mrs. Leslie to the hospital for her fourth chemotherapy treatment. Before that, we spent time walking around downtown Chicago and enjoying the Christmas season. What a wonderful time that was to spend with the family!
The second semester began two weeks before Andrea was to fly back to Mexico…so for that time, I was not a ‘single’ college student! During the rest of the semester, we were apart! Andrea flew back in the middle of January, and I knew I would miss her even more than before (yes, I know, I tried not to be too ‘mushy’!). However, I still had the two greatest roommates I could ask for. We all got along GREAT. I don’t remember a time we got into a real argument. I was a room captain, but never had to use my room captain position over them. They followed college guidelines, worked hard, had a great attitude, and were truly seeking after God. We enjoyed going out places together too…whether it was George’s Gyro Spot, a Wal-Mart trip, a hike in the dunes, playing racquetball, or just hanging out in the room (which had to be stopped sometimes; we would get going and never get anything done!). Then we had our “fourth roommate” that year—Tyler Brock from Rapid City, SD. He didn’t sleep in our room, but was basically there during any other free time!
Another goofy thing we did that year was celebrate Cinco de Mayo. None of us are Mexicans, but we all had some connection to Mexico, we thought (Dustin’s girlfriend was in Mexico, Julian looks Mexican [he’s really Filipino], and Nate talks like he’s Mexican [he spoke Spanish fluently as a missionary in Bolivia]). So we celebrated Cinco de Mayo by wearing the colors of the Mexican flag on our respective ties during classes that day: a red, a white, and a green one.
I mentioned in a previous post that I was able to be on Fairhaven’s intercollegiate basketball team all four years in college. I definitely was not the best player on the team, or even close to it. I guess my motto was “Leave it all on the court.” Put your all into practice, put even more into the game, and work hard. Our team was never “great,” and we knew we never would be overflowing with talent—we were preacher boys, not all-stars! We always tried to put up a good fight on the court. We never wanted to leave feeling we had not given our all. Our coach often emphasized the idea of “riding the bubble,” which I learned is not just a basketball principle. You need to make the opponent think you are crazy; by that he meant dive for every loose ball, be super-aggressive, and show strength—but never to the point where you lose your head, make stupid fouls, or get a technical foul. Ride the bubble of “insanity” as much as you can, but never pop that bubble. My junior year of playing was the most exciting. We had a good number of close games, a good record, and the “Revenge of the Snowman” game (a story for yet another post!). Sometimes I didn’t like how my coaches pushed me, but now I realize why. I believe that their pushing me not only made me a better player, but a better person also.
Wow, the ’07-’08 year was packed! For Spring Break in 2008, I was able to go to Mexico and visit Andrea. I loved the time I spent there, and appreciated everyone’s hospitality to me. Everything was eye-opening and extremely interesting to me. I loved learning about their culture and even the language some. God used that trip in my life to give me more of burden for foreign missions also, on top of getting to see Andrea.
I returned in early April after eight days south of the border. When I returned, I realized how fast the semester had gone. We were already in the last several weeks of school, and the Preaching Conference was in just two weeks. Hebrew History was probably the class with the most work. We were required to outline over the course of two semesters the entire books of the Bible from Genesis to Esther. For most of us, we had over 100 pages a piece, with some much more. The Kings Project (I Samuel to II Chronicles) ended up being the most dreaded piece of the whole puzzle. By the end of the year, however, we all gained a lot of knowledge from Hebrew History.
Overall, my grades were doing fine, but I know now that my spiritual life was lacking then. Thank God, Preaching Conference came right when I needed it most. God greatly worked on my heart for the few months following in areas mainly focusing around always putting Him first: in devotion, in service, and in prayer. God worked through His Word and revived me during a critical time: I was beginning to realize how soon I would be done with school and how serious I had to be about serving Him after college. It would never come “naturally” because of what I had learned so far in college. It had to come by putting the Lord first in EVERYTHING. During our end-of-the-year college activity at Turkey Run State Park, God also worked on my heart. During a testimony time in the evening, and then the bus trip home talking with other students, I was convicted about just how serious I had to be in order to be effective for our Savior. I was on a spiritual high coming out of college, and it was not about to stop either.
A few other male students and I were invited to go with an evangelist from Fairhaven to basically knock on doors for twelve days straight. I was able to take the days off of work and head up to London, Ontario, Canada. God put a serious burden in my heart during that time as well. Half-way through our trip, I began to LOVE knocking on doors and witnessing to people with a new passion. It was a true joy to see a few people saved during that church’s revival meetings, and know that God was all in it. With all that, I stayed with a family that was about as hospitable as can be. The whole church was a blessing to my heart during that short time.
God had prepared my heart and life during the last few months to fully surrender to His will. I believe with all of my heart that I would not be where I am today if it was not for the revival God worked in my heart that spring and summer. There I was, heading into my last year of college. Some of the biggest decisions of my life were ahead of me in the coming year: marriage, a place to serve, and finishing strong. It was to be a fruitful and exciting senior year to come.