Friday, February 29, 2008

Two rants...

First-
I feel like the last month has been so focused on packing/moving/driving/getting settled. I haven't really had any time or energy to devote to raising support. I have made some good connections with people I haven't seen in a while. I also finally addressed our support letters (only ten days later than I would have liked) which will go in the mail tomorrow. This weekend I will be sitting down and making a more concrete plan about how to make contacts and set up appointments. If you are in the Southern California area, plan on getting a phone call from me sometime in the next few weeks.


Second-
We need a set of wheels for me to drive. I need something to get me to work and around town, preferably with decent gas mileage. If we were able to find a loaner car to use for the next few months, that would be ideal. Here's the problem: I've got the motorcycle bug again. I'm trying to figure out if I should feel guilty for praying for $700 for this. If you know me, you know how I like to rationalize and manipulate data in my head. Gas mileage and cheap insurance are the main pros I come up with. (Not to mention riding around So Cal in the spring on a cool old bike.) It's all hypothetical at this point anyway.

On a different note- I played in the dirt at work all week. We removed sod, moved sprinklers, fixed a water main. I got to use the trencher all day today. Good times.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

First Day on the Job

I dug a hole.
I put a pipe in it.
I filled the hole up.
I got a sunburn.

It was a good day!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Guest Blogger

Ok folks, we have a guest blogger today: my wife. She posted this on her personal (read:not gonna share the link here) blog. I have her permission to repost this here though...

I'm kind of letting Jon's blog cover the deeper aspects of our lives right now, but I really wanted to share with you all how amazing it's been since we made the final decision to move out to California for a few months.

First I need to preface this by sharing with you that for the last year+ every time we tried to make something happen it has fizzled. It was easy for me to feel like God had let me down and had forgotten us. Especially when in the past whenever we tried to make things move everything would just fall into place. Life wasn't perfect, but somehow if there was a need it would be covered.

I'm sure if you paid much attention the first sentence in that last paragraph you might have noticed that I said "every time we tried". That is where the problem was. We were trying to make things happen. We were trying to plan out how we wanted to live life. We were running in the opposite direction of where God wanted us.

Once we let go and told God we would follow him where ever he wanted us - things just fell into place. In the week we've been here we have: reconnected with some great friends, Jon got a job, Jon got office space to work out of... the list goes on and on... and on top of all of that we just found out that our insurance through work will kick in by next Saturday.

Health Insurance.

Let's just say that again. Health. Insurance.

I cannot begin to express what a blessing that is. We have been without insurance since about this summer. We have also had a few medical crisis since then. When you have 2/4 of your kids with medical issues - the weight of not having coverage is extreme.

We are blessed.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

DCS Auction

Janelle and I went to the DCS Auction last night. In DCS terms, it is the biggest fundraiser of the year. This was the 19th annual auction. It was a great time to see people and share a little bit about what we're doing. Janelle calls it schmoozing. I call it networking. Whatever it is, we had a good time.

It has been fun to see the look on peoples faces- the look that says: "I know that's Jon McIver, but he's in Iraq or Tennessee.... he shouldn't be here!" A few people recognized me, but struggled to place the name. I guess I look a lot different than I did a few years ago.

I also had fun messing with the DCHS football players. They were walking around selling brownies, cookies, soda, etc. Instead of just buying from them, I asked them DCHS history/trivia questions before I would buy from them. I think I entertained the whole table as they watched the boys scramble to find the answer from some of the "old guard" staff of DCS.

It's good to know that some things never change. Dale, Dean, Glenn, Ramah Lee, Heather, Dave, Devon, Patti, Beth, Cecil... praise God for your long term ministry at DCS!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Jehovah Jireh!

Jehovah Jireh means "God Provides."

In the past 24 hours, God has:
-blessed me with a new job with benefits. (I'm gonna be a blue shirt!)
-given me access to an office, computer, printer, place to think/pray/work. (Thanks GC Lancaster!)
-provided two tickets to the DCS Auction. (Thanks Chris!)
-provided free printing for my support letters. (Thanks Sis!)

God is GOOD!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Current Support Letter

Here's the text from our current support letter, going in the mail this week!

Change isn’t just what you find in the cushions of your couch…

A Change of Direction

The McIver’s are about to embark on a new adventure! As you may know, my brother-in-law Rog works with an organization called Youth For Christ Military Youth Ministry. The organization works with military chaplains to provide a youth program for Junior High and High School students on military installations. Rog encouraged me to pursue a position as a Community Director with YFC/MYM. In January I spent 10 days in Colorado with YFC/MYM. I am very excited to share with you that Youth For Christ has extended an invitation to us to serve as Missionaries to Military Kids! (We said yes!) I feel uniquely equipped for this ministry, with five years of professional youth ministry experience and five years of military service.

A Change of Address

Since our roots are on the West Coast, we have decided to make a temporary move to California! We have packed up our house here in Clarksville and put everything in storage. We will leave on the 13th of February, and make our way back to sunny (and windy!) Lancaster. We will be staying with Janelle’s sister Jessica and her family. I will be substitute teaching at my alma mater, Desert Christian School. We will enjoy being a part of our “home” church, Grace Chapel, for a couple of months. It will be great to be around the West-coast crew for a while!

A Change of Scenery

Our ministry over the next few months will be to share our heart and vision for these “third-culture” kids. We want to invite you to become a part of this ministry as well. In addition to our time in Lancaster, we will be making a number of trips throughout California, Oregon, and Washington. I will be contacting you personally sometime in the next three months. I would love to sit down with you and share my vision. I would also like to share some of our financial goals for this ministry.

How you can pray for us:

· For the kids and all the adjustments they will have to make.

· For Janelle as she teaches the kids at home.

· For safety as we travel about the country.

· For the Laird’s & McIver’s as we pack 12 bodies into one house.

Grace and Blessings,

Jon (For the McIver clan)

2+4+1=one crazy trip!

Two reasonably intelligent, sometimes mature adults.
Four exuberant, excited, always curious kids.
One old dog.

Add this all together in a 1998 GMC Suburban for a 2000 mile road trip, and what do you get?

-28 hours straight from Clarksville to Albuquerque
-Three trips to the pool
-A drive through Petrified National Forest and the Painted Desert
-A trip to The Grand Canyon (it's not just a hole in the ground)
-Lots of chewies and beef jerky
-397 stops because Liam had to "go badly"

And most importantly:
-ONE SAFE TRIP TO CALIFORNIA!

We are here, life is good. Clarksville Cell numbers still work.
Jon 931-542-8358

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

The McIver Family Adventure!!!

If you've been following the saga of the McIver family, you know the basic details of our life. If not, here's a quick recap:
-In January Jon went to Colorado to interview with Youth For Christ/Military Youth Ministry.
-YFC/MYM offered Jon a position as a Community Director with Military Community Youth Ministry.
-Jon and Janelle decided that he best place to raise support was on the West Coast.
-During the first two weeks of February we packed everything (almost) we own into a 12X12 storage unit.
-On February 13th, we left Clarksville, TN for Southern California.
-While in California, Jon will be subbing at Desert Christian.
-The kids are "doing school at home" with Janelle and Aunt Jessica.

So that's the basic rundown... trip details and support progress to follow in other posts!