About Us

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Living in Milton,FL. Shane works at Family Promise and Valerie is a Independent Beauty Consultant for Mary Kay. Shane and Valerie have been married for 17 years with two wonderful children, Austen 13 yrs old and Gabrielle 10yrs old.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Catch up

I know it has been a very long time since we wrote. We did send out a newsletter with a Christmas card/family picture. So that will be coming soon, but we only could afford 50 so I wanted to also put it up here.

Shane immediately started to prepare for his mission trip to Brazil once school led out in may. I know that he has talked a little about it. We appreciate the support that you all given both financially and prayerfully. Once he came home the kids were out of school and they started enjoying the summertime freedom. Shane also could join out meetins with the mission committee during the summer. We took part in another spiritual gifts test with personality test. Shane and I pulled out all the others we have taken before and we studied how similar that test results were. This really had Shane thinking and before he started his fall semester, he changed his major to aviation mechanics. We saw that the money wasn't coming for him to fly and we really didn't want to go into too much school debt for something that God may not be guiding. Then we met with some missionaries, had lunch with them and asked a lot of questions. We got to talking about how Shane really wouldn't want to be a mechanic for a living and he really didn't have the desire to work on engines all day everyday. He wants to serve people. So, before his fall semester was over he got with all his advisers, and changed his major again. A Bachleor of Science of interdisciplinary studies with concentrations in Psychology, cross cultural studies and aviation maintenance. Shane is more at peace and is looking forward to his new classes for next semester. Please pray for him as he changes his focus in classes, listens for continued direction from the Lord and manages his time. Please pray as well as Shane really wants to get a part time job on campus to help with monthly expenses( gas for the vehicles in particular)

I, Valerie, have moved up to Director in TNT 5th & 6th graders in Awana. I have really enjoyed getting to know the girls and they have challenged me to work in memorizing verses. So now I'm working on my own book. I also do the music and help in council time which is fun too! While Shane was in Brazil, the kids went to school during the day, my mom was home when they got off the bus and I was able to get off work early each day to be with them in the evening. We decided that we would go on vacation this year, so we contacted my brothers in Florida. Planned to meet them in Pensacola, but the only way we could afford it was to be creative in coming up with the money. So, I had a garage sale and sold our pop-up camper. I have also had several challenges working with the other ladies in my office at work. God has showed how I need to change and grow in strength in Him. Work is quite stressful and tires me out. I am very aware of it and have learned I don't like to be as busy as I used to be. I am enjoying spending more quality time with my family.

Austen took swimming lesson at the beginning of the year. We were hoping that if he liked it he would want to compete and be part of the swim club. He is much like his father in the regard that once he learned all the swim strokes he lost interest. He is a great swimmer now and enjoyed the deep end of the pool this summer. For his birthday, this summer we gave him the choice to have a party or gifts. He decided to invite one friend and we went to Crater Diamonds. AR. We went bike riding on a regular basis, we have tried three different bike trails in the area. Austen has taken more responsibility with chores around the house. He is helping with the dishes, cleaning the bathrooms and yard work. We had to buy a new lawnmower and Austen has the priviledge of mowing. He actually likes it.(mostly because that is the one he gets paid for.) Once school started again he was accepted into the gifted and talented program at his school. Austen has mature a lot this year. Please pray that he grow in Christ and grasp His love.

Gabrielle loves to play with her neighborhood friends Jule and Khyzer. She has picked up reading. Even thoughit is more difficult for her than Austen, we are proud of her. She has lost most of her baby teeth and we are looking into braces for her in the spring. She has a really small mouth and her teeth does not have enough room to come in. She still is sucking her thumb and continue to pray that she will stop on her own very soon. She had her birthday at the local skating rink. Then she had her tonsils out. Amazing she hasn't been sick since! Gabrielle does help around the house as well. She helps in vacuuming, and emptying the dishwasher. I really like that she can take a shower without help now.

Katharine spent her whole summer in Pensacola, Fla with a longtime friend Carolyn Bush. We then picked her up in August and stayed a week on the beach with my brothers Victor( his wife and kids) and Eric, my dad and step-mom and younger brother Brian. We all had our own townhouse. We had so much fun! We brought home lots of shells and great pictures. Katharine has started driving again. This has given her much freedom to take herself to the doctor and go to church functions however it has also given her much frustrating adventures as she still gets lost easily. But she calls is and we help her find her way back home. She went on a retreat with her "encore"(senior) group. She has enjoyed becoming friends with one particular friend named Karen that calls her up on a whim and they do fun stuff together.

We can really praise God. His promises to never fail us is so true. Every time we have been in a bind, He always gets us out. Every month has been quite a challenge to make ends meet, however, we are not hungry, we have clothes to wear and we are not homeless. Thank you Father!

Even though our focus is not aviation, we still have a passion for it and we hope that one day Shane will be able to be a part of mission aviation. We are still looking at a host or guest house that would provide encouragement and relief to the missionaries we can serve. We have started to make contact with Wycliffe to begin lookling into organizations that do such work.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Daily Grind

Now that I'm back in the routine of work and the kids and Shane are back in school, it seems were busier than ever. There is not much time for social life. I really gained some fresh ideas on how to minister at work. I've had a hard time fitting in and well not feeling useful for the Lord. That always makes me feel unsettled. As I continued to pray and ask God to help I would keep my eyes open to see where I could share my faith or encourage others. I have exercised my passion to serve the Lord at church with Awana and in the mission committee and, Lo and Behold, things just starting happening at work. I love how God works.
We have had many people relocate to the Longview area. From Iowa, Houston, Dallas, Mississippi, California even. So I would get a feel from our new residents and then invite them to church. Last Sunday, a whole crowd showed up and we took a whole row in the service. It was hard to talk to them at once and make them feel welcome. I have seen them at work this week and they all said they really enjoyed it. Whew!
I went to an Awana Conference and totally enjoyed myself. I learned so much and of course have so much resources to home as well as great speakers. I really got a confirmation that God wants me there and I have such a passion the the kids and training them to serve Him.
Gabrielle had her first six week grade for 1st grade. She is above the requirement for reading! YEAH! I am so proud of her, my sweet girl! She is growing like a weed, were way past due for new school clothes. Were getting ready for her birthday-October 1st. She really wanted to go to the skate rink but they closed down, so we are going horseback riding and maybe the zoo or something.
Austen is in the GT program at school and loves it. This special class will give the opportunity to write his own book about sharks, learn about aviation(go figure)take a trip to a avaition museum in Tyler, Tx. Plus many more things. He has to change classes this year and now he has Social Studies included. He seems to be liking it so far.
Shane has a heavier load this semester. Because of certain circumstances, he decided to change his major to flight mechanic and added a minor in phsycology. I know it doesn't seem to fit together but we talked about somes things over the summer. He truely is gifted in counseling and encouraging, so with a little encouragement of mine and a whole lot of praying... he wasn't going to change directions completely out of flight, so one of his acedemic advisors told him if he wanted to do a minor in phsycology then if he later wanted to get his masters he could easlily. Shane really likes all his classes. He is at school for long days and has more homework than he would like.
Mom was able to get a C-Pap(sp?) machine that helps you breathe while you sleep. She got it right before she left for vacation. It has helped her so much! She is getting up in the mornings rested and isn't taking naps. She is so much more active which is a huge praise. Her diabetes is still maintaining, plus she continues to lose weight.

Monday, September 7, 2009

August travels

I have been working for a year at my job now and have accumulated enough vacation time to take a weeks a vacation. We were going to go all the way down to my brothers house in Bradenton. Fl but we couldn't find a house to rent. So my mom looked in Pensacola and found three condos. We had so much fun. I got up early and stay up late. So my brother victor and his family, my dad and his family, and then our family with mom. We played games, shared the cooking, we collected bunches of shells, boats rides with tubing. We went out once to get fresh seafood. We had such a lovely time.

We then came home a day early so I could rest up before work. I ended up sleeping the entire day, but ended up with a fever blister. Started work again was pretty hard. but I've gotten into my routine again. Then, an old friend from Lubbock showed up at my apartment looking for an apartment. I was so surprised. Daniel was someone that Shane discipled while at Melrose Park. Shane finally convinced him to go back home to Alabama. Then he shows up here. Daniel forgot we had moved here. It is so nice to have him and his family here.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Fourth of July 2009




We really enjoyed ourselves for the holiday. I got a paid holiday for July 3rd. I still had to come in for 2 hours each day of the weekend to collect money being that I'm the only one responsible for that at my job. Then we had some friends over for a cook-out. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for Carrie and Jonathan Vaughan and Carrie made homemade potato salad. We had pineapple, watermelon, corn on the cob, and poppers too! Then on the 4th, we gathered with more friends at out church gathering. It is at some one's house in the country and they rent a train, a blow-up slide, lots of bubbles, Frisbees, etc. for all the kids. Music, and great fellowship with friends. They pass around water bottles and ice cream sandwiches. We all bring desserts to share. Then when it gets dark enough, the fireworks starts, just as good as any other I've seen over the years. It's hot and sticky but you just don't think about it when your having that much fun!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Brazil trip -- part 1

Ok, I am finally going to get the stories of my trip to Brazil down on here. Valerie has been after me to write about it and I have been avoiding it.

The purpose of my trip was to be used as a vision trip to make sure that mission aviation wa
s where I felt that the Lord was still leading. Before I took too many classes in school toward that goal and decide that I did not want or could not handle being a missionary.

So Valerie and I traveled to Arlington, Texas on the night of May 3rd. We spent the night with Joel and Jill to that we could get me to the airport by 5:15 am. I said my goodbyes to Valerie and was off to Miami for my first of two 12 hour layovers. That flight was good and easy. I sat next to a man and his 2 year old daughter on their way to Cuba to visit his grandparents. I tried not to talk to much and the little girl did awesome for that early in the morning and being so young. Arriving there I decide to find me a place to relax. I had my laptop and 3 books to keep me busy. I tried to get on the internet, but they want you to pay for it. So I was not willing to do that. Ok Miami is cool and all, but the airport got really old after about 3 hours. So 9 hours after that I could board the plane for Rio de Janiero.


Now I must insert a couple of details here. 1. I have not traveled internationally by myself.......ever. So I am a little nervous, but more excited. 2. I bought the plane tickets 3 weeks earlier. A week before I am to leave and too late for any changes to be made the travel website emailed me that I was going to have to change airports for my flight leaving Rio. I emailed back and said that was not what I was willing to do and what were my options. They emailed back and said I could change airports or I could have a refund for that part of my trip. Did I already say I was nervous to travel alone? God knew this and allowed the circumstances to be such that I had to rely on his courage to make the change of airport.

I flew all night to Rio sitting next to a lady that spoke no English. (I thought I was not to leave English behind until I got further into Brazil, but ok.) She did not speak much Spanish either. So much for being a witness, but the Lord knew I was not wanting to talk alot so the choice of seat mates was good. I did not sleep well.

Flying into Rio was amazing. It is a HUGE city. There and about 7 million within the city and almost 15 million right outside of it. So much for Dallas looking big. We were over the city about 18 minutes before we landed.

Amazingly big.

Part 2 coming soon

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Summer News

I have tried to get Shane to blog about his trip, maybe soon He will share his experience with everyone. He can talk for hours about it all but trying to sit down and put it into words is difficult for him. Shane got back from his trip to Brazil, school let out for the kids. In June we celebrated my mother's birthday and Austen's birthday. I decided to get my mom a subscription to the Birds and Blooms magazine. We grilled out and had Strawberry shortcake. For Austen's birthday, he decided he wanted to go to Crater Diamonds in Arkansas. So we took one of his friends and dug in hard crusty dirt for two hours and found a whole bunch of rocks. As fun as that sounds I really did enjoy water sifting. Afterwards, we went to the water park next door to cool off. I got sun burned really bad and paid for it the next few days. We then went to a touristy shop where I thought the kids would like to buy a neat crystal or pretty rock that would be a great souvenir but instead Austen bought a fossil of a fish. Yes, he still wants to be a paleontologist.

We went to say our goodbyes to Joel, Jill,Dara and Dade Skinner, who were heading to Africa with AIM. Shane then drove my mom to Pensacola, Fl to visit her friend for the summer, then Shane went on to His brother's house in GA to deliver a minivan to his family. Shane and his brother have quite a story to tell about their adventures together. To make a long story short, they drove an OLD Cadillac from Aaron's house to our house. It should have only taken 12 hours...it took 19 hours and it broke down somewhere in AL. It makes for a funny story when you hear the whole thing. They then decided that the rest of the trip would go better if we took our car and meet their sister Robin half way and she would take Aaron the rest of the way to their parents house. Shane is done traveling for awhile.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Where does the Time Go?

Time flies whether your having fun or not. Shane will be home on Sunday and I am very glad of that. Even though we have been able to communicate through Skype, email and facebook, I very much miss him and can't wait for him to be home. Shane will be able to share about his time in Brazil soon.

During Shane's time away, I have had meetings, and doctor's appts. and work parties. Our church finished up AWANAS for the year. I have accepted the position of director for the 5th & 6th grade girls for next year. I am continueing to meet with the 456 club through the summer, and we are trying to plan some short term mission trips in the mission committee. So I am trying to stay involved.

Austen had an eye appointment last week and we pick up his first pair of glasses tomorrow. He is very excited. He says it will comfirm his nerd status at school ...and he is happy about this.:) We have not been able to get him to swim lessons this month but he was able to show me his techniques he is learning at our office pool party. What a fun time! We made it a luau, so I dressed in a grass skirt and handed out lei's and had the pool fill with beach balls. Everyone had a good time with the hoola hoop and cannonball contests.

With all this it has been difficult to keep up the house work. The grass has grown so high that the lawn mower boggs down and over heats- its new too! I've worked on it for two days now and hopefully I can finish tomorrow. A friend from work gave me some elephant ears to plant under our oak tree in the front yard as well as some voilets. If they live, they will look really nice I think.

A blessing and a praise. Even though the economy doesn't seem to look great, I had my quarterly review and got a raise. This is helpful in many ways. I continue to pray for open opportunities for ministry at work and definitely need prayer for strength to be Christ in my workplace. It hasn't been easy working with other people(especially other women) when I'm used to working with one person(my husband) for the last 13 years. God is teaching how to be something I'm not. Patience, understanding, and when to speak and how to speak(that I think is the hardest). It is in these hard times that I want to quit because it's really not where I want to be, but I know from the past that God puts me in these situation to make me grow. Like 2 Peter 1 -making one's calling. My favorite scripture, a reminder of what God wants from me.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Angels watching over me!

I have to share as often as I can when God protects! We often forget when an instant happens when you know that God protected you and we don't testify about it. So I want to praise God for protecting me yesterday! I was sitting at a traffic light waiting for the light, dabbling in my purse, when I felt the urge to look in my rear view mirror. I thought I heard something. I saw a HUGE Dr Pepper truck stopped right at my bumper crooked and partly on the curb! If the angels hadn't stop it I would have been squashed like a bug! As I kept looking the passenger guy in the truck opened the door to look to see if they had actually hit me, but I knew he didn't. The light turned green and I was on my merry way praising and thanking God!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Shane and I have recently got caught up in Facebook and I haven't taken the time to update you all by blog. Shane and the kids had a fabulous time seeing family and friends. Shane surprised Kevin and Sharon by coming unannounced to the funeral. They were very happy to see him and the kids. Austen got to see his school friend, Reed. They all got to see snow, and play in the river all in the same weekend.

The recession has not really affected Longview, We have had many layoffs and plants close, but for an average the Forbes Magazine listed Longview, Texas as one of the top cities for employment and the city continues to grow. Housing is still high and people are still buying and selling. This has helped my job because even with people moving out it seems that many are just shifting from houses to apartments or the other way around.

Shane is leaving May 3rd for Brazil on a mission trip. He will be gone for three weeks. He is a little nervous about traveling alone, but excited too. We both have such a desire to live in South America. He will be spending his time with missionaries, Mike and Jodi Bunn. They work with Brazil Air and YWAM. Shane has also decided to change his degree plan. Funds have not been able to come in for him to get his flight training now, so he will graduate with a aeronautical science/computer science degree. Hopefully after school he will land a job that will pay for the flight he needs to get the pilot license.

The kids are doing great. We are looking into homeschool for Austen for next year. He still is moving very quickly in school and gets bored easily. He has moved from the top reader in the entire school to second because we won't let him read Harry Potter books or any other books that have magic in them. Unfortunately, these are the books that have the most points in them for Accelerated Reading. We really are praying that we could find someone that wouldn't mind adding Austen to their schooling their own kids. Austen has been swimming three times a week with the Longview Swim Club. He has a test soon to see if he will move up.

Gabrielle is doing so much better at reading, She can't wait to start swimming for the summer. She keeps asking me when the pool opens at my work. She also wants to go to a water park this summer. She still wants be a mermaid when she grows up. I would love to get her into swimming with Austen but its just not the time.

My mom is doing ok. She seems to have days when she spends most her time in bed. I have noticed that she is having a hard time formulating her words. I think it might be from one... she doesn't interact with people on a regular basis and two..I'm afraid that she might be having mini strokes. I did talk about it with her and we have made an appointment with her doctor.

My mom and I went to a ladies retreat a few weeks back, it was so beautiful! Our cabins were right in front of a huge lake. Smack dab in the middle of nowhere, it was great! We met new people and played games, and had an awesome time with my Heavenly Father.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Spring is on its way!

I have off today from work. Just a time of rest because work has been quite crazy this month, also I worked last Saturday. We got very sad news on Monday that a close friend from Lubbock, TX had lost their daughter Hailey by suicide. It was a big shock. Shane and the kids left this morning to go to the funeral. I wanted to go but it just didn't work out with work and the timing. After the funeral Shane and the kids will head up to Shane's parents house to visit for spring break. Mom and I will enjoy the time by ourselves. It is cold and rainy in Longview, but the flowers have bloomed and allergy season is full force in our house. We finally are on facebook too! Shane is keeping up with it, but I look on when I get a chance. We have more pictures of the family on facebook.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Birthday news!

I had my birthday. On 2/20 I turned 35yrs old and I really don't ever feel any older. But then I want to do something with the kids and I feel my age. I decided to have my friends, Matthew and Rebecca (little Audry)Simcox over at the house to play games and eat taco salads and strawberry shortcake.YUM!! We also had Shane's school buddy Matt with to celebrate. I got some great phone calls and presents. My brother Eric sent me a beautiful earring, necklace and ring set. Then Saturday morning we left to go to Arlington, TX to see Shane's sister Jill and family. They leave with AIM(African Inland Missions) in June to head for Tanzania, Africa. They are doing a presentation at their church, so we came down to support them. We also met with Grandma and Grandpa Nation for their 62nd wedding anniversary and Grandpa's birthday. It has been great to worship with other believers and their pastor was so dynamic speaker, then realized that he was a missionary for 15 years in Africa. Papa (Shane's dad) took the kids to the park and the cousins can spend time together.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

what's happening now

Shane finally told me to at least start writing about what's happening now, then I can add past events as I think of them. It is February 10th, and I wanted to send out our winter newsletter way before now. We wanted to do mail-outs with a family picture/ prayer card but the weather hasn't helped. the children were not cooperative, then I couldn't find every one's mailing address. It really feel like winter now in Longview. No ice storms or snow just very cold, today rainy.
Austen really seems to like swimming, it takes more gas for Shane to travel back and forth to school right now, that's where Austen does his lessons. Austen is still struggling with many things, we can tell if he has had too much sweets or is very tired. HE actually wasn't sleeping very well for several months. Staying up very late reading or paying his gameboy. We took everything away but then he said he would wake up and stay awake for several hours then be very tired by the time I would wake him for school. Now that he is swimming he seems to be sleeping better. My evaluation is that he wasn't burning enough energy to be tired. Austen doesn't eat well either, not that he eats a lot of sweets ( too much in my opinion) but i can't seem to control everything in his life. Please pray for him, for all these things and he seems to gravitate to books with ghosts and wizard/witchcraft in them, I'm very concerned about it.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

New Found Marriage

Most people have experienced some marriage battles. If you haven't, you must not be from this planet. I(Valerie) have also noticed that many have struggled as we have in our marriage. Although, the typical struggles are money and sex, we also had against us the pains of childhood. I came from a single parent home, being molested by a relative. Eventually became promiscuous and rebellious. Shane came from a pretty large loving family, but exposed to pornography as a young teen and later became entangled in a mess of legal issues and was on probation for 5 years. This setting just about gave Satan the win of the century, but God had other plans. At the beginning, just learning that Shane and I were opposite in personalities was a struggle. I liked mornings, he didn't. I needed to be around somebody all the time, he like being alone most of the time. We married in debt to the IRS, and after a couple of years, I thought I had given all the sex I could give and I was done with it. That did not make Shane very happy. And for the rest of our personal relationship, it was going down hill steadily. I was also having physical female problems and Shane was picking up bad habits that just added to the problems. We stuck with it, didn't really think any nasty thoughts of leaving each other yet...We moved, the money got better, we had actually taken crown ministries and got debt free....Until we thought we needed "stuff", you know the bigger car, electronics, fancy bed, blah...blah...we then were convinced by a "big timer" that we could make our own money being a financial planner. We left our job and moved into a house we rented for a while and we would try selling life insurance, and investments. After awhile, we can't stand each other because I was complaining about everything....everything. And Shane was withdrawing worse and worse. We weren't making any money, I applied for food stamps, and rent was not being paid. After six months, we got rid of most everything, the memoirs of my grandmother, my collections of nick knacks, the kids toys, our pets. We packed as much as we could in Shane's parents horse trailer and our car and headed for Reynosa, Mexico. I was in hate mode by this time, we were barely talking. to Jump forward, we moved again to Lubbock and the fights, snide remarks, blaming, bringing up the past. I was ready to leave but I new it would be a waste of money, I really didn't want to be with anyone else and I new how much it hurt me to have my parents not together, so I told him that it was time we finally got help. In Lubbock, I had this talent of looking through the yellow pages and God would direct me straight to who I needed to call. This time it was Family Coaching. We met with a coach to help us communicate with each other, we had to write letters to God and to each other. We then took a separation time of five weeks of fasting. Fasting from each other, fasting of food and did a deep reflection of our personal relationship with Christ. We stayed in the same house but we did not touch or sleep together. We then started dating and basically learn how to respect each other again. And at the end of six months, I could say again that we loved each other again. We had just had our 10th anniversary and felt that it was time to rededicate our marriage. That was very significant, although, it was not over yet. I was still struggling with the sex thing and could not understand what was so important. Sex was nothing to me, all innocence was taken from me at age 8 and it was not fun, romantic, exciting, or feel good. Shane sat me down after a REALLY big fight and talked to me about how God intended sex to be. And like a slap in the face, I saw that I was wrong; that I needed to be reprogrammed. So my cleansing and reprogramming started with reading Song of Songs in the Bible. Then books that taught a new way of thinking like "Sheet Music", "The Lady, Her Lover, and Her Lord". I prayed and asked God to show me and teach me. Later, before we moved to Longview, we had a good friend test each of us with Myers Briggs personality test. Amazing material to help us understand each other. I recommend that people do this before you get married. Again I definitely know that God brought us together for a reason and we are figuring this as we live. Now, God is in the center of our marriage more than ever. We have cut the cords from several ghosts from our pasts. Healing takes a lifetime for certain things, however, I believe, that we are a work in progress, until our Lord Jesus returns.