Category Archives: Children
Raising A Child On The Road (Video)
This is how Amira likes to travel!
A few years ago I had all the answers. If you asked, I could probably give some [pretty good] advice on being a great spouse, raising practically perfect children, preaching fantastic sermons, and whatever else you’d like to throw my way. I even had Bible verses for all that!
But the old saying I’ve heard said a thousand times now rings true in my life…
“The older I get, the less I know!”
Marriage, ministry, raising children and life in general takes hard work, tireless determination and God’s grace. It is easy to talk about and hard to do.
I remember countless times seeing THAT child at Walmart (you know who I’m talking about!) and thinking… “That will never happen with my kids.” You know, the boy who whines, screams and openly rebels against his parents. The girl who gets what she wants, when she wants, and how she wants it… or else. The kid that is nothing less than a brat.
Well, guess what… God has blessed me with a wife and a munchkin of my own! Suddenly, I realized things really aren’t as easy as I had supposed. Just this week we were at the store and in a moment which snuck up on me like a tiger on its prey, I was that parent with that kid.
And you know what? The more I am blessed to lead a family, the more I realize something… we desperately need God’s presence in each of our lives! You see, no matter how much discipline, structure, schedule and consistency we have in our parenting, it is human nature to rebel. We are born in iniquity and foolishness, and without God’s grace we will continue in that same rebellion until our last breath.
Aubrie and I hope to raise children that fear the Lord, respect his Word, and enjoy serving him. But above all else we want to see them individually submit themselves to God’s loving hand when they understand their need of his salvation. That is why we try our best to have family devotion time. This has been one of the hardest things to keep regular and consistent in while traveling on the road, but the need for us all to meditate on God’s Word and commune with him in prayer is paramount. They need the Word of God. I need the Word of God.
Raising a child while on the road has its challenges. We’re blessed that [as of right now] Amira loves to travel. Going “bye-bye” is one of her favorite things to do! Spending hours in the car going from one meeting to the next is still something fun for her. It’s hard to believe she’ll be two this month, and it’s hard to believe that in just over 2 months we’ll meet her baby sister (who is still unnamed, by the way). With the Lord’s help we hope to live by the principle found in Proverbs 22:6
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
How do you and your family do devotion time together? What advice do you have and what challenges do you face? Leave your answer in the comments… I’d love to hear from you!
Here’s a recent video of us reading through a chapter in proverbs together as a family. Amira likes to repeat the phrases sometimes, it really is cute. We love you guys! Thanks for following us and for your prayers.
The Big Announcement
Yesterday I posted on Twitter and Facebook that we would be announcing something big. Last time we did that, it turned out to be our survey trip to Colombia which preceded deputation. Well yesterday after posting the teaser, there ensued a great swarm of speculation… from “congrats on the twins” to “baby?” to “boys, girls, or both?” to…. wait, everybody really guessed that we’re having a baby? Could it be that simple? Was it that obvious? Hmmm
Actually, all of the guessers was at least partially right. Yes, we are expecting our second child!!
So now, questions fill our thoughts…. What will we name him (I’m pretty sure it’s a boy lol) … or her? What will he or she look like? How will we fit it all into our schedule? But really, we’re so thrilled that God would be so gracious to us in entrusting another precious child into our care. Looks like we’ll get to know the newest Vance in late May or early June.
It will be interesting to see how our little Amira reacts to not being the little baby anymore. If you have multiple kids, how did your older one react when they got a new sibling? Feel free to respond in the comments.
Thank you all for your prayers. Be praying for Aubrie especially as we will be travelling for some far-from-home meetings coming up this fall and into next year as we present our ministry in Colombia.
New Recruits!
The Vance family, decked out for Boot Camp!
Wow, what a great week at Vacation Bible School! We were honored to be at our home church’s summer kids program most nights this week and let me tell you, God worked in amazing ways! The theme was “Boot Camp — Get In The Lord’s Army.” Several hundred kids attended, over a hundred teens and adults from Lighthouse helped pull it off, and at least 44 kids spoke with counselors and made professions of faith, making Christ Jesus their Lord and Savior.
It was very odd to just walk into a VBS at Lighthouse and not have much to do with pulling it off. Very different from years past, no doubt. We were able to help with crowd control and decision counseling, and praise God, both Aubrie and I were able to lead a few children to Christ!
Pastor Blackstock also announced that the offering from the penny march would go toward my friends Will Hill (missionary to Japan), Beth Johnson (missionary to Morocco) and us (missionaries to Colombia, of course). What an honor! Thank you guys, we love you!
Remember what Christ said:
“Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Luke 15:10
I’m In The Lord’s Army. YES SIR!
Ever since I can remember, Vacation Bible School has always been one of my favorite times of the year. From the awesome Bible stories, memory verses, fun songs, prizes, skits and more, it’s always such a blast! Please be in prayer for my home church as they kick off their annual VBS tonight at 7 PM.
It is always humbling to think of so many kids coming into the church and hearing the Gospel clearly for the first time. Pray that everything will go smoothly. Pray for all the counselors as they work with the children that are being dealt with. These children’s eternity is at stake!
May God move in their hearts.
May the Holy Spirit convict them of their sinful state and need for Christ.
May all their trust be placed in what Christ has already done to pay for that sin.
May Christ be magnified, glorified and exalted above all else!
Leaving Our Comfort Zone
I turned it in today.
My notice.
Many saw it coming, but it took quite a few by surprise to see it so soon.
For the past two years, in addition to pastoring the Spanish Church at Lighthouse Baptist, I’ve had the privilege of working at Children’s Medical Services as a Bilingual Program Associate. I’ve enjoyed helping families that have kids with varying disabilities and special healthcare conditions. I’ve been able to assist them with case management, interpretation with doctors, and intermediation with nurses, hospitals, specialists, pharmacies and so much more. Since this is a government job I have had the luxury of being able to pastor the Spanish church at the same time without worrying about conflicts on nights and weekends.
Unfortunately, the Monday-Friday, 7 am to 5 pm schedule doesn’t work as well with scheduling deputation meetings.
So, I put in my notice today.
We don’t have much support at all right now, but we do have a big God. There’s nothing too big for Him. It’s time to get out of our comfort zone and step out by faith.
Pray that we can fill up our calendar with meetings. Fast. 🙂
The Vance Family 