February 2013 Ministry Update

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It’s been awhile since our last ministry update (last update Easter 2012) but much has happened in the last year…

Closing a Chapter

In the Fall of 2009 Joslyn’s parents and sister planted a church in South Tacoma called “Grace Place“.  Joslyn and I just exited a church replant with “Taproot Church” and had committed to start after school outreach programs in Graham, Washington with “Tacoma Youth For Christ“.   After our time was complete with YFC, we started our 1st house church in Spanaway, Washington “GPS Church” (Grace Place South).

2010 the unexpeted happened in ministry and life, Joslyn’s mom had passed away from uterine sarcoma cancer.  Afterwards we made a commitment to help Joslyn’s dad & Grace Place’s Pastor Danny Thomas to help him through the grieving and recovery process.

After assisting, leading, planting new churches and ministries in Western Washington for the last 6 years, God was closing a chapter in our families life and opened a new opportunity.

New Opportunities

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October 2012, we packed all of our belongings to begin our new journey in Nampa, Idaho.  In the last 4 months incredible things have happened in life and ministry!

  • Matthew and Annabelle are doing incredible in public school academically, socially, evangelically (little missionaries). 
  • London had  a short season and medical scare in December but has turned the corner (26 lbs, 33 in.) eating all food, growing, getting ready to enter pre-school this fall.
  • We have partnered with Empty Hand Warrior Juvenile Mentor Program (Christian Martial Arts Mentoring Program for At-Risk Youth & Young Adults).
  • We are developing partnering relationship with other Churches and Ministries, especially with Trademark Church who we are joining for bi-weekly corporate worship.
  • Another home church (Nampa House Church) has been planted in our home with 5 families.

God is good and it’s amazing what He he accomplishes in us and through us when we humble ourselves and get out of His way!  God is victorious and helps us through life’s battles…

Isaiah 54:17
“Any weapon whatever that will be formed against you will have no success, and any tongue at all that will rise up against you in the judgment you will condemn.”

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

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Just six weeks ago (3 days after Thanksgiving) London lost her appetite and started to look ill.  We decided to take her to the doctor to see what could be wrong.  The hope was it was just a stomach bug but her stomach wouldn’t hold food for a week causing her to lose weight to her already small frame.  After a week in the hospital of testing the bug theory we again ended up with her old friend the J-Tube.

Christmas had passed and she wasn’t gaining any weight with the J-Tube and had no energy to play anymore than 15-30 minutes a day.  Whenever we switch the way her body is feed it generally takes a week or two for her to adjust.

January 3rd was marked on the calendar as a follow up routine check up to make adjustments to her feeding regiment.  We packed up the whole family in the van to journey to Boise with the idea that her appointment wouldn’t take much more than 30-45 minutes and then we could do a fun family activity.

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After dropping both Joslyn and London off at their appointment we sat and ate breakfast at Chick-Fil-A.  As we finished our food I received a call from Joslyn “Go home, they want to keep her at the hospital because they are very concerned with her lack of nutrition and weight loss”.
After several tests and a two week stay things have changed again but this time the miraculous has happened.  London is gaining weight but not through a tube.  She is once again eating!  Not only can she have her past favorites (pasta, fries, fruit) her body is now tolerating proteins that her body used to struggle to break down.  Eggs and chicken are now two of her favorite things helping her to put on more weight in the last 2 weeks than she has gained in the last 2 months!  Super discouraged me and the other two kids (Matthew & Annabelle) headed home hoping that the doctors could change London’s course so she could be healthy and home after being at the hospital just 3 weeks ago.

London is still a mystery but every day she takes another bite we consider it a miracle!

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome Back Mr. J | London England Update 2012

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London Mito 2012

There are many uncertainties in the world of Mitochondrial Disease.

In our case London has been no exception.  After being stable for 18 months post  Nissen fundoplication surgery.  London and our family had a run of being “normal”. We understood initially that this period of time was not forever but when you live life it’s easy to forget what life was like previously.

After Thanksgiving weekend we noticed that London had lost her appetite and was experiencing extreme abdominal pain.  Joslyn and I had thought that it was simply time to switch out an old G-Tube which is no big deal.

They strolled into the hospital Monday morning for the switch but when they started to feed London again she continued to vomit.  5 days later after holding nothing down and losing 3 1/2 pounds it was time to welcome an old friend, Mr. J-Tube.

This week I resumed my previous role as Mom & Dad with Matthew and Annabelle, taking them to school, feeding them dinner, homework, emotional support, and the list goes on, while Joslyn took care of our youngest daughter London.

It’s honestly nice to have well behaved children (that both received awards at their new school this week) during times when their mom and sister are in the hospital.  We aren’t out of the woods as the J-Tube presents it’s own set of issues but it beats the next feeding step, TPN (pictures of London on TPN).

London England is Home

 

When I first created this blog it had a simple name “England Family Blog” but as these last few years have brought a lot to our family we continue to take it a DAY AT A TIME.

 

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own.”

It’s a New Season

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England Family 2012“It is always the simple things that change our lives. And these things never happen when you are looking for them to happen. Life will reveal answers at the pace life wishes to do so. You feel like running, but life is on a stroll. This is how God does things.” – Donald Miller

The England family wasn’t looking for a major change but we knew that God was preparing us for a new season.  We weren’t sure what that season was going to be until a few weeks ago…

Saturday, September 15th: I received a phone call from a friend asking if I would be interested in working as a PSR (Pyscosocial Rehabilitation) Specialist in Idaho.  Initially brushed him off but discussed the opportunity with Joslyn.  Joslyn started to research what Nampa, Idaho was all about.  She looked at schools, homes, churches, etc.  After much research Joslyn said we should consider this option and we started praying for God’s direction.

Sunday, September 16th:  It was another typical morning, get the kids up, get to church early to setup for service, eat lunch, watch the Seahawks throttle the Cowboys (sorry Jason).  After the kids went to bed we made a list of pro’s and con’s.

Some of the Pro’s
1.  Cheaper cost of living in Idaho
2.  We could start a new church (we love church planting).
3.  Good school district
4.  London’s Gi Specialist just moved to Boise

Some of the Con’s
1.  Leaving family & friends
2.  Being farther away from Seattle Children’s (although one of London’s main doctors is now in Idaho)
3.  Leaving Seattle/Tacoma Metropolitan were Joslyn and I grew up
4.  Leaving the Ministry in Tacoma

Monday, September 17th:  We discussed the opportunity with Joslyn’s Dad and he encouraged us to go and check it out before we make any kind of decision.  I called my buddy to have him set up an interview for the PSR position and started looking at homes we could possibly live in.

The England's New Home in Nampa, IDThursday, September 20th:  We left Washington at 4 in the morning and arrived in Nampa at 3pm.  We checked out a couple houses and schools, we really liked the pace of life in Nampa (no traffic!).  Before we could apply to rent a home, I had a job interview the next morning.  The interview went well and I accepted the position  2 hours later, we found our home and signed papers!  Where our home sits we are 2 miles from Nampa’s St. Lukes Hospital and only 20 minutes from the Children’s hospital.  We are 1-2 miles from all major shopping while still being in a quiet neighborhood.

Sunday, September 23rd:  The news was broken to Grace Place, my parents (who just got back from a trip to Nampa, haha) and friends.  We are sad to leave but God made it very apparent he wanted us in Idaho.  The crazier thing is that we needed to move out there on October 1st so there was much to do in a short period of time.  We had a major fundraising auction for the food bank in 5 days, find replacements for the vacant positions we were leaving, pack, and say goodbye to as many people as time would allow in a few days.

The England's Move 2012Sunday, September 30th:  We said our last good by to the church and started to load the truck.  We left at 4:30pm with a Uhaul & car tow and Joslyn followed behind with the kids in the van.  We arrived in Nampa at 3:30am, took a 3hr nap and started unloading the truck.  A couple neighbors noticed us unloading the truck and came over to help along with my buddy Chad.  We had the truck unloaded by 1pm and started to unpack boxes.  Joslyn and I didn’t stop till 8pm when we could barely function anymore.

We’ve now been here for a week and the whole family loves it!  The kids started school, we have spent time with old friends (the Hanson’s and Underwoods) and I start work next week.  We are going to start a church in our home again in November with the vision of duplicating several home churches (mission minded community groups) with an occasional (1-2 times a month) gathering of all the groups at the local movie theater (Lord willing).  The new website for the church that I will begin developing will be www.nampachurch.org.

London Danielle England age 3We are very excited about ministry, life, and new opportunities in Nampa!

We appreciate all prayer and support as we endeavor into this new journey!

Our New Mailing Address:
1831 West Lotus Ponds Ct
Nampa, ID  83651

Easter Aftermath

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After an action packed week that included showing The Passion of the Christ on Thursday, Preaching at a Good Friday Service at Inspiration Bible Church, Kids Easter Eggstravaganza on Saturday, and Easter Service on Sunday we now get to slow down and enjoy the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.