Potatoes and Provision!

Hey everyone!

Yesterday we had our first big fundraiser at Matthew's and my home church, Living Water.  We decided to do a potato bar, because Remedy (our college group that the three of us go to) had done one in the past, and it had been pretty successful.  We ended up raising above and beyond the amount we thought we would make, and we blessed with the presence of family and friends.  We cannot express the gratitude we feel for God, and our families, friends, and church. 

Saturday afternoon, Matthew and I met with Kris Puccinelli (or Mama Kris, as I call her), our second mother, mentor and college group leader at Living Water to do our big shopping at Sam's Club (Amanda had to work, so she couldn't make it).  Then, Matthew, Kris and I went to Kris' house to scrub and wrap the potatoes in foil.  Our wonderful friend Ariana helped out, too!  We managed to finish all of the preparations in about 2 hours, which gave us time to celebrate our friend Tony's 21st birthday!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONY!

Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early and spoke at two of Living Water's services to inform everyone about our trip and our fundraiser, and afterwards we headed over to St. Peter's Lutheran Church (our mother church, big thanks to them!) and used their ovens and kitchen prep area for all of our preparations.  We cooked potatoes, made a salad, cut brownies and onions, and crock-potted some chili.  Our friend Danielle came and helped us out that afternoon/evening because she is WONDERFUL!  Our fundraiser started at 5, and people began PILING in the door.  We had about 30 people RSVP and had bought around 100 potatoes (I honestly thought that would be too much) but by about 5:30pm we were wondering if we would have ENOUGH!  God provided a miracle for us, and everyone got a potato!  One of Matthew's and my former youth leaders, Siobhan, even brought homemade cupcakes for everyone!  It was great to see everyone coming together to support us!

One of my favorite parts about last night was the feeling of family.  I've been going to Living Water Church since I was in the 6th grade (I'm 23 now) and, at times, it is hard to be a part of a place that has known you since before you hit puberty.  I so often just want to GET AWAY and do something different, but last night, I was reminded of what church is all about.  I get grumpy sometimes, and can complain, but when we needed it, God used our church, which is basically my family, to provide.  That says something.  I thank God for each person in my church, no matter how I feel about them sometimes, because they are my family, and families love each other, support each other, and help each other grow.  I come from a family that wasn't always consistent, and people that were supposed to me in my life, were not.  I think that is what gets me most about last night is what it meant when people showed up.  And what it means when people give, or when they pray.  It means you care.  And that resonates in me more deeply than I ever thought it would.  This is my dream, and my calling, and to be supported and encourage and loved like family through it all is God's gift to me.  YOU are God's gift to me.

The other major blessing of last night was the fact that each of our parents came and supported us last night.  Both of Amanda's parents, my mother, and Matthew's dad came.  I don't think there are words to describe what a wonderful blessing that was to each one of us, so I'll leave it at that.  God knows. 

Lastly, I just wanted to thank you for your continued support of our trip!  Whether you are digging into your wallet, reading our blogs, praying for us, or just giving us hugs, we are so humbled to be a part of YOUR family.  Thank you for helping send us.  We love you.

We managed to take a few photos this weekend as we got everything together, and I wanted to share them with you!  Enjoy!

 
Matthew preparing some potatoes!

Mama Kris helping us prepare

Our wonderful friend, Ariana helping scrub potatoes

 
A very excited Matthew (which is pretty typical)

 
Amanda making a salad

 
Matthew and the huge can of chili (and we had 4 of them)

Marissa cutting some brownies

 
The Amazing Danielle, who helped us out all day Sunday

 
Amanda and Danielle

 
Hot Potatoes!

 
Oven Mitt Five!

 
Mama Kris and Matthew doing some set up at Living Water

 
The Spread!

 
cupcakes made by the wonderful Siobhan!

 
Jeret wafting the smells!

Enjoying the Food

 

We heart Ashley!

 
Matthew & Amanda (Can you feel the excitement?)

 
Marissa and Jocelyn and Ainsley Feaster

Amanda and her dad

 
All $1535 in my hands (and now in a bank account!)

Thanks again, everyone for making this fundraiser such a huge success!

With all the love I have in my heart,

Marissa

P.S. I, again, want to thank some special people who went out of their way to help us this weekend.  Kris Puccinelli is God's gift to me when my life seems to be falling apart, but she also somehow manages to take care of everyone's everything.  She helped prepare, shop, and plan this event!  Thanks to Ariana Nicholson who helped scrub potatoes on Saturday, and Danielle Sipes who gave up her Sunday afternoon and evening to hang out with us and prepare everything!  (She even did a run to the grocery store because we had to get lemonade!)  And to Siobhan Russell, who brought homemade cupcakes for everyone!  Thanks to Pastor Joel Midthun (PJ!) for letting us throw this shindig, and everyone at Living Water, Remedy, and our friends and family who came and enjoyed a potato or two.  Blessings to you!

Video Blog # 5! Bread, God and Airfare

Joy because of Pain, not in spite of it.

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while now, but I keep putting it off. But today, considering everything that has been going on, not only in our team but also in my friends and other people around us, it feels especially appropriate. I’m talking about trials. All three of us have been going through some really rough stuff lately. I think there was one week when all three of us were hit with different things pretty bad. And for me personally, I’m having a very trial-iffic year. I’ve experienced more family drama than I’ve ever had to deal with, and then a little over a month ago, just weeks after we decided to go on this trip, my house was broken into and all of my stuff was stolen. It sucked. I’m not trying to sit here and tell you how bad my life is, or that you should feel sorry for me. Actually I feel incredibly blessed and I’ve felt closer to God this past month than I have in a long time. He is amazing. I write about this because this is my life right now, and I can feel God working in me like never before. It’s a good feeling.

James chapter 1 says:

“²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

James is my favorite book of the Bible, and this is one of my favorite passages. God wants us to be joyful when our lives are falling apart. I love that. I want to be like that. I try to be like that. I’ve just got to throw myself into Him because He’s all I’ve got, and that becomes even more apparent when life isn’t so great. No matter how bad things may get here, He never changes and He is always great. Honestly trials excite me (maybe not right away; the days after my dad moved out were not quite exciting for me) because I know that God is doing something in me. At the end of it all I want to be “not lacking anything,” and all the growing that comes from these trials is going to make me a better Christian with a more mature faith and relationship with Him, and I’ll be better equipped to serve Him. I don’t think that a year ago I was mature enough in my faith to go on a two-month mission trip to a foreign country. But a lot can change in a year, and a lot has. I know that I’m closer to God today than I was a year ago, and though I might never be fully prepared for whatever I’m going to experience this summer, I’m closer to maturity now than ever.

I’ve got faith that God knows what He’s doing.


A few people have expressed worry to us that maybe the reason we’re going on this trip is to get away from all of our troubles. I understand why someone might think that. We’re three friends who are having kind of a bad run right now and two months away from family and all of that drama would be great. But for us that is not the case. When I first started thinking and praying about this trip the thought of leaving to get away from everything never crossed my mind. The bottom line is that I’m going to serve God, to serve and have an incredible experience that I get to share with people that are very close to me. But going to “get away” is not one of my reasons for this trip. People might say that all the bad things that are happening might be a reason for me to leave and run away, but I see the trials as confirmation that this trip is what I’m supposed to be doing. They’re confirmation not because it’s further proof that life sucks and I might as well leave now but rather because every bad thing is an attack, a reason to stay and deal with everything here. If I let my family problems consume me then I’ll lose sight of the amazing journey I’ve started in this trip. If I focus on my problems then I’m making things about myself rather than about God and I’m not letting myself serve Him. Satan does not want us to go to the Dominican Republic. Each of us has been attacked in one form or another. I’m joyful for the pain because it’s Satan’s attempt to get me away from God’s work.

In all of this we’ve been able to stand by each other, supporting each other, and holding each other up. In the midst of broken relationships, financial worries, the stress of school, discouraging friends, and more family drama than any college students should have to go through we’ve all been there, right there, for each other with encouragement and prayers like nothing else. I feel truly blessed to have these two people in my life, not only as teammates, but also as incredible friends. I feel like because we’ve gone through all of these different things together, supporting and encouraging each other, that we are closer friends and teammates than we ever would have been if our lives were great and there was nothing to complain about. As far as our trip goes, I feel that all of our shared experiences, and every opportunity to encourage, pray, and just be there for each other has been the best training for this summer.

God is going to get us through all the crap. He is all we have. All I can do is encourage my friends towards Him, and they do the same for me. And every hard day, every bit of pain; it’s been a pure joy. 

-Matthew