A Virtual Christmas Card

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!

We have so much to be thankful for in 2013.  As the year comes to a close and we begin celebrating the birth of our savior, I can't help but stand in awe of His goodness to us.  2013 has not been an easy year for our family, but we can't ignore the miraculous ways God has worked through some major trials.  The beginning of the year started out strong. My salon, Anointed Beauty, was thriving and it had been a profitable season for Josh as well.  We were able to get our kids back into private school, as homeschooling is just not my calling right now, as much as I wish it could be!

At the end of last year, our church brought Josh's internship full time and he moved his office to the church, and in March, Josh was ordained into the ministry of Christ.  We were so blessed to have our childhood pastor come deliver the message to Josh at his ordination.  Pastor Alex Konya and his wife Pam were in town from their mission field in Hungary, and it was an honor and absolute joy that they were able to spend this time with us and be an integral part of Josh's ordination.  It's only fitting, since they were an integral part in both of our calling to ministry when we were just kids.

After years of health issues, surgeries, blood work, and other tests, I was diagnosed 2 years ago with Fibromyalgia and began searching for treatment options.  I am still working to disprove this diagnosis!  One of the areas that flared up more than everything else was my shoulder.  There were days that it locked up so tight, I felt like I was breaking it when I forced it to move so I could work.  After finally talking to my doctor about it, he ordered an MRI and a consultation with a surgeon.  He discovered a tear, a cyst in the joint, drastic thinning of the cushion lining that surrounds the joint, and some other minor things.  Thankfully, the surgeon was not quick to cut and suggested that I try physical therapy first.  Good thing too, since surgery is out of the question financially!  I went through 8 sessions of therapy.  It didn't fix the problem, but it taught me some exercises I can do to make the arm usable and get through the pain.

This year, with great joy and excitement, Josh was able to start his martial arts ministry back up!  He has classes on Tuesday nights at the church and classes have been consistently  full.  The kids go with him and are working hard to get through the ranks .  He gives a devotional and shares the gospel each week and has already seen God at work in peoples lives.

Several factors, including my health and some very clear direction from the Lord, led me to make the heart wrenching decision to close down my salon in June and go back to booth renting at Cheveux.  Owning a salon is one of my greatest heart's desire, so you can imagine how hard it has been for me to give that up for now.  It was a fairly smooth transition, and despite the fact that this has been one of my slowest seasons I am still convinced that I am right where God wants me.

Also in June, we did something we have never done before!  We hosted a foreign exchange student in our tiny home!  Peter gave up his bed for a month so that Alberto could come from Spain to join our family.  He is a 14 year old boy that fit quite well into our family.  He enjoys outdoor sports, video games, and is a certified chocolate addict.  I think his favorite thing at our house was when I made brownies.  He would have eaten warm brownies and ice cream for every meal if we let him!  We just loved Alberto and still keep in touch.

Well, one week before Alberto left, on my final day of physical therapy, we had the crisis of the year.  If you read our blog, you know all about our Bethany's accident at the pool.  She nearly lost 4 of her adult teeth in that accident.  We are still going to follow up appointments to keep an eye on her teeth.  I will not rehash the story here, you can go back and read about it if you missed it.  I will say, that she is doing fantastic!  We were unable to take a family vacation this year, but we did do a few small trips nearby.  She was cleared by the doctor to eat soft foods on the morning we left for our trips.  She was very grateful to be done with her liquid diet!  When she went back to school in August, she was not allowed to play at recess and we were not sure that she would be able to play volleyball or clarinet, both of which she had been looking forward to all summer.  Well, by God's healing hand, she got to do both!  The surgeon and orthodontist agree that there is a 99% chance that all four teeth will need root canals within the next 3 years.  So now we wait and watch the teeth and pray that she is in the 1% that never needs the root canals.  In the meantime, we give thanks to God who is the great physician!

Peter started a new chapter in his life in August.  He entered the world of Junior High!  I still can't believe I have a 7th grader who is about to be 13!  Wanting to please his mother who has always wanted to be a soccer mom, Peter joined the soccer team at Community Baptist.  At first, he hated it because he couldn't keep up with the other kids and he had no previous training.  We are so proud of how much he improved in such a short time.  By the end of the season, he was getting aggressive and had some great ball handling skills!  I made sure he knew that I would be fine if he never wants to play again, but I have a feeling he might have actually enjoyed it.

Don't ask... I'm not really sure!

Our little Chloe is not so little anymore.  In a couple of weeks, we will be celebrating her 10th birthday already!  She's too young for sports and band, and praise the Lord, has not had any major incidents this year!  She continues to keep our family entertained with her bubbling personality and loving spirit.  If her older siblings are any indication, this next year will be one of many changes and growth for her.... I don't think I'm ready!  For now, she's enjoying the 4th grade and is anxiously awaiting her birthday.

2013 has also been a year of continued waiting for us.  Josh completed his schooling at Oklahoma Baptist last year, and is now working on his Master's at Southern Seminary.  We have resumes out all over the country and are ready to move as soon as God says "Go".  In the meantime, we continue to joyfully serve at South Side Baptist with Josh still leading the youth, and myself running the ladies ministry.

As you shop, bake, wrap presents, and travel to be with loved ones, make sure you take some time to reflect on all God has done for you this year!  Make sure you are right with Him, and don't forget that He gave the ultimate gift in His son Jesus Christ.  It is only through Christ that we can enjoy a relationship with God.  If He is your savior, let this season remind you of your joy.  Don't let it cause stress that will overshadow the real reason of Christmas.

We greatly appreciate those of you who uphold us in prayer!  There are a few ways that you can pray for us in the coming year.  Please pray for health in our household, specifically for continued healing for Bethany and for more good days than bad for myself.  You can pray for the church that we will be called to one day.  Pray for the people in that church to be blessed and pray for us to be prepared for the task that God would have for us.  Please, also pray for God's continued provision on our finances.  With again rising medical debt and declining income, we are blessed beyond measure at how God has provided this year!  Pray for decisions that will likely be coming in order to be faithful stewards.  Pray for wisdom and guidance along each step of the way.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for your love and support!!
THE GOEPFRICH FAMILY
Joshua, Melissa, Peter, Bethany, and Chloe

Saying Goodbye

Today was a bittersweet day for our family as we said goodbye to some very dear friends.  For the last 6 years, we have worked side by side in youth ministry with John and Stephanie.  We've laughed together, served together, prayed together, and cried together.  Our kids have all grown to love each other like siblings over the years.  Today, they headed out for a new adventure as John has taken a Youth Pastor position in Southern Indiana.  We kept the kids out of school so they could be with us as we packed them up, loaded the trucks, and watched them leave.  I'm so glad we made the decision to let the kids be there.  It was really good for all of us to have one more day together and to have those final moments to hold on to.  With a time of prayer, hugs, and just a few tears we sent them off for the next task God has for this beautiful family.  Please keep them in your prayers as they adjust to their new home and ministry.

  

First Day of a New Chapter

After a very crazy, eventful summer, the kids are already back in school!  Yesterday was their first day.  Chloe is in 4th grade and Bethany in 5th.  This year, the girls classes are combined so they are in the same room with the same teacher.... that poor woman!  LOL   I'm sure they will do fine, this is the second time in their school career that they have shared a class, and they actually enjoy it.  To the girls, it's just another year and one step closer to the goal.  Peter, on the other hand, has made it to another landmark in life!  He started JUNIOR HIGH yesterday!  He also started his first time playing soccer and had his first practice after school.  I thought I was going to have to roll him out of the van and into the house, he was so tired!  He is already stressing out about the work load, and his sister (Beth) decided it would be fun to remind him that college is only 6 years away.... NOT something to say to the boy who had a melt-down in K4 because he just knew he would never be able to do the work needed in college!  I think it's time for another lesson from Philippians about anxiety!  Needless to say, they were all up and ready bright and early, ready for family devo's at 7 and ready to walk out the door 15 minutes early.  They were just pacing back and forth with their backpacks on, ready to roll.  Must not have been that bad of a first day!  

I am so grateful for several things today as we start this new school year.  

1. That God continues to provide for private school on our frayed shoe string budget. 

2. That my children are self-motivated, highly responsible kids that don't need me to remind them of every little thing. 

3. For a husband who values time as a family to pray and learn from God's word together.

We are definitely blessed beyond measure!

  

Our Super Trooper!

The oral surgeon wanted to see Bethany before we headed out for our day trips and we got some AWESOME NEWS!  Dr. says she is way ahead of schedule in healing.  He absolutely did not think a 10 year old, active girl, would follow his orders and heal so quickly.  He didn't know Bethany though, she's tough!  He took xrays today and saw some shadowing at the base of the teeth, so we have to go between him and her dentist office to watch that shadow to see if it's the teeth dying, or a blood clot.  Also, we have to keep a close eye on the empty space on either side of the main 4 teeth.  Those are both growing in still, and he said it's possible that the trauma has stopped the growth process on those teeth.  HOWEVER, her teeth are almost completely solid in her gums which means she can eat again!!  Her only restrictions now are no biting into apples or steak, etc.  Very good news for her since we're on vacay and it would be pretty crummy if she couldn't eat with us.  Praising God for how quickly she's healing and still praying for the best!!

We began a weeklong "vacation" today, taking several small trips around our area.  Bethany did great except for getting very tired by about 3:00 pm.  The highlight of the week will be this weekend when we go to Pacific Garden Mission and take a tour and go to a live recording of Unshackled!  The kids are so excited to see it all in person after listening to it every week for years.  Watch next week for details of our extravaganza!

On the Road to Recovery

We are now 10 days into Bethany's recovery from a freak accident she had at the pool. (You can read about her injury here)   The emergency oral surgeon on call at the hospital had us come to his office for emergency surgery to re-set her teeth back into her gums and to do full scan of xrays to make sure there was no other damage.  At that time he gave her about a 30% chance that the teeth would survive the trauma, sent us home with STRICT guidelines and 3 different medications for a time of "wait-and-see"  The day after the accident, she went back for her first followup and he said it looked as if she'd been healing for a week already and upped her chances to 50%, encouraging us to stay very rigid with the plan he told us to stick to.  This included sleeping upright in a recliner, no submersion of water in her mouth that might cause bacteria (swimming, showers, etc), absolutely no activity, and a liquid only diet through a straw.  We were severe with our approach to this medical advice, even though it was brutal on everyone.  Well, God has heard our prayers and honored our hard work, because after her visit today the doctor is 75% sure that her teeth are going to survive this!  They are still loose, but no where near as loose as he would expect them to still be at this stage!  He has upgraded her a little bit in her activity level.  She can now eat soft foods such as puddings, pasta, etc.  Nothing harder than a tuna salad sandwich is the guide he gave us.  She can go back to her bed, start taking showers on her own again, and get up and around for moderate activity.  She's a little bummed that she has to get back to her chores now!  He still does not want her doing anything that would risk contact, so still no sports, no swimming, and nothing around a lot of other kids.  They aren't completely set, and so even a small bump to the mouth would loosen them right back up.

We are praising God for how quickly her recovery is going, and are expecting continued healing!  Our prayer going forward is that nothing would set back her healing process, and that she will not need any root canals in the future.  Doc is still saying that she'll definitely need them down the line, but we know God still performs miracles!  She will definitely need braces later on, that's already evident.  We also would add to that prayer list that God would provide for us financially through all of this.  We know He will, just as He always has!  Thank you all for continuing with us in prayer!

What a Month!

When Josh and I made the decision to stay home this summer instead of going on a family vacation and to the Southern Baptist Convention in Texas, we figured that we were going to have a quiet, low-key summer at home and maybe even get ahead on some things financially.  We could not have been more wrong!  First, we went through the closing down of my salon and all the transitions that went along with that.  Then, we were approached about hosting a foreign exchange student from Spain for a month, and Alberto came to stay with us at the end of June.  During that time, I went through extensive physical therapy to attempt to heal a torn rotator cuff.  It bought me a little more time so that I don't have to have surgery yet, but with my daily work load it's not likely that the tear will heal on it's own.  Now, we have the added excitement of Bethany's injury keeping us busy.  The past month has been filled with one crazy trial after another.  Even though we still cannot go on a vacation, we have decided to take a week off in August as a family to just be together and do some day trips before the kids go back to school.  We're all looking forward to getting some rest and praying that Bethany can eat by then.

We all appreciate that so many of you are lifting Bethy up in your prayers.  She has another appointment with the surgeon this Thursday and we are hoping for good news.  It hasn't even been a full week yet since her accident, and Bethany is starting to get very aggravated.  Up until today, she has been handling everything in stride and keeping a positive attitude.  I think missing church today and knowing that she's going to have to miss VBS this week has gotten her into a funk.  She all of a sudden got argumentative and antsy this afternoon and is getting frustrated that she can't eat food with us.  The hardest part of all of this is helping her remember that even though she feels fine, she has to follow doctor's orders so that she has a chance of keeping her teeth.  We won't know for several more weeks if the teeth are still alive or not.  Her sunday school class sent home a gift for her, and that cheered her up so much!  It's been very sweet to see so many people sending her cards and fun things to do to keep her occupied.

I'm also grateful that Josh's mom was able to come again this morning to sit with Bethy for an hour so that I could still teach my Sunday School class.  Teaching on the books of Job and Ecclesiastes right now has been a gift from God.  Josh and I both have friends who have also been going through a lot of trials and changes in their lives, and having the constant reminder that God is in it all has been a great blessing to all of us.  Nothing happens without God's allowing it to, and even though we may never get to know the "why's", we can trust in His sovereignty because He is God.  We can also enjoy His blessings every day even though there are trials all around us.

I'm looking forward to posting good news after our appointment on Thursday!  Keep praying!

Please Pray for Bethany

Last night, the kids were having an overnight with their cousins. They were swimming in the neighbors pool, and as Bethany pushed herself off the bottom of the pool, her lower jaw hit the bottom rung of the ladder, pulling her bottom four front teeth out of their sockets. We received the phone call sometime before 8:00 and flew to meet them at the hospital. The emergency doctor sent us to an oral surgeon at 9:30 pm where he spent over an hour placing her teeth back in and stitching her gums up, using only local anesthetics. Everyone was very impressed with how calm and brave she was considering her age and the severity of the trauma. We got home around midnight and started getting her settled in for the night.

Last night, we were told that there was a 30% chance that we might save the teeth (they are all adult teeth). At her follow up visit today, Dr. Linman said it looked like her teeth had been healing for a week already! He bumped her chances to 40-50%, so that's encouraging! She is on a strict liquid only diet, antibiotics, pain meds, and zero activity for the next 2-4 weeks with weekly visits to the surgeon. Time will tell what will happen with her teeth. Even if we can save her teeth, she will still have a very long road of recovery including root canals and orthodontic work for several years to come. If we can't save them, she will have to wait until she's older to receive implants. 

We know that God isn't surprised by any of this and whatever happens, we will praise Him for it. I'm so grateful it's just her teeth and she is still with us! Please pray with us that Bethany's teeth will heal quickly and that she will have minimal procedures ahead.  We appreciate your love and support as so many have offered to help. The best help you can give is to pray for the best case scenario.

She has to sleep in a chair so she doesn't roll around or lay on her face. Any kind of jarring or moving or bumping the teeth will decrease the chance of restoration.  She is such a trooper!

Independence Day Celebration

Alberto has officially been initiated into the craziness that is our family!  We spent the last two days with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends to celebrate Independence Day.  I checked with him several times to make sure he wasn't overwhelmed by it all, but I have a feeling it's the most fun he's had with us since coming here!  We spent lots of time in the pool, the boys all played baseball, soccer, and badminton, and of course we had tons of fireworks.  Exhaustion has definitely set in after two days of intense sun and play.  Totally worth it!

Alberto's First Week

It has been almost one week since we met Alberto, a student from Spain that we are hosting for a month.  He lives with us full time and goes to Bethel every weekday for class and outings.  We could not have asked for a better first time student than Alberto!  He is so polite and easy to relate to!  At first, we had a little trouble with the language barrier, but his English is getting better and better every day, and we are learning to understand his speech better and better every day.  We have learned that our church is different than he's used to, but I don't think he hated it. :)  We have been swimming, gone to the fair, and took a trip to a Must-Go-To All American Walmart!  LOL  Tonight, he joined Josh and the kids at church for Martial Arts classes and it looks as if he had a pretty fun time with it.  He is REALLY into sports and wants to learn baseball while he's here, so we are going to plan a Silverhawks game and some time at the ball field soon.  All in all, I think it's been an amazing week and I am very encouraged by how well he has fit into our family.  I hope he's having as much fun as we are!  :o)

A New Adventure!

Today begins a brand new adventure for the Goepfrich family!  A couple weeks ago we were approached with an opportunity to join the mission field in our own home.  After thoughtful consideration and prayer, we are hosting a student from Spain for a month!  This is the first time we have ever done this, so we're naturally a little excited.  :o) What a great experience for our children to learn hospitality and service!

Alberto is 14 years old, so Peter will finally have another boy in the house for a while.  With the wonders of technology we were able to Skype with his family to meet his parents, and they are so sweet!  We can't wait to pick him up today and help him have a fantastic time here in the States.  Let the memory making begin!

Join our Journey!

Welcome to our new family blog!  We wanted to build this site to have a central location with which to keep our friends and family updated on what's going on in our lives.  After working in the trenches of ministry for over half our lives, we feel like we are just now at the beginning of our ministry journey as we search for the church that God wants Josh to lead.  Allow me to bring you up to date....

Josh and I both committed our lives to ministry when we were teenagers.  We decided separately that we wanted to serve God in any way He wanted.  Josh went off to Faith Baptist Bible College while I finished high school.  Shortly after we married, Josh began serving as the director of youth ministries in the church we grew up in.  We both had a strong passion to see young people come to Christ and grow strong in their faith.  In 2005 God shook up our world through several life changing events that took us to the church we are currently in, South Side Baptist.  Josh has been leading the youth here since 2007 and is now on staff as the minister of youth and education.  Several years ago, God once again pressed onto us the burden of full time ministry and Josh went back to school to finish his degree at Oklahoma Baptist Bible College.  On March 20, 2013 Josh was ordained and will now continue on in his schooling at Southern Seminary as we seek out God's plan for the future.

This brings us to present day.  Josh is actively searching and waiting for God to show him the right church.  In the meantime, Josh continues to lead the youth and serve along side our Pastor.  I have been leading our church's ladies ministry.  We hope that you will follow our blog and hold us all up in prayer as we continue to serve God, wherever that may lead.  Thank you for your love and support!