Sisker News

Chris
Things have been going really well. We have miraculously made it through another year financially! God continues to bless us in so many ways. I look over the things that God has allowed us to do and it is evident...it is only by His Grace!

I continue to learn a deeper and deeper love for my Lord and for my family as time moves on. I feel incredibly blessed to be surrounded by the friends and family I have.

Work is absolutely a blast. God seems to be opening new doors and strengthening current or old doors daily. I am so grateful to be able to minister in such a positive and powerful way.

On January 14th there is a special day planned at Union Hill Baptist Church. Sports Crusaders are having a service to thank UHBC for the many ways they have contributed to the growth of God's kingdom through SC's. If you would be blessed by attending, you are certainly invited. The service will be at 11:00 a.m. at UHBC.


Stacey
I've really enjoyed this Christmas season. Instead of doing everything I'm capable of doing (because I'm a prideful person and like to show what all I can do), I've been focusing on our family. This different approach has made for quite a pleasant season with not as much frustration. As I look ahead to the new year, I realize this change is something I'd like to keep. Not signing up for things- just because I could do it, and be good at, will allow me to specialize and thus do a few things well. Think Quality not Quantity!


Jayden - "I Did It!"
...say "ping pong", potty in the toilet, pick up toys, draw a circle, kiss his brother, eat a bite of dinner- each of these scenarios (plus many others) inspire Jayden little exclamation "I did it!" He's trying all sorts of new things every day. His vocabulary is growing exponentially. It's so fun to see him excited- recognizing his own accomplishments. We have a difficult time remembering he's only two years old because sometimes he seems like such a grown up little boy.



Zeke- "All I want for Christmas..."
And he got them!!! His two front teeth!!!The first came in on the 18th of December and the second broke through Christmas morning. This development has encouraged a renewed vigor for eating. There for a while, he wouldn't touch any food he had to chew. I guess his gums were sore. But, now! He has overcome and has 2 brand new teeth to show for it! He's already moved on to the next obstacle-walking- and he's going after it very energetically! Zeke is chomping at the bit, trying to keep up with big brother.

The Present

Okay...so it it Christmas Eve and I have just finished wrapping Stacey's final present. You however will see that this blog has not been posted until a few days later. The reason??? Technical difficulties!

Amidst the hustle and bustle of what we tend to call Christmas, we are doing a lot of things differently this year. For instance...this is the first Christmas since, I can't remember, that we will wake up in our own house. We have decided that this is a simple solution to having two kids that like to reek havok! Home is always a safe place to do so.

Another thing we have done is "really limit" the amount we spend on Christmas. There are a couple of reasons but they are based from one. Our goal has been and will continue to be keeping Jesus' birthday the focal point of the season. We desire to understand this and for our kids to understand this. So this year God has really allowed us to do that by keeping our finances very limited. Now, before you start getting concerned about that...DON'T! God has surrounded us with friends and family that have GENEROUSLY gifted us in numerous ways. The boys and us will not even come close to suffering!

Also, in the past, I have always surprised Stacey with something. This year, in the mood of doing things differently, I did not. I simply stated to her...here are your options. I could take the limited amount I have to spend on you and buy you something fun and nice or we could go to the store together and pick you out something you really want. Now, I know the dangers of this and before you allow yourselves to think this was the easy way out...WRONG! I HATE SHOPPING!!! To me this was a far greater sacrifice! Why? Well Brad Stine (Christian comedian) would say it this way..."when guys go to the store to get a shirt, they come back with...a shirt!" Can you imagine that! If I were getting Stacey a gift I would figure it out in advance and at the store it would be in and out. No hassle, no guessing...straight to the point and done! She however, enjoys the "shopping experience" AKA the HUNT! So I went shopping...with two little boys...and a GIRL! That is sacrifice!

Now for those of you still not convinced that I put forth any effort (because that is what's really important right?!?!) the story is not over. Tonight was gift wrapping night and we went to town on the gifts. Well, Stacey wrapped the boys and I wrapped hers. This was a legitimate effort! Why? Becuase we didn't have any wrapping paper and I just don't think bags are fun! I had to get creative...so I did. Here is effort! What you see is a 16x20 gift (I'm not telling what it is...but if you ask Stacey, she will let you know after she opens it) that is wrapped with streamers! That's right...I took streamers that we had, leftover from Jayden's birthday party I think, and turned them into wrapping paper. Now that is creative!

This truly has been a fun night. Hanging out with our church family at a candlelight service, coming home to hang out with the boys and then wrapping gifts. I have mentioned the effort put forth tonight several times. There is a reason for this. In the Sisk family we are not caught up in monetary "stuff"...at least we try not to be. We do try to put our hearts into the things that we do. We believe that if you are going to do something, you ought to try to do it right (thanks dad). More importantly scripture says, "whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men." (Col. 3:23) Of course Jesus exemplified this. He gave everything for us and a significant part of this was being willing to come to earth and become flesh. What a great leader, what a magnificant love, what an awesome Lord!

In the morning our efforts will go toward establishing a tradition. We will get up and sing happy birthday to our Master. Then we will read the recorded history of our Savior's birth. We will discuss the greatest gift of all and then, with great appreciation, we will open the gifts that have been given from us and from many others that prayerfully exalt our Jesus.

Merry Christmas to all of you who read this and our prayer is that you too are exalting the Savior today!

Christmas Tree Hunt

Every year we go out and cut down a tree for Christmas. This year was exceptionally fun with two boys!

Jayden's New Bike

For Jayden's birthday party he received some gift money. When Stacey was shopping the other day, Jayden found and enthusiastically let Stacey know what he wanted to use some of his money on...His First Bike!

The bike was not bought right then because we didn't want Jayden to feel that every time he threw a fit for something he would get it. But we talked about it for a couple of days and did decide it was worth getting.

Now Jayden can cruise around in the basement...and even get some excercise! He loves his new bike.

A special thanks to everyone who found value in our son to give him a financial gift for his birthday!

Mizzou Game

I received an uexpected phone call on Friday, November 3rd from a good buddy from Rolla. He was on his way to the exhibition Mizzou game and had an extra ticket for me to go! Wow, what an opportunity. The doors opened up, which is pretty unusual with the hectic schedule I have been keeping, and I jumped in and we were off to the game.

After many trial and error attempts at parking we made inside to the gym. The seats where really nice and made it worth the walk. Now we were inside the gym hanging out with the other 5,500 people that gathered in the Mizzou arena to watch the team take on UMR.

The game was not extremely competitive. Mizzou man handled UMR (as expected) and scored 105 while UMR only scored 67.

It was a fun adventure that I was glad I was able to be part of. The game was fun but I really enjoyed catching up with my pals who I haven't seen in a while. It is always good to be thought of!

"The Man" Turns Two!

Friday, October 27 marked the two year milestone for our boy Jayden! We were in Scott City when we celebrated this joyous event. A group of people gathered together at FBC Scott City to hang out with this little man. We ate Spaghetti and cake, opened presents, and...WATCHED THE CARDINALS WIN THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!

It was a very fun evening! Winning game five felt like a nice reward since exactly two years ago, as we were in the hospital for Jayden's original Birth-Day, we watched the final game of another World Series with a less exciting outcome. Now, just two years later we win the World Series on Jayden's Birthday!

Being two looks pretty good right now!

Introducing...The "Violet" Van

After getting through the fact that we were not going to be able to keep my baby (the town car) we started praying about what we were going to do. We were not in a hurry because we had no idea how long it was going to take for the insurance to get us some money. Surprisingly, we had a check exactly one week from the time of the accident! The rest of the story is pretty interesting.

We still were not in a hurry to get a vehicle but we thought it best to keep our eyes open. We had the money and knew what we could and could not spend. Stacey and I thought it a good idea to go after a mini-van. You know...complete the "family" stereotype!

As we began talking about the plan, we began to hear that it was not going to be an easy task to find a van in the our price range. We weren't concerned and we decided to continue looking around with no immediate time frame to be concerned with. After all...we were heading out of town for a week and only needed one vehicle.

On Sunday...three days after we received a check we were coming back from the Schryocks corn maze (which was really awesome), in a direction we do not normally drive, and saw a really nice van in a parking lot! It had only been there about two hours. I will not bore you with all of the details but I will tell you that we ended up buying it the next day. We were able to get it with the money we had. It is a 1999, four door, Dodge Grand Caravan. For all of you engine people (this question has been asked an amazing amount of times) it only carries a 3.3 liter engine. Boy, I hope I wrote that correctly! I do know that the transmission is new only 7 thousand miles ago!

Anyway, Stacey loved everything about it EXCEPT the color! We had to come up with a name she would be able to live with. Barney-mo-bile and Grimace Machine did not go over well. Then we remembered that a friend from Scott City calls my Grandma Violet -"Purple". So it was settled...we now have a Violet Van!

Collision Course!

Many things cross your mind when someone you love calls you with the news they have been in a car accident. This was no different for me!

I received the call on October 12, 2006 at approximately 5 p.m. I was in St. Louis, my wife was in Holts Summit. She had been driving with Jayden and Zeke in the back seat. She called to let me know that she and the boys were fine but the first response was coming so she would call me back.

The next phone call I got was from my associate pastor. His question..."Which hospital is your wife in?" This obviously was new news to me and my concern grew great. I began to head home with concern, and yes, a little fear.

The news all in all was good. The boys were absolutely fine. Some great friends, John and Pat Stuckey, had the boys and had accompanied Stacey to the hospital. It was just a precautionary trip because of soreness in her back, neck and shoulders.

The whole deal was quite an emotional ride on the trip back from St. Louis. With much time and no phone reception it left me a little anxious to see my wife and boys.

I pulled up to the house at the same time John and Pat were bringing Stacey and the boys home. I was glad to hug Stacey (gently) and hold the boys. As we talked, Stacey told me the story of all that happened. The guy she hit was okay and even helped pull Zeke out of the car when Stacey could not get the door open.

I am thankful for the hand of protection the Lord placed on them. As you can see from the pictures, this was quite a collision.



Some of you may be wondering where the message is in this and I confess, I continue to search out and listen for those answers while being thankful for the safety of my family. Answers may or may not come but right now it is pretty simple...If you don't watch where you going you may run into something that will cause some hurt!

The other Vehicle

Jayden's Bed

Recently we decided to combine the boys into one room to:

1. get them on the same room and used to sleeping together
2. re-gain our guest room

In order to do this we had to figure out a bedding situation. Zeke was growing out of the cradle fast (maybe because he is in the 95% in the height category???). We originally had two cribs but one was un-repairable due to some damage in moving it around. We had one crib and two crib mattresses and decided to be creative. Jayden now has a "toddler" bed! Stacey and I designed a bed. I built it and she painted it. We were very pleased with the results but more importantly Jayden went right to it exclaiming, "ball.. ball"!

October '06 Newsletter

Chris' Craziness

Just the other day I was sitting in a restaurant with a good buddy. We hadn’t been able to visit in a long time, so we had a ton (that’s a lot) to catch up on and to share about how God is working in our lives. As we sat there, he told me about some ways he was being challenged and steps of faith he was taking in response to these challenges. I was overwhelmed with his passion. It was just pouring off of him. I rejoiced with my brother! After the visit I took some time praising the Lord for friends like this who continue to inspire and challenge me…perhaps with out even intending to.

One thought this man recently learned from his pastor specifically spoke to me as an answer to some specific prayers that I have been praying. The thought is a paraphrase from Exodus 31 in a study of the tabernacle. It says this, “Everything God tells us to do is a GUARANTEE that we can do it!"

You know, it is sometimes difficult for me to keep my mind off the “challenges” of being a missionary…even in the midst of so much celebration and rejoicing in the Lord’s handy work all around me. I have seen a year and a half of the Lord’s faithfulness in me and my family’s lives through prayer, finances and resources…and I still get doubtful. It’s not right. It doesn’t even make sense…it just happens!

Gods has very clearly informed me that I am where He wants me to be. Recently the Lord has told me that He is going to provide for Stacey and me to have a getaway. I don’t know how exactly, but I know it is going to happen!

What a joy it is to serve the Lord in this capacity. In this I realize there is a greater calling on my life. Jesus says in Luke 12:48, “to whom much is given, much is required”.

Stacey's Script

As for myself, I’ve been busy, busy, busy. Praise team, children’s choir, ladies Bible Study, playgroup. It seems that it all has been eclipsed by my push to get it all done. Whoops! Myfocus slipped. It’s so hard to 1. do the right thing and 2. keep my heart in the right place with the right attitude. What I’ve come to know this past week is this: the first thing doesn’t matter without the second. It won’t matter how skillfully I’m juggling a myriad of activities, even good ones, including Bible study. If my focus is ME and everything I’M getting done, instead of loving God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, then I’m not pleasing Him. And that is the goal: to please God. Not have a spotless house or all the laundry clean at the same time or be involved in every good thing that comes along. Those things are not evil or wrong, but first and foremost, my goal must be to please God by loving Him with everything I have.

"Watch!"

Jayden has discovered the appeal of being watched. Just the other day he did something silly. He must have thought I would like to see, either that or he enjoyed performing for his doting audience, because he kept saying “watch!” and then doing it again. And again. And again. I think we will get quite accustomed to hearing the boys say “watch” as they try to climb a tree or ride a bike. For now, though, I’ll enjoy hearing “watch’ then seeing him spin in a circle.

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Zeke just keeps on rollin’ ! Until he lands against a wall…or a couch…or a toy. Then he lets us know how upsetting it is to be stuck. Poor guy! It’s so rough being a baby-but he’s growing fast. His latest accomplishments include eating baby food, sitting up by himself, and babbling to whoever will listen. Still waiting on that first tooth though.