39 Weeks and Feeling All The Feels

There is something that happened today. The reality of what life will soon be really sunk in deeply. The "inevitable" became exactly that, inevitable. Just when I think "Oh no big deal there's plenty of time" my husband says the words "Yeah, you might get to meet your cousin next week, Grey!" while talking to our nephew.

Next week.

Today marks 39 weeks.

And then I remembered pregnancy is 40 weeks (more likely 41) ....next week....maybe.

HOLY CRAP

Between all the travel and moving and "nesting" and daydreaming I kind of forgot to remember that little fact. Soooo this is pretty much how I feel in the meanwhile…

Don't misunderstand me, I am READY to see this little girl. We are set as far as the necessities go. Her room is almost ready, but she won't be in there right away anyway. We are as ready as you can be, I suppose, technicality wise. But our hearts...

My heart is full of so many feels. I am brought to tears at the lifetime of prayer and anticipation that has gone into this pregnancy. I am slightly sad at the passing of the season of just my hubby and I, being kids and being crazy, responsible for just ourselves. Our hearts are equally full of anticipation, hope, and "what the hell are we thinking?!" moments. I feel blessed beyond measure that I have the opportunity and privilege of having a low risk pregnancy that allows me to deliver in the comfort of my own home (AND that I even have a home of my own to do so) I know so many who would have been couldn't.

 God saw us fit, despite ourselves, and we are saying "yes" to His "yes". Just like every other step we have made in our crazy life journey....we are saying "yes" and a few "if that's what you're into, God."

When I think of where we are now, and all that had to happen for us to be here, I cannot help but feel loved so much by my Jesus.

Justin built us a bedside co-sleeper- cause he's already an amazing daddy

In our time since being home God has provided an adorable little home for us, a job for my husband (that he didn't even have to go out and hunt down) innumerable hand-me-downs and gifts for our little one, the amazing care and support from our midwife, Alex, food every day and a hope for the future. We moved into my dad's old place, an adorable little apartment on your way towards Bass Lake. It's a little mother-in-law unit on the bottom story of a house (our landlords are AMAZING and so generous) We made this little Hobbit hole in the woods all our own and it feels SO good to be in our own little space again.

The sneakiest of sneak peaks into the nursery

We brought a little bit of Morocco home with us

Justin was approached by an old friend for a position at Starbucks. Not ideal, considering his expertise, but hey, it can pay the bills for this season. Well, that was an unfair assumption of what God really had for him. Not only does he get to work in an air conditioned, well lit, environment, there are windows! This might sound pretty ridiculous to most of you but those are huge perks to a chef who is used to

much more of a harsh work situation. AND, he will be making enough that we can afford to have me stay home with our little one and pay off some major student loan debt. He is only two days in, but loving it so far.

We still plan on volunteering much of our time with our dear friends at YWAM Yosemite, just not full time as staff right away. Once we said yes to God about this releasing to work, the blessings overflowed. Funny how that works. We are praying about the ways we can be used locally to minister to our community here. Part of setting down roots is getting plugged in and we are opening our hearts to the people of this town as much as we can. Justin has incredible reach at his job and is even encouraged in his pursuits there by other believers. I have an incredible opportunity to host women in my home or even at my second home, Cool Bean, to really dig into the Word and just "do life" with these people.

We are leaving our hearts open to where God leads us next, our next steps. For now, we are relishing these moments, living for today.

I better get back to folding our little one's laundry and daydreaming about dressing her up….

Priorities ya know?

Note the computer for size reference…IS THIS REAL LIFE?!

Pray for us if you think of it? Just that God would be glorified in our story, that we would have a worshipful and successful delivery here in our home with Justin and our midwife, and that our little one continues to grow happy and healthy :)

Plus, I am OVER keeping her name a secret, so she can come already so I can shout it from the rooftops! (It's too rad not to)

Futures

Hello all!  First of all, we apologize about not updating as much as we would like, it's been a pretty busy set of weeks here in beautiful Sligo.  Second, we are realizing more and more each day just how much our supporters mean to us and we think of you all very often.

We recently had a visit from a gentleman named Abner, who is working in Lebanon preaching the gospel to refugees fleeing from the war.  He also works with the YWAM base there and it was great for the team going to Lebanon to meet him and ask some great questions.  Abner (originally from Brasil) was speaking on the importance of evangelism to Muslim believers and how to hold a discovery Bible study.  A discovery Bible study is a great tool to use when digging deep into the Word.  It is essentially just using the Scripture alone to see what God is saying.  Abner also challenged us to hold true to the Word of God.  He said that we will have to compromise either the world or the Holy Spirirt.  His teaching was very impactful because it caused us to really check our motives when we choose to do what we do.

While Abner was here, we also had the chance to participate in the Children's Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) holiday Bible camp.  Think of it as a vacation Bible school held during the final week of October.  We were the main staff for the duration of the camp and really had a great time with the children.  We played games, helped out with songs, memory verses and Bible teachings.  The camp ended with a party for children of all ages on Halloween night.  It was fun to see all the kids dressed up and watch the Jungle Book as well.  Sorry that we don't have pictures throughout the week, we aren't allowed to post pictures of the children, but know that Irish children are darling!

This past week we had one of the best weeks (in my opinion).  Maged, the base director from the King's Lodge in England, came and spoke about hearing the voice of God.  We absolutely loved his style of teaching and what he had to say about drawing closer to The Lord in obedience.  He spoke out of so much love and obedience for our Father that it was difficult not to enjoy this week.  The Holy Spirit fell so heavy upon all of us as we dug deep into Scripture and practiced hearing the word of God.  It is so encouraging to know that each believer carries the authority of the Holy Spirit and is able to clearly hear His voice.  It is not always easy, but with some practice, we can hear God's voice beckoning us into a deeper relationship with Him.  Don't we serve an amazing God?

One nugget that I really want to leave with you all from this week is a quote that was shared with Maged some years ago.

     "Our God is the genius communicator.  His ability to communicate is far greater than our inability to hear." 

Powerful words spoken by a man who is truly on fire for The Lord.  I hope they encourage you.

The title of this post is "Futures" and for good reason.  Korina and I (plus Baby Bean!) really want to share our vision for our future within ministry.  We know a lot of you read this blog, but may not know exactly what our long term plan is for our lives.  I'm hoping to clear up some questions now.

We are currently attending a DTS at YWAM Sligo in Ireland.  This school has been years in the making for our lives and we know each and every day that our Father has clearly called us here.  We will be leaving for our outreach in Morocco the second week of December and will be returning to the states in late January.  Once back in the states, we are planning on staffing with YWAM on a full time basis.  We are continually praying for direction as to which base we will attend and God has revealed and confirmed many moves for us in the near future, so please continue to pray.

We have a heart for the lost.  God has fostered this compassion for people  in our hearts in many ways; through jobs and experience He has intentionally placed in our lives.  I love food, but even more importantly,  I love to teach.  I feel that God has given me the ability to portray clearly information and I love to help explain difficult things to people who are asking for more.  This gift has been prayed over me for many years and I finally see it coming to fruition.  I want to lead my family in the footsteps of Christ, asking Him what step to take next and walking in faith as we are obedient to the Father.

Korina, as many of you know, has a strong mothering spirit.  God has revealed to her that she will be a mother to and of the nations.  This is very exciting as she gets ready to mother our first child.  Her strong faith causes others to draw close as she loves them like a  mother does.  Others draw to her for advice regarding many different issues.  Her goal is to continue to allow God to reveal this capability in her and her family as walks out in obedience to His will.

We are continuing to step out in faith in every aspect of our lives.  Any decisions we have been making in regards to our lives, have been taken up to The Lord.  God speaks to us in amazing ways, and it is exciting to see glimpses of our future.  For this to happen, we also need your help.  We need your prayers all the time that we hear God clearly and follow His will.  We also need help financially.  Outreach costs for us are currently $2700 that is due by the first week of December.  Beyond that need, we are seeking out monthly supporters who want to joins us in seeing the nations changed.  Once we graduate DTS and return to the states, we will live off of full support from generous donors who believe in what we are doing.  Please pray and consider joining our team as we impact the nations.

None of what we do can be accomplished without the help of our supporters.  God gave Korina and I each and everyone of you for a very specific purpose and we look forward to discovering that together. Please continue to pray for us regarding the health of our little one, our finances, and our futures.

If you would like to partner with us financially, please visit here to make an online donation.  For tax deductible purposes, please send checks to Singing Waters Christian Center, PO Box 1544, Avalon, CA 90704 with a sticky note attached with our names on it.  PayPal is  probably the best options, you can send money to justin.barigian@gmail.com.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

Be encouraged by this Word.  When we seek Him, He hears us.  Best of all, He will respond!

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

"The mountains are calling and I must go" - Muir

We made it Oakhurst!

(Last Coney before we left...it was so good I cried)

Our goodbye from Avalon was overwhelming and filled with tearful hugs. We have never had such an amazing community of people send us off. Our hearts were both broken and filled with hope at the road ahead of us. We continue on with joy knowing we will see them again in just a few short months. It was a tight squeeze but we fit it all! Our car is awesome :)

We had a great visit with Justin's parents on our way up the hill and got to share more about this new journey. It's hot in Fresno but their solar powered air conditioner made it amaaaaazing. 

We have had the blessing of visiting with friends and family here in these mountains. We really did miss them all so much. We have been able to visit with our future YWAM base friends and talk more in depth about our future stay on base. 

We are also prepping for our support dinner here soon next week and getting excited to see more of our friends before we leave. 

I am feeling great now that I am in my second trimester! Yay! 

 

Baby is now the size of a lemon and I am hyper diligent about feeling for any movement - even though I know I have a few weeks to go before I'll feel anything. I also have a little bump now! Well, not that little haha, my torso is so short baby has nowhere to go but out!

We will find out the sex of the baby while we are in Ireland! We really don't have a preference although everyone else seems to have a pretty strong opinion about it hahah. 

Now taking bets....and name ideas ;) 

We will post again soon before we leave!

freeeeeedom!

God is so good!  We have been so blessed these last few weeks in so many different ways.  It is so easy to see how much the Lord loves us and how His hand guides us throughout the day. 

 Just last Sunday, Singing Waters held a healing service that was open to the community and there was a huge turnout.  God moved in amazing ways and people were healed physically and spiritually.  It was a fantastic experience to be apart of the team that helped usher in the presence of God and an even more memorable experience to be used by our Father to heal individuals in His name. 

We really wanted this post to be an expression of how grateful we are for each and every one of our readers and supporters.  We have been floored by the generosity of everyone who has donated not only financially, but time and prayer on our behalf.  Because of our supporters, we have been able to use our income from work to reconcile our debts before we leave for DTS.  If you have been following us, you know that this has been on our hearts for a few months now.  By focusing our income on these debts, we now can attend our DTS free of obligations elsewhere.  The only other loans that we have are school and a car loan.  Thank you for praying with us and continuing to donate to our DTS. Your prayers have helped give us vision and discernment regarding the many decisions we have in front of us. Your generosity is so humbling and so overwhelming. It continues to be a confirmation of the direction God is taking us.

We have been really learning so much about the way God works and how He fulfills promises, changes hearts and draws us nearer.

We have 68 days until we leave for Dublin and just 53 days till we leave the island! It’s coming so quickly!

For the time being we have been visiting with family, celebrating the 4^th, working, falling in love with each other every day, taking pictures, making lifelong friends, and taking the occasional flying fish tour with our friend Captain Mike.

Tonight we write with gratitude and a heart full of anticipation in the things God can do. With all the love and virtual hugs one can give –Team B

Business as usual...maybe?

     Life around here has been what some may call, "business as usual".  While that may fit the bill for most of what we are doing lately, it is far from the truth.  It would be a disservice to our Maker to just call the last month "usual" because of the blessings He has poured on to us.  

     We are working like crazy lately, trying to save as much money as we can for DTS, but also really getting involved as much as possible downstairs.  Justin had the chance to speak on something God has placed on his heart.  God has shown him that we need to look more closely at how we evangelize.  The focus needs to be on the individual receiving love from a believer.  Too many times do we focus directly on conversion, that we miss an opportunity to really love on people the way Christ did.   

Justin was blessed to be a part of this church by sharing his heart on evangelism.  We are excited to further extend our knowledge on this subject as we approach our start date.

     God is also preparing our hearts for a special healing service that we are going to be a part at Singing Waters.  The leaders have been earnestly seeking after the heart of God and what it means to be bold.  He placed it on our hearts to have a healing service here at the church.  We could not think of a better way to be bold for Jesus and count on Him to show up at this service.  Tons and tons of prayer has already gone into this and will continue to as we near the service.  We just want to show the city of Avalon that we serve a God who heals, all you have to do is call on His name.  We are asking Lord, thank you in advance for your presence.

     So, I think we are down to something like 68 days until we move off the island and 88 days until we hop on a plane and head to the Green Isle.  Every couple of days we are finding out more information regarding our DTS.  There are currently 12 students attending our DTS in Sligo, with the count being 8 men and 4 women.  We know that for the duration of our stay in Sligo, we will be in a hostel called the White House which is situated near central downtown (if one would say that there is a downtown Sligo).  The hostel has been rented out to YWAM so we will have full rein over the place.  This is super exciting because we will be able to make it our home and be able to live right in the city that we will be serving in.  From the White House, we will be attending our lecture at one of the local churches, just a short walk away.

  

The White House (not a great pic, sorry!)

 

     After lecture phase, we know that there will be a small group performing outreaches in both Lebanon and Morroco.  Please pray for clarity for us as God show us exactly which country He wants us to serve in.  We aren't quite sure how we will be serving in these countries, but will update as soon as we find out.  

 

     Support raising has been going very well, but we still need a large chunk of our DTS covered while we are saving.  We have our plane tickets (as we posted last week), which is a huge blessing from God.  Besides our plane tickets and the support that we currently have, we are still in need of about $6,000.  God has been so gracious with us and promised us the full amount once we reconcile a previous debt.  He has asked us to be bold in using money that would otherwise go to our DTS and put it toward this debt.  We will have this paid off in about two weeks and couldn't feel more blessed.  

     Funding is necessary for us to attend our DTS, but we are also looking for support in ways of some supplies.  We would love to invest in a nice DSLR camera like a Canon Rebel T3i or similar.  Also, Justin is in need of a camping backpack since his bag is just a little too large to take internationally.  We have a fair share of necessary clothing, but may need items that we just don't seem to own like rain boots, light rain jackets, and other light, waterproof clothing.  If you would love to help us out with these items, we would be forever blessed by your support.

In the meantime, we are choosing to dig deeper into God's word and not fall complacent as we look forward to DTS.  It is not easy by any means because our hearts are already there in Ireland (as well as Oakhurst!).  The Lord has blessed us with a calmness that seems confusing at times, but is greatly appreciated.  We are planning a support dinner here on the island for mid July and may even have one in September in Oakhurst before we leave.  If you want to help out in any way, let us know!

Action photo on the Rib Runner looking for dolphins!

     Lastly, we would love to thank each and every one of you.  By reading this blog, you are supporting our desires and dreams every day.  We can never thank you enough for all of your support.  

     If you would like to know more about our fundraising campaign, please visit https://www.youcaring.com/justinandkorina.  You can donate online via WePay or PayPal (for online donations, we recommend PayPal).  If you want to be old school, you can mail your checks to the church (check our website above!).

Once again, thank you for all that you do.  We love you all dearly!

Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid

There is this really awesome story set within Matthew 14 that really portrays how I am feeling lately about everything going on.  The disciples are out on their boat and the water starts to get rough.  They are freaking out and Jesus, who is doing His thing and chillin out on the water, says, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." (Matt. 14:27)  Peter, who was somewhat skeptical was like, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." (Matt. 14:29)  Jesus told him to come and Peter did.  This whole time Peter was walking on the water and then as soon as he took his eyes off of the Lord, he began to sink.  Jesus reached down and grabbed him out of the water.  I love this story because it shows us that Jesus was right next to Peter, just waiting to help him in his time of need.  Lately I have been feeling like Peter; the Lord just beckoning me to "Come".  That is exactly what we have decided to do.

The Lord has blessed us lately with rest and some relaxation.  Just last week we were able to visit Korina's sister Tonia, and her family.  It was such an awesome time for us to catch up, love on them and receive love from them.  Later on that evening, we were able to score some great tickets to a Yankees-Angels game at Angels Stadium.  It was a very close game, but in the end, the Angels prevailed and Korina made sure I knew that she was exceedingly happy.  We were up quite high in the nose-bleed section, but it was still a beautiful evening for some great baseball with my lovely bride.

The following day, we thought we might visit Magic Mountain because why not?!?  Since we have season passes from last year, we didn't have to pay for a ticket and use our friend pass for Rick and some of his friends.  It was such a blast just having some fun and reliving old high school times with Korina and Rick.  Even though we aren't still in high school (Praise the Lord), we are still some pretty cool cats.

 This much needed break gave us some great perspective on our journey.  We just want to love on people and enjoy the blessings God has given us.  We have been blessed in order to be a blessing and we couldn't be more excited about this journey.

We have been officially accepted into YWAM Sligo for DTS and now we are focusing our efforts on support raising.  Much prayer on our part and yours (thank you) has made this not only an exciting process, but a possible one.  Supporters that we did not even expect to have felt the call of the Lord to support us in immeasurable ways.  God has blessed us with lowered school payments and a discounted tuition rate for DTS.  These have all been signs that God wants us to continue to pursue traveling to Ireland and loving on people there.

Although we still need to raise $8,000 total (at least half by September) its looking like our current goal is to raise $1800 by June 15th to purchase our airfare.  Tickets right now are very inexpensive for the amount of traveling that we need to do.  These funds will not only help us purchase our airfare, but also transportation from the Dublin airport to the YWAM Sligo base.  Please pray about your role in partnering with us, because honestly, we need your help.  God has been so good to us and we cannot wait to bless more of those around us through this DTS.  To give online, visit here.

Thanks for catching up.  Let's step out on the water and walk with Jesus.

Assimilating

In an effort to not take where we live for granted, Justin and I have been making an effort to walk to the beach every day. If we make a habit of it now maybe later we won't forget to thank the Lord for it every day. We are so overwhelmed to be living here and experiencing such beauty around us.

We celebrated four lovely years together on the 20th. We spent the afternoon reading on the beach, reflecting on all we have done together in our four years married, went to dinner (many thanks to Santa for our gift card!) and laughed a lot.

Christmas was a blessing as three of my five sisters were here and my brother Rick came to visit. It was nice to have a bit of home here during the Holidays. We opened gifts, played games, and ate and then ate again.....and again. And then this happened...

#bowsfordays #beforeandafter

We have been filling our days investing in the lives of those here and being surrounded by people cheering us on in our journey. The last few weeks we have been discovering where we will best be used here. Justin has been tackling the building with Enrique and I have been helping with some administrative work.

On our downtime we have been going on hikes, kayaking, going on semi-submersible tours, dolphin quest tours, playing board games, walking a lot. Really, mostly spending time surrounding ourselves with the people here.

It's hard to believe it's December when everything is turning so green.

We are learning a lot of what goes into living with a family dedicated to service. Sometimes it's hard not to miss living life for myself, doing what I want when I want. We all are learning to take time to ourselves to recharge so we serve better as well. Our time here is going by quickly and our days are filled before we even know what to expect. It is exhausting, and hard work and so so fulfilling all at once. 

We miss our friends and family a lot. It was hard not to be with them for Christmas. Hopefully soon we will get to make a trip up to the mountains to get our fill. 

For now, we are soaking up all the Lord has blessed us with. We have some exciting opportunities coming up that will fill in our schedules even more. If you guys can, pray for us that we will bless those we work to serve.

 Some other prayer requests and praise reports

*God blessed us with work opportunities in the making (more info soon)

*We have been engaging well into the community

*That we would be flexible with God's plan

*For discernment about missions and where we are heading