She Laughs Without Fear of the Future-Ellery Hope

Over seven months have passed since our last update and it is amazing how much has happened in such a short amount of time. After reading our last update just now to brush up on all y'all know, we are like, whoa, because this happened…

She gives new meaning to joy, hope and love. She is the fulfillment of everything that God has promised both of us in a child and much more. She marks the beginning of a new ministry for Team B. Our Ellery, our Hope, shows us just how much our good Father loves us. And He sure loves us!

We are getting ready to move…yet again! This time, just to the other side of town. We have been thoroughly blessed by our landlords and friends, Ron and Barbara, and praise God for their generosity. Our new estates will be the mobile home that Korina's brother Tony, owns. It is a very exciting time for us because we will have room to spread out and host more people in our new home. A bigger kitchen is also a big plus!

Since our decision to step back from staffing full-time at a YWAM base, God has helped develop our family ministry. We are still heavily involved in our friends' lives and missions at the base, which has been a fantastic stepping stone for us to experience what it is like to staff. God has moved in us to host others in our new home and foster the gifts that He has blessed individuals with. Korina plans to hold women's Bible studies and minister to the local moms. I am excited to host more activites with friends and families, like movie nights and bbqs.

     

So many family and friends came to meet our sweet girl!

It's so difficult to put into words just how good God has been to us. My job at Starbucks is still going great and I am thankful for that ministry every day. We are incredibly excited about what God has in store for us in the future. We feel that God has given us this time to establish some roots here in our hometown, while paying off some debt that we have so we can be better equipped to staff at YWAM in the future. It's an exciting possibility knowing that we are making a difference and setting this town ablaze with the love of our Father! Please continue to pray that God moves heavily in this mountain area and even more so, that we are able to recognize when it happens!

Team B at Ellery's first Angel's Game

We are hoping to update a lot more as we find some routine in our new place. For the meantime, know that we are in good hands! God has given us plenty of opportunities to reach out, such as cooking for Youth for Christ camps, helping out with YWAM in any way we can and getting involved in the local churches.

Proud Nana with her first grandbaby!

Please continue to pray for the following for our family!

-For a smooth move into our new place

-More ministry opportunities for us to take advantage of

-Future plans that God is revealing to us

Also, let us know if there is anything we can do for you guys. You are the lifeblood of our ministry and we want to lift you up in prayer as much as we can. We love you all dearly!

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)

We're Back!

Well hello again everybody! It's been quite some time since we have officially updated on here, which leaves us much to talk about!  First off, we are finally home in Oakhurst and just loving it.  Mama B is doing very well and growing so much these past few months.  We cannot wait to see little Baby B and yes we have a name, but no, we aren't telling anyone yet!  Time seems to have flown by since we were last in California, so lets get you all updated on our last few weeks in North Africa.

Since our last e-mail update, a lot has happened. We had the a great opportunity to work alongside our fellow DTSr's the last few weeks of our outreach, meeting with locals, attending English classes, and supporting local "workers". We have never known hospitality the way we experienced it in North Africa. Our hearts for Muslims have grown and been filled so much with God's love for them. It was an unforgettable experience that we were so blessed to be a part of.

We flew from North Africa to Dublin January 17th, stayed the night in Dublin and finished our journey home the next morning. We finally arrived in Burbank the evening of the 18th and made a mad dash for Mexican food with our friends Troy and Allie who picked us up from the airport. Priorities people. We spent the next week back in Avalon surrounded by our amazing family and friends. It was such a huge blessing to see everyones faces again. We had the most adorable shower at our home church and felt so blessed by our community there! Receiving gifts for our sweet girl made everything feel so much more real...this is really happening!

We were prayed over and loved on and sent on our way. We made our way up to Oakhurst and it has been so so good to be home. We have spent the last few weeks praying about God's direction for us as we enter into this new and exciting season. It has been extremely nice and relaxing to just settle in for a little bit and seek out what God has to say for this next season in our lives. He has revealed some new promises to us, all while fulfilling some old ones.

For this next part of our lives, we are just resting in what God has for us.  Settling in has been a dream of ours for some time now and it is nice to finally be able to do just that.  We have spent much time in prayer about our next step with YWAM Yosemite and although God has not given us complete answers, we are excited to be apart of the base in any capacity. As we figure out our roles there and in this community, we will let you know. As for now, please continue to pray for direction for our lives, as well as our little girl who will be here in just a few short weeks!

God has been so good to us in 2014 and His promises for us this year are incredible. He miraculously provided for us to go on our outreach and to have some financial stability as we journey back home.  While we are seeking out what God has for us next, we realize that we still need some financial support until we know what our next step is. The biggest expense we will be having will be paying for the birth of our beautiful little girl in a couple weeks. Along with the expenses of the birth itself, there are also other costs that we will incur while we are here. If you feel like the Lord is asking you to join us on our journey financially, you can send payment via PayPal to justin.barigian@gmail.com. Thank you for your continued obedience with the Lord as we seek out His plans for our lives. If you would like to hear more about our DTS or what our future plans may look like, give us a call or an e-mail.

Thank you so very much for all that you guys do. We are beyond blessed to call you family and the closest of friends. Our daughter will have so many to look up to as she grows up in this beautiful community. Look for an update near the end of this month as we figure things out and please continue to pray for the health of the baby, our next steps and finances. You guys are the best!

Oh hello there OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD

Eleven weeks ago Justin and I arrived to the White House Hostel exhausted from travel but eager to settle into our new home here in Sligo. We walked into the living room full of our fellow DTS students all looking as eager and nervous as we were. All I can remember thinking was, ‘Don’t mess this up, Korina. You’re infamous for terrible first impressions”. Luckily, I didn’t overdose them with sarcasm and obscure movie quotes too much and we seemed to inch our way through conversation one person at a time. 

Now I look back at that time and laugh because of how far we have come with this group. I feel like the Wendy to their Lost Boys (Justin is Rufio by the way) Our hearts are so full of love for these hooligans. Our last week here is bittersweet, especially to say goodbye to the Lebanon outreach team. We leave from Morocco a bit earlier than the rest of the team so we won’t get the same glorious post-outreach reunion. I’ve watched the Lord work in such huge and overwhelming ways in all of their lives, but even more shocking, in my own ;) 

We leave for our outreach on Saturday. To say it is a miracle that we get to go is understatement. Against all odds, God has provided ALL OUR OUTREACH FEES!!!!

That’s right, the God we serve has provided all the funding we needed to pay off our school AND then some. We are overwhelmed at His generosity and faithfulness. He used His faithful people to partner with us in support and make a way for us  to reach the Muslim nation of Morocco. We are humbled and so excited at the same time. 

This is the God we serve, the God who provides. 

Due to security reasons, this will be the last post we link to Facebook until after our outreach. We will, however, still update via email. If you are interested in receiving email updates please let us know and we can add you to our update list. 

We return stateside the 19th of January. After a short visit to Catalina we will make our way back up the mountains to Oakhurst. We are still planning on staffing full time with YWAM Yosemite and we CANNOT wait to engage in ministry locally, especially after this last week of lecture. We had a great speaker, Jon Eastlick, teach on the dreaded “E” word….Evangelism. Hahaha, but seriously, we are so energized and excited about our role in the town of Oakhurst and loving and serving its people. 

Because we are entering into staffing full time once we return, we are asking our friends and family to consider and pray about supporting us monthly more long term. In all honesty, $20 or even $15 a month goes a long way in God’s economy. Your support will help us cover our staffing costs and personal costs to allow us to work on our ministry full time. If we can Skype with you while on outreach or even buy you a coffee once we get home, we would love to share our vision and how you can be a part of it. 

On another note- baby girl is getting faaaaat. She is a mover and a shaker. All signs point to happy healthy baby and momma. Ribs are still a killer but she's worth it. We are entering into week 28 and the THIRD TRIMESTER whatthewhat?! This has been such an amazing journey and I am still so in awe that I get to participate in something so amazing. 

For now I leave you with a plethora of photos from this last week (Shout out to Leah for the rad maternity shots!) …..enjoy!