The Adventures of Randy & Jacquelyn

So this is Christmas...

2011-12-13T22:09:00.000-08:00

Christmas trees on Granville Island

I'm listening to this song on our "White Christmas" internet radio station and wanted to stay in the theme. For me, the cheesier the Christmas music, the better. Besides my favorite choruses and carols about Jesus, I have a few cheesy favorites such as "Christmas in Killarney" and "Melekalikimaka". These take me back to memories of Bing Crosby crooning in my childhood home (through the cd player of course) and lounging around with family, good food, and elaborate decorations. This brings me to my first bit of news to share. I'm looking forward to visiting my family home in Calgary for 10 days over the holidays!! It's been two years since I had a Christmas with my parents and siblings and we will all be together this year. My sister will travel with her husband and three young children from their home in the Bahamas. There we will convene with my parents and brother (with his wife, daughter and baby-to-be!). The grandchildren are being born in droves now. Well, there are only three of us, but it just seems like a lot because we are all having kids at the same time! It's really fun. Teagan has a cousin two years older, then 8 months younger and one year younger. Our new baby born in April will have a cousin only two months younger than him.

After Christmas portraits at Sears

Oh yes, this brings me to our next bit of news mentioned in the pronoun "him". We now officially know that we are having a little boy! Teagan will have a little brother and we are all so excited. When we got our ultrasound in November, we mentioned to a few people, quite tentatively in case we were wrong, that the baby we saw looked a lot less "feminine" than Teagan's ultrasound. We had been secretly thinking it was a boy since that time and now have received news from the doctor that our baby is indeed "probably male" (they always word it that way). I'm going with a sage, cream and brown/tan decor for his bedding. He'll be sharing a room with his sister, so the common sage color will tie it all together. We're very excited for the new addition of a son. It's quite hard to believe our family is this size already! I was telling Randy that we've been together almost for 8 years now (from the time we started dating)! Another note about our little boy, is he is the first grandson for Randy's parents, and the first boy after a streak of 4 grand-daughters for my parents. Their first grandchild was a boy, but we were all wondering if Owen would ever get another boy cousin!

So here I sit with my eggnog, in the middle of making a marathon batch of gingerbread cookies, and am very thankful for all this Christmas season is bringing. We most likely have a move to a larger suite in the same building coming up in the new year. Our church body, The River, is as usual such a gift and beautiful thing to be a part of. As we live far from our families, they are truly our family and we laugh, cry, worship and do life together. There is still no website for those that are not connected to The River and would like to know more of what we're a part of, but there IS a podcast. Riverstreams on itunes. Randy has some sermons up on there- including one he will be preaching on Sunday which I will miss since I'm leaving a few days early for Calgary with Teagan.

So all in all, I will miss spending Christmas with my River family, but am very excited to reconnect with my Calgary family. And Randy's parents will be missed as they make merry around a fire, sheltered from the bitter North Dakota snow storm eating their holiday deer and pheasant! Maybe that's a stereotype, but perhaps not as far from the truth as you may think.

All for now, Jacquelyn +baby boy

Just had to add one with Randy in it-- eating bratwurst at Granville Island- Family Christmas Date!

A New Addition and a New Inspiration

2011-11-03T20:23:00.000-07:00

We're pregnant! As usual my wonderful husband bought me a bouquet of flowers in celebration. This photo really captures the glaze of fatigue and nausea well, so it is an accurate one to share. At this point I'm about 17 weeks and feeling great. The first trimester was a little rough nausea-wise but I consider myself blessed that I never threw up and could carry on a fairly normal life even with other more minor symptoms. I always enjoy coming into the second trimester when the fog starts to clear a little, the zombie-like behaviour wanes to just moodiness and I realize that this is really happening! We are obviously very excited and chose to have our kids so close together because we just felt ready (by God's preparation, because who is REALLY ready for this?) and knew Teagan would appreciate a sibling. She is so social and loving and already takes care of Randy and I so much (I think she tried to tuck US into bed this evening). She will be a great big sister!

In other news, Randy is starting his application for Canadian citizenship.

As for me, I have had quite the shift on my hero radar. For those of you who know me well, or at least knew me as the crazed fourteen-year old Braveheart fan that I was, this will be news to you. I have recently finished reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. I was totally blown away by his life, and you will understand to what degree when I make this next statement. I find the life of Deitrich Bonhoeffer more inspiring and noble than Mel Gibson's fictional depiction of the life of freedom fighter William Wallace. Now perhaps this is a no brainer to some of you. Now that I know about Bonhoeffer, what he stood for, what he believed, what he acted upon, it is obvious that he is more inspiring than a gory Hollywood story (please note I have not even seen this film for a LONG time, it has just arbitrarily remained as my "favorite" movie). Here is the thing, since teenagers are very impressionable (and emotional in the case of teenage girls), it was hard to ever compete with the impression that Braveheart left with me. William Wallace was unwavering and fought for his freedom and that of others. Undoubtedly, Mel Gibson was aware of the Messianic imagery that he subtly threw in to the movie which also had an deep affect on this impressionable young viewer. Here is the shocking thing for me. Reading about the life of Bonhoeffer affected me on so many levels, even the visceral level that a teenager more easily operates in, that I realized his story has left Braveheart in the dust--ousted after over a decade of enthrallment. It is interesting to note, that I hadn't watched the movie for a quite a few years and right before starting to read Bonhoeffer, my Braveheart DVD found it's way into the garbage due to the gore and content that I don't want to view anymore. Interesting timing I'd say.

Up next for us is an ultrasound in two weeks (I plan on spying out the gender myself!), many amazing meetings as things pick up a bit on the River front, and most likely a move to a bigger place on December 1st. We also look forward to a trip to Calgary during the Christmas season. This update was random but I enjoyed writing it.
Jacquelyn

STAYCATION!!!!! (it's like a vacation but you stay at home to save $)

2011-08-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

Yes, the Maas family just got "back" from a week vacation, except we stayed at home for the most part. After reading in our local "urban baby and toddler" magazine that many families stay at home and go on day trips for a little vacation, we decided to do it!

Day 1: Rainy day, took Teagan to GO BANANAS! which is a dimly lit crazy indoor play park. Tired looking parents either squeeze their way through a maze of climbing to help their child along or sit in a cafe like area and eat fries and hotdogs. Teagan was maybe a little young for the experience. Her favorite attraction was still the fans on the ceiling and spent her time staring wide eyed at everything and then crying from being overwhelmed. Oh well! Then we went out for Chinese food which turned out to be a little questionable. Two out of three of us got a little sick. After Randy chased Teagan around and she got very excited laughing, she threw up a little on his head. LOL, funny start to all of this.

Day 2: Had tentative plans to go to Vancouver, but ended up just relaxing ALL DAY in Langley! Local park, swimming in Murryville, bubble tea, rented Mega Mind (very funny!)

Day 3: Packed a picnic and went to Bear Creek Park. What a cool place! Amazing parks for kids AND water park AND huge gardens AND train ride. We all rode on the train. Ate our picnic in the gardens. Later in the day, we headed out for a few hours to Crescent Beach for a stroll and Teagan ended up going right into the water with her clothes. She loved the rocks and the water (one good thing about this trip was she became familiar with water).

Day 4: Trip to Bellingham! There are many funny events to relay here but I'll start with going out to dinner at Boston Pizza (which was very good!). The restaurant shared a parking lot with Bellis Fair Mall so we whipped over afterward. Teagan got some good deals, all on sale, or for cheap of course. She also had a little melt down from being out all day with no nap so we decided to rush back to our hotel and put her to bed. At that point both Randy and I were both feeling a the same with the hot sun and travel all day. We pull into the hotel parking lot and Randy noticed the trunk was open. This means I thought he was going to put the stroller in, and he thought I was, and neither of us did- hence, trunk open, stroller still in parking lot. I took Teagan inside and Randy whizzed back to the mall. By the time he got to our room Teagan was still being calmed down a bit by me, so he inconspicuously waited in the bathroom. Once she was sleepy and calm, I ran in to join him, triumphant. We whisper excitedly that we were successful in getting our baby to sleep, only to realize we are now trapped in a fluourescent lit hotel bathroom. Did you remember to bring the baby monitor? No, did you? No. What are we going to do all evening? I sneak out and go to the hotel desk.
"Hi. Do you have any things for babies...maybe a baby monitor...no most people bring those themselves...ok thanks anyway" I sneak back to our bathroom hideout. We then get enough courage to walk down the hall to sit on a little coach by the vending machines and elevator. Well, eventually, we realize Teagan is a great sleeper and we shouldn't be paranoid. We found ourselves in front of the big screen TV in the lobby with snacks watching "Princess Diaries". We teared up at all the same spots. One of us would go up the elevator almost every commercial break and do a little check. Yay vacation with a baby!

Oh yes and one more funny anecdote. In the morning, after our very American breakfast, Teagan just wanted to get out of there, so we left earlier than we had planned. This caused a bit of a rush which ended in us on our way out the door, our cooler tipping and spilling all our freshly collected ice cubes. Teagan and I were half way out the door and Randy was looking at the mess. I asked him for the keys so we can at least go outside. Randy grabbed the room keys (what good would these do me?) and threw them my way in desperation. One of the keys hit my head. I told him I don't need the hotel keys but the car keys. We survived. I laughed for quite a while in the car after leaving that hotel.

Day 5: A day of shopping, visiting Fairhaven and then heading home to Canada.

Day 6: Randy made his famous Norwegian crepes, relaxed at home, went to the library, got out some movies, ate donairs and bubble tea at the Donair Hut down the road from us (our favourite!) Watched Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland". Nice visually but lacked in true plot since he does not really portray true good or evil. Actually, he really portrays emo-gothic personalities very well.

Staycations rule!

A New Season, A New Career And A New Blog Post

2011-05-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

I am laughing to myself as I begin this update. It's crazy how many things seems to change in our lives, especially when they are viewed through the lens of a blog that is only updated every few months. From reading our updates, you might be led to believe that I am well on my way up the corporate ladder with the title of "Manager" or something of the sort on my business card. But as we are learning, God has quite the sense of humour and loves when we are willing to drop everything for Him. So here is the latest for all of you keeping score at home. It all began sometime in December when I began spending a lot of time away from home, realizing I was working a sales job in a slow mall not really making any money. After much prayer and counsel, we decided that it was time for me to ask for a transfer to work closer to my beautiful family and our church body. This process took about a month before I was notified that I would not be getting a transfer anytime soon! So after more prayer and confirmation, I quit my job! I know, to some of you this is not a surprise at all.

So there we were, a family of three with no savings, a formal two-weeks notice given to my place of employment and a faith in God that He could do better. And He did. I must mention that God had been prompting me through various people to "dream big" and ask Him for the desires of my heart. This sounded too good to be true. But God does abundantly more than we can ask or imagine. First, He confirmed my decision to leave my job with a very large and anonymous financial gift. This allowed us to pay off our remaining credit card debt, fix our car, give some gifts ourselves, and be able to live and pay rent for the next little while. But more than the finances, God gave us the true desire of our hearts. On April 16, we officially started our new position as Assistant Pastors with our church, The River. Since our start, we have already been seeing God do and move so much in, through and around us. We are so blessed with a church family that supports us and loves us so much. The River is growing, averaging 100-120 people on Sundays. Jacq and I are involved in 3-4 meetings a week including our Sunday service, Thursday prayer meetings, other small group/ministry opportunities and leadership meetings. Also, Jacquelyn is on a regular rotation for leading worship and I have been having more opportunities to preach. Please be praying for us as God is leading us to begin some new things this summer and fall. We will keep you updated as things materialize.

As far as our family life goes, we are still living in our beautiful condo in downtown Langley watching Teagan grow and discover. Within about the last month she has both learned to crawl and walk around with us holding her hands. She is very excited to be mobile and would walk around with us all day long if we had the energy! Her hair is still growing with blonde highlights and she now has two teeth. She has become more and more vocal, her favorite (and usually only) words are of course mumma and dadda. She also has a passion for singing and dancing! Teagan is also extremely social and has been known to make quick friends with everyone she passes on the street, young and old alike. Her best friends are a handful of babysitters who are crazy in love with her and James Hughes, who is 8 months older than her.

Our lives have been very busy together and we are very happy with the season in life we are in. Teagan fits wonderfully into our lives. It's as if God knew exactly what He was doing when He gave her to us! For those of you who need some new pictures of Teagan on a regular basis, Facebook is definitely the place to look as we try to update albums of her often. For those of you who want to stay more updated with the ministry side of our lives, I have a new blog that I started that you can check out at http://randyamaas.wordpress.com which I plan to continue to develop with God's leading. The River has final launched its podcast and can be found in the iTunes store under the name "River Streams" or you go to http://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/river-streams/id432827648 from your browser. Lastly, the official River website is set to launch soon. We will keep you posted.

We love you all and thank you for all of your love, prayer and support.
Randy, Jacquelyn & Teagan

Looks like I won't be visiting the chiropractor

2011-01-24T14:28:00.000-08:00

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God.

Luke 17:15

God reminded me of the lepers that Jesus healed just now and I found the passage in Luke (referencing Teagan's children's Bible because things are easier to find and remember for me with colourful pictures!). There were 10 of these lepers all crying out for mercy to Jesus, he gave them a command, they obeyed, on the way they were healed and only one returned to thank him! I want to be like that one! And I want Him to receive fame by sharing this account of what he did for me last night. I'm in shock actually, because I've heard about these things happening, but it's a whole different story when it happens to you.

So, the brief background is, I've gone to see a chiropractor from a young age. He told me I had scoliosis which is curvature of the spine. That meant that my spine curved in a way that my right shoulder was lower than my left, right hip higher that my left and likewise my right leg. Since giving birth to our child in June, I have experienced significant pain in my hips to the point where I noticed it in daily tasks and was compensating in my movements.

After church last night, we were hanging out at our pastors' house as usual. I didn't feel very well so we had almost not gone, but Randy felt strongly that we should, so the good wife that I am, I listened to him. Andrea, my spunky little friend, (well, not so little anymore, but that's a different story!) decided to pray for me when I remembered that I had these aforementioned maladies and there had been testimonies flying around all night about people getting healed. She asked me to sit in a chair and stretch my legs out. Sure enough, my right leg appeared slightly shorter than the other. I told her it was from scoliosis. She wondered if we should pray for the spine instead, but others watching said God would do what he wanted. So she held my feet in her hands and prayed for them to line up (I actually don't remember what she prayed but it was something to that effect). Right before our eyes, Andrea's, mine, and everyone else in the room (Randy came in just to catch the last part of it), my right leg in small waves of movement slowly straightened to line up with the left one. The movement was very organic, as the Master craftsman of my body gently reshaped something (I didn't know fully what). I kept asking various people in the room if they saw it, and they verified that they did. I didn't feel anything as it happened, just His presence and I could also feel my mind agreeing with the movement, as though I visualized it happening first and then all of a sudden it did!

So when I stood up, I felt a little lopsided (like I was leaning to one side because I wasn't used to it) and since then I have felt different muscles, bones and ligaments softly cracking or shifting to line up with the work that He did. Randy said I walk differently. Most noticeably, (what I've been testing out all day today) the tasks that used to make me favor my hips to avoid a painful movement do not bother me anymore. Slipping off my shoes, pushing the stroller or even sitting down have not brought the pain that had become too familiar to me. The pain is gone! What's left is just small little pains in different places in my body as though everything were adjusting and shifting. Even lying in bed felt different. This is crazy!

I never tire of God touching me. Most commonly it's in my spirit, but this was such a practical and physical touch that healed me! And what points this miracle to the Father even more is that I feel so loved! You know the feeling that you get after you wake up in the morning and you remember a wonderful date you had the night before with the person you love and something really momentous happened? That's how I felt this morning.

So there's my simple account. I wanted to share so that those who want to know can read it. Thank you to our God who loves and heals. If you need healing, just take this testimony into your spirit and believe.

Merry Christmas Langley!

2010-12-08T18:59:00.000-08:00

Alright, so the title got out the first important point of communication. Okay, yes, I love Christmas and started listening to Christmas music in October, and have since put up the tree and made ginger bread cookies. However, more importantly, I would like to briefly give the geographic orientation of our family. For those that see us often, you are well aware that we still reside in our brick little condo in downtown Langley.

Langley is also the home of many bare chested, middle aged men with beards riding bikes or scooters. It is the home of men with little dogs (one of them is a miniature Pomeranian named Teddy). It is the home of strange, yet precious people. As I have taken many walks pushing Teagan in the stroller, I have come to identify these trends and also notice the people. There's Miles who is the main homeless man around who always wears a trench coat and cannot talk properly. There's the middle class tatooed types who love to blast Vibe 98.5, speed around in car or trucks with loud engines and wear hoodies with flames or dragons on them. As a side note, if it's not Vibe it's some sort of classic rock like Pink Floyd. I have definitely been on an early morning walk to the beat of "We don't need no education" partnering with my footsteps, blasting from some car stopped at the intersection. The Rendez Vous Pub and the Gabby's Country Club are still going strong, attracting crowds on a rousing Saturday night. These are not places we rendez vous anymore, unlike university days. Flashes of classmates singing karaoke to Toto's "Africa" at our graduation party are pushed out of mind once again.

On a slightly more serious note, although the above is all true too, we are very thankful to still be here. In the previous entry, when we were quite certain we were moving to Vancouver, I mentioned that God would have to sustain the move. Quite simply, that did not happen and we realized we needed to wait for His timing (if we are to move at all). Randy still commutes to the border of Burnaby and Vancouver to Brentwood Mall. All but one of our fellow 'River-ites' also stayed in Langley. I do not know how to explain how all this occurred, why we were so certain it was the time to move, and why it all happened this way. What I do know, is things were not lining up financially or logistically for any of us, which is not a good sign to keep moving forward. Big mistakes, means big lessons, means large amounts of gratitude in the end. That's what I felt at least. I felt so thankful that we didn't move if we weren't supposed to and I looked at our little 715 sq. foot home with totally new eyes. Timing, listening, trusting, waiting, these are all difficult but vital things to walk in if we are to hear His voice and follow His leading.

All for now Christmas friends!
Jacquie
(alternately known as the housewife with no car who has way to much fun with herself and baby)

Different Shades of Pink

2010-09-22T22:12:00.000-07:00

I hope all of you reading this have heard this news, however, the blogging world welcomes

TEAGAN ELISABETH ROSE

Our beautiful little daughter arrived on June 8th. She is now 15 weeks old and had her first attempt with a jolly jumper today. I know everyone says this but, they really do grow up fast!! As a very proud mother I would like to write her credentials that she has already achieved at such a young age.

She is prettier than a china doll.

She has slept through the night since she was six weeks old (we're talking every single night). She has introduced me to every shade of pink possible through her wardrobe. She has taken a plane to Calgary to meet her Great-Grandmother before she died. She teaches me every day about joy, peace and contentment. She loves being read to every morning from her illustrated children's Bible. She has totally captured the hearts of her Mommy and Daddy (not to mention everyone she smiles at). She ensures that every time I'm in public I hear the phrase "Look at all that hair!"

I am not ashamed to say, she is sheer perfection.

With Teagan added to our family, we have definitely had some drastic adjustments to make in our lives. Equally as drastic has been the changes that ensued after our internship with The River ended...

The Marketplace

When we received a prophetic word from John Hamil two years ago that we needed to get used to cocktail parties and that we'd be in and out of the marketplace, we basically brushed it aside. These ideas were so absurd to us that we put it in the category of God's "impossible things". So when our internship ended beginning of April and God started to speak to Randy about getting into business, all we could do is laugh and buckle in for the ride. God is always so full of surprises!

For two months prior to Teagan's birth, Randy entered God's school of business. This included reading books on the subject, revamping his whole resume, getting a new wardrobe and letting God groom him into the role. For an ex-hippie who used to be so anti-establishment that he wouldn't go to Starbucks, this process was nothing short of miraculous. After getting counsel and prayer from the business men of our church, Randy was able to narrow down his field of choice- telecommunications. However, after a few weeks of hopeful prospects and handing out resumes, there were no bites. We even had to give a box of timbits to our building manager because the offering was turned down at the office of a hopeful employer. These were trying times for us, all the while, my due date was approaching and God kept teaching Randy about His favour on his life. We knew He was up to something.

God lined up the appropriate hook-up. A recommendation from a top dog, an ideal company, training 5 minutes from our house and Randy got himself a job with "management material" stamped on his newly created business persona. Not to mention, he didn't start this new career until after Teagan was born and he got to spend a few weeks with his fledgling family. The birth of a child. The birth of a career. New things were springing up wherever we turned.

Infants take a lot of energy and attention. As one could imagine, having two infants at once would have a doubling affect. So has been the case of starting a family and a career at the same time. It has been quite the adventure, but there has been grace for every moment. And as it turns out, Randy's really good at this kind of work. I'd like to add, I'm not bad at my work either- motherhood!

So you are missionaries!?

Yes, to Vancouver. I know what you're thinking- how much transition and moves can these two take? When God calls us to something, He sustains us. That's the simple answer. And when Randy had to make a decision to stay in Langley or get transferred to Vancouver, it all of a sudden clicked.

Let me back up. Paul and Heidi, our pastors and dear friends, just bought a house in Vancouver because God called them there. Their son and his family are moving with them. So is Ashley, another original member of The River Langley. In fact, these aforementioned people were the only in attendance at The River's first meeting. The second meeting found a quavering young couple, engaged to be married, new to things of the Spirit and totally ruined for normal life from then on. You guessed it, that was us. This group is now, as God would arrange it, moving into Vancouver at the same time to eventually start again, start new, start whatever God is wanting to start. The River Langley is still completely operating with all of us still a part of it; there is just more of a sending out of this core group.

Which leads me to the question posed in the title of this segment. Randy and I were looking for places to live. After viewing some very dingy options, we wearily take in one more apartment, pleasantly newer than the other options.

"We'll need references." says a blue eyed Luella, who has just showed us a tour of the parking garage.

"Alright, so...can we give employers? pastors? former landlords?"

Her eyes get brighter, "So you're Christians?" At this question, Luella's mother perks up and we find the four of us standing in a circle looking at each other with surprise. We affirm and we all feel the Spirit's presence right there in that circle. I knew this would be the place we were taking. Luella exclaims how they had just been praying for the right tenants. We explain why we're moving and include the church plant detail.

"So you're missionaries!" It was more of an exclamation than a question. God reminded Randy of this very word in the shower this morning. It was more of a humorous jab coming from the Father. You think you're some big salesmen hey? You're a missionary! It's so funny how quickly we try to shape our own identity when God knows who He's created us to be from the beginning and knows where we're headed and the lives He wants us to touch for His glory.

As a side note, Vancouver has a very small percentage of Christians. Running into other believers who reminded us of our identity was what we considered our welcome to the city. In the past Vancouver had an edgy, artsy flare for us and we loved to go people watching, clubbing and just have a good time. Some of these factors still exist (I'll let you guess the ones that don't), but now the city looks totally different. I keep thinking of the word "children". That's the heartbeat of the Father. He wants His children.

About the Author

As for me, I have settled (or crash landed, it depends on the day!) into a nice routine of mother and housewife. I'm not afraid of those titles, they are not all encompassing or defining. And I'm quite exciting about the possibilities that working and nurturing from home implies. After all, how can Teagan learn to become an inspired and well-rounded girl if her mother is not living it out for her? I still love the opportunities God gives me to minister (that word bothers me a little bit, but for the sake of clarity, I'll use it). Whether it's prayer walking, worshiping, inviting people to my home or just ministering to my husband and daughter, I find myself pleased with all the ways I'm able to still use my giftings as a stay-at-home mom. Most strikingly, I've been able to start writing again- as this blog proves! Or more poetically put, I know that my time to start writing is cresting into an unstoppable wave. I started writing a novelette when I was 14 years old and just never got it out of my system. It's starting to flow out of me again and I'm excited. I'm surrounded by the perfect factors of inspiration and pockets of alone time, Don't get me wrong, it's not like I've started a novel, which is my dream to do, but it was with great joy that I sat down and wrote a two page poem with ease the other day. The flow has started again. I've had many encouragements to start writing again and Tessa gave me a little kick-start encouragement the other day with a text message. For some reason it just pushed me over the edge. No promises about this writing flowing into the blogging world all the time, but I do hope to update again soon when the dust settles or is rather brushed off from our moving boxes.

Thank you to everyone who prays for us and especially for your support with Teagan's entry into the world. Much love and affection,

Jacquelyn

We're over halfway there!!!

2010-02-02T20:51:00.000-08:00

As I begin writing this update, I am thinking about why it is so important to do this more often than not because it seems like an impossible task to remember all that has happened since November 9. One thing I do know, Jacquelyn is 22 weeks pregnant, which means we are over halfway there and our beautiful little GIRL (hehe for those of you who haven't heard yet, our baby is a SHE!) is the size of a spaghetti squash and moves around like she's at a nonstop dance party. We had our ultrasound on January 18 and were so blessed to have the doctor call us the very next day to tell us the news. We celebrated by going out shopping and buying the cutest little dress imaginable. And yes, the truth is that I was a wreck for days after finding out. Just thinking about meeting our little daughter brought tears to my eyes. Oh man...life is great.

Holidays and Fun.

We had an amazing holiday season this year. We were so blessed to spend American Thanksgiving at my parents with the rest of the Maas family. There's nothing like singing Christmas Karaoke with your cousins after you've stuffed yourself with turkey, eggnog and three slices of pie. While we were down stateside, we were also able to attend some of the Healing Explosion Conference put on by Georgian & Winnie Banov (http://www.globalcelebration.com) where we got to see God do some amazing things. Some of the things we got to see were: two older men get healed of deafness (both had been completely deaf in one ear), one woman had her ankle healed and the metal rod holding it together disappear, and another younger girl had her eyesight healed and was able to read signs across the room without her glasses.

Christmas time was really special for us as this was the first Christmas we have been able to spend in our own home since we've been married. The roommates were both away with their own families which meant we were able to have a quiet Christmas Eve together in front our our Christmas tree. Then the party began as we hosted a Christmas Day turkey feast for eleven people (my parents, two friends and the whole Hughes family). It was seriously one of my favorite Christmas' ever. It seemed like we had just enough time to recover and clean up when approx. 30 people showed up to celebrate New Years Eve at our place as well. In typical River fashion, it was only appropriate to bring in the new year with a firetunnel.

Then we had a few short days to clean up, hang out with friends (Erica came to visit us from Calgary), get packed and fly off the Nassau, Bahamas to visit the Elliott/Pendlebury crew. We had a great week visiting the family, going to the beach, taking in beautiful Bahamian culture, etc.... Can I just brag for a minute and say that we have the cutest nephew and niece EVER! While we were there, we were also able to make some friends who took us to a prayer meeting at Bahamas Faith Ministries where we were able to worship, pray and get connected with what God is doing in that part of the world.

Ministry Update.

God is so good. He has been doing some amazing stuff in our lives. Prior to going to my parents for Thanksgiving we were able to take a group of our students down to the Healing Explosion Conference for one of the evening sessions where we got to worship with Benjamin Dunn (http://www.joyrevolution.com/) and get rocked by Winnie Banov's teaching. We all came back home electrified with the Spirit and with what God was doing. After returning home from Thanksgiving and bringing back the testimonies of what God was doing there (see above), we got to partake in God's goodness firsthand. One week during our church meetings we had two people healed of back pain, followed a week or two later by one of our students getting her wrist healed and another woman healed of fibromyalgia. This woman had been in chronic pain for the last 17 years and was able to go off of her many medications and begin exercising and moving in ways that she hadn't been able to since she was a teenager! I just love this stuff! Jesus is so GOOD!!!

In our Trinity Ministry meetings, God has been doing some major work. Just prior to Christmas Break, we were teaching on the Holy Spirit and every week people were getting touched and filled with the Spirit for the first time, getting healing, speaking in tongues, receiving JOY, hearing God's voice for the first time, etc, etc. Since we've started up again this semester, we are leading two separate streams of meetings. In the first we are teaching on the prophetic and hearing God's voice. It's amazing to see these young students encouraging each other with their new found prophetic giftings. And the Holy Spirit keeps showing up. Just last night, God gave one girl some major gold-dust on her hands and she was so blown away by God and why He would do such a thing for her. In our second stream, we are teaching on Deliverance Prayer & Inner Healing. This is more focused on students in ministry and we are training them to minister to others. Please keep us in your prayers as we lead these ministries and try to keep up with what God is doing around us.

The River is growing (100+ people every Sunday) which means our roles in the Church include more and more responsibilities (ie. there are more and more people God gives us to LOVE!). God has been speaking to us about some really cool things coming up soon. It is really on our hearts to step out more in outreach and we are praying about what kind of work God may want us to take part in while the Olympics are here in Vancouver. God has also been connecting us with other ministries in Canada and elsewhere. This last week, we were so blessed to have Charlie Robinson (http://www.revivalcanadaministries.com/) preach at the River and minister to us. Please keep us in your prayers as we are all expecting more growth and want to be able to carry all that God has for us.

We are so blessed by all of your love, prayers and support.
Randy, Jacquelyn, & Baby

Mid Autumn Update

2009-11-09T16:55:00.001-08:00

So a lot of great and amazing things have been happening in this new season of our lives! God is so good to us (I'm especially excited because I have had a great day today). So here goes nothing....

Family News:

So our big news is.... We're 10 weeks PREGNANT!!! WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!! I am so amazed by the beauty of life. We just had an appointment earlier this afternoon for an ultrasound to find out how far along we are. It was so exciting to see our little baby and watch (and HEAR!) its tiny little heart beat and its little legs move. We were able to bring some pictures home which are now proudly hung on our fridge. After the appointment, we were able to go out for Indian food to celebrate (who's going to deny their pregnant wife Palak Paneer?) and then, as we drove home the sun had just come out and right in front of us over the road was one of the biggest rainbows we've ever seen. This was such a beautiful sign from God as He had been promising us, since our miscarriage, that it would not happen again and the we could trust Him. Just a couple weeks ago He gave us this verse from Isaiah 54:9 "For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn..." that this pain would not be experienced again. And then He tops it all off with a RAINBOW!!! Oh yeah, for those of you who are curious, our due date is June 6.

Jacq the day we found out!

Our Spiritual Growth:

We have also been going through some crazy growth spiritually the last two months. On September 12, we were officially commissioned as Intern Pastors with the River. As with most significant events that happen in the physical, this of course had a huge affect on our spiritual intimacy with God, each other, and our community. Beginning September 30th (the day after my 29th birthday) God led me to go on a 29 day juice fast. So for most of the month of October I was living entirely on juice, water and God. God gave me so much grace during the fast and I was able to learn so much about both my relationship with God and Jacquelyn (and myself). More recently (since my fast has ended) God has been teaching me a lot about love, both how to give and receive His love.

It was also during this fast that we learned that we were pregnant. Which meant both of us had to let God go even deeper into healing our hearts. Jacquelyn especially learned a lot about trusting God and His faithfulness. She had to get to the point of believing His word about this child without fear of loss. Trust is not a naive assumption that nothing will go wrong, mind you, but is faith that the Father is with us no matter what and He keeps His Word and Promises to us. He loves us with a perfect love and "perfect love casts out fear." (1 John 4:18)

Ministry:

We have been so blessed to be a part of what God is doing in bringing His kingdom to earth. The River has moved to Sunday nights into a spacious hall that seats approx. 250 people. I had the opportunity to preach twice during the month of my fast and Jacquelyn is in regular rotation as one of our many gifted and anointed worship leaders. God has been gracious to us in regards to our TWU ministry in keeping the groups somewhat small and manageable. He knows what we can handle moving into a new house, being pregnant, fasting, etc.... While we still meet with and mentor students one-on-one quite regularly, we are also currently leading two separate University groups in our house, one being open for everyone (in which we will be teaching a lot of what we did last year ie. the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, hearing God, spiritual warfare, etc.) and the second being a smaller group of students that we were with last year and are teaching and discipling them in areas such as ministry techniques and deliverance prayer. We are also beginning to go out into the streets of Langley weekly doing prayer/outreach ministry.

God has been showing up powerfully in the River, our ministries and personal lives. We have been seeing more and more people being healed physically from such things as knee and hamstring injuries, chronic back pain, sickness/colds and infections among others! We also are continually given the privilege to pray with people and get to be a part of their inner emotional and spiritual healing. We are also seeing God raising up more and more of His children to be totally devoted to Him with their whole lives, setting the standard of living and holiness higher and higher. It is so beautiful to see so many people falling so deeply in love with Jesus.

Prayer:

As always, we love and desire your prayers. Please pray first and foremost for our baby and Jacquelyn's health and protection, specifically that she would be able to get enough rest and sleep with so much going on in our lives and in our house. Continue to pray for all of God's work that we get to be involved with, specifically our role at the River, the ministry to our students and our new outreach into Langley.

Bless you and we love you
Randy & Jacquelyn & Baby

Winds of Change

2009-09-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

As this picture taken in the field behind our house shows, a new weather pattern is rolling in! As foreboding as it looks, these are simply signs of a new season. Waking up September 1st, we became distinctly aware of this. Our clue was not only from the stores immediately putting out their thanksgiving decorations or from Starbucks coming out with their pumpkin spice latte, but the awakening in our spirits that God was up to something new and that we were to get ready.

Even though it's hard to admit, I am going to report what is up for "the fall". While I was hoping for summer to linger a little longer, the pouring rain tells me otherwise. Autumn is a welcome season, as Randy's favorite, it just came a little soon!

The River.

We are transitioning again (I suppose the essence of a river is that it flows). I'm reminded just now of when Jesus said to Nicodemus, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8 NKJV) We have been meeting at Trinity Western University throughout the summer and will have our last meeting there this Saturday (Sept. 12). After that, we are waiting to hear from God where our next meeting place will be.

The other significant thing about the 12th is that Randy and I will be commissioned as pastoral interns. We look forward to this with great expectation (which is a theme for us) as we know the Lord has so much more for us and are excited to be released by the Body in what God has been calling us to do.

The Students.

Another semester is starting at Trinity Western University. Classes start tomorrow. The ground of the campus is fraught with the seeds of prayer, expectancy and faith which are ready to burst into life. The new life is already evident. We are privileged to support and mentor some of the student leaders. We also are surrounded by a good group of alumni that we mentored last year and have since graduated. All are ready and pressing for a change and revival at the school, whatever it looks like. Paul and Heidi were asked to speak about "Hearing from God" at one of the student leadership meetings this morning and God's presence was very thick. We will begin our meetings with a new group of students shortly, as well as continue our relationship with those from last year. One of our close friends is the Prayer Coordinator....our connections and favor on this campus is broad, we are excited for what God is going to do!

The House of Burning.

We are moving next door! The house is the original old house on the property. Since then, our landlords built onto it (because you're not allowed to develop on the land) and connected a suite (our present accommodation) and another large house. I've wanted to live in this character house for over a year and then God opened it up for us. It's an old farm house with a large veranda, a large kitchen WITH dishwasher and most importantly, a large living room area! Now we don't have to cram many people into one small room!

We will be moving in with two guys who just graduated from Trinity and who are interested in doing ministry with us. Two girls who just graduated from Trinity will be moving into our old suite. Yay communal living! Randy and I still get our own master bedroom and en suite bathroom. Apples and blackberries grow in our field, and apple and cherry tress grow in our yard. God is pouring out blessings on us as usual! It will be called Taberah House, thanks to our pastor's knowledge of Hebrew.

Blessing to you all!
Jacquelyn

July 2009 - Healing, Refreshing and Vacationing

2009-08-07T13:18:00.001-07:00

July was a crazy month for us. It was a time of transition and preparation for what is ahead for us with some time set apart so that we could be healed enough to move on from our loss. We found ourselves both able to mourn and grieve the death of our baby as well as celebrate life and testify to God's goodness wherever we went. We truly thank all of you who have kept us in your prayers and thoughts during this season of our lives. Where we are at now is in a place of peace and overflowing excitement for what lies ahead.

While we gave ourselves the time we needed to grieve and mourn, we found ourselves in Vancouver during the first weekend of July at the 2 day "Advancing the Kingdom School" put on by Catch the Fire Ministries (http://www.catchthefire.com). We were so blessed to be able to be there with the rest of The River's Ministry Team. Jacquelyn and I were so touched by God and filled with an insane amount of Joy! So much so, that on Saturday afternoon Jacquelyn found herself up at the front, sharing with the crowd the story about our recent loss and praising God and testifying to His goodness and the Joy that He was giving to us in this time. This opened up the way for others to give things over to God and receive the inner healing they needed. As well as many people receiving emotional and relational healing, we were also able to witness many physical healings including back/neck problems, knee/joint problems, partial restoration of deaf ears and a friend of ours got healed of her lactose-intolerance.

Just a couple of short days after this event, Jacquelyn and myself headed down to Albany, OR with our pastors Paul & Heidi to the Pastor's Renewal Conference put on by Albany Christian Vineyard Fellowship. This week blew our minds. We had such a great time connecting with and growing closer to Paul & Heidi (it's always an adventure spending a week in close quarters with friends!) We were all blessed by God's thick presence and the amazing teaching and ministry of Bobby Conner, Kris Vallotton, Denny Cline and the Rivera's. A few of the highlights included: 1) Jacquelyn and I getting a prophetic song sung over us by Kimberly Rivera; 2) Being called out by and prophesied over by Kris Vallotton about our ministry, Africa and our future children; 3) Worshipping with Mike and Angela Pinkston; 4) Getting ministered to through prophetic massage; 4) And being able to step out in new ways of ministry. There was so much more that happened but these are a few of the highlights. And on the way home, we met this amazing homeless man at a rest stop (read the post Meeting Royalty On The I-5 @ http://whatilearnedfromgod.blogspot.com). We left the conference completely refreshed and encouraged.

After returning home, we had a week to catch up on details and prepare for our trip to California. Just prior to leaving on Sunday night (July 19) we had the privilege of praying for a friend and seeing God heal him of a knee injury he had had most of his life!

Our trip to California was amazing. It was so fun to be able to drive all the way down the I-5 to Orange County together. Jacq and I both feel like we have grown so close and become such great friends on the trip. The first night we drove from Langley to my parents house in Graham, WA. It was a really fun and unfortunately short visit as we got there late into the night and left around 7am the next morning. We then pushed it 16 hours or so and finally made it to Santa Cruz where we stayed 2 nights with our friends Jeff and Jenny. We had a ridiculously fun time with them as we got to walk the beach, eat at Hanks and fling melted marshmallows off their balcony! We left Jeff & Jenny's full of joy and ready for the next part of the journey. Orange County was a blast. Jacquelyn was a bridesmaid in her cousin Christy's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and so good to see and spend time with Jacq's family (esp. Owen & Cassi our little nephew and niece!) While most of the time was spent with wedding details, we were able to go to the beach and do some body surfing/tanning, do some shopping, enjoy great Mexican food and of course party on the dance floor during the wedding reception! You can check out all of our pictures from the wedding and other fun events on Facebook! After all the family left for the airport early Sunday morning, we found ourselves alone again and moving on to the next step of the trip, our Anniversary!

Before heading up north to Portland, OR to celebrate, we decided to attend a service at Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, CA. We were so impressed with this body and we really got to meet with God. After the service, we went out to lunch with our friend Steve who attends the church. As we were saying goodbye, we noticed that he was still limping from a leg injury that he had. We prayed for his knee and ankle and as we were praying, Steve felt God touch his knee and cause a shift in the ligaments and joints. His leg felt way better and he was at least partially healed (if not fully)! Yay Jesus!

So then, after a stop over in Cottonwood, CA at the Hatcher's (thanks Jeff and Shari!!!) we finally made it up to our vacation spot. And God hooked us up big. We got this 5 star hotel off of hotwire.com and only paid $106 a night. It was beautiful. Check it out: The Nines. We had such an amazing time and we were really able to connect, fall even more in love and really rest. Portland is a beautiful city with great food and tax-free shopping. We have come back filled to overflowing and ready to step into what God has for us.

Please keep us in your prayers. The Trinity students will be retuning soon so we are preparing for that part of our ministry and are expecting God to do big things this year! We are also going to be getting back into prayer-walking in Langley and seeing where God leads us into outreach. We have been quite busy this last week since we have gotten back connecting with people and doing various forms of ministry almost every day. Bless you guys and thank you for your prayer and support.

Jacquelyn's Response~ Journal entry written on April 4th

2009-06-25T15:52:00.000-07:00

I'll make a covenant with You.

There's no turning back.

When the storm winds blow, I won't let it blow away my faith, but I'll accept Your peace, and let You lay me down to sleep.

When the enemy presses me on every side, to kill, steal, and destroy, I will not blame You, but will take up my Sword of the Spirit and drive out the darkness; I will raise my Sheild of Faith and cry,

"LET THE NAME OF THE LORD BE PRAISED!!!"

Please pray for Randy & Jacquie

2009-06-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody.

Would you please pray for our brother and sister, Randy and Jacquie, during the present challenging time? Yesterday, they were called in early to the doctor's office to get the results from her ultrasound she had last week, and they were informed that the baby she was carrying had died some time last week prior to the ultrasound, in her 8th week. We have cried with them, and are so proud of how they are walking through this difficulty. There is so much indication of how deep the Father's healing has gone in them--especially with Jacquie, and the amazing degree to which God has healed her from the scars of losing her mother as a little girl.

There are times for theologizing and there are times for silence. Or finding Scripture that brings a measure of comfort. Or being surrounded by the Comforter himself. Both Randy and Jacquie are immersed in his love right now, even though this is obviously very hard.

Ecclesiastes--the Preacher (Heb. Qohelet)--always seems like a bit of a badass. Especially how he throws into the mix of the goodness of God and the fixity of paradigmatic patterns in the universe the overarching semblance of meaningless and emptiness, of vanity and confusion; especially at certain times more than others. But Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, I have found, brings a word of comfort in reminding us that there is an appointed time for everything. But I will stop, before I begin to theologize . . . .

Jordan theologized best. He told them yesterday that the first face their baby sees will be Jesus'.

We asked Randy and Jacquie to communicate with you all so you can know what is in their hearts, and to be able to pray more effectively for them.

Thanks for being a part of this body, The River.

Love Paul & Heidi

P.S. Our recommendation is only to phone or email if the Holy Spirit specifically prompts you, as they need some retreat right now. They will be at prayer meeting tomorrow night.

Subject: Thank you guys so much. We love you lots.

To: The River

Thank you everyone for all of your prayers and support, especially now as we mourn the loss of our baby. We are so blessed to be a part of such an amazing family as we all get to share in the joys and sorrows of life. God is so good and gracious. We cannot help but praise Him because in spite of all that is and can be thrown at us, we remain at total peace in Him. We truly can sleep in the boat with Jesus despite the severity of any storm. Just before we received the news, God reminded us of this verse: Psalm 16:8 "I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken."

Love you guys,

Randy & Jacquelyn

Seven Months of Updating!!!

2009-06-12T18:05:00.000-07:00

Hello Family and Friends!

Thank you so much for visiting our blog. We've decided to move into the sphere of Blogging as a means to keep updated with everyone, rather than to send out an update email every six months or so. Hopefully this will mean that we will be able to keep everyone updated on our lives more often! So for all of you who have been wondering what we have been up to the last 7 months, here you go!

First off...for those of you who don't know yet...We Are Pregnant!!!!

(Apologies to those of you whom we haven't been able to tell in person)

This new addition to our lives is expected sometime in January 2010. We will let you know a more accurate due date when we know ourselves. But in the meantime, we would love to celebrate with you and would love your prayers for our child and Jacquelyn both.

Hehe, how do I move on from that news...I'm SO EXCITED!!!

So what else have we been up to? As many of you know, as of last November (when our last update letter was sent) we had begun a ministry through our church body, The River, reaching out to Trinity Western University students in our home. What began as a small meeting every other week, turned into 2 separate bi-monthly meetings (one week on Tuesdays, the other week on Wednesdays) with an average of 12 students per night (the most was 24 on one particular evening packed into our very small suite!), as well as one-on-one mentoring meetings with a handful of students and weekly ministry/prayer trips onto campus. God continually showed up at every event, with students encountering Him in new ways all the time! One month, God called us to lead a month long Prophetic Workshop, teaching students to hear God's voice and minister from a place of intimacy with the Holy Spirit. By the end of the school year, we were so amazed by what God did around us and through us, as well as so blessed by the close relationships and friendships we have with the students. They are all such a blessing to us!

Our ministry with The River has grown in other ways as well. Despite some of the rumors that we have heard floating around, we do not have a paid position in our fellowship. We still do live by faith along with our Pastors (God is SO faithful to all of us!!!) but we have been working unofficially as Pastoral Interns since the beginning of the year. Within this internship, we have the amazing opportunity to be mentored by our Pastors, Paul & Heidi Hughes, as well as pastor and mentor many others as well. We also oversee The River's Intercessory Team and are heavily involved in whatever God leads us into (God keeps us quite busy!). In the last month or so, God has been leading us to be preparing for stepping out into outreach in "downtown" Langley, so we have been spending time praying into that and going on strategic prayer walks with another couple. Please keep us in your prayers as God is opening this door for new opportunities for ministry and evangelism.

As for traveling, other than a few small trips, we have been somewhat BC bound the last seven months. We did travel to Redding, CA for a weekend in February with some friend for the Jesus Culture Youth Conference and the Campus Awakening Leaders Summit (both held at Bethel Church). For those of you interested in pictures, we do have some posted on Facebook. Then in April we were in Seattle for a few days at the Healing Explosion Conference with Georgian & Winnie Banov, Heidi Baker, and Patricia King. We had an amazing time there with my (Randy) parents and really met with God in a powerful way.

Coming up in the near future, we are attending the Pastors' Renewal Conference in Albany, Oregon during the first part of July. The speakers there include Bobby Conner and Kris Vallotton and live worship with Alberto & Kimberly Rivera. Then at the end of July, we will be heading down to Orange County for Tyler & Christy's wedding.

So that is what our lives have looked like for the past while. We hope to keep you updated more often and hopefully talk to you in person a bit more to. Thank you for all of your prayers and support.

With lots of love,

Randy & Jacquelyn