Clinic day one is officially over and all I can say is "wow." If you have ever been on this type of mission trip, you'll know it is physically and emotionally exhausting. But it is the kind of exhausted you want it to be. Our morning started off a little hectic with forgetting some of our key suitcases at the house. We had to wait on our supplies to be brought to us and then start wading through the growing line of people waiting to be seen.
In the dental clinic, we really found our groove today and stayed busy once we had all our tools! I gave a lot of shots...A LOT of shots! I learned a lot and I surprised myself a lot. I guess I had forgotten from the last visit about how tough these people are. The want for the pain to be gone outweighs the temporary pain of an injection. I would give shots that people in the States would really give me a fit over and these sweet people, although some are nervous, would just simply... take it. There's no way of putting that any other way. Dr. Joel and Beth did such an amazing job with the extractions. In situations that became frustrating and chaotic, I felt God provided our dental team with peace, compassion and a little bit of humor to push through.
The medical team and Dr. Kim our Ophthalmologist were diligent in meeting so many needs today. My favorite moment today that literally has made the whole trip thus far... came from Dr. Kim's part of the clinic. A woman named Cornelia came in to the dental clinic crying. Lydia, our translator, rushed to her side in fear that she was terribly nervous about her dental visit. Just the opposite. This precious woman of 69 years of age got her first pair of glasses. She could FINALLY see clearly, for quite possibly the first time. Glasses are very expensive and often any money earned does not get spent on one's self but necessities like groceries or bills. Therefore money for glasses, dental work and doctor visits are rare to come by. Cornelia wept in sheer happiness and cried out loud that only with God was this possible. She praised God to those around her while she waited without ceasing and of course, my heart was flooded with joy and the tears began to flow. Things that are luxuries: glasses and sight, we take for granted because we are afforded them at much lower costs and we have insurance to help. There may even be an app for that! This sweet woman was beside herself. God painted the most beautiful picture of Cornelia, that I cannot even think about with out getting teary eyed (even as I type). She was given a bible. as she opened it, she began to touch the very words that her faith has been based upon... just by sight alone. She began to read God's holy and precious word aloud and continued to cry in sheer praise to our Creator. Never will I forget that moment. I know that the sound of her voice reciting God's word was the sweetest sound to His ears and to mine.
My quiet time was Philippians 4:6 where God asks us the think upon things that are noble, right, true, lovely and pure. If it is excellent or praise worthy... think on it. This day can be described with those words and I know... I will forever be thinking on it. God is good.
Pray for our 2nd day of clinic. Now that word is getting out in the village, we will become increasingly busy and our prayer is that we will meet all of the needs in Feldioara.
Live. Laugh and Praise God for seeing clearly... Possibly for the first time.
Melissa
Monday, October 7, 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Possible.
I was really debating writing today for a couple reasons. One, I'm exhausted. For some reason I do not remember being this tired last time. One would think at my ripe age of 25, I'd go full steam like I did when I was 22 (on my last visit.) Unfortunately, not the case this year! It will get better though! Two, today was a down day to prepare for clinic this week. But God kept prompting me to write and by the time I sat down for my quiet time tonight, I knew what he wanted me to write about... I had no choice.
We went to church in Feldioara today and saw some familiar faces from our last visit! It was such a joy to see these precious people and meet new ones today that will be present during our clinic time! It warmed my heart to hug these people and have them remember our last visit together.
In church, we worshipped with the Romanians in song and in the Word. Bro. Jerry preached an awesome message on Jeremiah 33:3 in service today and shared the wonderful message of our God remaining constantly when nothing else seems constant. And that His grace is sufficient because I cannot do it on my own. Ever. No man can do this life on their own. All we have to do is just call on Him.Truly think about that for a second. The God who made your/my very being WANTS and ASKS me, a dirty and not righteous sinner, to call on Him, the King of Kings, and the Great I Am. When we call, He keeps His promise to show us great and mighty things. He makes our frustrations and I can't statements more hopeful, more possible.
Possible. God knew what to put that in my quiet time to tug my heart right into this blog to share His message. As I opened up my bible app that houses my daily devotional to read this simple yet powerful verse, "But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, 'With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.' " God intended that message alone to be the lesson of the day. I have to confess that I get nervous about clinic. I am numbing up the patient for the dentist and I LOVE giving local shots (Yes, I'm weird!). But I worry constantly that what if I don't numb them enough, what if I don't hit the right "landmark," what if I hurt the patient and what if they are uncomfortable. These are legitimate worries in my mind but boy do I feel silly as I type them because I KNOW that God already is overcoming these worries. Yet, God is gentle with my stubborn self and he lets me have a lesson twice in one day to really hear what he is saying. We serve a God of possibilities when things seem not so perfect and even impossible. Simple. But again, powerful. I needed this because I will surely fail in my own worries but will only rise above when I trust my worry and my fear to the Lord. Pray that I will put my impossibilities in the One who is author of possibilities and Hope, Jesus Christ. Pray with me also, that very same prayer for our team as we have hit a lot of unknowns this trip.
I cannot wait to post about all the miracles and successes tomorrow that will be made POSSIBLE through our Heavenly Father. Pray for our team as we provide physical care to those who are in dire need but also, nurture their spirit as well. It is going to be a busy day! We had one patient actually come to church because she thought we started clinic today. She was READY with a capital R and I'm sure she would have let Dr. Joel pull a tooth on the spot. I know we are READY to see these special people of Feldioara and with our Abba's help... The impossible made possible. Pray that for our team.
Thank you for your prayers and kind emails! You guys ROCK! Update for our week: we have added an extra clinic day this week to work in the city of Brasov. We worked there last visit and I know there are souls waiting to be met with Christ's love and compassion through our work and His word.
Until tomorrow.
Live. Laugh. And possibilities.
Melissa
We went to church in Feldioara today and saw some familiar faces from our last visit! It was such a joy to see these precious people and meet new ones today that will be present during our clinic time! It warmed my heart to hug these people and have them remember our last visit together.
In church, we worshipped with the Romanians in song and in the Word. Bro. Jerry preached an awesome message on Jeremiah 33:3 in service today and shared the wonderful message of our God remaining constantly when nothing else seems constant. And that His grace is sufficient because I cannot do it on my own. Ever. No man can do this life on their own. All we have to do is just call on Him.Truly think about that for a second. The God who made your/my very being WANTS and ASKS me, a dirty and not righteous sinner, to call on Him, the King of Kings, and the Great I Am. When we call, He keeps His promise to show us great and mighty things. He makes our frustrations and I can't statements more hopeful, more possible.
Possible. God knew what to put that in my quiet time to tug my heart right into this blog to share His message. As I opened up my bible app that houses my daily devotional to read this simple yet powerful verse, "But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, 'With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.' " God intended that message alone to be the lesson of the day. I have to confess that I get nervous about clinic. I am numbing up the patient for the dentist and I LOVE giving local shots (Yes, I'm weird!). But I worry constantly that what if I don't numb them enough, what if I don't hit the right "landmark," what if I hurt the patient and what if they are uncomfortable. These are legitimate worries in my mind but boy do I feel silly as I type them because I KNOW that God already is overcoming these worries. Yet, God is gentle with my stubborn self and he lets me have a lesson twice in one day to really hear what he is saying. We serve a God of possibilities when things seem not so perfect and even impossible. Simple. But again, powerful. I needed this because I will surely fail in my own worries but will only rise above when I trust my worry and my fear to the Lord. Pray that I will put my impossibilities in the One who is author of possibilities and Hope, Jesus Christ. Pray with me also, that very same prayer for our team as we have hit a lot of unknowns this trip.
I cannot wait to post about all the miracles and successes tomorrow that will be made POSSIBLE through our Heavenly Father. Pray for our team as we provide physical care to those who are in dire need but also, nurture their spirit as well. It is going to be a busy day! We had one patient actually come to church because she thought we started clinic today. She was READY with a capital R and I'm sure she would have let Dr. Joel pull a tooth on the spot. I know we are READY to see these special people of Feldioara and with our Abba's help... The impossible made possible. Pray that for our team.
Thank you for your prayers and kind emails! You guys ROCK! Update for our week: we have added an extra clinic day this week to work in the city of Brasov. We worked there last visit and I know there are souls waiting to be met with Christ's love and compassion through our work and His word.
Until tomorrow.
Live. Laugh. And possibilities.
Melissa
Saturday, October 5, 2013
"I saw the light!"
Travel days are always the most exhausting and yet exciting days! You are so ready to get to your destination but you feel like it will never end. I definitely had my fill of both today, as I know our team did. Satan has already tried to set up roadblocks for our team but God is ever present to just bulldoze them down.
Yesterday in particular, there were some minor hang ups at the airport in Little Rock. When you have a large medical team with personal and supply suitcases... those little things are bound to happen. We anticipate them. As a member of our team, you check your own suitcase and then you are assigned one medical suitcase to check as well. So, being one of the dental crew, I was in charge on a portable dental light to check. It is in a large box with a handle that encloses the light in its original bag. The box was duct taped with razorback duct tape, of course! On a side note: Dr. Joel and Mrs. Beth had the portable light and a portable dental chair donated to their mission trips. It is such a blessing to have this year because our last visit the dental chair consisted of stacked lawn chairs and energizer head lamps or sunlight... SERIOUSLY. So, I have this light which lets face it, the Delta lady had not laid eyes on that before! Without going to long, the light eventually went through and God provided the right amount of baggage funds to pass our team and our crazy equipment through.
As usual, I didn't sleep for the longest leg but found myself unable to stay awake for our last 3 hour flight from Amsterdam to Bucharest. God knew I needed that 3 hour nap badly for what was about to ensue. As we made our way to the baggage claim in Bucharest, one after the other, our bags made their way out unscathed by customs and the TSA. I was checking off the bags in my head one by one. "There's mine.... There's the chair... There's.... Where is the light?!" We waited. And waited. We knew it would come out soon. Then the carousel stops and no light in its razorback duct taped box appears. "Oh, no. Maybe it's something I did?! What if it is lost?," I began to worry. Beth and I made our way around being passed to a couple counters before we made contact with the nice lady at the Bucharest airport in charge of lost baggage. We find out our light didn't leave out of Little Rock when we did. It was left but made it on another flight. Our lucky light went a totally different route... Little Rock to Atlanta to Paris to Bucharest but it was in en route at that moment between Paris and Bucharest. It couldn't be delivered to the house we are staying at because it was a medical device. I felt tired and boy, I did feel defeated. I definitely wasn't seeing the light... literally and figuratively. Again, Satan had put up a roadblock. I stayed behind along with Sandy, practically my second mother, Toben and one of our translators, Florene. The rest of our team began the last leg of their journey to our "home." The four of us were stuck at the Airport with specific instructions for the next 2 hours. We caught up and talked to Florene and talked about how Satan keeps trying so hard to make this trip fail on many fronts but we know God will come back with twice the force.
The two hours passed quick and I made my way following the instructions to reenter the airport to retrieve this light. I walked in alone leaving Sandy on the other side of the exit sliding doors. To my surprise, another girl about my age was missing her luggage as well and we waited together. We struck up a conversation quickly and I learned she was finishing up college but had spent her summer working in the travel agency business in the US. Her name was Adalina. Beautiful name, huh? She began to ask about our trip and why were here. I told her. She then asked what things would we do on the side here. I mentioned that we would go to church in the morning, which I was so excited about. Without skipping one beat, she asked me what kind of church I went to. It hit me, God turned Satan's roadblock into a stepping stone. It all made sense... The worry was gone and I beamed with joy. I explained that I am a Christian and what that meant to me. I shared about God's ultimate sacrifice but His victory to overwhelm the grave so that I may live forever. Again, without missing a beat, Adalina said, "You know, I have started to look into God and the Christian faith more since I lived in the states. I want to learn and research more." I let her know that I believe God meant for us to meet in that moment and encouraged her to see what God had waiting for her. She agreed. I saw the light in that moment...literally and figuratively. I grabbed my razorback duct taped cardboard box with many stares to behold such a sight. Adalina and I said goodbye and I met Sandy on the other side of the sliding doors. I told her what happened and she simply said, we know why we were meant to lose that light today. Florene in his straight forward ways simply said, "I would have waited another two hours to have that happen again." Me too... A thousand times over.
We are too blessed to be stressed right? Pray that our team continues to see the light that God has placed before us to guide us to do His will but also to teach us His grace. We head to Feldioara for church in the morning and to set up clinic for the week. Pray that we are welcomed with open arms and that word will travel quick about our clinic for the upcoming week! Thank you for your prayers thus far... They are working!
By the way.... It's below freezing and we have snow on the ground. Pray for our team as on our level of the house we have no heat. A lot of blankets for this group!
Live. Laugh. And see the light.
Melissa
Yesterday in particular, there were some minor hang ups at the airport in Little Rock. When you have a large medical team with personal and supply suitcases... those little things are bound to happen. We anticipate them. As a member of our team, you check your own suitcase and then you are assigned one medical suitcase to check as well. So, being one of the dental crew, I was in charge on a portable dental light to check. It is in a large box with a handle that encloses the light in its original bag. The box was duct taped with razorback duct tape, of course! On a side note: Dr. Joel and Mrs. Beth had the portable light and a portable dental chair donated to their mission trips. It is such a blessing to have this year because our last visit the dental chair consisted of stacked lawn chairs and energizer head lamps or sunlight... SERIOUSLY. So, I have this light which lets face it, the Delta lady had not laid eyes on that before! Without going to long, the light eventually went through and God provided the right amount of baggage funds to pass our team and our crazy equipment through.
As usual, I didn't sleep for the longest leg but found myself unable to stay awake for our last 3 hour flight from Amsterdam to Bucharest. God knew I needed that 3 hour nap badly for what was about to ensue. As we made our way to the baggage claim in Bucharest, one after the other, our bags made their way out unscathed by customs and the TSA. I was checking off the bags in my head one by one. "There's mine.... There's the chair... There's.... Where is the light?!" We waited. And waited. We knew it would come out soon. Then the carousel stops and no light in its razorback duct taped box appears. "Oh, no. Maybe it's something I did?! What if it is lost?," I began to worry. Beth and I made our way around being passed to a couple counters before we made contact with the nice lady at the Bucharest airport in charge of lost baggage. We find out our light didn't leave out of Little Rock when we did. It was left but made it on another flight. Our lucky light went a totally different route... Little Rock to Atlanta to Paris to Bucharest but it was in en route at that moment between Paris and Bucharest. It couldn't be delivered to the house we are staying at because it was a medical device. I felt tired and boy, I did feel defeated. I definitely wasn't seeing the light... literally and figuratively. Again, Satan had put up a roadblock. I stayed behind along with Sandy, practically my second mother, Toben and one of our translators, Florene. The rest of our team began the last leg of their journey to our "home." The four of us were stuck at the Airport with specific instructions for the next 2 hours. We caught up and talked to Florene and talked about how Satan keeps trying so hard to make this trip fail on many fronts but we know God will come back with twice the force.
The two hours passed quick and I made my way following the instructions to reenter the airport to retrieve this light. I walked in alone leaving Sandy on the other side of the exit sliding doors. To my surprise, another girl about my age was missing her luggage as well and we waited together. We struck up a conversation quickly and I learned she was finishing up college but had spent her summer working in the travel agency business in the US. Her name was Adalina. Beautiful name, huh? She began to ask about our trip and why were here. I told her. She then asked what things would we do on the side here. I mentioned that we would go to church in the morning, which I was so excited about. Without skipping one beat, she asked me what kind of church I went to. It hit me, God turned Satan's roadblock into a stepping stone. It all made sense... The worry was gone and I beamed with joy. I explained that I am a Christian and what that meant to me. I shared about God's ultimate sacrifice but His victory to overwhelm the grave so that I may live forever. Again, without missing a beat, Adalina said, "You know, I have started to look into God and the Christian faith more since I lived in the states. I want to learn and research more." I let her know that I believe God meant for us to meet in that moment and encouraged her to see what God had waiting for her. She agreed. I saw the light in that moment...literally and figuratively. I grabbed my razorback duct taped cardboard box with many stares to behold such a sight. Adalina and I said goodbye and I met Sandy on the other side of the sliding doors. I told her what happened and she simply said, we know why we were meant to lose that light today. Florene in his straight forward ways simply said, "I would have waited another two hours to have that happen again." Me too... A thousand times over.
We are too blessed to be stressed right? Pray that our team continues to see the light that God has placed before us to guide us to do His will but also to teach us His grace. We head to Feldioara for church in the morning and to set up clinic for the week. Pray that we are welcomed with open arms and that word will travel quick about our clinic for the upcoming week! Thank you for your prayers thus far... They are working!
By the way.... It's below freezing and we have snow on the ground. Pray for our team as on our level of the house we have no heat. A lot of blankets for this group!
Live. Laugh. And see the light.
Melissa
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
To the west... just not as far as we thought!
The past 5 months have been exciting, disappointing, emotional, scary and just downright unpredictable! But I figure, there's a lot more of that coming as long as the the military is picking our next home, right? In all the emotions, I'm excited to say we have what seems to be a pretty firm plan that God has pleasantly surprised us with. So... I look back and ask myself, "Why did I worry all along, when the plans for our life are indeed not our own... their God's?" We asked God many questions as we were told we were no longer moving to Arizona and that something different was coming down the pipe. We thought at certain points we were going to be living on one coast...and then the other... but we finally found an "even" ground if you will or uneven if we want to get technical!
Today I sat in front of one of the wonderful dentists that I work for and shared our exciting news and made known the bitter/sweet realization that I will be departing such a special office at the end of September. Any hygienist who has found their way to a practice that feels like a home and most patient's you see feel like family... will realize the thought of leaving makes you hug your favorite patient's a little tighter and savor the moments your with your great coworkers a little more. Both of which I have been blessed to have. After I work my final day, I'll be headed off for my 2nd mission trip to Romania. Needless to say, I couldn't be more excited about going back to the place where a large piece of my heart has been for almost 3 years now. I can't wait to share what God will do through our team!
When I head home, we will begin the cleaning, organizing and packing our home for the big move.
So, that's the big detail! The Roe's are headed to Colorado Springs, Colorado where Jon will be a flight instructor at the US Air Force Academy. It is a dream come true and we are VERY thrilled. It'll be a 3 month period of change... that's for sure. I have never stepped foot or even breathed in the state of Colorado. The first time we go over Labor Day... we are in the hunt to buy a house. Talk about overwhelming this little Arkansas girl's ever loving heart. Haha! But no really... think about that.
I ask that you please be in prayer for us as we make some big decisions over the next couple of months and also as I begin my application with the DoD to pursue dental hygiene and also research clinics in the CO Springs area.
God is good all the time. He certainly is bigger than any decision we face, as He is the One who is the author of our story that we are about to read for the first time! How cool is that?
Live. Laugh. Love. And Let's move!
Melissa
Today I sat in front of one of the wonderful dentists that I work for and shared our exciting news and made known the bitter/sweet realization that I will be departing such a special office at the end of September. Any hygienist who has found their way to a practice that feels like a home and most patient's you see feel like family... will realize the thought of leaving makes you hug your favorite patient's a little tighter and savor the moments your with your great coworkers a little more. Both of which I have been blessed to have. After I work my final day, I'll be headed off for my 2nd mission trip to Romania. Needless to say, I couldn't be more excited about going back to the place where a large piece of my heart has been for almost 3 years now. I can't wait to share what God will do through our team!
When I head home, we will begin the cleaning, organizing and packing our home for the big move.
So, that's the big detail! The Roe's are headed to Colorado Springs, Colorado where Jon will be a flight instructor at the US Air Force Academy. It is a dream come true and we are VERY thrilled. It'll be a 3 month period of change... that's for sure. I have never stepped foot or even breathed in the state of Colorado. The first time we go over Labor Day... we are in the hunt to buy a house. Talk about overwhelming this little Arkansas girl's ever loving heart. Haha! But no really... think about that.
I ask that you please be in prayer for us as we make some big decisions over the next couple of months and also as I begin my application with the DoD to pursue dental hygiene and also research clinics in the CO Springs area.
God is good all the time. He certainly is bigger than any decision we face, as He is the One who is the author of our story that we are about to read for the first time! How cool is that?
Live. Laugh. Love. And Let's move!
Melissa
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
8 years ago...
I'll have to admit that I am sitting here hoping to write something remotely good enough to convey how awesome Brady was and honestly how he impacted my life in a way that forever changed me. I'm not sure that I can even use the right words to describe him. As I told my Mom just a bit ago, it still hurts... I still miss him. I know I am not alone in all of those feelings.
Brady was a larger than life person. I feel like I will be lucky to be 1/2 the person he was, even at the tender age of 18. He had a fire for the Lord and it was contagious. He pushed all of our youth group to go all out in our faith and be the "building blocks" of our little bubble of Cabot High School. He was a leader at church, in his ROTC group and with his friends. He led by example and he always was so honest in telling you exactly how he felt. God used him in such a mighty way to touch all of those he came into contact with... and beyond to others he had never met. He left a legacy because he chose to love people and always follow his heart.
I remember the day well. I actually remember what I was watching on the TV with my Dad, what I was eating, the weather that Sunday afternoon and even what I was wearing when I received the phone call. April 3rd, 2005 this world lost one of the most special people I've ever known and I was beyond blessed to call him friend and my brother in Christ. I say that day forever changed me for a couple of reasons. I feel like it took a sense of innocence away from me and shed light on the harsh realities of life and how quickly it can change and those that you love the most can be taken in just a sheer second of time. That day lit a fire under me, to be a "Brady," to every one I came into contact with and "Love God. Love People," just as he did and encouraged our small group to do. I feel like it is what drives my heart for serving people and for missions. But most importantly, as we celebrated Brady's life... I saw the impact that he had made in our small town and much further beyond. He made an impact by following God and holding his calling and commandments close to him. I couldn't help but look behind me from where I sat in the pew and know that God was telling him "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Well done."What a testimony. What an amazing gift of life. What a blessing to have known Brady.
Tomorrow, although it does bring sadness for the loss of a great friend... It reignites that flame inside of me that is fueled by his legacy. I could never thank God enough, for putting him in my life to be one of the greatest examples of how God intends us to minister and love His people. I pray that I can touch others just as Brady did.
As the sun set on April 3rd, a group of us sat in a drive way with a guitar and the sound of our voices singing every praise and worship song we knew to seek comfort and peace that only Jesus can provide. But one we sang over and over, and of course, it was one of his favorites... "Blessed Be Your Name." I can't help but sing this song and think of Brady, even to this day. It reminds us that God calls us to praise Him through the good and through the storms in our lives. I encourage you, if you have never heard it to google it and give it listen. You will be touched. I'm sure of it.
Thank you, God, for giving me the blessing of knowing Brady and impressing upon me his fire for you. May everyone who knew him... remember to "Love God. Love People" everyday that we can...
Melissa
Brady was a larger than life person. I feel like I will be lucky to be 1/2 the person he was, even at the tender age of 18. He had a fire for the Lord and it was contagious. He pushed all of our youth group to go all out in our faith and be the "building blocks" of our little bubble of Cabot High School. He was a leader at church, in his ROTC group and with his friends. He led by example and he always was so honest in telling you exactly how he felt. God used him in such a mighty way to touch all of those he came into contact with... and beyond to others he had never met. He left a legacy because he chose to love people and always follow his heart.
I remember the day well. I actually remember what I was watching on the TV with my Dad, what I was eating, the weather that Sunday afternoon and even what I was wearing when I received the phone call. April 3rd, 2005 this world lost one of the most special people I've ever known and I was beyond blessed to call him friend and my brother in Christ. I say that day forever changed me for a couple of reasons. I feel like it took a sense of innocence away from me and shed light on the harsh realities of life and how quickly it can change and those that you love the most can be taken in just a sheer second of time. That day lit a fire under me, to be a "Brady," to every one I came into contact with and "Love God. Love People," just as he did and encouraged our small group to do. I feel like it is what drives my heart for serving people and for missions. But most importantly, as we celebrated Brady's life... I saw the impact that he had made in our small town and much further beyond. He made an impact by following God and holding his calling and commandments close to him. I couldn't help but look behind me from where I sat in the pew and know that God was telling him "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Well done."What a testimony. What an amazing gift of life. What a blessing to have known Brady.
Tomorrow, although it does bring sadness for the loss of a great friend... It reignites that flame inside of me that is fueled by his legacy. I could never thank God enough, for putting him in my life to be one of the greatest examples of how God intends us to minister and love His people. I pray that I can touch others just as Brady did.
As the sun set on April 3rd, a group of us sat in a drive way with a guitar and the sound of our voices singing every praise and worship song we knew to seek comfort and peace that only Jesus can provide. But one we sang over and over, and of course, it was one of his favorites... "Blessed Be Your Name." I can't help but sing this song and think of Brady, even to this day. It reminds us that God calls us to praise Him through the good and through the storms in our lives. I encourage you, if you have never heard it to google it and give it listen. You will be touched. I'm sure of it.
Thank you, God, for giving me the blessing of knowing Brady and impressing upon me his fire for you. May everyone who knew him... remember to "Love God. Love People" everyday that we can...
Melissa
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Springing Forward by being a little lazy...
I've always said that I don't really get the "daylight savings" time change. I mean I do for the farming aspects and energy saving supposedly it does but all it leaves is this girl and my Lucy Lu a little sleepy and in need of a nap. Perhaps it was the staying out late with some great friends and losing track of time last night? I'll stick with the former because the later proves that I am indeed getting older and my 9-10 p.m. bed time is a necessity to function properly. Yikes!
With all the changes going on at the air base, deployments and it's "that time" where people are PCSing away to different bases, I feel like the last month has been a long string of "goodbyes," "see you laters," and of course, "we WILL have to visit each other soon!" It's a bitter sweet time. Last night was saying see you later to my sweet friend Kathryn, hanging out with old friends and meeting new friends! It's a funny cycle to be in because you watch your little groups dwindle away... only to know that you are going to be the next at some point in the near future.
Our day in the Roe house was just LAZY! But sometimes it is nice to just "be." And given the rainy weather for most of the day, it just seemed like the right thing to do. I read the news, drank some coffee and house and builder hunted online for our upcoming move. There are just so many houses... it is truly overwhelming but the beautiful mountain views that I will be seeing out my backdoor makes looking pretty fun. God has already been at work for our upcoming move! In the last month, he has provided clarity that we are headed exactly where He has called us to be, He has put several people in our path to take us through the journey to getting to Davis Monthan (DM) and a couple to enjoy our time there! Now everyone knows what an OCD planner I am. It's a good and bad quality to have because I know our move will smoother because I will have it planned down to the "T" as much as possible but also I sometimes lay awake at night just wondering how I am going to go about it. When we initially had considered DM, I knew that my dental hygiene license was not good in the state of Arizona and the thought of taking another clinical board sickened me. Aside from the large cost, the stress that I held from my SRTA for Arkansas... I never wish to feel that again. I began to wonder and worry about the "how" and "what" about my future. Would I ever do what I love again? Is God trying to pull me away from something that I put literal blood, sweat and tears into? I trusted but in a timid and confused way. Well, as God has done in the past with me... he always makes it undeniably clear what he wants for me. Just days after I blogged our big news, I was searching online for dental educator jobs and master's programs and I happened upon something that truly stunned me. I had to read the posting probably 5 times before I said anything out loud to Jon. There on my screen was a posting on usajobs for multiple vacancies for civilian dental hygienists at several USAF bases... including DM! The applying period is open for one year too. Just to know that such a door is opened, is truly a blessing and I have no doubt that God will put me to work or show me that he has other plans. He is good... all the time. As we wait for our training dates, Jon and I have been diligent to remember it.
Okay! Now that I have updated! What is the best thing on a rainy day?! Nap time! I am lucky that my dog loves to nap just like her Momma! But besides nap time, what else?! Soup. Just good ole comfort food soup. I have been searching for a homemade chicken noodle soup recipe for quite sometime as many of my pinterest followers have seen... I have pinned quite a few! Not seeing one that just really had everything I enjoy in a good chicken noodle soup, I decided to just take some notes from other recipes I had found and form what I hoped would be an EPIC chicken noodle soup!
My family knows that I am a 1. slow cook, 2. OCD cook and 3. a messy cook. My mother is laughing right now, I am sure of it. I know the last two really do not go hand in hand but let me explain... I'm OCD in the sense that my food has to be "perfect" in taste and look or I am throughly disappointed because (refer back to point one) I take a lot of time when I cook. I always read the prepare times and cook times (if cooked on a stove top, which is where most of my cooking takes place) and I chuckle as I tack on oh about 30 minutes to each. I think the prep time is slower too because I am clumsy and my fingers happen to be precious commodities (and insured ones). Needless to say, if you come to my house for dinner, it's not a joke when Jon says I "slaved away all day" because I did. But the thing is... I truly love cooking and it is therapeutic to the point where Jon and I have this unspoken rule that he just leaves me in "my zone," as I prepare our food! Okay, so I'm messy but I like to think of myself as a less glamorous Rachel Ray. I like to use all my utensils... literally ALL of my Calphalon utensils get love...all my bowls have scars of love and no one is left out. I'm proud actually when I have a huge mess, I feel like I created greatness. Okay, maybe not but I made some pretty great food! Am I perfect, no! I have made some "pintrosities" and "oopsies" but my poor husband still smiles and says I think it's great. You are a great man... a great great man, Jon Roe. Again, my mother is laughing because I drive her NUTS in the kitchen and I am her version of kitchen nightmares.
So, are you ready to see my master piece and maybe try it for yourself? Alright... here we go! I'll let you determine your own prep and cook time... Haha. But before I do, I have to just say I was trying to upload the picture of the soup and I thought I just deleted this whole blog... I died a little inside but luckily... my computer saved it for me!! Woo... Ok, we shall move on!
Looks all cozy, doesn't it! I was really worried about it being too salty or possibly not enough flavoring but somehow, it turned out great. You may feel you need to adjust the flavoring to your liking but I thought this had a good balance. It had just enough flavoring with the right amount of thickness and creaminess to really make it stick to your ribs! Enjoy!
For the base:
1 1/4 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts/tenders cut into small chunks (I used tenders rather than breasts because they were on sale!)
1 cup yellow onion diced
2 tbsp. olive oil (Yay! Finally I get to use my olive oil from Sedona!)
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup celery, sliced
3 cups wide egg noodles
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp. parsley leaves chopped
1 tsp Bona-petite Seasoning Salt
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
2 qts. chicken broth (I use the free-range, low sodium kind... again Kroger had awesome sale)
For the cream sauce:
1/2 cup butter (I feel like Paula Dean... for shame)
1/2 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp seasoning salt
1 tsp garlic salt
First, I brought 2 qts of water to a boil and began cooking the egg noodles.
While, the noodles were cooking, I heated the olive oil over medium/high heat in a dutch oven. Once warm, I threw in the chicken chunks. I cooked them until they were cooked on all sides and just ever slightly brown. I let them finish cooking in the boiling base later on.
Add in the veggies, salts, garlic powder and parsley to the chicken and mix to coat. Then add in all the liquids with the bay leaf and bring to a medium/high heat to boil. Check the noodles. If they are al dente, drain and set the aside. My noodles were not quite finished when I added the veggies. But when they finished, drained and put to the side, I moved the veggie/liquid mix to the large soup pot to finish boiling. Boil for 30 minutes and move onto creating your creamy sauce!
For the cream sauce, melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium/low heat. When fully melted, add the flour, stirring constantly to form a roux. Combine the milk and heavy cream and mix them together before adding to the roux. I found it helped thicken everything out fairly quick. Add all the cream mixture in spurts, stirring after each addition until the sauce has formed into a nice creamy mixture. Add in the salts and stir yet again. I told Jon that I was getting a good arm work out. Haha!
Turn down the heat to the boiling pot of veggies/stock and remove it from the heat. Slowly add in the cream mixture and stir to combine. Now, I did find that mine was a little more runny than I wanted still. So, I cheated. Yes, I did it. I did a little corn start mixture and added that in and it became just the right creamy thickness. I'll probably just adjust down the stock by 2 cups or so next time.
Now, chow down! I hope you enjoy it as much as Jon and I did!
I hope everyone is ready to face Monday! But for now, I will watch The Bible series on the History Channel... check it out! It is fantastic!
Until next time!
Live. Laugh. Love!
Melissa
With all the changes going on at the air base, deployments and it's "that time" where people are PCSing away to different bases, I feel like the last month has been a long string of "goodbyes," "see you laters," and of course, "we WILL have to visit each other soon!" It's a bitter sweet time. Last night was saying see you later to my sweet friend Kathryn, hanging out with old friends and meeting new friends! It's a funny cycle to be in because you watch your little groups dwindle away... only to know that you are going to be the next at some point in the near future.
Our day in the Roe house was just LAZY! But sometimes it is nice to just "be." And given the rainy weather for most of the day, it just seemed like the right thing to do. I read the news, drank some coffee and house and builder hunted online for our upcoming move. There are just so many houses... it is truly overwhelming but the beautiful mountain views that I will be seeing out my backdoor makes looking pretty fun. God has already been at work for our upcoming move! In the last month, he has provided clarity that we are headed exactly where He has called us to be, He has put several people in our path to take us through the journey to getting to Davis Monthan (DM) and a couple to enjoy our time there! Now everyone knows what an OCD planner I am. It's a good and bad quality to have because I know our move will smoother because I will have it planned down to the "T" as much as possible but also I sometimes lay awake at night just wondering how I am going to go about it. When we initially had considered DM, I knew that my dental hygiene license was not good in the state of Arizona and the thought of taking another clinical board sickened me. Aside from the large cost, the stress that I held from my SRTA for Arkansas... I never wish to feel that again. I began to wonder and worry about the "how" and "what" about my future. Would I ever do what I love again? Is God trying to pull me away from something that I put literal blood, sweat and tears into? I trusted but in a timid and confused way. Well, as God has done in the past with me... he always makes it undeniably clear what he wants for me. Just days after I blogged our big news, I was searching online for dental educator jobs and master's programs and I happened upon something that truly stunned me. I had to read the posting probably 5 times before I said anything out loud to Jon. There on my screen was a posting on usajobs for multiple vacancies for civilian dental hygienists at several USAF bases... including DM! The applying period is open for one year too. Just to know that such a door is opened, is truly a blessing and I have no doubt that God will put me to work or show me that he has other plans. He is good... all the time. As we wait for our training dates, Jon and I have been diligent to remember it.
Okay! Now that I have updated! What is the best thing on a rainy day?! Nap time! I am lucky that my dog loves to nap just like her Momma! But besides nap time, what else?! Soup. Just good ole comfort food soup. I have been searching for a homemade chicken noodle soup recipe for quite sometime as many of my pinterest followers have seen... I have pinned quite a few! Not seeing one that just really had everything I enjoy in a good chicken noodle soup, I decided to just take some notes from other recipes I had found and form what I hoped would be an EPIC chicken noodle soup!
My family knows that I am a 1. slow cook, 2. OCD cook and 3. a messy cook. My mother is laughing right now, I am sure of it. I know the last two really do not go hand in hand but let me explain... I'm OCD in the sense that my food has to be "perfect" in taste and look or I am throughly disappointed because (refer back to point one) I take a lot of time when I cook. I always read the prepare times and cook times (if cooked on a stove top, which is where most of my cooking takes place) and I chuckle as I tack on oh about 30 minutes to each. I think the prep time is slower too because I am clumsy and my fingers happen to be precious commodities (and insured ones). Needless to say, if you come to my house for dinner, it's not a joke when Jon says I "slaved away all day" because I did. But the thing is... I truly love cooking and it is therapeutic to the point where Jon and I have this unspoken rule that he just leaves me in "my zone," as I prepare our food! Okay, so I'm messy but I like to think of myself as a less glamorous Rachel Ray. I like to use all my utensils... literally ALL of my Calphalon utensils get love...all my bowls have scars of love and no one is left out. I'm proud actually when I have a huge mess, I feel like I created greatness. Okay, maybe not but I made some pretty great food! Am I perfect, no! I have made some "pintrosities" and "oopsies" but my poor husband still smiles and says I think it's great. You are a great man... a great great man, Jon Roe. Again, my mother is laughing because I drive her NUTS in the kitchen and I am her version of kitchen nightmares.
So, are you ready to see my master piece and maybe try it for yourself? Alright... here we go! I'll let you determine your own prep and cook time... Haha. But before I do, I have to just say I was trying to upload the picture of the soup and I thought I just deleted this whole blog... I died a little inside but luckily... my computer saved it for me!! Woo... Ok, we shall move on!
Looks all cozy, doesn't it! I was really worried about it being too salty or possibly not enough flavoring but somehow, it turned out great. You may feel you need to adjust the flavoring to your liking but I thought this had a good balance. It had just enough flavoring with the right amount of thickness and creaminess to really make it stick to your ribs! Enjoy!
For the base:
1 1/4 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts/tenders cut into small chunks (I used tenders rather than breasts because they were on sale!)
1 cup yellow onion diced
2 tbsp. olive oil (Yay! Finally I get to use my olive oil from Sedona!)
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup celery, sliced
3 cups wide egg noodles
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp. parsley leaves chopped
1 tsp Bona-petite Seasoning Salt
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
2 qts. chicken broth (I use the free-range, low sodium kind... again Kroger had awesome sale)
For the cream sauce:
1/2 cup butter (I feel like Paula Dean... for shame)
1/2 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp seasoning salt
1 tsp garlic salt
First, I brought 2 qts of water to a boil and began cooking the egg noodles.
While, the noodles were cooking, I heated the olive oil over medium/high heat in a dutch oven. Once warm, I threw in the chicken chunks. I cooked them until they were cooked on all sides and just ever slightly brown. I let them finish cooking in the boiling base later on.
Add in the veggies, salts, garlic powder and parsley to the chicken and mix to coat. Then add in all the liquids with the bay leaf and bring to a medium/high heat to boil. Check the noodles. If they are al dente, drain and set the aside. My noodles were not quite finished when I added the veggies. But when they finished, drained and put to the side, I moved the veggie/liquid mix to the large soup pot to finish boiling. Boil for 30 minutes and move onto creating your creamy sauce!
For the cream sauce, melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium/low heat. When fully melted, add the flour, stirring constantly to form a roux. Combine the milk and heavy cream and mix them together before adding to the roux. I found it helped thicken everything out fairly quick. Add all the cream mixture in spurts, stirring after each addition until the sauce has formed into a nice creamy mixture. Add in the salts and stir yet again. I told Jon that I was getting a good arm work out. Haha!
Turn down the heat to the boiling pot of veggies/stock and remove it from the heat. Slowly add in the cream mixture and stir to combine. Now, I did find that mine was a little more runny than I wanted still. So, I cheated. Yes, I did it. I did a little corn start mixture and added that in and it became just the right creamy thickness. I'll probably just adjust down the stock by 2 cups or so next time.
Now, chow down! I hope you enjoy it as much as Jon and I did!
I hope everyone is ready to face Monday! But for now, I will watch The Bible series on the History Channel... check it out! It is fantastic!
Until next time!
Live. Laugh. Love!
Melissa
Friday, February 15, 2013
The Roe's are about to endure some very BIG changes!
I'll first let you ponder on this picture for a little bit... isn't it beautiful? Any guesses as to where it is? I'll reveal the answer soon...
Can I just say... HE'S HOME. HE'S HOME. He's FINALLY home. After a lot of back and forth, Jon came home to us safe on January 23rd and it was a great day! The last 5 months have tested us and we found the end of it closer and ready for all the big changes we are about to face this year. But before we get those I'll share a couple more things from the homecoming to now...
Can I just say... HE'S HOME. HE'S HOME. He's FINALLY home. After a lot of back and forth, Jon came home to us safe on January 23rd and it was a great day! The last 5 months have tested us and we found the end of it closer and ready for all the big changes we are about to face this year. But before we get those I'll share a couple more things from the homecoming to now...
After Jon's arrival, we ventured onto Phoenix where we had a fantastic visit with his family! It felt great to feel "whole" again with everyone around. During our stay, Jon and I took a day/night trip to Sedona for some R&R at La'Auberge and took in the beautiful scenery of the red rock. If you are ever in Sedona... La'Auberge is the place to stay. We stayed in a small quiet cabin on a creek where the weather was perfect! The cabin even has an outdoor cedar shower... it is quite awesome! We took in some sight seeing, wine tasting and also olive oil tasting where I was introduced to infused olive oil and bought a lot to help me in my culinary efforts! After that, we caught a little bit of the Super Bowl but then later enjoyed a dinner at the restaurant on site. It was spectacular!! I was hoping to upload more photos but the computer is saying otherwise! But all in all, it was a great visit with a lot of interesting happenings!
Now we are back to work and beginning to get back to "normal." But our normal is about to become very different for quite some time! Any guesses still on the first picture posted? Give up? Well, that picture reveals our big change. The Roe's... are moving. My loving husband knew how to break the news of such a large move to my small town, i've-only-lived-in-Arkansas heart... for this will be my first move away from my home state that I truly do love with all my heart. I have dear friends and memories that I will hold onto but I am opening up to this change. Jon explains to me that he has bought me a gift and asked if I wanted to open it! Of course I say.. "um, yes!" What girl doesn't love presents, right? He then says it is a PCSing/early Christmas gift of sorts. The letters PCS for those of you who aren't familiar means changing bases and moving. I'll have to admit... my heart dropped but we knew this was coming and have been expecting to hear any day now. He asked me if I wanted to know and my reply was about the same as the present. The gift... a Canon EOS 60D with macro and landscape/panorama lenses! I was so excited because I have been wanting a better camera for a while now, the more I have been interested in dabbling in photography. FAIR WARNING: There will be many Ethan pictures to test my new camera with! Haha! Jon tells me to look on the Ipad to see where our next home will be. I open it up and I see where we will be heading. I was excited when I slid the cursor to the side and saw this beautiful place. The excitement was met with tears... both happy and sad. I'm sure I'll post more about these huge changes that Jon and I will face but also the changes that are coming to me personally through this move. I look forward to streamlining this life that I have made busy and am fully prepared to become God's canvas to do with me what he wishes for in all of this... he has purpose. So are you ready to know now that I have drug this on....
This is the place that we will call home for the next 4-5 years. The place Jon and I will buy our first home. The place we will hopefully bring our first child into the world to. There are so many big mile stones that we will pass there and all the while... I know God will be ever present. So, ready or not Tucson, Arizona.... The Roe's are coming and we can't wait! We will be stationed at Davis Monthan AFB where Jon will fly HC-130 J's that are apart of a rescue squadron. Our families are excited and Jon is VERY excited not only about the mission of the plane but to be back in his home for a while! We are unsure of our timeline right now but Jon will complete J model school here in Little Rock and then we will be on our way to Albuquerque for rescue school. After that, we will finally move to Arizona!
Well, that's all she wrote for now but I am sure we will keep you updated with more as we know it. I feel that this will be my mode of contact as we say bye to friends and family! So hopefully the blog will get a little more love! Any who, Jon and I thank you for your constant support and love! We definitely consider it a blessing!
Live. Laugh. Love. and HOLA TUCSON!
Melissa
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