Christmas Day Adventure, in the Big Apple!!

Hello Everyone!! I hope you had a Merry Christmas! We decided since we couldn't be with family on Christmas, we would be with as many strangers as possible...haha. We took a day trip to New York City. Let me just say, that everyone needs to experience this once....and then never go back!! We may go back one more time to see central park during the day, but I'll never set foot there again at night. It was a mad house!!

So we took the Amtrak train from Albany to NYC. Here are the kids waiting with us in line to get tickets:

This is the train station. I thought it was lovely. The Stop in Cohoes was incredible but I wasn't fast enough to get a picture.This is everyone on the train.


Eythan and Caedon looking at the Hudson River.


This train ride was beautiful!! It followed the Hudson river the entire way. My interest is now sparked to learn more about the history of the area because of the unique things we saw on our way. There were castles, towns hanging off cliffs, and these little houses right in the middle of the river. Some houses were on the the bank but no visible roads were near leading us to believe that the only way to get there would have to be by boat, or helicopter!! Of course the train was moving way to fast (as you will see in the pictures) to get good shots of all of that. But here are a few of our favorites.
(see the little house in the middle of the river?)


After arriving at Penn Station, and emerging from underground, here are the first sights of NYC to reach our eyes!
So our next adventure is also one that everyone should try once in their lives and be ready to fail miserably at the first time around! The New York Subway!! This is probably the most disgusting place on earth. The kids didn't get it and kept touching everything so I quickly invested in some Purell at the first corner store we came to. If you asked the kids though, this was the best part of the whole trip and when we were ready to go home, they begged to ride it one more time before we left.


So, on our way to the Statue of Liberty, this man gets on the subway and sits near us. I could tell he was getting a kick out of Charis. She was having the time of her life, just riding the subway. Well he went back to working on some stuff in his brief case, then right before he got off he said, "Here, to remember your visit by. You can take a picture if you want." Turns out he was a freelance political cartoonist for a NY paper. This is what he was working on.
(compare to above picture of Charis)
(Caedon in his stroller)
So having traversed the legendary Subway, we arrive at our first destination....The Statue of Liberty.
(Eythan helping Charis be the Statue of Liberty)
(some weird guy dressed like Lady Liberty, you could get a picture for money)

So now, we're on a hunt for food. There are a lot of places open...mainly McDonald's...uuugg!, but we want something authentically New York. Se we started walking. Here are some pictures along the way. Boy I wish my camera was fixed!!! I really regret that this trip.

(a three story McDonald's...the kids were quite impressed)




So we walked, and walked and walked not finding just the right place to eat. Finally we decided to get back on the subway and get closer to Central Park. Best laid plans.....I got turned around on the subway. We decided to get off at the next stop and go above ground and get our bearings. Wouldn't you know it! Right there as we came out a mom and pop pizzeria, authentic NYC food! Here is us at lunch...Eythan didn't like his pick of pizza with rigatoni noodles and spaghetti sauce on it.

Having now got our bearings, full bellies and warmed up a bit, we decided to head to central park. Well, I got lost again. But we made it just at sunset.

We had decided to take a carriage ride around the park, but the wait was three hours. They tried to talk us into taking a rickshaw, but we couldn't stand the thought of putting the poor driver through that! This is why we would like to come back some day and see it. So now with the sun down, it starts to get cold.....and very, VERY crazy. We decide to get some hot cocoa and let the kids use the bathroom.

Now we are going to go to Rockefeller Center, see the big tree, and ice skate. However, I think everyone in NYC decided to do the same thing! We couldn't even walk it was so crowded and everything you've heard about New York attitude came out after dark! It seemed like a simple thing, finding a giant tree and ice skating rink, but we never found it. We did find a beautiful fountain and a smaller tree and ice skating rink though. There was a line for that too, so we just decided to ride the subway some more and then go home.

(Accidental picture of Charis falling on her butt!)

So, of course no day in the life of the big fish is complete without a little ministry. Jon had several words for people on the street, which he shared and then went on. When we got to the train station, we had a bout an hour and a half wait before our train came. Caedon made fast friends with a little two year old girl named Anna, whose parents were waiting to be picked up by relatives. They had come into town for a funeral of an aunt. Caedon was in love and shared his cars!! Can you believe it!! He gave her a hug and before you know it, he was kissing her!! How fun! The couple we met were amazing, and had true stories of miracles to share with us, including Anna herself, and the husband who had been in a coma for a year as a boy and then come out of it to live a normal life! Jon had a word for them and he shared it. They seemed to receive it and he prayed over them to have more clarity for it. We exchanged information and hopefully we will be sending them a picture of Caedon for little Anna to keep! Now we had a two hour train ride left to get home, which everyone fell asleep except me because someone had to wake us up to get off at our stop!

Thank you all for your prayers, we can feel them, as we are in this strange and beautiful place. We may be coming back to Dallas sooner than we planned, but we could also be heading to Buffalo, NY, Illinois, or Colorado! We'll keep you updated and Happy New year!!!!

Blessings,

Emily

Divine Appointments & God's Sense of Humor

Hey Folks,



I want to start this blog with saying I'm sorry for not posting until now....Yes, this is Jon not Em this time. I've been wanting to post since Houston, but haven't and I'm sorry. Thank you Emily for continuing to be the glue that keeps us connected to our family, friends, and each other.....I have the best wife in the world.



Alright, Allot of folks want me to write down some of the awesome things God has done and I wish I would have started in Houston. I still might add those, but I want to save you a book for now and just start with one day here in NY.



Yesterday, was my first day of appointments here and I was getting a sense that God was going to make this more of a day of intimate time with him and not a day of Divine Ministry Appointments........I was wrong!



I was enjoying the drive on the snow covered streets, God's beautiful creation here in the mountains and hills of NY, and some worship thanks to a local worship station when I was thinking this. I gave the day to our Lord as I usually do and made myself willing and available to be used by him. I went to my first assignment and had a great time meeting with my new friends in tin buck two NY. But no ministry opportunities presented themselves there. No problem, I was enjoying this personal time with God anyways.



My new friends John and Christine......

My second assignment was one of those obvious divine appointments that I mentioned a couple a weeks ago at church. However, it was God wanting to minister to me through other Believers this time. I walked into John and Christine's home and almost immediately new we shared the same Love for our Lord Jesus. The presence of God was all over their home. I did my job and and then we started sharing our life stories. God immediately pointed out that I was in the home of two awesome warriors of His kingdom with sincere gifting in the prophetic, pastoral, leadership, and mercy. Christine started speaking into the "Big Fish's" purpose shortly after she heard our story. She noted that there has to be a reason that God redirected our life's journey approximately the same time our countries recession started and people started hurting. There has to be a reason why he wants us all over the country during this time. God new I needed encouragement at this time. I struggle daily with the fact that this decision to travel daily, though it is exciting, adventurous, obviously favored by God, is also a huge sacrifice for my family. STABILITY, SECURITY, LEADERSHIP....these are my responsibility in our family and when we don't have water, when our propane runs out and I'm working, when I'm driving 50 miles per hour with a 10,000 pound trailer behind me and hit a sheet of ice.....I don't feel like I'm doing a good job and I question my ability to hear God in his direction. Thank you John and Christine for being faithful and ministering to our family.



Officer of the Averill Park, NY State Troopers.......

On my way home, I stopped by a Auto Zone to get a new fuse for my truck. When I got out of the truck, another gentlemen pointed out that my light was out.....I chuckled....I'm getting kind of used to this now. When I'm home waiting for deployment, everything seems to go smoothly and without much hitches. But right before I get deployed, all the little stuff starts coming out of the wood works. Anyways, it was great timing, I bought a headlamp bulb while I was in Autozone and changed out my fuse. However, it was cold and it slipped past me to change out my bulb until I was on my way home. 30 minutes down the road as I was literally pulling into the park, I saw the lights......Red, White, & Blue....Followed by the siren.



As the Officer was walking up to my truck I got a picture in my head of a 7-8 year old boy with this Officer's hands on his shoulder........You've got to be joking God!......You wanted me to get pulled over just to speak into this Mans life.....How cool is that! I immediately new I forgot the bulb on purpose and I also knew this was a divine appointment. After we discussed my burned out light and discussed why I would drive from Dallas to NY at a time like this, God took over my tongue and I found out that the boy was his nephew and that he is going to have a great and God favored influence on this boys life. It was neat to watch his face as he turned from an intimidating protector of the peace to a curious and grateful man with a God given purpose to fulfill.



Anyways, I love these divine appointments and God's sense of humor. Thank you my friends, family, and fellow God Chasers....Your prayers, support, and overall patience with the nuts that is the Havens' family is cherished, felt, and priceless.

In his Peace, Jon

Flint

Several weeks ago I had a dream. In the dream (short version) a person asked me what I was going to name the baby. Apparently I was pregnant. I said "We're naming him Flint." They asked me why, and then the dream changed. I saw two hands. One hand was holding a bar of flint, the other was holding a rock. The hand with the rock struck the flint and sparks flew. Immediately a bonfire was started before me. The voice of God spoke and he said, "He is Flint, because he brings my fire."



I didn't officially know I was pregnant for real until Dec. 6. The only reason I chose to acknowledge it was because I could tell something was wrong. Within the next week, Flint was gone from my body and into God's hands. Although this would not be the time or place I would choose to be pregnant, the loss of Flint was difficult. I know when I hear God's voice. I know when he sends me a dream. To me, Flint was already a person. His life had been ordained by God. He had purpose. He had a future. I was excited to see him grow and fulfill his destiny. Why did God reveal this me and then take him away?! This was my burden. How can he have a destiny and no longer be with us?



I lead worship the Sunday after I lost him. It was one of those awesome times when you can feel the Spirit of God, when he takes the lead and your just along for the ride. I hadn't thought of Flint since we started worship, but at the conclusion as I was walking away from the keyboard, I knew. The dream was clear, I understood, I knew what it meant. I literally had the feeling of being pushed in the head as the knowledge settled in my brain. The dream wasn't about me....it was about everyone. The dream was for everyone. Flint wasn't just his name. Flint was his purpose. The flint in the dream represents trials. A piece of flint is hard, heavy, and ugly. On it's own it is useless, and a burden. But when used, when combined with the rock, (The Rock), what do you get? Fire!! The Holy Spirit, power, light, warmth! Life sustaining fire!

Don't let your trials, your flint, sit idle in your hand. Don't try to handle them on your own, nothing will come of it but added weight. Take God in your hand and set some fires!! You need fire, others need fire. Those without it will be drawn by it's light and warmth! Be encouraged. Be blessed. God's plans are to prosper you, not to harm you. They are for a hope and a future!

Blessings,

Emily

The Simple Things

Shower at last! Shower at last! Thank God Almighty, a shower at Last!!

I guess I'm going to have to get used to not showering when we go out. This is the second time we were sent out and, the second time we've gone without water. Well...the dishes are next now!! (we'll use paper next time!!)

So just as we thought all was well, the bath tub started backing up after Caedon's bath. Apparently the gray water pipe is frozen. So we spent the next three hours pouring cups of water out the front door. Why you ask? Well as you recall we have to leave the tap running so the incoming water won't freeze. Water coming in....nothing going out! Adventure number 2!!

All of that said...this is so cool!!! I LOVE NEW YORK!!! It's not just a t-shirt logo. We went into Wal-mart today, roads were clear. When we came out, you couldn't see across the parking lot and everything was under 3 inches of snow. I love the houses. Even the little crummy ones look like a story. But don't worry, we are not planning on staying here. I would much prefer having 70 degree weather tomorrow than more freezing and snow.

Blessings,

Emily

I'm dreaming of a white....white....white...WHITE..Christmas!!!

Ok...over 1000 miles and 72 hours later....we are finally settled in here in Albany, NY. To be precise, we are in Averill Park, NY just east of Albany. We made it safely, but I'm positive your prayers and the power of God got us here that way. Leaving Dallas, as most of you know, the streets were covered in ice. Actually, we spent the next 12 hours on a solid sheet of ice!!! The roads didn't clear until after Little Rock. It was only then that we started making better time.....well sort of. Pilot (Jon's company), gave us an extra 24 hours to get to NY so we decided to stop over in Lexington, KY at the Kentucky Horse Park over Night. The park was beautiful and doubled as the towns Christmas light show. We could see some of it from our lot. This is what it looked like when we backed in:

"The Big Fish"

Playground behind us

Light show

More of Light show

The next morning we let the kids play for a while while I cooked breakfast (hard to do when you run out of propane!!).

Charis making a snow angel

Charis Sledding down the hill on a card board box

Eythan Sledding

So at this point we were 36 hours into our 28 hour drive, with 13 hours left. Hmmmm....how's that possible? Three kids, two adults, and one dog equals 6 bladders and 14 antsy legs. Anyway, the roads were clear and we drove like mad people and arrived in Albany this morning at 5:30 am. So now is the interesting part. Unbeknownst to us, RV parks close for the winter around here!!! We did find one that was open thanks to Jon's manager who was already there. The hard part is that unless you have a 4 wheel drive you might not be getting in or out at various times. The entrance is on a straight up grade!!! The other fun part is freezing water pipes.....we're not always guaranteed a water supply......needless to say...I haven't showered since Monday and I'm feeling a little blue...or greasy....same thing. The kids are looking a little greasy too. Anyway, tomorrow it's supposed to snow. Saturday it's supposed to snow. Sunday it's supposed to snow. Are you getting the picture? Looks like snow everyday until Christmas with up to 12 inches of accumulation in the next two days!!!! We are really enjoying being here and experiences new places and things (New York Style Pizza!! YUMMMMMM!!!!). This is turning out to be a grand adventure.

So why am I having a hard time trusting God? There are a couple of negative (seeming) things with this particular job that make it seem that financially it might not be worth it. It is making me really nervous. Jehovah, God Provider, has come through for us over, and over, and over, AND OVER again! We've made a marathon trip with not so much as an incident, and there is so much favor on Jon and his job right now it's ridiculous. But one little word, one little inkling of a thought swept through and it's really messing with me. WHY CAN'T I TRUST!!!! Looks like schools in session. Time to learn something new from The Teacher!!!

Blessings All,

Emily

I'll try and take some more pics tomorrow!

Our Christmas Adventure

Well...we're going!!! We have to be in New York 8am on Wednesday. Can you believe it?!? I can't!!! I'm going to try and be better about posting pictures and updates this time. We'll miss you all though and please pray for the kids as they are very upset over missing their Christmas program this Sunday. We even fancied the notion of letting them fly back by themselves to participate, but I can't imagine letting the kids alone for 5-8 hours on a plane!!! They thought it was cool. Me and the kids will be flying back in two weeks so we can go on vacation with my family so we will see you all then. Please pray for our safe drive as we will be driving for about 28 hours straight. Also, the weather isn't supposed to be that great on the way either. Also pray for my health, because we haven't told many people, I had an early miscarriage this last week. I will post more on that later though. Merry Christmas ALL!!!!

Blessings,

Emily

New York, New York!!

Hey Folks!

Just got some excited and sad news. Jon has been put on standby for New York or Pennsylvania!!! This is one of the places we were hoping beyond hope to get to go. But obviously it comes at an unfortunate time with Christmas coming up. We don't know for sure if we will be going yet, we should know in a day or two. Please pray with us as we are deciding if we are all going to go, or just Jon. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, these states don't come up much in cat work, and we've always wanted to go there.

Blessings,

Emily