Nurses on a Mission

“Porque um menino nos nasceu, um filho se nos deu; e o governo estará sobre os seus ombros; e o seu nome será: Maravilhoso Conselheiro, Deus Forte, Pai Eterno, Príncipe da Paz.” Isaías 9:6 (Bíblia Sagrada)

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

God. 
Wonderful.
Counselor.
Mighty.
Father.
Eternal.
Peace.  

When I thought about which of those descriptive words most poignantly encapsulated 2011 for us, each one seemed to resonate within me.  We have had to rely on God in so many new ways this year.  He has moved in us (and we hope in others) in fresh ways. 
We continued to learn about God – His character, His plan for our lives, His plan for our girls…
Highlights?
1. Karsen and Kiaya being baptized.
2. Dad’s successful surgery and recovery.
3. Opportunities to share our faith with those around us here in Portugal.

Surely if I thought about it longer, I could come up with other amazing moments in 2011.  But I *think* those are our top 3.  Maybe…  LOL.

We love you and we thank you for being on this crazy ride with us.  We appreciate your thoughtful emails, messages, calls, visits and prayers.  You have encouraged us like crazy this year.  THANK YOU SO MUCH.  We hope that you get how thankful you have made us.  You are amazing.  We appreciate you more than you know.

Wishing you and your loved ones an amazing, wonderful, joyful, blessed 2012.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!  
Brady, Andrea, Karsen, Kiaya and Kinley Nurse

Thank you all for your prayers.  The seven hour surgery is over and Richard is in ICU.  The doctors said that everything went as planned and that there was no complications.  He will need to stay in ICU for 2 days and then on the hospital for another 6-10 days.  So far, all is great – praise the Lord!

Second, Andrea and Karsen made it to London and their hotel ok.  They are already out enjoying their time together!

Thank you all for your prayers!

Praise – Andrea’s mom and dad traveled to Minnesota for a second opinion and found a top notch cardiologist who is willing to do a special procedure on him.  They will be doing a triple bypass on him tomorrow morning.  He is in the hospital tonight going through all of the tests.

Please pray for Andrea’s dad tomorrow as he goes into surgery.  Pray that the doctor will do good work and make good decisions.  Pray that Richard’s heart and body would be strong.  Pray for Cathy (Andrea’s mom) as she waits with Andrea’s brother and sister in the waiting room.   Pray as he needs to stay in ICU for 2-3 days then another 5-7 days in recovery. 

Also pray for Andrea as she returned from the US on Tuesday (last week) and flew on Wednesday for meetings.  We returned late Sunday night and tomorrow morning Andrea and Karsen are going on a date to London.  Pray that she would catch-up on sleep but more importantly have a wonderful time bonding with our daughter.

Pray for me as I get time to bond with Kiaya and Kinley this weekend.

Praise and Kiaya and Karsen passed both of their fall exams.

Can you please pray for Andrea’s dad, Richard? He’s been in the hospital (Kalispell, MT) for the last three days and went in yesterday for an angeoplasty. They were hoping this would solve the issues he is having with his heart.  However, they found that 3 arteries were blocked and he has developed calcification.  This means that a surgery will be very difficult.  The doctors are sending him home today and they will evaluate the situation over the next three days.  They will then either proceed with a triple bypass or try to treat with medication.  Another issue is if he has surgery he will be unable to continue his work as an air traffic controller.  He loves his job and he is not ready to retire. 

Please pray for wisdom for Richard and Cathy (Andrea’s mom).  Pray for the doctors, for wisdom and discernment.  Pray for Andrea as she looks for flights and considers flying back to the US. 

Praise that they caught this early and have good doctors working on him.

PS – if any of you know a good travel agent or can suggest cheap flights, please let us know.

Happy October 31st blog followers!  Thank you so very much for sticking with us this month.  You were awesome.  Your notes, your posts, your facebook messages.  Thank you so much.  Who knows, we may make it a regular October tradition…

As we come to the end of the month we are going to do something a little selfish.  We’re going to ask you to pray for our family.  Being away from “home” in the States can get tiring.  You all are so fun and so great to us – it’s hard being away from you!  Here are a couple of prayer requests for each family member…

Brady:

• Pray for Brady as he finishes up seminary.  There are lots of long hours and lots of hard work involved.
• Brady’s time with the football players – being with them as a friend, as a coach, as someone who can offer direction to the team, and certainly as a Christian man. 
• Brady’s job as the logistic support person for Portugal as well as the “South Cluster” for the IMB.  Pray for wisdom in how to make some tough decisions, how to be a good supervisor, how to best handle logistic issues, etc.
• To be able to disciple and/or supervise the volunteers that he works with.

Andrea:

• For time management – there are always things that CAN be done, but knowing what SHOULD be done and HOW TO DO IT are quite different.  I’d love to have some assurance that I’m involved with the right things and with the right people.
• For my relationships with my daughters and Brady.  If you know much about me, you know I have THE best family ever.  Hands down.  I really LIKE my family.  It’s  terrible when we have to go to “work” or the girls have to be at “school.”  We have so much fun together!  Just pray that I don’t ever lose sight of what a blessing they are and that I would find ways to be a blessing back to them.
• For friendships.  Things are so much better than they were, but it’s still hard being here and feeling disconnected from girls who really “get me.”  Those of you who know what I mean, well, you know what I mean.

Karsen:

• Her adjustment to the expander in her mouth.  It’s muddying up her speech again, so we’re praying for quick adjustment.
• For Karsen to have more self confidence in her school work.  She often says she can’t do something or she doesn’t know something when she just needs to be patient with herself!
• Sweet friends for Karsen.  She LOVES her sisters, but it would be nice for her to have other friends too.

Kiaya:

• For Kiaya to have patience with herself and with her work.  Sometimes Kiaya thinks she’s 25 and has it all together.  We would love to see her acting more as a learner rather than pretending she has all the answers.
• That Kiaya would be bolder – she gets PAINFULLY shy at times.  She won’t speak, she tries to hide behind us, etc.  She’s good around other children, but adults really throw her!

Kinley:

• That she would quickly learn patience!  HA!  She is the stereotypical last child and she thinks she’s the boss.  Help her to learn how to be patient, how to be kind and how to accept “no” for an answer (gosh, that might be a good one for our entire family)!  LOL
• She would learn Portuguese quickly.  Kinley doesn’t have a Portuguese sitter with her like Karsen and Kiaya did, so her language skills (in Portuguese) are going to develop more slowly.  Pray that she would adjust quickly to the language and she would find her place here in Portugal.

So, that is us.  Long huh?  SO SORRY!  And guess what?  It’s about to get longer.  Here are all of the people you prayed for this month:

Marcia
Julio
Vera
Joana
Eva
James
Grant
Fred
Rita
Teresa
Vera
Eunice
Debora
Tope
Lorenzo
Tank
Yao
Pedro
Pedro
Anabela
ET
Fernando
Sonia
Bruno
David
Susan
Ze

Thank you for the difference you have made.

With much love and affection and appreciation –

A, B and Ks 1, 2 and 3
The Nurses

Tope is person number #30.  Tope is the new QB on our team.  He spent last year as a backup QB and WR for the Crusaders.  Tope is the leader of the offense.  Everyone respects Tope and looks to him to set the tone for the team.  Tope is a soft spoken gentleman, but do not let that fool you – he is a leader and people listen to him.  Tope goes to university and in the summer works a youth camps throughout country.  He also works a few weeks each year with trouble youth  and takes them into the wilderness to help them learn respect and listening skills.

Like I said above – Tope is a leader and he could change the world if he were to put his life in Christ’s hands.  Tope is a seeker, but still has doubts about what faith, if any he wants to follow.  He has been to several bible studies and has asked great questions.  Pray that Tope first of all, continue to search for His creator and would follow Christ.  Secondly, that he would then use the gifts and the positions in life that God has given him to change his community, family and the people of Portugal.

Last night we had Kinley’s 2nd birthday party.  It was so much fun!  We had a S’mores theme.  We had to make do with what we had here, but it was a blast?  And guess who was here?  Well, let me tell you!  James, Julio, Vera, Joana, and Grant, along with another family from our company and some other awesome American neighbors.  Additionally, Eunice and Debora were here with their daughters and Pedro, Eunice’s boyfriend.  These are some special girls…

Eunice and Debora are the daughters of Ceu, the woman who became know as “Tia” at our house.  “Tia” means “aunt” and Ceu was, without a doubt, part of the Nurse family.  In any case, Eunice and Debora are about our ages (early/mid-30s).  They are both strong Christian believers, but both are going through difficult times. 

Both girls are divorced and raising their daughters as single moms.  Eunice recently moved to London in the hopes of finding a better life for herself and her daughter.  Debora is out of work but would like a job.  Would you take a minute to pray for God’s provision in their lives?  They are so dear and so sweet and it’s so hard to watch a friend hurting!!!

Thanks for loving on them through your prayers!

A and B

Hello and happy Kinley’s birthday - erm – I mean Thursday – to you!

For the last 27 days (not counting the hiatus), we have asked you to pray for Portuguese people we know.  Today, however, we’re asking you to pray for two American guys!  Both James and Grant are here with our company.  This is the second hands-on term for Grant and the first for James.  Both guys are playing and coaching with Brady on the Crusaders American football team. 

Please pray for their relationships with football players and other people they meet while they’re here in Lisbon.  Please pray for lots of opportunities for them to connect with people in order to share the Gospel.  Pray that many would be responsive, helpful, kind and friendly to James and Grant.

Also, could you take a minute to pray for their futures?  Both guys have a heart for missions, but neither knows for sure what the ”next step” really looks like. 

Thank you so much for praying for these guys who are so dear to us (and more importantly, to Christ)!

Happy Kinley’s birthday - I mean Thursday afternoon!!!

Andrea and Brady

YAY!  A cool person to be able to write about!  Person #26 is Eva.  Are you ready for a cool story?

OK, so about 5 years ago come people that used to work with our company were working with a volunteer team in Lisbon.  They took the team to an art store in Belem (in case you know where the monastery is) and they met a girl named Eva.  Well, Eva’s information was passed along to my super sweet friend Emily who was living here.  For about three years, Emily pursued a friendship with Eva.  Emily met Eva for coffees and for lunches.  Emily even invited me along a couple of times.  When Emily went back to the States, she asked me to send Eva a couple of messages.  I did, but it never really lead to our hanging out or having coffee together.

Fast forward to last week it was my turn to go to the dentist.  As I was checking out, guess who I spotted?  EVA!  SHE WORKS AT OUR DENTIST’S OFFICE!  Eva acted like we were long lost friends and invited me to have a coffee with her the next time we were in her building.  Well, Karsen and I had to go back yesterday to see dentist Teresa (you’re praying for her) and we got to have a coffee with Eva!  How cool is that??? 

I have to go back to the dentist in 2 weeks (yuck) and Karsen will go back in December, so I’m hoping I’ll get to have a coffee with Eva at least once a month.  Eva has heard the Gospel and knows what we all believe.  However, she has not YET chosen to believe in Jesus.  Would you pray that Eva would see how many Christians God has brought into her life to share His story with her?  Pray that she and I would be able to develop a friendship and that she would know that she is loved.

I hope I didn’t make the short story L-O-N-G!  Just thought it was cool.  We all have a part to play, don’t we?

LOVE YOU ALL!!!
Andrea