The holidays have been amazing. For Christmas we went up to my uncle's home in Lakeside, AZ with Adonai's entire family, my mom, and Ericka (my sister-in-law)'s entire family. We all woke up Christmas morning together to watch the snow falling. We had a wonderful time hanging out, EATING a ton of food, sledding in the back yard, and enjoying each other's company. Pictures to come soon.
For New Year's we rang in 2009 at my sister-in-law's parents house (Tom & Kathleen's). It was quite, but nice. Everyone then went to our house and spent the night (we had 7 house guests!).New Year's Day we went to the park, took a walk, played Ticket to Ride on the back porch, and ate well (we tend to do that when we're all together).
Ado's mom & sister fly back to Honduras this afternoon, but his dad and brother are staying another week. It's been so fun having them here.
What's the down-side to all this family fun? I'm so tired!!! We've been staying up late and I had to drag myself to work this morning. But it's worth it!
Monday, January 5, 2009
2008 Summation
Greetings from the Martinez Family,
2008 has been a year of changes for our family. We started out the New Year by flying to Honduras to visit Adonái’s family. Ado hadn’t been home in almost 10 years, so it was a really wonderful reunion with lots of family and extended family. Of course we introduced Naiya to everyone and Ado was able to show me around his hometown. We even took a vacation within our vacation and drove throughout the country taking in an old military fortress, the beach, and the ancient Maya ruins of Copan.
Shortly after we returned to the States, Adonái was promoted to a Personal Banker for Chase. He has climbed the ladder there pretty quickly over the past few years, and we were thrilled to know that they recognize the talent in him. Of course, with the promotion comes the need for certifications, meaning Adonái spent a good chunk of February and part of March studying hard and taking tests. He passed, and if anyone needs assistance with any banking...
One of our biggest changes this year occurred in the spring, when the two of us both recognized God calling us to make a HUGE decision. As many of you know, we’ve been really involved with a large Vineyard Church here the past several years, with Adonái on staff part time for a good portion of it. The worship pastor of this church, Marty Kaiser, felt called to start a church plant in the radically growing suburb of Surprise. At first, neither of us thought anything of the church plant. And then suddenly we were both initiating conversations with the other about it. After much thought and prayer (um, hello, we are talking about leaving behind our ministries, our deep friendships, our lives!), we both really felt called to go with the church plant.
It’s funny, because when we came to Arizona 5 ½ years ago, we thought we’d be here for one to two years max, raise support, and head to the mission field. Shortly after arriving, we realized that God was asking us to put a hold on those dreams and to plug-in and stay here for now. People can talk all they want about how you shouldn’t get comfortable and forget what God has called you to (which is true), but sometimes you’re told to stay and abandon your grandiose plans. And in those times, you need to obey as well. So, here we are years later, and suddenly we’re helping to plant a church right in our back yard – in a growing city that has tons of families and barely has a few grocery stores!
It’s amazing how God brings everything together. The house we bought on the outskirts of town (not at all where we were originally looking over three years ago), is perfectly located for the church plant. And we realized that while we thought everything was on hold as far as missions goes, God had plans to lead us down a road in due time. And who knows, perhaps this plant will give us the experience we need for the future (doing this sort of church plant again... in a foreign city where the gospel is also needed).
On June 29, 2008 “Reveal... A Vineyard Community Church” held its first church service in a local movie theater. And I’ve got to tell you that we already have near 300 attendees and lives are being changed. This is no boast to us or the rest of the leadership team. Honestly, we are humbled by what God is doing. We are a frazzled bunch of people who are over-worked, over-stressed, and are simply obedient to what God asks of us. That is the ticket. I think it’s better that we don’t feel like we have it all together. I feel bad sometimes, because I don’t feel like I have my A-game on each week, but I can truly say that all the amazing stuff that is happening in this community is all God. We take no credit. I feel like Gideon’s army of 300 up against the forces of 135,000 – all glory to God.
So what do Ado & I do at Reveal? We were asked to join the leadership team before the launch, and have both been teaching children’s ministry. Adonái is over the Hot Tamales (3rd – 6th graders) and I was leading the Jr. Mints (4 years – 2nd grade) until last month. Yes, those are candy names... we do meet in a movie theater! Adonái will be stepping down from children’s ministry as well, once we have raised up more volunteers. I’ve been leading children’s ministry for so long, that it feels weird not to serve there, but the goal is to enable us to focus our time and attention on another big area of ministry. Our church is centered on just three things: Finding God, Finding Others, & Finding Yourself. Adonái & I have been put over the “Find Others” portion of our church, which mainly means overseeing all the community groups and helping members to engage in community. As we are both passionate about people, we are really excited about this area of ministry and what it means to so many individuals’ lives.
On the job front, Adonái is planning on transferring branches in February. Please pray that he finds just the right branch to work from. The new manager at his present branch is... challenging (I won’t use expletives in a Christmas newsletter, but you can fill in the blanks). Until Adonái is allowed to transfer though, he is learning patience, grace, and many other character building skills. As I write this, I am also passively on the job hunt. After five years of dealing with the same issues and long commute, I'm begining to have my fill with my company. I’m starting to burn out and am looknig for something new and closer to home. For now though, I have a new boss and will be going back down to 30 hours/week, which might prove enough to hold me over a bit longer. Please pray for my job situation too though.
Our other biggest change is of course the different stages of parenting. Naiya is no longer a cutie-little baby, but a lovely little toddler. Having turned one in July, she is full of personality and is into everything. Right now she loves telling me “No!”, emptying my pursue, dancing, patty-cake, playing outside (we’re still working on not putting the rocks in our mouth) and she recently began counting to two. She is such a girl, carrying around purses, putting on necklaces, and just being a delightful doll of a child (really, she is super smiley and pretty well behaved, even if Mommy & Papi see her extremely stubborn side).
Other news on our end... my mom still lives with us. She is a big help and it’s been wonderful to come home late from work and find dinner ready and waiting. Plus it’s great that she is there for every milestone that Naiya passes. My brother, Scott, and his family moved to Colorado, so they aren’t really in our lives any more (we weren’t close before he left, but apparently he is getting help up there for his drug and alcohol issues and the family is doing well). Adonái’s brother, Jimy, and his family live not too far away and Ericka (my BFF from childhood and Jimy’s wife) watches Naiya three days a week along with my cutie nephew, Josiah, who is also one.
The only other “news” is that we finally finished landscaping the backyard and it looks great! We have a fake lawn, and it’s really cool!!
Overall, it’s been a slightly crazy year, but we are doing really well. We’re happy and blessed and excited to see all the new things God is bringing out way – learning to continue to totally trust in Him.
As we close this holiday season, we have been greeted by Adonái’s entire family for Christmas, which has been wonderful!, and one of my mom’s friends from nurses’ training 40 years ago. We pray that all is well with you and yours and that you know the joy and contentment that can only be found in a relationship with God made way through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Merry Christmas,
Adonái, Kelly & Naiya
The Martínez Family
2008 has been a year of changes for our family. We started out the New Year by flying to Honduras to visit Adonái’s family. Ado hadn’t been home in almost 10 years, so it was a really wonderful reunion with lots of family and extended family. Of course we introduced Naiya to everyone and Ado was able to show me around his hometown. We even took a vacation within our vacation and drove throughout the country taking in an old military fortress, the beach, and the ancient Maya ruins of Copan.
Shortly after we returned to the States, Adonái was promoted to a Personal Banker for Chase. He has climbed the ladder there pretty quickly over the past few years, and we were thrilled to know that they recognize the talent in him. Of course, with the promotion comes the need for certifications, meaning Adonái spent a good chunk of February and part of March studying hard and taking tests. He passed, and if anyone needs assistance with any banking...
One of our biggest changes this year occurred in the spring, when the two of us both recognized God calling us to make a HUGE decision. As many of you know, we’ve been really involved with a large Vineyard Church here the past several years, with Adonái on staff part time for a good portion of it. The worship pastor of this church, Marty Kaiser, felt called to start a church plant in the radically growing suburb of Surprise. At first, neither of us thought anything of the church plant. And then suddenly we were both initiating conversations with the other about it. After much thought and prayer (um, hello, we are talking about leaving behind our ministries, our deep friendships, our lives!), we both really felt called to go with the church plant.
It’s funny, because when we came to Arizona 5 ½ years ago, we thought we’d be here for one to two years max, raise support, and head to the mission field. Shortly after arriving, we realized that God was asking us to put a hold on those dreams and to plug-in and stay here for now. People can talk all they want about how you shouldn’t get comfortable and forget what God has called you to (which is true), but sometimes you’re told to stay and abandon your grandiose plans. And in those times, you need to obey as well. So, here we are years later, and suddenly we’re helping to plant a church right in our back yard – in a growing city that has tons of families and barely has a few grocery stores!
It’s amazing how God brings everything together. The house we bought on the outskirts of town (not at all where we were originally looking over three years ago), is perfectly located for the church plant. And we realized that while we thought everything was on hold as far as missions goes, God had plans to lead us down a road in due time. And who knows, perhaps this plant will give us the experience we need for the future (doing this sort of church plant again... in a foreign city where the gospel is also needed).
On June 29, 2008 “Reveal... A Vineyard Community Church” held its first church service in a local movie theater. And I’ve got to tell you that we already have near 300 attendees and lives are being changed. This is no boast to us or the rest of the leadership team. Honestly, we are humbled by what God is doing. We are a frazzled bunch of people who are over-worked, over-stressed, and are simply obedient to what God asks of us. That is the ticket. I think it’s better that we don’t feel like we have it all together. I feel bad sometimes, because I don’t feel like I have my A-game on each week, but I can truly say that all the amazing stuff that is happening in this community is all God. We take no credit. I feel like Gideon’s army of 300 up against the forces of 135,000 – all glory to God.
So what do Ado & I do at Reveal? We were asked to join the leadership team before the launch, and have both been teaching children’s ministry. Adonái is over the Hot Tamales (3rd – 6th graders) and I was leading the Jr. Mints (4 years – 2nd grade) until last month. Yes, those are candy names... we do meet in a movie theater! Adonái will be stepping down from children’s ministry as well, once we have raised up more volunteers. I’ve been leading children’s ministry for so long, that it feels weird not to serve there, but the goal is to enable us to focus our time and attention on another big area of ministry. Our church is centered on just three things: Finding God, Finding Others, & Finding Yourself. Adonái & I have been put over the “Find Others” portion of our church, which mainly means overseeing all the community groups and helping members to engage in community. As we are both passionate about people, we are really excited about this area of ministry and what it means to so many individuals’ lives.
On the job front, Adonái is planning on transferring branches in February. Please pray that he finds just the right branch to work from. The new manager at his present branch is... challenging (I won’t use expletives in a Christmas newsletter, but you can fill in the blanks). Until Adonái is allowed to transfer though, he is learning patience, grace, and many other character building skills. As I write this, I am also passively on the job hunt. After five years of dealing with the same issues and long commute, I'm begining to have my fill with my company. I’m starting to burn out and am looknig for something new and closer to home. For now though, I have a new boss and will be going back down to 30 hours/week, which might prove enough to hold me over a bit longer. Please pray for my job situation too though.
Our other biggest change is of course the different stages of parenting. Naiya is no longer a cutie-little baby, but a lovely little toddler. Having turned one in July, she is full of personality and is into everything. Right now she loves telling me “No!”, emptying my pursue, dancing, patty-cake, playing outside (we’re still working on not putting the rocks in our mouth) and she recently began counting to two. She is such a girl, carrying around purses, putting on necklaces, and just being a delightful doll of a child (really, she is super smiley and pretty well behaved, even if Mommy & Papi see her extremely stubborn side).
Other news on our end... my mom still lives with us. She is a big help and it’s been wonderful to come home late from work and find dinner ready and waiting. Plus it’s great that she is there for every milestone that Naiya passes. My brother, Scott, and his family moved to Colorado, so they aren’t really in our lives any more (we weren’t close before he left, but apparently he is getting help up there for his drug and alcohol issues and the family is doing well). Adonái’s brother, Jimy, and his family live not too far away and Ericka (my BFF from childhood and Jimy’s wife) watches Naiya three days a week along with my cutie nephew, Josiah, who is also one.
The only other “news” is that we finally finished landscaping the backyard and it looks great! We have a fake lawn, and it’s really cool!!
Overall, it’s been a slightly crazy year, but we are doing really well. We’re happy and blessed and excited to see all the new things God is bringing out way – learning to continue to totally trust in Him.
As we close this holiday season, we have been greeted by Adonái’s entire family for Christmas, which has been wonderful!, and one of my mom’s friends from nurses’ training 40 years ago. We pray that all is well with you and yours and that you know the joy and contentment that can only be found in a relationship with God made way through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Merry Christmas,
Adonái, Kelly & Naiya
The Martínez Family
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