A post as full as our stomachs after Thanksgiving :)

Wow it's been a long time... a lot has happened I guess... like Thanksgiving and stuff and things and so on. Well we all know that all that means, is lots of pictures. But first up you can listen to this sermon if you like that I gave at the P.B.T. Chapel a couple weeks ago. 

Next up is a video I put together for our MK Thanksgiving week. I wanted to compile all the pictures of what we have been up to since camp and make it into this video. I hope that you enjoy it :). It was so amazing hearing what God is doing in the lives of these kids and it was great hearing how this group has touched and impacted them over the year so far. 

I guess I'm going out of order a bit here but the following pictures are from our latest MK event which is the Cowan Christmas. We make gifts and go to the Cowan Apartments which house the 'great cloud of witnesses' as I like to think of them, the amazing missionaries that have gone before us and we carol and visit and enjoy the goodies they make for us. We give them our prayer cards and they keep us firmly in their prayers throughout the year. I'm so grateful for a staff that is able to pull this evening off. The first picture is of the amazing Michal and Collin who provided the music for us! I'm so glad they are a part of the team! 

Then continuing on in the wrong direction :) we have some pictures from the Duncanville Christmas parade. The theme this year was Star Wars and it was so fun to be able to walk over and snuggle up and watch the parade. The evening was only chilly and not bitterly cold. It was a great time! 

Here are some pictures of the before and after from my no shave November. Completely unnecessary in this blog and probably shouldn't be here... but I just felt like including them. It's nice to have my normal face back again... not sure how many of you also partake in this fun thing... but I for one really enjoy having a mustache that isn't constantly getting into all my food and such. Bleh! I'm still looking forward to getting my hair cut... but enough about all that...

Now for some pictures of my kids in the Christmas play for church. Here are the practice pics... fabulous! I actually got to be in the performance this year, which was fun for me, and the whole thing went off with out a hitch... or just enough hitches to make it cute :). Any way, both Creed and Asher had speaking roles and it was fun to see the burgeoning actors take the stage :).

I was very touched to have my daughter run up to me to sit in my lap during practice! Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving week. It was great to see David and other Gebauers and cousins and such. A rich family time this year, with plenty of food and great visiting. The only downside of the weekend was the poor Cowboys performance... but that was small in comparison with all the rest. On Friday I had the joy of seeing Creed or Rocky 7 if you prefer! Then on Saturday we got to visit with Diane's cousins and have another glorious feast over at the Gebauers house. 

And, continuing on in the worst possible order if you are thinking chronologically, here is a picture of our amazing MKs at Sonic. One of my favorite events is the Sonic/Armstrong hang out time with them. We go to Sonic for happy hour and then make our way next door to the park to work off the calories... or just run around and have fun! It was also my Birthday and I couldn't think of a better way to spend it then with the kids I love to be with so much!

That evening Diane threw me a glorious Birthday party and it was great to be with friends. I think at one point we stuffed 18 kids and 14 adults into our house... and this on a weekend when many of my friends were out of town. I feel blessed and am noticing that I'm in a time of life where kids are a big part of everything I do. I never thought of myself as being someone who would enjoy the presence of little kids much, well I was wrong... I love being with my amazing munchkins!

Here are some pictures of Liam's Thanksgiving feast at his school :).

To end the foray into picture and video glory is this nice piece, also from Monday night. We did a white elephant gift exchange and here is a video showing what everyone got. It was a great evening with the MKs and now there is only one more meeting left in the year with them before we kiss 2015 good bye and look forward to all that God will do in the next year. 

God is so faithful and gives us so many reasons to rejoice. I rejoice so often because of you and your relationship with me and this ministry that God has called us to! Thank you for making it possible for me to live out this calling! I couldn't do this with out you! 

Before I sign off completely I want to let you know to be praying for Bella... she is sick today and currently sleeping while I finish this post off. Also be praising the Lord with Diane and for the baby girl that we are expecting in April! I'm so pumped to be having another wonderful daughter. 

You are a blessing and a joy in my life! 

Caleb 

If you are having any trouble switching your support over please let me know. Here is what I've written so far about making the transition (Transition and How to give) and I'm happy to provide any further information that I can to help make this a smooth transition for you. Thanks for sticking with me through this. 

If you want to support what I do a little or a lot, on a one time basis or a recurring basis, click on the tab "Supporting the Work" at the top of the page and sign up for Chase Quickpay. You can then send your donation to HCLC - Caleb Robbins Ministry using my e-mail address caleb_robbins@sil.org. If you would like further instructions on setting that up please click on the link at the top right of the page called How to give. 

The other way to donate to my ministry is via check. If you write a check to "Holy Cross Lutheran Church" and put "Caleb Robbins Ministry" in the memo line it will get deposited into my ministry account.

The address is:

Holy Cross Lutheran Church 

4400 W Arkansas Ln, Arlington, TX 76016

Diane is my beautiful wife and the mother of my precious children Creed 8, Asher 6, Liam 4, Echo already in heaven, Bella 1, and Serenity... yeah we are having another girl :)

No shave November

It just crept up on me... now my long unruly beard will just be left to grow unashamedly for a whole month and I will become the lion face that I was meant to be...

Well the Lord is good and gave our family the greatest gift this year... okay well a good gift any way... Fall Festival and Halloween on the same night!!! Yes!!!

So thank you for your prayers for this past week. The Trauma Healing workshop was fantastic and I'm so grateful that I could be a part of it, my parents saved the day time and again by watching, picking up, and feeding me and my children almost all week! Diane made it back safely on Wednesday...

But Thursday we had a scare as Diane started bleeding a lot, this took us back to the last miscarriage and made for a very difficult day. We saw the mid wife right away and thankfully there was a strong heartbeat! With tears of joy and relief we left the office looking forward to a sonogram that afternoon. We rested as best as you can under such circumstances and were very relieved to find out by the end of the day that Diane and the baby were both okay and that we are likely having another girl.

I took most of Thursday off of class, and was able to rejoin the team on Friday and finish up strong. Since then Diane has been doing really well, but I'm convinced it is because of the loving support of the community and the many prayers that went up on our behalf. Thank you for standing with us in the dark places and being lights to surround us when ours seems barely bright enough!

The weekend was full of fun Fall costume like things. Friday I took the boys to their school carnival!

So that was great! It was raining and all the festivities were moved inside, the lines were short and I was in and out in less than an hour... and the kids had a blast! 

Then at home I had the MKs over for a fun movie and costume time, we ate snacks, watched Nacho Libre and laughed a lot! 

I'm an injured Tony Romo :).

The next day was the Church Fall Festival and it was great to have so many MK's out to help with that. Our Church does such a great job of supporting our group and it was fun being able to give back a little.

Sunday came and with it saw my indoor soccer team back in the final. Unfortunately we lost, but mainly because our star goalie wasn't able to make the game. We didn't threepeat but I guess that is okay :). 

On Monday some kids were still in the dressing up mood and I was able to snatch this great picture! 

I was so happy on Monday also to find out that one of my amazing MKs had written a paper based largely on stuff we had learned about in our study on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. It was a brilliant paper and it was so cool to be able to read it! I am really enjoying going through this book, and it's wonderful seeing it have a positive impact!  

Recently I did a parents meeting and I have begun to plan some ways to use my Trauma Healing training with the kids! I am so thankful for your support which enables me to be a part of furthering my education and getting more tools for my tool belt! 

I am looking forward to speaking in PBT chapel soon and would appreciate your prayers as I put the finishing touches on my lesson. 

Also please be praying for Diane to heal completely and for the baby to continue to grow healthy and strong and come at just the right time! 

I hope you are enjoying your November as much as I am! Thank you so much for your willingness to partner with me in what God is doing in my life. I can't do any of these things without you and your prayers and support. It has been so miraculous the way so many of you have transitioned so seamlessly to the new way of giving. Me heart is filled with joy when I think of you all! 

Blessings! 

Caleb 

If you are having any trouble switching your support over please let me know. Here is what I've written so far about making the transition (Transition and How to give) and I'm happy to provide any further information that I can to help make this a smooth transition for you. Thanks for sticking with me through this. 

If you want to support what I do a little or a lot, on a one time basis or a recurring basis, click on the tab "Supporting the Work" at the top of the page and sign up for Chase Quickpay. You can then send your donation to HCLC - Caleb Robbins Ministry using my e-mail address caleb_robbins@sil.org. If you would like further instructions on setting that up please click on the link at the top right of the page called How to give. 

The other way to donate to my ministry is via check. If you write a check to "Holy Cross Lutheran Church" and put "Caleb Robbins Ministry" in the memo line it will get deposited into my ministry account.

The address is:

Holy Cross Lutheran Church 

4400 W Arkansas Ln, Arlington, TX 76016

Diane is my beautiful wife and the mother of my precious children Creed 8, Asher 6, Liam 4, Echo already in heaven, Bella 1, and one in the oven :) 

When times are good be happy!

There he is, the birthday boy... already 4 years old and living the dream! 

 

Here we are at the park celebrating two other October birthdays. Diane was away at a women's retreat with our church and I was left to fend for myself... thanks so much to this birthday party we ate like kings... at least for lunch :). 

Saturday night however, I thought I was going to die, I got so sick and it just made me so grateful to have my parents around. They came over Sunday morning and took care of the kids so I could rest.

I had the privilege of seeing my old Bible teacher this past weekend. Mr. Dixon... I call him Ken now, but I remember the good old days of calling him Mr. D. It was so cool how many people got to come in for the Translation Conference this past weekend. I really enjoyed catching up with Mr. D on Sunday afternoon! Ken is a high energy, funny, passionate and truly caring man who, among other things, shares the joy of playing Axis and Allies. I love talking about things of the Lord with Ken, the man is deep and well versed in scripture, and he introduced me to one of my favorite Christian bands, Rescue. 

We had our MK messy game night this past Friday, that was so much fun! Michal is on staff with me and does all my games, and she put together a fabulous evening! It was so great getting to get gross all together :). 

I enjoyed having lunch with some of my MK's this past Monday. I have been wanting to get into the schools to do that for quite some time now and it was so great getting to finally start that journey. I attend U.M.E. Preps lunch on Mondays and get to eat with about six of my MKs. 

I am staring down the face of a very busy weekend/week where my wife again gets to head off on a luxurious vacation while I work my fingers to the bone taking care of our four wonderful children. Okay maybe not, but she is headed off for a work conference in Austin from Sunday to Wednesday. Again, so thankful that my parents are here because I start my Trauma Healing workshop on Monday and couldn't do it if my parents weren't here to help watch the kids. 

My Nanna died this past year and we are having her memorial today. As I was thinking about her I thought of this quote by Rich Mullins and think it sums up my feelings quite well. 

"If my life is motivated by my ambition to leave a legacy, what I'll probably leave as a legacy is ambition. But if my life is motivated by the power of the Spirit in me, if I live with the awareness of the indwelling Christ, if I allow His presence to guide my actions, to guide my motives, those sort of things. That's the only time I think we really leave a great legacy."

My Nanna was able to grab hold of that truth and the number of people coming today to celebrate her life gives testimony to her great legacy. A legacy forged through a life completely disinterested at all in legacy but very interested in knowing God. All the things we seem to desire so much come to us as bi-products of our following hard after God. It is truly a privilege to have so many examples of that in my life, not the least of which is Nanna. 

Seek first His kingdom and righteousness and all these things will be added... 

I am truly thankful to you for standing faithfully with me in this ministry. I delight so much in being in relationship with MKs. I was asked to go to an MK's soccer game this past week and really enjoyed watching them play. Thank you for your prayer and financial support, especially through this transition from Wycliffe Associates to Holy Cross Lutheran Church of Arlington. I'm so thankful for how smooth this transition has been so far and I'm so grateful that I am still able to do my job with the MK group. 

Please pray for my remaining supporters to be able to transition smoothly over to this new way of giving. 

Please pray for Diane as she goes to this conference and for my parents as they help watch my kids for me while she is away. 

Please pray for me while I take the Trauma Healing workshop, that God would use this powerfully in His Kingdom. 

I thank God for you! I love you and am truly honored and grateful for your prayers and relationship! 

What a joy to love a God who gives us everything as we seek him, because as seek we him we realize that knowing him is truly the greatest gift of all. To knowing God and being more like him every day! 

Blessings, 

Caleb 

If you are having any trouble switching your support over please let me know. Here is what I've written so far about making the transition (Transition and How to give) and I'm happy to provide any further information that I can to help make this a smooth transition for you. Thanks for sticking with me through this. 

If you want to support what I do a little or a lot, on a one time basis or a recurring basis, click on the tab "Supporting the Work" at the top of the page and sign up for Chase Quickpay. You can then send your donation to HCLC - Caleb Robbins Ministry using my e-mail address caleb_robbins@sil.org. If you would like further instructions on setting that up please click on the link at the top right of the page called How to give. 

The other way to donate to my ministry is via check. If you write a check to "Holy Cross Lutheran Church" and put "Caleb Robbins Ministry" in the memo line it will get deposited into my ministry account.

The address is:

Holy Cross Lutheran Church 

4400 W Arkansas Ln, Arlington, TX 76016

Diane is my beautiful wife and the mother of my precious children Creed 8, Asher 6, Liam 4, Echo already in heaven, Bella 1, and one in the oven :) 

October the month of Birthdays :)

Ha, so I really don't have all that much to say, but that won't stop me :)

A few pictures for you to enjoy below, yeah nothing as dramatic as an awesome video to recap an amazing trip, but some cute pics of the kids and friends being silly. 

This month is full of Birthdays, my sister, my Dad, that cute kid smiling below us here. 

I'm sure you have your host of October birthdays to deal with also. Don't know what this says about February but it says something :). 

This is the month of change and transition... not just for me... my parents are coming back on Friday... tomorrow!!! I'm so excited to see them again and I'm praying for safety as they travel. I understand that the safest place to be is where God wants you, just ask Jonah :), but it does seem that C.A.R. isn't quite as safe as Dallas. 

The following picture was brought to you by Diane and is of her fun and goofy sister and mother and the amazing Boutique ladies :) It's very nice to have her parents here and very unusual to have both sets home for the holidays. 

Diane loves a good concert, and the pictures below are of our time at the Josh Garrels concert. It is so nice to get away with her and do something fun. Diane has been really struggling with morning sickness (all day sickness) and so the glimpses I get of the 'well' Diane are sweet and wonderful!

I couldn't resist putting this picture in of my darling Bella. She steals my heart everyday :). I love having a daughter that is so full of life... most of the time ;)... she certainly is keeping us on our toes now that she can get out of her crib and open doors... thankfully she can't open the lid to the toilet... that would be awful! She looks like something from Dr. Seuss... hey costume ideas for the Fall Festival coming up... hmmmm.

I feel like this month isn't as busy as I was expecting it to be... but it's still early :). A lot has to get done before the month is up... thankfully we get to rest in the joy of belonging to a God that offers us peace beyond our understanding. 

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to work with the amazing MKs here in Dallas. I'm about to start eating lunches with them at school and I'm really looking forward to connecting that way. I am enjoying our small group that is studying 1 Corinthians and I really appreciate our Monday night adventures going through Mere Christianity and learning more about being MKs. I have such a great crew working with me and am so thankful for a church that stands behind me! 

I'm also so extremely thankful for you and your support as you stand with me both in prayer and financially. I appreciate your hard work in transitioning with me from W.A. to Holy Cross Lutheran Church. I have such peace knowing that God is providing and using you amazing people to do it. I pray for you often and thank God for you!

I tweaked my back the other day lifting weights... I'm so thankful that God has healed me to the point where I'm not completely unable to function, however, please pray for quick healing :). 

Please also ask the Lord to give us a healthy baby and for relief from such intense morning sickness for mom! 

God is so good and offers us so much! What a joy to live a life where we get to learn how to enjoy all the amazing gifts of our loving Father! Thanks for being among my greatest gifts! 

Blessings, 

Caleb  

If you are having any trouble switching your support over please let me know. Here is what I've written so far about making the transiting (Transition and How to give) and I'm happy to provide any further information that I can to help make this a smooth transition for you. Thanks for sticking with me through this. 

If you want to support what I do a little or a lot, on a one time basis or a recurring basis, click on the tab "Supporting the Work" at the top of the page and sign up for Chase Quickpay. You can then send your donation to HCLC - Caleb Robbins Ministry using my e-mail address caleb_robbins@sil.org. If you would like further instructions on setting that up please click on the link at the top right of the page called How to give. 

The other way to donate to my ministry is via check. If you write a check to "Holy Cross Lutheran Church" and put "Caleb Robbins Ministry" in the memo line it will get deposited into my ministry account.

The address is:

Holy Cross Lutheran Church 

4400 W Arkansas Ln, Arlington, TX 76016

Diane is my beautiful wife and the mother of my precious children Creed 8, Asher 6, Liam 3, Echo already in heaven, Bella 1, and one in the oven :) 

So much has happened... let's just watch a video :)

So my last post was all about my transition over to my Church... this post will be all about videos of what I have been up to lately :).

Here is a great video my cousin did of our Trip to Thailand this year! Spectacular job Sami!

God has blessed the ministry so much and Hobbitville was an incredible weekend! Thank you for praying!

After that (like the day after that :) I went to JAARS for a week to start working on plans for future over seas teen conferences! That was also a lot of fun.

It seems that life just keeps going on and the NFL is back and fall is coming quick and all seems well! Thanks for being a part of this adventure with me! I'm excited to see what is next.

God is good all the time and has been reminding me a lot of 1 Corinthians 1 lately! It is such an incredible God who uses the foolish and the weak things of this world... I'm happy to say that I qualify :). If I boast I will boast in the Lord, I know there is no way I could do any of this on my own. Thanks for being God's provision in my life and for supporting and standing with me in all these fun adventures! I love you all and pray for you often!

Blessings,

Caleb

If you want to support what I do a little or a lot, on a one time basis or a recurring basis, click on the tab "Supporting the Work" at the top of the page and sign up for Chase Quickpay. You can then send your donation to HCLC - Caleb Robbins Ministry using my e-mail address caleb_robbins@sil.org. Diane is my beautiful wife and the mother of my precious children Creed 8, Asher 6, Liam 3, Echo already in heaven, Bella 1, and one in the oven :) 

Transition, the name of the game :)

What to talk about first :)

Just before Summer I was told by Wycliffe Associates that they would no longer be supporting my role with the Dallas MK youth group. I immediately started praying about what God wanted me to do and very quickly was led to find a solution in the Church that I'm attending (Holy Cross Lutheran Church). After meeting with the pastor and the board, they unanimously decided that they would be my sending church and would manage all the support that you have so graciously been providing for me to do this work. My assignment as the Director of Youth Ministry is staying the same, but who manages the funds is shifting.

This means that I will need all of you faithful supporters to shift where you give. I have been a little nervous about this and have been bathing it in much prayer. I'm so grateful to my church for providing a solution, and I'm trusting that this shift will bring glory to God and be what's best for my ministry in the long run.

The reason I haven't talked about this before is because I didn't have a place for you to start giving. Well, on Wednesday that all changed.  :)  My ministry account is now set up with my Church and there is a place to send funds.

My biggest concern in all of this was being able to provide a cost-effective and simple way to transition everybody over. I was delighted to hear about Chase QuickPay providing the option for easy and recurring donations directly into my ministry account online. This service is free and is exactly what I was hoping for. Now I just hope that it will be an easy transition for all of you. I have sent requests to many of you already for the donation that you provide regularly on the date that you usually provide it. Hopefully this will make it easier on you to transfer to this new way of giving.

I understand that some of you may not like this solution. The other way to donate to my ministry is via check. If you write a check to "Holy Cross Lutheran Church" and put "Caleb Robbins Ministry" in the memo line it will get deposited into my ministry account.

The address is:

Holy Cross Lutheran Church 

4400 W Arkansas Ln, Arlington, TX 76016

I want to thank all of you for bearing with me during this transition, and for your prayers and support. Thank you for standing with me and for taking the time to switch over your donations. It means so much to me! I won't be able to receive donations through Wycliffe Associates after September 30th. I'm sorry that doesn't give you much time to make the transition but I'm so thankful for your efforts. If you need any help please don't hesitate to get in touch with me. Once you have successfully set up your new donation please let me know. 

Click on this "How to Give" to get detailed instructions on setting up and using Chase QuickPay. 

A few things to let you know - it's free, you don't have to be a member of Chase Bank to use it, and you can set up one-time or recurring donations. For those of you already familiar with it, the e-mail address to send donations to is "caleb_robbins@sil.org". Please put for recipient "HCLC - Caleb Robbins Ministry".

I think that is all for now, but if you have further questions or concerns please let me know. 

My e-mail is calebrobbins@gmail.com and my phone number is 214 558 8431

I am again very grateful to you all for standing with me and being willing to go through this transition alongside me. 

Blessings to you all! 

Caleb  

How To Give

Writing Checks 

One way to donate to my ministry is via check. If you write a check to "Holy Cross Lutheran Church" and put "Caleb Robbins Ministry" in the memo line it will get deposited into my ministry account.

The address is: 

Holy Cross Lutheran Church 

4400 W Arkansas Ln, Arlington, TX 76016

Another way that provides you the option to set up regular online donations is 

Chase Quick Pay

Chase QuickPay is an online service that allows you to send money to and receive funds from virtually anyone with an e-mail address who's enrolled in the service. It's fast, convenient and secure, and it's easy to get started–all you need is a valid e-mail address and U.S. bank account.

You can use Chase QuickPay to send and receive money at no charge.

As long as you have a valid e-mail address, you can create a Chase QuickPay profile to send and receive money. Simply register your Chase checking account or a checking or savings account you have with any other U.S. bank and send money to your recipient. We'll coordinate the direct transfer between banks–without any cost to you.

Enrollment is simple and secure. First, you'll need to create your Chase online profile and confirm that you own the e-mail address and bank account you want to use with this service.        

If you’re a Chase customer with an active online profile, please enroll in Chase QuickPay:

Go to www.Chase.com/QuickPay and log on with your Chase User ID and Password

Select and verify your preferred e-mail address

Read and accept the Chase QuickPay Legal Agreement terms and conditions

Select the valid Chase account you want to use with this service

Start using Chase QuickPay to send and receive money

If you’re a Chase customer but you don’t have an active profile, please:

Go to www.Chase.com to get a User ID and enroll in Chase Online

Then, follow the steps above for Chase customers to activate Chase QuickPay.

Note: If you have a Chase checking account, you must use it to send and receive money via Chase QuickPay.

If you’re not a Chase customer, please create a Chase profile and enroll in Chase QuickPay:

Click the enrollment option on www.Chase.com/QuickPay

Create a User ID and Password

Select and verify your primary e-mail address

Read and accept the required legal terms including the Chase QuickPay Service Agreement terms and conditions

Add and validate the external bank account you want to use with this service

Start using Chase QuickPay to send and receive money

During and after enrollment, please check your e-mail account to make sure your Chase QuickPay notifications reach your inbox (and are not blocked). Otherwise, you may not be able to complete enrollment, begin accepting money, and start receiving notifications about your Chase QuickPay activity.

With Chase QuickPay, it's easier than ever to exchange money with friends and peers. Once you’ve logged on to Chase QuickPay, you can send or accept payments directly online. You can even schedule repeating payments that get e-mailed weekly, monthly or at another frequency you determine. You also can manage your profile, add new payees and see your Chase QuickPay history.

Your security matters to Chase, and we use a variety of advanced technology to make sure our products and services remain secure. We work hard to help ensure your account information stays secure.

We've taken additional steps to help protect you. When you use Chase QuickPay, you won't need to know or provide your recipients' (e.g. friends' or customers') financial information – like account or Social Security Numbers. Plus, you won't need to wait for physical checks in the mail or worry about your money sitting anywhere other than your own bank account.