To the Few, the Proud, the Faithful....

To those of you who faithfully read my blog....my humble apologies for the lack of blogs as of late...... We are currently limited with our Internet access, and blogging is difficult right now... I miss it something awful, but I know our 24 access is just a few weeks/months away... I beg you all to hang in there and keep coming back and checking often..... I knew I had to blog today because my friend Emily referred to me as her husband Jody who hasn't blogged since sometime back in June.

In regards to my new job, all I can say is WAHOOOOOOOOOO...... I don't know if there is a better position for me than the one I just landed in... The Lord is good and He is definitely looking out for me..... I am not gonna go into all the details about it on here...BUT.... I will tell you it is in education and it is an AMAZING opportunity!!!!!!!! For those of you who live around here in the upstate....You may hear about it really soon.... Keep your ears open!!! This seems like a perfect time to add this...but "Ain't He Just Good!!!"

This past Friday...Matt, Sterling, Heather, Shelly, Susan, and I went to the Braves game. It was a bittersweet time for us to go.... The last time the 3 of us guys went we were with our good friend Steve Dyar who passed away while we were out of the country. I thought about him the whole time.... The Braves stunk it up and lost 4 to 1 but we had a great time.... I acted a fool trying to help the little kid behind me get on the big screen but no such luck.... During the 7th inning stretch I recorded the little "diddy" below with some of the best friends ever.... I hope you enjoy!!!

Subbing in 5th Grade

Last Friday I had the privilege of substituting in the 5th grade at a local school. It was only the second time I had ever had this experience.... It was so fun....and a lot less stressful than a normal day as a teacher......

A few funny things happened that would only happen to me while there.....

1. I told this little girl that she could go ahead of me as we left to go to recess.... Turned out...it was a little boy with long hair... I was so embarrassed... He said... "Its my hair".... "It always confuses people..."

2. I was walking down the hall after lunch carrying a clipboard and a cup of water.... the clipboard slipped and I reacted quickly to catch it... As I went to get it my hand slipped and my thumb went through the cup and water went every where right in the middle of the hall... The kids were just dying!!!

3. I had the kids write stories about what they thought they knew about me..... One girl said that she thought I was married and that my wife was a blonde cutie.... Too bad she missed that one..... Another kid said that they thought I liked country music and drove a truck... missed that one too... All the kids said that I was a good dresser and they thought I was a great teacher....... 1 out 3 ain't bad huh???

I got some GREAT news about a job opportunity today...... I will tell you all more after 9 AM tomorrow morning... PRAY FOR ME!!!!

A New Start

As we have entered back into life here stateside there has been a constant flood of encouragement from you guys..... I will never be able to find the words of gratitude to all of you who sent the encouragement..... It truly has helped us off to a new start back here in the "old" familiar place called home.

Part of getting back into life here is finding a new job... I cannot tell you all of the details, but the Lord is truly providing and doors seem to be opening in places we never thought.... Please continue to pray for us in regards to that....

We have been able to spend some much needed time with family and friends... It really has been priceless time... We look forward to seeing some more of our family and friends soon....

Trust me when I say that the funny and entertaining Jed blogs are soon to return.... Please stay tuned! Lots of funny things have happened since our return that I am just dying to write about but just haven't found the time as of yet..... Love you guys... Keep the encouragement coming!!!

A Follow Up to Yesterday.... Please Read!

First of all... All I can say is WOW to the flood of email encouragement that hit my mail box today.... I had over 100 emails!!!!! Thats an all time record for me.... We weighed our decision carefully for several weeks and from the way the Spirit was moving here to call all of our supporters to pray on our behalf...we are even more confident that while our stay there was short... it was all part of His plan....

That said.... in no way do we rejoice or boast in the fact that we know there are hurting people as a result of our decision....We know that there are angry people..In many ways we ourselves are hurt and angry... We NEVER ever dreamed when we returned in February that this would be the outcome, but Jesus was not surprised.... and HE is still in charge... Time did not stop, the earth is still spinning and His ways and plans are still at work....

Out of the 100 plus emails I received today, I did receive one that was not so encouraging.... It was from a person who does not even know us nor the missionaries... but he/she had many questions.. The email does have a harsh tone... My purpose here is NOT to publicize or defame the person..But there are some questions that he/she had that may be some of the very questions you may have, but are scared to ask.. This is best way to clarify to the masses about our thoughts in making one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make.

Below is a copy of the mail...with the name omitted...

Hi Jed,

After reading your blog, I am left to wonder what happened. I thought you guys knew that being in a mission field, there would be "many many unforeseen, uncontrollable, and seemingly unchangeable circumstances..." Did you not know that?

As a professional teacher myself, I am inclined to ask if the head of the school as well as your students and their family knew that you were leaving. It just seemed so abrupt, and from the tone of your blog, it seemed like you left "quietly" - however do you mean? Did you get fired?

As a teacher, I hope they did know because as teachers, we made a commitment to be professional in all our dealings whether publicly or privately. More importantly, in your position, you represented the American school system, as well as being a Christian missionary.

What set you guys off? Culture shock, parents/students attitude? I am quite interested.

1. The first question was "did we not know about the 'circumstances?' " - Yes, we knew about life over seas... we are by no means experts, but had experience living in the Deserts of Africa in a Mud hut with MANY MANY MANY daily life difficulties, and we were prepared for that. Part of dealing with those difficulties is having a GREAT missionary support team will there....

2. Did the head of the school and students know... The head of the school was notified via email, the students were not notified because they did not need to know... Many times teachers leave schools and students are not notified as to why they are leaving.. That is part of maintaining a healthy and nurturing environment... They don't really need to know... The parents were then notified by the school board as would be the normal procedure here in the states regarding a teacher leaving... It is not the teacher's responsibility to notify all of the parents when he/she is leaving a school and to explain why. We felt that the school board could handle it the most diplomatically.

3. Our departure did seem abrupt to you our readers I am sure.... but not to us...and to those we had contact with on a regular basis... Matt and I had struggled for weeks because many things were just not right... It seemed abrupt to many of you because we tried to be the " good missionaries" we were supposed to be and not inform all of you of all the unnecessary details.

4. Were we professional/ did we get fired?.... NO, we were not fired..we did nothing to be fired for.....and we strived to handle the situation as professional as we knew how for the well being, safety, and integrity of the ministries for all involved... We are still attempting to that here by being as honest as we can, while being sensitive that many of our readers are our very own students, parents, Filipinos, Americans Financial supporters, etc.

5. Culture Shock/Students Attitudes.... I am so happy to answer this part and tell you that our leaving had NOTHING to do with the Filipino culture nor our students' attitudes.... WE LOVED IT AND THEM!!! We loved everything from the Jeep... to Larsien's....to Ayala.....and to the Filipinos...We loved our students and hope for nothing but greatness for all of them.... We regret more than anything that we felt the need to leave without contacting all of them...but it was the best thing for us to do considering the circumstances.... Our goal was to make the least negative effect possible and we did what we thought was best....

All this said.... We are home... and it is time to move on..... There is no time for regrets.... no time judgement... This will be my last post about all the events and the reasons for our departure.... Tomorrow its back to me being the silly, encouraging, funny, outgoing person I LOVE TO BE!!!!!!

I realize that many of you will sign on for the last time right now, because my day to day musings here in the states might not be as interesting as a bumpy jeepney ride, or a chicken intestine video. Thank you so much for being part of my life for a brief moment... Please feel free to come back often and check in with me.... and in the words of my namesake.......

"Yall come back now ....Ya Here!!!!"

An Important Note

Today is Wednesday, at 3:30 pm..... and I have some serious news that I need to share with you.

Matt and I have returned to the states...

We arrived at home in Spartanburg on Tuesday evening at 5:50pm where our families met us at the airport... After 11 weeks abroad and many many unforeseen, uncontrollable, and seemingly unchangeable circumstances.... we chose to leave well short of our commitment.

Many of you are probably shocked as you read... especially those of you from the Philippines... We apologize for our "quiet" departure, but felt that given our grief from the situation and the source of our grief, it was best if we left without calling any attention to us. We trust that one day you will know the full extent of our leaving.... Those who need to know do... and we hope they are fully honest with you.... We hate so badly that we left without saying goodbye to so many of you, but we felt that it was for the best given the circumstances...

To all of our supporters here at home.... Had it not been for you.. we would not have made it more than 3 weeks.... We cannot thank you enough for trusting us with your funds, your packages, your prayers...... everything..... We hope that during this time, you will bathe us in prayer as we attempt to adjust to the shock of it all just as you are adjusting even now to reading this post..... If you are one of our monthly sponsors... we ask you to stop your contribution at this time.

No one is more saddened by this than Matt and I.... All of you here know what we gave up to go.... We were ready to stay forever.... apparently there was just no place for us.... We are emotionally and physically exhausted and covet your prayers now more than ever.....

Soooooooo.... we are back at home... but to what???.... we are searching for teaching jobs... we hope to find one soon, but if not, we are trusting HIS provision... So far things are encouraging... I cannot wait to see what is next... We are currently living with a family member of mine, as my house is rented. Thankfully we had our cell phones reconnected today, but unfortunately with brand new numbers... The best part of all... is that HE is still in control and was not surprised at all... In some ways coming back home was even more a step of faith than going... We really had nothing to come home to, because we left it all to go.

To all our church folks... we cannot wait to see you.... but we are gonna stay away for just a week or 2 so that news of our return can travel, and that our presence there will not distract in any way... We cannot wait to worship with you again soon...

We ask that if any of you have questions that you do 2 things.... 1. ASK US!!!!! 2. ASK US!!!!!! This decision was huge for us, and only we can explain it to you... By asking your aunt's daughter's cousin's brother's neighbor who heard about it at the barber shop you are most likely to get the wrong story.... Better yet... Don't ask your Sunday School teacher, the choir member, or the preacher... Email us first... we will be happy to share as we can..... Out of respect to us, please try to avoid the gossip circle.... I know it taste as good as chocolate morsel..... but please avoid it.

I will be checking my email often... Please write when you can... The blog will continue as often as possible. I hope that you will stay tuned to see what's next... I love you guys... Jed