In My Life – Page 3 – Brenna Stull

Dec 31
2012

A look back at the Stull’s 2012

by Brenna

It looks like the theme for 2012 was Africa. Two went to Zambia, two went to South Africa, three traveled to Sierra Leone and one spent the summer in Mozambique. Also this is the year for new schools, as three of our five graduated up to a new school this year.

A few memories:

CHRIS

Experienced the joys of international travel, contracting malaria in Zambia and 4-day missing luggage woes in Sierra Leone.
Perfected the making of the bacon/cheese/avocado/salsa omelet (reward after every triathlon).
Discovered Duck Dynasty, and is showing an Uncle Si influence in the way he’s talking these days.
Started seminary classes, working toward a Master of Arts in Theology/Divinity.

BRENNA

2012 July-October 574

Led a group of women through a discipleship study corresponding with
the Chronological Bible (one of the end goals is to be able to share with someone the story of the Bible in 10, 20 or 30 minutes.)

Completed every form known to man in order to be cleared for international adoption.Her heart was enlarged in Africa when she met J and M, the 9 and 7-yr-old boy and girl the Stulls are pursuing for adoption. While there, the teenage girlfriends at the orphanage fixed Brenna’s hair in cornrows!
Completed her second Olympic distance triathlon (better this year: didn’t veer off-course to the sandbar in the swim portion, and remembered where her bike was when it was time to transition from swim to the bike portion of the race.)

DILLON (18)

2012 April-July 278

Took advantage of his Valedictorian platform at high school graduation to share the Good News with 6,000 people.
After being honored in Washington D.C. as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in June, he saw himself off at the airport and flew solo on a 36-hour journey to spend the summer at The Harvest School of Missions in Mozambique.
He continues his love of linguistics and learned three new languages this year: Portuguese, Makua, and Arabic (He was even mistaken for a Brazilian, a Mexican, and a Korean at different times!)
He is attending Baylor University on a full academic scholarship and was honored to represent the B.U. freshman class at Homecoming as the torch bearer.

DEREK (17)

2012 Oct-Dec 194

Refuses to drink out of anything but Mason jars (A clear sign of too much Duck Dynasty time.)
Is still singing. Recent quotes: “Derek sings 23/7!!!” said Micah. “No, just 16/7, actually,” answered Caleb. Also composed some praise songs and often leads the youth in worship on Sunday mornings.
Ran two triathlons with the mom and pop.
Hiked to the top of Long’s Peak – 14,000+ feet above sea level.
Went to great extremes to enjoy his ENO hammock (even on hot, summer, mosquito-filled Texas afternoons!) He can usually be found in it with his ukulele in hand.
Played major role in his high school musical, and was recently excited to learn that they were chosen with only 8-10 high school musicals in the U.S. and Canada to share the mainstage at Nationals this summer.

CALEB (14)

Showed his tenacity coming back from a mission trip in Sierra Leone, Africa: Stood in the pouring rain for twenty minutes before boarding first plane of 36-hour journey home. Upon arrival at DFW airport, he changed into his baseball uniform and went straight to a tournament game.
Hiked to the top of Long’s Peak – 14,000+ feet above sea level.
Two days before his big debut into high school, he made meatloaf of his lip and face when he fell fifteen feet face-down on concrete in a parkour-stunt fail.
Is working on strength training in baseball with the team, and recently upped his squats by fifty pounds in six weeks.
On a great fall hunting trip with dad, he shot his first big buck, which had a 7-point rack with a 15-inch spread.

MICAH (12)

Continues his passion for orphan adoption. His almost-daily question: “Did anything new happen with the adoption?”
Refined his ping pong skills big time and has humiliated many a high school boy.
Continues to be Mr. Efficiency and No Nonsense (represented by his haircut! Hair is a nuisance when it gets ¼” long.)
Ran his first duathlon – swim/run.
Transitioned to middle school without a glitch.

KARIS JOY (10)

Her heart for those with special needs continues to grow. Every family prayer at meals and bedtime includes, “And God bless Reese, Titus, Madison, Ava, Millie…” At this point the pray-er usually includes the tagline to keep her from chiming in.
She finally convinced her mother that a hamster could be an okay thing. Thus, we welcomed Charlie.
She was blessed with some fun sports moments, including making key goals to help her soccer team win a tourney and placing second in her first duathlon (who knew the girl could swim so fast?)
She is changing every day in front of our eyes, transforming from a girl to a young woman.

We thank God for another year together, and know that all good things come from His Hand.

We pray His richest blessings for you in 2013.

Dec 25
2012

Merry Christmas from the Stulls

by Brenna

Slideshow customized with Smilebox

Dec 22
2012

Christmas Eve Adventures: Luke 2 and a Tic Tac up a Nose

by Brenna

This particular Christmas Eve I may have overestimated my capabilities. I had four energetic boys ages seven and younger, and I had agreed to play in the orchestra for the Christmas Eve Service at our church. We had also committed our six-year-old to recite Luke 2:1-20 from memory, which he had learned in his kindergarten class. Added to that, we had invited some families to come over after the service that night. I had been going full throttle all day—cleaning the house, preparing festive snacks, doing last-minute wrapping jobs, shining little black shoes and pressing dress shirts.

Minutes before I needed to load everyone into their car seats and drive to the church for the orchestra call time and microphone check, I heard my three-year-old say, “Mommy, I have a Tic Tac up my nose!” At first I was calm, showing him how to force the air out as if sneezing. Instead of sneezing, he took a big drawl in through his nose.

Oh, I can barely see it now! I began to get nervous as I showed him again the sneezing motion and told him to concentrate and do it with great force. At that point he took an even bigger drawl in and the Tic Tac could no longer be seen. I called one nurse friend and then another. They both told me we would need to make an ER visit to have it removed.

But Derek’s sound check is supposed to be happening now and the orchestra is tuning! Lord, help!

My seven-year-old said, “Mom, how about pepper?” and I darted toward my spice pantry. Holding the pepper under his nose and saying a fervent prayer, we waited. About thirty seconds later, he let out a huge sneeze and the Tic Tac went flying across the room. Thank you, Lord! We immediately darted out the door and rushed to the church where Derek had time to do his microphone check and I had time to get my preschoolers to the nursery and my clarinet tuned just before the service began.

The lights dimmed and thousands of people filed into the pews. As the music began, the stress of the day melted away. When Derek took the stage and quoted the Luke 2 passage in his little “Peanuts”-character-like voice, I realized this day would hold one of the best and worst Christmas memories of my life. The Tic Tac may have threatened to take down the night, but the peace of the coming of the Christ child quieted my heart and spirit. I silently thanked my Father for truly being Immanuel—God with us – and caring about even minor emergencies such as Tic Tac dilemmas.

To see the video of six-year-old Derek reciting Luke 2, click here:

Six-year-old Derek reciting Luke 2

or go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecgVi7zIavs

Aug 30
2012

First Son Takes Flight

by Brenna

We took Dillon to Baylor University on Wednesday, August 15 and the day was all joy! I was excited to see his room, help him get it set up, and meet his suite mates. As a matter of a fact, the only time I cried was when I mentioned how that day was a cinch compared to what I experienced when Dillon left for the summer.

The big “moving on” chapter for Dillon began shortly after graduation from high school. Each year the U.S. President’s Committee selects two students from each state to be honored as U.S. Presidential Scholars, and Dillon was blessed to have been chosen as one of the Texas scholars for 2012. He was flown to Washington D.C. to receive his award in June.

Since Chris was out of the country on a mission trip, he wasn’t able to be there, but I was able to attend. The scholars stayed together at Georgetown University, so I did not get to see Dillon much once the weekend was underway. The “letting go” moment of my summer came just after we met to go to church in D.C.

In a dark, loud, bustling, underground subway station I had to say goodbye to my son before he left for Africa for the summer. I held on to his strong frame and tears flowed like rain. I told him I was confident in him and the Lord’s leadership in his life — the tears were simply because we would miss him.

As I walked to my hotel I prayed he would make it safely to the Dulles Airport the next day (I would have already departed on my flight from Reagan National Airport). I prayed the Lord would grant him rest on his 32-hour flight with three layovers, one of which was through an African airport we were told to avoid. I prayed he would get the required reading done for the last five required books before entering the missions school. I prayed his body would adjust quickly to the seven-hour time difference and that someone would remember to pick him up from the airport. I prayed he would bond quickly with friends, though he was coming into the program three weeks late and he was the youngest of 300 students there.

God answered all my prayers for Dillon, his flights, and his arrival (Thank you, Father!) Though we had no phone contact with him, he had a half hour of computer access every week or two and was able to send emails. The two times we were able to Skype were a highlight – I loved hearing his laugh as his siblings told stories from the summer.

One other unexpected contact came through Steve Hyde, missionary to Cambodia. While he and his family were visiting McKinney in July, we had them over for dinner. After introducing ourselves and our children, we told him that one of our sons was not here because he was in Mozambique. He then told us he would be in Mozambique in two weeks. He was going to teach at the missions school Dillon was attending! Two weeks later Steve found Dillon, told him he had just been to his home for dinner, then delivered a hug, a card from the family and two bags of pistachios — a favorite snack.

Besides the traumatic D.C. subway farewell, the next big realization of Dillon’s moving on came in July when we moved the kids around to different bedrooms. Since Dillon would not be home much anymore and we expect to add two children through adoption soon, he was demoted from a “prime” real estate room to a small bedroom upstairs. As I took down his pictures from his bulletin board, and emptied his closet, again the tears flowed as my heart grieved over things never being the same.

On August 11th we welcomed him safely home, then enjoyed a wonderful three days as a family before it was time to move him to Baylor.

For all the years I have anticipated the heartache of dropping him off at college, I never expected to be so happy. Chris and I were able to drive him to where he would be staying two hours away, help make his bed and get him settled. He has good food readily available (with which to gain back the twenty-five pounds he lost). Contact is easy – we can text or call anytime. No, I didn’t feel the grief of a big break. I felt the joy of a wonderful visit that ended with my son staying not only on the same continent, but nearby in the same state! Perspective is everything.

Dear Father,

Thank you for your many blessings and the way that you care for every detail of our lives. I thank you for your grace and mercy. I thank you for the opportunities you gave Dillon this summer to know you more and to help others do the same. Thank you for the eighteen years you allowed us to share daily life with him. He is moving on with the vision for his life that you have placed on his heart, and we ask you to bless and protect him on his way to accomplish your will in this world.

Aug 6
2012

My son shining for the Son

by Brenna

Okay, blame this post on mother way past due to see son on other side of world for summer with very little opportunities for contact.

My oldest son, Dillon, spent this summer in Mozambique, Africa at the Iris Ministries Harvest School of Missions. He studied hard (including going to extra classes to learn a new language, Makua). He ate rice and beans…then more rice and beans. He hung onto the sides as he sat in the flat bed of a truck for ten hours each way on bumpy and dusty roads to go into the bush on a medical mission to share the Good News of Christ.

I thank God that this Saturday we had the opportunity to Skype with him for a half hour (well, besides the four times we lost connection). We saw his scruffy beard and his smile and his laugh lifted my soul.

Today I was thinking about his Harvest School of Missions Graduation coming on Thursday. I can’t be there, obviously. But I was able to find online a grand moment we shared in June at his high school graduation. I’m not sure I have ever been more proud of my son, as he boldly and courageously encouraged his audience of over 6,000 persons to “make Jesus [their] only goal and love [their] only motivation.” As I sat in the audience my mind reeled back to prayers we started praying for Dillon before he was even born. God is answering those prayers — working in and through Dillon.

I’m attaching the link (look on the right side of this page, and click on it) if you would like to hear Dillon’s seven-minute speech, which begins ten minutes into the video. He receives his diploma at the twenty-four minute mark. Even if no one views this, I will have this to refer to on my blog! (I almost couldn’t locate this today!)

To watch, you can also paste this into your browser: http://www.mckinneyisd.net/graduation/MBHS_Replay.asp
Lord willing, we will welcome him home this Saturday. We will relish the time with him, then send him off a few days later for college. After the African bush summer, this has got to be easy, right? (Ummm…I might need a gentle reminder of that next week on move-in day.)

May 1
2012

Giving Him Wings

by Brenna

My oldest child is graduating and leaving home in four weeks (sniff, sniff). Would you indulge me as I share a reflection of God’s work in Him and through him?

After getting through customs in a small dirty room in the Ndola Airport, I exited the back of the airport to see a man with skin as dark as cocoa beans and a big smile that showed off his bright ivory teeth. He welcomed me to his country of Zambia and introduced himself as David Mulonga, the pastor of a local church.

I learned that a few days earlier Mr. Mulonga had been attending a pastor’s conference in South Africa and noticed Chris’ nametag. “Chris Stull…are you by any chance related to Dillon Stull?” They visited about our son and Chris told him I would be coming into Zambia a few days later, so he came to the airport to greet us.

As he shook my hand, he told me my son had ministered in his church two years ago and made a great impact on his community. He shared how one young man had grown in his faith, treasuring the Bible Dillon had given him. “Dillon may have been a boy on the outside, but he was a man on the inside,” he said.

Mr. Mulonga was referring to a trip Dillon had made with a small team from our church when he was fifteen years old. The eye doctor, who at the last minute could not make the trip because of kidney stones, asked Dillon to take his place and trained him in some basic eye tests. Little did the team know how much that opportunity meant to Dillon, as he had felt a call in the fourth grade to serve others through medicine.

Dillon stepped up and, with a registered nurse who was more than twice his age as his assistant, fitted hundreds of Zambians with eyeglasses. The highlight of the trip for Dillon was having the opportunity to fit the Chief of the Copperbelt Region, who presided over more than a million people, in glasses.

Since that time I have seen his heart turn more and more toward that land. His room is decorated in an African theme, we often find him poring over books teaching Zulu and Swahili, and friends on trips to Africa with him have told me he threatens to “lose” his passport multiple times. I’ve known since his first trip to a remote village in South Africa that part of his heart stayed in Africa.

So now it’s time to share a little more of him. In four weeks, just after high school graduation, he plans to depart by himself on a 37-hour trip to a training school in Mozambique, Africa, where he will be until mid-August, just a couple of days before he starts his college education at Baylor University. Though it will be painful for us to let him go, I thank God for answering a prayer I have prayed since before he was born – that God would use him to impact the world for the Kingdom of God.

I envision traveling with my husband to Africa when we are old and gray and someone coming up to us and saying, “Mr. and Mrs. Stull? Are you related to Dr. Stull? He came to our village and God used him in powerful ways to help us.”

“I have no greater joy than to hear my children are walking in the truth.” 3 John 1:4

Dear Father, I want to lift up all the graduates this year, graduating from kindergarten to first grade, middle school to high school, or high school to college. We thank you for their growth and the learning opportunities you have blessed them with and the opportunities they will have as they look ahead. Help each of them to understand your deep love for them, and give them a vision for what you have planned uniquely for them to do. May they walk in your Truth, living this next season for your honor and glory. Amen.

Feb 29
2012

An Orphan Vision

by Brenna

“Momma, I wish I could draw better!” As I came into Karis’ room to say prayers for her and tell her goodnight a couple of months ago, she sat propped up in her bed with pink pillows all around her, sketching. She said she was trying to draw the face that kept popping into her head at different times. She described the face as an African American boy about her age or a little younger. The main thing she said is that he has really large eyes that are completely hopeless. She said that was what she felt she could not get right in her drawing.

Lord, is this our future child she’s seeing? Almost done with the preliminary adoption paperwork with the intent to adopt an orphan from Africa, and knowing we are going in a couple of months to work in an orphanage in Zambia, I am prayerful. As I go, I am watchful for those big eyes Karis has seen.

During the same weeks of the visions, Karis played an orphan role in the musical “Annie.” I never expected how those songs would pierce my heart as I heard her upstairs practicing songs like “Maybe.”I can almost hear someone in a land far away singing it now:

So maybe now it’s time,
And maybe when I wake
They’ll be there calling me “Baby”
Maybe.

Betcha he reads.
Betcha she sews.
Maybe she’s made me
A closet of clothes!
Maybe they’re strict.
As straight as a line…
Don’t really care
As long as they’re mine!

So maybe now this prayer’s
The last one of its kind…
Won’t you please come get your “Baby”?
Maybe.

Jan 5
2012

Reflections on 2011

by Brenna

As I reflect on 2011, I keep coming back to the same things: what filled it. Yes, there were plenty of activities to keep us from sitting and twiddling our thumbs, but love, joy, peace, and purpose are the overriding memories. During dinner last night we laughed as we told stories on each other. The following is a compilation of some of the things we recalled.

Karis Joy (9 years old):

Highlights:

Making a sock monkey, which matches her new sock monkey hat!
Playing on her first soccer team and loving it (Next fall she plans to play flag football. Watch out, boys!)
Skipping a grade in school (Much to Micah’s chagrin, she is now only one grade behind him.)
Being interviewed, along with Micah and their teacher, on a McKinney TV program when Mr. Wright was named the 2011 Outstanding Teacher of the Gifted and Talented for Texas Region 10.
Having her wise man drawing chosen by The United Way of Dallas as one of their Christmas card covers.

Micah (11 years old):

Highlights:

Finding and catching a small pufferfish in the creek behind our house, and adopting it as a pet – what a miracle a fish like this was back there! (We found out later that our next door neighbor had “let it go” in the creek.)
Catching a game ball tossed up in the stands by a major league catcher at a Texas Rangers game.
Playing in his first soccer season with a team that went undefeated and won the Dallas Area Tournament of Champions.
The day we told him that yes, we felt like God was leading us to adopt an orphan. His months of praying and campaigning were successful! (*More details about that is shared three posts back.)

Caleb (13 years old):

Highlights:

Having the opportunity in El Salvador to preach his first sermon.
Realizing his lawn business is not so humdrum when you happen onto pretty girls poolside.
Cliff jumping with his siblings and dad into the Seven Pools of Oheo in Maui.
Having beautiful girls in harem costumes sing his (Aladdin’s) praises in the musical “Aladdin.”

Derek (16 years old):

Highlights:

Getting his driver’s license (so far, so good….).
Snowboarding for the first time on a fathers/sons trip.
Winning second place in his first sprint triathlon (and crossing the finish line with his mom).
Hoisting Genie up on his shoulder in “Aladdin” (quite a change from the Disney version – our Aladdin was 220 lbs. and Genie was maybe 65 lbs!)

Dillon (17 years old):

Highlights:

Being offered scholarships covering tuition, room and board by his #1 college choice, Baylor University, on Dec. 23 (Merry, merry Christmas!)
Making history as he and his MBHS tennis teammates qualified for State, making them one of the top four 5A high school teams in the state of Texas.
Memorizing 750 scriptures over the summer and qualifying for the National Bible Bee.

Brenna:

Highlights:

Making memories with the family in Maui, the trip of a lifetime.
Completing her first Olympic Distance Triathlon (which included her first open-water swim, a big step, as she’s not big on swimming with fish in murky waters!)
Square dancing at Wind River Ranch, near Estes Park, CO.
Being surprised by Chris with a date to see Les Miserables, and getting ready, long black formal and all, and out the door in 15 minutes flat (last minute surprises are all the more exciting, right?)

Chris:

Highlights:

Leading a small group on a mission trip to Mexico, and seeing God bring 1,100 to faith in Christ.
Enjoying a 6-week Sabbatical after 24 years of ministry.
Taking Derek and Caleb hunting (They each got a deer!)
Being 45 seconds off of the 3^rd place time in one of his Sprint triathlons (Inching closer to the winner’s stand!)

If those were the highlights, these were the lowlights (or is that a hair term?) Basically, these are a few things we would have gladly done without:

Seeing Caleb brought down the mountain at Wolf Creek in a yellow body bag on a sled (Daring ski jump/accident knocked him unconscious, which led to ambulance ride to ER. Suffered a concussion that put him on the bench during basketball season.)
Brenna at the wheel for the Maui Road to Hana (a narrow winding mountain road overlooking the ocean) trip, which was about 10 hours roundtrip in a day and included 1,234 sharp turns and 112 one-lane bridges roundtrip (Chris, who may not admit to having control issues in the car, forgot to bring his renewed driver’s license to Maui…a trial for all.)
Forgetting to empty pockets before snorkeling…then feeling his cell phone vibrate in his pocket while 50 yards off shore (poor Derek.)

We thank God for his many blessings this year, and pray the same for you this year of 2012. Most of all, I pray for you God’s love, joy, peace, and purpose for living.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. Psalm 28:7

Dec 1
2011

Merry Christmas from the Stulls!

by Brenna

Create a scrapbook design

Nov 2
2011

Adoption Revelation

by Brenna

Oh no, the prophet speaks! Many-a-time in our family’s life Micah has shared hard-to-hear words — you know, the kind that pierce you to the heart and that you know are true…and you know you have to do something about?

But never had I heard words from him that required this much change! “We need to adopt an orphan,” said 10-year-old Micah. We had just walked out of the November 2010 church service focused on the plight of orphans across the world and the Christian’s call to care for the orphans.

I assured Micah that if God shows us that adoption is the way he wants us to care for orphans, that we most definitely would (I was pretty sure God knew we already had our hands full with five children. Surely sending financial support would be enough.)

In the church service that day we accepted the challenge to pray every day for 30 days about what God would have us do about the orphan crisis. Micah held us to the 30 days…and then some.

It seemed the adoption subject starting coming up everywhere we turned. But even as we prayed, I continued to go down my list of why adoption might not be the best choice for our family. One day I felt God whispered to my heart, Brenna, it’s not about you; it’s about rescuing orphans.

Months later as Micah continued to prompt praying about orphans during bedtime prayers, he often asked if we thought God was leading us to adopt. I would tell him I wasn’t sure, but what moved me most was thinking of the one fearful orphan tonight who had no one at bedtime to scratch their back, pray for them, and tell them they were loved.

Let’s fast forward to the last week of school in May 2011. As Micah’s elementary school choir filed in to sing, they looked like the United Nations. A Title I school, these children didn’t look like children you would normally see in a North Dallas suburb.

With every word the choir sang, I heard an orphan speaking directly to me. He said he knows that I see and hear his fearful cries. He asked if I would be at his bedside until he falls asleep, comfort him when he weeps, and care for him forever. He asked me to light his dark world with love so that he might live a life of hope, faith, and joy.

With every word the choir sang, I heard an orphan singing directly to me. Tears came like a flood as my heart filled with God’s compassion and love for his poor and needy orphans, and the song haunted me all afternoon.

That day Micah came in from school and I said, “Now I know. God is calling us to adopt.”

It wasn’t until a month later that I noticed the name of the song — “For Now, I Know.”