A Thought From the Message

I read this passage in The Message translation, and it really gave me a perspective shift. It's from Romans 12:1-2:

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

I love that - place your everyday life before God as an offering.

And also - God wants to bring out the best in us. Unlike the culture.

Isn't that so true? Our culture just seems to drag us all down to the lowest common denominator (think reality t.v.). But God wants us to always improve and be the best we can be.

iBunch is Back

Well, Farrah has turned the blogging over to.....me! So you'll notice a lot of changes and a more masculine flare to the look of the blog. It's a work in progress, so I'm sure it will change.

My head is still spinning when I try to sort out our life over the past year....we literally lived in Northern Ireland this time last year. As in - we took up residence there. And now we've taken up residence here in Louisiana. Hmmm.....I am certain that God knows what He is up to, even though we can't always see.

You can follow us on twitter....

twitter.com/davbunch

And on Facebook....

facebook.com/davebunch

I know, I know, one has an "e" and one doesn't...guess I'm a little neurotic or something.

Til next time,

Dave

This and That

We enjoyed Louisiana District camp meeting on Thursday and Friday of last week. It is so awesome to worship with thousands of saints who are like minded and to hear the Word of God go fourth from anointed men of God and to fellowship with friends and family from all around. Needless to say, we enjoyed our time on the campgrounds.

Happy Birthday America! We had a bday party for America (well, we celebrated 4th of July) with some friends tonight. Last year, was our biggest 4th of July party ever. It was in Northern Ireland with Shawna Mansfield, Ashley & Caleb McFarland, Nathaniel Davis, Kyle and Lynn Harvey family, and Eamon and wife. Wow! That seems like a life-time ago...but was so much fun! Was it all a dream?! It sure does seem like it.

We are in the process of buying the house that we are leasing. Please pray that God makes a way where there seems to be no way. You have to be employed for 2 years before you can mortgage a house. Well, of course David and I have years of work experience, but they consider our time in Ireland as an interruption in work. Therefore, they are giving us a wee bit of a hard time about the loan. God is so able! We are claiming this house in Jesus name!

Check out Sister Cindy McFarland's new blog (linked on our page).

Elayna , Springbreak, Work, & Ireland

I have to give God the credit. Elayna had her big doctor's appointment yesterday to check her kidneys. She has gone from a stage 4 reflux (5 being the biggest) to a stage 2! Thank you Lord! Initially, the doctor believed that she would have to have surgery eventually. Now, he really thinks that the problem will correct itself. We are praising God for it! We serve an awesome and able God!

The kids and I are enjoying the week off for Spring break....checking things off of the "to do" list, spending time in the yard, enjoying a slower pace. 4 1/2 more weeks of school before Summer break!

Meanwhile, David started his new job this week. He is loving it. More relaxed than what he is used to. But I'm sure that it won't take him long to get use to it.

I see from the March's blog that the McFarlands are all headed back to the states. Shawna McFarland is moving to Alexandria, Louisiana to work with Sharon Turner (counselor) at the Pentecostals of Alexandria church. We are so excited for her!

It sounds like great things are happening in Ireland. Oh how we do miss it there in a million ways. But we know that God has us back here for His purpose. We keep Ireland in our hearts and prayers!

Happy Spring break week!

Happy Easter Pics

Work, Guitars, and Remodeling

I have a job teaching for the rest of the year, and David starts a new job April 13th! Thank you Lord!

Brother Ford from our church made two AWESOME electric guitars to donate to the work of God in Ireland. I am so sad to say that I don't have pictures of them. They are beautiful. One of them is an Ireland green color. I will try and get some pictures if they have not been mailed yet. Thank you Brother and Sister Ford! I know that the church(es) there needs these and will be blessed by them.

David is remodeling the blog soon. Watch for changes.

The Master

Wonderful youth service last night! David preached about "Being Crafted by The Master." Isn't it awesome that God created us for who we are and that He loves us even with our imperfections?

We didn't get to have our split out session. It's coming up next week, hopefully.

Everytime I Turn Around He is Making a Way

We had great church tonight! The youth choir "tore it up" tonight followed by an awesome word from Pastor Billy Johnson. It is services like this that keep reminding you of just how Mighty our God is!

If you are reading this blog, then you are just about to get the inside scoop. Are you ready for this? The following information will not be officially announced until this coming Wednesday night in youth service. Last week David was asked to come on staff at our church as Young Adult Pastor. This will cover the age group range from 11th grade to college and career. (Brother Chris Gonzales will be over the junior high to 10th grade group.) We are very much excited about this opportunity. As most of you know, we have been working in the youth group in Denham for approximately 8 years now. It is exciting to be a big part of this group of young people again. We love working/mentoring youth.

And that is why we brought our whole family (babies included) to the youth retreat this weekend. 2 days at Twin Lakes in Mississippi. It was a wonderful retreat filled with, most importantly- an awesome move of God, plus- loads of fun, and great fellowship. As for the babies, they actually did really good. The only problem was that they are way too nosey to sleep. They didn't go to bed until everyone else did. Yikes! It was really nice reconnecting with the youth group. There were tons of new faces for us to get to know. That is a good sign of revival! I believe that there were 160 registered there as part of our group. That is awesome!

I unfortunately forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures to share. I'll try and retrieve a few from some of the youth soon to upload.

We are looking forward to our new assignment in life, our next journey...giving what we can offer to the youth group at First UPC in Denham Springs, developing young people, teaching them to reach for a deeper and daily spiritual walk with our Lord and Saviour, a love for the truth, encouraging them, and loving them through their circumstances! Wow! Is anyone else feeling the heaviness of such a task? What a big responsibility for which to be trusted. We are praying for the anointing that we know is necessary for such a position.

Blah Blog

I'm quite taken aback when I reflect on some of my recent blogs. They are definitely "blah blogs". So, I have decided to attempt to write an uplifting blog.

On the upside, our children are adjusting wonderfully to being back home.

Dawson is now without a pacifier and attends Sunday school (even on Wed. nights, hey, he can call it whatever he wants. LOL). He spends the night with David's parents (Emme and Poppie) often. I'm pretty sure that he'd be happy to move in there. Who wouldn't when you get the kind of attention that he gets over there?

Elayna puts herself to sleep in less than one minute of crying and sleeps ALL night in her own bed. David and I never thought we'd sleep the night through again. She has been responding nicely to her antibiotic. Thank you Lord!

And Kristen is doing AWESOME in school. She made all A's and 1 B on her last interim. She hasn't done that well since 6th grade. Go Kristen! She has her first job and her first bank account (with a cute Batman card). So, exciting.

As I mentioned in the blog below, David has a job that we are really optimistic about.

And I am feeling like things are really starting to come together! God is good all the time!

Looking Up

I just want to thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement. Things are really looking up for us. David has been offered a job working with a local business owner as his office manager for the next 30 days. The position may turn into full-time, but at least for now our bills will be paid. Thank you Lord!

Opportunity

Right now, David and I are waiting. Anxiously waiting to be hired on somewhere. And eagerly waiting to see what God has for us next. David says that this is, "An opportunity to extend our faith." I sarcastically reply, "Oh, thank you Lord. As if selling our house, quitting our jobs, and moving our family (with a baby, toddler, and teenager) across the world isn't showing faith and then moving back in only 9 short months." I know that David is right, but it isn't easy. We are trusting and believing the Lord will provide. I know that He is able! God has blessed us with a house. I know that He will bless us with jobs in order to pay for the house. God must have something REALLY wonderful for us because so far every door that we have heard about has been closed. No, every door has been practically slammed in our faces. The kind of slam when you are just far enough behind someone that you don't have time to catch the door. "A day late and a dollar short." Well, the reality is that such an opportunity to extend this kind of faith is our reality right now. So, we persevere. We thank the Lord. And we wait. "For those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. "

Over the River and through the Woods

Two more days before we leave this beautiful Emerald Isle and head to the wonderful land so affectionately none as the Melting Pot. And literally over the river (well ocean) and through the woods (of the great Cajun state of Louisiana). Louisiana might not have the best of reputations, but you know those people can have church. After all, it is the "Bible Belt."

Kyle's daughter Sasha is to be baptized at church tomorrow! To God be the glory. After service in Gilford, we head on down to the Republic to have church in Dublin. It is a work that Brother McFarland has been elected pastor of only in the last couple of months. It sounds like great things are happening there. We are looking forward to be in service with them.

Our wonderful Gillaine is trading Ireland for Indiana in the next week. She has felt the call to go and work there with the homeless ministry. Wow! That is awesome.

Several of the men here in Ireland are heading to Men's conference in Illinois next week. Kyle will be opening the service with his bagpipes. That is really going to be a blessing to the conference.

And with that I leave you the latest in greatest.

4 days to go

We are wrapping up our tenure here in Ireland. We now have only 4 short days to go.

I think that we are pretty much done with all of the major packing and moving out. Now we have only to organize and reorganize our luggage to try and get as much home as we can. It is amazing what you can live without when it comes right down to it. It is also amazing at how much junk you can collect in 9 months time. Yikes! The good thing is that the church is going to have a "boot sale" (aka garage sale) to raise money for a new Sunday school room. Hopefully, they'll make a good bit off of our collection. 'One man's junk is another man's treasure.'

Yesterday, we enjoyed the company of Lynn and Kyle who had us over for lunch. It was so wonderful to visit with them. They are an awesome family. We are really going to miss them!

We had a surprise potluck dinner as our midweek service. We really enjoyed the food and fellowship. I'm glad that it wasn't too much of a production as it would have been hard to refrain from tears. My heart is heavy for the church here in Ireland.

Today, the guys moved everything out of the house except for mattresses. Thanks for you help!

Shawna Mansfield is headed back to Ireland in May. Shawna, we will miss being here with you!

Tomorrow is mine and David's 10 year anniversary. We shall hopefully do something fun. But no definite plans yet.

All the Best!

Belfast

We arrived back in Belfast today. The flights were pretty much smooth. The only problem that we had is that Elayna cried/fussed for probably nearly 4 hours crossing the ocean. The only thing that I can imagine is that her ears must have been hurting her. Poor baby! She has never done that before. We need to start praying now that the trip back will be better.

It is great to see this beautiful country again. There was snow on the ground when we arrived. I asked one of the locals if it was unusual to have snow. She replied, "Oh yeah, we almost never get snow for Christmas. It only snows in Feb., March, and April." Whew! What a big reminder of our communication differences. I don't understand how you can speak the same language as someone else but still not be able to communicate! I mean, if you study that conversation, where did I go wrong? I just don't get it. Oh well. It is laughable though.

We are also very happy to see the McFarland's again. They are doing well. Sister Mac is feeling much better. She hasn't had any signs of a blood clot. We are believing that it is finally completely gone. Thank you Jesus!

We had kind of forgotten just how "at home" we feel here. We certainly will find ourselves "homesick" when we return to the states.

I should really be sleeping right about now. This blog might not even make sense! So, I'll post more later.

Going back to Ireland

We are getting ready to set sail for Ireland again tomorrow. My surrogate brother, Bradley, and his wife, Jaime, are coming with us. They already had this trip planned before we made the decision to come back to America a few weeks early. It is going to be great having them there with us.

On that note, we are really going to have a hard time leaving Ireland when it come right down to boarding that plane for our final departure for this season of our lives. We absolutely love Ireland and are going to miss so much about working for God's kingdom there.

Meanwhile, we have been trying to setup house again here in Louisiana. This is not an easy thing to do with no job. David has been searching diligently for a job. Things almost fell into place for him to get a job with his previous employer, but for some reason it didn't work out. Yikes! We are praying for God to send that perfect job for him. In the mean time, he is getting certified to be a financial consultant. He loves that. It is flexible hours. But let's be honest, it is also flexible income. We can't be making a living off of flexible income with a family of five.

God has blessed us with our dream house. We are slowly but surely furnishing it. It just so happened that a couple from our church had this house up for sale by owner. They have offered to let us lease purchase the house until we are able to finance it. Thank you Jesus! He always provides for His children!

We are looking forward to continuing our work for God on this side of the ocean. Who knows what wonderful things He has in store for us?? I know that God will not fail us now. He is More than enough. He will supply ALL our needs. He always looks out for us. He is a rewarder of those that deligently seek Him!

Season of Life

I'm having to post this blog all too soon....

Long story short: David and I were feeling that God was leading us back to Louisiana after our tenure in Ireland was up. However, Elayna got sick when we came home for Christmas and through much prayer we made the decision to end our appointment 6 weeks early. We are scheduled to return to Ireland for 10 days in February to wrap everything up.

Long story:

Am I really bummed? Yes! It is definitely bitter sweet. We LOVED working with the McFarland's. And we LOVE Ireland. There is no doubt that we were supposed to go to Ireland. I believe that God had us there for the summer for a reason.

I never dreamed that we would be back so soon. David and I both went into this assuming it to be a long term decision.

When God says to go, we must go. When He says to stay, we must stay. We have to be sensitive to His voice. I know that God has a reason for this. I'm sure that I don't know all of them, but I can already see some things that God has done since we have returned.

We are praying for Ireland! And who knows, maybe one day we'll have the opportunity to return. We now understand the importance of prayer for other countries more than ever.

Thanks to EVERYONE who has contributed to the Ireland work through us! We could never have heeded to God's voice without your prayers and financial support. I'm sure that if you would like to continue with any financial offerings you can donate to the March family or to the McFarland family.

To the McFarland's, the March's, and our church family in Ireland, we miss you lots already! You will always be in our thoughts and prayers. Thanks for allowing us to spend this season of life with you, and may we all meet again in eternity (if not sooner). We love you all bunches!

God Bless!

We'll continue to post blogs throughout our transition so that you can keep up with us and pray for us.

Elayna's Bday

Elayna's 1st birthday was last Sunday, Dec. 28th. Here is a picture of her enjoying her cake.

God's work in Ireland

David was privileged to preach tonight at our home church in Denham Springs about God's great work in Ireland. We had a wonderful service as David shared with God's people the marvelous things that are taking place on the Emerald Isle.

I wish that someone who is there would blog more often (ahem) or even blog at all (ahem ahem). I feel like we are missing so much. (I guess that is how you all feel when we don't blog regularly. Sorry!)

It snowed here in Baton Rouge the week before Christmas. The most snow that we have had in 50 years. I thought that our Ireland crew would appreciate a picture of it. This is my in-law's neighbor's house. It was a winter wonder land. Too bad that it wasn't like this on Christmas day. We have crazy weather here.

Favorite New Year Story

My favorite wacky new years story is one told by Gordon Mallory who was a former missionary to the Philippines.

He said that once he was in a watch night service, ushering in the new year by worshipping and praying with fellow believers. Right about midnight, tongues went forth so everyone immediately began seeking God for the interpretation.

After a moment, someone spoke up and said the following:

"Thus saith the Lord, HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

So that's my word to everyone today. The Good Lord wants you to have a happy new year!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to our friends and family!

We are so excited about what this year holds for us. I've made up a great quote, "Everything will be Fine in 2009!" David's quote is, "Bring on the 'New Wine' in 2009." We are so original. No, Please hold the applause. :)

Elayna goes to the specialist on Wed. Hopefully, we'll know what caused her relapse and be able to go from there.

We are really missing our church family in Ireland. We are scheduled to fly back Jan. 9th. I know that there are exciting things happening in that beautiful country.