Website!

My new website is up and running! Please take a minute to check it out: www.newbirthmidwifery.com

I have now ordered business cards, am in the process of making brochures and researching marketing strategies as to how to get my name out there. P.S. These are not the things you learn in midwifery school, so it's a trial and error basis!

I am renting a booth at this event called "Just Between Friends" in Eden Prairie from August 11-14, and would love to see you there! It's a garage sale put together professionally so it is almost like shopping in a department store but getting garage sale prices for gently used (or sometimes new!) items. Their website is www.jbfsale.com This would be a great place to get some great deals on maternity clothes, baby and kids clothes along with having the chance to talk to me about midwifery, home birth and I'm sure other vendors as well about relevant products or services. I will also plan to have a drawing for a pretty great prize (to be determined) if you come and sign up at my booth.

Hope to see you there, and please remember to check out my website!

A New Start

Some of you know that I was working at a free standing birth center in MN recently. Some of you may not know that I am no longer. It's a very long story, but the jist of it is that it wasn't the right fit for me at this time in my life. It was a time of Cullen and I doing some deep soul searching, talking to trusted loved ones, and praying hardcore about our future.

In the end, we decided that I would be done working at the birth center, and would start my own midwifery business. The peace that came flooding in over the next couple of days after Cullen and I made that decision astounded us. Really, we shouldn't have been at peace with me leaving a steady paycheck and starting a business that in time will be profitable, but in the beginning will mean me needing to take on jobs that pay less than we are used to me earning and aren't steady due to the nature of midwifery and me needing to have flexible employment. But God is abundantly faithful and provides for his children in ways beyond our wildest imaginations, and is proving that to us in the daily walk of life now.

The name of my new practice is New Birth Midwifery. I am really excited about this because it has a double meaning, showing the new birth that we have in Christ when we are born again (2nd Cor. 5:17), but it also has significance for those who do not yet know and believe who I hope to reach out to as well in this business. The fact is that most women still go to the hospital to have their babies. Actually, about 95% do. The hospitals in general are starting to realize that pregnant women are not sick and should not be treated as if they are, however, it is hard to change policies that have been in place for long periods of time. Some hospitals now have "birth centers" in which nurse-midwives do most of their care, this is a huge step in the right direction, however, there are still other options out that that will allow a woman to be more involved in her care, that will gently encourage her to be pro-active in becoming knowledgeable in her pregnancy and birth along with her husband and family.

Of course I could talk about this subject for hours, and write pages on it, and maybe as I continue to write, it will eventually amount to that, but for now, I will sign off on a happy note, knowing that all is well and hoping that if you're reading this and live in MN (within 1 1/2 hours of the Savage area) and are pregnant and want to talk about your options you will call or email me. If you know of someone who you think might be interested in midwifery care, please send them the link to this blog. I will be putting up a website soon, but for now, this will do.

Long Delays

Well, it's not even so much of a delay as almost a whole new life I'm writing from now because it's been so very long since I've last written. About a year now I would suppose! I used to be such a faithful blogger (at least once every other day if not more!) while I was in the Philippines, but then I came back to the U.S, and I became a mentor. For some reason, I just didn't feel it was appropiate to share the intimate details of my mentee's lives online...

Anyway, I am writing on the weekend of graduation of my girls. It has been a fun, challenging, wonderful, sometimes hard year, but one that I know has grown and stretched me more than I could have ever imagined. I am so thankful for how it has brought me to a place of even deeper desire for God and readiness to go, do, or wait and stay as He calls.

The pressures continue to abound as to the next step in life, sometimes they are from outside sources, well meaning people in my life who want to know the next step, but other times they stem from my own anxious heart that still has a hard time with the "be still and wait for Him" part. I have always (well for most of my life) been ready and willing to go, but not so excited about the waiting part. It's funny to think that God doesn't do things the way that we expect Him to, and so that means that when we think we are ready, he says we are not, and we need to stay. It's not that he wants to frustrate me with the process, instead he knows the big picture and knows that His plans for me far exceed anything I can plan or imagine.

I am getting married in less than 1 month now, and that to me blows my mind. This time last year, I had just been dating Cullen for one week! And now I am looking forward to spending the rest of my life with him. I am so blessed. Once again, by my simple obedience to coming back to Bethany, moving back into the dorms that I lived in before as a student when what I really wanted to do was to be overseas delivering babies and taking care of poverty stricken mothers, I was blessed beyond measure. I had no idea that my coming back to the U.S. at that time would mean marriage in just 1 short (and yet looooong) year! It would be so much easier to obey if I knew the blessings that are in store for me, however, if we knew the trials that lay ahead would I also be so quick to obey?

I am in the middle of stressed out madness, busy beyond belief, but in everything God is good and faithful. I wonder though how brides handle the planning process if they don't enjoy planning parties or events? I do enjoy that kind of thing - or I did before I decided to try and plan a "party" for 350 people, maintain and grow a healthy relationship with my fiancee, love God, love my family, love my girls (all 7 of them!), nanny and do all the things that mentors do. If it can burn me out, I feel sorry for those who are not planners by nature.

I feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but I vary between being excited that it is finally visible to being anxious that it is approaching too quickly and I just don't have enough done or figured out yet! Now is the time for little details, and as much fun as it is to figure it out, I would enjoy it so much more if I had more than 24 hours in one day :)

See, now most of you probably have stopped reading by now, and I don't blame you, but as I type I realize just how soothing this is, and how much pressure it can relieve just to write out what is pent up inside rather than trying to find room for it there. And besides, it has been about a year since my last post, so I don't feel too bad.

I go on the mentor retreat tomorrow, and I am very excited about that, it will be a time of fellowship where the old mentors are able to pass on the baton to the new ones who are excited to take our place. After this week, I have a day and a half off before I start my new full time job as the kitchen PT supervisor! It's really because I'm a glutton for punishment I think that I've accepted a job that gives me full time hours for 2 weeks before my wedding, gives me the week before my wedding and one week after off and then back! It is a new exciting adventure that I am truly excited to venture out on, but the timing is crazy. The reason why I have to start now is because the new students (BCOM) arrive on August 24th, and Leah needs me in the position to be completely trained and prepared to accept them and work with them for a week so they know me before I take two weeks off for the wedding. Phew. Good thing I work well under pressure! I've only had 3 or so meltdowns since I've been planning this wedding since February - the unfortunate part is that Cullen has borne the brunt of those, but he still loves me, and for that I count my many blessings.

And here, I will end for now. I hope to blog more often in the weeks to come.

March 2009 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

It’s March 2009 now, and I have so much to share, I’m just about ready to burst! The most exciting news that I have for ya’ll is that I am engaged to be married to Cullen this fall! We are working out the details on a specific date still, but it’s looking like it will be September 12.



Cullen and I met online last May, and met in person last August when we both got to MN. I had been in the Philippines for 2 years getting my midwifery training, and he had been working as an electrical engineer in South Dakota and had been transferred here. We both were thinking that we would just be good friends, and I was hoping to make the move easier on him by introducing him to a good church (Bethany) and my friends so it wouldn’t be so lonely for him since he was relocating by himself, but God had other plans, and both of us have been very happy for that!

So we had been dating for 6 months, and he went out with my dad to a motorcycle show and at lunch (with my brother present as well!) asked my dad for his blessing to ask for my hand in marriage. I thought he would wait for a while to propose, but later that week, Friday actually, he brought me back to the park where we had first discovered we liked each other and got down on one knee. I was shocked, not expecting it at all, (I knew it was coming, but not so soon) and I was on a steady dose of cold meds so my brain was cloudy, but it was perfect, well except for him not hearing me say yes since I didn’t have much of a voice! But I clarified that quickly.

Another very exciting piece of news that I wanted to share with ya’ll is that Cullen and I will be leading a missions trip to Nicaragua this April! Cullen has less missions experience than I do (well, a lot of people do considering I was raised on the mission field!) and we wanted to do a trip together that would allow us to see each other in the missions setting, and find out what part missions will play in our future.



At first I was having a difficult time recruiting people to go with us, but when I sent out an email to the Bethany students here, all of the sudden I had more interest than I ever thought possible! We now have 10 committed team members, and a possibility for up to 19 total. Wow. God is working for sure, it’s not normal for this many people to be excited to give up their one week of vacation to go share the Gospel, and be His hands and feet.

We are able to visit the city dump and orphanage and get kids excited to come to the camp that we will be hosting for 3 days. Many of the kids we will minister to are not able to go to school because they don’t own the one pair of closed-toe shoes that is required for admittance. We will also be able to help do some construction and medical/mercy ministry to the families that live near the base. Adam and Rachel Todd are the missionaries that run the base, and they are graduates of Bethany.

The total trip cost will be about $950 per person, and this will cover airfare, food, lodging, transportation and teaching/construction supplies for the whole time we are there not only for the team members but also for the kids we will be ministering to.

Even though this team is made up of many Bethany students, most of them have not been overseas yet, and this will be a wonderful teaching opportunity for them as well to understand what missions is like, and help prepare them for their upcoming 16 month internships.

I would now like to close this letter by asking that you consider supporting me and the team either financially or by giving kids clothing, shoes, art/school supplies or sports equipment (that isn’t too big to pack) and also in prayer. If you choose to support me financially, the check can be made out to Bethany Church with a post-it note designating it for my trip to Nicaragua. That way it will be tax deductible. If tax deduction isn’t necessary for you, you can write out the check directly to me. I am attaching a support card which has more specifics for you on how to give.

Thank you so much for your faithfulness to the Lord in all you do, and for loving me and being a big part of my life for so many years now.

Always,
Jenny

NARM

I just wanted to give a big Praise Jesus on my blog - I passed the NARM (North American Registry of Midwives) examination in October and it is all due to God giving me grace and strength. I am so filled with awe when I think about the journey that He has brought me on and how He has now seen fit to close the official schooling part of that journey (I will always be studying, but no longer in a formal capacity for midwifery) and is allowing me to concentrate on mentoring and discipling the BCOM students here.

Passing the NARM means that I can now apply to be licensed to practice midwifery in any US state where midwifery is legal and where they use the CPM credential as part of the licensing process. I am currently not pursuing getting my MN license because mentoring keeps me pretty busy but I am able to help at homebirths here and there with local midwives in the area and that is wonderful.

Thank you for all your support and faith in me through the past two years of preparing for this test and what lies ahead.

September 2008 Update

September 2008 Update

Dear Friends and Family,

My life has changed so much since returning to Minnesota 2 short months ago. Sometimes it feels like having lived in the Philippines for the last two years was just a dream. But then I remember the babies I delivered and the Christ-centered relationships I built with my patients and am blessed. The last two years in the Philippines were truly life changing and those experiences have molded me into the person I am today.

I am now settled into life here at Bethany College of Missions (BCOM). (http://www.bcom.org/) I am a mentor for 7 female college students and I spend 40+ volunteer hours a week with these girls encouraging them in all walks of life - in their spiritual, physical, emotional and social lives. The word ‘mentoring’ is becoming popular nowadays, with a wide variety of what this means in practical terms.

What does it mean to be a mentor at Bethany? The mentoring model here at Bethany is very close to the practical way Jesus mentored His disciples – he lived, worked and taught among them 24/7. So too, I’m
--Living embedded right in the midst of these girls’ dorm rooms, as their dorm rooms encircle mine. This means I am there for them modeling Christ in the evenings and weekends in the time and place where life-shaping decisions and disciplines are often made/learned.
--I eat my meals with them.
--I spend 2 hours a day working side by side with those on kitchen crew
--I lead a weekly 2-hour cell group time with them where we deal with the nitty-gritty personal issues of life.
--I meet with each girl one-on-one weekly for an hour to pray and encourage them on their journey in pursuit of God.
--I go to the prayer room with them throughout the week for chapel & prayer times.
--Once a month, I accompany them on their weekly outreach to the U of M campus where we intercede, share the message of Jesus’ transforming power and plant small-group churches. This campus of 52,000+ students is the largest in the nation and is teeming with internationals, so it is great prep for the mission field.

Mentoring at Bethany means something different than it does many other places that’s for sure! At BCOM, we are serious about preparing effective missionaries in a holistic way.

I am a support-raising volunteer, and aside from food and lodging, am responsible for providing my basic necessities while I mentor this year. I ask that you prayerfully consider continuing your financial support for me through this year, as the training I am receiving here is as vital a ministry as what I was doing in the Philippines for the last two years. Thank you for being involved in my life in this way.

The girls I have in my group are amazing. Their names are: Nicola, Tamsen, Naomi, Catherine, Autumn, Andrea and Lydia. Please add them to your prayer list. J I know this year will be a year of growth for all of us as we continue to seek God together. I am excited to learn much more about how to lead in a Godly way as I serve them and help them become the women that God wants them to be.

Mentoring is challenging in quite a different way than midwifery was. In the Philippines I enjoyed building relationships with the women, both before and after delivery. But here at Bethany the relationships are so much deeper and the task of forming Christ in these girls, to present them ready for missionary service after one year here, is much more time consuming. I believe that both of these experiences will tie together in the future, combining the medical expertise with the knowledge of leadership and discipling.

I will have the opportunity to attend births every once in a while with a local Christian midwife in MN, for which I am grateful. The first birth I plan to attend comes in October. Homebirth is much different than clinical birth like I am used to, so I am excited to learn this new facet of midwifery.

My commitment to mentoring at Bethany lasts through August of 2009. I am seeking the Lord for his guidance for this next step that he has prepared for me. I feel like it has to do with missions and midwifery, though the specifics are not yet clear. Please pray that God makes the path clear to me.

Thank you for staying involved in my life as I grow in leadership during this year. I will continue to send out updates, so if you know of someone who would like be on my distribution list, please email me and I will add them.

Blessings,
Jenny

BCOM Mentoring

My life has changed drastically since returning to MN a few short months ago. Life in the Philippines almost seems like a far off dream from the past already but it hasn't even been 2 months since that time.

I am now settled into life here at Bethany College of Missions. (http://www.bcom.org/) I am a mentor (think glorified Resident Assistant) for 7 girls and I spend 30 or so hours a week with these girls encouraging them in all walks of life - in their spiritual, physical and emotional and social lives. I am a volunteer, and raising support to provide for basic necessities for this next year. If you feel God leading you to give, please see the side bar on this blog for ways to help.

The girls I have in my group are amazing. I know this year will be a year of growth for all of us as we continue to seek God together. I am excited to learn much more about how to lead in a Godly way as I serve them and watch them become the women that God wants them to be.

Mentoring is challenging in a different way than midwifery was. Both have to do with relationships, but in different aspects. In some way they do go together and I know both will tie together in the future because my knowledge of midwifery is allowing me to come alongside these women and encourage growth but not hover or demand it. And learning this kind of leadership will allow me to be a better midwife someday.

I have the opportunity to attend births every once in a while with a local Christian midwife in MN, for which I am grateful. The first birth I plan to attend comes in October. Homebirth is much different than clinical birth like I am used to, so I am excited to learn this new facet of midwifery.

Thank you for staying involved in my life as I grow in leadership during this year. I will continue to send out updates every few months, so if you are not on my distribution list, please email me and ask to be added.

Blessings,
Jenny