Vending Machine

Breakfast conversation with Luke...

Luke: We should go to one of those car vending machines 

and see if we can get a car to shake out of it.

Me:  LOL

Adulting

And just like that,

my Anna's off to live her own life.

Those 21 years and 50 weeks went by way too fast for my liking.

Anna Reached Her Goal!

Short version: Anna raised her funds! God is good all of the time! Thank you so much for every part any of you had in this process, from prayer to financial to emotional support!  We are very grateful!  We will not forget your care and concern! Thank you!

Longer version:

Psalm 46:5 says “God is within her, she will not fall:

God will help her at break of day.” (NIV version)

One thing I know for sure about life is that there is no way

to be fully prepared for its happenings.

Another thing I know for sure about life is that God is always faithful.

In good times and bad, we are enveloped in the arms of God.

And yet another thing I know about life is that

God loves my children more than we do.

He cares even more than I do about

bringing about His will for their lives.

When I was pregnant with Anna, they thought I had miscarried her and they couldn’t find her heartbeat. For a solid week, I lived with the thought that my baby might have died.  The heaviness of that possibility caused pain I had never known before. Thankfully, they were able to find her heartbeat by the next week and the pain gave way to elation and joy at all of the possibilities my new child would bring.

And then she was born not breathing. I had a placental abruption and she had been deprived of oxygen during labor and delivery. The room was so very quiet when she was born. There were no joyous declarations of, “It’s a girl!” There wasn’t the newborn cry that signifies life. There was only the stillness of uncertainty in the air and the sounds of medical professionals trying their best to get my newborn daughter to breathe. Sorrow, pain, fear, hopelessness, and sadness were all encapsulated in those very first few moments of my Anna’s life. I just wanted my baby to live. And I silently begged my God for that to be granted. Thankfully, after a few moments of hard work by the doctors and staff, Rob and I heard the faintest of whimpers from our Anna. The sounds of joy, relief, and thankfulness that came from me were louder as I held her for the first time before they took her to be monitored. I didn’t see her again for hours but I knew the possibilities for this child were now endless. I knew then that she was an overcomer.

When I was a very young girl, we learned a new song at our church. I can’t remember if I learned it with my mama in cherub choir or if I learned it from someone else in preparation for “Children’s Day” at that little country church. But I do know that I have never forgotten its tune nor the meaning of its words. As I was marveling over my baby Anna after I brought her home, I sang this song to her

with new understanding that only a new parent can feel.

It is a Bill and Gloria Gaither song entitled

“I Am A Promise” (copyrighted @ 1975)

and some of the words are:

“I am a promise; I am a possibility

I am a promise with a capital P;

I am a great big bundle of potentiality.

And I am learnin’ to hear God’s voice

and I am tryin’ to make the right choices;

I am a promise to be anything God wants me to be.

I can go anywhere that He wants me to go;

I can be anything that He wants me to be;

I can climb the high mountain; I can cross the wide sea;

I’m a great big promise you see!

I am a promise to be anything God wants me to be!

I have thought of this song and those pregnancy and newborn Anna incidents quite often over this summer as uncertainty about Anna’s future hung in the air. I thought about impossibilities. I thought about possibilities. I thought of how my Anna could be used in ministry this coming academic year – if given the chance by raising her own salary.  But I also didn’t know if God’s answer might be “not yet.”  So I prayed. And prayed. And prayed. And trusted God for the answer.

As Anna started this ministry fundraising journey, the end result seemed like an impossibility. Especially in the last few weeks. She still needed such a large sum of money to meet her goal. As her mama, I even started making plans for how I could make this happen for her. It wasn’t that I lacked the faith that God could finish what He had started. For I had seen Him accomplish that many times in her lifetime.  It was just that I was asking God if, on top of what I had already given her,

I was the way the final amount could happen.

But God gave me my answer in no uncertain terms. That answer came from all of you.  I watched as God unraveled His plan for my Anna.  What I watched unravel was an outpouring of love and support for my girl all summer long and especially in the last couple of weeks so that,

through YOU,

God made Anna’s mission of being a ministry intern a possibility.

You will never know how much that means to me!

And my answer was that, as much as I wanted to make things happen for her, it really was and is up to God.  What I had to remember was that, although I gave birth to my Anna, she is HIS Anna first and always has been.

Her possibilities are in HIS hands, not mine.

I would wholeheartedly believe this even if she had not finished raising her funds. But I am thankful that this time, her desire and His will have matched up.  She not only raised what she needed to go to work but she raised a little more than her original goal!

She has shown me that her possibilities are endless.

And God has, yet again, shown me

that He loves her even more than I do.

Thank you for being a part of God’s answer to me.

Thank you for being a part of God’s answer to my Anna.

Thank you for investing in my Anna’s ministry.

Thank you for investing in my girl.

And thank you for helping me remember

that it’s up to God

to turn those impossibilities into

“a great big bundle of potentiality!”

In Him,

Janna Caviness Shelton

And Off He Goes...

My Wesley started college today.

This morning I was fine.

But last night, I cried.

He’s my third child to go to college.

You’d think it would get easier on me.

But I think it gets harder.

I’m so thankful he had a great day.

He said he doesn’t know how he will feel

when all of the work starts

but, for today, he loves it!

But we sure missed him at home.

To welcome him home after his first day,

his siblings made him some cookies.

And, just like he would get

after each day of preschool

(if he behaved),

he got his junior mints.

I guess he behaved!

Anna's Ministry

My daughter, Anna, is planning to do a ministry internship with Cru, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ. She is deeply committed to the Lord and will be reaching high school students for Christ for the 2018-2019 academic year.  Her father, Rev. Robert Shelton, and her grandfather, Rev. James W. Caviness, Jr., would both be so proud that she is following in their ministry footsteps for this year!

Like many other mission organizations, Cru interns have the responsibility to develop a team of financial partners who provide the necessary funding for their outreach, including their salary, medical insurance, and ministry related expenses.

Many of you have already given and partnered with my Anna and we are so thankful for your generosity!  However, she has not yet reached her goal and if she is not 100% funded, she cannot report to her work assignment.  She has worked so hard fundraising this summer.  I will forever be proud of her efforts to raise her own salary just to be able to share the gospel with and to disciple high school students!

If any of you can give a one time gift or partner with my Anna monthly, please let us know or you can give online by going directly to www.give.cru.org and put in her student account number of (removed since she is no longer with Cru).  Even $5 or $10 gifts add up to help.

Thank you so much for your consideration!