Tom & Laura: December 2016

Friday, December 30, 2016

Christmas Eve Text

On Christmas Eve this is the text I received from Isaiah...

"She said yes!!! Merry Christmas, we'll see y'all tomorrow."

Although we couldn't be there when he proposed he did share pictures!

Looking forward to having Erin as part of our family!

No date has been set for the wedding yet...we'll keep you posted!

Sandcastles

Have you ever tried to make a sandcastle birthday cake?

I tried to make a sandcastle cake for Courtney’s birthday party many years ago. The problem was it acted like a sandcastle during the building process…it kept crumbling and breaking apart. So, after using many toothpicks to try and hold it in place and freezing the cake so it could stay in one piece it was finally ready for the birthday party. The cake held together and Courtney was able to "make a wish" blowing out the candles on her cake. But no one knew it was literally crumbling from the inside out. Unfortunately many homes and families are like this today. On the outside they look good but they too are crumbling from within.

We saw evidence of this when we were teachers and it's how God got our attention and called us to join staff with FamilyLife. As missionaries we've had the opportunity to see firsthand what happens when couples apply God's blueprints to their marriage and family.

Here is just one example from a Weekend to Remember Event:

"This conference has helped to open my eyes in many areas. I not only realized how much I was doing wrong, but also realized how blind I've been. I opened my eyes and prayed for the first time. I accepted the Lord into my heart and into my life. We went from talking about divorce already to actually sitting and talking for hours on end!! I strongly believe that we are going to thrive!"

Lives impacted, legacies changed and the gospel shared...that's what we are passionate about. Would you like to be a part of helping families have a firm foundation that can weather the storms? We'd love for you to consider joining us as partners in ministry!

You can join us as prayer partners right now, and if you are interested in finding out about joining us as financial partners we would love to share more with you. Or you can also go online and give an end of year tax deductible donation on our Cru giving site https://give.cru.org/0467491

Blessings!

Tom & Laura

Thursday, December 29, 2016

A Time to Rebuild

Do you have things around your house that need repair?

After 7 years of living in Wenatchee there are some things in our home that noticeably need some attention. But more importantly after being on missionary staff with Cru for close to 20 years we are seeing it is time to rebuild our team. We’ve had partners in ministry that have been with us since we started raising support back in 1997 and we’ve had others come and go over the years. Over the past few years we’ve seen our support level drop but we’ve “made do” with the “leaky faucet” of declining support. But now it’s time to give attention to raising support so our whole focus can return to ministry once we are back where we need to be financially.

So beginning January, we will be out raising support full time. It’s the chance to retell our story, how God called us to walk with Him in what He is doing in lives and families through FamilyLife. It’s a time to trust God in a new way, as we daily rely upon Him to meet our needs and raise up people who have a passion to make an impact in lives and families for God’s glory. It’s also a time for our hearts to be renewed and refined in this process.

Would you pray for us as we begin this process of rebuilding our team? Would you prayerfully consider hearing our story and consider joining our support team to see how You can make an impact for eternity in lives and families? Or perhaps you would consider giving an end of year tax deductible donation to help us start out the year stronger and equipped to begin the rebuilding process?

You can mail a donation to our home address or give online at https://give.cru.org/0467491

Thank you!

Merry Christmas

One thing I have loved over the years is sending out a Christmas picture with our family. As the years have gone by and as life has gotten a little more complicated, we've had to resort to snapshots to get all of us on one card!

We do pray that you've had a blessed Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior and are looking forward to what the New Year brings!

Blessings from our family to you!

A New Addition

We didn't lose a daughter, we gain a son-in-law!

Early in December Courtney married Juan Jose in Peru.

They got married at the municipality and will have something special back here once they return to the states.

This is a picture of them after the ceremony with their niece.

A celebration with family and friends

Here's a picture of Courtney and Juan's parents (and their niece too).

Courtney is wearing a traditional Peruvian wedding dress in this photo that was rented for the day. (She said it was very heavy!)

Courtney sent me this photo too. This is the location where they are going to build their house. Since Juan is a teacher and school ends for the year in December, he is planning on spending all of January building the house and hopes to have it all built by the end of the month!

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Clifton Family 2016 Update

Our Heart for Marriages and Families...

Early in our marriage God put a burden on our hearts for marriages and families.
We were elementary teachers and we saw first hand the effect of divorce on the children in our classrooms. Our hearts were broken.
We also had several close friends that were getting divorced and we wanted to help but we felt powerless.
In 1995 we attended our first FamilyLife Weekend to Remember Conference. As we sat there and listened to God's purpose and plan for marriage we thought, "This is it!"
On Sunday afternoon we had the chance to find out what it meant to join staff with FamilyLife. When Laura heard, "Raise your own support and move..." she immediately thought, "no way." Tom however knew this was God's call. Laura listed all the reasons why there was no way we could do this. God used her Bible study the next two weeks to show her this was His plan and He was calling...so we went.
It has been an incredible adventure to see lives transformed and marriages saved when people hear and apply the truth. You can see many quotes from the conferences we serve in our blog list.
As missionaries with FamilyLife, we are responsible to raise and maintain 100% of our support. If you would like to join us to make a difference in lives and families for eternity click on the link below. Thank you!

How So Many Families Today are Like a Sand Castle...

Have you ever built a sand castle on the beach?

The beach is one of our favorite places to go as a family. So for our daughter's fourth birthday, it was only natural to have a beach party theme.

Laura decided the perfect cake for the party was a sand castle cake. She found a similar cake in a cookbook and decided it would be easy. All was well until it was time to put the cake together. The cake acted just like a sand castle - it fell apart during the building process. Laura finally got the cake to hold together by using toothpicks and freezing it until the party. The cake lasted throughout the party and no one knew that it was literally crumbling from the inside out.

Unfortunatley, so many homes today are in the same condition as the sand castle birthday cake in this story. They are crumbling from the inside out. Families today need the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word! It is only by His strength and power that families can be changed, challenged and strengthened.

Here is an example of a marriage that was crumbling until it was transformed by the power of God...

"This conference has helped to open my eyes in many areas. I not only realized how much I was doing wrong, but I also realized how blind I've been. I opened my eyes and prayed for the first time. I accepted the Lord into my heart and into my life. We went from talking about divorce
already to actually sitting and talking for hours on end!! I strongly believe that we are going to thrive!"

This marriage had already ended in divorce. The couple came anyway and God worked a miracle...

"For every reason on God's earth we should not have come to this conference. We are divorced, our children have been shattered and our home
destroyed. Satan had complete and total victory in our family. His destruction was thourough...or so he though. This conference has restored
our relationship, our faith in God, and in His power to heal. We have given back to each other our heart, we have forgiven each other, we have set aside all the pain and the tumultuous history between us and we are moving ahead. We look forward to the joy of our family together, our hearts joined and to being married again. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!"