Ahh, moving pains

No, not sore muscles, but pains of the heart.   We are so excited to move, but at the same time it does hurt to see your life changing.   The change is for the good, but still it hurts.   Today Ryan and his friend are removing the last of the items from our house.  After today we will have our mattresses, a tv, and a few items that Ryan's dad is keeping for us.   Laundry baskets will become our new dresser drawers and the kids plastic picnic table our dinning room table.   I will admit I am hiding in my room.   LOL!   I had to go make all the decisions about the items to be moved and then I retreated to my room.  I am not avoiding the move, but I am not actively involved. 

The tears have started to flow the past few days.   We are not heartless just because we are moving to another country to do God's work.   It is not any easier to leave friends and family just because we are Christians, we are still humans.   The one thing we do have is the peace that only God can give us and that is enough.  God is enough!  This past weekend we were able to see some of Ryan's family and tell them good bye or see you later and it was hard, but as we drove back to Tennessee we agreed we are ready to move.  You see we were at peace as we waved to them through the van windows, we felt God wrapping His arms around us and encouraging us all the way.  

Walker asked me today for our digital camera so he could begin making his memory album.  He has a list of people he wants pictures of and I am pretty sure 2 of the chickens are on that list also.  So, if you see Walker with a camera, just smile and say "CHEESE" because you are moving to Honduras with him.   This is going to be a fun activity for him and will give him something to do as we finish out these last few weeks here in the states.

The girls have been using more Spanish these days and are ready to be re-united with their loveys in Honduras.   They are so ready to see their new home.   Lorelai has a dear friend I want you all to pray for.  Her name is Meghan.  Meghan is Lorelai's age and they are good friends, Meghan wants to be a missionary also.  Please pray for her and her family as they follow God's will for their lives.
Mari-Madeline is just so loving and easy going.  She has been battling allergies for a few weeks so pray she feels better soon.

Thank you for all of your prayers.  Please continue to pray for our families and friends during this time of change. 

The Kids

So, today I thought we might look at life from the kids view.   Each kid has had their ups and downs and each one is equally excited.

We might as well start with Walker.  He has always been more outspoken about his fear and concerns, but when we made a pros and cons list he was very surprised to see that the pros out weighed the cons.  He is very excited to learn a new language, meet new friends, and as a young Christian participate in spreading the gospel.  The other night he had an amazing bible study in the book of Philippians and found encouragement and joy from Paul's letter.  He even made the remark that he felt like Paul was writing to him.   It really was an amazing example of God's love for each of us.   He has placed a sense of peace around each of us and is with us every moment. 

Mari-Madeline has been so excited from day one.  She has really taken to her Spanish lessons and finds joy in learning a new language.  She has had the fewest concerns of all and they are generally friends and family.   She is so excited to begin a new adventure that will forever shape who she is.  

Lorelai, well she is Lorelai.   She is a mess.  She has a very twangy southern Spanish and tends to make up her own words.   She has a harder time with transition than the other kids, but she also follows the lead of the two big kids.   She tells us all the time how big and mighty God is and I pray she will continue to feel His presence as we  move.

The kids have eagerly been finishing up their last bits of school for a few weeks.   They have been very creative in their playtime since all their toys are gone.  We will all admit to too much television these last few days, but with all the snow and wet weather we have done the best we can.  

Please join us in praying for our kids as we begin a new beginning and say good bye to the old.   The kids will be moving away from family and life-long friends.   Just this past week the kids realized that they would not be seeing their extended family members for a very long time and they all had their sad moments.   In the next few weeks if you around our kids, I ask you pray for them, but offer them a word of encouragement.   We are not brave, we are not special we are the same as you, we were just called to a different area of the world to spread God's word.  Moving is hard even when it is not to another country, but when we place our trust in God anything is possible and He will provide what we need.

Thank you to anyone who has ever loved on, taught or just had a special relationship with our children.  You have made an impact in their lives and I just want to thank you for that.

Encouragement and Prayers

Emotions are a part of moving and making changes, and so far we have had our fare share of them. For the most part we are all excited, but we have our moments when we are weary and tired. We recently started a study on the book of Philippians and to read the encouraging words that Paul sent during his time in prison is just humbling. I mean we are living a life of luxury compared to that of Paul during his imprisonment, yet he was able to send words of encouragement and joy to the church. If he can do that, then we can do anything God calls us to do.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,

always offering prayer with joy in

my every prayer for you all...

Philippians 1:3-4

We have several prayer partners that are dealing with illnesses or other things and we just want to encourage you and to let you know that we are praying for you as well. You are a part of our family and we want to lift you up in prayer. We want to encourage you to communicate with us via email or comments or even a phone call if you have something you would like us to pray about. Yes, we are busy moving and yes, we will be far away, but we are never too busy or too far away to pray for those we love.

We still have our moving date set for February. We have a date we would like to leave by, but we are still waiting on paperwork. We are enjoying our last days here in the states as bitter sweet as they may be. We have begun our goodbyes and see you laters. Today we learned that some people we know would like to come do a mission trip where we will be living and that was like a hug for my heart. God truly listens to each and every concern, fear and worry and has taken care of these for us. I have asked for so much comfort and He has provided it all.

We will update you as soon as we know our moving dates. Please continue to pray for our paperwork and travel. Please, join us in praying for our families also. As hard as this is for us it is even harder for our parents and siblings. I know God will be with them, pray they have peace and comfort as they too begin to say their goodbyes to their children and grand children.

Lost and Found

Well, the paperwork is gone. We are getting everything issued again and it will take a few weeks. Wow, lessons being learned are that you can control nothing and that patientce really is a virtue, and I need to work on that. I am grateful that in times like this we can turn to God and find him there with us leading us along the way.

We have been getting many things done and are ready to move. We just lack selling our vehicles and a few other items. Thanks for all the prayers and support.

Lost Paperwork

The dreaded day has come. Some of the paperwork we need has been lost in the shipping world. One of our daughter's paperwork that we need to move was sent to us from Texas. The carrier picked it up in TX, but then has no record of it after that. Just because you have a tracking number does not mean they can track it. So, we wait for the carrier to try and find it in their "lost and found" department. If it is not found we will start the process over, a process that will take about a month too long.

To make things a little worse these documents are her identity and the carrier is concerned that her someone could steal her identity from the papers. Oh the joys of a world where one's identity is considered valuable to a thief.

This is just a minor setback and all things will happen in God's time. Just join us in prayer. I just pray that the carrier will show up today with these precious documents.

Love to all.

The countdown begins

I am so excited. It seems like just a few days ago I was fearful and weary, but God has taken those things from me and replaced them with excitement and peace. God is good like that. We have been so blessed and humbled by the love and support of everyone. God has been doing some amazing things in our family and I just want to share some of it with you.

Each child has had their own moment of frustration and fear of the upcoming move. Each one's has manifested in a way unique to the child. A few weeks ago Mari-Madeline was upset and Walker was comforting her and this was all he said "Mar, we have to trust mom and dad, because dad knows what God wants for our family." This settled her and she was fine after that. I was brought to tears and felt God wrapping me in His arms and saying I have taken care of it all, trust me. I fully trust God and to see my son trusting us and God just takes my breath away.

We got to spend a wonderful few hours with another couple that will be living with us in Honduras. Ryan and Chuck got to spend some guy time talking and Katie and I got to spend girl time talking. God has taken care of the details of personalities and friendship. We love Chuck and Katie and could not be more blessed than to be working with them in the field. Chuck and Katie volunteered to come to Tennessee and get all our things for the shipping crate; again this is God's provision alone.

Something that I will never be able to fully put into words is how humbled I am by all of our partners. We have had so many people join our prayer team and our financial team. God alone is in control of this and I am so grateful that our partners are with us. It is such a blessing to know that someone is praying for your family and ministry daily. We also could not be fulfilling our call to international missions without our financial partners. Thank you to all of you. We are at 31% of our monthly budget and have almost all of our one-time expenses covered.

I know this was long and thank you for reading it. God is good.....

Moving on down to Honduras

Our things have left! All of our precious belongings are on their way to Honduras. The missionaries just left with a trailer full of our plastic crates. They are taking them to load onto the shipping crate headed to Honduras.

It is so exciting to see things moving foward.

Paperwork

Wow! We have landed in the world of paperwork and red tape! I am going to look at it as a challenge, not sure Ryan shares my vision. We have paperwork to be completed on almost every government level I know of. I am learning to be patient and persistent daily.

Today I made a big mistake. Thankfully a very understanding person at the Tennesseee Bureau of Investigation was willing to get it all worked out. We need background checks from the TBI for Honduras and I found that I could order them on-line from the TBI web site for $29 each. So I went through the process, paid online and hit send. I was then redirected to the Home page where my eyes focused in on a sentence that said, if you need these for adoption or for foreign travel you can not process online and will need to mail in your paperwork and payment! Oh no! I thought I had lost our money for sure, but they transfered my payment and worked it all out! Thank you TBI.

We are in a waiting pattern right now. We have sent off all our paperwork and are jsut waiting for it to come back. When that happens we can buy our plane tickets to Honduras! YAY!

Oh no, just realized the new blogger does not have spell check! I am in trouble now.

Pictures of Honduras

God is our Manna

These last few days and even weeks have been a constant battle on a spiritual level. We have faced so many new challenges and obstacles and it seems that each time the devil is there quickly encouraging defeat and surrender. It is during those times that we see it creeping into our lives and creating problems. We must focus daily on the Lord and stay in His word. We are doing something that God called us to do and God will see us through.

We are trying to be as frugal as possible, but at the same time it has been a necessary evil to buy things we will need to live in the jungles. We have prayed over every item and sometimes have spent weeks waiting for it to go on sale or find it in a discount store.

Today I was reminded of the following scripture when we were given a blessing by someone who had nothing to give, but selflessly gave anyway. This lady is herself facing many challenges, but wants to share God's blessings to her with us. God is our manna. He is enough. We have been and will continually be tested and no, we will not always gracefully handle the challenges, but as long as we are seeking God's will for our life we will be blessed.

Deuteronomy 8:2-4 (ESV)
You shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years

How amazing is that? God is truly amazing. We are so humbled by the blessings he is allowing us so that we can spread the gospel.