"For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord plans to prosper you and not harm you"
What does that verse mean to you? As I sat on the airplane this morning preparing to take off with Abby sitting next to me and the 6 other members of the family waiting for their plane and hour later. These were the words resonating in my head. We as humans look at our lives and are excited, scared, afraid, worried, thrilled, giddy...you get the point. We have so many emotions (especially us girls). What an exciting time for our family, but as a Mom, how uncertain things are for us. God knows what is going to be happening in our lives over the next few days, weeks, months and even years! How AWESOME is that? HE has planned out our lives, we are just simply called to follow Him. Whether that means talking with someone at the grocery store that looks like they need someone to talk to. Or packing up a family of 8 and head out of the country to a poor country like Guatemala. Whatever it is the Lord has it planned. He has planned them to prosper us not harm us! This morning, this verse has really spoken to me, it has many times before but right now today, this verse holds a new meaning to me.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and please keep our family in prayer as we settle into our new "normal" whatever that is! As we have said before, please keep us informed on your requests and praises as well. We want to be praying for YOU!

the final weeks...

As I sit here on this first Sunday in December, I am overwhelmed at the thought of what this month holds for our family.
We are now settled into my parents house, still packing and repacking bags. Looking at our "stuff" a little differently now. Realizing that so much of it is just that, stuff! It is exciting to be purging of so many things that bog us down, clutter our lives and keep us from being focused on what the Lord would have us focus on.
We are blessed to have so many friends and family who are so understanding of the confusion and chaos that is going on right now. They are so willing to help and jump right in when needed!
It is also wonderful being able to spend special time with friends and family knowing that it will be a long time before we see them again. Wonderful memories are being made, and for that we are so thankful! It's great to be able to laugh and take time to enjoy a cup of coffee with a friend in the midst of packing the 16 bags!
Right now as I type this Phil and Cabot are in Indiana with his brother and family. He started the trip this weekend by first stopping in PA to visit with his Aunt, Uncle and cousins. He then continued to Ohio for a speaking engagement at a church this morning, then on to IN for another one tonight. Memories are definitely being made!
Abby will be finishing up her senior year in just a few short weeks. She will be done her home school work this week, and the classes that she attends at our local high school will be done in a few weeks. We are very proud of her for working so hard at finishing up her work and doing so well in all of her classes! For those of you who are wondering, she will be going to Guatemala with us. She is very excited about being there, and seeing how God is going to use her down there. She will also be taking some on-line classes to get her gen-ed classes out of the way, then transfer to a school at some point. We are still working on that.
The rest of the kids are all registered for school and they are all looking forward to it. Phil and I are registered at classes as well, and yes! we are looking forward to it as well! School...who would have thought at my age that I would be going to learn a new language, it's so exciting!
Here are a few things we can have you pray for as we wind up our time here in the states:
Safety for Phil and Cabot as they travel home.
Calmness of heart and mind as things are so crazy with so much to do.
The health of our family, there is so much illness going on around us and we are trying to stay healthy.
Safety for the family as we travel on the 30th. There will be 11 of us in total flying into Guatemala. Brian Dennetts parents are flying with us as well as our niece who is helping us move.
Thank you once again for taking the time to read this, and to keep our family in your prayers. As always please let us know what we can be praying about for you, it's a privilege to be able to pray for you as well.

The time has come...

Luke 10:2 He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

We have a date! December 30, 2010!! We are looking into plane tickets now. Phil is in Guatemala and has found our new home! He is also doing all the paper work signing us all up for our school. We are getting rid of things, packing things, preparing for our new adventure!
How exciting it is for our family as we are approaching this new phase. One that seems to have taken so long to get there, but in God’s time it is never too long is it? We have been learning about trusting in ALL things, we have seen first hand over and over and over how God has provided for us. We have been able to share with so many what God is doing in our lives. We could write a book about what He has done for us!

There have been so many changes that have taken place since we first committed our lives to serve in full time ministry. January 2007 was when we as a family decided that we were going to look into full time mission work. January 2007 Claire was 2 1/2, Anna was 4 1/2, Cabot was 7, Megan was 10, Betsy was almost 12 and Abby was almost 14. Looking back over my blog seeing what changes have taken place brought me to tears today! Moves, illnesses, new friends, deaths, and provisions. I enjoyed reading things here and it was a great reminder of some difficult times we have had. And also, of the joyous times we have had. We have grown closer as a family through things that God has brought us through. January 2011 will be 4 years later, I can’t wait to see what changes are going to take place in our lives when we are living out what we have been learning!

What can you be praying for now?
That things would fall into place smoothly for our move.

That the family unit will work together and grow as a family while we are going through so many changes.

The remainder of our support would come in.

God’s will, will be done in our lives everyday!

Please let us know of things that you would like us to pray for as well. We want to pray effectively for you as well!

Summer Time!

Summer has officially started! The kids had their last day of school yesterday. Sleepovers have begun, summer plans are in full swing and we have moved into our new and hopefully "even more temporary" housing last weekend. The Lord has blessed us with a beautiful house to be in until we are heading to Guatemala. It is right on a lake on the other side of town from where we were and the kids have enjoyed swimming here almost every day! We are very thankful for Gods provision in this area. These next few weeks are going to be busy with different VBS programs and missions meetings. We would cherish your prayers for all of this and that the Lord would use us each day for His glory.

Below is a letter that we have sent out via e-mail, if you are not on our list you would not have seen this.

Dear Family & Friends
I would like to take a moment to update you on our progress and to solicit your support of our ministry. While we have made considerable progress in our support raising we find ourselves short of the amount that we need to be able to finalize our plans and establish a moving date to Guatemala.
Earlier in the year we had communicated the desire to establish an objective of May for having our support established. During that time we have had significant momentum in our efforts at reaching our goal, but have not reached the amount needed for our family to survive in the field.
It has been truly humbling to see the Lord at work and we are consistently amazed at His hand in this entire process. His timing is perfect! God has graciously provided the funds we need for one-time expenses like our move, establishing our home in Guatemala and other set-up costs. We are now praying fervently that God would provide for the rest our family’s regular monthly support needs in order to finish well and get on our way to Guatemala.
The bottom line is that we are ready to go “in spirit”, but must wait until God has provided the funds for us to do so! Our faithful teammates in the field are working hard and need our help. We are anxious to come alongside them and begin working in this amazing ministry… provided by God and serving so many in need. Guatemala has recently suffered the effects of a major volcanic eruption and a devastating tropical storm. The damage to the country´s infrastructure, the loss of life and displacement of thousands from their homes has created an entire new set of needs there…needs that we are excited about being a part of meeting! In the past AMG has operated with the assistance of 3 or 4 missionary families and is currently operating with just 1. Will you help us to get on our way by agreeing to be a part of our financial support team? We need your help! Please contact me right away if you need any additional information, or if you have any questions. Setting up a regular monthly gift to our family is as easy as picking a monthly amount and then calling 1-800-251-7206 or visiting "www.amginternational.org" and clicking on DONATE.
Thank you so much for the interest you´ve expressed in our ministry. Thank you so much for your prayers!

Update Update!!

Wondering what is going on with the Wilson family?
What have we been doing?
Well, we have been busy people!
Phil and I went on our whirlwind trip to Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee in May. We were able to spend time with his brother Bob, his wife Deb and their children (we also were able to visit with our great niece's and nephew's) What a great time we had with them the time was much too short! We did make the best of our time! That Saturday we were able to go to Ohio and meet with the Pastor and wife of the Pleasant Grove Church of God. What a wonderful time we had sharing stories, and enjoying a wonderful lunch with them.
"Uncle Calvin" and "Auntie Carla" as we have dubbed them were such a joy to be around. Their love for the Lord is evident in all they do! They are a blessing to all who they meet I am sure! We were able to spend "quality" time in the car with Bob and Deb that Saturday because we had them join us for the day! We were able to share the ministry that God has called us to at Bob and Deb's church on Mother's Day. It was a beautiful day, I only wish we were able to have the kids with us. I have not been without my children on Mother's Day since Abby was born! what an odd feeling! We had a great day with Bob and Deb's family though! Their children and grandchildren were great stand-ins for us!

Monday morning came very early and we were out the door driving to Tennessee. It was nice driving and seeing a different part of the country. Flat corn fields, soy bean fields, then big cities, and beautiful mountains! We went from one extreme to the other while we were driving! It was beautiful seeing the different things out there. We arrived in Tennessee a little later than we were expecting to, thanks to the GPS that brought us a "little" out of our way! But we arrived safe and sound, so that is good. We were able to visit quickly with Dee and Ken who work with AMG in the home office. We met them when we went to Guatemala in December for our Bundles of Love trip. It was wonderful seeing them! We have seen Ken on skype a few times for meetings but real life is so much better! We had a wonderful time staying with Pete and Kim, also from the home office. They gave us the true feel of "mi casa es tu casa" (my house is your house).
While we were in Tennessee Phil had a few days of meetings. Learning more about the country God has called us to. We came home and hit the road running!
Abby had a prom that she attended at a local high school with a friend. She looked stunning, if I can say that as the mom! Betsy was winding down her softball season. Megan has been playing soccer, and keeps us running from practices to games, never a dull moment. She had a tournament over Memorial Day weekend and her team won for the U13 girls! We were so happy for them! Abby also attended her own school's prom that weekend. If you knew what my calendar looked like, you would wonder if I had learned how to have myself in 4 places at once! God saw us through our very busy weekend! Cabot and Anna are winding down their school year, with lots of field trips and special days at school. And last but not least Claire graduated from kindergarten! A bunch of changes for our family have taken place, and will continue to take place. We are so excited to see what God has in store for our family and look to each new day as a blessing from Him! We are still in need of support for the ministry and ask that if you feel led to partner with us through AMG to please ask us how if you would like. We are still looking at leaving in August, but our financial goal has not been met. Would you consider supporting us? It could be a one time gift, or monthly support. And as always prayer is always needed!
thank you for taking the time to read this very long overdue post of our happenings this past month! I thought you would like to know what the family has been up to!
Blessings!

Coffee

We are excited to tell you that we have added a new element to our blog
"It's Coffee" We love coffee, and have thought of how many of you do as well. We found this great site to help us raise support! Would you look at it and feel free to help us in this way? Thanks for looking!

hitting the road...

Or at least the air!
Phil and I are packing up to head out on a whirlwind trip next week. We leave on May 7 to fly to Phil's brothers house in Indiana, then drive to Ohio on Saturday to meet a Pastor in Ohio. We will head back up to Indiana and spend Sunday at their church to share the ministry that God has called us to. Then we are getting in a car and driving to Tennessee for meetings. We head home Thursday May 13th. We are so looking forward to this time that God has set up for us to spend with family, friends and even new people to meet!
Please pray for us while we are gone, that our time would be fruitful while we are away. Please pray for our children that we will be leaving with various friends and family.

We are excited to see what God is doing in our lives!

Thank you for being part of this ministry with us! We are excited to see how He is always working all around us!

Where are we?

We have had many people ask us in the past few months where we are at with our support? We are at a solid 60% with more coming in daily! We are so thankful for all of you who are supporting us financially. We know it is a tough economic time right now. We know that many of you are making sacrifices for our family to be on the field. We are ever so grateful for that! How exciting it is to see our ministry team grow in ways that we would never imagine. God is providing wonderful people to partner with us, and we are very serious when we say to you that you are just as much part of our team here as you will be when we are there. We couldn't do it without our supporters.

Please keep praying with us as we continue to seek God's will, and work on getting our family to Guatemala. We are so excited to share with you things that God has been teaching us and revealing to us in ways that we would never have expected. That is what He does though isn't it!! Just ask us we love to talk about it!

A few speaking engagements that we have on the calendar right now are:
(there are more in the works these are the ones that are already set on the calendar)

April 18 Souhegan Christian Church (Family)
April 24 Higher Ground Baptist Church Ladies Missions Tea (Jen)
April 25 Christ's Church of Amherst (Family)
May 2 Fellowship Bible Church Men's Breakfast (Phil)

Challenge!

Are you up for it?

Here it goes!

Have you been on a Missions Trip? Short term or long term, in country or out of the country? Have you thought about a Missions Trip? Have you had the thought that you would love to someday go on one but now isn't the time? Did you know how many different types of Mission Trips you could go on? You could go to your local nursing home and pray with the patients. They love having visitors! You could go into schools and work with Good News Clubs. You can't get much more local than that! You could plan a VBS in an area that is in need of someone coming in and sharing with the children. Near or far! You can go out of the country and do something. You can build a school, you can paint a school, you can have a VBS, you can pass out Bundles of Love, you can serve in a church somewhere.

Are you seeing what the challenge is here? Get out of your comfort zone listen to what God is saying to you, see what He wants you to do. I am not saying pack your bags, sell your belongings and move to the most remote jungle you can find. Well, unless that is what God is calling you to do! It just may be the biggest challenge of your life and I would dare to say that it would be the most rewarding thing you do as well!

Think about it...

Haiti

The earthquake in Haiti has been devastating. It has touched lives of people all over the world. We can never know what they are experiencing but we can pray. We are all consumed with knowing what is going on minute by minute. We are sitting watching the news continuously, rejoicing when someone is rescued and mourning when they find another person who has lost their life. The news reports are mostly showing the devastation in Port-au-Prince, not in the whole country. Where there are orphanages that are gone, missions that are destroyed people who will forever be changed because of this day January 12, 2010.
AMG has a project in the northern part Haiti and the reports are coming in. Here is the "link" to get information about AMG and what you can do to help aid this country.
Please continue to pray for the Hatians and for the workers that are being sent there to help in any capacity, whether it is digging, handing out food, handing out medicines, sitting with people who are in utter confusion, praying with the dying and so much more. These are all real things that are happening and these people need our prayer.