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.