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 final weeks...
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!
