From a mattress on the floor...

1 Timothy 1:14-17

¹⁴ Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. ¹⁶ But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. ¹⁷ All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.

As wanna-be missionaries,we've been living life more fully surrendered, enjoying this time while God gently prepares us for full-time missions work. He has been working on our hearts, in our minds and leading us forward in every area of our lives.  We could have struggled with the changes and challenges along the way, but instead, we've been blessed with a spirit of contentment and flexibility... Praise God for that!

We've spent 1 year in Atlanta now, which was our original plan, intending to train and serve in a local church body while we waited for God to reveal to us the location or people group He would have us minister to.  In this year, He has directed us to a place and a people group, but we are not ready to go by July and our rental house lease expires, it's time for one more move! 

We've had a yard sale, sold on Craigslist and yesterday we dropped off our bedroom set at a consignment shop.  All of the furnishings and wonderful treasures we have amassed over the years are finding new homes and it feels like we're in the home stretch!

The remarkable part of it all is that I haven't been an emotional basket case while saying goodbye to our stuff!  I haven't even cried!  I didn't even  flip out on any of the garage sale shoppers.  We are praising the Lord that the rabbits and hutches sold on Friday- the most delightful part is that that a homeschooling family bought them, and their 8 and 10 year old children will continue the breeding project that our kids started! 

Only God could have gotten us to move to Atlanta last July, and again, He gets all the glory for helping us to happily say goodbye to our earthly possessions so that we can freely and willingly relocate our family to tell people about Jesus who have NEVER heard His name! When compared to what lies before us, my things have lost their lustre!

Southern Living dishware- SOLD

21 pounds of Legos- SOLD

SO we're moving into our pastor's basement, taking kitchen stuff, clothes and books, and living simply for this last stretch of time before our final move... to Burkina Faso.  We're each keeping a footlocker full of our most special things, thanks to a family at church who offered to store them for us indefinitely!  We will still have a garage full of work related items so that we can run the website (and we have hunting and fishing gear to maintain mental health)!  We will focus on French learning, long days of school and further training for the whole family as well as Aaron and I going to Burkina in August.  We will begin planning our visits to Montana and California (and everywhere in between!) so that we can share what God is doing in our family and join together with individuals, small groups and churches in order to carry the Gospel to those who haven't yet heard!  We can't wait to see you and show you videos and pictures, sharing with you the details of God's mighty hand and His leading within our hearts and our home.    

I even sold my Kitchenaid Mixer!  Yikes!