1 Peter 5: 6-11

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.  Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.  Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.  After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.  To Him be dominion forever and ever.  Amen.

We know that we can do nothing in and of ourselves.  The process of leaving our former life to enter into a new life in Africa, for the sake of the gospel has been long and slow and perfect.  Days from now the rubber will meet the road.  We know that we are weak and flawed.  We know that God is Great, and He is already there, and He will accomplish His perfect plan with or without the five of us... but we also know that God called the five of us to GO...so we step forward in faith, obedient to the Lord, trusting in Him fully.  We are people with nothing special, no impressive pedigree or secret abilities- but we have a passion for Jesus- and that's enough!  Use us, Lord.  Here we are, send us.

A Treat!

Proverbs 27:17

¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron,
So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

We were blessed by a visit from some dear friends from California.  We have actually known them for many years, but never really connected until 2009 in the Valley Center homeschool group.  They have been such a blessing to our entire family- they challenge us to think, encourage us to grow and provide us with fun and laughter and joy... Thank You Lord!  It was good to have time with them just before we leave for Africa.  They helped us think through so many things, providing Godly feedback and inquiring questions before we go.  What a treat it was!

Amme and Megan swimming

Ephesians 3: 14-19

¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,^[c]15 from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

We are just a few days away from leaving for our first trip to Burkina Faso!  Aaron and I took our first malaria pill last Friday- thankfully we haven't had any of the wacky side effects that we were warned about!  Please pray that we will continue to maintain focus in our last few days of preparations for travel.  I don't want to leave my kids for 16 days. 
While we are away, the kids will be staying with family, but this will be the longest that we've been apart~ and none of us feel ready for this separation. 
We know that we can do it, by God's grace, and that He will provide the strength to each of us, but we don't look forward to saying goodbye on Friday!

Soccer Camp

 Megan and Jesse were able to attend a soccer camp that a local church runs as a summer outreach/VBS alternative.  It was from 6:30-8:30 pm for a week, and they loved every second of it!

Parties!

TEA PARTIES

DINNER PARTIES

BOWLING PARTIES

 BIRTHDAY PARTIES

BIRTHDAY PARTIES

...and more BIRTHDAY PARTIES!!!

Summer Fun

 

 It's been warm and humid in Atlanta, and we're quite used to it and having fun!

We know that we won't have slip-n-slides, giant tree swings and play structures in our next hometown, but we sure are enjoying these treats, and times with cousins while we have them. 

The hardest part of preparing to leave the states has been a little surprising.

Yesterday Aaron's cousin was married~ we had thought we would be able to plan our time in California around his wedding, and we would be able to celebrate Kevin and Jenny in person.  Unfortunately, it wasn't prudent to make the trip now, so we celebrated them from Georgia!

When we think about what we will miss the most, it's not the conveniences, safety, pavement or even running water and consistent power, it's the people.  We can come up with tricks and ingenious plans to stay clean and hydrated, but we haven't come up with any ideas for maintaining deep relationships when we are overseas. 

What we learned yesterday, was that through prayer, we almost felt like we were at the wedding!  God has been reminding me lately of just what a blessing it is to be able to go to Him in prayer for all things.  When I miss friends, miss scenery, miss a climate or miss the opportunity to be a part of life with the people I love, the only thing that I am able to do is pray through it and be thankful for the unity in Christ that we share.  Facebook has been such a treat, and thanks to Linda Wilshire, by 9 this morning, I had already seen that Jenny looked beautiful, Kevin still looks great- even in a short haircut, and that Maddison wears cowgirl boots like a champ!! 

It's definitely getting more and more real, and even when I am sad to not be a part of the life that I once actively took part in, I am reminded that God has called us into something different and He is enough.  Our times will be sweet when we do get to be with the people we love, and we are switching over to a quality, not quantity sort of interaction level...so when we come to town, you better get ready, cuz we're gonna keep you up all night and soak in every moment of fellowship and love!

Koinoinia

A Big Day!

Luckily there is no photographic evidence of our outing to Chick-Fil-A on Cow Day.  This was our 2nd annual Cow Day, and the 5 of us along with Megan's American Girl Doll were dressed as cows and received a free meal (with our own drink!!) for lunch... No Shame In Our Game!

More importantly, we received our Visas today.  It seems like when dealing with government agencies things can be tricky, and problems seem to rise up frequently... We are so thankful that the FedEx package that contained our application, passports and vaccination cards (for 4 adults) came back today with all of the necessary processing completed for our trip.  An 8 day turn-around for Visa processing is pretty impressive!  What a blessing!  Praise the Lord for smooth processing!!

Three weeks from tonight we will be flying to Paris, and then on to Ouagadougou! The capitol city is pronounced Wah-Guh-Doo-Goo, and from there we travel about 9 hours by car to meet up with the team for 2 weeks of relationship building, information gathering and vision casting.  Please pray for our eyes to be keen, the Lord's wisdom to be abundant and for discernment as we take it all in.  The children will be staying behind for this trip, and since all five of us are eager to get on the mission field, please pray for strength and stability in their hearts and mind while we are away and they are holding down the fort. 

Soli Deo Gloria