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

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!

What I learned at church today

Aaron has been graciously given the opportunity to teach at our church several Sundays.  Our pastors have allowed him to prepare, review and give a message to our local church family, in preparation for future opportunities overseas.  Teaching has required a lot of dedicated studying and prayer for God's word to be conveyed, and not Aaron's words.

As the wife, it's a little odd to sit and listen to him on Sunday morning- at least at the beginning it is.  I have been praying for him and encouraging him to share from his heart, and I want to be encouraging and positive from my seat...
...but I have NO poker face!
...So if he heads down a rabbit trail or is speaking too long- he can read my face like a book, and then it's hard to conclude a sermon with your wife giving you 'the eye'! 

He (and most every other person on the planet) can read me loud and clear- I have no ability to bluff, hide or even politely disguise my thoughts- an attribute that I like to think is akin to honesty and transparency- ehhh, maybe sometimes...but when I'm trying to be an encouragement but end up as just the opposite, I do wish I could be more stoic!

The last time Aaron taught, he concluded his message on Mark 7:24-30, stating 2 potential mistakes we make when we are laid bare and exposed to God's truth, seeing where we are failing to be 'all that'.

1) We miss the opportunity to see how desperately we need Jesus.  We can easily go through life thinking ourselves to be better than we are.  We fail to recognize who Jesus is anytime that we start thinking that we are something special in and of ourselves.  To think that we are good enough, on our own, or to find comfort in the thought that we are at least as good as the next guy, we really miss out on the depth of need we have for salvation through Jesus Christ.

or,

2)  We view Jesus as insufficient to save us from our own evil heart and actions.  In word we acknowledge Jesus and His all-powerful death, burial and resurrection, but in action, we can fail to recognize who Christ is or to apply His grace to our lives. We become so inwardly focused, guilt laden and self assured that we think that our actions were extraordinary- something different than the sins of the world for which Christ died.  Surely Christ didn't know about what "I" have done in the past- therefore I will carry around the baggage and burden of sin and regret- not living in the freedom of Christ, so freely given.  This unfortunately can be boiled down into a line of thinking that says that Jesus isn't enough for me.  Which He most definitely IS!

Seeing the hope and promise of being a Christ follower, we can be free of condemnation.  We can enjoy a passionate pursuit of getting to know our savior through His Word.  A desire to follow Him will grow, transforming our lives and re-creating our lifestyle.

Perseverance in pursuit of the Lord is challenging.  But He loves us.  And He died for each of us.  There is no point and no need to negotiate the gospel.  We don't need to find the grey areas or flexible points in God's truth.  We can read, pray and trust in God and the Holy Spirit's working in our life!  We begin to embrace the grace of God in a way that allows us to go before Him whole, complete and pure- because of Jesus Christ. A child of God

David Platt said, "God's capacity to forgive is greater than our capacity to sin!" 

Instead of staying who I was yesterday, and who my flesh wants to be today,  I want to walk so closely with the Lord  that my enjoyment of His love and His peace is overflowing.  Why would I choose any other way to walk forward each day?  When we receive salvation, a free gift of God,  we have a new nature.  We should have new appetites. 

We are in this world and we are weak on our own, but by feeding our new nature God's word, we can cultivate what God intends for us.  When we feed our old appetites of sin and unholiness we feel trapped, dirty and full of regret- I want to hold onto God's word so tightly that I can take hold of freedom in Christ in its fullness, as He intended!

Galations 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Missionary Medicine Intensive

Sutures

When you're 'preparing' to live in a third world country, you quickly realize your health and healthcare are about to change in a drastic way!  Not only will our access to healthcare be limited, but we will be living among people who struggle to maintain basic health and wellness.  Being around suffering people will be a challenge, and as a mom, I really want to gain knowledge and training in regional illnesses and how to distinguish between critical and non-critical conditions.  I attended the Missionary Medical Intensive class at Equip International in March to have intense time focusing on these issues.

Taking blood pressure

The aim of the course is to train Christian missionaries to care for physical needs when there is no doctor available.  During 2 weeks of classes, we were in lecture and practical labs on splinting, suturing, physical examinations, childbirth, traction, abscesses and lesions, tooth extractions  and temporary fillings,  and more! 

We learned how to use the tools and equipment that are available, as well as how to improvise when working in a place where stocked pharmacies and endless supply cupboards don't exist.  Tropical diseases, skin conditions, parasites, malnutrition, dehydration and more were the topics of conversation throughout our time there.   Diseases that I thought were completely eradicated are still devastating people and communities around the world.  How did I not know this???

Learning to splint

We studied logic of diagnosis, pain control, fluid balance, childbirth and many other situations that we're likely to face.  Our days began at 7am with breakfast and worship/devotion, then classes went until 5pm.  Beyond lectures, we had the opportunity to review actual case studies,  and use an amazing medical reference book written by a doctor in Ethiopia.  We were given case studies from which we were to work up diagnoses and treatments- then the nurses would check our diagnosis- If we were correct, we'd move onto the next patient, but if we were incorrect we had to rediagnose.  Students diagnosed between 40-80 patients over the course of the training!  We worked until 10pm or so each night diagnosing kidney failure, impetigo, polio, enteric fever, bubonic plague, etc. 

Poor Betty!

The class was made up of missionaries currently serving on the field, as well as short term team members, nurses and regular folks, like me!  It was great to meet people who are working in South America, Asia, Africa and here in the U.S to carry the gospel of Christ.

Inserting an NG tube

Intradermal Injections

Our trainers were professors, an ER doctor, a dentist, registered nurses, and a midwife- we learned a lot from one another too! 

Physical Examinations

In our opening lecture, the instructor said, "We bind the wounds, God is the Healer!"  I know how crazy it sounds to even attempt to teach laymen such an expanse of knowledge- That's why they focus on teaching us how to use the course textbook! 

I loved learning from men and women who openly acknowledge the weakness of our flesh, and admit that we are ALL ill-equipped. No matter how much training we receive we are still fully dependent on the Lord.  Whether a medical doctor or a housewife,  I want to do all things as unto the Lord, and to serve God by serving His people.  Two weeks away from my husband and family were very difficult but good training for me as well- I'd never been away from them like this, but they did great, and we were so happy to be all together again!

Teach Them Diligently

Aaron and Jesse with Ken Ham (that's him on Aaron's shoulder)

Jana, Mason, Jennifer and Savannah

Jesse, Christian and Silas

Jennifer and Mason making a MOST exciting purchase!

The great books and toys in the vendor hall

There was a wonderful conference in South Carolina, just a 2 1/2 hour drive from us, so our family and Aaron's sister's family went together to be encouraged, informed and challenged in our parenting/educating/spiritual journeys!

Homeschool conferences can be overwhelming at times just because of the quantity of information that's put out there.  If you are able to take it one bite at a time, though, the speakers and resources can be a huge help.
We went to our first conference in San Diego when Megan was a baby, Jesse was 2 and Jana 4.  Our goal was to formulate a plan for Jana's education and have her books in the cupboard, ready to go whenever she showed signs of readiness.  I felt secure in entering into homeschooling, because I had materials to lean back on and I didn't have the concerns of  not doing it "right" because I had invested in the best...at least that's what the guy in the vendor hall said! haha!
Throughout our years of homeschooling, I've attended conferences in California, Idaho, Montana, and now South Carolina.  Each one is unique in it's focus- usually dependent on the keynote speaker and the intent of the conference organizers.  People willing to share from their experiences and lessons learned, workshops and fellowship have been such a blessing.  I just love spending time focused on why we homeschool, what our goals are for the year, and being prepared to learn all that the Lord places before us as we learn and teach one another~this important part of our life! 
The 'take-away' from this conference was completely new and fun, because it is focused on purposeful education during the high school years. (We can't believe we have a daughter entering 9th grade!) We learned the details of using CLEP tests and good course choices during high school to acquire college education at the same time as meeting high school graduation requirements.  If the children feel led to pursue education beyond high school, we can structure High School coursework in such a way that will serve them well in pursuit of a Bachelor's degree simultaneously!  Good stewardship of our time!
 

What We've Been Up to...2 month Recap

Homeschool Day at the Atlanta Aquarium

Dear friends came to visit us from Montana

Jesse made the baby a custom 'tool' belt so that her toys would always be nearby!

Lots of great cousin time

Rabbit stew-don't ask...it's a long story!?!

Ate cucumbers from our container garden

Celebrated our 17th anniversary