Prayer for courage & strength

It was our last Sunday at Journey Church before we move and we are so blessed to be part of such an amazing community of believers. We have been asked several times over the past several weeks, "Isn't it going to be hard to leave all that's familiar and comfortable, to drop off Eliza at college, and move so far away?" Yes, it will be hard. It is hard, especially on days like yesterday when we say good bye to our Journey family, and many other close friends and our family. BUT, God has not called us to do the "easy" thing. And for us, His call is to GO. Go to Mexico and advocate for the orphans and the impoverished. And it is our belief, based on what we KNOW of God..."that He who has begun a good work [not an easy work] in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Please continue to pray for our final preparations.

Commisioning service at Journey Church 8-28-2011





Servanthood....a quote from Maxie Dunham

"The way most of us serve keeps us in control. 

We choose whom, when, where and how we will serve. 

We stay in charge. 

Jesus is calling for something else.  He is calling us to be servants. 

When we make this choice, we give up the right to be in charge. 

The amazing thing is that when we make this choice we experience great freedom. 

We become available and vulnerable, and we lose our fear of being stepped on, or manipulated, or taken advantage of.  Are not these our basic fears? 

We do not want to be in a position of weakness."

Creative Thinking!

On our recent trip to Chicago to get our Visa's we stopped by Lyon & Healy Harp factory to pick up a BIG shipping carton & foam padding to ship my harp to Mexico.  When we arrived they laughed when they heard we were going to try to fit the box & foam into our mini van....but we made it work.  We tied the box to the top of the van, securing it with rope through the windows.  The guys from L & H were so helpful!  Notice the top right corner of the picture...Erick had to hold the rope the entire way back from Chicago to Grand Rapids!   

Are we freakin out yet......? Nawwwww...

Many of our friends and family are asking us how we're doing now that we're three weeks away from departure. We thought it may be helpful to give you a "freak-o-meter" rating.....
A little about the last several weeks....

• Went to Indiana Wesleyan Univ for Eliza to compete in a photography competition for a scholarship. (she won first place!)
• Successfully completed a "mock-pack." We packed all our stuff up in boxes and bins, borrowed our church truck, got 10 friends to help, and loaded, then unloaded all our stuff. It went incredibly well...only took 1.5 hrs to pack and unpack and we had spare room on the truck. The mock-pack allowed us to see exactly how much we'll be able to fit on the 20' container in Miami.
• Shared our story (Julie & I) at Amway with 40-50 of my co-workers. It was blatantly Christian and the response from them was incredibly receptive. Many of them talked with me afterward and took a prayer card.
• Ended my time working at Amway, as of Friday, Aug 5. Whew, was that surreal. But the group I work with most closely with in HR threw me a little party and generously supported our work in MX. Thanks GTD team!!
• Went to east Michigan to attend a graduation open house for Eliza at Flint First Wesleyan Church. They have been so gracious and kind to our family. We feel like part of their church.
• Spoke at Whiteford Wesleyan Church in east Michigan to share our story. They are interested in sending teams down to work with us in MX. Thanks, Whiteford!!!
• Some of our long-time camping friends threw us a good-by (for now) party and blessed us with a special prayer book. We have many memories with these families as we have been friends for 10-15 years. Thanks ya'll. We love you!

Over the next few weeks before we leave we will......

• Send Nick off for the last year to Camp Barakel in northern Michigan. He's gone to this camp for the last five years with his best friend Grant.
• Drive to Dayton, OH with a small moving truck to a storage unit, to store anything that is not going to MX with us. We will also go to the Back2Back offices in Mason, OH for the first time to see the home office and staff.
• Drive to Chicago to the Mexican consulate to try to finalize our visa work. We pray that this trip will mean we don't have to go to Monterrey before we go to Quintana Roo. We will also pick up a packing container for Julie's harp.
• Have a few more mtgs with families to share our story.
• Attend two commissioning services (Kentwood Community Church and Journey).
• Say many good-byes and shed many more tears.

So, are we freakin out...not too much....okay, maybe a little. But we're trusting God all the more. And he has been soooo faithful and gracious throughout this transition; we know He is trustworthy. Thanks for all your prayers and blessings.