Monday, August 17, 2009

Holy Smokes! Has it been that long since the last blog...

I just adore it when my almost 3 year old roams around the condo singing an off key 'hallelujah for the cross' chorus. The memory of this kid astounds me which is why I love having some Scripture memory CD's playing in the van and in the house and it helps me with my Scripture memory too!. I desire to instill God's Word in him at an early age. I think it is starting to take hold. For some reason Josiah has a fear of thunder and lightening, I guess it is not unusual for kids to be scared of the lights and noise. But, when I put a God perspective on it, he seems to calm down. Yesterday when it started to rain heavily and storm while we at a friends house he started to freak out. After much talking with him by myself and others (thanks Jo Anna!!) he calmed down and then this morning when the rain woke him up, he wasn't crying and recalled that the rain was God's way of cleaning things and giving the plants and trees a drink. He also remembered that God will protect him. I pray that he always remember that.

Such a simple statement, but with profound implications that even I cannot grasp at times: That God will protect us and provide for us. As many of you know, we are embarking on a new season of our lives, that of missionary candidates. We have been accepted as missionary candidates to Sierra Leone, West Africa by Global Outreach Mission (www.missiongo.org) and are starting our support raising efforts. If you go to the website there is a great YouTube video about Maknoji hospital where Jeneson and I hope to be in a year or so. We are both excited and nervous about this new adventure. While it will be amazing to be there when the clinic and hospital open and be an integral part of getting it up and running, there is so much unknown about the future. We have never done this before, and will be the only ones on the field doing the work. While I know we will have plenty of prayer support, the task is still a bit daunting. The life expectancy is 42 years and the maternal/fetal death rates are abysmal. It seems like such a big task, but we must realize that we are not in this alone and cannot save the whole world (God is the only one who has that ability!). Thankfully, we have a God who cares and regardless of the circumstances, whether they be trial or tribulation, He is there for us, protecting us and providing for us.

We have also been seeking out a new local church to become our new church home. We went this past week to Pathway in Elmhurst and the message was on missional living (living a mission focused life, not just looking overseas, but across the street and office as well). The worship was great and included one of my favorite mission themed songs, as well as one I had not heard before. If you are interested, I found one them on YouTube and here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6k-knvCWUA God Of Justice (we must go) Tim Hughes

We are praying that the support letters and prayer cards go out by the end of August, so let us know if you want to be on our list and we can make sure you get one. Pray that God will 'fill us up and send us out.'

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