It's that time of year

As I think back, going to the pumpkin patch was so much fun. Warm cider, a haunted house, corn mazes, wooden cut outs painted so when you stuck your head in you appeared to be a monster and best of all finding the "perfect" pumpkin. Sadly, these days upon arriving at the pumpkin patch you realize it's not really a "patch" at all. Instead it's a parking lot or front lawn covered in pumkin's that came from who know's where. I don't mean to be a downer, but I definatlty miss the experiance of going to an actual farm (surprisingly in California they still have thse, just not here in Texas).

However the kids don't know any better and we all had a great time!! There was a tractor they could climb on, a hay ride and we were able to support a good cause...

A Blustery Day ( I think)

It felt as though I was in a Winnie the pooh story. Picturesque skies and autumn leaves falling from full trees. Now that Lauren is in school all day she comes home and her sister tells her about our day. Normally Lauren is unmoved by our events while she is away. However last week she was sad she had not gone to the zoo with us. So the following day we picked her up from school and headed back to the zoo (thankfully we have a family membership). We stopped at Sonic and picked up drinks on the way. It was so nice outside, although it was very windy. Here are some pics of our day...

Quick update...

It's been a while since I posted anything. I'm just going to update everyone on what is going on with us...

On the IMB front things are still going smoothly. Athough it turns out that the e-mail that said our whole family had received medical clearance was a mistake. Matt and Hailey have. However, myself, Lauren and Kevin are still waiting. Lauren has to get blood work done, again. She is not a fan at all and she is so strong it's hard to get done. Also please pray for Matt and I as we continue to complete all things related to mission work. We know that God is calling us to do this but it's easy to get discouraged when you are still unsure of medical clearances and other complications. We are eagerly waiting on God's perfect timing!

I also went ahead and starting preparing to start cleaning houses. It's been going great. I already have one client (which is great considering I only placed 1 flyer in 1 place and it only stayed there for a few hours before it was taken down). I cleaned my first home on Thursday and I was amzed by how relaxing it was. I was able to work quickly while listening to praise music. It took about 2 hours and I had the rest of the afternoon to get my own house work finished before picking up the kids at school. Now that I have 1 home under my belt I feel ready to go for it!! So, this week I am going to really start promoting and telling people about my new venture... Here are some recent pics. We were just relaxing outside waiting for Matt to get home. I am so blessed with cute kids (and yes I know, I'm totally biased)!!

Lord, I pray that as our family continues through the process of applying with the IMB that You would continue to direct our steps. I pray that we would trust you in everything and that we would not be fooled by the enemies attacks. I pray that you would continue to confirm your call on our lives. I pray for our children as they go through their days that they would see Christ in us and they would place their trust in Him. Thank you for all that you have sacrificed for us and all that you have blessed us with. May we continue to give it ALL to you. In Christ's Holy name, Amen.

In good health...

This past week has been a roller coaster. After my post last week I was emotionally tired. I began to pray that God would restore my soul and that I would seek His answer. After a lot of prayer I have decided not to complete my application to work full time outside the home. I KNOW God wants me with my children.

As you know i am working through a bible study on the Proverbs 31 Woman. This week's lessons were on "Her Loyalty" and "Her Contribution". God is so good! After reading about Her Contribution I began to pray for an answer to our financial struggle. God opened my eyes to a job that would allow be to have my children with me and make some extra money. Housecleaning. I am finishing all of my readiness and plan on putting my name out next week. Please join me in praying that I would be busy!!

Also we got some very exciting news this morning...we are ALL medically cleared for missions. As many of you know I have severe Rheumatoid Arthritis that is controlled with 2 weekly injections and Lauren has recently had surgery. I thought that we might not even receive clearance for at least another month. I am so thankful we have gotten our clearance. We are 1 step closer...

I'm giving up...

I've had it!! I am tired of giving it to God... and then taking it back when I think no one will notice. I know better!! God has shown Himself to be faithful and ever present in my life. As we continue the process of applying with the IMB I find myself thinking, "when is the other shoe going to drop?" I feel so unworthy of this high calling and it seems sometimes I spend a whole lot of time worrying and little time trusting. God has continued to confirm this calling on our lives. Last week I began a new bible study. I'm sure many of you are familiar with it. Beautiful in God's Eyes, by Elizabeth George. I am realized that my definitions are far different from the Lords (and I am so thankful for that!!) I desire to be a woman of character and a jewel to my husbands crown. Among many other things I desire to be a Proverbs 31 woman. At this point I have nothing to lose!! If the world judges me and calls me a Jesus FREAK, I will praise Him because He has called me to be set apart. I will seek Him in everything and trust that His ways are higher than my ways. I will also add that I am currently struggling about what to do with our debt. I know that God called me to stay at home with my children. However when our small business flooded last August we were left with about $23,000 of debt. We have paid off about half, however I know this needs to be taken care of. I am so thankful for a husband who provides for our family. However at this point we are unable to pay off any more debt. There is just nothing left at the end of the month. So here is what I am faced with: Do I take a step of faith and apply for a full time job at the Dyess AFB CDC knowing that God will open or SHUT the doors?? or Do I continue to stay at home with my children and trust that God will provide a way to pay off this debt?? I feel like staying at home and not doing anything would be foolish. But, am I not trusting God to provide if I apply for this job?? At this point I am trusting God as I apply for this position. Please join me in praying that God, in His perfect timing, will open or shut doors according to His purpose. So, here I am swallowing my pride, allowing you to see who I really am. A person covered by His grace and standing in faith, trusting His ways are better than mine. I am giving up and giving it ALL to Him.

under fire....

Emergency room visits, electricity turned off for no reason, losing my diamond out of my wedding ring, car breaking down, locked out of my car, and the list goes on and on. Since returning from summer camp in mid July and announcing our plans to be obedient to Christ our lives have been turned upside down. It seems as though what could go wrong has. All this I have dealt with mostly at home by myself. Matt was working out of town for the past 4 weeks. I had every opportunity to wallow in self pity and ask God why? And a year ago I would have done just that!! What a difference a year makes. I am so thankful to share that God has shown me measure upon measure of His grace in my life during this time. After a year of praying and asking God what direction He wanted for our lives, I have done plenty of waiting on Him. I am so glad He is active in my life and I can see His hand in every situation. For example, the diamond fell out of my wedding ring and I looked for it all over only to find it on my kitchen floor later that day. When our car would not start in San Antonio we were in a parking lot with a man who had just started his own "roadside assistance" business and there was an Auto Zone across the street with the parts we needed!! In every emergency there was an awesome outcome. He is so good. He has met our every need and given us grace as we deal with life. I cannot say it is FUN being under attack but I can say I am thankful that Gods favor rests with us and He has extended us grace. Spiritual warfare has never been so "real" to me, but I can say that I know who wins in the end and I'm humbled to be on His side...

God continues to confirm...

I am blown away by how quickly God answers prayer. Again and again we pray for God to make a way where there seems to be no way and in His timing He is faithful. As some of you know we have been waiting almost 6 months to close on the sale of our home. It should have happened months ago. However due to some financing issues with the buyers and other happenings it still has not happened. This past Friday we got a call from our realtor and she said the sale of our home was not going to go through and we needed to think about our options. After getting off the phone I said to Matt "this has to go through in order for us to be considered for missions". So we prayed that God would make a way if this was His plan for us. Later in the day our realtor called again and said she didn't know how it happened but the sale went through that afternoon and all we were waiting on is us signing the papers when we got back into town (we were in San Antonio). She said I don't know how this happened. It was so awesome that all I could do was smile and think to myself "I know how it happened...We prayed and God, in His perfect timing, He answered!!"

In Process

At the time being we are working on 3 papers (each) for part 3 of our IMB application. Matt and I have not written a "paper" since high school but we are excited to continue seeking Christ!! Please be praying for us as we go through the application process... Thanks to all of you who checked out the new blog, we will continue posting as God moves in our lives!!

Covered by HIS Grace...

Surrendering Everything

In the past month I have been blown away by how BIG God is. I sadly realized that I had put Him in a box and expected far less from Him. Before leaving for Falls Creek I prayed that God would open my eyes, that I would fully surrender to Him and that He would speak to me in a way that I could not deny. I am so thankful we serve a God who hears our prayers!

After arriving at camp Monday afternoon (July 14th) we settled in to our cabin. That night at tabernacle (worship & teaching) I practically begged God to speak to me. Something...anything!! For a good part of the past year we have been seeking Him. What He wants for us. He called us to sell our home and we did. We have had garage sale after garage sale to get rid of all the "stuff" in our lives. But we still wanted to know "why?". Why did He want us to simplify things? Why did He call us to sell our home? I just wanted to have an answer from Him so we could move on and "plan" for the future. I'm sure over the past year God spent many days laughing saying, "child what are you doing?? Be still.." So Monday I went to bed surrendered. Surrendered to what He wanted for me. Surrendered to His desires and not my own.

Tuesday was a blur. I was exhausted from the day and then at 10:15 pm a missionary was coming to speak. I wasn't really interested...I just wanted to sleep! However Joe came and spoke to us. I have heard a lot of missionaries speak over the past 10 years, but this time something was different. I hung on to his every word and as he spoke all I could hear in my own head was "GO". Over and over, "go, you're going, it's time, go." No it wasn't an audible voice, but it was there. Like when your thinking to yourself, but it was not me. By the end of his lesson I knew God was calling me (and my family) to missions. Later Matt and I went for a walk and I told him about what God had called us to. He reminded me that when he was first saved he felt called to missions. However once we got engaged I was already signed up for duty with the USAF, so he put it aside. We prayed that God would speak to Him and we would both be confidant in what God was calling us to.

The next morning during worship they talked about an opportunity to go overseas for 2 weeks on missions. I thought maybe this is it. I can go for 2 weeks and be obedient and that's it! I went to get more information about the trip (I was under the impression that you had to have a 4 year degree to be a missionary...so I had counted that out). When I went in I explained that I hadn't finished my degree( so I couldn't BE a missionary) so I was just going to do this. She informed me that I was wrong and we could apply with the IMB for the ISC(International Service Corps). I knew that this was what God was calling us to so I asked for more info on the ISC. She explained that we would need a platform (job title). Well, Matt wouldn't have an obvious platform(he isn't a teacher or something) so I asked about sports (thinking yeah right). Turns out Sports Coordinator is one of them!! I was so blown away. Then she asked where I felt called and Portugal was the only thing that came to mind. However I didn't want to say anything because I had no reason to say Portugal. So I kept my mouth shut. As she did the search for sports positions Portugal kept popping into my head (I was thinking "what is going on here?") and (of course) Portugal was available. I wrote all of this down and prayed with Kristi. When I got back to our cabin I shared this with a good friend and decided I would not say anything to Matt. I didn't want him to see SPORTS and PORTUGAL and think "okay lets go!!". I wanted him to hear from God. I wanted him to lead our family. So I continued to pray for God to speak to him.

Thursday was pretty uneventful. I kept waiting all day for Matt to come and say "God showed me too!" But it didn't happen. So that evening I wasn't expecting much at worship. I knew God would speak to Matt in His timing. During worship Matt came to me crying (immediately I thought something had happened to one of the kids) He said" I feel called to Portugal, God is calling us to Portugal" (can you even believe it!!?) I showed him the paper I had written on the day before and we prayed and cried together.

While at camp Matt and I continued to pray that God would speak to us through His word and His people to confirm His call on our lives. He is so faithful. Over the next few days He did just that. Over and over again he confirmed that we are called to missions (specifically Portugal).

I know this first post has been long but we wanted to share what God is doing in our lives and hope you will join us in praying for God to make a way (His way) for us to serve, as He has called, in overseas missions.