Road trip to Cali!

We are almost there!!
We started our road trip a couple days earlier than originally planned and ended up leaving London on Dec 19th after the kids were done school. 
Our first stop was the border!  We were in the immigration office for about an hr or so and it was a tad stressful not knowing what was going to happen.  The lady only wanted to talk to Mike at first and then she had to talk to her boss, then he wanted to talk to Mike and then Mike was sent back to sit....all the while, Mike was trying his best with all our supported documents that we were there just to volunteer.  They seemed worried that I was a nurse and would take a job somewhere.  They were definatly not keen on letting us in, but in the end - Finally they did! Not happily though...but we were happy!! That was a relief!  All the while, I was praying hard for God's grace to allow us in!  Thanks Lord!
We cut that day short and made a long treck the next 2 days. Stopped 2 more times for sleeping and got to Texas Dec 22. It was a wonderful break to be with Mike's family in Texas. We stayed with one of his sisters that lives there while his parents and another brother and sister with her family came up as well. It was a great Christmas. I had a really great, relaxing time. The kids had so much fun with all their cousins. Too bad they live so far away!

 

                                              And there was snow in Texas for Christmas!!

We left Texas Dec 27th and met up with 2 other families doing the same thing as us (from Texas). And -BTW - we LOVE these people already and are so happy we have instantly connected with them.  We know they'll be life long friends for sure.
We headed on the road to Albuquerque. A long day but exciting at the same time as we were starting the 2nd part of our road trip. The next day we drove to the Grand Canyon and took the time to take a quick look. A quick look it was as it was pretty cold for the kids. Snowing and all there! But well worth it for us all.

                                                  All the daddies with their baby boys

                                               All the kids on the road trip! All troopers!

 

And on from there we headed to Bakersfield with beautiful scenery all along the way.

 

Bakersfield to Oakland was the next trip. Along the way we saw lots of produce farms - pretty amazing.  Following us was one of the families going to Kona with us and he's a farmer so we got well educated on what everything was which made it much more fun.  Then came upon beautiful rolling hills.  Sooo pretty!

So, now Oakland it is for 2 days until we fly out the morning of Jan 1. 
Right now Madison has a fever for 2 days.  Judah was sick over Christmas with a fever as well so I'm hoping it's just what he had.  Fevers always worry me though.  Please keep this family of ours in your prayers for health to be whole. 

Kona bound we are!!  We are excited to reach our long awaited destination!  Thanks to you all of you for praying for us through our journey. They have made a difference for sure.  Knowing all that we have gone through over the last few months, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that THIS is what God has for us as the next step.  There's just no way that without God in it, we would have been able to get to this point.  There has been so much GRACE over us.  God has been so good.  And there's no doubt that your prayers have made a difference.  Thank you! Thank you!

Not my most Favourte blogpost to write...

Alright, here goes... This is a hard one for me to write as I suppose it's pretty humbling and really puts it out there as to where we are as a family.

And besides what I'm about to share with you being hard, this is probably also the one thing I hate most about being a missionary! We have learned to be quite self-sufficient over the years and have been rather comfortable and blessed beyond our needs. God has been amazing to us and we are so grateful for that.

So...as you may have noticed on most of my blog postings, one of the prayer requests we ask for repeatedly is that God would provide us financially. We are believing that He will be wholly in this one with us as He has led us this far. We also KNOW this is how he is leading our family and that gives us comfort beyond anything else.

It kinda feels like selling the latest yummy treats like those mint chocolate smoothies from Rheo Thompson that are absolutely AMAZING and addictive. But not...Because instead of being able to give you these golden wrapped, delicious, melt in your mouth treats for a couple bucks, we give you something intangible and maybe a few nice feelings. It hardly seems like a good deal, right?

But I do believe it's a good deal...I believe those that give should hold on to those "nice feelings" a bit longer, a bit tighter.
 With EVERY penny that we get, there will be rejoicing and thanksgiving in this household. With EVERY penny received, we will pray a double portion be given back to you (PLUS - that's what Jesus said, look it up!!). We have already heard of a story of someone giving to us and being blessed HUGELY financially the next day!

Not only do these money gifts bless us; They make it possible for us to fulfill God's calling on our lives and to be able to make a change in others lives because of Him using us.

So, all that to say, we need your help.

And, in case you were wondering about these things:

Yes, we sold our house along with most things we own.
Yes, Mike has sold his business successfully.
But, surprisingly maybe, we have been able to pay our debts and pay for SOME of the DTS that we are doing in Kona but that is it. Thank God that we have been able to get to a place of being debt free! We are so thankful for this.

But this does leave us in a place of reliance on family and friends to help us financially. We are looking for one time gifts and for monthly donaters. No amount is too little - I mean that.

YWAM happens to be a non for profit organization and anyone and all that are involved in YWAM are "support-based missionaries". It's just kinda part of the deal.

So, we're asking that you'd consider supporting us in anyway that you're able to.

To all of you who read this - Thanks! AND a HUGE Thanks to those that have already began supporting us! It means alot to us. More than words can express. Thank you, thank you!

The best way to donate would be through paypal(that yellow button at the top right of the page that says 'donate' hooks you up with giving through paypal) or if you're Canadian, e-transfers (via email and online banking) are super easy too. Either one works great.

Thanks again - I promise not to write lots of blogs about needing money but felt the need to put it out there so that those who are wondering where we're really at right now know. That we aren't hoarding a bunch of money from the sale of a house or business but that it's rather the opposite of that! We are walking in financial faith! Of course we were hoping to have more so we could be comfortable but I think God had other plans and lessons to teach us.

Just about there...

What a crazy, insane, stressful, emotional month this has been!  But as I say that, the first thing on my mind is that God has definitely been in it all.  I know there is NO way any of this could have happened if it wasn't for His strength and humongous portion of grace He's covered us with. 
So, let me fill you in.

October 25 we moved out into a tiny space for 5 people to live in.  It was short lasting as the people we were renting from needed us out sooner than initially agreed to.  So, off we went to my parent's place in London.  We've been commuting the girls to their school every day - making it a lot of driving but well worth keeping them there until our departure. 

Mike's business was another hurtle.  Initially, someone had joined in partnership with him but a few weeks into that, he backed out of it and left us back to square one with figuring out what was going to happen with the business with just a month left before we would be gone.  There was a lot of emotions that came along with this as we honestly couldn't see a way to go.  So, this was up to God to do something. 

We have continually believed that this is what God wants of us.  It's been so strongly on both our hearts and the hunger to go has only grown.  It's been a journey to trust God, that's for sure!
My emotions have been pulled in all sorts of directions. To living in a basement, one bedroom home, to thinking we might not be able to go - after having SOLD just about everything we own, to not knowing where we'd be able to store our remainder belongings (Thanks Tarah and Mary!), to money concerns, to screaming needy children (yes, I'm talking about mine and also having to shower a 1 1/2 yr old is NOT fun - the basement home only had a shower to use), to having to move a 2nd time after moving out of our beloved home, to sicknesses.  Yes, it's been fun!  But, seriously - underlying all of this, there has been a gentle peace - faint at times but gave us enough sanity to get through this time
Right in the midst of this going on, I heard this song that brought a lot of comfort to me...here are the words of that:

"I lean not on my own understanding. My life is in the hands of the maker of heaven.
I give it all to you God, trusting that you will make something beautiful out of me.
I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open.
There's nothing I hold on to"

Mike met with someone interested in the business a few times and again this past weekend, Dec 1 who finally then agreed to purchase it!  Thank you Lord for making a way!  So, as I type this now, Mike is running around to organize all the final details for this. 
I'm so proud of Mike.  This has been an extremely difficult process for him.  This business has been his baby.  He has worked so hard to bring it to where it is now.  What a huge accomplishment he's made.  I'm sure he's sad to let it all go but I know his reward will be great.

So, onwards to go to serve our King!
PLEASE get in touch with us to see us before we leave! I'm working a lot but would love to see any of you before we head out!
We leave December 21, 2012 to head to Dallas, Texas where we will spend Christmas with Mike's family.  From there, we will be leaving with 3 other families that are doing the same school as us in Kona!  They all live in the Dallas area and we'll literally be 'caravanning' with them as we drive to Oakland, California.  Making stops in Albuquerque, the Grand canyon and Bakersfield, Ca. along the way. Flying out Jan 1/13.  Spending 2 days to recoup before our session begins Jan 3/13.

Hopefully we'll look happier than this car :)

Areas of Prayer:

1.  We are still in a huge financial need.  Here are more details:  SUPPORT link.  Most importantly, we are looking for monthly supporters - but again, Anything would help.

2.  Safe travels as we drive to California and that there would be NO problems at the boarder/immigration (we have lots of paperwork to backup our endeavors).

3.  That our family would adjust smoothly to our new environments

Until my next post - MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all!  Enjoy this time with your families and let us never forget the gift He has given us!