Blessings

Just wanted to take a moment to share a little bit of the blessings the Lord has given us the last few weeks. Tonight we went to Fellowship Baptist Church in Bluff City and were honored to be a part of their missions projects and receive some support from them. The amazing part for me is to see how God has brought us into relationships with people here in Bristol and even in other areas and to see how He had bigger plans for those relationships that we ever would have imagined. Aaron knew a few people at the church we went to tonight, but I had never met any of them. It was so encouraging to sit in the seats and hear all the mission projects this church is involved in locally and around the world. Even though I had never met anyone in this church, I sat there with brothers and sisters in Christ.....and it was so obvious that this church has a heart for the Lord and sharing Him with others. It was just so encouraging and humbling, to have them support us and want to keep up with our ministry and pray for us. It is just a beautiful picture of the body of Christ working together to glorify His name.
   And the Lord has blessed us with a couple of more monthly supporters whom we are SO grateful for and excited about. Again, these weren't relationships that we planned, but just people whom the Lord has allowed our paths to cross and He has put a desire in their hearts to be a part of this ministry. These are wonderful reminders that this is His plan and we just need to keep following Him.
   We are in awe of His goodness and provision.

Another blessing.....we were excited to have dinner Friday night (kid free) with a couple from our church who have served as missionaries. It was a great evening of wonderful food and fellowship. We enjoyed hearing their stories and words of wisdom from all they have experienced. We thank the Lord again and again for our church family here in Bristol. They are so supportive and such a blessing to us.

Finally, we were blessed to have the opportunity to do "baby dedication" at our church this morning with Layna. It was a real sweet time of committing ourselves as parents, in front of our church, to raising her to love the Lord and glorify Him. We understand that she is a gift from the Lord and she is His before she is ours. We do pray that her life will bring glory to Him and that we will do our part to teach her and train her in who He is and how much He loves her. It was also a blessing to have my Mom and Dad there at the service to be a part of the dedication. Then we all went and ate a yummy lunch together!
    Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Hope you all have a good week!

The Everyday Question of Motherhood

I came across this yesterday and wanted to share it. It is a MUST read for moms and really for anyone. It is challenging, very challenging. But it also puts life into the proper perspective. 

The Everyday Question of Motherhood

Letting go.......

I was very thankful this past week to have my Mom & Dad keep our girls for a couple of nights to allow us to get some sorting and packing done. Actually, it is still mainly just sorting and getting rid of A LOT of stuff. Our goal right now is to minimize. It is actually a pretty good feeling most of the time. Sometimes it is stressful, some things are hard to decide on. It's funny because a few things I have kept back thinking I really needed those items, then a couple of weeks later, I am ready to pack it up and take it to the Haven (our thrift store ministry).
    One of my favorite things is to journal. I started keeping a diary when I was really young, and it is hilarious to read what I wrote about in third grade! And then middle school.....oh my goodness. It was really FUN to get to read part of these as I was cleaning out(slowed me down a bit). At some point my regular journals turned into prayer journals. Going back through some of these journals was just like a trip down memory lane. And it is AMAZING to look back and see all that God has taught me, all that He has brought me through, all that He has BLESSED me with! I was almost in tears just being overwhelmed with His goodness and being able to see how He led me through each season of my life. It was so encouraging. As we get ready to take this next step, I know there will be difficulties and I know there will be great blessings as well. I pray that the Lord will make me more like Christ. I pray He will grow me closer to Him than I have ever been before.
     I struggle with letting my "to-do" list overwhelm me and getting so preoccupied with all that needs to be done. I am praying that the Lord would teach me how to ABIDE in Him as I prepare for this big move, to set my eyes on Him and His promises instead of my list of "to-do's". I found a couple of great resources as I was sorting through that I read this morning. One of them is "Put off....Put On". It just lists all the attitudes/actions that are characterized by the old man and then the opposite of that which is who we are in Christ. I would like to post it on here.....there are 78 of them though! With scripture references.
     We had a full weekend with my nephew's birthday party in Dandridge and then back to the CMDA dinner Saturday night. It was exciting because this was our first opportunity to share about what we are going to be doing in Kenya. We are so thankful for the wonderful Christian friends and church family that the Lord has given us here in Bristol. Also, I think we finally managed to get a family picture made so we can order our "official" prayer cards! And over the weekend Aaron was able to get a lot of the tedious paperwork for each of us gathered together and mailed off. So we appreciate your continued prayers and praise God for the progress that we are making.
      I am hoping to figure out how to shrink our family picture. It's a bit huge if you ask me :)
Hope everyone has a good week.

Honoring my husband

Just wanted to take a moment to honor my husband....

Last week he received a special award for "demonstrating excellence in clinical care, leadership, compassion and dedication to service." He was chosen out of 60 other family medicine residents.

I am so proud of him. I thank God for giving him a career that is fulfilling and challenging. I thank God for a husband who does his job for the glory of God. I pray that God would continue to teach him how to be a good doctor for His glory.

Spring Pictures

I decided to put the girls' Easter dresses on and try to get a few pictures. They both loved putting on their pretty dresses. As soon as they put them on they started twirling and dancing.











Happy Spring and Easter! Just wanted to share a few pictures of the girls. We have been enjoying this beautiful weather so much. It's funny how I am starting to think a little differently. Just trying to really enjoy and appreciate all the beautiful things that happen in the spring, knowing that we won't be around here to watch spring arrive for at least a couple of years. However, I have been told by a few different people that Kapsowar is one of the most beautiful places there is. I think there are flowers there to enjoy as well. I feel very blessed to be getting to go and serve in such a beautiful setting. I know we will be leaving behind a lot of things, but I feel like the Lord is giving us some things to look forward to as well.

I just started the Beth Moore bible study on James about a week ago. Yesterday I was doing some of the homework and there were a couple of verses that really got my attention.

5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

First of all, I feel like I am in constant need of wisdom from the Lord. So this verse is encouraging to me. He gives to all "generously". However, Beth Moore pointed out that there is a condition to receiving this wisdom. The condition is that we have to ask in faith without doubting. If we don't ask in faith, expecting the Lord to provide the wisdom we need, then we will receive nothing and be unstable in all our ways. I know I am guilty of praying this way at times and it was a great reminder and challenge to PRAY IN FAITH, and EXPECT God to give the wisdom we ask of Him.

When I picked Braelyn up from preschool today her teacher told me "She is definitely a singer." Apparently she serenades them often with her musical talents :). One of the verses I hung in Braelyn's room when she was born was Psalm 71: 8 and 15... "May Braelyn's mouth be filled with Your praise and tell of Your righteousness, declaring your glory and salvation all day long." I love to hear her sing praise songs in the car and at church and even on the toilet! :)
I should also say that there has been a lot of rudeness and bad attitude flowing out of her mouth as well lately. We are preaching "obey with a good attitude" and "speak kindly" a lot right now. So, the other morning we were driving to church and talking to Braelyn about giving some of her money as an offering at church. We have just now started to introduce her to the idea. She won $10 for her dessert she helped make at the chili/dessert cookoff last weekend. So we asked her how much of it she wanted to give to God and she said "All of it!" (She was confused about how she was going to give the money to God because she can't reach that high in the sky :)) And then in the car we were discussing how giving our offering is one way we can worship God, and aaron asked her what were some other ways that we can worship God, and she said "By obeying Him". And it just thrilled and surprised my heart to hear her say that. I really was not expecting a "correct" answer. And honestly I wasn't even considering that as an answer in my own head.....but it was a great reminder to me that my obedience to the Lord is not just something I "should do".....but it is worship and it is pleasing to my Heavenly Father.

Layna on Display

Here's Layna yesterday showing off all her tricks. Enjoy

Passports have arrived!

I realize these are pics from Feb, but I know most of you don't care if I am sharing out of order. We had some warm days and the girls got to play outside some. They LOVE our little sandbox. They played so well together with it. I was very impressed. Another day they decided to do some gardening. And then I just put in a pic of Layna with her baby. I think she looks like a Precious Moments doll with her big sad eyes in that pic. She loves taking care of her baby dolls.



And a few fun pics of Layna playing in her rocking chair with her favorite hat. She is a funny girl. I am enjoying her more and more as she begins to show more of her personality. Her favorite words lately are "hallelujah" and "hi-YAH". She loves to play outside and give hugs and kisses :).



So, like the post title says, all of our passports have arrived! It's kind of crazy seeing Layna and Braelyn's pictures in a passport. This desire to "go" and share the gospel in a foreign land has been our plan for so long, but it has always been going to happen "in the future." NOW, the "future" has arrived and we are really going to do this! There are so many emotions, so many thoughts, and so many things to do that are always swirling around in my head. I struggle daily most of the time with not getting overwhelmed with "life". I am realizing how desperately I need to bring myself before the Lord each morning and confess my need of Him and ask Him to fill me up with His Spirit. One thing the Lord has been showing me lately is that some of my reactions and attitudes are not pleasing to Him. I think I justify my frustrations and my bad attitudes in a lot of different ways, but ultimately they are not pleasing to Him and therefore they are sin. I want to learn how to truly live and walk in HIS SPIRIT, and I know that should look much different. It doesn't matter if we go to another continent to be missionaries if I go in my own strength and let my "old self" control me. But if I can learn to crucify my "old self", my flesh, and let Christ live in and through me in the little details and big details of my everyday living......then it doesn't matter where I am in this world, or what I am doing, because I will be pleasing to Him and bringing glory to His name.
I realize learning how to live and walk by His Spirit is a lifelong process, and a daily, minute by minute process as well. But I want the Lord to teach me. Right now I am quoting Galatians 2:20 a lot and praying it. One thing the Lord has taught me is that there is power in His Word.

Well, on a lighter note....Aaron won 2nd place in the Chili cookoff at our church tonight! Woohoo :). We had a fun weekend of fellowship with our sunday school class saturday night and then the chili dinner tonight. We love our church family and are so thankful for them. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that I got to talk with both of the missionary women from Kapsowar this past week! It was really nice getting to talk with them and learn more about what our life will be like and just more ideas on what to pack. I will try to put a post up soon just summarizing some of the things that I learned. I am trying to make a habit of updating the blog on Sunday nights, so maybe next week. Hope everyone has a good week!