The Bravest Kids I Know

Greg and I feel truly blessed and honored to have the children that God has blessed us with.  From the moment that we talked to them and told them that we felt called to serve overseas they have been such wonderful troopers.  Thinking back if my parents had come to me and said that we were moving overseas I would have totally freaked out and really asked my parents if they were feeling okay or not!  However, our three have never challenged us why, asked us to change our mind, or have made Greg or I every doubt our decisions this whole time.  Actually, most days Greg and I feel completely exhausted and want to crawl into bed and all the kids want to do is invite someone else over or go and make some more new friends.  Especially, our little Jaclynn who we are discovering is a little social bug.  Even know as we face some of the biggest changes in our lives so far they still are filled with this excitement and joy as they look forward to the next step.  However, they do have their moments when all the change and busyness becomes overwhelming and they just need time with mom and dad.  Just last week as we were finalizing the deal for selling our house Isaac went into panic mode and took a few days of daddy and mommy time to settle back down again.  Thank you to all of you who have been praying for our family and especially for those who pray for our children daily.  People always say that Greg and I are so brave leaving everything behind and following God and I would say that it is my children who are the real brave ones.   If our family comes to mind please keep us in your prayers as the next six and a half weeks all really intense.  I need to figure out what to put into storage, what to put in the garage sale, and what we need to take with us to MI.  Plus the boys still have school work daily (even though they will argue this point), Greg is flying to  BC for two weeks, and we are still working on building our ministry partnership team.

Animal crackers and a friend to share with what more

                      could a girl ask for!

Another Hard day at the office (had to listen to mom and dad speak again!)

                                                   Quick before they escape!!!       

Which Way is Up?

Well the Lord has been stretching and blessings us like crazy these past couple weeks.  Sometimes to the point I'm not sure which direction I'm facing anymore. :-)  It started a couple weeks ago when I agreed to preach at our home Church here in Steinbach.  Talk about a huge responsibility, not to mention there is something different when I'm speaking to friends and family rather than strangers.  It did go well in the end as I was able to give a challenge and some encouragement from the fig tree story in Mark 11:12-21.   For those that weren't there and would like to hear it you can find it online under the Audio tab at http://cornerstonebiblechurch.ca/.   During this time of preparations we were also preparing our house for sale and within 3 days of me pounding our For Sale sign in the front yard we have a signed offer to purchase and by the 26th all the conditions should be removed.  This was the timing of God as we were defiantly caught off guard and never really expecting it to happen so fast not to mention how easy it has been so far.  As we had elected to try and sell it on our own first.  And along with the good however comes the scary proposition of now being house-less.   I was reminded today in Psalms 23:1-3 that God will take care of us regardless if we own a house or not.  In fact I in many ways had forgotten this promise as I had lived a lot on my own guidance and strength but as I look to a some what uncertain future it cause me to fall on my knees more and more and place my trust in my Shepherd.  Which is a very good place to be, not always the easiest place but the best.  And through all this and as we prepare for Easter my heart has been ever aching for the lost here and around the world.  Which has kept me moving forward through the down times these past couple months knowing that ahead of us lies great opportunity to be used to help save the lives and souls of those around us.  My carnal mind tends to put the scare into me as I think of what I'm "giving up" but when I consider these things in light of eternity I'm not "giving up" anything of real value but rather investing temporal things into what I trust will give eternal rewards.  I have been struggling quite a bit recently with my carnal mind not wanting to let go of my earthly things.  I'm very thankful for this means of transparency that God can use to show me some of my own faults and short comings.  I can then commit them over to Him to work a change in my heart and mind.

Blessings Greg

Buy & Sell

This week marked the next two small steps of faith towards our journey.  Step one was putting a deposit on a small cargo trailer that should arrive in a few weeks.  This trailer will become our mobile storage shed for the next year and a bit as we move across the country a couple times.  We start with a move to Michigan where we will remain for 12 months and after that we will pack up and move to Idaho for a few months.  And finally we will probably move the remains of our stuff to Alberta where it will be stored as we travel to Indonesia.

The second step and probably bigger one was that we placed some add's for our house on Steinbach Online and Kijiji Winnipeg.  We will give this avenue a try first before we spend money to sell our house.  Lord willing we will be homeless by June.  A strange wish but another step towards our ministry with MAF!

Our planned travel plans before we move to Michigan for the spring and summer are;  May 8-24 Greg will be traveling to Vancouver Island to give an update and to share so more with our friends and family there.  As well during the week he will be helping his uncle on a project.  Early June our whole family will be returning to Alberta to pick up where we left off last fall.  During July 24th-27th we have the privilege of being apart of a missions conference in Waldheim SK.  After which we hope to turn our vehicles east for Michigan with a stop back in Steinbach before the final trek out of the country for the next 16 months.

Bananas, Packing, Riding and Traveling

Here is a hojpoj of pictures from our life as we've known for the past few weeks.

Going bananas might be a good way of describing life at times in our home. But we love it just the same.

Our closet after we emptied, sorted out what was now trash and what was to give away and what we would keep. Why do we keep so much stuff? Don't answer that it was a rhetorical question :)

I forgot to take a before picture of the closet in our office/classroom but this is what the living room looked like after we emptied it. You can't see it in this picture but our kitchen table and counters were covered too.

Our neighbor giving Franklin and Isaac a ride own their new toy. Isaac didn't enjoy the first ride too much but we were able to talk him into a second one which he enjoy a lot more.

This was our weekend home (green roof, the other building was the local Church) as we traveled through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on our way down and way back home. It made a wonderful resting stop on our travels to and from Michigan.

Packing

During the last two weeks it seems like the most common word or term used in our house is packing. It started with the unpacking of the van from our time in MI and not a day later my faithful hardworking wife has started packing again. Only this time she has started to go through our stuff and decide what to keep and store, what to move and what needs to find new owners. I'm sure glad she is gifted with this kind of thing as I would be lost at doing such a daunting task and worse of all I would probably keep everything. We are also discovering that Isaac; does not like to part with things just like his father and has shed a few tears this past two weeks. It seems that he thought he needed to keep all of his stuffed animals instead of taking clothes with him when we move! In his mind this seemed like a great plan! Over all the first couple of days haven't been to bad but we haven't gotten to where a lot of my stuff is. And Julie will probably have to do most of that when I am not home so I don’t see what she is giving away. It sure is amazing what we like to hang on to and place value on only to keep in a closet. Thankfully, we have had a few people offer their assistance with sorting and some painting that needs to be done. And the weather here has warmed up enough that the children have gotten out their bikes and been able to do some bike riding while Julie has been sorting through their stuff. Even though this step seems overwhelming it is also exciting to be heading one more step closer to the field and following God’s calling.

Home Again

Well it is true we are home again. The trip home went well the kids traveled very well. They even were complemented by a waitress for their good behavior and that was near the end of our long day traveling Monday evening.

Julie and I are looking forward to spending the next couple months here in Steinbach with our friends, as these next couple months maybe the last time we are able to be in the area for a couple years. Our next step will likely take us back west and then on our return to Steinbach it will likely be a short pack up and move venture as we move to Ionia Michigan for the start of my Aircraft Mechanics course later this summer. So please don't hesitate to contact us if you are wanting to see us this time through Steinbach.

Blessings

Greg (Julie)

and the kids

PS it is very nice to be able to sleep in our own bed and room :)

Receiving God's Word For The First Time

The following link is of a 10 min. video of a people group in West Papua Indonesia receiving their first copy of the New Testament in their own language.

Kimyal New Testament Video