Learning patience...

Yes, two months is too long in between updates!

It seems as if we are being tested in our patients again. We have been waiting since the beginning of October for Adam's work visa to be approved. From what we hear this process can take about three months...or longer. But we know God has a plan and His timing is always perfect. Habakkuk 2:3 states, "For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay." God is truly teaching us patients for his perfect timing. He will help to keep us focused and forbearing. 

Halloween FunAs we wait we are busy fulfilling the requirements for our entry permits (chest x-rays, letters of good health and character, HIV tests, vaccinations, etc.), praying for and raising support, sharing our story with Lincoln County churches, enjoying the holidays with friends and family, and trying to wrap our head around this crazy idea of packing our household of six into ten fourty-five pound checked bags!  

Adam's 2012 Harvest: Heavy 3x3 Blacktail

Lainie's First Year of Quizzing

Meeting Cousin Nora

We have been officially announced!

IT'S OFFICIAL...the word is out! 

We have been officially announce to the Melanesia and South Pacific region! We are currently waiting patiently for everything to come together. Just a few things we are currently working on: sending out support letters, waiting on Gracyn's birth certificate for her passport, planning a moving sale, starting school, bow hunting, waiting for work visa's and trying to figure out what to pack/sell/store!

One step closer and yet it still seems so far away. We will continue to wait and pray as things fall into place. Luckily we know His timing is perfect and we will leave when the time is right!

"To scout or not to scout...successfully?"

A mentor of mine calls cross-referencing "taking a bunny trail". However, my husband, who is a manly man, has decided to call it "going on a scouting trip". As I pondered the idea of scouting through the Bible and thought about what the word scouting means and how it might look in context, I also thought about the scouting trips we've been on while looking for potential game. 
Quiet, patient, focused, persistent...just a few words that SHOULD describe what a perfect scouting trip might look like. However, with four kids our trips usually can be described with words more like, noisy, restless, distracted, not exactly actions that assist us in gathering information about our potential prey. Instead it usually leads to everything but the desired outcome. (I will say that we do usually have fun with the kids, which in my mind is what it is all about.) 
When looking up "scouting" in the Thesaurus I came upon an interesting list of synonyms. It said, "search, look, hunt, ferret about, root around". As I contemplated those terms they brought to mind our girls and how uniquely each one encounters life. I realized that each of these terms describe them in their own unique way. Lainie, our oldest daughter, is a "hunter". She is determined, has a plan and needs to know what the plan is. Hali, our second daughter, tends to "ferret about". She is a free spirit, creative and imaginative. Reegan, our third daughter, is on a "search". Always looking for trouble and usually getting into it. And Gracyn our fourth daughter is...well...let's just say "rooting around" at this point! Each one looks at life and takes it all in through a different perspective. 
Many times in my own devotional life, I find myself taking "scouting trips" that are too often similar to the ones with our girls: noisy, restless, distracted. However, Psalms 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God" and Isaiah 30:15 states, "in quietness and in trust shall be your strength". I am finding that I need to remind myself daily what kind of a journey I am on. Because no matter how I encounter life, I need to encounter my time with God in one way, like a successful "scouting trip": quiet, patient, focused and persistent. And my "scout" will help to lead me on a successful journey through life.