Colorado

Well Friends, the time is here. Please be in prayer for us over the next few weeks. This is the final process in becoming missionaries with Cadence International. I am looking forward to the time we will have to be around others who are doing the same things as we are. It is that Body of Believers/Faith-walking/ God's will thing that really gets me excited. This past Sunday our friend Hank Austin preached in church. He spoke about praying a prayer that God will always answer. And he told about a missionary and his sons who were killed in India while the Wife and daughter lived. The missionaries death and the testimony of his wife and daughter have begun to change the hearts of the people in India. He talked about how we need to pray the Lord's will. That sometimes God uses bad things to Glorify him. This has really caused me to think a lot. To think about our decision to go oversees with Cadence. I wrestled with idea for a long time. I think the biggest struggle I had was that I knew that I might not be able to come home to the states if something happened. I thought about my parents and my grandparents and how if I missed their funerals I would be so sad. And then God helped me to see that I have Christian parents and grandparents. If I didn't make it home for their funerals it would be okay because they wouldn't be there. And that they would want me to be growing God's Kingdom. Their was definitely a sadness that hit. A selfish sadness. But I have been reminded of how God has been so good to allow me to live with in 20 minutes of my parents the last 4 years. And now I am less than 2 miles from my grandparents. These times with them have been so precious and I think I have cherished them. I know even now as we see old friends at church, spend time with cousins we haven't seen in a while, and put my arms around my friends kids, that God is giving us these moments to re-energize after Seminary, to sustain us when we leave, and to help us encourage our Brothers in Christ. So even though no one has mentioned going overseas, I have wonderful peace, that if God called me, I would choose his will over my own.

Some specific things to pray over us:
1. That God would allow us to be ourselves in a room full of strangers. I know y'all can't believe I am really praying that, but I am a little nervous.

2. That the children would be good for their Aunt and Uncle. That they would be stretched to learn new things and be around new people.

3. That we would make new friends going to the mission field that would last for eternity.

4. And that since we don't have the kids, that we would have some goo quality time with the Lord and with each other.

I shared with David tonight as I was tucking him in, that I wasn't going to complain about having to be away from him so long. And even though I will miss him and his siblings terribly, it made me thankful for the men and women who serve our country and who day after day have to say good-bye to their families. And they do that for much longer than 2 weeks! So while I am away from the children, I hope that I can have perspective!