Dreaming of a White Christmas

One of my Christmas gifts this year came a little early. Late yesterday afternoon as we were preparing for Christmas Eve dinner and church later, a perfect "snow globe" snow started falling just before dusk. It snowed on into the night and left a perfect white world which lasted through Christmas morning. It has melted away now, but has made for a perfect Christmas day, since I truly have been "dreaming of a white Christmas" - especially since we haven't seen snow all month! Sometimes, God gives us gifts we don't even ask Him for. He just knows. Just as we delight to give our children the things they delight in, He takes joy in lavishing love on us. Merry Christmas!

O Christmas Tree...

Last night, we decorated our Christmas tree, and I think Isaac and Joel managed to have fun in spite of my resolve to have a "pretty" tree, and Peter's valiant efforts to protect all ornaments from being broken by tiny hands. It's fun to make traditions, and important to make traditions, but I can't help wondering what our traditions will look like in the coming years. Will there be Christmas trees in Brazil? Will my kids grow up thinking that it "just doesn't feel like Christmas" when there's snow on the ground and it's not 90 degrees? It's bittersweet for me to think of leaving life here behind to some extent, but also the opportunity to make new traditions. And maybe a new setting will give our family new ways to celebrate and emphasize the most important Tradition of all - to center Christmas not around trees and caroling and cookies, but around Christ. Much to think about this Christmas season.

First Presentation

Thank you for praying for us! It was not easy to speak - should I just stop with that?? It's NEVER easy for me to speak out loud to a group of more than 3 people. Peter's probably not a fan either, but he's got the gift of teaching going on, so that helps a bit, even if you are an introvert. :) Okay, I'll continue. It was not easy to speak to an unfamiliar church this morning and have the bulk of the service to prepare for. God gave me back the use of my voice, now only slightly hoarse and squeaky. Was it a "success"? That's the beauty of it - only the Lord knows how successful it was, and thankfully He measures success on a much different scale than we do. I will say that it went smoothly, we met a lot of great people, and some of them told us they had never heard of Wycliffe or JAARS before. It's a blessing to be a part of something that I can truly get passionate about - namely lives being transformed because the Word of God is made available to them in their own language. What a great thing to be thankful for. I'm also thankful for your concern and prayers for us. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

In His Strength

So here I sit, on the eve of our first speaking presentation as Wycliffe missionaries, with a cold that's causing me to quickly lose my voice! Peter and I are speaking tomorrow at a church where we've never been, in a different town, where we know no one. Did I mention we are speaking for most of the morning service?? While we're thankful and excited about this opportunity, I have to admit it's a little daunting... especially with no voice (or really this little scratchy squeaky voice that's almost worse than no voice). We were asked to speak at this church by someone we met at the Missions at the Airport event last month. To me, this is one of those classic God reminders that it's in His strength that we can do anything, not our own. I'm not sure how many of you, our friends, will read this before tomorrow morning, but if you do, we would be grateful if you would pray for us - that we would effectively communicate tomorrow and that we would be constantly aware of the need to abide in Christ's strength, for we are nothing without Him.

Happy Early Thanksgiving!

We just received the news today that our house in Spokane - vacant for the last 6 months - has been RENTED!!!! This has been a huge burden for us and our number one prayer request for some time, but God in His perfect timing (not ours!) has answered. Thank you to all of you who prayed and did what you could to help. November is truly a month to be thankful!

A Blip About Equip

We are mid-way through our first week of Equip. What a privilege it is to be here, learning about aspects of partnership development, what Wycliffe Bible Translators is all about, relationships, prayer... our brains are being stretched but our hearts are encouraged as we continue on the path in which God is leading us. Isaac and Joel continue to adjust well and to have fun in their own "classes" during the day. For me, it has been exciting and eye-opening to realize how my own role in Wycliffe will support the ultimate work of bringing the Word of God to people who do not have it in their heart language. We look forward to the next week and a half!

Welcome to Orlando

We're here! After three days of road tripping, we're in Orlando. The last time I was here was 1986. I was younger than Isaac, but yes, I do remember Disney World! One thing about Orlando in October - it's really hard to pack for hot, humid weather when it's cold and rainy in Pennsylvania and you're wearing a hoodie indoors. It was 86 degrees here today. Thankfully everywhere is air-conditioned. I digress. Not much has happened yet, but we're looking forward to the next two weeks. I think Isaac and Joel are going to have a lot of fun "playing" while Daddy and Mommy are training during the day. They have a great facility and staff. We're staying in an apartment on the Wycliffe campus and we're loving the strange beauty of Florida (strange to our Northern-bred eyes, that is). Thank you for keeping us in your prayers as we travelled here. Please keep us in your prayers as you think about us, for good health for all four of us, strength, and a teachable spirit. Last but not least, Happy 30th Birthday to Peter!! I will do my best to keep posting. :)

Our weekend "at the airport"

We spent this weekend (yesterday and today) at Keller Brothers airport near Lebanon, PA, where JAARS put on a Missions at the Airport event. Peter and I were the featured missionaries and we had a lot of opportunities to meet people and tell them where we're headed. We set up our own table, complete with Brazilian flag and chocolate! :) I also was able to get a ride in the JAARS helicopter (my first helicopter flight!) and Peter took a ride in the helicopter and the Helio Courier (pictured above).

We had a great time and were blessed to meet and talk with many of the JAARS staff putting on the event. Also, while we were at the airport, we received calls from a few people telling us that they had decided to give money toward our Equip and travel expenses. Because of these generous gifts, the cost of Equip and our travel expenses HAS NOW BEEN MET! Last week, we were wondering whether we would be able to go - God has completely met our needs and we are praising Him! We are heading to Florida this Thursday, October 11th. We plan to arrive in Orlando at Wycliffe on Saturday afternoon, and we will do our best to keep people updated while there. We will head back home on October 26th. We appreciate your prayers and also ask you to praise God with us for His provision! Here are a few more pictures from the weekend:

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Two nights ago, we had a blast opening our (small!) home to 17 adults and 9 kids to share a Thanksgiving feast. It was Peter's and my 8th time celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving together, and while it brought back so many memories of all the friends that have celebrated with us in the past seven years, we also made a lot of great memories with a bunch of new friends, too. Our entire small group from church was there, along with Kars and Missy Kroneman - good friends from Spokane (and even Chicago before that!) who have joined us in many past celebrations! We could not have been more crowded, or more blessed. From good food, to good fellowship, to an overflowing crib full of toys (thanks to the kids), we were truly reminded of all we have to be thankful for. And being in the States, we get to celebrate again next month! So Happy Thanksgiving this weekend to all our Canadian friends - thanks for giving us yet another occasion to remember our blessings.

a little closer...

Only one more week of our online course! So far we at about 50% of what we need to attend the course in Florida. We are still planning to go, and relying on God's plan and provision. We are planning to leave for Orlando on October 10th - gulp - just a week and a couple days away!!! This weekend, we will all be attending a Missions at the Airport event at Keller Brothers airport (in Lebanon, PA). We will get to set up our very own table with Brazilian curiosities (okay, we have a flag) and will get to tell people where we're headed. We're looking forward to it! Plus, our good friends from Moody in Spokane, Kars and Missy Kroneman, will be there too! We are so looking forward to seeing them. Tomorrow we look forward to celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving (a week early)... that deserves its own post. :)

A mini update

Tomorrow we will be starting week 5 of our online course - only two weeks to go, then travel week, then our 2 week course at Wycliffe in Orlando starts (October 13th - Peter's THIRTIETH birthday!) Not a lot is happening other than that at the moment, so I'm hoping to update more while we are in Florida. I do need to get in the habit of posting, though! Right now, we appreciate continued prayers for the finances to get there... and back. I can't believe there's only one week of September left! :)

And the Adventure Begins

It's time to start a new blog... and this time I'll actually write in it! The title is misleading - actually we've been on an adventure for quite awhile. But now that we are official members of Wycliffe Bible Translators, on our way to Brazil, and starting the journey of building a team of prayer and financial partners, I feel the need to keep people who are interested updated. Today we finish up week two of our online course with Wycliffe. 4 more weeks of this course, and then we head to Wycliffe headquarters in Orlando, Florida for two weeks of intense further training. More to come!