The Opening of Doors!!!

As of yesterday we were officially accepted to attend the MTC in Ontario this coming fall!!!  And within the last 24 hours many amazing things has happened!
I have been in communication with the admissions department of NTM Canada and have been able to get many of the details worked out.  We also have sold some of our big items of furniture, AND...God has provided for our Newfoundland and Idaho visits air fair to be paid for!
This whole thing has been such a huge step of faith, more like a leap, and it is so encouraging to see God opening up the doors for us to walk through!

We are very excited to keep moving forward, one step at a time.  I am so excited to see God work and to rest in Him daily as we pursue this goal of being part of giving His word to those who don't have it.  He really is Jehovah Jireh...my Lord who Provides, and I LOVE HIM.

Preparing...

8 places in 4 1/2 years

     That would be 8 different homes lived in,  in the 4 1/2 years we have been married.  That would be a an average of 5 1/2 months in each place since we said 'I Do'.  Jackson MI, Ammon ID, Idaho Falls ID, Middle Stewiacke NS, 3 different places in Truro NS, and now...Durham ON.  

     We are entering yet another season in our life!  A brand new season that is bringing with it many new and exciting things!  We are awaiting approval for our missionary training right now.  Once we are approved (hopefully within a week) we will plan to move again.  That will include selling most of our physical possessions-again, arranging airline tickets and a moving-trailer rental, some auto repairs to prepare one of our cars for selling and the other for the move to Ontario, and the one thing we have never done before - preparing to quite working.  

     The thought of us stopping a 'normal' job brings many emotions with it!  I, for one, am kind of a control freak.  I clearly understand that about myself, and the thought of quitting my job and trusting the Lord's provision to meet my every day needs is both exciting, but also very nerve wrecking!!!  I know God is Jehovah Jireh-The LORD who Provides.  It is one of my favourite names of my Lord.  I love it how Jesus explained his provision in Matthew chapter 6:

 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? "

      I am very excited to see how God will  provide our food, drink, clothing and so much more!  We are transitioning into a phase of living by the support of others.  One might ask why on earth we are doing this...  Well, there are roughly 2,000 language groups in this world that do not have His Word in their language, totalling around 200 million people!!!  When Mitch and I heard that our minds were blown away!  Our thought was, "why are there still so many?!  And why aren't more people going if there are still that many out there who haven't heard, or couldn't have heard because they don't have a Bible in their language?".   Our natural response was to make the decision to GO.  We knew that we would do whatever it takes to 'GO and make disciples', as long as we were physically able to, we would work towards that goal.  

Remember these faces.  They are brothers in Christ!

     We know that not everyone can  pack up their stuff and move to the outer most parts of this world, but they can still be Jesus' 'hands and feet' to the nations by partnering with those, through support, that can physically go.  That is part of this new chapter in our life!  One that is new and unfamiliar to us.  We are beginning to build a team that shares our heart for the nations.  A team that is passionate about seeing the great commission fulfilled!

Bible teaching in a tribe in Papua New Guinea

Will you join with us in the mission of taking God's Word to those who do not have it, being Christ's hands and feet right along side of us?  If you have more than one copy of an English Bible in your home or on your phone, and you value that priceless gift for what it is...
will you pray for us as we prepare to GO?  Will you give? 
 Will you  go???

Let the Meetings Begin!

     So, we officially had our first 'meeting' with our church!  Our monthly missions ministry team meeting was last night and I presented out goals and plans to the team!  It was so encouraging to be able to share our hearts passion and desire with them, and to see their faces light up just talking about taking God's Word to those who don't have it!  What an honour to serve with a group of people who are passionate about the great commission!
     We were encouraged last night at the meeting to visit all of our church's small groups, Sunday school classes, and house church's to present the same information to everyone in the church that we can!  We are SO excited to be able to share with people about the need that so many people have in this world!  We have a binder that has a list of all of the language groups that don't have the Bible in their language and we are looking forward to being able to share that with everyone as a visual reference of the reality so many people face!
    We are still in the process of applying to the MTC.  There is lots to get turned in to complete the application process.  We are still waiting for some of our references to be submitted  our police checks to come back, and our physicals to get done.  Its exciting to be able to check things off of the 'to do' list one by one!
     Will you join with us in prayer?  We are praying to the One Who Sees (El Roi-Genesis 16)!  He does indeed hear our prayers, and we are excited to rest in Him as we move forward in the journey.  We are praying for people to join with us in serving our Lord in this great commission; people who will partner with us and play a vital role in seeing the people of this world come to know the Saviour that created them and that loves them!  Prayer is a beautiful gift, and we came come to Him in prayer with all our thoughts, concerns and desires.  Will you join with us in praying? In giving? In serving?  In...going???

  

Moving Forward!

I cant believe that yet another month has flown on by!  It seems that time is going by at lightning speed!  Mitch and I have been busy beginning to prepare for attending school this fall at the Missionary Training Centre!  It seems that the doors do indeed keep opening in that direction for us.

One of our big concerns was finding good homes for our 2 dogs, and it appears that we have a great family interested in our big dog Xerxes, and Mitch's brother is willing to take our pug Sampson. :)
We are in the midst of filling out and handing out all of the paperwork and applications required to apply to school.  Once we finish those and get them approved we can move forward even more in our plans to attend this fall.

The first step we will have is finding out what our needs will be while we attend school (how much it will cost to live on campus per month).  We will be having to join in partnership with friends and family  to support us through our training.  We are so excited to be one step closer to playing a tangible roll in taking the Word of God to those who have never been able to have it before!

Once we begin that process we will plan a trip back to Idaho to visit our home church there, Christ Community Church.  We really have missed all the wonderful friends we have there and cant wait to spend some time with them again before we start our classes this fall!
And...with going to school brings on another big move!  We will be selling most of our stuff, only taking the necessities with us, and doing all the fun things that we need to do in order to move to another province.

I'd like to challenge you to join with us in praying for those who don't have God's Word!  Pray for brothers and sisters in Christ to be willing to GO and preach the Good News of Christ!  Its that saving Good News that gives us hope and an amazing relationship with our Creator!  Please pray that God will give Mitch and I wisdom as we move forward, and that He will raise up partners to come along side us in the goal of taking His Word to the outermost parts of this world!!!

Blizzards and Applications

Xerxes loves playing in the snow!

Sampson really does hate the cold!

     A blizzard?  Yes!  We are having one!  I always have loved crazy weather.  I am not sure why, but I always think of it as an adventure.  :)  Whether it was 3 feet of snow in 24 hours in Alaska, crazy rain with flooding ocean waters and huge red wood trees blowing over in Oregon, tornado's and lake effect snowfall in Michigan, and now hurricanes and blizzards in Nova Scotia, I just seem to love it all!

     Along with crazy weather, this year so far has brought lots of other fun things!  Mitch was able to go to a young adults retreat in January call The Well.  It was in New Brunswick, and was located an hour outside of Muncton.  I had to work that weekend, but Mitch had a great time of fellowship, got to know some new friends, and really had time to rest in the Lord and be challenged by the Spirit. :)

     We are still blessed to be helping out with the youth at our church.  Mitch and one of the other guy small group leaders planned a guys night at our place last weekend.  They had a blast!!  It was a game night, and there was every kind of game you could think of going on all at the same time!  007 on the PlayStation, Mario Kart on the Wii, various card games, Risk, and so much more!  about 15 youth came and stayed the night.  I had to work a night shift that night doing inventory at work, so it worked out great because that made it possible for it truly to be a guys only night.

    We are also VERY excited to update that we are en-route to the Missionary Training Centre !!  We are in the process of applying right now.  Lord willing we will be attending fall of 2013.  We have lots to do before then, but are very excited to go!  It has been 4 years since we graduated from the Bible Institute and we have been longing to attend the MTC since then.  God has taught us SO much in those 4 years.  He as matured as a couple as well as individually and we are excited to begin the process of moving forward in our training to be career missionaries!  The unreached people groups of this world weigh heavy on our hearts every day, and we long so desperately for them to come to know their Saviour and Creator!  We are overwhelmed with joy to be a small part of that mission.  We are trusting the Lord in directing us, and know He will guide us along in His perfect timing.

Where we will be moving

     We are in the process of applying to the MTC right now.  For those who aren't familiar with that, it is the Missionary Training Centre with New Tribes Mission.  It is located in Durham Ontario Canada.  It is the final part of the training with New Tribes Mission that we need before we will, Lord willing, go overseas to serve Him in reaching the people groups of this world that do not have Gods Word in their own language.  It is this Word that directs our life, gives us hope, and has transformed our lives in every possible way!  It is what allowed us to know our Creator, Saviour, and allows us to have a loving relationship with Him!  There are roughly 2,000 language groups in this world that don't this life-giving gift, and we want to help bring that number down!  That is what we are passionate about, and that is why we want to do what we want to do. :)

Faces of this world

     As we begin to prepare there is lots for us to get done.  We have to finish our applications.  We then will need to build our team.  Yes, Mitch and I are the ones physically going, but it will take a large team of people who are passionate about the unreached peoples of this world to come along side us and join with us in this ministry!  Prayer is the most vital tool we have, other than the Word itself, and we need people praying with us and for us, that God will do His work through this ministry.  Along with prayer we will need people join with us financially.  Once we are accepted to the MTC we are considered New Tribes Missionaries and in order for us to finish our training and start our over-seas ministry we will need to raise the monthly support to keep the ministry going.  We love seeing how God raises up His people to join with one another to accomplish His will!  Just like the Audio Adrenaline song "Hands a Feet" so wonderfully put it, we are His hands and feet in this world!

Faces of this world

     Please join with us in praying!  We are praying for our hearts to be prepared for what is to come.  We are praying for wisdom, and that He will raise up a team of believers to come along side us in this ministry!  Ask the Lord if He has a place for you in this, reaching the unreached.  Being a part of taking His Word to those who dont have it.  A part in giving the gift of eternal life to those who have no hope, and a part in giving the most priceless gift anyone could give-the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!

     We are so blessed by everyone God has placed in our lives!  We are excited to see how God works out the details of His ministry.  He is truly Jehovah Jireh, and He always provides!

 

Christmas

Merry Christmas! 

Wow! Another Christmas has come and gone! We were able to spend it with Mitch's family.  I always enjoy going little his parents house.  They live out in the country and its always so refreshing to go out and get out of town. 

We have so much to be thankful for.  We are thankful for Jesus! He came as a baby so he could die as a sacrificial lamb.  It is becuase of this that we are eternally grateful.  We have peace and joy in our hearts because of the hope we have through Christ!

We are excited to see what 2013 will bring.  We are hoping to go the school this fall at the Missionary Training Center in Ontario still and are working towards that still. 

It appears that the trip to India that Mitch was hoping to go on will be heading out this fall, the same time we hope to attend the MTC, so we are thinking Mitch will not be going on that trip.  We are still very excited for those going on that trip and we just know that God will orchistrate the right people to go.  :). His timing and plan is perfect, we just have to focus on Him and trust Him to take care of the rest. 

Frost

It's finally happened.  Anyone who lives even the slightest bit north knows what it is and the scraping sound it makes on the car windshield...frost.  Winter has come and with that frost as well

The changing of another season has come to pass. I can't help but be reminded of Gods amazing creation, how amazing this universe is that He created! I get this mental image of our world moving through this galaxy at its amazing speed moving further from our sun...causing our breath to become visible as we walk outside and bringing the frost to cover everything that we see. This changing of the seasons brings to my mind the different seasons in life. I find that no matter how much I remind myself that winter is coming I still am in shock when the frost comes. It seems that I have told myself over and over that I will experience different seasons in life. Seasons of joy, sorrow, new beginnings, and stillness, yet I still find myself in shock when these seasons come and go! I'm so thankful that just as the changing of the weather is in Gods hands so is the changing of the seasons in my life. "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven..." Ecclesiasties 3:1 This chapter in Ecclesiasties continues to go on about how there is a season in life for everything...to sow and reap, for joy & sorrow, life & death ect... I find this passage of scripture beautiful and can see a glimpse of Gods amazing design through it! I thank Him that He is the perfect designer and that when I find myself in shock from a new season in my life, I know He has planned it that way for a reason. All I need to do it trust him and enjoy the beauty of it around me!

Jam Session

Mitch & I have recently started to help out with our church's youth group.  When we lived in Idaho we helped with the Junior high and loved it!  We were SO excited when Micah, our youth pastor here, asked us to help out.
Last week was our first week.  We got to the church a little early and saw that there were a whole bunch of kids playing a variety of musical instruments.  We sat in the pews and watched them play and sing some sweet praises to our Lord.  As they were finishing up their practice, youth began to fill the sanctuary and then the youth group service began with worship led by the youth that were there practising.
After youth group had finished up I went and introduced myself to the brave man that was so willing to lead all those kids in learning how to play an instrument (everything from the piano, base, drums, and guitar!)
I recently began to play the guitar again, and Mitch has been wanting to play the base again as well.  So I asked this man if we could come early for youth group and play with them to get some much needed practice in, plus get some help from him if we needed it.  He was excited to have us join him and welcomed us warmly. :)
So today was youth group again, and we went an hour early to jam a bit.  I just love 'jamming for Jesus'!  The first half hour was with the little kids, and the second with the youth.  What a blessing it was to be able to play with them all.    
A 17 year old girl gave her testimony tonight, and it was SO cool to be reminded of how God uses the young in such a powerful way!  Several people came to an understanding of Jesus' saving Grace tonight through that girls testimony!  How cool is that!?  :D
I am happy to play more praises to God, with others, especially my best friend...and even more happy that there are a few more people that will spend all of eternity in a loving relationship with my Lord!  Praise God for a great day!  :)

I welcome You with praise!!!

Let our praise be Your welcome

Let our songs be a sign

We are here for You, we are here for You

Let Your breath come from heaven

Fill our hearts with Your life

We are here for You, we are here for You

I am here for You...I welcome You with praise...fill my heart with Your life...I am here for You.  That has been the cry of my heart of late.  I am in awe of my God!  He has brought me to a place in my life that I have never been  before...a dessert place.  He has brought me here and has been teaching me SO many things, with such tender and gentle whispers.  He has been breaking me down, stripping away my flesh, and giving me a very intimate image of His amazing love for me.  He has been actively pursuing me in the dessert, whispering to me that a promise land is coming, all the while holding me in his arms and loving me in ways I never thought possible. 

To You our hearts are open

Nothing here is hidden

You are our one desire

You alone are holy

Only You are worthy

God, let Your fire fall down

My heart is open to you...You are my one desire...You are worthy!  Only you are worthy!  This journey began some time ago.  God allowed several things to happen in my life that I never thought would.  Mitch and I were both struggling with different things and didnt know what to do, we were at a cross-road.  We both felt that the Lord wanted us to get together with a very good friend of ours who was a pastor from our church, Lynn Erskine, to have some wise council.  God used Lynn to speak directly to our hearts.  He had different things to say to both of us, and his words cut right to our hearts.  The Lord shared things with us through Lynn that only God could have known...and both Mitch and I have been impacted in ways that we will never forget. We were so blessed to have the Lord speak to us in such an intimate way, actively pursuing us and doing that by using our friend to speak it to us...

Let our shout be Your anthem

Your renown fill the skies

We are here for You, we are here for You

Let Your Word move in power

Let what’s dead come to life

We are here for You, we are here for You

Let my shout be Your anthem...Your renown fill the skies...I am here for You!  These words are my prayer!  I long to have my life shout an anthem for the Lord, that his renown may fill the skies...Mitch and I have both faced an unexpected loss recently.  Our good friend Lynn, that God used so amazingly in our lives, went to be with the Lord this past week - Sunday September 2nd.  

Lynn with one of his girls wearing the
birthday crown that she made for him. (He actually
wore it at church that day as he led worship)  :) 

A family picture taken shortly before
he went to be with the Lord.

As I have been going through the sadness of losing a friend, He has come along side me so tenderly and has been reminding me of his love for me, that He is perfectly sovereign, and that even when His timing makes no sense to me - it is perfect.  Lynn was 31, the healthiest person I knew and had a young beautiful family.  I am inspired by the life he lived, and I long for the intimacy he had with God.  He  truly is with his First Love.  His wife is a beautiful Godly women, and has that same heart and passion for the Lord that her husband had.  I pray for her as she mourns his physical death, but I'm excited to see how God is going to be glorified through all of this.  Let Your word move in power...I am here for You!  

* * *   

To You our hearts are open

Nothing here is hidden

You are our one desire

You alone are holy

Only You are worthy

God, let Your fire fall down

* * *

To you my heart is open...You are my one desire!  You alone are holy, only You are worthy!  God, please let your fire fall down!!!  I pray the words of this song over and over again.  It's crazy how God uses the hardest times in this life to teach us so much.  I often tell Mitch 'this is the kind of stuff that all those older wise people had to go through for years and years in order to have the wisdom that they have now''.  God is teaching me so many things...and I praise Him for that even if I don't understand his timing of them  because God is good and He knows the outcome.    

We welcome You with praise

We welcome You with praise

Almighty God of love

Be welcomed in this place

Let every heart adore

Let every soul awake

Almighty God of love

Be welcomed in this place

We welcome You with praise

We welcome You with praise

Almighty God of love

Be welcomed in this place
[Matt Redman - Here For You]

I welcome you with praise! Almighty God of Love, I pray that every heart adores You, that every soul awakens to You..  Almighty God be welcomed...I welcome You with praise, be welcomed in this place.

Amen

Prince Edward Island

August 6th, 2012 brought our 4th wedding anniversary!  Wahoo!  Time has flown by and its been great. In just 4 years of marriage we have moved 7 times! 2 of those moves we sold pretty much everything we owned and had to move across north america for, and 1 of them was to another country!

the lighthouse leaving the ferry terminal on PEI

It worked out great this year that my work's summer vacation just happen to fall on the week of our anniversary.  Mitch took that week off and we decided to take a trip with our friends David & Shannon and stay in Prince Edward Island (PEI) for a week!  Shannon's parents live there and offered their home for us to stay at.  What a blessing it was!

We were able to get lots of rest and relaxation.  We wanted to make sure we actually felt rested coming back from out trip.  For those of you who aren't from Nova Scotia...PEI is the smallest Canadian Province.  It's a small island that is nestled right above Nova Scotia.  It's the 'potato' province of Canada, much like Idaho is in the US.  It is also known for being the home of "Anne of Green Gables" and is quite touristy for that.   You can get there by either driving into New Brunswick and taking the Confederation Bridge, or by taking the ferry that leaves just 45 minutes north of where we live.  We opted for the ferry and it was beautiful!

LOBSTER!!

David & Shannon made sure that they gave us some great PEI experiences that they have enjoyed before.  We all went to have a lobster dinner together.  Lobster is delicious and reminds me of the craw-dads that I grew up catching in the rivers and eating, just a GIANT version of them!
The restaurant also had an all you can eat salad bar, and we all enjoyed many rounds of amazing muscles as well!  What a fun time!

More Lobster... :)

Ann of Green Gables

After we had finished up with our lobster dinner, we headed over to a mini-golf place that David & Shannon had been to before. We had awesome sunny and warm weather the whole trip.  What a blessing it was to get away and have nice weather to enjoy it with.

We were able to make it to Summerside as well.  We visited one of Mitch's friends for they day, and then drove back to where we were staying.  It was a beautiful drive that allowed us to see most of the Island.  Towards the end of our trip Mitch and I stumbled across a deep sea fishing charter that we decided to take advantage of.  We signed up and went out fishing that same day.  It was a really nice evening fishing trip.  We had to go down the river to where it fed into the Atlantic, and along the way we got to see all kinds of muscle farms.  Once we got to our fishing spot we fished for an our and caught several Makerel fish.  They are a smaller silver fish that gives you a really great fight. On the way back to town we stopped and got to see a lobster trap as well.  It was pretty cool!

Overall we were blessed to be able to enjoy celebrating our 4th year of marriage.  We spent time with good friends, were able to relax, and just have a really great vacation!