Light for our Journey!

The thought of moving our entire family to Africa... raising close to $8,000/month in pledges... packing up our house... moving in with in-laws... leaving one church and starting over at another church... the travel... the paperwork... is enough to cast a cloud over our dreamy idealistic sunny sky of "becoming missionaries".

But the One who calls us is faithful! We have much to be grateful for this week and we wanted to share our praise report!

• We have survived our illnesses, and are all currently healthy! Thank you for praying for us.
• While he is almost 8 months old, Seth still hasn't been sleeping through the night yet... until this week! He has been sleeping from 8:30pm until at least 3-4am, and then again until 6:30-7am. This is a welcome relief and I am beginning to recoup some of my sleep debt!
• We shared our vision for Uganda with our youth group on Sunday and it was a great time of opening their eyes to what God is doing around the world and how they can bless the nations wherever they live!
• Last and certainly not least, we spent some time sharing our vision with close friends and due to their generous gift we are now more than 10% funded!

What an amazing God we serve! He takes all our weakness, and our weariness... and exchanges it for His strength and His goodness! And we are in awe of how He has shown up this week in big and small ways!

• We would ask that you join us in prayer as Josh preaches at Trinity, Clayton this Sunday. Service is at 10am if you would like to be there!
• And also please be praying for us as we contact our friends and churches to invite them to bless the nations with us!

Thank you for joining us on this journey! Praying that God's light would shine on your path as you follow where He leads!

photo courtesy of flickr creative commons

Here we go again.

Caleb is throwing up today. I guess we aren't done being sick for the winter yet :( Please pray that this would be a brief bug and that everyone else stays healthy! Thanks for being part of our team!

-Kelly

Morning Ritual

"Empty me... of sin... of self...

Cleanse me so that You can use me...

Fill me... Warm my heart... Saturate me...

Cause Your aroma to permeate my being...
Your love to color everything I do...

Pour me out...
use me. -Amen"

-Kelly

It's the Little Things...

So I just read Jean's Blog and she inspired me to think on the little things that bring me joy. And it is particularly appropriate on this Valentine's weekend... to ponder the people that bring joy and love to my life! My boys are a constant source of joy!

The way Seth's whole face lights up when he smiles... the way I can get lost in the depths of his blue eyes... his determination to walk before he ever learns to crawl... his deep belly laugh... his sloppy open mouth kisses...the sweet way he lays his head on my shoulder when he gets tired... his sleepy song... the dimples on his hands... the rolls on his legs... his new satisfaction in sitting by himself and playing... and while frustrating at times, it is also flattering when no one else will do except his mama!

The way Caleb is repeating everything we say like it's the coolest thing ever said... the way he loves to jump on his bed in only his diaper after bath time... the way he randomly comes up and hugs me and says "I love you mama"... the way he makes me laugh with his silly moments... the way he snuggles my hair... his loving nature toward everyone he meets... the way he loves to tidy up and make things neat... his mischievous grin when he knows he's teasing you... his fake laugh when he wants to join in when everyone is laughing... the way he will sit and "read" books forever... the way he dances around and sings "Everybody, Africa!"...

The warmth and strength of a good hug from Josh... the way we sometimes say the same thing at the same time... the comfortable way we can sit and drink coffee in silence... the way he complements my weaknesses... the way he leads our family... the way he plays with our boys... getting random notes from him just when I need them... just doing life together!

I am so blessed with joy at every corner! And I hope that you are too! Praying you find joy in the moments of each day and in the people that surround you! -Kelly