"Be still and know that I am God."

Good morning All! Today is a beautiful, clear, crisp winter morning. The mountains have a fresh layer of snow on them, the sunrise was brilliant and I have a fresh anticipation for what God is up to! (There are also brand new baby sheep in the fields! One mama had twin black lambs!!!!!!!!!!) As of today Torre has only 6 weeks left of work and we depart New Zealand in exactly 47 days. *sigh* Wow...almost a whole year down to this absolutely EXCELLENT Adventure! I'm full of all kinds of emotions as I think about where we were a year ago, how God was preparing to bring us here, all that he's done in and through us over the past ten months...we serve a HUGE God. Don't forget it! Once again we are in kinda of a holding pattern as we search out Torre's next job, how God will continue to use us at home and on the mission field, and where we'll be moving to come our return to the states, but for us we are finding it's also a place or season that is really testing our faith and challenging our perception on our future. I feel like we've been down this road a couple of times and although we have definitely grown and can recognize some of our "flesh" in advance, God always has something new for us to learn. After climbing the hills of "what if" and "what will people think" and "but that's too far" and "how will that work" and "will that be enough" all over again, Torre and I have thankfully fallen back into God's grace that allows us to throw up our hands in surrender and say, sincerely, "Whatever, Wherever, However, God!". I hate how easily we fall back into the control freak trap, but I am so thankful to my God who patiently waits for me to get back in line and resolve myself to follow his lead. I love how Lisa Bevere puts it, "Our Lion will not lead us on a path he himself has not already paced." Life is not absent of trouble, challenge or fear, but I must hold tight to the truth and personal experience I have with my Father God who holds the universe in the palm of his hands.

So as far as we know right now, it looks like we will be living/working in California come October but we do not know where or for how long yet. We really want to be in Cali. for the holidays so we can spend as much  time as possible with our family. :)

Torre had an amazing time on the Missions trip to the DR and I really enjoyed my time visiting my family in Cali! All of our DR Family is doing really well and besides some set backs this year through customs they were able to serve approximately 400 people at the medical clinic! I absolutely love how God continues to grow our partnership and build up our relationships in the DR and really look forward to heading back next time!

Our Mission trip to Tonga is coming up as well...September 24-October 1!!! We are taking a team from Otaki and some of the surrounding churches to Tonga to serve the students and families of ACTS Community School! This will be the first Mission trip the church here in Otaki has ever organized so keep us all in your prayers for provision, direction and God's Spirit to go before us and prepare the way. Our goal is to make this an annual trip to Tonga so we can continue to build relationships and further the Kingdom of God through His love!

I need to get my day officially going now. Be blessed!

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans for a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

T-46 days and counting!

since i last wrote, i kind feel like i did when i was about to get married. as soon as my beau proposed i was off like a flash of lighting doing everything i possibly could to get things rolling for the big day! then...i waited. there was a period of a few months between the big stuff and waiting to take care of the little stuff...which seemed like forever...where there just didn't seem to be much i could do. then of course it came down to the last few weeks when it felt like there wasn't enough time to do it all! *(cue final weeks till the move) after we submitted the paperwork for our visas and spent a weekend or two continuing to organize the apartment into "keep", "store", "give away", "good-will", "sold" and "i have no idea" piles, there just hasn't been much to talk about. probably the biggest news since is that torre was approved by the medical board of new zealand! yeah...i think that does constitute something to say. my bad. well now you know! we are still waiting for our visas to go through though. and while we wait we have a very busy few weeks ahead of us! only 19 days until we leave for the Dominican Republic to serve with G.O. Ministries for a week! We are so excited to see friends from last year and to be able to bring much needed medical supplies, love and encouragement to the Vargas family and all the nationals we have the opportunity to serve!!! that also means that we only have 19 days left in Boston. :( it's always sad to be moving away from a place and people you've come to love and share life with, but it's pretty exciting to be moving in a new direction anticipating all that God has in store. :) we will be traveling for the entire month of august so please keep us in your prayers as we go. we will be visiting family in several locations, celebrating a family wedding and wrapping it all up with the grand finale...our exit of the Americas! how am i feeling at this point? tired, eager, like i can't wait till every things packed and shipped to storage, praying that i don't rush through and miss one second of the time we have left in Boston with friends and my sister, and extremely exited for what's ahead. what's next? laundry. :)