Time line Tuesday!

New information for you!

So just how did we end up getting called to Lethbridge, Alberta?

    How did we end up getting to Nigeria, West Africa 29 years ago?

        How did we meet?

              How did we end up living in 17 different houses through the 33 years of our marriage?


These and other "timely" questions will be answered and revealed to inquiring minds - On Tuesdays!

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  Spring of 2013 - it's time to acquire a new group of calves for the farm - they are so cute when you first get them - but to keep a calf alive when it has been separated from it's mother and bottle feed them grow them to grass-fed beef status is quite a job.  Last spring we lost 5 of the 9 we purchased. It was a hard time for Howard.  You expend a lot of time and effort and yes, love, into raising them.  After a rough couple of months, Howard started wondering if the part-time farmer might not be where God wanted him.

  March of 2013 - Sandy puts in her resignation to the law firm she worked at - she and Howard had been working opposite schedules and missed spending time with each other - we really do like to spend time together and there had not been enough days off at the same time to go for motorcycle rides. In addition - and Uncle Sam had taken too much of their money that year.  We did not need to have 2 incomes at this time in our lives.  Sandy had also started wondering what else to do  -  a nagging sensation that there was more to life than sewing, reading, enjoying the grandkids (which we do very much), and working in our local church.



  June 2013 - Howard starts exploring other Counseling jobs available with different mission organizations and finds that there are many places in many parts of the world that need 50+ year old people with our skills.  We feel that God is giving us a restlessness about staying in Tennessee at this time. We had always kept in our future plans the possibility of returning to mission work after we returned to the states 26 years ago from a term of service in Nigeria and see this as a good time to explore that opportunity.

  We started praying and put the farm up for sale!  



The next Time Line Tuesday post will give you more information -                                                             Stay tuned!

 

Amazing Grace Community Church is 4 yrs. old today!

Amazing Grace Community Church website

Check them out on Facebook: 

Amazing Grace Community Church - Lethbridge

We are planning to spend birthday 

#5 

with them next year!!

Muppet's Happy Birthday.

Living in Grace

This past week found Howard and I at Ridge Haven camp in Brevard, North Carolina.

We came to attend the Living in Grace conference held for all short-term and long-term missionaries serving with Mission to the World.

It was a great time of learning about ourselves and how to prepare ourselves for the work in Lethbridge. A whole week of studying God's grace shown to all of us.





What is the Gospel? the message of Grace
 The Love of God - the foundation of Grace
  Surrender - the response of Grace
   Humility - the reflection of Grace
    Repentance - the posture of Grace
     The Holy Spirit - the agent of Grace
      The Love of Others - the sign of Grace
       Living the Resurrected Life - the way of Grace
        Prayer - the language of Grace
         Good Works - the life of Grace




We spent 5 days on this outline - obviously we cannot share with you everything we learned - but just reading through the heading of our lectures, you can see what the emphasis was on

GRACE

What a marvelous gift. We look forward to sharing it with those we go to work with in Lethbridge.

We would like to leave you with these thoughts -

 "We must lose ourselves in order to see His Grace in us - flowing through us - 

showing His power through our weakness"

"The one condition for spiritual progress is that we remain sincere and humble" John Calvin

Pray for us as we continue to prepare in this way for our service in Alberta.

September Road Trips

We end this first week in September with a summary of our one-day road trip and an itinerary for you!

We spent yesterday visiting several good friends that we haven't seen in years or months. 

Drove to Lenoir City,

Drove to Philadelphia (TN), 

Drove to Maryville,

Drove to Englewood,

Drove home!

 It was a great time of fellowship and catching up on each other's lives.  

(Great time of singing with our small group too!)

Thank you to the friends who welcomed us into their home and joined our support team.  We were awed to watch God working to get us closer to Lethbridge.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              On Sunday, September 7 we head off to North Carolina for a week immersing ourselves in study of God's Grace.           This print by Ann Voskamp is a good way to remind ourselves of the goodness of God given to us that we look forward to sharing with others.

After we finish the conference here is our plan, But we will let you know as the weeks move along what actually transpired and who we saw.  

(I will also work on getting better car photos - ha)

September 7^th  - Living in Grace – Ridge Haven, North Carolina

September 12^th – Driving to Indiana - overnight somewhere

September 13^th – Niece Christy’s wedding - spend 2 nights with family

September 15^th – Monday - visits with friends in Michigan

  Monday night drive to Hammond, IN stay with family for 2 nights

September 16^th – visit friends in Lansing, IL  

September 17th - drive to Rockford, IL – stay with friends and visit Hope Church friends

  

September 20^th – Hope Church reunion 

September 21^st – speak at Kishwaukee EPC church in Stillman Valley, IL

September 22^nd – Head to Ohio to visit the Elliott family!

September 23rd or 24th - head home! 

Time to see how big the grandkids have gotten while we were gone!

Carson by his 1st grade class

Emily and Charlee

Mary Kate and Finn

Please pray for our safety as we travel,

our brains as we absorb knowledge about our Lord, and

For those who we share our calling with - that they will join our support team.

(If we are heading in your direction on this trip,

 send us a message and we will add your home to the GPS!)

Our First Newsletter!

It's a bit daunting...how to get a whole bunch of information on one 8 1/2 x 11 piece of white paper.  Not too much information - not too little.  A photo or two to give you, prayer requests, praise reports. We are blessed to be able to make use of other media outlets to get you information!  So here in blog form is our first newsletter.  Watch for them quarterly - and check out our Facebook page for family updates!

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August 28, 2014

What in the World is God doing?

           

            Do you ever ask this question about what is going on in and around your life?

     This was the topic for an evening of mission reports we recently had in our church in Chattanooga. Several groups and individuals shared their physical and spiritual adventures. We were blessed to hear that all the news is not bad news and we heard how people’s lives are being changed by the power of the Gospel around the world and in our neighborhoods.

     We had the chance to share that evening about what God is doing in our lives with our opportunity to serve in Canada. We told how God had worked through different situations to close and open doors to lead us towards Lethbridge. We shared what happened in Lethbridge this summer: Amazing Grace Community Church in Lethbridge, along with help from two church groups who traveled there from the U.S., held a sports camp attended by over a hundred and twenty neighborhood children.  Games were played, food was eaten and most importantly – Jesus was shared! We are looking forward to joining the church in Lethbridge as they reach out to the community and the Blackfoot people in humility to share the love of Jesus.

     It has been exactly two months – June 26^th – since we became Mission to the World missionaries – and we have definitely felt God working on both of us. We are actively studying and learning, praying and preparing for our work in Canada. We have come across many good resources for learning how we can best share the love of Jesus with the First Nations people – learning how to be still and listen.  

     Support raising can typically be a faith-building and frustrating time, one that requires continuous attitude adjustments and dealing with highs and lows. But it has been a joy to reconnect with friends and see God’s faithfulness over the years in their families and in our relationships. September will see us traveling to Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio to visit with friends and family and build our support team. Howard will be visiting Canada again in early October to meet with church leaders and seek support. And we plan to visit Florida again at the end of October to share with churches and friends. Thank you to all of you who are joining us as prayer and financial partners. God’s people have been generous with their hearts and their finances and we currently stand at about 18% of the support we need to get to Canada.

    

     Pray for us as we continue to prepare to join God in what he is doing around the world!

                                                                       

                Grateful to serve,

August Road trips!

We were on the road again this past week.

On Saturday we visited family in Nashville - 

thanks for the hospitality Janie, Dave, Ryan, Jack, Will and Brady! 

On Sunday evening we worshiped with the friends at First Presbyterian Church in Crossville, Tennessee.   It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon drive over the hills and through the valleys.  We traveled the 127 yard sale road and were thankful we were not on the road when the sale was actually happening. There were still many people who had sales set up.  What a lot of stuff that one could get a deal on - or not - but that is a discussion for another day.

We drove home in the light of the silvery moon - that beautiful super-moon.  I forgot my camera or I would have had Howard pull over to get a great photo of it as it rose over the mountains of East Tennessee.  ( I borrowed someone else's photo - thanks)

Later this week we are traveling to Sweetwater and Athens.

In September we head to Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois,

(and maybe an Ohio squeezed in too).  

And then another trip to Florida in October. 

Thankful for the 5% cash back on the Discover Card when used as gas stations until the end of September!!

GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL!

My Creator - Your Creator

 I don't know if it's me or if it's just God opening my eyes as I continue to prepare for this ministry He has called Howard and I to participate in with Him.







  Lately every sermon has been a good one - yes - every one.  Each time I hear a Pastor's message - whether in person, on the radio or one I read.


  I'd like to share the message from last week - my take on what was shared from the pulpit and how I feel it is something we can take to Lethbridge and the people there.

  Jeremiah 31:33 "This is the covenant I will make with them house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people."

  God is taking the initiative with me and with all people everywhere - He wants a relationship with everyone and He is going to make it happen!! He Has the Power!

  Whoohoo!! I get to show up and be along for God's plan of action in people's hearts.

 Jeremiah 31:34 "No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest." declares the Lord.


 I am so encouraged because I have been reading that the Blackfoot Nation believe in a Creator.                                                    http://www.bloodtribe.org/content/kainayssini

They also believe in many other things that do not line up with God's plan, but I have a starting point.

   I am looking forward to help introduce them to the Creator who wants to have a relationship with broken and needy and imperfect people like me and like them.

 The Creator who has written His law in their minds and hearts.

 Pray for hearts to be prepared!