Prayer Requests and How to Follow Our Actual Trip

Hey Everyone!

Thank you so much for following us on this journey.  I can hardly believe that we leave in less than 24 hours.  Wow!  My tummy is a bundle of excitement and nerves.  I also still have some final packing to do.

Right now we are preparing to take Tyler to his Uncle and Aunt's house.  I know he will be very well taken care of!  I am just so sad about leaving him.     Please pray the transition is easy for all of us.

We will not be able to have any contact via Facebook, Twitter, our phones or blogs while we are in Belize.  But the team will post updates on the Global Hope blog.

You can follow them HERE:  http://www.gethope.net/global-hope

Thank you to those who have committed to pray for us in the following ways:

• For Tyler - him not to miss us.  Us not to miss him.  It's his birthday on Monday and we will miss it.  They are having a big party for him so I'm sure he will be fine.  He'll be 3!  
• For Bennett and Luke - that their hearts would be open to what God wants them to experience and to show love to each other and to those they meet.
• For our team - that we would have unity, fun and build lasting friendships.
• For the people of Ladyville, Belize - that they would have hearts open and we would be able to serve their community.
• For the teens and pre-teens of this church - that they would build foundations that would help them to become future leaders in their country.
• For our VBS, Sunday School lessons, helping to build an addition on a building, sharing in meals, giving groceries and most importantly spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ in the most loving way - through our service.
• For Keith and I - we are leading an adult Sunday school class on the topic of grace.    We don't feel like we are ready.  But we do know that God just wants us to share our story of HIS grace in our life and our marriage.  
• For safe travels.
• For no sickness.
• For rest when we need it and energy to do the things we need to do.
• For God to use us in the most amazing ways!!!! 

Luke is nervous about the food, Keith about the sleeping on an air mattress, Bennett about the water and I'm just nervous about my family being in a foreign land for the first time.  Nervous and excited!  We are all ready to go and thrilled to have this opportunity.  But leaving what is normal is always hard.  We know that God does not intend for us to stay in the same place all the time and that this is just one of the beautiful blessings he has given us right now - to travel to Belize.

We are thankful.

Thank you for praying and we hope you follow our trip.  I will post when we get back!

The Desires of Our Heart

Every year, over the 4th of July, our little family goes to the beach.   Well, at least for about the last 6 years. As a family, it has been very special, very peaceful and very anticipated.    I can almost feel my mind start to wander come May just thinking of the week we'll spend in a house we rent to call home.

Spending downtime with my sweet family is precious and something I really would not negotiate each Summer.  For Keith, this time was much needed to take a break from work.  It was pretty much a trip that we would NOT not take.

So, like every Summer, we prepared our trip last year - we booked our condo, we packed, we took off work and we headed to the beach.

And it was disappointing.

Not the time with our kids - that is always precious.  Not the downtime - although it seemed like we could never relax.   And, of course, the beach was divine.

For the first time in a long time  ever, I could not wait to leave.  I honestly, just wanted to pack my things about day 4 and go to my real home.  Nothing could make it better.    While I was packing us up at the end of the week, I got this feeling that we would not be coming back the following July.  It had lost it's allure, it's zest, it's restfulness.  It had become the complete opposite of rest actually.  It became a little too normal.  (spoiled much?)

I just had no idea what our next Summer vacation would look like. What would we do if we didn't come to the beach?

We explored some things:  Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, back home to Missouri, the mountains, a lake, Disney.   Nothing came to be.


Now I LOVE the beach.  As I type this, I can almost smell the ocean.  I feel closer to God at the beach than anywhere physically.   I'd be driving there with my kids every weekend if I could.    But that annual beach trip?   It was not happening in 2013.

Sometime in the Fall of last year, I started to feel like I wanted to go on a mission trip.   But it was a little hard for me to make a decision to spend so much of my vacation time away from my family when we had not even planned time away as a family for the Summer.  Even though I knew the beach trip was out, I knew that family time was still in!

Then Hope (our church) decided to start taking Family Mission trips!

It was at that point that I knew what we would be doing in July of 2013.

It was so right, so scary, so not normal, so not restful and so full of allure and zest!!!

I just could not take Tyler.  :(  Also we had to raise the money for the trip.

I had some doubts.  Actually, the part about leaving Tyler...well, you can still be praying about that.  I hate to leave our little guy behind.  He'll be in GREAT hands with Uncle Jeff and Aunt Sherry - I know that.  He's just my baby and I know we will miss each other.

So, that's it.

A trip that I would insist on taking each year to the beach -  that non-negotiable one.  A trip that we would save for, plan for and make happen every year suddenly became undesirable.

Because God had a new desire he wanted to plant there.  Go to Central America and spend our vacation serving others.  

Had I any doubt that God would work it out?  Raise the money?  Get my passport?  Our shots covered 100% by insurance? Provide an awesome family to take care of our Tyler and another to take care of our dog.

To give us the opportunity and honor to go and love on his people.  And I'm sure in turn - love on us.

As a family - we need this.  We need to serve others, together.  We need a world view outside our little street in our little town.  We need to put our faith in action in ways that we don't even know, yet.

Thank you for your prayers and your support. We can't wait for you to share in this adventure God has in store for us!

I will send out a prayer request in my next post.  We would love it if you would join us by committing to pray with us.

Thank you for being a part of this opportunity!

Passport Arrived!

Whew!  That was close!
Today my passport came!

So, the story goes that when I went to get my passport with my kids in April, the woman working at the post office would not accept my birth certificate because it was torn.

She told me I would need to apply for a new one.  Easy enough if you are born in the US.  I was not and had to apply for a birth certificate from the UK.

Which by the way has still not arrived.

About 3 weeks ago, I called the Department of State and told them my situation.  They told me to go back to the post office and tell the clerk to accept my birth certificate or even try another post office.

So, I did.

And they took it.

And it came in 1 1/2 weeks.

Kinda wish I had saved myself all that worry in waiting for my birth certificate and just tried another post office from the beginning.  But who knows, maybe the process of my birth certificate helped speed up the process.

Whatever happened - it's here now!  And I'm going to Belize with the rest of my family - yay!!!

Keith and I also got our shots today - ouch!  :)

So, that's it - final preparations with our team and away we go in less than 3 weeks.  I almost cannot believe it's here.