Time Flies When Your Having Fun

It's hard to believe that another year has just about come and gone. It seems like yesterday that we were filling out forms with the idea of going overseas. In just one week, "if the Lord wills," we will be on a plane headed east. To all of our friends, we are grateful that you have been there by our side through this process. We do not walk this road alone. "We walk by faith, and not by sight." We are certrainly NOT alone in this journey, for HE is with us, guiding us each step of the way.

Merry Christmas

"We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." God is so good. To think that he was willing to send his only son into the world as a child, knowing how He would be treated. All because He loved you and me more than life itself. It is that joy and Good News that we want to share with the people of Portugal.

We have enjoyed our time with Andy's family and will be spending the next week with my family. We even got to see a few unexpected friends on Wednesday. What joy!!! (We love our Alabama friends.) Please pray for us as we travel because Andy has aggravated his back again. The many beds that we have slept in the last few months and the long hours driving have really reeked havoc on him. We even had to call in a favor from our favorite PT - THANKS ASHLEIGH!!! Please pray that it will clear itself up before we fly out because a bad back and long flight will not mix well.

I have attached some pictures from our last few days.

Happy Birthday to Andy. Since we were not going to be with his family on his birthday, his brother decided to celebrate at lunch Sunday. The waiter stuck his face in the whipped creme.

We were able to meet up with part of the R clan. This is our version of an Eli sandwich.

A shout out to our favorite PT. THANKS ASHLEIGH!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

The boys both got PSP games for Christmas. They have no idea if they got anything else!

(Michelle)

We Forgot

This is a special post for the West African POPE and his wife. We learned God loves even Steelers and we do too. We can now say we know the Pope personally and he is not all bad. To the Pope's wife, we will pray for you daily!!!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

We have completed our orientation time time in VA and we are on the road again. It was sad to say goodbyes because we have made so many new friends. To the 3Hs, the5Gs and the 4Bs - we love you guys and we will be praying for you daily. You all made our time in Va so much sweeter. And to our special Jorneygirls and guys, you guys have been a blast. SM, JM, EC, JH, SG and Pepe. We love you guys and can't wait ot see how God uses you all.

I was talking with a dear friend last night and she reminded me that almost 1 year ago, I had shared about our calling with her. It is overwhelming to think where God has taken us in the last year. Evey step, though not always easy, has been so confirming. God has been with us every step of the way. Thank you all for being apart of our journey - THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!!!

Pocket Full of Seeds

We can hardly believe our time is almost done. One month from now we will be in Portugal!!! The time has seemed so far away, but now it is almost here. As we reflect back on our orientation time, we realize that God has taught us so much.

I am reminded of 2 verses that have greatly impacted me during this time.

Isaiah 42:6 - I, the Lord, have called you for a righteous purpose, and will hold your hand. I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles.

Wow, what a promise! God has called each of us for a purpose and He promises to hold our hand all the way. What a verse to cling to!

Ezekiel 37:3-5 - And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live again?" So I answered, "O Lord God you know." Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones hear the word of the Lord!' Thus says the Lord God to these bones: "Surely I shall cause breath to enter into you and you shall live."

As we learn about the people of Portugal and Western Europe we see "dry bones". So much of our Christian heritage and culture comes from this area of the world and now we are going back to share Jesus with them. Our prayer is that they will "hear the word of the Lord" and the breath of the Holy Spirit will bring them to life again in Christ.

The decline of the church in Western Europe today is giving way to Postmodernism and the belief that whatever you believe is fine and good for you, but maybe not so much for me. There are more people in church each week in China than in all of Western Europe. That fact alone is staggering. However, the good news is that people are searching for truth for themselves. This opens doors to share the truth of Christ, not just religion.

I will leave you with one thought. There is a song that has really impacted me in the last few weeks. It talks about how we sit in our pews and pray for God's word to be spread while all around "there's a famine in the land, and we've got a pocket full of seeds." We pray as we goo that we will share our seeds with the lost souls of Portugal.

What will you do with your pocketful of seeds?

Catching Up

The song by Mark Shultz that says "I'm running just to catch myself" has become a reality over the past week. In order to catch everyone up, this entry will probably ramble a bit. I hope to insert enough pictures to break up the over abundance of information.

As we celebrated Thanksgiving last week, we were sad to be away from family. However, we were served a wonderful lunch with all the trimmings and then we had all the Western Europe Team over to our apartment for dinner and Christmas movies. Andy & Micah even got in a little football with a few guys.

After dinner some of our Journey girls had to haul Ethan to bed. You can tell he hated every moment. He is eating up all the attention.

Later in the weekend all the kids decorated Christmas cookies with icing and sprinkles. We have 7 kids in our group - ages 2 - 12.

Now comes the rambling. The day after Thanksgiving our whole crew (300+) went to Washington, DC.

This is the Roman Catholic Basilica that we visited.


This is Nando's, the Portuguese-African restaurant where we ate lunch. We were told it is like the McDonald's of Africa, but it was soooo much better than that.

We then prayer walked around the White House and Union Station.
This is our new friend who will be going to Portugal with us. We all spent the day together in Washington.

Here are some random pictures that we have taken over the last few weeks.

These are the guys in our quad.

Double rainbow over part of the campus. Isn't that cool!

This was after the first shot day. We have now survived 2 shot days and have one more to go.

This is an aerial view of the campus. It is a picture of a picture, but at least it gives you an idea of how big it is. If you click on the photo, it should expand so that you can see the building that I have marked. This is your Co-operative Program dollars at work. THANK YOU!!!

Fatima, Portugal

We wanted to share this video with you. It is of Fatima. This is a small town in Portugal where it is said that the virgin Mary appeared many years ago. Now many Roman Catholics in Portugal and other areas make a yearly pilgrimage to the shrine built there in her honor. Click on the link below to see the pilgrimage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h44YdbDJs8U

Armour of God

This is a video of what Ethan learned in school last week. You will have to turn off the volume on the music player at the bottom of the blog page in order to hear him.

Thanksgiving Week

This is going to be a great week. Thanksgiving. A trip to the Capitol. What could be better? We will certainly miss being with our friends and families at this time of the year- but it also helps us to prepare for what life will be like on the other side. We have made many new friends and the boys are fitting in very well. Micah has even eaten some cactus and shredded squid. The scary thing - he liked it. YUMMY! When I get to eat some turkey Thursday I will be saying- THANK YOU IT'S NOT SQUID!

Let It Neve! Let It Neve! Let It Neve!

It was great to see some neve (snow) today. Hopefully it will snow some more and we can have a big snowball fight. Now that would be fun. Everyone is doing well and we continue to give thanks for all of our friends and family at home who pray for us! All of you are such a blessing. May it neve wherever you are!

Giving Thanks for Shots!

Our first round of shots is now over and we can have a few days for our arms to HEAL! Second round to come this Friday. Have you ever given thanks for shots? Think about it- those things HURT! But, without shots- we are more open to disease, sickness, and death. Without shots- more medicine and hospitals. Without shots- sickness that can lead to disabled lives. So, in all things give thanks. I am thankful for shots that help to keep me from sickness and death. I am thankful for a company that provides these benefits through the giving of friends and family. I am thankful for the PRIVILEGE of life itself. As we draw near to Thanksgiving, we are reminded of the love of our friends and families. But most of all, we give thanks because the Father has shown the greatest love through His Son!

Do you have HIS mind?

I am reminded that the Father tells me through His word that I am to have the mind (attitude) of His Son. What is that attitude? It is many things- but one thing that brings freedom to my mind is the word victory! I have victory in my daily life as I walk with Him and I also have victory OVER the enemy. The victory that was accomplished many years ago is STILL to be lived in my life today. I have been told to "be strong and courageous" and also to "put on the whole armor". It is a battle that must be won in the MIND! I have victory today not because of what I have done, but because of what has been done FOR me!

The View From Here

We continue to be very busy, but emersed in the Word as never before. God is opening windows to His word that are growing us in so many ways. I wanted to share some pictures of the world around us here in VA. As the leaves have changed ove the last few days, the forest around us has been ablaze with the Lord's beauty.

Sunset view from our back door.



Micah has been taking a photography workshop in school this week and these are a few a his favorites. Can you guess what the last one is?

Information Overload

What a week we have had. This week we have concentrated on Spiritual Warfare and staying in the Word. We were reminded that Satan is always there to destroy what we are trying to do and that we must stay in the Word to keep our mind and heart in one accord with Him. Sometimes this process has seemed so surreal, but spiritual warfare seminars have really brought things into perspective. We may have thought we were sacrificing, but we are still clinging to so many things that we need to lay on the altar. Pray that we will lay all of this at the foot of the cross.

The boys are still doing well. Micah is learning the finer techniques of ultimate frisbee and loving it. This week in class they have been developing strategies to share their testimonies. His teacher says he is really opening up.

Ethan is loving school. His class is going to the zoo next week and the had exotic birds visited this last week. He loves the fact that there are 3 playgrounds here. There always seems to be something for him to do and someone for him to play with.

Today we (Andy, Michelle, & Micah) are in an all day seminar on teaching English as a second language (ESL). This seems to be a useful tool in making connections on the filed and making inroads with nationals.

Michelle has been sick this week with a really bad cold, so please pray that she feel better. There is so much to do that now is not a good time to be sick.

Finally Arrived

We are finally in Richmond! WOO HOO!!! We arrived Monday afternoon and moved in. There were some helpful movers from First Baptist Church Roanoke, VA. Everyone told us how glad they were that we were here, but we assured him them all that we were more excited than they could imagine - 8 weeks in the same bed, the boys have separate beds (fianlly), no more eating out, no more living out of the suitcases (atleast for now) and a schedule (yeah for mom!). We've met up with other M's that we've met along the way and the boys have found fast friends already. Micah seems to be becoming a big brother to many. There always seems to be a little one hanging around his knees. They both got to visit their classrooms today and start school in the morning. Our apartment backs up to the soccer field and frisbee golf course, so Micah is excited. Tonight he met a group of young guys (early 20's) who included him in pick-up basketball game. They wanted to know which apartment we were in so they could come and get him when they play. I think that made his day. Both boys are having to adapt to little girls being in the house. We share an apartment house (called a quad) with 3 other families. Between them there are 4 girls and 1 boy and they are all under 4. This should be an adventure. I will try to add pictures of where we are soon. It is really hard to describe without pictures. Pray for us this week as we begin to oreintation and as the boys begin school.

Last Day in Williamsburg

We had a wonderful time this morning worshiping at Smith Memorial Baptist Church. Pastor Wade is an IMB trustee and on the Western Europe committee. We were able to share about Portugal and ask them to pray for us as we prepare to go. Ethan went to children's church and they decided to be pen-pals with him. He is so excited. After lunch we went back to Old Williamsburg and watched some dramatizations. I think the kids enjoyed this part best - history in action.

Tomorrow we will head to Richmond for orientation. We have enjoyed traveling but have grown a little weary of living out of a suitcase and eating out. The thought of being in the same bed for 8 weeks sounds wonderful right now. Pray for us as we move in, see old friends and meet new ones. We will all start classes on Wednesday morning. The kids are so excited about that - NOT! It maybe a few days before we update as we begin a new schedule, but check back soon.

Williamsburg

Today started out quite cold (40 something degrees)and it never got much warmer. The boys commented that they could see their breath. We spent the majority of the day in Old Williamsburg. Ethan got to help make wooden shingles, Andy got to be a judge in the courthouse and Micah was chosen to be a rooster in the storytelling area. For those of you who know Micah well, it was way out of his comfort zone, but he hung in there. We also visited museums, homes and stores. We've really enjoyed the slower pace compared to the last few days in DC. We've learned the background of a few of our sayings. "Passing the bar" came from the concept that the judge had to ask you to cross the railing (the bar) in order to be heard. It was all very interesting.

Pray for us tomorrow as we visit a local Williamsburg church. The pastor is an IMB trustee that is on our Western Europe committee.

Last Day in DC

Today was our last day in DC. The weather had dropped by 20 degrees, as you can see by the change in our clothing. As we left town we stopped at the Jefferson Memorial. The view across the river was beautiful. We then drove by the Pentagon Memorial and stopped at Arlington National Cemetery. We knew it was big, but didn't really grasp how big. We were there almost 3 hours and only saw a portion. We saw where President Kennedy and President Taft are buried, the Arlington House (Robert E. Lee's former home) and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The ceremony at the Tomb was so moving. Everyone was silent as it took place and then taps was played. As the bugle rose above the cemetery, it was truly moving. Once back on the road to Williamsburg we were able to experience a taste of Washington traffic. OH MY! It was only 2:00 in the afternoon but it took us 2 hours to travel about 50 miles, then it began to rain. Needless to say we were glad to finally get to Wiliamsburg. The rain has brought even cooler weather and the leaves are in full color, so we feel like falll has finally arrived!

Thursday in Washington

We have again had a full day. It began with an unusual encounter on the shuttle from the hotel to the metro train. We met a man from FL who was on his way to Sen. Obama's office and he was VERY opinionated. He rambled on for a while and then asked where we were from and what Andy did. When he realized that Andy was a minister he began to give his opinion on clergy and how the ones he had met were hypocritical and only out for money. Once we got to the Metro train he got on and sat behind us. The conversation continued and we tried to talk to him, but he always had a strong opinion about anything we said. He finally told Andy that he did not believe Jesus was born of a virgin and that Jesus was just a good man. WOW! Once he exited, we hoped we had at least given him a more favorable impression of ministers and Christians, so maybe the next time he encounters a Christian he will be more willing to listen to the gospel.

The rest of our day was spent seeing the rest of the Air & Space Museum (we only saw part yesterday), touring the the capital (thanks to Sen. Alexander) and visiting the US Postal Museum. Tomorrow we leave for Williamsburg and plan to stop and see the Jefferson Memorial and Arlington Cemetery on the way.

Wednesday in Washington

Today started out with an unexpected side trip. We had a 9:00am scheduled tour at the National Cathedral. We knew the train ride in would be at least 30-45minutes. We left in plenty of time, but there was a problem on the train line and we were delayed. When we finally got off at the stop where we thought the Cathedral was, we found we were 10 blocks away and it was 9:15. We decided to go ahead and try to catch a later tour, but we never found the church. 30 minutes later(after walking how far?!), we finally found another train stop. We gave up, got on the train, and headed back to the Lincoln Monument. It was so amazing! Ethan kept calling it Lincoln's house. We then went to the Vietnam and WWII Memorials. Wow! What a wonderful tribute to our service men and women. Since Andy's grandfather served in WWII, it was especially meaningful. A tour group of veterans there and it was interesting to watch them and hear them share memories. Later (after a $35 McDonald's lunch) we went to the National Air & Space Museum. I think this has been the boys' favorite so far. There are so many hands on things that we did not even make it to the 2nd floor, so we'll go back tomorrow. Well, I've rambled enough. Check out the pictures of our adventures today.

Washington, D.C. Vacation

We have finally made it to Washington, D.C. I am going to try and keep a daily log of the week so that our family and friends can see what all we have done. We left North Carolina on Sunday afternoon and stopped over night in the Shenandoah Valley. The ride up was beautiful as the leaves on the trees have begun to turn (and we found gas for $2.95!!!) We stopped to visit Mt. Vernon (George Washington's home) on Monday afternoon before going on into D.C. It was a beautiful day to be out on the Potomac River. Below is a slide show of our visit.

Today we began our walking tour of D.C. We began at the Library of Congress and continued past the Supreme Court and Capital Buildings to the Museum of Natural History. The boys really loved seeing the animal and ocean exhibits. During our lunch detour we found the Ford Theatre and the house where President Lincoln died. We wrapped up the day with a visit to the Washington Monument and the White House. It was a long first day, but the boys were troopers. They complained very little and kept up every step of the way. Below are pictures from Day One.

Moving On

We have had a great time visiting with Michelle's family. We were all able to have some down time, plus wrap up some loose ends and last minute things. On Saturday we went to a corn maze. We did fine on the first half (#1-5), but when we started the second half we could never find #8. We found another family though. They had been in the maze for almost 2 hours and could not find their way out. We finally all turned around and came out the in. I've attached pictures. (Check out Micah in the cow train. It don't think it meant for 6 foot guys.) We are now on our way to Washington, D.C. for a few days. We'll update when we get there.

Our final day

Well the time has finally come. We are leaving Morristown today for adventures unknown. I never thought all of the stuff would fit, but is all packed (just not sure where everything is). There will have to be a little repacking eventually. We ran out of suitcases and such so what was left went in trash bags until we can get a few more duffles. I wanted to share a few random thoughts (because that it all I can muster after 2 nights of going to bed after 2am.) The last few weeks have been very much like a whirlwind. We have finally gotten rid of everything, sold the house, sold the car, left our dog with grandparents, and now burying a second grandmother in less than a month. It has been an emotional roller coaster as we have had parties and dinner and had to say goodbyes to so many dear family and friends. It has been an exciting journey so far and though not all days have been easy we have been able to hold on to God's promises for our lives. Isaiah 42:6 says, "I, the Lord, have called you for a righteous purpose and I will hold you by your hand. I will keep you and I make you a covenant for the people and a light unto the nations."

I've attached a few pictures of our last few days. We love you all and are blessed to call you family and friends. Continue to pray for us as we journey with the Lord.

Quiet Moment

As I have a quite moment before my household awakes, I wanted to give you a quick update. We are back home for a few days to finish packing and close our moving crate. We had planned on leaving Tuesday or Wednesday, but Michelle's grandmother passed away on Friday night, so we will be leaving on Monday morning. Please pray as we try to finish last minute details, get the remaining things packed (ugh), speak in Knoxville Sunday and then travel to the funeral. We will still have our cellphones if you need to contact us. We love you all.

On The Road

Sorry that we have not updated lately. We have been so busy. The moving truck came last Wednesday and took our "stuff" to be crated. Andy and I commented that we moved to Morristown in a transfer-trailer truck with the basketball goal and grill strapped to the back. When the truck left all it had was our living room furniture and 14 boxes. Now that is down-sizing!!! We are now living out of 10 duffel bags and making it just fine.

The boys finished school on Friday and they both had good send-off parties. Micah's homeroom and band classes surprised him with parties and we took a cookie cake for Ethan's class. On Saturday we went to Knoxville for Micah's last soccer game with the the STRIKERS. He scored the 1st goal and they won 2 to 1. We had a small picnic afterwards and had to say more good-byes.

We are now on the road and in West Tn with Andy's family. We were able to go to the park today and had a good time. We will be here a few days and then back to Morristown to tie up a few loose ends before leaving on October 7 for Michelle's family, A quick vacation in D.C. and then on to Richmond.

The next few weeks will be busy, but we will try to update when we can.

A few PTL!!!
*Michelle's cholesterol is down. NO more blood work.
*We have been approved for our Visas.

Prayer Requests
*Safe travel and good family times.
*Michelle's grandmother has taken a turn for the worse. Please remember the family as her time with us draws to a close.