What do You Want to Accomplish in the Next Five Years?

becky    General    

During my MOPS meeting yesterday this was a question I pulled from the bowl as we were doing a “getting to know you” activity.  I was sort of befuddled, completely unsure of how to answer. Everything I think about wanting to “accomplish” in the next five years has so little to do with me.  Five years from now I’d love to have seen Samuel welcomed into the family of God. I’d love to know that hundreds, if not thousands, of people had come to Christ in those five years thanks to the radio stations all over Asia. I’d love to see our family expanded and growing in every way. But those aren’t things I can accomplish. Even one of the things I mustered up-finally being on the mission field this year-isn’t something that’s particularly up to me.  One goal I have for this year is to read the entire Bible. I started toward the end of last year and have made good strides in this.  I guess there are things that are up to me-like continually making better food choices for me and my family, increasing our activity level (which is tough when it’s winter with two small kids), and trying to spend more quality time with Toffer.  But so much of what I want for my life is completely out of my hands. Ultimately what I want to see is God continually accomplishing things in and through me and not accomplishing things on my own.

One Goal Met, One to Go

becky    General    

Take a look at the progress bars above–one of them is mighty green!  We are praising God that we now have raised 100% of the funds for our outgoing budget!  Meeting this goal is a huge step towards getting to Asia.  Having this goal met does not, however, mean we get to leave.  We still need ongoing support to sustain us while we are in the field.  We are very thankful that HCJB Global has set up missionary funding such that anything that goes into a specific missionary’s account stays in that missionary’s account. So anything that gets sent to HCJB Global with our account number will still go towards our account, which will go towards our funding long term and also give us surplus in case we do something like buy a car or need to come home for a family emergency.  We have also heard from several people about new long-term support that will be starting early this year.  Without an actual support schedule percentages for ongoing support are harder to determine, but progress is progress and we’re excited.  We covet your prayers as we continue this process. If you’re interested in joining our financial or prayer teams, just contact one of us and we’ll be more than happy to let you know how to be involved. Thank you to God for your provision and to all of you out there who have supported us financially and through prayer!

Psalm 37:4 and Our Boys

becky    General    

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord;
and He will give you the desires of your heart.

When we were expecting Samuel we talked about what we wanted for Samuel  and any children God blesses our family with.  A lot of parents want their children to be successful, contributing members of society. While we would like our children to be those things, most of all, above anything else, we really, truly want them to love the Lord, to serve Him, and to desire to honor and glorify Him in all they do. We literally pray this daily for Samuel and Benjamin, for the other children God will give our family, and for our children’s spouses.  Sure we get excited about them hitting developmental milestones and all that they learn, but we’re really excited about how God is developing a heart for Him in Samuel (and likely in Benjamin-the baby chatter might be incredible, prophecy we’re missing out on. (; )  Samuel has nine pieces of scripture around his room that we read to him daily. We don’t always read every one, but we do read at least a few before nap and bedtime. Toffer and I have memorized all of them from reading them so many times, which helps when Samuel asks to “read verses” and we are not at home, and now Samuel has begun to show that he knows them in his heart as well.  He can say at least a word or two from every piece of scripture and one passage (his favorite-I Peter 5:6-9) he can plug in about a quarter of the words. I say all of this as a testimony to God and the heart for His word that He’s developing in Samuel and for how God is answering the desires of our hearts.  We don’t know what God plans for our boys for their futures. They may be butchers, bakers, or candle stick makers or something not out of a nursery rhyme. We don’t care. We do know that God desires for them to walk with Him and we are thrilled to see that He is already working in their hearts.