Six boxes

After weeks of getting ready to go and figuring what we will be taking to the ship, the above photo shows what we have reduced our life to to prepare for our service. Along with four suitcases and computer type stuff traveling with us, we are left with these six boxes (Yes, I can count, the box on the left was something we were sending to my (John's) parents). This is what we shipped to Texas to have sent to the ship.

It was a crazy and emotional process. We learned a great deal as we did this and was very helpful in our preparation. It brought out our fears and expectations about what we are getting into and helped (forced) us to communicate those more clearly to each other. We may never want to go through that again but now that we are past that process and getting ready to start our training in Texas we are very thankful for all that was learned. In the end, it definately drew us closer to each other and to our God as we learn more and more about relying on Him to do what we are being asked to do.

Leaving, Giving a sermon, Family Time

We are now on our way to our training in Texas and spending a few days in Arkansas with John's parents prior to starting our training in Texas. The last seven weeks since Cora was born have been filled with lots of activity emotions and see you laters (you never say goodbye right?). Here are a few highlights.

Some amazing women that Tracey works with put on a rummage sale that raised over $2500 for our mission. Thanks to the crew for the amazing effort you put into that. We didn't hardly do anything to help and were so blessed by your efforts.

Some women at church threw a shower for Tracey with lots of gift certificates for baby things and one Moby wrap which has and will continue to receive much use.

The church allowed me to give the sermon our last Sunday there. Link below if you are interested (the first minute is blank because I forgot to turn on the mic, you just miss some bad jokes).
http://www.thejourneyatfb.org/media.php?pageID=6
What an experience that was. I have no idea how pastors do that every Sunday. I had eight weeks or so to get ready and felt overwhelmed. I learned so much in the process of putting that together and while I am not sure that I want to do it all that often, I actually enjoyed the process and giving the sermon that morning.

That Sunday was also the Sunday that we dedicated Cora before our church. While we are leaving for Africa we strongly desire to remain a part of our church and wanted to dedicate our parenting of Cora and her life to the Lord in front of our church body.

Speaking with so many people at our church that Sunday for the last time for a while, was something we won't forget. It was so hard to walk out the doors that day after all the encouragement and love we have received being a part of the Journey these last four plus years.

After leaving Craig, we spent three weeks in Denver staying with Tracey's parents. They were so gracious allowing us to unpack and pack taking up so much space in the house. The time with them those weeks was special for our whole family as we prepped to go.

During that time we got to visit with lots of people as we got ready to leave. Those times were special and actually provided us energy for all the other packing and prepping we had to do while in Denver.

Tracey's mother and sister threw a bon voyage party for us with lots of people coming by and encouraging us some more. Another very special time with lots of people.

Closed out the time with a family reunion in the mountains. A great time with Tracey's extended family that allowed me to get to know them better and fill a gap for us as we will miss cousin Scott's wedding in July.

The biggest thing (as you might tell) was all the encouragement we received from so many people as we prepared to go. There were so many people and we came back refreshed after every visit with energy to press through all the packing (separate post coming). We leave knowing how much we are loved with memories that will sustain us as we move forward.

Cora Ann

Cora Ann Wall was born April 19 weighing in at 8 lbs even and 21 inches long. She looks a lot like her sister including the full head of hair. Delivery was long but went well and Tracey recovered well. Cora did great once out and as such allowed us to go home about 20 hours after her birth. Adalynn hasn't quite figured out everything that is going on but she is trying to share her toys with her new sister. While dangerous depending on the force she uses when sharing it is extraordinarily cute.

We are so happy to have Cora here and bring her along on our little adventure we are embarking on soon. Our family seems so right and we are excited to move it to where we know we are supposed to be.

Local Article

Our local paper did an article about our upcoming move to West Africa. It was a really fun experience for us. Pretty cool to read you own story from someone else's point of view and a great reminder of the journey God has taken us on to get to this point. It also led to some great conversation around town with people we knew and some we didn't. Definately one of the great things about living in a small town.

http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2012/mar/31/dreams-distant-shore-craig-couple-fulfilling-share/

Wisdom of a toddler

The other morning I (Tracey) found myself having a conversation with Adalynn over breakfast about all of the changes about to happen in our family.  The conversation went something like this:

Me: “Adalynn, did you know that you are going to have a baby sister soon?”

Adalynn: “ poon” (spoon) as she shows me her spoon

Me: “Did you also know that we are going to move out of our house soon?”

Adalynn: “poon”

Me:  “We are going to have to get rid of a lot of our things and we are going to move onto a big boat and help people in Africa who are sick”

Adalynn: “Ma pees” (More please)

So, I realized, I think I was actually having a conversation with myself, trying to convince myself of all that is to come.  At 17 months, Adalynn really has no clue about what is about to happen to her little world.  I worry sometimes about how she will deal with all the transition but then I realized that she is so happy and content living in the present moment and has no worries at all about these next few months.  It really made me step back and assess my thoughts at this moment in the process.  We have been looking ahead to these next few months of change with excitement but we have also had many moments of stress and fear as we wonder how we can possibly get through all the challenges of adding a new baby, selling our possessions, raising support and moving.

My “conversation” with Adalynn that morning reminded me that I need to focus on today and take one step at a time in this process.  The Lord has been so faithful in bringing us to this point and we need to trust him that he will continue to lead us step by step.   Instead of being surprised by how God continues to provide, we need to trust and know that he will carry us through every step.

Church Send off and Worry Send off

We had our commissioning service yesterday and it was a tremendous time. We were asked to speak about 5 minutes or so, with more leeway in the second service. We practiced our talk in the week leading up and made sure all was good for Sunday including limiting my (John's) ummms to  less than 2 per minute.
Well the service came and God laid on my heart something different to say during our worship time. I whispered to Tracey that I felt like I needed to say that we weren't super Christians, just a family seeking to do what God would ask of us and ask the others in the service to do the same with their lives. That wasn't in the prepared speech and I am not much of a public speaker so my legs went into shaking overdrive as we went up in the first service. Why couldn't my wife, who has all the experience in front of people get that word?

Well, the jokes went well, Tracey gave a really good history and my talk about the role we would be taking and the new impromptu addition came off well and I added in that "we are scared sometimes, but just want to do what God has called us to do". Like I said everything went well and I still only used an acceptable amount of ums and no leg shaking was noticed in the crowd.

Second service comes and we are up again and things are rolling along well. More laughs, less umms, all is good. Then I get to the new part (can't really call it impromptu any more if is the second time through) and when I mention that we aren't super Christians and that "we are scared", I completely choke up. That choke up really came out of nowhere. Didn't happen in the first service but definately happened there without warning. I think the Spirit just moved in me at that moment. That was an unplanned word and when I said it this time I was completely moved. I struggled through the rest but at the end we had lots of people mention how real that made our experience  to them. Tracey and I have talked about wanting people to really feel like a part of what we are doing and identify with it in their own lives.

We are excited that the Lord used our commissioning service to let people know that God is there when He calls us to something scary and is okay with us voicing that as long as we continue to trust Him in those fears. I Peter says "cast your cares (worries) on Him", it doesn't say don't have any but to let them go when they come and let Him take care of it. We are more excited that I learned that as well, because I don't think I have been doing a good job of letting those cares go. The need to do that wasn't real for me until I reflected on how the Spirit moved in that second talk. Really cool how the Spirit moves to say the right thing at the right time.

Neon Signs

We have felt a call to Africa for many years, both individually and then as a married couple.  When we got married our goal was to pay off our student loans so that we could free ourselves up to serve overseas.  This task was accomplished after a lot of hard work in the Spring of 2011.  At that point we felt like there wasn't anything keeping us from moving forward with seeking out opportunities in Africa.  We had many excuses why not, but we felt the Lord leading us to pray about possible places for us to serve as a family.

As we began praying about it and seeking opportunities we were amazed at how the Lord responded. In the process or contacting several organizations, we learned about Mercy Ships from missionaries our church supports.  Our church holds suppers throughout the summer and Donovan and Mae Palmer came to speak about their experiences on Mercy Ships sometime early June of 2011. We were not even supposed to be at that meeting but our small group had been canceled and we went on a whim to the supper.  We listened about Mercy Ships and were excited about the work they were doing but didn't see any neon signs that it was for us.  We got some contact information after their presentation and decided it wouldn't hurt to inquire about opportunities.  Much to our surprise they emailed us back later that day asking if John would consider the position of Finance Director of the ship!

Since that time we have been praying about and learning about Mercy Ships and deciding if this was the right move for our family.  We prayed and prayed for a neon sign that would show us for sure that it was what we were supposed to do.  We invited friends and family to pray along side us.  We didn't receive any neon signs.  But we did receive a sense of peace and many small arrows and open doors that led us to know that this was where God was preparing us to go. By the end, it was apparent that the only reason not to go would have been a neon sign saying "Don't go". 

So we are now embarking on this journey to move to Western Africa and live on the Africa Mercy with our family!  We will give birth to our second baby in late April and then plan to move to Texas in June of 2012 for training.  We will then move our family of four onto the Africa Mercy in August of 2012.  We are so excited about all that God has in store for us but we are sad about leaving our town, our family and friends, and our dog. :(

We have learned that neon signs are not necessary and that sometimes God speaks in his still small voice through small open doors and inward peace.  We have a lot going on between now and the time that we leave and we are thankful that we have you along side us in this journey.  Thank you for your support!