Taking a Sabbath Day

Once upon a time there was a family who booked every day of the week, became totally drained and irritable, and couldn't figure out to fix it. They said yes to too many service activities, to many get togethers, and tried to fit in extra curriculars on top of it all. They were exhausted, taken advantage of, and tired of living every day like a race to the end.

I know that our family is not the only one this story is about. We want others to be happy. We want to serve. We also want a chance to breathe from time to time and make sure our family is healthy both mentally and physically. One day I read this passage from Exodus:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11

God, the one who made every living thing and breathed out the stars, works for 6 days and then takes a day off. God took a day to rest and we were not. God even tells us to take a day off and we ignore Him. Maybe we think we know better or maybe we don't want to waste our limited time on earth. But is it a waste? When I am weary, exhausted, and irritable no one is getting my best. If I am constantly thinking about the next thing for me to do then no one is getting my full attention. But, if we take one day a week to rejuvenate our minds, bodies, and spirit, we can serve and work in gladness, giving our best.

We realized we needed a Sabbath day in March. We had to wait till May for our commitments to be over so we could begin taking one. Unfortunately, our Sabbath day was the most booked day of the week, Wednesday. Adam has 2 days off a week, Sunday and Wednesday. Many people think of Sunday as the Sabbath day. That doesn't work for us because we generally serve in our church or are support raising for our mission trip on Sunday. Wednesday was once booked with Bible studies, Awana, and youth group. Now it is the day that we take life slow and easy. We don't work, serve, or run errands unless it is an absolute necessity.

What do you take out? Everything we have chosen to take out has been a good thing to do. Mostly everything that is vying for our time is a "good thing". If we take on every good thing because it is "good" we become like the sad family at the beginning of my post. We need to stop letting others place their expectations on us or to feed us guilt so we will say "Yes". Let's all lighten the load on ourselves and take a Sabbath day!

Do you take a Sabbath? What day do you take it? If not, when do you think you would want to take one each week? If it is good for God, it can only be that much more good for us!

A Life of Miracles: A Book Review

When I saw the description of this book I knew I needed to read it. What I didn't know was that God would use this book to speak to me and my family. Most good books I simply devour, but this one has not been the case. God has put on my heart when to read this book and when not to. I have simply been following His nudges.


Don's family is following God's calling in their lives. As a missionary preparing to leave for the field I relate so much. In the book Don says, "God puts yearnings in our hearts that we cannot always define, and He brings these longings to life in His time. But, to be honest, it can be pretty depressing and miserable as we wait." This is where we are at right now. I entirely agree with Don. Sometimes I, as he does in his book, wonder why on earth God needs me in a certain place at a certain time or why we can't just go to our Montreal mission field now, because we are ready. This book has been a great reminder of how important it is that we continue to follow and obey God every day, even when we would rather go back to a "normal" life at times.


I am not done with the book, though I am about two-thirds of the way there. I look forward to finishing it so I can share it with my husband. When I was having conversations with God about another child, he led me to a chapter with a similar story (more about this event here: http://www.morgansbubble.com/hope-for-a-child/). When I felt like no one else has ever had to struggle with moving back in with their parents, there was another chapter of this book. It has been such a blessing and encouragement to have had the chance to read this book. My hope is that God would use this book to encourage my husband and others as well.


Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.

Still Waiting

Here we are 4 weeks since our missions interview and we are still waiting. We even got an e-mail this afternoon from our rep apologizing for not calling us while ON VACATION! What ever he has to tell us must be of great importance. Perhaps it is a yes, perhaps something else is going on.

A week ago the wait, and missed phone call, was eating away at me. I was going crazy knowing that we could have had our answer had we simply been home. God used that time to show me a thing or two. First of all he reminded me that this is HIS plan, not mine. God will see to all of the details, I simply need to come along for the ride and be a willing vessel for Him.

He showed us the peace we can have in waiting. We have really enjoyed this quiet week knowing the chances of our rep calling us while on vacation are slim. We have not thought much at all of our mission trip this week. Instead we devoted our time to bible study and family togetherness. I think God much preferred that, as did we.

He also laid out more of his design for us. God is already placing the support net on his plan for us to be missionaries. It is quite incredible to watch! With out any solicitation, we now have 3 churches and a fantastic business woman who want to talk to us about partnership when the time comes. While I am not willing to take that as a guaranteed yes. till I actually get one, I can see that this is God's work preparing us in advance for the next step.

There is a good chance we will have another week to wait. We decided a short vacation was in order after all these months of hard work. So we will be taking a mini trip to have some much needed fun and recharge our batteries. Then we can come back, get our answer, and get to work. In the meantime, I will enjoy the quiet stillness of the wait...and try desperately not to itch my bug bites any more (a result from outdoors family togetherness).

Train

Did you know that cats can be trained? Even if it's only to use the litter box.

Mister (5) made this lovely and very light picture of a train car for this week's theme. He had a blast with his first try at using a compass.

What a novel idea...artwork on what was once my art blog. I have been thinking a lot this week about how "arting", as Mister puts it, has somehow disappeared from our life in the last year. It was gradual and that may be the reason we didn't notice it. So today we are back to illustrationfriday.com for the weekly art challenge.

I forgot how wonderful it feels to just draw. My mind is completely focused when I draw, something I have not had for a while now. I have started to think about it a lot this week. I have been thinking about my Etsy shop as well. Before you think to yourself, "Oh, yes, The Crazy Elephant is a fantastic little pad shop and is providing an ecological choice for women all over the world," that is not the shop I am talking about. If you did not know that this blog was originally started as an art blog, you may also not know that my first start on Etsy was an art shop.

It is a funny thing how other parts of our life sort of take over and some of your favorite things can suddenly be gone. This has been happening to me. I have gotten so focused on homeschooling, homemaking, and missions information that all else has gone by the wayside. It is probably the reason I am becoming a frazzled mess. I some how removed all the fun from my life and started hyper focusing on the things I previously listed. I can tell you it is driving my family nuts and needs to be put to a stop!

I prayed and prayed to know what I needed. Bible reading wasn't doing it, not changing anything wasn't doing it, art is the missing link for me. I never realized how important it is to me till now. It clears my head and helps me to go into other activities with purpose and focus. It is so hard to read and study my Bible when my mind is spinning with other things I need to do. I need a pencil in my hand so that I can use that focus to come closer to my awesome God!

What about that shop I mentioned? I started The Crazy Elephant as a way to support my art. Instead it took over all my time and energy and I sadly dropped the art shop. About 2 years ago I did a huge crayon roll custom order for a birthday party and as I looked at the party pack that was coordinating the rolls, I thought how I would love to do that. Well, that has obviously gone on the back burner, after 2 years you would think it would have burnt by now.

Out of the blue on Monday I woke up thinking about it. It was the only thing I could think about and when I went online to edit a listing at The Crazy Elephant, I saw they set up, this week, the ability to put downloadable files in the listing. To put it simply, the customer can download their files directly from Etsy when they purchase a computer file. That was exactly what I needed to be able to sell printable party packs efficiently whether here, or on mission.

I am still planning things out and of course I have a lot of art to catch up on before I open up said shop. I also have to figure out a name. I am planning to do printable party packs that would include invites, bunting, cupcake toppers, ect. Right now I am thinking something along the lines of Bubble Prints, but I really have no idea at this point. I do know that I am planning to do giveaways as I get the sets together so I can get some feedback and word of mouth started. In the meantime, I'm off to make some art!

Life in Christ

Today churches and people around the world are honoring Christ's sacrifice for us on the cross. I thought it would be fitting to share what Christ means to us in the Morgan home. We have accepted Him as our savior. That means that we can join him one day in heaven. We put our faith and lives in his hands too. We have relinquished control of our lives to our Heavenly Father. You don't have to be a missionary to do this and you will be handsomely rewarded. I think many people are scared to do this. They might like the way things are and don't want them to change. Maybe they are scared of what could happen if they do. What ever the reason, it keeps people from accepting the truth of Christ. They are blinded by society's views of the world and harden their hearts to God. Our relationship with Christ means we can have a worry free life. Here is a short list of some of the things we do not worry about...

• Money - Any time we have had a financial need or struggle, God has provided for us. When I lost my job a few years back, God gave me a new one within the week in a bad economy. When we wanted to start tithing at church but didn't have the extra funds, Adam got a raise out of the blue that gave him the exact dollar amount he wanted to tithe each month. Are we worried about funds for mission trip? No! God has provided time and again and we have complete faith that he will bring us all we need...no worries.
• Safety - I could worry myself sick over our biking on busy streets to get to places such as the grocery store. I put it in God's way more capable hands instead. If the unfortunate happens I will know my fate and that it happened for an important reason. God uses tragedy to change peoples hearts too.
• Our marriage - Believe it or not, there was a time when we bickered like crazy. We can both be hot tempered from time to time and it was hard on our marriage. When we let Christ be the center of our marriage and began to following more biblical roles, our marriage flourished. I don't even remember the last time we had an actual argument. FYI, we made this marital change for the better long before we started attending church, for those of you that seem to think church "brainwashed" us.
• The Future - I don't know where we will be, or what we will be doing. I am excited to find out, but not worried in the least. It is in more capable hands than my own!

Life is wonderful in God's hands, so put your hand in His and let Him lead the way. You don't need to worry because God's got your back! He loves you and wants to take care of you. What is holding you back? Think about it and decide if it is really worth holding onto! I would love to hear about how God has worked in your life too. feel free to share in the comments below, anonymously if you like, so that we can all be blessed by your story!

Dream Prayers

Last spring I was doing a bible study with some wonderful ladies from church. We were discussing that when you are awake in the middle of the night it is a perfect time to pray for whoever or what ever is on your mind. Of course, I have been praying that way ever since. I don't normally get the chance because I have been blessed with night long sleep. Last week I was awake at about 3am several nights in a row. The last night I did not wake up, but I still prayed.

I had a dream that there was glowing script written on the air (think Star Wars holograms). I was scanning this list of names and prayed for 2 of them. I have no idea who these people were. I could barely pronounce their names. I guess it was incredibly important that these people be prayed for for the Holy Spirit to make it happen in this way. Whoever they were, I am glad someone was looking over them that night!

Humbling to Say the Least

Some accurate, but not to be used, slogans for becoming a missionary...

Relive every dark moment from your past - fill out a missions app!

Put your doctrinal and biblical knowledge to the test - fill out a missions app!

Seriously though, it has been a very humbling experience thus far. I don't think anything could make me feel less adequate as a spokeswoman for Christ than these applications. I thought waiting to get them was hard. Turns out that was a piece of cake! I don't think I ever claimed to know it all when it comes to, well, anything to be frank, but I am starting to really feel just how much I really don't know.

There are 2 things holding me through this application process...well, 2 things that are not God. First are all the encouragement and prayers from our family and friends. Second is this post on the ReachGlobal Facebook page, "Jesus entrusted the leadership of that which he died for to non-professionals after just 3 years with them. And you're dragging your heels?" It is so true! I am doing my best to remember that God doesn't need me to be an expert, he needs me to be willing. That, I can do!

Being Wrong

Love this song! It is like the author of this song was reading our minds or something. It perfectly describes how we have been feeling the last few years. I chose to share the version showing lyrics so you all can read what it says and not miss a word.

I'm alright being wrong, are you?

You are Called

Since "coming out" about our missions aspirations I have had several people tell me that they have always felt called to missions but their spouse isn't. I have got a great book for all of you to sink your teeth into! It is called Godspeed: Making Christ's Mission Your Own by Britt Merrick.

This is a great starting point for missions activities. The whole point of the book is that we are all meant to be "on mission". What we all tend to forget is that God has purposely put us where we currently are. That doesn't mean we won't eventually be called to the far reaches of the earth. It does mean that each of us has a mission purpose where we currently are. It is worth a read. We started it before we started setting things up for our own mission trip and it really opened our eyes to our purpose in little SE Minnesota. 

It is available on the kindle, in hard cover, or soft cover on amazon, or check your local library/bookstore!

Miracle for Jen: a Book Review

Thank you to Tyndale Blog Network for giving me a copy of this book to review!

This is an incredible true story told by Linda Barrick. Linda, her husband, daughter (Jen), and son are the victims of a horrible car crash leaving Jen in a coma after serious head trauma. The book starts out with a detailed account of the crash itself. How they reacted, a recap of the events leading to the crash, and journey from the car to the hospital. Throughout the entire ordeal we can see how God is working wonders to help this family. Mom and Dad are seriously injured and wheel chair bound for months. Their son escapes with only minor injuries. Jen, however, is not even expected to live through the first night. Gradually, Jen comes to and praises God with nearly every waking moment.

I was crying from the get go on this book! It is 262 pages and I read a quarter of it each time I picked it up. I could hardly put it down. It is simply amazing to see how God has worked in the lives of the Barrick family. Their tragedy brought so many people to know Christ and grow in their faith. It is a must read in my book! My prayer is that anyone who reads this book and is amazed at the works of God's hands would come to realize that God is working those same wonders in their own life, they need only notice them!

P.S. The soft cover is super soft to the touch, making it great for long hours of reading!

God Made Me

*For the men that read my blog, this is a warning...I will be discussing "lady issues"*

I want to thank everyone who has been praying for me this last week! For those of you who don't know I went to the doctor last week and then waited patiently till yesterday for an ultrasound to see if I have fibroids. It was incredibly uncomfortable and I left with no information at all, which was very disheartening. This morning I got the call from my very confused doctor. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he had no idea how my body works. My ultrasound came back perfectly normal. He thought maybe my uterus felt enlarged because it is tilted abnormally, but no, that wasn't it either. He said I look absolutely and undeniably normal in every way and to have fun on our journey to try for another baby.

God told me something very important today, "I made you! If I wanted you to be just like everyone else, I would have made you that way!" No doctor will ever be able to figure out why Aunt flow will visit for 3 solid months or not show up for months at a time. It is just the way God made me. There is no medical reason why it is uncomfortable to have pressure on my lower abs, the main reason that I don't like wearing jeans. God made me this way. He did not make a mistake and there is nothing to fix, as proven by internal photographs.

This has been an "a-ha" kind of day. I need to stop thinking about my body in light of what is "normal" and start doing what is best just for me. I have always disliked shopping because I rarely find things that actually feel comfortable for me. It is time for me to start focusing on what actually works for me. I don't have to wear what everyone else wears. I don't have to exercise the same way. And I will never have the same "flow". God made me ME and not someone else! We should all learn to embrace and work with the ME that god made for each of us. Why do we all try so hard to be the ME that God made someone else? If he wanted me to be you, then he wouldn't have made me ME!

Small Strides

You get 2 posts from me today because after nearly 3 weeks of waiting I got an update from our Reach Global Rep! I know that some of you are just as excited to find out something new as I am. It is pretty small though. I just feel good knowing that small steps are still being taken.

Our rep discussed the change to short term with her team...today. Apparently she has a very full plate and hasn't been able to till today. That is good though. It means lots of people are ready to accept Christ's call to action! They still need to talk to the people who are in charge of the Amsterdam location. There is currently no team there and Reach Global doesn't normally place people in a location with no team. So they have to find out what the plans for Amsterdam, and our position, are before getting us into the thick of it all.

In the mean time, I have been through my medical exams (got the paperwork on that early) and we will set up Adam and Little Guy for theirs later this week. That should be lots of fun...a 5 year old taking blood and urine tests. I guess this is where they start weeding out those who are not truly committed. We also need to get in touch with our church and make sure they know what is going on and the plans ahead.

So, we will get back into patience mode. God knows when the time is for us to go. We just have to follow Him faithfully. Thank goodness Adam and I both have faith as our strongest spiritual gift. It is the one gift that has never changed.

Whom Shall I Fear Video

Loved this song at church this week! It is so worth a listen...

Ministry of Motherhood: A Review

I have been reading The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson and couldn't be happier with the time spent. This book is all about discipling your children and giving them the gifts that God has given all of us. The gifts discussed include grace, inspiration, faith, training, and service.

If you are the type who skips the introduction to a book, make sure not to skip this one! It was quite a bit longer than expected but I was teary eyed by the end of the first section of the intro. The story of where Sally started her journey with her small children rang so true for my own life.  There is also information about how to use the book in a small group study or as a devotional on your own, as I did. The discussion questions throughout the book are open ended and very thought provoking.

Each part, containing smaller daily chapters, discusses one of the gifts. She gives many examples through narrative. I loved her telling of stories from the bible. They simply come to life and it is like you are right there inside history. The stories from her own life are wonderful too. I was able to relate to each and every one of them. They gave me an insider's view of how she practiced what she is teaching in the book.

This book has become one of my all time favorites. It is compelling and well written. I read it on my kindle and it was very well done in digital format. This is one that will stay in my library for a long time, to read again and again!

Thank you Blogging for Books for allowing me to review this fantastic book for you!

Switching It Up

We had our phone call last night, so it is time for another missions update! The big question was, do we want to do a short term mission trip first? The answer is, YES!

This changes the look of our year by so much it would be scary if we didn't have complete faith in God. The short term process is much shorter and there is less funding to raise. So here is what our new outlook looks like:

Our rep will be getting with some other reps and supervisors to get a set idea of what we will be doing, where, and for how long (we are hoping to do 23 months). Till this is done, there is nothing for us to do but continue slimming down our house. 

Then we get our application package. Our rep said we could get it done in 2 weeks if we hunker down and focus on it. Then we send it in and it is reviewed and accepted based on our new reps work load. that could be 2 months or more.  

Next budgets and job descriptions are finalized and we go into the training/support raising phase.  

Then we leave. 

If it only takes 6 months to raise the funds, there is a good chance we will be saying Merry Christmas form The Netherlands this year. This is a huge change from the 1.5-3 years till we leave that we were anticipating with the long term trip timeline. There is a very possible potential that we will be leaving in 9 months. While it could take longer, I am planning for 9 so that we will be prepared for whatever may happen.

I will try to answer some of the questions we have been asked recently.

Q: What about the house and the dog?
A: We are not making any decisions on those till we hit the fundraising phase and we are locked into our trip. That being said, we will likely sell the house and poor Tucker will most likely need a new home.

Q: Are you crazy? Adam already has a good and reliable job!
A: We are going to be working for God! You can't get a better, more caring, and rliable boss than that. Fith has always been our #1 spiritual gift and we intend to fully use it in this. We are going all in with God and couldn't feel more comfortable with doing it.

Q: What is happening with all your stuff?
A: Most of it will be sold, donated, or given away. The big stuff we will worry about when we are locked in, like the house. We will store a very, and I mean VERY, small selection of things with family.

Q: What are you going to bring?
A: Clothing, a small selection of homeschool materials, bibles, Kindles, studio equipment, and a very small selection of personal items. We fully intend to start from the beginning when we get there.

Q: What does Little Guy think of all this?
A: He is really excited! He can't wait to be a short term missionary. Just the title makes him feel better. Long term sounds like forever, and short term sounds short. He has decided that he can handle a short term trip, even to say good-bye to the house and Tucker.

Our little house is all a-buzz about this exciting new turn around. We are all on board and planning for the future. We will be doubling our efforts to unload stuff and clean things out. It is also time to let our vollunteer activities know what is coming up, so they can prepare too. Mostly, we are just praying for wisdom and strength during this enormously changing time in our lives.

Curve Ball

All week we have been patiently awaiting the next e-mail from our Reach Global rep, the next step of our adventure waiting inside. Of course, we never should have thought that God would place us on a straight and narrow, predictable path. Silly us! What were we thinking?

We did in fact get a message today, but it was not even in the ball park of what we were expecting. It was sort of a three-parter. First on the list was the news about homeschooling in Germany, it is illegal  We originally were leaning more toward the Berlin location because it would be stationary, lower key, and we would stay a little closer to our comfort zone. Plus we would likely be able to keep our dog. After our first chat with the rep, Amsterdam started to grow on us, to the point that I don't think we were even considering Berlin any more. Clearly, God knew this news was coming and prepared us for it in advance.

Part 2 is where our plan for the year, our comfy, cozy, we have a good feel for what our year looks like plan, comes into question. Would we be interested in doing a short term trip first and then going long term? About a hundred questions popped into my mind instantly. I took a look at the timeline for short term and it is less involved, by a lot. We are open to making the change, but we will have to ask a lot of questions about time frames and the like. We could end up leaving way sooner than currently anticipated. I don't have anything to base this on, but it is possible that the missionaries in Europe would like to have someone fill the spot sooner and perhaps starting out with a short term trip would help with that. If there is one thing I do know, It's that I am going to hold on to Jesus' hand through this as he guides me along the path. At least He knows where he is going!

Number 3, not such a big deal, is if we have done or heard of Perspectives. We have not, but if you have any idea of what this is, please share!

We will hopefully be chatting with our rep again next week. In the mean time we have a lot of talking and praying to do. We are getting our list of questions started tonight and will be adding to it frequently till our call, I'm sure.

More Books

I have 2 more books to share!

Indescribable by Louie Giglio and Matt Redman
Love! I mean, really and truly  This book is stunning in it's photographs of space. The blending of science facts and the pure majesty of God in this book is phenomenal  I am about  one third of the way through and it is marvelous. I especially like that it comes with a DVD of the same name. Giglio is a fantastic speaker and brings the book to life on the screen. The book hold so much more information though and I am glad to have the chance to read it...even though I forgot to add it to my book list yesterday.

Miracle for Jen by Linda Barrick
I don't actually have this book yet. I got accepted into the Tyndale Blogging Network today. I will be doing book reviews for them as well and this is the first book I selected. It is a true story of God's work and sounds quite good. It should be shipping out at the end of the month as this copy is an actual book.

What I'm Reading

An escalating stack, I can tell you. This month I am starting 3 books. They all look great, one is as I have been through it before. Here is a sum up...

James: Mercy Triumphs by Beth Moore

Beth is one of my favorite bible study authors! I did this study about a year ago at my church and it was so deep and really struck a chord with me. It is an incredible look at the person and book of James. When planning a women's study in my home this was my first pick! I am loving it the second time around. It has varying levels of activity, from just watching the weekly videos to memorizing the book of James. I am taking a stab at memorizing the book because it has become on of my favorites. I have the first 4 verses down already and am working on #5. We started the study on Thursday, so I think this is a good pace. If you are looking for somewhere to start on study, James: Mercy Triumphs and Becoming a Woman of Simplicity, by Cynthia Heald have been my all time faves.

Fight Like a Girl by Lisa Bevere

I got a call from Adam's Mom on Saturday morning in which she asked if I wanted to come to the women's study at her church starting 5 minutes before she called me. I did not attend, but I did pick up the book on my Kindle and got started reading for next week. So far it looks pretty good. It isn't capturing my full attention at this point, but I am still on the first chapter. I think it will make great conversation and I am looking forward to seeing the corresponding video.

The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

This one I downloaded tonight. It is my first book for review with Blogging for Books. I am really excited to read this one. It really stuck out among my book choices. Since I haven't started reading it yet, I don't have much to say about this one. You will have to wait till my book review I suppose.

What are all of you reading this winter?

Our Phone Call

Wow! It was actually about 45 minutes instead of the 1 hour we were prepared for. It is probably because the only 2 questions we had will be answered by other people farther down the line. If everything goes smoothly and according to plan, our whole year is basically planned out now. It is very nice to have any idea what that plan is too. Here is a rough outline of what will be happening in our year...

January-April
We will be filling out forms galore. We will be meeting with doctors and phsychologists as well. All of this is due by April 15th. This way we have plenty of time to get it all in and filled out.

May
By May 1st we will have an invitation to go to the interviews, if we are going to get one.

June
At the beginning will be the interviews in the middle will be the acceptance, should we be accepted.

July
We will be preparing for a training week.

August 
A week of various training

After all that is accomplished we will be taking a vision trip in which we would visit each location we are considering (at the moment that would be Amsterdam and Berlin). This gives us a chance to see the area and meet the people we would be working with so we can make an educated desision of where we will fit best.

Then there is more training and fundraising starts. Whew! It is going to be some year! We are just bursting with excitement though! I will keep everyone updated on our journey to becoming missionaries. If it helps just one person to be more comfortable with taking a leap of faith and becoming a missionary, I will be happy.

Exciting News

Yesterday was an exciting day in the Morgan home! We have had missionary work on our minds for a while now but weren't sure about the next step we should take. Honestly  we were a little nervous about it because we felt like contacting anyone would mean leaving home and uprooting soon. Due to a quick e-mail with a few questions about how things work and about a certain missionary position, we got a call from Reach Global yesterday! Adam was on the phone with him for a long time, so I knew that it was going to result in something more than just answering a few questions. Here is what happened...

The rep felt like we would be a great fit as media producers! Either for a large portion of Europe with our home base in Amsterdam, or For the 20 missionary families working in Berlin. We sent in our preliminary forms and will be attending the next training seminar where we will learn more about being a missionary, what position we will work best with, and the fine art of raising funds. Once we start raising funds we are looking at 1-2 years before we would actually leave. That was comforting, since our biggest concern was that we may have to pack up and leave in a matter of months, which we are not quite ready for yet. 

Adam and I are very excited! Adam rarely gets excited and he is, so that is big! Little Guy is a little less excited. He doesn't want to leave his house. I expect our family and friends will have a varied mix of reactions. We would love for all of you to keep us in your prayers as we go through this whole process. It is a pretty big deal (which I realized when I saw the face of the first person I told) and very new, which makes it exciting but also a little scary. We trust the Lord to lead us in this though and so we can easily let go of the scary portion and just stick with excitement!