Beginning a New Phase

Not a lot has happened since we've been home, but it has been wonderful to spend unhurried time with family. Tim has begun working construction with a guy in our church, but since it is not full time he will hopefully be able to devote a lot of time to preparing for our time of partnership development that we have just begun. Speaking of partnership development, (also known as deputation) the time has come that we are looking for individuals and churches to partner with us in prayer, encouragement, and financial support as we look towards ministering to tribal people in Papua New Guinea. I can't stress enough how important you, our friends and supporters are to us. We need your prayers, encouragement, and friendship. We know that as we set out in this work there is NO way that we can do it on our own. It is ONLY by the grace of God that we can have an effective part in this amazing task. 

Please pray for us that we will continually seek the Lord first and pursue a close walk with Him. We also appreciate your encouragement--dropping us a note to say hi or that you are praying for us means a great deal. It can be lonely at times so far from home and knowing you are thinking of us make the distance a little less. Finally, we are looking for monthly financial supporters that will be a part of our team. Papua New Guinea is one of the most expensive fields to go to within New Tribes. The country is very underdeveloped and so many things have to be imported from Australia. Not to mention that once we are in the tribe our expenses will include things like paying for a plane to fly in our supplies and groceries. At this point, we are receiving about 25% of what the mission recommends for our monthly financial support. If you know of any church, Sunday school, or small group/Bible study that would be willing to have us come share what God is doing around the world, please let us know. We are so excited to share what God has been teaching us and of the exciting work of tribal church planting. 

On a different note, some have mentioned that they would enjoy seeing some more pictures of the boys so here are just a few.....

Noah loves to "work hard!" and here he is with his new

 and real tool set from his Aunt Kim.

Micah has such a personality and it is fun to see that develop.

Micah has been working very hard on crawling. Here he is on 

Christmas Eve as he was just figuring things out. Now

we have to keep a close eye on him as he can scoot very

quickly across the floor after anything that interests him. 

What we've been up to...

So, Christmas has come and gone and we have begun a New Year. We were so busy with packing and moving that we hardly had time to think about Christmas so we weren't much in the "Christmas spirit," but we enjoyed the time being with family and remembering the wonderful reason that we celebrate. We then went to my (Tiffany's) cousin's wedding down in the LA area and so we had more traveling, but again we had a wonderful time. I was able to reconnect with family I hadn't seen in awhile and since I had already missed two other cousin's weddings I was glad to be able to finally go to one!

Noah and his stocking on Christmas morning

Santa Baby

My cousin and his beautiful bride

There was dancing at the wedding and Noah had a blast. Here he is asking the flower girl to dance. She was quite shy and would only dance if her aunt joined them. Noah loves telling the story of how she just put her hands on her cheeks and "wouldn't talk."

My sister Kim and her friend Carl dancing at the wedding. 

Here is a video of Noah dancing with Kim. He was very anxious to dance and so they were the first ones on the dance floor. Oh my, and he is only two!

Traveling Once Again!

Well, we all made it safe and sound to California! What a wild week of packing, cleaning, and saying good-byes! My (Tiffany's) parents arrived Tuesday night from two 15 hour driving days from California to Roach, MO. My grandparents from south Missouri arrived the next morning for a quick visit before we left Missouri as they had not met Micah yet. We had a great time visiting, but unfortunately we couldn't stop too long from the work of packing. Tim, my dad, and grandpa all worked tirelessly packing and organizing the trailor, while I packed and my mom and grandma helped with cleaning. I don't know how we could have done it without them! Amazingly, we were able to finish by Thursday evening. We said our last tearful good-byes and then took off for Tulsa where we would spend the night. The next morning Tim and my dad started their very long drive home and my mom, I, and the little ones got the easy way out and flew home. Saturday night we were able to to see Tim and my dad pull up in front of my parent's house. They made it with no car troubles and only one snow storm!

It has been a quite a switch coming home. Last Sunday we almost didn't make it to church because of the snow and ice, but this Sunday we were wearing short-sleeved shirts and felt warm outside! It has been great to be home and see family. The boys are having a great time. Noah is finally able to get some of that two-year old energy out running around outside and riding his bike. Micah is getting so big so fast! He has been working on crawling today! I can't believe how fast they grow up! We hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Bittersweet Thoughts

So, the time has come and I can hardly believe it. We are DONE with New Tribes Training! For the last five years, one or both of us, have been involved in training for tribal church planting. We have been everywhere from the "barren wasteland" (j/k) of Wisconsin where the staple diet consists of brats and frozen custard,  and it is a normal thing to see houses painted bright green and yellow with giant Packer football helmets proudly displayed on the side....to the beautiful wooded mountains of Pennsylvania where we have wonderful memories of living for a time in a plastic covered house on the side of a mountain with a bucket shower, long walks to the outhouse, and glop for breakfast every morning....then to the Ozarks of Missouri, where the lake is practically right out your front door, the highlight of a trip to town is Wal-mart and McDonald's, and where in the summer you are bombarded in that same Wal-mart by people in their bikinis buying cartloads of beer for their parties on the lake.  Tim and I have had several discussions lately about the bittersweet feeling of leaving this place, the Missionary Training Center in Roach, and the final phase of our training. Here are some of the thoughts that I have had lately that I thought I would share with you about the things we are leaving behind....

What I will NOT miss.....

• Having to lug two overloaded baskets of laundry to the wash house where I then attempt to get everything washed and dried without going over my allotted time....and also hoping that I can run back and forth from the house while also attempting to take care of the boys. (Sometimes I am sure this is has to be impossible, but somehow it works. Thank goodness for Mondays and Sheila!)
  
• Getting to walk, again to the wash house, to take my shower. In summer it is a hot, sticky shower in the company of many varieties of bugs and it the winter it is often a cold/cool shower and if we are lucky we get to walk through snow and ice to get there!
• Living in the Ozarks. I know it is a tourist hot spot, but....
• Going to class and having homework for the last five years.
• Being able to sit in my bedroom and clearly hear my neighbors using the bathroom. (Don't worry Dylan and Angie, I only noticed this a couple neighbors ago.) :)

What I WILL miss....

• Being able to do all my laundry in two hours instead of one load at a time and it taking all day!
• I am having a hard time thinking about what I will miss about the shower, but at least I come back clean! Maybe the fact that at times I get to talk with a friend in the neighboring stall while we take our showers. I am always up for a chance to socialize!
• Being able to walk out our front door and take a walk in God's beautiful creation!
• Going to class and learning SO much from many people that I really admire. I will miss the discipleship I experienced this year especially. 
• Having wonderful friends right outside my door at all times! We can put the kids to bed and just take our baby monitor with us to our friend's houses because they live so close. I think this is the thing that Tim and I will miss the most. We are ending this training in the company of friends with whom we have traveled the country, gone through many trials, had our thinking challenged in many areas, served each other when we were hurting, prayed together, and worked together, etc. So many dear friends that I may never see again or at least for a very long time! We will leave this place and go off to the many different corners of the world. It has been difficult not to become discouraged about the many friendships we have made and then had to leave over the years, but I have been challenged to be thankful for friendship for the time that it is given instead of becoming resentful when it is taken away. I can spend all my energy resenting it or focus on continuing those relationship from a distance and to pour into the lives of those that come across my path. 

It is exciting and nerve-wracking to think that when we pull out of here in just a few days with all of our earthly belongings, we will be New Tribes Missionaries! We will be shifting our energies to building prayer and financial support for the ministry we hope to have with tribal people in Papua New Guinea. It seemed that this time would never come, yet here it is. This move has been harder for us than all the rest as it feels like the beginning of letting go. Letting go of all we have known and come to love. Letting go of the many people in our lives that we would love to to be close to instead of halfway around the world. What an encouragement to look back and see how faithful God has been to provide each step of the way and we know that He will continue to be faithful. The phrase from a well known hymn keeps going through my mind, and that is..."It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus!"

The view on our walks around campus!

Swingin' with the Boys

A dear friend of mine, Sheila, and I decided to go on a walk the other day as it was beautiful outside. She has a sweet little boy, Nathan, who is six weeks younger than Micah. We brought with us our friend's little boys, Luke and Titus. With the five little boys it was quite the energetic walk, but a lot of fun. We took a walk over to the rope swing on campus and had a great time swinging and throwing rocks in the creek. 

Nathan and Micah in our stroller. 

Nathan is giving his mom a huge smile, but Micah just looks confused. 

My friend Sheila with all the boys!

Noah trying out the rope swing. He loved it!

With the days getting colder and colder, (it is supposed to snow today), our trips outside are getting more limited, but it is wonderful living in a place that a beautiful walk in God's creation is right outside our front door. 

FINALLY!

FINALLY! Here are the pictures that I promised of our time in Oklahoma. I have done this three time and each time the computer has deleted it. Annoying! SO, hopefully it will work this time!

Here is what our room would have looked like when we arrived, (although not so clean!). These bunkbeds became our walls, closets, shelves, and couches!

You can see our "wall" in the background. It was made of bunk beds and mattresses, and draped with old sheets and blankets. It worked quite well!

NOW, these are a few pictures of the time me and the little ones had in California. This is Noah and Micah enjoy the soft carpet at Nana and Papa's house. Anything is soft after concrete!

Noah had a blast feeding the ducks with Nana. Micah just looked puzzled at the strange creatures in front of him.

Noah getting a haircut from a friend of ours. Not his first, but it is always fun. He does a great job sitting still.

BACK in Oklahoma....After Tim picked me and the boys up at the airport, we found a playground and Noah had a great time running and playing with Daddy again!

We all missed him.

Micah is getting SO big!

Some of the Cherokee ladies at the church we attended while we were there made earrings and bracelets for us ladies as gifts. Mine were big and red! Noah enjoyed "wearing" them and walking around saying, "I'm Kerokee!" (Cherokee)

Packing up to go home! You can see the volleyball court in the background where the kids loved to ride bikes and run. This is right outside our room.

And speaking of Cherokee, today was Tim's LAST day of linguistics. He turned in his big (60 page) write-up on the Cherokee language today! What a relief. The last week or so, we saw him for meals, but there were times when he left the house before 8am and didn't come home till 2am! We ALL learned a lot...about ourselves, our family, and about the great God who is sufficient in all circumstances. Thank you to those of you who prayed for us during this time.

Tim has two, two week long classes left, Bible translation and a wrap-up on church planting. Then it is packing and traveling home to California for Christmas!

Tiffany

Bloodshot eyes and a crying baby!

These last couple of months have been very exhausting. With all of the moving, travels, not to mention normal baby developments that disrupt sleep, Micah has NOT been sleeping well. The last week or two he has even been waking up and crying for two hours at a time! Nothing we did or didn't do seemed to make a difference. I even talked to his doctor and he couldn't understand what was going on. He told me to try giving him some tylenol before he went to bed to see if that helped. Well, last night he sleep for 12 hours straight! I haven't felt so good in a very long time. He has slept 10 hours from time to time, but it was always just before another move and so it didn't continue. 

Earlier this week a blood vessel even broke in my eye because of the lack of sleep and stress! My left eye looks bright red and very unpleasant. I was reading my Bible last night and a devotional book I have been going through with some other ladies here on campus and I was reminded that what is in my life right now is from God and He has given it to me for a purpose. He has been reminding me over and over again that regardless of what my circumstances are, He has given me the grace to act like His child in the midst of the trial and not give into my fleshly attitudes. I don't have a "right" to have a bad attitude, to be inpatient with my children, and rude to my husband. I am to "walk in a manner worthy"  with "all humility, and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love." (Eph. 4:1-3) It doesn't matter if I have had three hours of sleep or eight! 

I read a quote by Andrew Murray that I found really encouraging....

"In time of trouble, say, 'First, he brought me here. It is by his will that I am in this strait place; in that I will rest.' Next 'He will keep me here in his love, and give me grace in this trial to behave as his child.' Then say, 'He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me lessons he intends me to learn, and working in me the grace he means to bestow." And last, say, 'In his good time he can bring me out again. How and when, he knows.' Therefore say, 'I am here (1) by God's appointment, (2) in his keeping, (3) under his training, (4) for his time.'"

While a baby that won't sleep is a small trial in comparison to the death of a loved one, ongoing sickness, or many other things allowed into the lives of believers, it is what God has chosen to give us at this time and we can accept it gladly and willingly, resting in the knowledge that His grace is sufficient and the lessons He is teaching us are more valuable than sleep. 

While Micah seems to now have chosen sleep over crying for hours, who knows if it will continue. Whether or not, we know that we can rest in our Almighty God.  To Him be the praise and glory in all things!