Volcano-Meter!

Here it is Jarren’s Volcano-meter at 100% funded.  We are so excited to be on our way and so thankful that we have an apartment with most of what we need for furnishings waiting for us.  God has truly worked things out in ways that we wouldn’t have imagined.  Here is what the next few weeks look like for us. June 15-22 in Seattle, June 23-27 in Portland.  Flying out for Peru June 27.  We are so thankful for all of you that have faithfully supported us in prayer and finances and look forward to sharing with you the ministry in Peru.

On our Way and a Prayer Request

This is a quick update to let you all know that we are 100% funded and have bought our tickets. I hope to have Jarren update his Volcano-meter soon. We are very excited but also have heavy hearts this evening as we have received news that Bonita Park, a Nazarene camp and the Angus church of the Nazarene have suffered extensive damage from a forest fire in New Mexico. This was one of our stops in New Mexico. As they are still dealing with an uncontained fire they do not have an exact accounting of all the damage. Please be praying with us for the all those affected by this loss.

Redeeming the Time

This is the phrase that has been coming to mind over the last week.  What does it mean to redeem the time, to make the most of every opportunity, when you feel like you are in between places?  Well here are a few of the things that we are doing while we wait:

Finishing the school year: Since it was certain to be at least two weeks before we left Madras and we needed to have something to keep us parents in one place for a while so we could rest, we enrolled Jarren in school.  Such a blessing, he spends time with kids his own age, gets to go to school where Robin went to elementary school and is in on the “fun” end of the year activities like The Inventors Workshop and Field Day.

Training for a 5k.  Jarren loves to run and if we are in Madras for the 4th of July he will want to run in the 5k race they have here.  He ran in it last year and I couldn’t keep up.  While I have no illusions I would be able to keep up this year even if I prepare (he ran it in 22 minutes last year) I could certainly use the exercise. So now you can find us in Juniper Hills Park (when its not raining, why is it raining in Madras?) running.

Soaking up lots of Grammy, Grandpa and Auntie time: Renna has been having a little taste of heaven these last few weeks, an abundance of her favorite people to dote on her and give her all the attention a 4-year-old can contain (Jarren is enjoying it too).  This has truly been a blessed time of rest after a very busy month of travel and we are so thankful to be spending this time with family.

Although this time in Madras has been faith stretching as we are anxious to be on our way, once again we find it is what we need, so we are prayerfully looking forward to the next stop on our journey.  Next week after school is out for Jarren we will be heading up to Seattle to visit Nana, Papa and cousins (Aunts and Uncles too) and get our phones for Peru.

Pray with us that we are on a plane for Peru soon ( we are at about 85%) and that none of the many little details get left behind.

Colossians 4:2-6

² Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. ³ And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴ Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. ⁵ Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity (Redeeming the Time). ⁶ Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

 

 

My life as a lump of clay

Well we have been in Madras for almost a week and finally felt like we may be catching up on sleep.  In my post I mentioned feeling stretched and now I must admit to feeling squished, which led me to think a clay and how it has to be worked to be useful.  How does a car full of stuff feel like too much?  When you are trying to put it in out-of-the-way places in someone elses house for an indeterminate amount of time.  Perhaps the only one of us not experiencing a lack of personal space is Renna, who is gobbling up the constant attention and proximity of parents and grandparents.  I am truly thankful for the opportunity to be here in Madras while we finish raising support, thankful that we are packed up and out of our house,and thankful that God is working in us as he prepares us for our move to Peru.  So for now you will find us in Madras, Oregon listening for what is next on our journey. While we are here we are getting our mailing lists together (so if you want to get our news letters from us be sure we have your e-mail or physical address), reestablishing good habits (physically and spiritually) as these were hard to maintain on the road, and starting what projects we can for Extreme.  Pray with us that all this stretching and squeezing will be to good effect and help us to better reflect the glory of God.

⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. ⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from Godand not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:6-7