We are anticipating our upcoming year of service here in Jamaica and seeing all that God is going to do in the lives of the children, staff and teams here on campus. We are looking forward to working with over 26 teams this next year. We are excited that one of our first teams will be from our home church in Texas. With many projects and maintenance issues here on campus we are looking forward to seeing what God can do through each and every person. Some of the projects that need to be accomplished is 1)completion of the surrounding wall, 2)repair of plumbing issues throughout the campus, 3)painting, 4)completing the educational and vocational buildings (interior/exterior). Great to know that with God all things are possible!!

With the arrival of our container several weeks ago, we are still trying to get our home in order. Jeffrey's mother arrived shortly after our container arrived and she was a wonderful help with either watching the children or helping unpack boxes and plastic containers. There is still much to do in our home but we can't let it overwhelm us. I am having to adjust with not being able to use a hammer and nails to hang up pics and things. It's quite different with concrete walls (cinderblock walls). I desire for the house to feel like a home, our home.

With the holidays upon us, we took time to celebrate the birth of our Lord with some friends here on campus. We had a whirlwind of baking and cooking for 2 days. It was great, had the kids in the kitchen as well as the cook, who prepares the meals for the students. His nickname here on the campus is Chef (or Uncle Allen-by our kids). With the students gone for Christmas vacation, it has been very quiet here allowing us to have family time as well as getting to know the staff at CCCD on an more intimate level. This was our first Christmas away from all of our families, which was hard, but God enabled us to have a wonderful time and we were still able to do some of the family traditions as in the past. (Jeffrey's mom even brought a little snow from back home...obviously fake snow but the kids enjoyed it just the same.)

We are also still trekking along with homeschooling. This being our first year to do this, which is even a learning process for me, but has been very rewarding. We were delayed in starting their schoolwork prior to our move but they are making it up by not taking the 3 weeks off at Christmas time. Having the flexibility to do their school work is wonderful and allows our children the ability to work with the teams. Lexi and Erin are eagerly awaiting the teams because they desire to work along side them. They quickly get to their school work right after breakfast and try to beat the other to see who gets to go out first and work with the team. I don't mind this as long as their school work doesn't suffer!!!

We are looking forward to having some of our family members visit in March and June. Knowing that they are coming, helps us anticipate with excitement their visits. Anyone else wanting to come, just send us an email or contact us. We would be happy to accommodate!!!!

Last but not least, we desire to have a stronger and deeper personal relationship with Christ, our Lord and Savior, to have Him be the focal point in our marriage. To draw us closer to Him and to each other. Jeffrey and my desire is to also equip our children with the knowledge of Jesus and to teach them morals and values that are pleasing to Him. God has blessed us with much and we desire to honor Him in all that we do and say! May you all have a Happy New Year full of God's blessings!!

Christmas

Wow....Christmas in Jamaica!! It's way different than the Christmas one year ago. We had snow last year and 80 degree weather this year...but we are right where God wants us to be. We celebrated Christmas with the students and staff here at CCCD before everyone went home for the Holiday's.


We were blessed to have Jeffrey's mom(Nonnie) come here for 9 days in December. She even brought snow for the kids, obviously it was fake but, nonetheless, it was SNOW!!!!

We had a mini Christmas while she was here and we had Jeffrey's dad(Poppy) Skype in so he could watch the children open their gifts. We were able to send bicycles for our children for Christmas and Nonnie and Poppy also sent Christmas gifts ahead of time via our container that was shipped back in November. Way to plan ahead Nonnie and Poppy!!!! Christmas was a little different without having our loved ones near but we still tried to implement some of our family traditions where we could. We attended "Evensong" from Christ Chapel via live streaming, we had pig in the blankets, kids wore their Christmas pj's and had a big Christmas dinner. For Christmas day we invited the staff from CCCD to come over for dinner. It was great!!! Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year too!!!!!

Thanksgiving in Jamaica

The kids and I had a wonderful experience spending time with Aaron and Melissa Black and their two kids (with CSI Ministry in High Gate, Jamaica) during the 2 weeks that Jeffrey was gone. Jeffrey went back to Texas to load our container with all of our personal things and flew back just in time to have Thanksgiving with the rest of us. We are upon our first major holiday here in Jamaica and we feel that we are truly blessed to be able to have friends here to share in this special occasion. We had all the trimmings that we would typically have in the U.S. The Jamaicans, that we shared Thanksgiving dinner with, enjoyed the food right along with us. This isn't a holiday that Jamaica observes but they didn't mind humoring us...actually, I think they'd enjoyed it just the same. I am so thankful that God knows and grants things to us even if it's of simple measure.

Changes...

As I sit here listening to it rain I'm pondering all of the changes we have had in the last few weeks. Moving to a new country and a new home is only the beginning.
When we arrived to our new home we discovered that the refrigerator and microwave was not working. The repair man has been out several times to repair the refrigerator but to no avail. It would work for a few days then just when we turned our back it was out again. Looks like it will be an expensive fix, so for now at meal times we have to walk up the hill to the school kitchen where we keep our food that needs to be kept cold.
I also had to laugh at the humor of God. When we arrived the grounds have not been able to be mowed for the last month so the grass was over 3 ft. tall. What has He prepared me for. Time to mow!!!

Our electricity has been off several times and for several hours throughout the past few weeks. It has been raining a lot but I'm sure we will be missing this rain during the dry season. This also brings in the 40 leggers, kind of a cross between a centipede and a scorpion because it can really hurt if they sting you.

Yesterday the rain came in buckets and knocked down over 200 ft. of the security wall around the school grounds. This will be added to the top of the ongoing list of projects and maintenance that needs to be done here at the campus.
Also looks like our kitchen cabinets and table are full of Chi Chi bugs. These are like termites and wreak havoc on the wood. They will have to be replaced.
At this time we have no transportation but the school is so graciously allowing us to use the van when it is available. Just trying to figure out how to purchase a vehicle and get a price is a learning experience. I stopped in to look at a 2007 Toyota Hiace (van) at a used car lot to get the price and was told it was around 4.1 million J (about $48,000.00 us). This vehicle is nothing fancy but does seat 15 which would be a great vehicle for our family of 7 so we can transport friends and family when they come to visit and help with the teams. Doesn't look like this one is a vehicle for us though.

We served with our first team which was a great experience and they were so gracious with us. As a family this is such a learning experience for all of us. Balancing family and work will take some getting use to. Almost every time I would step out the door to go work our kids wanted to go with me and help. As a father this is a great feeling to have your children want to be with you and help work, but with all that needs to be done they couldn't be with me all the time.
The girls have started homeschooling. This is a new routine that Jodi and the kids are adjusting to. Thankfully the children love to do school work!

Within all of these situations and as we draw closer to God, He is sure blessing us with some great times.
Erin loves to catch the lizards and gecko's inside and out of the house, she has a little cage that she likes to keep them in. She even wants to learn how to sign fast like the kids here do.
Matthew is now walking and into everything. He sure helps us connect with people with his great smile.
Allison has been a prayer warrior. While I was holding Jeffrey after he fell and hit his head, Ali wanted to pray for his head and read him a story. She is also excited about celebrating her birthday this week in Jamaica.
Lexi has been such a great help in everyday life with all that is going on, not that this is any different than before. She is also learning sign quicker than any of us and is able to communicate.
Jeffrey Jr. loves to run and play with the kids here and is learning some sign language as we all are.
Jodi loves sitting with some of the older girls and allowing them to teach her sign language. She has also been able to connect with a friend here that she has been keeping up with while in the states.
I have been able to lead our first team that ministered to the staff and students and did alot of work here. I assisted the staff in setting up for a fundraiser to help the school with ongoing projects for the students. Been blessed with beautiful sunsets and watching my family grow.
As I continue to say "God is good!!!" today, tomorrow and forever.....

Travels

As we sit here in Jamaica pondering our last week of God sightings. After packing and saying goodbye all day Saturday, we arose Sunday morning at 5:30 am to attend service at Beautiful Feet, also for prayer and goodbyes. We arrived at the airport with 18 pieces of luggage. Our family was there to help us get checked in and to say goodbye. After many hugs, tears and goodbyes, Jodi and I braved the security check point with the five children, six carry on bags, 2 backpacks, car seats and diaper bags. At the terminal the lady at the desk allowed me on the plane before everyone to put the car seats in place. We all grabbed a piece of luggage and loaded the plane. One flight attendant was especially nice to us offering free(yes free) snacks and sandwiches for all of us. She was very compassionate for what we were going to do and our move. After getting off the plane we were able to go through immigration on the Jamaican side(where there was no wait) as opposed to going through the visitor side that everyone else was going through. After leaving immigration walking to get our luggage, a gentleman said "Mr. Daniel!" I said yes, he proceeded to tell me that he had all of our luggage stacked on carts and would help us through customs. We went to the lady in customs and she asked how many people and how many pieces of luggage, I told her seven people and 18 pieces of luggage. She said that is quite a bit for a 2 week stay. I told her that we were moving here. She said OK stamped our papers, then said get going! We walked out of the airport to meet our friends from CCCD and an added surprise was The Black family was also waiting for us(they moved to Jamaica in April and are serving with another ministry). They helped us get settled in and get to the grocery store but could only buy a few basics since the refrigerator wasn't working.
That day was particularly hard for all of us, just saying goodbye to our friends and family. Many tears and conversations about what will be missed. God is so good to provide for us even in the hard times. We also praise him for the blessings as we traveled.

Great week!!!!

As we are preparing to leave, our work permit approval was finalized on Monday. On Tuesday a friend drove to Kingston and picked up our letter of approval, took it to FedEx and sent it overnight to us in Texas(guaranteed to be there by 10am Wednesday morning). Wednesday we spoke at chapel at TCA, I arrived home at 10:05am to find a note from FedEx saying they will have to redeliver on Thurs due to the need for a signature. I called FedEx and they said they would try to contact the driver for redelivery. I received a call back saying the driver would be there in 10 minutes. On Wednesday evening we left for Houston for our appointment that was set for Thursday at 11am. We arrived in Houston at 3am got a hotel and was in bed around 3:30am. We arose that morning and met a friend for breakfast then realized that we had pictures of the whole family except me. I had to run and get passport photos made then off to the Jamaican Consulate. When we arrived at the address we had, we found out they had moved. After getting the new address we arrived on time, I was taken into the consulates office and then our passports were stamped with our visas within an hour!! Now we pack up our suitcases and prepare to leave for Jamaica. We sit in Awe of what God has done to accomplish all that has been done. Nothing is too big for God!

A week of God sightings and Goodbyes

Again God is showing Himself faithful! As we/I stress about how we are going to get our visas and get into Jamaica, this week is a time of Awesome God sightings.
So far the scenario that needs to happen is that my work visa needs to be finalized(we got news today that it is ready!!!). Next it needs to be picked up tomorrow(Tuesday) in Kingston and sent overnight to us here in Texas so we can have the original paperwork and take it to the consulate in Houston on Thursday and get the rest of the family a visa. As you see if we don't have our visas when we leave on Sunday Oct. 3 then we will have to return to the states within 90 days. Doesn't sound like such a bad deal but the cost for our family to return would be around $3000.00. So after we get the paperwork on Wed. we already have an appointment with the Jamaican consulate in Houston on Thurs at 11:00 AM. They are only open Mon,Tues and Thurs from 9:15-noon, so this will have to happen on Thursday since we leave on Sunday. Our desperate prayer to God this week is that all of this process would take place, the visas would be granted and we would be able to arrive in Jamaica with our visas in hand.

Through this process I am personally having a hard time saying goodbyes because I will be coming back to Texas in November to load and ship our container and prepare our house to sale. The emotions of the family have been up and down, strongly desiring to get to Jamaica but not wanting to leave our family and friends. Through all of this I have been so encouraged by Erin's desire to give our prayer cards to everyone and share with them about what we are going to do in Jamaica. Even tonight at BSF when I went to pick her up from class she ran over to me asking for more prayer cards to pass out in her class. I thank God for children, they sure help me to stay focused on God.

So as you see we have a lot going on this week with our emotions, packing, paperwork and we have so many friends and family we still want to see and say our goodbyes to.
I'm so glad that God is in charge of the details, I know I sure couldn't do it without Him.
-Jeffrey

News......

We sent an email today letting everyone know that we have set a date to depart for Jamaica. This doesn't mean our work permit has been approved. I received and email from Nicholas this afternoon asking that we talk on the phone about some developments with our work permit. I called him and he told me of his conversation with the Ministry of Labour today. The gentleman that he spoke with told him they couldn't find our paperwork(again). After much conversation and being very upset Nicholas was put on hold for over 15 minutes while the man looked again for the paperwork. He returned to the phone to tell him that he had found it and it had not been in the process(as they had told us) it had just been sitting on someones desk since July 29th. The man apologized and said he would personally take it where it needed to go and asked Nicholas to call back this Friday. Nicholas told him that we would be coming down in October and need it before we come down.
Some of the situations we are dealing with at this point is, we are looking at going to Jamaica in October only to return in November to wrap up the final details of the Visas here in the US and load/ship container. Then we will return to Jamaica in December. We can't travel on a one way ticket without the work permit/visas, we would need to have round trip tickets. We can't schedule and load a container without the work permit/visas. We are praying through this and stepping out in faith that God will provide for all of these situations.

TIME TO GO!!!

The news we received last Tuesday and Friday from our contact in Jamaica was the same news as previous weeks(still being processed, call back). We have been praying and seeking council on what we are to be doing. The ups and downs of this process are taking a toll on our family. It seems that our children's excitement to move(from 5 months ago of when we started the application process) is diminishing. Jodi and I were struggling not knowing when we will be moving and how do we work our lives. Alot of worries that we have to turn over to God. So last Tuesday Jodi called me to let me know that after praying that morning, she now knows what we need to do! I was excited and she proceeded to tell me that we need to set our move date and that God would provide the work permit. As when we decided(God told us to) to sale our business and he provided a means for that to happen and while we were raising our support team, many did not join until we made the effort to share our vision.
For me this was great news but I was thoroughly confused because this doesn't seem logical in my mind. How do we plan anything without our work permit??? We can't ship our container, sale our house or cars, get visas for the rest of the family, etc. I told her I would pray about it. After much prayer and counseling, the next day I told Jodi we needed to sit down and set a date. We now have tickets to fly to Jamaica on October 3rd. PRAISE GOD!!! At this time, there are many questions we have and I'm sure you have but only God knows the answers and as we trust God for answers we know he will provide.

New Life !!

I have the privileged to announce to the world that last week our girl Erin prayed to accept Christ in her heart. She has been contemplating this for several weeks. We talked about it several times and she said she wasn't ready. After hearing several question she voiced, I realized that her fear was that she was going to have to get up in front of the church and speak to be baptized after she prayed to accepted Christ. I assured her that she would need to be baptized but the most importantly at this time she needed to pray. She was OK with that and wanted to pray, so I had the privilege to lead her in the prayer.

Waiting....

As we now have another week of what seems like disappointing news from Jamaica, we know that our lives are in His hands. We received an email last week from our contact in Jamaica and they told him that the paperwork was still being processed but the gentleman seemed to think it would be ready next week. This week his email said that when he called it was still in the process and need to call back on Friday. He called and couldn't get through to anyone there at the Ministry of Labour. As we try to update everyone it is getting harder to give the same news every week.
As we wait on the approval of our work permit we are encouraged by seeing the work that God is doing at Beautiful Feet here in Ft.Worth. Our family is serving there on a regular basis. The girls are helping out in the kitchen cooking, cleaning and serving the food. Jodi and I are also helping in the kitchen and I have been able to lead devotions a few mornings. We have also been able to be a part of the orientation and prayer for the teams that are coming to serve at The Feet. We have met some great friends there that we love serving and serving with and will sure miss them all when we do move to Jamaica.

God's calling

The other night while at the dinner table Allison asked why we are going to Jamaica. Erin told her that it was because Mom and Dad liked it there and wanted to go. I had to step in and explain the true reason we are going. I was able to share with them how in Matthew 16 Jesus said "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." That God can speak to us many different ways and also confirms that through the Bible. I then realized that as we have been sharing our ministry vision with others, I haven't focused on sharing with our younger children and making sure they understand why we are going to Jamaica.
As we still prepare we are hearing progress on our work permit. The past few weeks we have heard that the paperwork is in progress but not ready, and we will have to call back in a few days. As frustrating as this is for us we know that this is God's call and we have to be obedient and wait for Him to provide.

Celebrations & Surprise!!

As we ended a week with what seemed like disappointing news, we were able to celebrate our time here with some close friends and family. Jeffrey's parents threw a party to have some time of "goodbyes" with our friends and family. We know this is particularly hard for them with us moving and taking the grand kids so far away. We also have mixed emotions saying goodbye without a set date to leave. They also decided to have a surprise birthday party for Jeffrey at the same time. Great surprise!! We had an awesome time with great food and time spent with everyone. Thanks,MOM and DAD!!

On Sunday we also celebrated Jodi's grandmothers 80th birthday in Gatesville. Again, great time with family and some goodbye's. We are looking forward to celebrating Jeffrey's grandmother's 88th birthday this week. What awesome lives lived!

Waiting!!

As we are waiting on our God for the work permit from the Jamaican govt. I received an email from Nicholas with CCCD in Jamaica that said he has been calling all week to get the status on our paper work. On Thursday they said "we can't find it!". Now he will have to personally go to Kingston and present them with copies of our paperwork that we sent to them in April(almost 3 months ago).
After receiving this news there was a sense of disappointment, just the thought that it will take that much longer to get approval before we can move. Then we remembered who was in charge and the fact that God's timing is perfect and not always ours. He has greater plans than we do so at this time we are happily waiting on God but praying for a quick resolution to this situation. We are thankful for a great support team that quickly and continually lifts us up in prayer.
Also, Jeffrey Jr. aka "Pickle" continues to ask almost daily if we are going to Jamaica (I love those conversations)! This always reminds me of how we should be anticipating God's timing, with faith like a child!!!

Family and Fireworks

We celebrated the 4th of July with our family in Port Aransas, TX(a tradition for over the past 10 years). As we traveled down we were anticipating the arrival of hurricane "Alex". We didn't get to experience much with the exception of a day of rain.

We did spend some quality time with our family and friends and was able to watch the fireworks on the water. The children enjoyed being at the beach with their cousins and friends.

Faith like a child

In the last several weeks Pickle(Jeffrey Jr.) has picked up on the fact that we are moving to Jamaica. Now every time we get in the car to go somewhere he says"Going to Jamaica?" and we have to tell him that it is not this time. Yesterday I told him that we would be going on a big plane when we go to Jamaica. So now he says "Going to Jamaica on a big plane?"
As we are packing and trying to figure out the way to do this moving (internationally), we've been very frustrated because we can't always get the answers we want on how to do this without paying for a full service moving company. While discussing the move yesterday with a friend I told him of our frustrations, he reminded me of how God will provide the answers when we need them. I then was reminded of Pickle's desire to go to Jamaica. He asks nothing about what it will be like, how will we get there, what will we take, is it going to be OK, or anything about the move away from the life he knows here with his friends and family. He just knows that we have told him we are going to Jamaica and in a two year old way trusts his mother and father for all the details. Faith like a child(Matthew 18:2-4)!
Please pray that we would have faith like a child and as we are waiting for our work permit from the Jamaica govt. and packing/sorting through our house we can continue to walk and serve God with the faith like a child.

Graduation and a Weekend in Surfside

We are wrapping up our lives here with a celebration of Lexi graduating from 5th grade at her school this week and the end of another school year.

We just returned from a great weekend with Jeffrey's family at the beach in Surfside, TX. Surfside was a place that Jeffrey's family spent their vacations as he was growing up. This was a gift from Poppie who hasn't been to the beach in probably 25 years. It was great to see our children get to spend time with their cousins and also to see Nonnie and Poppie on the beach with their grandchildren.

Arrived, not yet !!

We reached 100% of our monthly committed funds on 5/11. This has been such a paradox for our whole family. Happy that we get to go but also sad that we are leaving. We know that our fund raising is not "completed" and will always be a part of our lives as long as we are missionaries. We have been so excited in the past few months to be able to focus full time sharing our "Ministry Vision" with others and getting to know so many people that we would not have had the opportunity to get to know otherwise. We are so excited to have reached 100% but also reality is that we will be moving soon. As we wait for our Visas to come in we will continue to raise our support team to a level, so that we don't have to return soon after leaving to raise funds. We have also been blessed by different people offering services to us for little or no cost for different things we need. We are so thankful that God provides in so many ways and that we are so blessed!

Allison singing

Allison came in last night with the guitar and wanted to sing for me. After the first song I asked if I could record it, she said "Sure". Here are the results. Amazing talent!!

Dedication celebration

As we start another week we are that much closer to moving. Our lives have been so busy(as we know everyone has). We are trying to make the most of every moment we have with our family and friends.

Sunday we celebrated the dedication of our son Matthew to our Lord. We chose Isaiah 49:1,6 to pray over him.
1 Listen to me, you islands;
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the LORD called me;
from my birth he has made mention of my name.
6 he says:
"It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

As we searched for a verse to pray over our son I was reminded of how so many times we were asked while Jodi was pregnant with Matthew "So what does this mean for your move to Jamaica?" My response was "There will be one more person serving God in Jamaica!"
Our children's calling to Jamaica was done before they were even born. God knows what our lives will bring and how he will use us. We are so blessed to be used by God to serve the deaf in Jamaica.We look forward to seeing how God will use not only us but our children.

How much more??

While in my office, Erin comes in and says "Dad, How much more do we need?" I told her that we were now at 89% and only needed 11% more. We are close! She said "when we get it all can we stay here just a little bit longer, maybe another week?". With us getting close to 100% she thought we would be leaving quickly after the funding was there. So I turned to her to focus my attention and to explain to her how this will work. Once our support team is together and our funds are committed we have to wait for the Jamaican government to grant us our work permit(could take 6-8 weeks or more). After we receive the paper work for the work permit then we will make a trip to the Jamaican embassy in Houston and get the rest of our families visa. We will make the 4 hour trip to acquire the visas instead of mailing them and it taking 2-3 weeks. Then she says "we need to pack everything up too!" I said yes we have to pack everything to move too. She says "can we start packing now??"
What a blessing it is to have children that are excited about our move, as parents we know it is hard for them to think about leaving but are excited about the change in our lives.

Easter Bunny

We spent Easter with our family. The kids enjoyed the time with their cousins. My brother dressed up as the Easter Bunny, enough said....

Awesome God!!

As God has shown us in the last several weeks that our job right now is to share our "Ministry Vision" with people and give them the opportunity to join with us and He will do the rest. So,we have been very excited to meet with our friends and family to share our vision and allow them the opportunity to partner with us. Our emotions have been up and down through this process with God super exceeding our expectations. I don't know why we would expect anything less because He is God.
As we started this week with 73% of our monthly funds committed, we had a goal to raise our 80% by the end of March. That only allowed 3 days to have the 7% committed. By the early evening of the 31st we had made it to 77% and we were very happy but a little disappointed that we didn't make it to our goal. Then through a few phone calls late that evening God poured it out and we reached 85%. He not only allowed us to reach our goal but provided in abundance. The next day we then reached 89%, which means only 11% more! As we are praying to reach the 100% we are so humbled to think that God is allowing us to be a part of this process.
We are celebrating this Easter weekend with a humble heart because of what Jesus did for us all and what God is doing through us. We hold these times close realizing that this might be our last Easter celebration with our family in a while.

Concern's of a 5 yr old

While in Jamaica in Oct. we went on a little boat ride. We were sitting in the boat and Erin asks me what all the life jackets are for. I said there is one for everyone on the boat in case of an emergency. She said I can't swim that far(we were probably about 25 yards from shore in about 5 ft of water) I hugged her and said that she didn't need to worry about it I could swim. She again stated "I can't swim that far", again I told her not to worry I can stand up in this water, it isn't deep. She seemed ok at that point and enjoyed the rest of the boat ride. I was reminded of how God comforts us.

Erin's next story starts back in Oct when we got on the plane to Jamaica. While sitting on the runway I noticed she wasn't looking very happy so I asked her what was up. She asked if we were going to be flying over water and I told her that the first plane would a little bit to Florida but then the next flight was all over water and that this is the only way to get to Jamaica. She said "I don't like to fly over water". This was news to me, she's my little fish who loves water. I told her it would be OK and these planes fly over water all the time without troubles. She was OK with that. Then while on the plane to come home I noticed a tear in her eye, I asked and she again said "I don't like to fly over water". As a father my heart broke, my little girl was afraid and I knew there was no way around this but I encouraged her and told her that daddy was here and I would take care of her and also God was with us so we would be OK. Once we got in the air she was OK.
So this past week we were driving and she says (out of the blue) I wish we didn't have to fly on 2 planes to get to Jamaica(she's thinking the quickest way over the water). I told her that there was a direct flight to Jamaica that we might be able to get on, she seemed happy with this.


I was reminded again this week as I was comforting my little girl as I was reminded in Oct of how God comforts us. As I'm worried about all that needs to be done in our transition and support team raising He tells me not to worry it will be OK. I tell Him "I can't do this" again He says "I'm in charge and I do this all the time. I will take care of all this, trust Me it is not for you to worry about."

Happy Valentines

We had a great Valentines, I spent it staying home from church with Erin and Pickle being sick. Thankfully they weren't sick all day. The snow is all gone and outside of Erin and Lexi both missing a day of school being sick this week(its only Wednesday) has been a great restart to our support team raising. I was on my knees today confessing to God how inadequate I am to do this support team raising and I need Him to carry me. I then got a very encouraging call from a good friend. All this said we have added a few new team members to our support team in the last few weeks and several people asking questions. We also received some news that was a bit disappointing. One of our larger supporters is cutting their support by 15%. I'm thankful this didn't happen while we were on the field in Jamaica where we would not be able to do much to make this up. We are continually thankful for all that God has provided and know that we are truly blessed to be where we are and for him to trust us with all we have.

Snow!

We arrived back to the house about a week ago. We have had a week of stomach flu going through the family, snow for two days, and kids out of school. Not much going on with our support team raising. We enjoyed the great amount of snow we received here in Fort Worth, somewhere between 7-10 inches. Sorry Jodi was sick all day in bed while it snowed but I got to build two snowmen with the children. She was able to get out the next day so we could all have a snowball fight. We are so excited to get back and share with our friends and family how God has grown and stretched us. While only one of our family members has truly showed interest and some close friends we understand the busyness of life gets in the way. "Twang" Reality, or not? While going to visit with some friends this weekend to see their new house, I noticed Jodi being unusually quiet so I asked what was up. She stated how she was so excited for them and their new home but wondered if that would ever be for us as we start this new chapter in our life. As a husband my heart tore, just wanting to provide that for my wife but knowing that as a Christ follower I can't promise those things. We sometimes live in the what could have been but then quickly turn to what God is doing and has done in our lives. We are so excited to see what is in store.

Home?

We arrived here at our house in Ft.Worth on Saturday morning after leaving Colorado on Friday. I am afraid to call it home at this time, I don't really know where home is at this time. Leaving our new friends at MTI was very difficult for all of us. I always opt for the quick getaway without the long goodbyes. We learned during our training that we need to be good at saying Goodbye but we first have to learn to say Hello. Some of the staff at MTI waited for us to leave(we were the last to leave in the group)and then they followed us down drive waving goodbye until we could see them no more. We did this with them as each group left MTI and I also got to hold Lexi as she wept as the first van left with our new friends. I think she is learning what it is to say Goodbye, as her teacher told her "I hope it hurts when you have to say Goodbye". What a great way to say Goodbye! Allison said tonight one of her favorite parts of this week was when we got to run after our friends waving Goodbye.

Pure white snow

We went to bed with a white covering of the ground. What a blessing for a good night sleep. When I woke I looked out at the covering of the fog over the mountains and reminded me how God has covered those things that I see as mountains that we have to overcome and all I can see is Him. Thank you God for the pure white snow you provided for us as a reminder of how pure and solid you are that I can cast my cares and concerns on you.