Live Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV

There are many days when we wonder how we will get to Ghana and do this work. The costs to get there, as I have said before, are better than I thought they would be for 8 of us, but there are days that $16,000 can feel almost suffocating. Reflecting on the miracles that have occurred so far bring peace and hope. They remind us that it is not only our efforts that are bringing all of this about. Trusting in our Heavenly Father with all our hearts and allowing Him to direct our path is especially important when events occur that appear to be roadblocks. One detail that has been difficult to figure out has been what to do about Ben's employment while we are gone. How do we take a long enough leave to make the time, effort, and expenses worthwhile? What can he still do for work while we are there, while participating in this volunteer efforts we will be part of?  Is it time to make a career change? He has loved working for the same employer for the last 14 years. They provide a prod...

As we made our 3rd attempt to get passport pictures taken, on July 30, I realized that most of these posts are of how excited and wonderful this all is.  Well, for those of you that feel like this isn't realistic, unfortunately you are correct. Surprisingly getting passport pictures taken was vary difficult and emotional for a few of the children. WE are weak at times. This is HARD. There are so many people and things we will miss. There are experiences and events that will happen without us. There are foods we will have to give up for a time. There are foods we may not like that we will need to eat. There are things we may have to sell or get rid of. The petty things that seem a no-brainer from the outside in exchange for what we will have and experience, but we are human, we are weak. We have moments of sadness, selfishness, anger. It's not that we will never have most if not all of these again but things will change. We will change. Change is hard, especially when we like ...

My children help me be humble with their faith and charity. Our 15 year old son has shared on several occasions, "I feel like we need to do this and sooner than later." and "This is a difficult time to leave but a crucial time in my life for this to happen." It's difficult because at 16 he could get his drivers license and begin dating. He finally feels accepted and included by the youth in our neighborhood since we moved in 5 years ago. This was the year he wanted to go back to school after homeschooling for 6 years. As hard as it is he is willing and wanting to leave that all for a year to go have a life changing experience. To add to my admiration for his example he has plans to serve a 2 year full-time mission for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,  in a couple years. I can see how it would be easy to think I'm going to serve in a couple of years so why "take away" a year from "my life" now.  When his f...

The same day we talked to Becky, July 21, I took my girls swimming that evening. As they swam I filled out more forms for passports. While doing this I had the thought to contact a women that used to live in our neighborhood. She moved about 4 years ago and I didn't know her very well since we had only lived here for a year at that point. In fact, I'm embarrassed to say, I had forgotten her name. I didn't even know where they moved exactly, but generally northeast Africa or the Middle East area. At first I thought, "I wouldn't even know how to contact her." Then the thought came -Facebook. I laughed because I usually only get on Facebook a couple of times a year. I'm still not checking posts much but it is becoming my go to way to talk to and meet people connected to Ghana. The next day in church, July 22, while sitting in Sunday School, I had the thought again to contact this women. I looked toward my left and in the next section over I saw a women that l...

This experience is not directly our but it has details impact our story. I have asked Becky and gotten permission to share. I know it is not a coincident and am humbled that the smallest details are as much a witness of God's hand as are the big miracles. The day I contacted Becky, or the day before (time between there and here is confusing to me) she had a miraculous experience. Her daughter informed them that she would be getting married in August. The family already had plans to come back in September and had already purchased airline tickets. Becky called to try to change their tickets for August. After spending all day on the phone with the airline the best they could do was $9,000 to change the date of travel for the 5 tickets they had already purchased. This wasn't going to work she only had $1,800 she could spend. At the end of the day they gathered and prayed again, even thought they had been praying all day. Afterward her children asked what to do and she told them to...

While on vacation I texted another friend, Melissa. She had texted me back when she saw that we were having a fund raiser yard sale and wanted to know more. I finally got back to her 5 days into our vacation, June 23. She asked if I knew Becky Rogers and if we would be anywhere near her family. I knew  of   Becky and 2 things about her: she has a daughter that was in a book club with 2 of my daughters 2 years ago, and that their family had moved to Africa. Considering how large Africa is I didn't think the possibility of meeting her was very likely. Even when I found out that they lived in Ghana I wasn't confident we would ever meet. To give some perspective, Ghana is about 8,000 square miles larger that the state of Utah. Then there is the population comparison: Ghana's 28.21 million to Utah's 3.102 million -the chances were slim. I didn't do anything about contacting Becky until on July 21 a clear and strong feeling came to contact her. My first thought was -I ...

While on vacation I received a second text message from John and Alicia saying they really wanted to talk to us. It finally worked out late on June 23. Their stories and answers to our questions helped bring clarity.You know how learning more about something makes it clear that it is not the option you are seeking, well this conversation was a bit of that.  From their experience they emphasized the need to make sure all expectations are clearly defined before we go. They had incredible sightseeing experiences with George. He will be a great resource when we take time to do sightseeing. I was not deterred by what I heard but felt clarity and peace in choosing a path. Their stories and input were extremely valuable. I am so grateful for the time they took to share. With so many paths to choose from, knowing which ones to not take is as important as which one to take. His hand is in such details. 

A few weeks passed and I had only dared to dream, but dreaming alone doesn't make them a reality. June 11- It was a late night and my son was on the computer. I decided to take the next step -start finding out just how much airline tickets would cost. I was shocked ...I expected it to cost so much more! Not that it was cheap, but much less than I thought it would be. It seemed like the next natural step was to look up what else we would have to get and do to go to Africa. It was all much less and easier than I had thought it would be. The excitement built up the next few days, so on June 13th I sent a message on Facebook to George -the man that lives in Ghana and helps coordinate service and sightseeing trips. He messaged back several hours later (its a 6 hour time difference) and offered to call me the next day. I was giddy and anxious. I texted the women from our homeschool commonwealth. I told them who George was that he would be calling the next day. I asked if they would pra...