Live Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV

As I mentioned in the last post we had an emergency with significant unexpected expenses on September 20. Before I get to that I have to set this up in hopes that the miracle will be more recognizable.  In a perfect home of order and an ideal life -which don't exist in the way I dream them up- we were going to have our personal items packed up in 1 to 1 1/2 weeks. This would free up time later for all of the things that couldn't be done so early; and for more time to go to many or our favorite local places and spend more time with family and friends. I've shared how all my kids can be hard workers even when it comes to doing jobs they really don't like. At different times one or another of them will step up and go way above and beyond my hopes. Before I came up with the brilliant idea mentioned above our Eliza had already started packing up her stuff. Since we had to start somewhere and our library is in her room I decided to work in the same area so we could spend time...

Social Media is overwhelming to me, but with the help of my wonderful children and husband we started a new Instagram " joyfuljourneytoafrica "and Facebook page " 16 hands, 8 hearts, 1 dream " on September 17. Our prayer is that we will meet more people were they already spend some of their time and whatever their interest. Please follow , share  with any and all you know,  comment,  and  like . We had hopes of have some personalized artwork done by our talented friend Adam. Due to an emergency and unexpected expenses, which I'll mention is a post very soon, we had to postpone. Sadly he isn't going to have time anymore to do the artwork because he is leaving to be a full-time missionary soon. Our next preference was to have a unique family picture taken that depicted our social media names. Thanks to our wonderful neighbor Tonya we have a picture we LOVE! Many times things don't turn out as we initially picture them but what God allows to happen is jus...

Many people would consider September 11th as significant. For our family and our friends the Thorson's it was additionally special as its the birthday of our friend Cory and birthday eve for my husband, Ben.  But what made this year especially significant was that it was also the day they moved the first of their items into our home. We were actually out when they came the first time so when we got home we were amazed to see how much they could fit, Jenga style, into the garage. As Ben likes to say -its like the events of our lives are coming together like two sides of a zipper. They are living with her family with 5 of their 6 children, until we are gone. I won't pretend I don't feel an urgency to be gone as soon as possible, it's all my own feelings though. They are SO patient and reassuring.  We each feel so blessed by how the timing is all working out.  I know I've said it before but I'm humbled again and again by how precisely God has orchestrated the detai...

At the beginning of any new month, when my husband sees the calendar, he'll say, "It looks like we already lived this month" because its so full. That's not hard to have happen when even just 1 or 2 details for each of 8 lives are all written out in one place. Somehow with ever opportunity to plan or host a big event or a private job to fund raise we can fit another thing in. I often wonder "are we running faster than we are able". God has cautions us against this and I want His blessings so I need to obey Him. I need to trust that after all we can do that He will do the rest. To be honest not everything can get done that goes on the calendar or our daily list. My prayer each morning is that we will know what is most important and get it done; throughout the day I pray that we will put our wills aside when needed; as the day unfolds I pray that we are doing these; and at the end of they day I take it to our Father and ask Him to bless what we have done and t...

For weeks we heard of Self-Reliance classes starting at our church. Each time I would think, "someday I'll take one of those." Then the thought would come you should take the Start or Grow a Business class. The conversation within myself would continue, "I don't have a business so maybe it's the next direction my husband will go for employment. I do have a dream from years ago of a business we could start but he has had reservations about it." Each week I would hear it in church and go through the same thing. Then a few days before the first class I mentioned the thought to Ben. He thought we should do it. As much as I wanted to I thought, "I really don't have time for this if we are going to move to Africa for 6 months." August 23rd we went to the first class and I knew it was exactly what we needed to be doing. It is helping us with fundraising, giving Ben direction for other ways to provide for our family, and the experience and knowle...

There are lots of things I would like to have happen before we go; and then there are those things that have to be done, but wish we didn't have to do. Most have BIG costs attached. I called the health department to find out the actual price to budget for our Yellow Fever Immunizations and if they had it in stock. The answer $200.01 each for 8 of us and the location closest to us didn't have it in. With these immunizations there are 2 discomforts: the shots and the price. There's no way around this or alternative, by law we have to get yellow fever immunizations.  It is highly recommended and not an option to us, as we want to protect our family, so we also need typhoid and malaria immunizations. As Becky and I visited at a park one day to talk about food shopping so we can budget and the daily task of hand washing laundry; we side tracked for a few minutes and she ask where and when we were getting yellow fever immunizations. When I told her she was shocked and actually ...