It seems like everyone was just welcoming in a new school year and here we are at the end of September. Time doesn't slow down for anyone or anything ... that's for sure!
So ... how has life been lately?
One word ... busy! We have been non-stop since this support raising process began in June. Since July, we have only been at our home church for 4 services. That has been really tough. We miss our BHF family. It's been hard to be away so much but we know that it is part of the process of preparing us for the long haul. When we do get the chance to be home at BHF, we don't take it for granted!
Life with our sweet girl is anything but boring! Josie is growing, learning & changing every day. It is amazing to see how The Lord is shaping her heart for the journey that is ahead of us.
She had an awesome time this summer traveling around with us & meeting new people. She really has done well adjusting to each church that we have visited, been a trooper having to travel almost every weekend, & has learned quickly to be flexible.
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| Excited at Disney |
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| Wearing Grammy's costume |
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| Jeepin' it! |
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| Bright smiles in the morning! |
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| Baltimore aquarium with Papa & Grammy |
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| Tried to paint her own nails ... yikes! |
She gets SO tickled whenever she hears someone speaking "Panish" ... it's the cutest thing EVER!
We were in the store a few weeks ago & she overheard two women speaking Spanish. She ran across the aisle towards them yelling "Hurry mommy! Come on! They're speaking 'panish! Do you HEAR that Mommy!?" It was all I could do not to crack up laughing!
Any time she hears Daniel speak Spanish or practice his vocabulary, she yells "Awww way to go Daddy! I am SO proud of you for speaking 'panish!" :)
She has been working on writing her name by herself ... so that's also been a BIG deal in our world!
Where have our travels taken us lately?
On August 21st, we were asked to share at two services at Ridgeville Baptist Church in Ridgeville, SC. It was great to see some familiar faces & share our hearts for Honduras with them!
On August 28th, we traveled to Darlington, SC & shared at Mechanicsville Baptist Church. That was a really special day for us because our lifelong friends showed up to support & surprise us. We were so thankful to have the Taylors there with us ... they mean the world to us!
On top of speaking at two churches, Daniel started classes in August at Trident Tech. He is taking advantage of our time left here in the States & getting a head start on learning Spanish. Class has been going great for him! If you know anything about Daniel, you know that he's definitely not the school type so for him to be excited about class is for SURE an answered prayer!
Although August was busy, it was a tough month for us. We seemed to have hit a wall with progress & discouragement began to settle in a few different times. Thankfully with encouragement from some great Godly people that The Lord has sent into our lives, we were able to press on & push through!
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And then ... September was our most encouraging month YET!
- We were given an opportunity to speak at New Journey Church in our hometown on September 11th. We were so blessed to meet so many encouraging people there & really look forward to making that one of our home churches when we return home from the field to visit. They are super excited about sending a team to serve with us at the camp!
- We traveled to Pyerian Baptist Church on September 18th to share at their evening services. We had never shared about Honduras to a group of kids but we were given the chance to share with their AWANA program & really enjoyed it! The kids were excited to learn a song from Honduras & seemed to enjoy learning a few Spanish words, hearing about what life is like in Honduras, & seeing what God is calling our family to do there. The evening service at Pyerian was really encouraging as well! The pastor there has done mission work in Honduras so it is always really encouraging for us to find people that have experience there to share our hearts with!
- Our closest friends came down to visit us while home from the mission field in Kenya. Jeremiah & Angie have loved us longer & harder than we can put into words ... they are truly family to us! They came down for a few days of fun & laughs with the kiddos. It did our hearts so much good to get to see them, encourage them, & laugh together again! Saying "see you later" never gets easier for us but we are SO thankful that the Lord has connected our families in the ways that He has! Walking this journey of faith together is something that we will always treasure.
- This past week, my (Laura) parents took us all to Disney for family vacation before we begin this new adventure as a family. It was incredible! We had four kiddos with us & they could not have been better troopers with the heat, super long days, and crowds. It was so nice to be able to spend time together as a family & make memories. We are so thankful to have had that time as a family to refuel & gear up for this last stretch!
We have seen that whenever frustration or discouragement begins to set in, a HUGE blessing of provision is shortly to follow. The enemy is constantly trying to distract & discourage us. We have to be diligent & stand firm! God has been so faithful to give us exactly what we need when we need it. We KNOW that He has GOT this!
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So many of you have asked ... where do we stand now?
Since our last blog post in August, we have almost doubled our monthly support. We have reached 44% of our monthly need! In just a little over 4 months of support raising, we are now partnered on a monthly basis with 3 churches & 25 families. God is amazing!
In the last four months, we have had so many moments where we have been left speechless with the ways that God has come through for us.
Our favorite part of this whole process is watching God connect us to hearts that He has already prepared in advance to help carry out the vision He has given us.
It has been so humbling to see HIS plan unfold with those that HE has chosen to partner with us. Our faith continues to be strengthened with each day!
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So ... what's next?
Well ... we are rested up, geared up & ready for a final PUSH in support raising to finish out 2016!
We have three months to go before language school begins in January. We are hopeful to reach 100% of our monthly need in the next three months. Will you pray with us for that to happen?
So ... what will it take?
First & foremost ... PRAYER! We are desperate for faithful prayer partners that will lift our family up now & in the months to come as we continue to build our ministry team. Please pray now for the three of us individually, our marriage, & our ministry even now as we build relationships!
Secondly ... PARTNERS! To meet the rest of our monthly need, we need families, individuals & churches to join our ministry team by committing to a monthly gift. We are looking for 100 partners to commit to a monthly gift of $30 ($1 each day) to help us reach 100% of our goal.
If you have not yet partnered with us, we ask that you would pray & consider joining our ministry team.
Our current partners give anywhere from $20-$250 a month. Any gift helps get us one step closer to being able to dive into this journey of faith full time. There is NO gift that is too small when it is given for God's work ... He can make it stretch & multiply it!
By joining our ministry team, you are able to help advance the Kingdom & bring hope to the hopeless. We are so excited to be able to have people on this journey with us. We look forward to being able to share ALL that God does as we take daily steps of obedience with Him!
If you feel led to give in any way, please visit our secure giving site at:
http://yfc.givingfuel.com/32216
For those of you that have already made investments into our family either with prayers or partnering with us financially ...
THANK. YOU!
Those two words will never be enough to show our gratitude for all you've done. We truly want to thank each of you that have gotten on board & are standing in our corner!
We are excited to watch God lead us to finish 2016 STRONG!
