A New Chapter

Sorry to have not posted in such a long time. The month of May was a big struggle as we had to give up the home where we were living. I was extremely happy there and could not grasp why God was squashing my happiness. The house we moved to was only 5 minutes from the other but it is like daylight and dark. I won't go into all of the details of the differences(even though I did make a list LOL ;0) We also passed the 2 year mark in June. I was having a human moment(yes missionaries are human HEHEHE). Missing family, wondering why no one wants to visit or can't, and changing houses really had me bummed. BUT GOD..... God had not forgotten me and He was working while I was moping. He was molding me while I was trying to make myself fit into a mold. Little by little I have begun to realize I am a missionary wife, not wonderwoman. I am a mom, not June Clever. I cry when I miss family and friends and it's okay. I fall but God is always there to pick me up! I don't have to be perfect to reach people for Christ, even in a foreign land. You want to know how I know? Because God took a nobody like me and allowed me to be a part of a Chilean accepting Christ as her Savior! PRAISE THE HOLY NAME OF GOD!
Guess where she lives....across the street from where we live now. Bailey and her friend Katie (another MK)have been witnessing to her every since we moved here. Her family is Catholic, but she told them and they said they will go to church with us on Sunday. At that point I realized God was not squashing my happiness, but increasing my JOY! On top of that, today we received the keys to the building where we will be starting the church! A new chapter has begun and I anxiously await what God will write in this chapter of our lives!

Earthquake Update

Sorry I haven't posted anything new. We've been trying to get back to normal after things being shaken up(and when I say shaken up I mean it literally). All jokes aside I want to praise God for His mercy and grace to our family and our friends here in Chile. I was awakened in the wee hours to things falling off the walls and feeling as though our house was going to collapse before we got out. I jumped out of bed and yelled at everyone to get out of the house. We could hardly walk for the fierce shaking. It was pitch black and all our pictures from the stairwell had fell and the glass had seperated. We had to walk down stairs without shoes because there was no time to look for them. I just knew our feet were going to be cut to pieces but all I could think of was getting my babies out of the house. We made it outside without any problems or injuries(not one glass frame shattered, GOD IS SO GOOD!). I have to say I have never been so scared. You can hear the earth rumbling. It feels like the ground is going to open up and swallow everything in sight. Many people 4-5 hours south of us lost their lives, their homes, their livelihoods, but we are hoping to help them see that God is still here and He is still in control. We are praying that through this country's tragedy hearts will be softened to receive God's Gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Chris and 7 other men from the church have already made one trip and shared thousands of tracts. Please be in prayer w/us about the opportunities that lay ahead, for more laborers for the harvest, and for the people to see the hope there is in Christ.

Petunias and the Past

This week we have had VBS or Escuela Biblica Verano as we say here in Chile. It has been a huge blessing, but I have neglected my plants terribly. It is summer here and if you do not water your plants everyday they start to wilt and die. Needless to say, I failed to water my petunias for several days. They were looking so ugly. The green was not visible because of dead brown stems and wilted blooms. I went out this morning to rectify the problem, and as I was pulling out the dead parts and throwing them away I began to see the beauty again. God began to speak to my heart about my own life through this. Our past is just like those dead petunias. If we leave it hanging around in our hearts and minds, it will cover up the beauty to be seen in our own lives(which should be the reflection of Jesus). I don't want the past to cover up the beauty of Christ in my life...how about you? "Bretheren, I count not myself to apprehended: but this one thingI do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14