April/May News 2011

"I'm just maybe scared, that's all..." 

Nearly every night for the last couple weeks, this is the kind of conversation we have been having with Sarai:

"Why are you scared?--what are you afraid of?"

"Starting a new school....new friends...new house...."

"It's kinda scary going where we don't know what's going to happen huh?"

"Yah..."

"But we do know some stuff won't change, right?"

"Yah..."

"Like what?"

"Mommy and Daddy love me..."

"What else?"

"God loves me..."

We usually go on to talk about what we said in prayers that night.  Our nightly tradition has been to finish our bedtime prayers with the Lord's Prayer..."Your kingdom come, what You want to happen be done..."  We talk about how if we believe that God is good, then when we pray for His plan to happen, it must be good.  God wants the best for our lives.  Fixing our eyes on Him means that even in times of uncertainty we can trust that He will bring good things.  We can trust God.  At the end of our chat, we end with this (and she has to lock eyes for this part):

"Everything will be okay."

A small smile of belief and relief, a hug and kiss, and truth rests in her heart.

His plan is a good one, and He will provide our every need to see it through.

Our Daily Bread

We are so thankful to all of you who have been a part of that plan through the years and continuing even now.  Our official move date is June 10.  Although we are moving to a familiar place, living in Duluth for nearly 7 years before moving to Ireland, a lot has changed.  As we get settled, we hope to re-connect with some of the play-groups and social circles we were a part of to ease the transition for all of us.  We have secured a place to live in what looks to be a great neighborhood in Duluth.  We haven't seen the place yet aside from some photos of the outside, but have great friends whom have looked it over for us and gave it a thumbs up (a bit adventurous to be sure!).  

Friends in the community here in Wells threw us a "housewarming" party/shower to bless us with many of the home essentials we either sold or gave away before leaving for Ireland.  

Knowing how much we enjoy cooking, one of Kevin's sisters blessed us with the "hostess benefits" of a Pampered Chef party (which means a bunch of really great kitchen gadgets for free!).

On the school front, Kevin survived (and passed exceedingly well) his first semester of classes towards his Bachelors of religion degree.  God continues to be faithful down to the penny with financial aid and grants which allow Kevin to continue on with his studies.  While in Duluth he will be able to study for his degree while also participate in the Church Leadership/Pastorship school through our home church, Hillside (Vineyard).

Another Godsend is employment.  Our years of Starbucks training have not been for nothing.  One or both of us will be able to use our coffee savvy to supplement our income working at one of the stores in Duluth.

Things are falling in place.  Boxes are getting packed.  Everything will be okay.