Yes, its true...

Well...to be honest I have been SO dreading writing this...feels a little lame and abrupt but here goes...


Andy and I are going to be leaving this beautiful country and heading back to the U.S.A. February 1st. We sent out a prayer letter with all this in there...but not EVERYONE got one...so I thought I'd put it on here as well! Basically, to sum it up...the couple we had been replacing could not get their visa renewed as planned SO they came back early...and so then we, together with the mission decided that we would not become associates as originally intended but rather just stick with a six month volunteer status. To be honest...we are just as thrilled about this new direction as we were about coming down here. We came what to came here to do. To be a blessing to missionaries and serve our God in whatever way was available to us... This time down here has been so precious. We've met friends we will never forget and gone through some true hardships that we have learned and grown from.  I feel like Bolivia has blessed us more than we have blessed it...but nonetheless, we have loved our time here! Not gunna lie it will be nice to have clean water, speak english, eat McDonalds...you know...the basics... :) But man, we will miss a whole lot too!  Andy got offered a few (yes a few) jobs while down here...which was so very encouraging! He is one great man that man of mine...

Ok, so next up is... KANSAS!!!! I never thought I'd be excited to live in Kansas again. (sorry friends) BUT...we are anxious to get to know Church family there and be with my amazing mom who is busier than she can handle. Andy is already set up to work with the church there in some capacity...and we are both praying for jobs...which might be easier said than done. We just need money for Bible school in the fall. Yep...still back to NTBI in the fall of 2011! Still a year there. It will be good! The Lord has directed us through all this and given us every bit of confidence we needed...and I know he will continue to do so with the unknowns in our future!

Right now we are with Andy's family in Cochabamba, Bolivia. We have enjoyed these weeks with them and it really has been such a blessing to be around his family more. When I say we are leaving Feb. 1st I mean that we get to the states that day...BUT...we won't reach our final destination (Kansas) until mid February. We have quite the tour of the U.S. in store for us before we make it home. First we will fly to Tampa FL to see Andy's family that I have never met before! Then off to N. Carolina to see Andy's sister and her twins as well as another of his sisters...then to Wisconsin to renew my drivers license... oops... and THEN HOME!!!! It will be a wonderful couple of weeks with family and friends. Pray for us as we travel and live out of a suitcase as well as fit all our stuff here into four suitcases. :) Good thing I married a good packer... AND had a mom come visit this close to our moving date...she took quite a bit of stuff for us! Thanks Mom.


Thank you everyone for your prayers!!! We so appreciate them...and couldn't have done this without you all!

Here's us at the Copacabana! Inca ruins. Just part of our lovely vacation!

Learning

Its been awhile. :)

Christmas and New Years have come and gone. We have been so blessed to have my mom and brother here visiting with us for the Holidays. I enjoyed so much having some good talks with my mom and seeing how little I really know my little brother anymore. He's grown up so much. I love my family and am so blessed to have them in my life. They are leaving actually today...and while I should be writing about the adventures we have had...I read something SO encouraging today that I would like to share with you. Its from my devotional called Streams in the Desert. My mom in law gave it to me for my birthday. :)

It starts with this verse: I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)

It then goes to tell a story of a man who found a bottle-necked cacoon and kept it for over a year waiting for the emperor moth to emerge! One morning he found that the moth was emerging but was struggling to make it through the bottle-neck. The moth would get stuck at the same point every time. The man "thought the confining fibers were probably drier and and less elastic that if the cacoon had been left all winter in its native habitat." Having reached the end of his patience he thought he would help it along and got a pair of pointed scissors and snipped the threads to make the exit just a bit easier.

"Immediately and with perfect ease, my moth crawled out, dragging a huge swollen body and little shriveled wings! I watched in vain to see the marvelous process of expansion in which these wings would silently and swiftly develop before my eyes. I looked for my moth, one of the loveliest of its kind, to appear in all its perfect beauty. But I looked in vain. My misplaced tenderness had proved to be its ruin. The moth suffered an aborted life, crawling painfully through its brief existence instead of flying through the air on rainbow wings."

This is such a neat story to me...especially when watching with tearful eyes those who were struggleing with sorrow, suffering and distress. My tendency would be to quickly alleviate the discipline and bring deliverance. BUT who am I to say that one of these pains or groans should be relieved?

"The farsighted, perfect love that seeks the perfection of its object does not weakly shrink away from present, momentary suffering. Our Father's love is too steadfast to be weak. Becasue He loves His children, He disciplines us that we may share in his holiness. (Heb. 12:10). With this glorious purpose in sight, He does not relieve our crying. Made perfect through suffereing, we children of God are disciplined to make us brought to glory through much tribulation."

I think its hard to imagine God allowing or even intending to bring us suffering...even if its all for our glory and perfection. I am so saddened by my friends sadness and suffering...I pray that I have the right attitude of prayer for them...no quick fixes...just that they are able to "suffer well." I pray God's strength surrounds them as they look to the only one who can provide for them in this time of need.