The Countdown

Every day as I look at my calendar, my heart skips a little beat.  Some of it is from excitement for where God is taking us and what he wants to do in us, and some of it is total panic! 

God willing,  9 days from now, we will be boarding a plane to start the actual travel part of this journey!  We will be flying first to Houston, staying the night with a 21 hour layover (chosen on purpose for the kiddo's sake), and then we will head to Quito, Ecuador. 

God has provided in some amazing ways to help us get to this point!  Thank you to each of you for your prayers, encouraging words, and financial support.  I can not even express how much God has used you to encourage us! 

It was a year ago this month that we were in Kenya learning about what it means to be a missionary and learning about this intriguing opportunity in South America with Extreme Nazarene.   Before we left for Africa, I NEVER would have imagined we would be here today.

This past year has definitely been a journey as we have made a practice of parting with our things that we once thought so important.  The surprising part is that it hasn't been as hard as I expected.  The things I felt so attached to at the time are now just things.  (That isn't true with everything, and the special things we have kept.  Don't worry Grandmas out there, we still have lots of stuff for Malachi to look back on and enjoy someday) ;)

Our time has been a bit of a roller coaster.  Some days have been overfilled with things we need to accomplish.  We created a wall calendar and I love pulling each sticky note "to-do" off as we get things done.  There are other days we have intentionally stopped to take time to rest and spend time with family and friends.  We are so very thankful for these moments!

As you probably would assume, our emotions have been the biggest roller coaster.  There are moments we feel total confidence that this is where God has us and other times when we wonder what we are getting ourselves in to!  There are days when we are so excited to get out there and share the gospel with people, and days where we wonder why we're going to Ecuador to do it!   We realize we are not adequate for the job the Lord has given us, so we are trusting Him to use us in our weaknesses, in spite of ourselves, so that God gets all the glory!

We would really appreciate your prayers as we face this next week and 1/2. We are experiencing some nervousness as we anticipate all that is to come before we leave and the transition to a new culture.  We will miss our family and friends dearly and we are trusting God for his grace in each moment!

Catching Up

One month from today our plan is to board an airplane and start a new journey in Ecuador.  ONE MONTH!

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated this blog.  Some of it has been because of busyness. Some of it is due to writer’s block.  I just haven’t been sure what to write.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a lot of things to write about over the past couple months, but when I’ve sat down to do it, the words just wouldn’t come out.

Let me get everyone caught up:

In March and April, Kurtis and I both finished up our jobs. I said goodbye to all my friends at Helen’s Hope Chest/Mesa United way, and our church did a beautiful “send off” service for us at the end of April (based on the original date we were supposed to leave for Ecuador).  I admit that we questioned God some on the timing of it all, since we learned that we wouldn’t be leaving until August. 

We moved out of our home of 9 years and got it rented out. Turning it into a rental became doable when we refinanced.  Praise the Lord!  Even though we sold most of our furniture before we moved out, it was amazing how many boxes we still had to pack up!!!  Our parents really helped us through this process and are both storing some of our things for us while we are away.

A wonderful missionary family from our church offered us a home to stay in, free of charge, during the months we are in transition!  This has been a huge blessing!  Although we have been very busy preparing to leave the country, this home has been a place of rest and retreat for us.  If you want to learn about this family’s ministry to pastors around the world, you can check that out here: The Meeds

Kurtis and I have been spending most of our days working on things like Visa paperwork, applying for the spanish school in Quito, getting caught up on vaccines, writing and sending out newsletters and thank-you’s, and sorting through/selling most of our things.  In the meantime, we have an incredible little one who loves having both of his parents home and wants to play, all the time! :)  It is a balancing act for sure!

Speaking of that little one, he turned 3 this month!  We have had a ton of fun celebrating the day of his birth!

 Waiting for a delicious breakfast with the Pescherines

 Riding the Verde Canyon Railroad with the fam.  Malachi loved being on a REAL train!

 Spending some time in California and sharing a birthday cake with Grandpa!

We have been so blessed and thankful to see the funds for our ministry coming in.  The task seemed so daunting when we first heard what we needed to raise.  I remember saying early on, that although we were overwhelmed by the amount, we were kind of glad it was so big because God would have to get the glory if we raised enough to go. We are at over 80%!!!  (There are still times when I think that I can chalk that up to effort, but I am reminded that it is God who calls and I am so thankful that our friends and family have been part of this journey with us!)

Because we reached 80%, we were able to buy our plane tickets!  There are not flights out of Phoenix straight to Ecuador.  We either needed to fly out of a place like Houston or Miami.  As I searched for flights, I was hopeful for one with a long layover for Malachi’s sake and I believe the Lord led me to just the right one.  We have a 21 hour layover in Houston.  Enough time to get a good night’s sleep and some rest before we head to Quito.

We have also had the blessing of spending quality time with family and friends.  This has been the most precious thing for us and we are trying to eat up every minute of it!  Here are just a few pictures from recent days.  

Thank you for all your prayers over these past couple months and thank you for being patient with us as we process all that is to come.  This month is going to be full of last minute preparations along with a lot of “See you later”’s.  We are excited for what is to come and grieving what we are already starting to miss.  We are thankful we serve a God who can carry us through it all!

In Christ,

Emily