moving forward

It's official! We are signed up for ICC (intercultural communicatios couse) and CAM (contruction and maintenance) at the JAARS (jungle aviation and radio services) facility in Waxhaw, NC! We are also learning to be fluent in acronymese =) . Classes start January 22nd, and we will move January 2oth to our appartment there. i only have to take the first course so i'll have 4 weeks of class. The 3 boys (and maybe E)will go to MK junction for the mornings that i'm in school, and Mae will homeschool with another family.

It just hit us that this could be our last American Christmas for at least 4 years! So it makes even more special that we can be with our whole family this year.

Matt has been busy applying for his Papua New Guinea work permit, and Evangeline's passport is applied for. It's busy busy busy around here, and so exciting...

Celebrate

( More photos by the lovely Courtney Girdwood...)

i'm home from the ultrasound...and we found out the lump is an enlarged lymph node. No signs of cancer. i was just told to watch it for a couple of months to make sure it doesn't grow. Thanks be to GOD!!

Also we have passed the half way mark in our budget!! We are now at 54.3%! We are soo very excited to get to the JARRS facility to finish our training. Classes start January 22nd. More on that later...

For now i just want to celebrate the Christmas holidays in thankfulness for my health. A big THANK YOU to my faithful praying friends! i could feel peace in my heart through it all because of your prayers.

please pray

hello friends! this is just a quick post to ask for your prayers... i have had a strange lump under my arm for several months now. i finally got up the courage to go to the doctor yesterday and he agreed that it is suspicious. so, i am scheduled for a bilateral ultrasound tuesday at 2:00, for what they called a 2 cm breast mass. i am just asking for you to please pray for complete healing and a totally clean and healthy ultrasound report next week. its just too scary to think ahead of that right now so i'm not allowing my mind to go into the "what if" mode (you know, the 5 small children with no mother place). and either way to GOD be the glory... tiffany

EVANGELINE PEACE

i know i'm partial, but these are the most beautiful photos i've ever seen...

They were taken by Courtney Girdwood. Check her out at: http://www.storinguptreasuresphotography.com/

Switch-back

In an effort to save money I've switched back to cloth diapers. A Looong time ago i only used cloth. Then went to disposables when we were out. And somewhere along the way i got lazy and went with all disposables...Well, not anymore! we are back on the cloth wagon for now...
and Si LOVES it! He gets mad now when we put a disposable on him...
i must say that they are so much cuter than paper! Plus they are better for babies and the landfill. It does make for more laundry, but what's 2-3 more loads per week really?
The benefits far outweigh the extra work...
And look how adorable! Can you stand it?

Financial Update

i wanted to give you a quick update on our financial support... As of today we have 33.5% of our total monthly budget. Our final training classes start January 22 but we can't go at all unless we have at least 50% of our support coming in. We would really appreciate your prayers now especially in the area of finances. Specifically we need monthly donors. If you would like to join our team click on the link to the right. And as always we are SO grateful for your prayers.

Pooh and the Princess

They love each other.

i can hardly stand it...

BOO Ya'll!

This year we had 2 army dudes, a hippie, pooh bear, and a ballerina princess.
They were all very in character...

Happy Birthday Matthew!

it seems like just the other day my precious Matthew was a sippy cup totin' toddler...

Look at him now. He's a big 6 year old~ learning to read, playing soccer, sword fighting, all the things big boys do...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Bubba! I love you so much it hurts.

HOME

i have been thinking alot lately about having no home. About how my children haven't ever lived anywhere for more than a year. I've been homesick for a place that isn't there...
well, i was ever so gently put in my place today by an author/counselor/speaker i had the chance to hear at a women's conference. Her name is Paula Rineheart. She said that we as believers carry our home around with us- that homesickness is a longing for a place that doesn't change-and a place that you are known well but loved anyway. And that place for me is in Christ-the one who has seen the depths of my heart but loves me the same...and guess what? He NEVER changes... this was just laid on me a few hours ago and its still sinking in but i feel so relieved. He has gone to prepare a place for me and is coming to take me home one day- and meanwhile i have a home IN him and in my soul where HIS spirit lives in me....

isn't that BEAUTIFUL!? i feel like tapdancing....

she did it!

Last weekend mae was baptised at our church in wake forest,NC. We were so proud. It was even more special that Matt got to do the honors. She was very nervous, especially about giving her testimony in front of the church... but she did it! She is now busy praying with us for Matthew to decide to follow Jesus too. Will you pray with us?


I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 3 John 4

weary

as i type i am holed up in a 2 bedroom appartment in wake forest, nc with 5 children on a rainy afternoon. we are on the road again. oh how weary i am of traveling -running the roads in our too small minivan. exhausted. i long so much for a home right now. somewhere that is familiar and ours to do what we want to with. my boys desperately want to build a tree house. mae wants polka dot walls. the baby needs a predictable routine. i just really want enough closets for our clothes and sheets and stuff. none of this is going to happen any time soon so i am trying to become an expert at contentment. sometimes i ask myself why we are living like this- why are we dragging our children through this gypsy life? the truth is (and i mean this in the most unreligious way) that i care more about obeying GOD than i do my own comfort most of the time... anyway would you please pray for our family? that we will finish this race even stronger than we started. that we will be energized anew. that GOD's love will shine through us...

preparation

Happy Birthday to SiSi!! he turned 2 yesterday...we had pizza and "chocolate happy cake" then made tie dyes it was sooo much fun. we were impressed with our work... here is my baby boy at birth~ check out the hair!

all of my beloved photos were rescued from cyberspace!! i am sooo thankful! sometimes as a busy homeschool mama my memory doesn't work as well as it used to and my pictures are my memories...

we croslands never do anything half way we go all out...thankfully we are recovering from the swine flu and matthews ear is much better now that the spider is out... i look at all of this as preparation for the mission field.

Good Preparation

back to school

Well, we girls had a great time at the Above rubies retreat even though we had quite a few setbacks that weekend. i.e. a broken windshield, dead battery, baby with a fever of 103.5, and the stroller got left at the campground in Tennessee. And yes... the computer was stolen from our house in Broad Daylight while we were gone...which explains the lack of new posts..

anyway i still am mourning the loss of the computer not because of all the fabulous i tunes we lost or the fact that we have to build our donor manager database back from scratch (the first time it took 6 months) but because most of my memories were on it....all of our recent photos since Silas was born were on it. all the pictures of Evie's beautiful homebirth~ all of the awsome belly pics matt and mae made of me and on and on.... i am so sad about that .

we have started school with gusto this year. we now have a 3rd grader and a kindergartener and a preschooler so it is solid school from 9 am to about 2:30-3:00 whew! it is exhuasting... i decided to punish myself for being so slack in previous years by really going hard this year and covering social studies, math, science, english, reading, art, penmanship, and spelling. the boys have started soccer too so things are crazy. did a mention i also have a toddler and a 3 month old? its going great so far ~i just cant figure out when to get all the housework done...maybe between midnight and 5am around the night time feedings? ha.

we are busy. it is crazy. and life is so sweet...

Update

We are home again! (for now) Whew... Our week in Wheaton, IL was great. We got to reconnect with some of our friends there. Matt updated Crossroads Community Church on our ministry sunday morning. We got to have dinner with the Hall family friday night and the Piersons wednesday. Tuesday we spent the day with my wonderful cousin "miss Jennifer". Over all a really productive trip i think. It was just really nice to be able to look our donors in the eye and say thank you so much for your support.


There was one casualty however....the jogging stroller and a few pieces of our van did not make it back to SC =( ... somewhere on the interstate in Indiana lie the remains of the stroller given to us by the Piersons and the luggage rack of our van. Apparently it was strapped down very well as the whole luggage rack flew off with it. A big bummer because we really could use a jogging stroller, Oh, well at least we have all the children, right?


Next week Mae, Evangeline, and i head to TN for a ladies retreat. Then HOPEFULLY we will be home until the end of september.(more about that later)...

Silver Boxes

by Michael Bright


My words were harsh and hasty
And they came without a thought.
Then I saw the pain and anguish
That my bitter words had brought.

Bitter words that I had spoken
Made me think back through the past;
Of how many times I'd uttered
Biting words whose pain would last.

Then I wondered of the people
I had hurt by things I'd said;
All the ones I had discouraged
When I didn't use my head.

Then I thought about my own life,
Of painful words I've heard;
And of the times I'd been discouraged
By a sharp and cruel word.

And now clearly I remember
All the things I might have done;
But, by a word I was discouraged
And never were begun.

Lord, help my words be silver boxes,
Neatly wrapped up with a bow;
That I give to all so freely,
As through each day I gladly go.

Silver boxes full of treasure,
Precious gifts from God above;
That all the people I encounter
Might have a box of God's own love.


"Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." Proverbs 18:21

Let's speak life to one another~ parents, for the sake of our children.

wish it wouldn't end...

beautiful old trees at botany bay

we have had such a wonderful vacation i don't want too leave! edisto is beautiful, the weather has been perfect and i haven't felt this close to relaxed in quite a while. but alas, tommorrow is time to pack up and head out for home...

the beach makes evangeline fall asleep every time

we are sorry!

i'm not sure if anybody is still out there reading anymore because we have been so slack. We are sorry! and to make it up the blog is changing hands... from matt to tiff ...(because i have so much more time on my hands than him. ha) my goal is to update weekly~so if your still out there hold on... there is more to come. promise.

God's Rich Blessings

Our time here in South Carolina has been wonderful. We have been able to reconnect with so many old friends and make many new ones. Tiffany had our 5th child on Mother's day, what a wonderful gift. Evie and mom are doing well except for the sleepless nights, which are to be expected. We are going to have a very busy next couple of weeks. Mae and I are going to speak at Zion Hill Baptist Church's VBS this Sunday. The oldest three will be attending all week. Mae will also be going to Sports Camp at Morningside Baptist Church the same week. In two weeks She will also be speaking at Morningside's VBS and they will all get to go to that VBS as well. We are also looking forward to trips to Wake Forest and Wheaton this summer. We miss our friends in both places and are excited to see them. Things are beginning to pickup with our ministry goals but we still have a long way to go and we need your support. You can partner with us by using the link on the right under the "links to different ministries" section. Also please check out my friend Tim Holden's new ministry "Just Speak Life" which is linked in this same section. I'm sure that you will be blessed by it. Please pray for the health of Tiffany and the baby and our safe travels this summer.