We have officially finished our freshmen semester here at NTBI! I can't believe we'll be sophomores in January... I cannot say enough how amazing this experience has been. We are so blessed.
The last few weeks of school were pretty busy with finals and reading and homework. I meant to get to this sooner but it just didn't happen. We are now enjoying a bit of a break from the craziness. The kids have a full 2 week break from school as well. Randy has been working at the tree farm quite a bit. They have been very good to us there. On Friday we took the kids there and they all got cookies, hot chocolate and an ornament. Boy did they pick some ugly ones.... I love it. It just goes to show that it doesn't take much to please a child.  Lucas picked a pink felt birdhouse ornament. He was so excited about it that he had to sleep with it that night. It reminds me of the "working woman" keychain I got for my Dad when I was in kindergarten...

 

After that we went to the Nite Lights in Jackson. The little guys are especially excited about all of the Christmas lights this year. Then we had our weekly smoothie night. They all love this. Fridays have become their favorite night of the week.

 

 

Then we have this little girl.... she will not walk. She refuses. I know she is capable, she stands in one place just fine for long periods of time... and if she's barely touching my hand she will walk... She'll get there. In her own time.

 

 

 

Ok time to get serious... what am I learning here????


It's one thing to know something, but something completely different to KNOW something.... and while that may sound like a ridiculous statement I am learning the truth of it in our time here. Having the head knowledge is not the same as having the heart knowledge. Growing up in a Christian family  I learned when I was a little girl that Jesus loves me... and as much as I hate to say it, it's a truth that I took for granted. I've had God in a box.... I'm learning that I need to be conformed to God's ways and not conform God to my ways of thinking. There are so many things in this life that I don't understand. Things that I am still struggling with from our past and even though I can't be given the answers for the suffering I can rest in the fact that God is good, and He can use ME with all of my brokenness, imperfections, and failures for the ultimate purpose of glorifying Him. And for that I am thankful.

Thanks for your continued support and prayers. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

I kept getting sidetracked while attempting to update this month so this is a few different dates....

October 29, 2015
Another month has gone by and we are comfortably in the swing of things! Our little guys have been sick (coughs and fevers) but I hear it's going around. Thankfully I'm able to live stream the classes from the house so I'm not missing anything. They're good to the moms on campus....

So, I'm feeling overwhelmed this morning. Not in a bad way! Just overwhelmingly blessed. Lucas is laying on the kitchen counter singing twinkle, twinkle little star at the top of his lungs. I love his little voice. Bentley is making an obstacle course of shoes across the play area and keeps yelling "ready, set, GO" to Avery who just sits there clapping and smiling at him. I don't think she gets what he's wanting her to do. But seriously!!!! Who am I that God would bless me with 6 little lives? It's such an awesome responsibility.

 

November 3, 2015

 

I can't believe this beautiful weather we've had! It's hard to believe it's November already. We are enjoying the time outside when the kids get out of school. Taking  advantage of every minute!

 

 

November 8, 2015

 

Yesterday was a pretty interesting day. For my (Randy) Islam class a bunch of students got to go and see a ministry program to Muslims in Dearborn. We got to go to a mosque and speak with an Imam (which is like a priest for Muslims) and ask him questions about his faith and how its different than other religions, what makes it the right religion, etc. It was really an eye opening experience for the class to see how quickly this religion is spreading and the real threat it poses to believers and Christianity as a whole. Afterwards we got to spend time speaking with missionaries and eating Lebanese food which I thought was pretty amazing! Its crazy to think there is a completely different world so close to where we both grew up. 

 

 

And I (Jen) had the privilege of volunteering at Community Bible Church's Annual Day of Hope. This year they provided haircuts, medical services, coats, boots and shoes, handmade blankets, hats and scarves, lunch, and gift bags full of essential paper products all free to those in need in the surrounding community. I was serving in the coat/boot/shoe room. It was a lot of fun getting to meet new people and help little kids try on coats and find shoes that would fit them. Two things:

-One little girl in particular was so excited to find a pair of boots with fur on them in her size. She was probably about 7 years old and went on to say that "a girl can never have too much fur". Her Mom was the sweetest lady and so thankful for the help. She talked about how their house is really cold in the winter and they have to stay bundled up  to keep warm enough.

-My Mom was working in the sewing room making pillowcases. A little girl asked what they were and after she was told she said "oh, I don't have a pillow".... ugh, that is so sad. It's one thing to know that there is a need somewhere but then when you are faced with it and you see and hear people's stories and struggles it's just hard to not have the power to help everyone.

Anyway, pray for the people that came through those doors....

 

 

 

 

Well, that's it for now. Time to move on to my homework. Thank you for your love, support and prayers!





 





 

Well, it's been longer then I intended but life has gotten crazy busy! We are loving every minute of it. Not really sure where to start since so much has gone on this past month.... Let's just break it down:

The kids:
 The kids started school at Paragon Charter Academy. Brandon is in 5th grade, Coben is in 3rd grade and Jacob is in Kindergarten. They are all enjoying it. The teachers are wonderful, the principal is great. We couldn't ask for a better school really. Brandon is playing soccer this year with the co-ed 5th-8th grade school team. I kinda have a big crush on the assistant coach (wink, wink.... yea, ok, it's Randy).

Football game with some neighbor kids. 18 kids in 4 houses!

The 3 littles have classes from 9-12 everyday. Bentley and Lucas are working on letters and colors (I have art work hanging all over. I LOVE it!) and Avery is just busy playing with the other babies her age (including one little girl who is only 1 day older then her!) and finally getting some chompers in there! Growing teeth is hard work.

Best place to eat a snack is sitting in the toybox!

Randy and I:
We have classes and homework everyday. Love, Love, Love, getting into the Word and learning more about the incredible God we serve. It is such a privilege to be able to do this. We've had the chance to meet a few missionary families and are trying to take the opportunity to pick their brains a bit to see how everything works and get a feel for what's ahead.  Anyone interested in learning more about where we are going with this should check out the New Tribes Mission facebook page. As of right now we would love to go into tribal mission work but will ultimately go wherever God leads.

music around a campfire- LOVE this!

Prayer Requests:

-That we would find time to juggle all of our responsibilities wisely
-For God's continued guidance as we seek to follow Him
-For the future, for God's provision and His will to be done here
-Can I ask for prayer for my never-ending laundry pile?!?!?!? Yikes....

If you have questions for us don't hesitate to ask. We are open books. Our story up to this point has been a bit rocky and our past is not so pretty but God is faithful... so faithful through everything...

When we decided to follow God's leading on this crazy adventure one of my immediate thoughts was "how in the world are we going to be able to feed our children?" Let me just tell you that taking care of a family this size is not a cheap task... The truth is we are not the providers here... BUT GOD IS! He is able to do far more abundantly beyond what we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). Since moving in our cupboards have been full, people have made us various breads, snacks and cookies, the school has passed out extra food to married students and local churches have brought food in for all married students as well. It is so beautiful to see the body of Christ working the way that it should... and also humbling to be on this end of it.

We know that some people do not understand our decision to give up what we had in Pennsylvania, or the choice made to quit Randy's career. However, we are fully confident that this is where we are supposed to be. David Platt (author of Radical) puts it this way:

"I wonder at some points if I'm being irresponsible or unwise. But then I realize there is never going to come a day when I stand before God and he looks at me and says, 'I wish you would've kept more for yourself'. I'm confident God will take care of me."

That is a great book for anyone looking to add to their reading list! With that I am signing off. Orientation starts early tomorrow and it's time for bed. We look forward to sharing how God provides in the days ahead.

Ooooooooo but I like this too......

"Jehovah-Jireh" (meaning the Lord will provide) is probably a good central theme for what we are experiencing here in Jackson, Michigan. I read this statement tonight and it really spoke to me:

"Jehovah-Jireh is not “The LORD Did Provide,” but “The LORD Will Provide.” In other words, the name does not simply memorialize a past event; it anticipates a future action."

(http://www.gotquestions.org/Jehovah-Jireh.html)

Love it... How cool is God?!?!

What's in a blog? I'm not a gifted writer, in fact I'm pretty bad with words. We've had such an overwhelming number of people ask us to document our story that I am now compelled to start this, so here goes nothing...

Rundown of life since the move

1. We arrived in Michigan a few weeks ago and were greeted by wonderful people we had never met helping unload our large moving truck into a house that is ABSOLUTLEY PERFECT for our family. God is so good.

 

 

2. Jacob had kindergarten camp at Paragon Charter Academy. How is it possible that we have another kid old enough for school?!? You'd think by the time it's your 3rd going to school that it'd be no big deal but I have to admit I got choked up dropping him off...  I even asked the teacher if I was really supposed to just leave him.

 

 

3. Randy broke his elbow teaching Brandon to skateboard... let's pray Brandon doesn't copy his teacher. If there's such a thing as perfect timing to break a bone then this was it. We had already gotten everything set up and unpacked but still had enough time before classes start for some healing to take place. Seriously though, he could use prayers for this. His range of motion is not so great and he's been getting searing pain that feels "like someone is ripping his arm off".

 

 

 

4. We've spent some time getting to know our new surroundings. Spent a few days at the lake, checked out a few playgrounds, found a new church that we are going to stick with (Thank you Lord... and BONUS, it's only 5 minutes away!!!) met lots of great people and I got a part time job working for a cleaning company!

 

 

 

So that's what's been going on in our part of the world. Classes start this week here at New Tribes and we are crazy excited about it. I'm sure that we will face a number of trials in the years to come but we are trusting and following our God and provider. We want to thank you all for your love and support in our crazy journey. You guys are the best.