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.