Reality is closing in FAST!

We have made the decision to go ahead and choose a moving date. We are closing in on the half way point of our support raising and have decided to trust God to bring in the rest by the closing date on our house. We agreed to up the date to the 13th of June since the previous date agreed on was on a Sunday and we would not have been able to do the official paperwork for the closing on that day. So, we are lining up the moving truck and making plans like mad to be ready to go to Florida on the 13th. Paul will be driving the moving truck with Gabe and Riley and I am going to stay behind until Sunday or Monday to clean the house and tie up any loose ends, then fly in with Alayna and Holden to Sarasota after Paul and the boys arrive. Airfare is less than the cost of driving one of our vehicles with gas prices these days. So we are trying to sell our vehicles (just a truck to go!) and have our eye on a mini-van with fewer miles down in Florida that we can pay cash for.

It has been such a blessing to see God working out our problems for us from the tiniest detail to the big detail of where we will live! Right now, the Agape people are looking for a rental house for us and we will most likely not see it until we move into it! But, we know He can provide, and He is much more capable than we are, so we have left that detail to Him. Right now, the biggest detail we are struggling with is the reality that we will only have 4 more Sundays to worship and be fed spiritually at our church. We realized this on the way to church on Mother's Day and then proceeded to bawl like babies during the singing/worship time of our service as the realization overtook our emotions. It has been pretty emotional since then. Many of you probably don't know that we searched for over 2 years to find our church and that we have attended Grace for 12 years this month. We knew at the first visit that this was the church for us and we have been nourished and grown and stretched at Grace through their ministries and people. The thought of once again searching for a church to fill the future void in our lives is overwhelming right now. We are grateful that the sermons will be available on-line for us to hear even in Florida! In spite of this apprehension, we continue to see God confirm our calling in everything we do, and we desire to be in the middle of His will rather than be where we are comfortable and surrounded by family and friends. We have seen Him confirming and cementing relationships with other families at Grace and have been tremendously blessed by those who have come alongside in prayer and support for us. This has been a sweet time of fellowship and refreshment for us.

I had an especially fun night celebrating my birthday (again) with several friends from my MOPS steering team by getting pedicures together a couple weeks ago. My pedicure was the 3rd one of my life and the first time I got jewels put on my toenails!

Can you identify those feet???

Then, we celebrated with a few families for Mother's Day by driving to Henry County to ride 4 wheelers and shoot shot guns and hunt for mushrooms and walk the trails and get really muddy...hmmm...wonder if we'll have a spa day for Father's Day...Anyway, Alayna had it out with the teter totter and came up short. She smacked her chin and ended up with a deep enough cut that we thought she would need stitches. Because it split from the impact, it was a perectly clean cut that we patched up initially with a butterfly for the trip into the hospital. It looked so good that we decided to forgo the trip to the ER on Mother's Day. I am glad to say it looks great now! We celebrated Mother's Day just she and I with my mom the next day with lunch and a movie. Cute bandaid, huh? We had our very own viewing of the movie Nim's Island. We were the only 3 people in the theater! Alayna had to use the bathroom twice during the movie and the first time we went, she was worried about Grammy saving her seat! I announced loudly that we would be right back and for no one to take her seat. She was satisfied with that!

Keep the prayers coming our way, we have certainly seen the power of the prayers of the righteous!! Here are some updated requests:

1) For our moving plans, our new place to live, humility to accept the help we will desperately need in this packing/loading/cleaning process.

2) For spiritual refreshment/peace as we are saddened about the blessings we are leaving behind in Iowa, of family and friends and a strong church and church body.

3) For us to find a church quickly to get plugged in with upon arrival.

4) For our kids as they are finishing up school and running around like crazy with us as we meet with supporters. For us not to overlook their needs in this time. For us to be a Godly example of faith and obedience to them in our everyday lives.

5) We will be traveling to Omaha for a family wedding Saturday. Many details of this need to fall into place Friday. Pray for the Lord's will in those plans.

6) For my friend Suzy whose grandma recently passed away at the age of 92 and for her grandpa still living at 95 who are left behind and missing her already. Pray for the perfect peace and comfort that only God can provide.

Thanks for joining us on this adventure. Again, we would love to hear how we could be holding you up in prayer as well.