Housing Update

So many things have happened over the past week and we praise the Lord for all of them!  Our house is officially rented as of December 17th so we have to be out of it on the 16th (which means we are working feverishly to pack and clean!!!!)  We are so thankful that the Lord has rented it and we are already praying for the family that will move in--that the home will be a blessing to them.  Also, our Big Brother/Big Sister at language school have found us an apartment to live in while we are in San Jose.  They sent us a video tour of the place and it is actually very spacious compared to typical homes there.  It also has a washer and dryer (dryers are very rare) so I am excited about that.  My favorite part of the house is that we actually have a backyard for the boys to play in.  Most homes have NO yard so we feel so blessed to have a yard and not just any yard--our yard has a mango tree and a papaya tree!!! I prayed for fruit trees in our yard (what silly things we pray for yet the Lord hears all of our prayers and blesses in such sweet ways!!!)  I am so thankful for this home that the Lord has given us.  It is a 15 minute walk to school and there is a park nearby where the "farmer's market" comes each Saturday!  I am so excited about this as well!!!  We are about 5 weeks away from leaving.  Time is so short and we have much left to do--the most important being spending time with family and friends as much as we can before going....please pray for us that this is truly our priority and we don't get caught up in the busyness of the details that need to be done!!!  Thanks for all of your prayers....we feel so blessed!!!

The end of soccer season

Well, Thomas's soccer season ended with a bang!  They had a soccer party after the final game and he got a trophy (which he is very proud of!!).  I guess the next soccer team he will be on will be with his new "Tico" friends in Jaco.  We are looking forward to that!  Here are a few pictures of him with his trophy at the soccer party.

This next picture is of the team doing their final "1...2...3...Gamecocks!!"  I think this and the gatorade breaks every 5 minutes were some of the favorite memories for Thomas and his teammates!  

What a blessing it was to be a part of this first experience with Thomas-we look forward to many more!  

Traveling the Southeast

Well, we have had a busy few months as we prepare to leave!  We have had more wonderful opportunities to share God's vision for our family in several churches in Georgia and here in Lexington, SC.  We have been so blessed by the love and support we have felt by each church body and have begun relationships that we know will grow in years to come.  Here are a few pictures of the churches we have visited.  In October we shared at Lexington Church of Christ, Calvary Chapel Lexington (our home church), and Calvary Chapel Heartland (Fort Valley, GA).  The first weekend of November we shared at Flintstone Baptist Church in Flintstone, GA.  

 

To date, we have 100% of our outgoing expenses and 75% of our monthly support raised...PRAISE THE LORD!!!  We prayed about when to order our plane tickets and we felt all along that once we reach 75% of our monthly support we would order them so this past Friday we made it official--our tickets are ordered...we leave January 2nd at 6:00AM...wow--I admit I cried as I was booking them.  It was very emotional--a definite reality check in a much more "concrete" way if ya know what I mean!  Now we just continue to work at all of the details that need to happen before we go.  

We did have an awesome opportunity to rent our patio home to some friends in need of a place to live.  We were planning on selling it and it has been on the market since July with no buyer.  Well, our friends, David and Eva Daniel had 3 weeks to find a place to live (as of last week) and the Lord told them to approach us about renting and He gave us a peace about renting to them---what a blessing for both of us!  They needed a place they could afford and wanted it close to the church.  Well, it is within their means and it is literally 3 minutes from the church--God is so faithful even in the little details of our lives if we will just surrender even those places to Him!!  It has been obvious in the past week that the Lord has saved this place for them and their 3 beautiful children!!!  

Please pray for us and for all the little details--that we would trust the Lord with them as He leads...as I was studying this week I came across this verse and it has been my prayer this week and will be for a long time--- Psalm 26:2-3 "Test me, O Lord, and try me. Examine my heart and my mind.  For Your love is ever before me and I walk continually in Your truth."  May you walk in His truth as He leads you...

Praise the Lord!!!

Yesterday I was praying and meditating on the Lord and kept thinking wow--daily God shows us His faithfulness...not always in things that He does or ways that He intervenes, but just for being who He is in our lives!  His Word says He loves us with an everlasting love.  His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.  We are so thankful for a God who loves us in spite of ourselves.   So today, I went to the mailbox and we received another letter regarding the anesthesia bill from Daniel's surgery.  At this point we have 3 bills left.  The Lord has totally cleared all of the others (in the amount of $26,000)!!!  This bill was originally for $1800 and I paid $40 on it to show "good faith" that we do desire to pay it.  Anyway, the letter today informed us that they decided to write this bill of totally!!!  Yes, another miracle from the Lord--only the Lord could provide in this way as we prepare to go!  I can't believe we only have 2 bills left that total about $4,000.  AMAZING!!!  Thanks to all who are fervently praying...we are so blessed by all He continues to do!  May God be the glory!!!  

Pumpkin Patch and Fall Festival

What a fun 2 weeks we have had!  We took the boys to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin and then they carved it with Daniel.  They had a blast!  Here are a few pictures from our adventure...

 

On Friday we took the boys to the Fall Festival at our church.  Now, you have to understand our son, Thomas.  For some reason he loves flags.  He has a book of flags and he has learned all of the country flags and any time we see a flag around he points it out and identifies it.  Well, about a month ago he told me he wanted to dress up as a "United States Flag" for the Fall Festival.  I thought it quite odd, but he was certain this is what he wanted to be.  I assumed he would change his mind by Friday, but on Friday he was still asking to be the US flag so we made the costume that day.  He loved it and had a great time reciting the pledge of allegiance to anyone who would listen...truly a memorable night!!  (And of course Jacob was the cutest lion I have ever seen!!)

 

This was our last Fall Festival for a long while.  In Costa Rica they do not celebrate Halloween at all.  It seems these days as if we are saying "this is the last time for..." alot.  We are leaving in less than 2 months...time seems so short yet we have so much to do!  Thanks to all who are continuously praying for us!!  Please join us in praying for God's will to be done with the sale (or not) of our home.  We love you guys!!!

Fun with the boys

Two weeks ago we took the boys to ride Thomas the Train near Charlotte.  Thomas loves Thomas the Train so he got a big kick out of being able to ride him.  Here are a few pictures of our day:

Daniel has Mondays off and it was such a beautiful day so we used our last free zoo passes to take the boys to the zoo.  Jacob loves all animals so we had a blast watching (and hearing) him react to every animal he saw!  It was an awesome family day for us!

A miracle from the Lord

Daniel and I are blown away daily by the Lord's faithfulness and provision for our family as we prepare to leave for Costa Rica!  Last week we received another medical bill in the mail for Daniel's shoulder surgery.  (Reminder--our insurance company is not covering Daniel's surgery and we have about $25,000 in doctor's bills that we owe)  At this point I couldn't even worry about it because for one, what is another $720 and two, I know the Lord is going to provide for these bills and He will get the glory.  Anyway, I walked back from the mailbox after opening the bill and felt I should call Providence Hospital to see what the status was on our application for financial assistance.  At this point, we have done all we can do to apply to every financial assistance program and we even wrote a letter to each provider explaining our situation and asking for mercy.  So I felt in my heart I was to call Providence (this is our biggest bill--over $15,000) and check on the paperwork.  The billing clerk proceeded to tell me that the day before (last Monday) the hospital decided to take care of our bill and our balance was ZERO!!!!  Yes, ZERO!!!  I was absolutely blown away and knew immediately that it was the Lord's provision!  What is even better, I was able to share with the billing clerk how the Lord intervened here and provided for us.  She said she has never seen anything like this before and the situation really ministered to her.  She truly was at a loss for words...it was so beautiful to see our Lord get all the glory!  Also, three other providers are waiting to hear what the hospital does for us with financial assistance before deciding what they will do with those bills so we are praying God's favor over those bills as well!  God is definitely in the miracle business!!  Our 3 year old, Thomas, has been praying every night for over a month for a "miracle for the medical bills" and the Lord heard his cries.  We are so humbled that He chose to bless us in this way.  "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28    Be blessed!!!