Hey all! I apologize for the lapse of time since our last entry! We want to be avid bloggers, but we'll have to work hard at it since it is a new thing for us. :) So, much has transpired since we last wrote!
Thomas graduated from college with his bachelor's degree in English Linguistics this past December! I am so proud of him and he is happy to be done! He is quickly filling his time with many other activities. Christmas was wonderful, we really cherished the time with both of our families.
We have officially begun the support raising process. Thank you to those of you have already responded and joined our team, we are so excited about our partnership! If you have not received a letter and would like one, please let us know and we'd be happy to mail you one.
Greg Carlson, the JV country director for Poland was in the States last month and we had a chance to visit with him! We got to take him to another one of our favorite restaurants, Green (an awesome vegan place in Scottsdale), and dream together while we enjoyed our mock chicken buffalo wings (oh yum)! We talked more about our future roles and what our lives are looking like as we are preparing for Poland.
We have just barely started a youth choir at church and had a great turn out at our first rehearsal. We are hoping this will give us both some experience in leading choir since we may very well be doing something similar in Poland!
A few prayer requests for this in-between time are:
1) We will be able to quickly and affordable finish our home repairs/remodeling and get our place rented out for a reasonable rate. We may need to refinance, so please pray our mortgage rate won't be over what we will end up charging for rent.
2) I have finally found a doctor that I think will be able to help me with all of my chronic pain & other chronic issues. She just got back from a conference & learned about an issue caused by whiplash that pretty much describes ALL of my symptoms. We are going to get an extensive blood test within the next week. If the results are positive, we know everything is reversible! Please pray for God's provision and that we will wholeheartedly trust Him in this area.
3)We are going to start meeting with groups and individuals to share God's vision for Poland. Please pray God will move in the hearts of people He will call to join us in prayer, financial support, or whatever other way God may be calling them. Also, please pray that we will be able to communicate this vision clearly. If you would like to have us come and share with a small group, home group, bible study, etc. that you are involved in, please contact us.
We look forward to meeting with you all in the next few months. We are hoping to really connect with people and build long-lasting relationships with you all, so that even while we may be on the other side of the world, you will know you can always talk to us about your lives and we will want to share in your joys and sorrows.
God's blessings on all of you!
Steph
