Whoa!

 We were on our way home from CP (Cissna Park) last night and Brett took a hard left turn. My motherly acclimated ears did not even hear Obie in the backseat, but Daddy did. After the turn Obie started saying... "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa..." It is clear why:

Florida Spring Break

It was an entire month ago... but I thought it was better to post some pics, then to never;)!

Our traveling breakfast at Cracker Barrel

Arriving! Finally! Joah was sick of hearing Obie cry.

Went to a free aquarium. Aunt Kelly had found it. Obie loved it, he could have stared at the fish all day. 

Watching cartoons, a must do in FLorida:)

The boys spent more time out on the patio  looking at the beautiful ocean!

Joah was frequently attacked with hugs by Obie, but this time looks mutual. 

The boys

Obie watching Joah do crazy things.

Daddy got some amazing waves!

This pic could be in a Surfing magazine. Perfect form Babe!

dressing up for a night on the town. 

umm!!! Icecream! Joah had a taste of everyones.

Some early morning cartoons!

One of the many wrestling matches... Joah looks like he has Obie pinned on all sides!

Reuniting with his bestest friend of all CREW! They missed each other so much. 

Obie and Joah had so much fun together. Three days after returning from our trip, Obie went to cousin Joah's House for another time of fun, giggles, and chasing one another. When Obie arrived at the house for the beginning of the good times with cousins, he saw Joah, and could not contain his excitement of reuniting with his  much-adored, older cousin Joah. He ran up to him as fast as he could, wrapped his arms tightly around Joah's waist, looked up at his face and smiled. It was the cutest, most precious thing:). Thanks Joah for playing so well with Obie and treating your younger cousin with so much love! I hope that Obie will be that good with Oakly some day:). 

Minimizing Comforts for Maximizing Joy

Minimizing Comforts for Maximizing Joy

This is an encouraging message that should be remembered and continue to challenge us.

March

Can you believe the month of March has come and gone!! It is the 26th! With March now having come and gone we have a few new milestones that we have met as a family...

We are Full-Time Support Raising

We are now meeting with people as full-time as one can be while Brett is still teaching. Our weekends are packed full of meetings with friends that we love so much! We met with 6 people on Saturday alone, Obie came with and did excellent, and it actually turned out to be so much fun! People have been wondering how it has been going , and since we are now officially through our first weekend we have a better perspective of what it all entails! It has been so rewarding, humbling, stretching, and faith-building. We have really begun to feel a great dependence on God. Everyone has been so positive and excited with us, but the process has really required us to lay our hearts bare over and over. It is a good thing to have to do, but very challenging, none-the-less. We will be updating you all with our Percentage of Completion, once a few more weeks pass.

The Baby is 28 weeks

WE ARE IN OUR 3rd TRIMESTER!!!! Here we are already. The baby is 7 months along and we have 12 more weeks to go, which we know will fly! We are excited to meet the baby "it" and see if it is a boy or girl. We have had many, if not all, hopes for a girl, but the thought of a girl honestly does make Brett and I a little nervous:). I think Brett would look pretty cute holding a little girl though. 

Obie is 1 1/2 years old

Actually, he is only 17 months, but close enough right? He will be 20 months old when baby #2 comes:) He is getting SO big, and hilarious! Today, I believe, he has officially switched over to one nap. What a big boy:). Praying for him, that he can learn to have a gentle spirit with the baby.

Doctor's visit

Obie broke out in a rash yesterday. We took him to the doctor's office to find out that he is allergic to amoxicillin! So bye-bye all "cillins" you will know longer do for treating Little Obie!

While we were in the office, there was a baby that cried in the room next door. Obie looked at my tummy, patted it, and then proceeded to give the "crying" baby 3 comforting kisses. It was so sweet of him to try and love on his little brother/sister to try and make everything better.

 He has been a little hoarder, as i am sure all kids go though. He collects at least 5 things at a time and has to carry them all around. 

Learning to pray

Kissing Daddy

Our Story

      God has been growing in us a heart for His Mission in reaching the lost.  Two years ago we were approached by our good friends Steven and Lauren to consider doing missions with them in Thailand. After going through the application process, praying a lot, and being accepted by the team leaders, we decided for the following reasons that the time was not right: Obie would have been 2 months old when we arrived, Liv would have had no work experience, we had little cross-cultural training, and while we lived within a different culture, we were not yet engaged in that culture - specifically the local church. 

    Since that time Obie has grown to be a year old and we have had our first experience of pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum months. Liv has worked for over a year now and has moved to part time. We are actively discipling in our community and serving in an African-American Church which has given us a small taste of living/learning/growing within a different culture.

    During this time, we have continued conversations with Steven and Lauren about one day serving together overseas.  A month ago, a need on their team opened up and we were excited to have a second opportunity to consider joining in the work happening there.  We began to pray and read. We asked God to close/open doors, direct our hearts and move us with His Spirit.  We read nearly 200 pages in that month, seeking to understand the Biblical basis for missions.  The more we read, the more excited we became as God gave us clarity through His Scriptures.  Finally after both of of hearts had come to an agreement on where we thought He was leading us, we signed up for a weekend missions conference.  Again, through the clarity of God's revealing Word during those 3 day, He further confirmed in our hearts, a desire and a leading towards overseas ministry. 

God's written word speaks so powerfully.  The theme through out scripture resonates of how God's heart for every tribe tongue and nation to know and worship Him.

Revelation 7:9

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb..." 

How God's heart is for the world...

John 3:16

  " For God so love the WORLD that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes on him will not perish but have everlasting life."

Matt 24:14

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the WHOLE WORLD as a testimony to all the NATIONS and then the end will come." 

Luke 24: 46-47

"Repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to ALL THE NATIONS being from Jerusalem."

And how he has chosen his disciples to go out into the world of the lost and spread the gospel...

Matthew 28:19-20

  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Mark 16:15

"Go into all the world, and preach the good news to all creation."

Acts 1:8

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

And finally, the why and how we have felt called to move to Thailand...

Romans 10:13-15

"For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” "

Romans 15:20-21

"And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”

Acts 20:24 
"But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the
ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."

We don't deny that we have fears. There are some hard questions, that are not easily answered, which I guess is what makes them hard questions:). But in light of or fears, we are seeking answers, and praying for the gift of faith. His word he has given us great comfort to this time of our faith being tried:

...Hebrews 11...

This chapter has fill us with so much peace and joy. It has made us so thankful that God has invited us to be a part of his kingdom work.

"...but as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to
be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city." hebrews 11:16

Above all, God has called us to an eternal perspective. Where our minds and hearts dwell and beat for Him. He desires us to worship Him through us being obedient to what he has asked of us to do.   
And he longs for us to daily realize that...

"the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." 
1 john 2:17

For this is our reasonable service, to lay our lives down, on the altar, for Him... every day, in both the big and the small. May He grant to us the grace to love him with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, and may we learn to do all things to the glory of Christ our Lord.

Thailand Trip!! (In pictures)

We had a 14 hour layover in South Korea! We were able to spend all of that time with Justin (Brett's Brother) and Eve.  It was so fun to be able to spend some quality time with them, and to see them and their adorable marriage:)! They are so cute together. 

The Beautiful Couple

Here we go! Steven and Lauren had a moped waiting just for us (a friend of theirs let them borrow it). This was our transportation for the next 9 days. It was definitely the faster method to getting around because you can weave through all the traffic, but for a date night where you want your hair looking cute, it does not work so well:). 

A little Thai food joint. They were all around, but this was the first place we ate, our first day there.  We had curry chicken or pork rice soup. It was really good. Steven did all of our ordering the entire trip. We always trusted him to get us the best thing on the menu. 

We went shopping after lunch. This was one of my favorite stores in Thailand. The things they were selling were amazing! Large pieces of wood that were made into end-tables, counters, and big kitchen tables! 

We lite up our Lantern and sent it up into the night sky on New Year's Eve. With every holiday you'll find people lighting these lanterns and sending them off into the night. They have a festival once a year where they light thousands of these into the sky. It is beautiful. 

Water Buffalo. The boys found them on a hike. 

The Flower Festival. Fifty countries are represented here. Amazingly beautiful.

Twig flowers, with lights inside of them. 

Four Seasons Resort. No, of course we did not stay their, we just stopped by for 30 minutes to be in awe of the luxury. 

The work hut. 

 

The pool

The best place on the patio

Their flower decor

At the snake show

Ewww! why are you kissing that thing! (Boa constrictor)

Hatley and Kristi and snake

Steven and Lauren. Why are you kissing it too!

I know what you are thinking..."Why?"

But see how limp it is :)

He is kissing a KING COBRA!!

feeding the elephants

Bathing

playing

painting (oh yes, painting, an elephant did paint that)

see they are painting 

The paintings, one of them was $200!

Pretty view in the mountains. This was the long ride that we went on after the elephant show. It was 3 hours of beautiful scenery.

Group Photo

Temple visiting. This part of the trip was the most shocking of all! It is unfathomable to watch people as they sincerely worship a god/gods that does not exist. How can you be so devoted and yet so far from truth!!!

Language School. Very difficult, sure hope we can make it though this!

Fresh smoothies! I loved them. I could have sipped on one for every meal and in between. 

A burial monument

Grace International School

A local preschool called "Sunshine". 

A student at the preschool

The children. Adorable. 

Playground

Getting ready to head out for our date night. Each couple went their separate ways. 

The food from our date that night at the Ginger House. It was amazing, the place was an Anthropologie restaurant 

Mine was delicious, except for when I bit into ahot pepper that closed off my left eardurm, swell half of my throat and face. 

The night bizarre

Hated every minute of this. I did not even last the full 15 minutes. I was loooking forward to this, thinking it was going to be relaxing and fun. Boy was I wrong!

Eww!

Eww! again... This is the most discusting tasting and smelling thing in all of the world! I think that I may not even be exaggerating. Awful!

The boys rented bikes for their birthday. They had fun all day with out us.