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There's lots of pictures and a current list of praises and petitions!

"It's hard to believe, but we leave for Quebec in less than two weeks! Lots of changes... lots of unknowns. Please pray our family through this time of transition."

With our two oldest girlies at CBA's Jr/Sr Banquet

Rebekah and friends - jumping for joy!
The end of the school year and graduation was right around the corner!

We actually had two graduates this year: M&M from K5 and Rebekah from high school! 

Longevity in Ministry ~ Hoping to resume an abandoned but not forgotten study

Last summer, I began a series that has certainly been challenging and searching for me.

Then life happened: a transitioning college student, four high schoolers with their crazy schedules and homework load, working at a local pregnancy resource center, volunteering at a wildlife rehab clinic with a few of my children and teaching English as a second language (ESL)… I managed to keep up with all of that and blogging… Then hubby traveled for a couple of months and I enrolled in an online course to get my ESL certification.

Something had to give and that something ended up being blogging. I’ve missed writing and I’ve been wanting to finish up the final posts scheduled for this series. 

Since it has been so long, however, I decided to do a “recap” first and summarize some of the key points from each post to date. Clearly, this will help me as I look at finishing the series. But hopefully, it will also summarize what I’ve shared so far and pique your interest for the final two to three posts remaining. 

A sermon preached by the senior pastor at my sending church provoked this series. My notes start with these words: 

"Like longevity in life, some basic things are needed - 

right genes [to be a child of God], right diet [God's Word], 

right exercise [involvement in ministry] 

and right environment [a place in God's community - the Church]. 

The Apostle Paul set it as his goal to walk worthy and finish well. So should we!"

Yet what does the practical outworking of this look like in real life - not just a paragraph of pretty words in a complex simile?...

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To read the rest, please join me at Missionary Mom's Companion, where I'm posting today - for the first time in several months. 

Glad to be writing again!

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Series: Longevity in Ministry

• Just Think About a Horseshoe (26 July2014)
• Trusting in the Sufficiency and Sovereignty of God (9 August 2014)
• If you don't want to shorten your ministry... obediently abide (23 August 2014)
• The essentials? Or merely superfluous? (13 September 2014)
• Habituate yourself? (27 September 2014)
• One Priority that can Never be in Excess (11 October 2014)
• Of rest and rescue (23 October 2014)
• Dare to Disclose (8 November 2014)
• “Hope is the only thing stronger than fear” (27 November 2014)

When Trust Stands Tall

I saw or heard that phrase somewhere this last year, and it has hung with me…

…because I need trust to stand tall. Like now!

A few days back, I went with my freshly graduated 18 year old to her yearly physical (she won’t have her license for a few more weeks). As the nurse measured her height, she encouraged her to stand tall – to push her back and heels flush against the wall, lengthen her neck and spine and look straight ahead.

Trust must stand tall.

Our seemingly forever season of transition/waiting is about to heat up, and not just because it’s summer time.

God has finally opened the doors for us to transition to the new place we’ve been thinking-praying-talking about for a few years now. Lord willing, we move in just a few weeks. We’re excited. We’re scared and nervous.

New ministries, new and more responsibilities, new church, new house in a new city, new friends, new school (and in a new language for several of our children). New grocery stores, new measures like liters instead of gallons and Celsius instead of Fahrenheit, new identity as we will no longer be those seemingly confident veterans but the very insecure and unsure newbies. For this introvert, it’s the stuff nightmares are made of!

Even in the busy excitement of preparations and hope-to-see-you-sooner-rather-than-later-get-togethers with family and friends, even in the well-known of “having been here done this,” I find myself continually having to choose to trust the One leading us this direction.

Trust must stand tall, especially as I think of what this transition means… will mean… for my family...

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To read the rest, please join me at 

a life overseas: the missions conversation, 

where I'm posting today!