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It's time for honest reflection and sharing! I have been struggling to write this update. It's not that we don't have news, many blessings and many answers to prayer to share; we do! It's that there is almost TOO much news. Danny's new work and training, finding a church here to attend, our struggle to keep the goal of Bible translation the focus in our lives, how the kids are doing, and what life looks like here are just a few things I'd like to share. I'm told I need to be concise and pick one or two blessing experiences to focus on. If you know me (Tonita) at you realize that's easier said than done. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in, I'm asking Him to guide my words and share with you what God is doing as we are stretched for His glory. To begin, this is the path Danny walks to work everyday.
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Our life consists of classes, training for Danny (8am-5pm) plus homework. I have an aviation wives class once a week and three kiddos, plus I'm working on all our paperwork for overseas (medical, passports,visa info). The kids are busy doing school, playing outside and exploring where we live. In the midst of the daily grind none of this is earth shattering. Like Danny's path to work, he can see the goal in the distance (the hanger) and most of the path is visible to him. We know where we are going (Papua New Guinea), we have a hoped for timeline (Jan 2017), we even know many of the steps we must take to get to our goal.
The thing we can't loose sight of is this: We are the voice for the Bibleless people of Papua New Guinea. Our job is to raise awareness that many people in PNG (and the world) still have NO access to God's Word in a language they can understand. It's easy to forget this, even here at the Wycliffe training center where what God is doing on a global scale is constantly talked about.
It is still easy to lose sight of that goal in the daily challenges that are a normal part of life. This means we have to be intentional, we MUST lift our eyes up. There are people in the world dying without access to the Living Water! Please don't skip over that sentence. Let this truth wash over you. People are dying without knowing God. They can't turn on Christian radio, pull up a podcast, go on line and read a blog about who God is.
Sometimes on that daily path, your goal can become unimportant. Ask yourself, what does God want for you, your life, your family? Are you living with a goal that gives Him glory? Even in the midst of the daily grind we need to lift our eyes and worship and praise Him. During life in your daily grind please remember your partnership in our Wycliffe ministry helps keep your eyes lifted up. Being our partner means YOU are helping bring the Bible, the Good News to those who have no access. Ask God how and what He wants you to do. How can you be a part? If you are praying for us PLEASE keep it up, we need prayer! God is teaching, stretching and humbling us in ways it would take pages to share. If you've thought about possible financial partnership now is the time! We are only at 50% of our Wycliffe monthly budget, so we invite you to help us in this very important way. Maybe you can invite us to share with your home group, Sunday School class, or a gathering of friends in your home. We would LOVE to share with you our heart for the Bible less people of Papua New Guinea.
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Praise and Prayer:
1. Countless notes, emails, texts and messages from many of you have been SO encouraging. God is using those to remind us we are not alone, we are not forgotten! Thank you for your encouragement. Thank you seems so little in comparison to how encouraging your messages and prayers have been.
2. We have answers to your prayers about our need for immunizations as a family. There is a local health clinic we will be able to go to get caught up at very little cost. This is HUGE for us.
3. Allergies haven been an issue, but we've been healthy. We are thankful that during this transition we haven't been dealing with sickness. Thanks for praying for our health!
1. Pray that we are able to get into the local health clinic and start our catch up immunizations as well as those we will need for overseas.
2. Pray we keep our focus solely on the goal of taking God's Word to the world. That Jesus would be our central focus and all things we do would fit into that goal. We want to include our children in these goals in meaningful ways, pray for wisdom as we parent them.
3. Continue to pray for good health. It's so important that we be able to take in all the opportunities we have here. It is hard to build friendships when your sick. Please pray for Tonita's thyroid, it is swollen and has been tender.
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Exploring downtown Waxhaw, NC!
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