The Happenings with the HOUSE!

Our Home on Petersburg Road....NO MORE!

 

 

We put our house on the market on April 25th and with that came the reality that our home wasn't quite like home anymore.  All part of God's way of preparing us to go.  Showings began right away, which began the juggling of cleaning and getting out almost weekly.  We used this time to visit local parks and do some fun activities as a family.  At times this became rather interesting with two little boys, but we survived by the Grace of our Almighty God!  Here are a few pictures of the fun things we did as a family.

On Cody's Birthday we went to Overlook Park for a Pizza Picnic!

More Pizza Picnic time!

Cody and Joshua having fun on a Bike Ride together at Overlook

Father and Son camping out in the backyard

Joshua wanted to try the tent out....He camped out with mommy in the house.

We took a Day Trip to the D.C. Zoo with our friends the Merkey's (Trey on the right)

Our last time picking Strawberries in PA!  Great memories!

Tried out Camping with the boys....because of bad weather we ended our time short...still made S-more's!

The boys enjoying the Slip n Slide in the back yard to stay cool in these HOT DAYS OF SUMMER!

 

Almost two months later....we have a buyer.  We sat down with our Realtor with the offer this past Tuesday, June 21st and the offer was not what we had expected.  We began the game of counter offering back and forth with the buyer...and he came to agreement with our last offer.  We are thankful that the buyer was willing to move up the settlement date for August 3rd...which is only 2 days before we begin our ICC Training (Intercultural Communication Training) from August 5-September 2nd at JAARS.  God is Never to late or early, His ways will work out for our Good!  Nothing is settled until settlement, so the house isn't SOLD yet, we are still in the waiting process.  In the meantime, we are going to be packing like crazy in the comings weeks.  It's only a MONTH AWAY until we MOVE South!  As you can image the emotions are kicking in and the reality that we are moving is beginning to sink into our hearts and minds.  Pray for us in this month to feel God's comfort and strength as we say our good-byes to our families, dear friends and our family of Grace Baptist Church here in Lancaster.  Even though we aren't moving across the seas, this is still the longest distance Jim and I have ever been from our family.  Pray for our families, especially the grandparents that God would wrap His loving arms around them in this change in their lives as well.  

We are planning to head south around July 23rd, which will give us about two weeks to adjust before our ICC training starts.  Pray that all the details come together for MOVING DAY...and that God will raise up individuals to help us in this month ahead with packing, help with caring for our boys, and moving.  We praise God for HIS FAITHFULNESS to us through this journey.

Thank you for your faithful prayers for our family.  Your prayers are being answered daily as God unfolds the details and wraps his loving arms around us in all the changes ahead.

Family Time Memories

We thought it would be good to give an update on all the happenings these past two weeks.  Where do we start...oh let me see.  On April 28th, we traveled to Wilkes Barre Airport to pick up Heidi's sister, Becky as she came to visit for 2 1/2 weeks from Nebraska.  The boys were so excited about going to the airport to see their Aunt Becky they haven't seen in a year.  Cody and Joshua were able to watch the plane land and greeted her with warm hugs and smiles.  Joshua wasn't to sure who this person was, but after awhile he warmed up to his Aunt Becky.

Here comes Aunt Becky on the air plane!

Cody greeting Aunt Becky home!

Joshua not sure...who are you!

Joshua warming up to his Aunt!

 After saying our Hello's the boys were ready for a ride on the Escalator....again and again!  The simple pleasures of life...FREE RIDE!

After picking up Aunt Becky's luggage we enjoyed a tailgate picnic lunch together before the rain started.  Jim and the boys traveled back to Lewisburg, Pa to stay with Heidi's Dad, while the ladies had a Mother and Daughter time away at the 1825 Inn Bed & Breakfast in Hershey, Pa the sweetest place on earth, as they say!  We said our good-byes and off we went to celebrate my mom's 60th Birthday together!  Each evening we would come back to a Hershey bar....after 2 days I had about enough chocolate..no kidding!  We had a delightful time together, each morning we had a delicious breakfast on china and were treated with royalty.  My mother made the comment, "I've never had this kind of treatment before"....what a special GIFT!  It was a special time for me as a mother to step away and be refreshed as well.  It was fun sight seeing in Hershey...we took the trolley ride around town and learned the history of Milton Hershey and how the town of Hershey got started.  What a great time and memories made together as mother and daughters.

Heidi, Susan, and Becky

Enjoying our Breakfast each morning on the side Porch.

You'll have to check this place out...highly recommended for a nice get away!

Happy 60th Birthday Mom!

 On our final day, we met Jim and the boys at Hershey Chocolate World for lunch and for the FREE Chocolate Tour ride.  What precious memories we will treasure!

Cody's Favorite Candy...Reeses!  Joshua wasn't to sure!

Good to be back together again!  We missed Mommy!

On May 4 we took the boys to Meme and Pappy's house while Mommy and Daddy had a two day get away at the Woodhaven Cottage in Mt. Pleasant Mills.  The place far exceeded our expectations, we were overwhelmed by the beauty that surrounded us.  Each morning we were greeted with the sounds of the birds chirping right outside our window.  The cottage was a wonderful sanctuary to refresh in body, mind and soul as a couple.  The boys enjoyed quality time spent with their Aunt Becky and Meme and Pappy while we were away.  Thank you Lord for this special time away for Jim and I to regroup and reflect upon God's hand at work in our lives.

 We highly recommend this place...it's not to far from Lancaster, PA and was reasonably priced especially during the week day.  Check out the Link:  www.thewoodhavencottage.com

Mohney Joe Coffee

Friends of ours have a coffee roasting business and wanted to become involved in contributing toward our ministry through sales of their coffee.  For those of you who are coffee lovers check out their website by clicking the link below.  Check out Mohney Joe under featured items.....$2 of the sale will be given toward our ministry to further the work of Bible Translation.  We praise God for those who have become involved in partnering with us through creative ways.  Pass the link along to friends, especially those who LOVE THEIR MORNING JOE they may want to try out Mohney Joe!

Once you click on the link below...go to Shop on Line where you will find featured items.
www.vintagecoffeeworks.com

House for Sale

What an exciting time for us, but also very stressful too!  We've been working so very hard these past several months to get everything ready for the selling of our house and the day has come!  We met with the Realtor on Monday April 25th and she posted it right away.  A few hours later they had someone calling about it and schedule a showing for Wednesday morning around 8:30 a.m.  Jim and I spent the past few evenings cleaning, de-cluttering more and packing things up.  We were up very early Wednesday to get ready to leave the house for the showing.  We took a family day and went out for Breakfast to Oregan Dairy.  After breakfast we took the boys to the play ground there and they had a blast.  In spite of having to get up very early and leave our home we planned it to be special time as a family.  We got a call for two showings on Thursday, which is very encouraging to see people interested right away.

 We praise God for the beautiful days he's given us too to finish things up outside with the garage.  We are still finishing up the painting, but it should be finished soon.  We have a gentelman from our church who is helping us out with the painting, so Jim can focus on de-cluttering the garage and basement in the coming weeks.

We are looking forward to getting away for a few days to spend time with Heidi's family.  Heidi's sister is coming in from Nebraska tomorrow (Thursday).  We'll all be going to the airport to Welcome Aunt Becky Home!  Jim will be spending quality time with the boys with their pappy, while Heidi enjoys time away at a Bed and Breakfast with her sister and mother, celebrating her Mom's 60th birthday.  It will be nice to be out of the house for a few days during showings, so things don't get messed up!  

We covet your prayers for our family in this new journey.  The next BIG STEP of Faith was getting our house on the market as we work toward and look forward to our move to JAARS.

Our Family on Easter Sunday

Our handsome little boys...in the Herb Garden!

 

 

 

 

 

Watching the Lord Work!

     Since Jim finished up his time at Tyco we stand amazed of how quickly everything is coming together.  In the past two weeks we've seen the Lord's provision and more partners joining our team through prayer and financial support.  We have gone from needing $500 more a month two weeks ago to know only needing $250 more a month to be at our full support.  We have no doubt that God will be moving us onward very soon and for this we are so excited.  We rejoice in those who uphold us in prayer.  Your prayers are powerful and mean so very much to us! 

     With Jim now at home it's given him more time to focus fully on our ministry and finishing up those final projects around the house.  Our garage needed some attention and we also need to finish up painting.  We are praying that the Lord will bring dryer weather and warmer temperatures in the coming days so we can finish all this up. We are hoping to have the house listed next week (April 18).  We appreciate your prayers with the selling of our house that it will sell quickly.   

     We continue to adjust to Jim being home every day.  Cody has been a bit confused these days too.  Just this morning he said "Daddy some days you work at home or the church or outside.  Are you going to work tomorrow at Tyco?"  It's been a huge adjustment for us all because we love to spend time with Daddy, so we are learning a new routine these days on the home front.  Continue to pray for Jim as he manages his time with with ministry and having much to accomplished with the house.  We covet your prayers in these days of major changes ahead for our family.  Blessings to you all!

Here are some pictures of our house and our little helper!

This is our garage...we had only painted the front back in the fall before the weather got cold.  We are praying for warmer weather to stick around these next few days so we can finish the painting up.

Jim finished up the linen closet and the pocket door.  So nice to have everything in one organized spot now.  We can enjoy it for a little while!

Another picture of the linen closet  with the pocket door..and the entrance into Cody's room.  It's looking GREAT AROUND HERE!

Since the middle of March we've de cluttered and organized the house in every room.  Many things have been packed up and stored for our moving day.  Daily we are trying to keep the house cleaned and tidy so we are ready for pictures and showings.  Here is our little Tiddy upper!  Cody helping mommy with some cleaning..vacuuming the steps.

Living room....where did all the toys go?  We kept enough out for the boys that would fit on a shelf.  Having less is BETTER!  It made our living room so much bigger!

More of the living room!  There's the toys for the boys!  I labeled all the containers so it makes it easier for the boys to put their toys away.

 There is still furniture in this room that we need to store away for showings...but it looks so much more organized.  This is our multi-purpose room...our office/dining room/crafts etc.

Kitchen   

Next Chapter in our Journey "Jim's Last Day at Tyco"

 

 In Celebration of Daddy's Last Day at Tyco we made a special Cake!  Cody of course was our little baker of the day.  He even found home-made chocolate frosting in his cook book.  When Cody woke up this morning the first things he said..."Daddy's Last Day of Work"!  We made picnic lunch and ate with Daddy during his lunch break.  Jim shared with one of the employees that we came in for his "Last Supper"!  Daddy gave Cody a little tour of the machine shop and he even got to turn the handle on a milling machine.  He thought that was pretty cool!  We are so very proud of you Daddy and praise God for all your hard work.  We look forward to the beginning of the next chapter in our journey with Wycliffe. 

Cody so proud of his DADDY! 

Creative ways to learn God's Word:  We've been trying a new technique with Cody in learning his Awana Cubbie verses.  We used to write them out and he would trace over the letters.  Now we are using letters from his Banana Gram to put the verses together.  

The Next Big Step

One thing Jim and I wanted to do to stay connected was put together a blog of the happenings of our family and ministry.  It's a great way to watch our boys grow up too!  This is our official first POST hope you like it!

With the freshness of spring almost upon us, we'll be doing more than spring cleaning around our home.  It's time to begin setting the stage to sell the house.  We are making arrangements in the coming weeks to have a Realtor come and tell us what still needs to be done so we can put our house on the market this Spring.  Instead of planting and gardening, we'll be packing up pictures and other belonging around the house. 

In our latest Newsletter we mentioned that Jim's time at Tyco is coming to an end.  Well, today (March 9th) Jim was talking with the plant manager about some other things and he asked where we were in our Support.  Jim told him we were at 88.5%.  With this being said, he expressed that the shop load and conditioning load were both light and he would have to look at work availability for Jim in a couple of weeks.  Jim has been on a month to month basis since September 2010 so this could have come at anytime.  We had been praying about it for several weeks with our prayer team and felt we should be done March 31st. We took this as more confirmation of Gods timing and ours lining up.  Jim will be finishing up his time at Tyco at the end of the month.

Philippians 1:6 "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

We appreciate all those who uplift us in prayer!  It's surely a comfort to know that we have so many upholding us in these busy days ahead for our family.