Where we've been swept off to...

"Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."--J.R.R. Tolkien

I have begun to wonder lately if, when we finally do settle down, life will seem too routine for our little world travelers, or even for me. We are so close to returning to Monterrey...only 2 weeks until we look for a house to rent; and I am finding it difficult to be content in my circumstances. 

Pray for endurance! Pray for an adequate house for our family that will meet our budget. Pray for sanity as we will be doing some more whirlwind traveling before we go back to Mexico. Pray that our hearts would continue to be changed to be more like Christ's....."I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).

Update on Us

Good news...and thank you for your prayers. My brother is in a place now where he hopefully will learn to depend on God completely. For the moment, he is safe, and we are relieved.

On other fronts, we have been moving around quite a bit! We have been so blessed to be able to stay with about five families during our Dallas stint; we've learned a lot from them, we've been encouraged by them, and the kids have had fun playing with a new set of toys every week!
Soon it will end - we leave for the East on May 15, to visit other churches in Florida and have some time with my family.

Please pray that: we will have safe travels, reach our support goal by the beginning of June, and find a home in Mexico that will meet the needs of our family.
Pray for good health as we travel some more, and have recently had sicknesses that have slowed us down a bit.
Praise God for the way He has been raising our support team, reminding us over and over again that it's not our work; it's His!

Good night, all...
Aimee

The Kiddos

"No worry, Mommy"

As all parents who think no other child can say things as cute as their own, we have been trying to write down all of the mispronunciations, silly songs, and precious sentences of our children.

Recently, I was laying Andrew (2) down in his portable crib, which I had raised by placing a pillow under his mattress to alleviate some of the breathing problems during a common cold. I said, "Try to keep your head on the pillow, Andrew, so you can sleep better." This came after several sleepless nights from cleaning out his nose and giving him cough syrup. He looked up at me and said, "No worry, Mommy, Good night."

That sweet little statement which made me laugh, also brought tears to my eyes later on in the week as I realized how often I respond to the circumstances in my life with worry and fear instead of steady trust.

One of those walks in my journey of faith has been these past few weeks. Please pray for my family (Aimee) as we are concerned about my younger brother. I am not yet at liberty to say more, but please pray that he gets to the point quickly where he must depend on God completely. Pray for God's mercy and protection over his life. His name is Tim, which means "God's honor," or "honoring God."

Good night to all!

Missions in Montana

We just returned from a great missions conference at Rocky Mountain Community Church in Billings, Montana. The kiddos stayed with grandparents, and just Caleb and I headed north for a visit with our friends (we'd stayed in Billings for five months last year). Every time we attend a missions conference, God confirms His call on us. We hear of other fields in need and our hearts are burdened. This time, our team leader, Andrés Garza, and the academic dean of the seminary, Jorge Alemán, had some great opportunities to speak to the church.

We are so ready to return "home" to Mexico, so please pray that the rest of our support can be raised quickly! Our goal is to return to Mexico by mid-June, but we are lacking $800 a month before our agency will allow us to return. It seems impossible, but we have seen God work in amazing ways.

On the Road Again! On the Roooaaadd again!

After a nice rest in McAllen and fun with grandparents, a quick trip to Mexico to visit old friends, and a little scare with Andrew's health, we are......on the road again!

We have more than ever seen God's grace and care for us even in the little details of our lives. Whether it's providing the exact amount needed for doctor bills through a financial gift, or a doctor in Mexico willing to see Andrew at his home on a Sunday morning, whether it's seeing a sweet moment of sisterly concern that leads to prayer for her sick brother, or whether it's the Holy Spirit's conviction that leads Caleb and I to confess and ask forgiveness for snapping at each other all morning long while trying to get the car loaded....we see God working in us, providing for us, saving us from our ugliness, and glorifying Himself through and in spite of us!

Thank you for continuing to pray for Andrew's healing (he has some kind of bacterial infection in his stomach that was causing lots of diarrhea, high fevers, and even some blood in his diapers), for safety as we travel, and for our continued sanctification as we learn to esteem the other as better than ourself.

Love to you all!

Only in Montana!

I thought you might enjoy knowing how my prayer group from Montana spent our free time! Actually, we just went shooting once, and I did terribly awfully horrible, but it was so much fun! And it was entertaining to see that my friends were great shots.

So much fun, so little time

We made it to South Texas! After a long (needless to say) four day drive, we are back to the land of 80 degree sunny days, where we are not sure if it's January or June.

Thank you for praying for our safety and sanity. Thanks to dear friends (ode to Mr. & Mrs. B!), our children were entertained for a half hour out of each day with a Mr. Rogers, Elmo, Kipper, or Steve Green's "Hide 'em in your Heart video via a portable DVD player. Thus ended the "I want my children to learn how to survive a car trip as I did as a kid...with books, scenery, and toys" syndrome that was very impractical for four 12-14 hour days in the car. And, selfishly, it gave me 30 minutes of blissful peace as I was not having to turn around every 5 minutes to do the infamous Toy Trade or Book Barter. Tara, I can never thank you enough for your idea of a set snack time and a schedule for getting through the day. Though I didn't have bathroom breaks timed (Caleb only wishes I could do that!), we had our Bible/catechism/prayer time as soon as we hit the major highway, followed by looking at books, toy time, snack, encouragement to look out the window, a few conflict management scenes, lunch stop, video, nap, more books/toy time, snack, supper, then drive-as-far-as-we-can-after-the-kids-are-asleep.

Four days later, we were able to welcome in the New Year by arriving at Grandma and Da-dee-dee's (Grandaddy's) house at 11:45 p.m. Yeah God!

Since we've been here, I've worked on writing some very overdue letters, getting up to date on our reports from Mission to the World, and enjoying the kids having fun with grandparents. Caleb is off "shootin'" right now with a group of friends from our church in Dallas (they're really quail hunting). When he returns, we'll head south to Mexico for a week, for meetings and seeing our dear friends.

To our 'amigos' in Montana, we miss you. Today Abigail's Grandaddy asked her if she missed Mexico. She said, "No, but I miss Montana. That was my favoritest place to live ever!" To our 'amigos' in Dallas, we look forward to spending time with you soon.

This was longer than I hope to usually post, but since Caleb's been gone, I guess I haven't had enough adult conversation :-)