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 :-)