All Things New

As most of you know, our family is on an amazing yet often crazy adventure. I am surprised at all the new things that am learning daily and pray that in time the Father gives me the words to share them with you. For now, I will simply write that I am blessed by His sweet words to me, "I make all things new." (Revelation 21:5) Our family has had a powerful month. God has shown Himself to us mightily and delivered us in remarkable ways. We are grateful for the opportunities we have had and the people that He has brought into our lives. We are new and changed people because of our journey. Matt & I are not prophets, preachers or theologians, nor do we pretend to be "writers". We are simply ordinary people surrendering to God's call on our lives. Our desire is to serve Him and give Him glory. We believe part of that process for us is offering a consistent picture to you of what our lives look like as we walk with the Lord. Therefore, in this new blog process we commit to offer up our short-comings; continue to be frank concerning our many quirks; share our experiences; and hopefully bless you and make you laugh along the way with the things that we are learning. I admit there have been times in this process that I have wanted to ditch it all; buy a new house with a bunch of acreage in the beautiful state of Wisconsin; and simply live off the land with my family. On the surface, it seems to be a much easier trek than the one we are currently traveling.....but then where would the joy in His plan, the peace in His hand; the growth given by Him and the FUN be in that! Right? No, I would not trade the past two years & two months journey for anything, but I am also not ashamed to admit that I am EXCITED to see the "light at the end of the tunnel". (I fully recognize the "light" is only the beginning of a "new road" and the journey has been more like 12 years!) Yes, we have finally come to the place in our adventure that the Lord is moving us forward to our new home. Last week, Matt finished the data collection for his dissertation. This means we are basically one month out from the completion of his PH.D. Over the next 2 weeks, our statistician will pull the results of the data together. Then Matt will write about the findings; write his conclusions & suggestions for future research; and submit the paper for final defense. This combined with the Lord giving us His "thumbs up" to move forward allowed Matt the freedom to submit his resignation at work. We will leave this Saturday to meet with the organization we will be joining as we move to Central Asia. We are thrilled that we will be joined by mentors, family and friends as we walk through this new process. We are honored that they have chosen to take personal time and expense to be with us. We fully recognize that the new doors that are opening to "us" includes many walking with us hand in hand. It is my prayer that I daily surrender to Him keeping a teachable mind and a humble spirit. He desires to work anew in each of us daily. I am not sure where I heard the song below, but many of the words mark where we are right now...longing for a new land; having a new hope and new strength. He Makes ALL things new! AT

Brooke Fraser - "Shadowfeet" (If you are on our blog, you should be hearing the song play.) (Verse 1) Walking,stumbling on these shadowfeet; Toward home; a land that I've never seen; I am changing; less and less asleep; Made of different stuff than when I began; And I have sensed it all along; Fast approaching is the day (Chorus 1) When the world has fallen out from under me; I'll be found in you, still standing; When the sky rolls up and mountains fall on their knees; When time and space are through; I'll be found in you(Verse 2) There's distraction buzzing in my head; Saying, "in the shadows it's easier to stay"; But I've heard rumours of true reality; Whispers of a well-lit way (Chorus 2) You make all things new (Chorus 3) When the world has fallen out from under me; I'll be found in you, still standing; Every fear and accusation under my feet; When time and space are through; I'll be found in you

PS: Matt planted the tulips for me this past December. God allowed them to bloom at just the right time!