Last Week

     Well, I had been on a good run of posting on Mondays and I hope I can get this done by midnight tonight. I have been busy the last few weeks with painting the inside of one house and the outside of another. I have been blessed to have this work to pay off some of the balances of our personal bills before we head off to the Philippines. The Philippines!!! I think that it is finally starting to hit me that things will change once we lift off into the sky from Houston next Monday! Our last week at Big Woods in Louisiana.
     Wow! I can't believe how time has flown by since we arrived here last September. That's almost 6 months ago! Six months ago I was saying my goodbyes to friends at work, family in Kansas, and fellow parishoners from St. Anthony's. It seemed like it was only going to be a short road trip. When we visited in December though it seemed like forever. It was SO good to see everyone again! It was so exciting to share how good God is and has been to us through our journey. This is just the beginning. I know from when I first heard His voice a little more than a year ago that this was for real. And now the time has come.
     With all of the intensive studying and training done, the long hours of driving to the mission base in Mexico, and the awesome fellowship here with our new missionary friends it is time to let our Light shine to the ends of the world! Jesus has called us to build His Kingdom. We are happy and ready to follow where He leads us. We are willing to do whatever He asks of us. We are His!
     In our last week, I cannot help but think of all the help we have received from our benefactors. It is with your support that this is starting to take shape. We are blessed when we receive your help and love to pray for your intercessions. We start off every day with the Liturgy of the Hours and include your prayer intentions as often as possible. For those of you who have turned in a prayer intention and have had it answered, could you please comment below. We should praise God in EVERYTHING we do!
     It just dawned on me that next Monday I may have to be posting from the airport! There's still so much to do! We are planning a little "test run" with the kiddos sometime this week. We plan on only taking one backpack each and one suitcase for the whole family. The backpacks will mostly have clothes and maybe a few other things that we might need throughout our stops before getting to the island. The suitcase will mostly carry our books and other study material along with other things that we may need for our new home. Stacie has managed to reduce the weight of it to 40 lbs. So, after we all get suited up, we will walk from our house to the end of the road and back. It should be about a half-mile or so. Just a taste of what to expect with all of our gate changes at the airports.
     Well, that's about all I have this week. Sorry it was a little short and very choppy but my eyes are getting heavy and I need to rest up. This last week is gonna go by fast! Pray for us, brothers and sisters. We definitely will keep you in ours. Peace be with you.

Ecclesiastes 3:6 "A time to get, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away."