Support and Prayers

I wrote in an earlier post about how our family studied the life of George Muller last year in our homeschooling. What an amazing faith he had, and his trust in God and his great compassion for children allowed him to bless thousands of children. Tens of thousands of orphan children. The Lord entrusted him with millions of dollars to take care of them. And that was a great deal more in his time.

The amazing part about Muller was that he *never* asked a single person for that money. 

Yes, that's right. Not once. 

You seriously have to read his story. It gave me chills and we couldn't put that book down! Tim teased me that we must not have had George Muller faith because we sent out support letters. =)  I don't quite look at it that way, but I must not have had as much faith as I thought I did...I now stand in awe at how the Lord provided for our family to go.

The wonderful part about a huge hurdle, a great need or a dark storm is that you have the opportunity to see God work in larger, greater and brighter ways. 

Amen? Amen!!

Over 35 families supported us to go on this trip:

• a handful of dollars

• truck loads of pop-cans

• borrowed coolers

• large checks

• helping with van repairs

• a paper bag of pop-cans

• boxes filled with travel goodies

• and more! Each and every large or small gift has been a joy and God has used all of it for His glory!

But the best part to all of us has been the opportunity to see so many praying for us. What a gift of love.  Just think of how many individual people those families above represent! Top that off with SO many others who have told us they are praying...we just feel so honored...

and humbled.

There have been moments when I feel like Moses. Not the "cool" and "full of faith" Moses who parted the Red Sea, no...more like the Moses who asked God to send someone else-he wasn't so good at public speaking.

I have wondered how God is going to use me? I find myself thinking: I have five children to keep my eyes on-and the one year old is still nursing! I don't speak Spanish. I will have to wake up early to prepare some different foods for my family's health. I am no construction worker. When am I going to have opportunity to help these people?

Maybe God would be better off sending someone else.

Yet, God has given me a desire for those less fortunate. A passion for the helpless and those who have no defender. I want to be their voice, to give them hope...

to show them Jesus.

God has flung open the doors. Money? No problem-I own the cattle on a thousand hills. Time off? Done-I created time. Daily Needs? Covered-I care about you more than the sparrow, yet I provide for them too. 

I hear Him whisper these Truths to me. 

He wants our family to go. To pick up a hammer. To {pretend} sing Spanish songs alongside sweet children. To capture their life and beauty in images. To carry my baby next to another mother and her baby. To kick a soccer ball. To pray, bless and encourage.

On top of all that I can't wait to learn more about these wonderful people we are going with. Grandparents, singles, college age, teens, pre-teens, mothers and fathers, children. So many and such a mix-I love it! We are family in the Lord and it will be wonderful to get to know each other better-to hear their own Story.

God is so good. He is faithful and He provides... 

He provides.

Thank you so much for all your support for our family. Our faith has grown. What a wonderful time it will be for our children to look back and see that the "mission trip" really started many months ago. Seeing God provide at every turn, it has prepared them for the rest of the journey.

Thank you for being a part of this alongside of us.

Thank you for your prayers. Keep them coming...we need them now more than ever!

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The kids were so excited to receive a package full of traveling goodies!

Some of the notes sent of those praying and supporting us!

Well, tomorrow's the big day...we're off and the traveling part of the adventure begins.

Actually, for us it started tonight! We decided to pack up early(I stopped procrastinating! It actually wasn't too hard of a job to pack when we used our lists!) and stay the night with family...we were getting snowed in at our place and want to be sure to be at the church on time! As we drove away from our home Tim looked over at me and said, "Well, your dream is coming true!"

It hit me. All the praying and planning to go is done. Now we get to go. I can't believe it-it is so exciting! It really does feel very adventurous! 

(Let's just hope I'm still thinking that after being in the van with our kids after 20 hours!! lol!)

Our team will do our best to keep you updated tomorrow and the days that follow...I'm know you are going to love hearing unique perspectives from a variety of people here on this blog! At least I hope you are...I am! =)

Thank you again for coming along on this adventure with us!

Serving Him,

tarena