Traveling Thursday

Hello, hello!

Well, I hope to catch you all up to date with pictures now that we are getting the internet situation worked out! Sorry to keep you all in waiting! We have really appreciated all your prayers.

Kids climbing in the van, ready to go and saying goodbye to their grandparents!

Our whole family at the church! So excited that our dream is comming true!

Everyone gathering and packing up the last of the supplies and "carry-ons". This took a little longer than I thought it would and we even started off a few minutes late. There are a lot of little last minute details that have to be worked out and making sure that everyone has everything and all the walkie-talkies are ready to go!

Trailer is completly full.

Everyone (and some family members) gathered around to go over some important details.

Ken sayed a prayer for our team to send us off! Thank you to everyone for your prayers!

Here we go!! The kids were so excited to finally get into all their travel goodies! They kept trying to get a peak at them in our bedroom the past week!

Our little caravan...we're following the leader, the leader, the leader, we're following the leader wherever he may go...Mexico hopefully!

Tim loves to drive and plan our trips, so he is excited to be taking a "road trip"! (Look at the snow in the background as we left the area.)

Having fun and getting creative (the pipe cleaners were one of the favorites! Mommy and Daddy liked how quiet that toy was too! lol!)

Goodbye beautiful Oregon.

Traveling at night...we had a couple of flashlights, but the kids LOVED the glow-in-the-dark bracelets/necklaces from Lissa!! Michelle and Merry joined us for a bit, which was really helpful as it was dark and the kids enjoyed some new entertainment...mom and dad aren't that exciting! lol! =) I did have to sneak back to the front row seats during this part of the drive and nurse Hudson while he was still in his seat. He did so well the whole drive and the kids have been awesome about waiting to go to the bathroom when we come to a reststop...we do have to encourage them to hold it, but they are troopers! =)

Overall the kids did really well...the new toys were a big help! We pulled into Redding, CA and stopped to stay the night at a church just outside of town. We arrived around 11:30 or so and quickly unpacked what we needed for the night. The team was spread out in about 4 different rooms and our family was blessed to have our own room.

The kids had fallen asleep before our last stop, so they were still full of energy and excitement for the trip. It took them until around 12:30 to fall asleep. We did have a bit of Wi-Fi and I tried to post some on here, but it bumped me off, and I was too tired to keep trying to post, so I hope you don't mind me playing a little catch up!

Our van does seem to be having some troubles...we have two gas tanks and after the front one was empty, Tim switched to the back and found that it isn't working very well...possibly something to do with the fuel line? We have a few guesses. We did have to make an "emergency stop" at the closest gas station after we switched to get more gas. Thankfully we didn't run out! The Lord is watching over us...even if it is a bit stressful for a momment!

I feel really good on this trip...the healthy way we are eating has helped me not feel quite so dizzy or yucky while traveling. We are all still super excited, but getting a bit tired after a busy day. We hope to catch up on our sleep soon...(if that's even possible on a mission trip with a family!! lol!!)

The team is really working together well, I am thankful for all the extra hands and eyes for my kids and even though there have been some unexpected delays, everyone seems to be understanding and loving. Lots of fun going on!

Keep praying! More traveling to come!

(ps...please pray for good internet connections to keep all our family and friends up to date! It also helps when it is fast so I can spend less time on here and more time being involved. And you must know that I love you all as I am doing this fast and just putting the pictures online SOOC (Straight Out Of the Camera), so please excuse any darker images...its all just the raw truth of real life!lol!)

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

Out my window...

...and it's still coming down!

So beautiful, but I can't wait to get to Mexico!

Let's just hope I can stop procrastinating and get to all that packing.

Any one else out there procrastinating like I am??? =)

ok...I'm getting off-line. 

Must. pack. family.

Serving Him,

tarena

Our Church Prays For The Team

We sure do love our church...

thank you for your prayers!

I'm Not The Only One??!!! Whew!

Today after church we started our final meeting (above, not everyone is pictured) and I hear Brandon begin by saying that usually before a trip everyone experiences a lot of difficulties and spiritual warfare.

I couldn't believe my ears...WHY didn't I think of that?!? 

Let me explain...

Yesterday I was emotionally and physically spent...so much so that I skipped dinner and gave myself a "time out" alone in my room for about an hour. Tim has been more tired than usual. Hudson has had a rough week sleeping (he caught a cold), which means I didn't get hardly any sleep for a few days. And the kids have seemed more difficult (and excited) than usual. Roll that into a ball with "we have so much to do" and I was needing a break.

Yet, I couldn't believe that I didn't realize (or recognize) that there was a HUGE spiritual battle going on.

YEA!!!! (no, I'm not being sarcastic) It is so good to know that I'm not imaging it and things have been a bit crazier than usual. You know..."one step forward, five steps backwards" kind of a few days.

I am so glad that the Lord reminded me of this. Twice actually...right after the meeting we stopped by a friend's house to borrow a cooler to keep in our van on the drive. She asked me to come in and get a quick tour of her new home I have been meaning to see. While were walking and talking she shared with me about the sermon that they had at their church this morning: Spiritual Warfare.

Yep. I LOVE how God always encourages me, reminds me and even disciplines me by bring up the same verse or topic in many ways.

We are in a battle everyday. Satan doesn't want me to stay at home with my kids, teaching them about the Lord, making healthy foods to heal them, encouraging my husband, planning a mission trip to Mexico.

NO! Satan would love it if I would spend my days in self-pity, laziness, ignorance or comparison--rather than know he exists and to be fighting for the Kingdom of the Lord. I think in general Americans (even in the church sometimes) don't want to look into or admit that there is a spiritual realm. So it's kind of a touchy subject. 

Did you notice how you responded when I started writing about Spiritual Warfare? Did you get uncomfortable? Annoyed? 

Jesus talks a lot about this in the Bible...and He made a lot of people uncomfortable too. Not just to be mean, but to wake us up to the reality of the world around us. To take action and to be prepared.

All this to say...please keep our whole team in your prayers. We are going to need it and it is such an encouragement to know you are praying for us.

James 5:16 "The prayer of righteous person is powerful and effective."

Your prayers mean a lot. 


Well, the meeting went well (except for the occasional noisiness from our kiddos!)...we reviewed briefly how each of the team leaders are doing in preparing, we covered how we need to be efficient and timely when we stop on the road so that we work as a team to get things done and back on the road again, the last of the money for the company we are using was due today (of course we forgot ours at home! lol! Don't worry, we got it there later!), costs for food on the road, remembering passports (I do keep thinking that we are going to forget these! lol!) and many other little last minute details that need to be covered before we pack up and hit the road.

I have been so grateful at the thoroughness of the notes and detailed plans that we cover. If I was a college age student, I probably wouldn't care too much, but as a mama to young kiddos and needing to feed them a bit differently-it has been wonderful! You can tell this team has done this more than once!

Here is a picture of our kids sitting off to the side eating lunch (the meeting was about 2 hours right after church)...sorry to everyone who had to smell it cooking! They were so thankful to have food (and I was too knowing that they were not melting down from low blood sugar! lol!)...although Auston was bummed about not having any cheese in the meal.

Yeah...he loves cheese.

God is taking such good care of us. Things are coming together more and more every day (although, like I said above, sometimes in the moment it feels like a "five steps backwards" day or two!) So many friends and family members are praying for us and have sent money for our trip. I love seeing all their hears joined to our trip in a beautiful mosaic of support. Every little bit has helped and together it is creating an amazing masterpiece.

I hope to find a minute in the next few days to share more on all the support and love we have received to go on this trip.

Just for good measure, God worked it out to bless me personally:

Today my in-laws are watching the kids for awhile (it was a surprise to me!), Tim and I stopped at the store and got me a salad, some dates and some tea...so here I sit in SILENCE (!!!!!) enjoying some delicious jasmine tea enjoying the snow delicately falling out the windows when we got home, and now the gorgeous puffy clouds and blue sky...makes my heart full and refreshed.

AND!!! I just got a phone call (yes, honestly-right NOW!) from some friends of ours that want to cover ALL the remaining costs of our trip.

IS GOD AMAZING OR WHAT!!!???

But, we already knew that. =)

(George Mueller would be proud..."If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea,' and it will obey you." Luke 17:6)

Serving Him,

tarena

God Can Use Us...

"Christ is building His kingdom with earth's broken things. Men want only the strong, the successful, the victorious, the unbroken, in building their kingdoms; but God is the God of the unsuccessful, of those who have failed. Heaven is filling with earth's broken lives and, there is no bruised reed that Christ cannot take and restore to glorious blessedness and beauty. He can take the life crushed by pain or sorrow and make it into a harp whose music shall be all praise. He can lift earth's saddest failure up to heaven's glory." - J.R. Miller, Taken from Streams in the Desert

Yep...we're leaving for Mexico in one week!

I totally can't believe it.

This week has gone SO FAST for me (it has gone SO SLOW for Tim)...only because we were snowed in(8-12 in.?), lost power and the kids got into the linen closet last week and pulled every linen and blanket out...then when I told them to put it away, they put it all on the dirty clothes in the laundry room. I am now just catching up and the laundry room has been tamed.

I really like to be on top of the laundry.

And the dishes.

If I'm not, the whole house can go chaotic on me in .5 seconds.

I'm not kidding.

So, now that I'm not climbing laundry mountains, I suddenly find that it is THURSDAY!?! What?! When did that happen? Seriously, I had no idea what day it was...Tim had to remind me yesterday that it was Wednesday when I told the kids it was Tuesday. lol.

So, all that to say-I can hardly believe we will be leaving in one week.

One. Week.

Things are all coming together and I am amazed at how the Lord provides. Just when I start to stress a bit, He reminds me that He is in control and that this whole process is part of the experience-and just for good measure He makes sure another support check arrives in the mail that day.

I love it.

Here are some of our supplies...

Yes, when you are going to be driving a total of 60 hours in a van with 5 kids, you buy an "on the go potty" (pretty cool actually!) and sanitizer.

I found these on amazon.com and I am totally excited about the sanitizer as it is made without alcohol. Totally out of natural products (like plant oils) and STILL kills 99.99% bad bacteria.

Yep, God rocks. He gives us so many plants to keep us healthy!

Here are a few of the other food products we are taking...although, one is "hair conditioner", one is for salads and one is for "sunblock". (Yes, there will be plenty of food, we just eat a lot of salads, so we are bringing some extras so we don't hog all the dressings!)

If you are thinking "Granola Mama" right about now-or that I'm a bit looney... it's ok...I'm used to it! =)

(oh, and I did consider making a batch of grain free granola for the road, but it takes a while...and we eat it too fast, so I think I'm going to skip it this time...I do hope to make some homemade beef jerky this week though! I do love Tim...and he LOVES jerky!)

I have been pleasantly surprised at how much easier it will be than I originally thought to continue to eat the way we do normally at home. This seemed like a HUGE undertaking (or impossible?!), but with getting a chance to see the meal plan last month and by bringing a few things as substitutes, it will all work out just fine! 

We would love any and all prayers for us as we prepare the final things this last week. When I remember that the Lord is in control and that it will all come together, I am really peaceful about this next week...only occasionally have I had a tense moment as I think about packing our family of 7 for this mission trip!


Serving Him,
tarena

Road Trip Treats

I am getting really excited for the fun things that the kids are going to get to do on the road!

A sweet friend of mine (Melissa, or Lissa online) sent the kids a whole package of goodies to keep them busy:

• Personalized folders with printed out games (included are some awesome road games!), coloring book, crayons, mechanical pencil and stickers.
• Coloring book for Hudson (little kid version)
• Word games for Tim
• Scrapping and crafting magazines for me
• Silly Puddy for each of us
• Glow in the dark bracelets/necklaces....a set for each of us and each package has 15!

Then I went to the Dollar Tree to pick up a few things (I also knew that they would come in handy for homeschooling stuff-but I still only spent $25!)

I got them:

• Bucket and Shovel (multi-purposeful: garbage bucket for each of them, puke bucket if needed (yes, we have to plan for this! lol!) and we will be going to the beach as a team on the last day, so it will be fun!
• Pencil holders (to keep some of this stuff in!)
• Mini clip-boards
• Glue sticks...cuz, really-can you ever have too many???
• Pipe cleaners (they are quiet and you can create so much with them!)
• Googley eyes
• Mini staplers (I had one as a kid an LOVED it!)
• Magnifying glasses (we have old maps we are going to give the older kids to keep track of where we are...if they want...but who wouldn't?! Maps are awesome! Can you say co-pilot? =)
• Bible Game Cards
• Clip on reading light (this was for Keaton in case he wants to read or co-pilot while it is dark)
• And yes...I did give them band-aids...these are a treat for our kids (I think most kids, right?!?)...they just love to stick them all over themselves. =)

THEN my mom just sent up a box of tons of activity and sticker books too! They are going to have so much fun! (And yes...if there are any "big kids" who will be on the trip with us...you can ride with us...we will share! Just tell everyone that you wanted to give Tarena a break from all those kids and are "crowd control"...we won't let them know that you really just want to play with the Silly Puddy! lol!)

The coolest part of all this (besides the wonderful generosity of Lissa and my mom-thanks you guys!), was while we were in The Dollar Tree an older man came up to Tim with the kids (I was in a different isle trying to keep their road trip toys a surprise), and said that he wanted to give him $5 in memory of his son who had passed away.

I feel like that is just one of those "George Mueller" moments (you'll have to read an earlier post if you don't know what this means)...God is so faithful and provides for this trip (and every part of our lives) in so.many.ways.

Thank you Lord.




Serving Him,
tarena

oh my goodness-are we leaving in 3 weeks???!!!

Yes, that thought just hit me.

Three weeks. Twenty one days.

Things are coming together slowly, but then a random thought will hit me:

"Can I take fruit into CA? What about Mexico? I better google that." 

"Oh, we are going to the beach one day...do we all have swimsuits? Am I even going to pull out my old swimsuit??? Oy."

Thankfully, most of the issues have been google-solveable (yes, I made up that word...I make up a lot of words). We did have some issues with Abbi's passport. Her's didn't come with everyone else (although they did arrive in a quick manner! PTL!) About a week after all of ours arrived we got a letter that was telling us that her name is too long (she has a double middle name) and so they want us to write in a shorter version. The funny part was the letter addressed her with a shorter version, there was no indication on the forms to use less letters and when the passport did arrive another couple weeks later, they didn't even use the form we wrote in...they shortened it a different way. Ah...gotta love it!

Something fun that we did was we had a party at our house for anyone on the team that could make it-it was so much fun! Tim worked on putting a video together from the footage we took while we played some games-this team is hilarious! (You can see the video in the post below.) Although the whole team couldn't make it, it was a great turn out and we had a great time.

I have ordered a few things that we will need to help keep us as healthy as possible on our trip, and I do still have few more things to pick up. I'm kind of dreading packing for all of us...I've gotten pretty good over the years at packing up our family for trips, but for a mission trip...and with us trying to eat as close to normal GAPS as possible, it is going to be interesting! Pray for me!

Thankfully, the team has been so supportive (it does help that we are not the only ones with different dietary needs!) and I was even emailed the planned list of meals so that I can figure out what we can eat ahead of time!

I could list some of the things we are taking...would that bore you? Let me know if you would like to read about that and I can list some of the items! Let's just say that we won't be bringing any Pepto-Bismol or sunblock...but we will be bringing clay...

Are you shocked?? Confused?

In addition to some of the health items/supplements we will be bring we are also trying to "up" our consumption of fermented veggies (homemade sauerkraut, kimchee, etc) as it also has great probiotics to keep our tummies healthy and hopefully give us a better chance at not getting sick! Let us pray! Some other things we are trying to do: get out in the sunshine a bit more, carrying Hudson around in the SleepyWrap a bit more and of course praying for our trip and learning some Spanish...but I know the few words that I do know are not going to be much of a help! lol!

Well, there seems like so much more to share...but hopefully I can get to that in another post.

Here is a pic of Hudson (in the wrap!) and I early this morning enjoying all our snow:

In twenty something days we will be in Mexico...that is going to be a huge change of weather!

Serving Him,
tarena

***PARTY!!!***

Yesterday we had a WONDERFUL party here at our house for our Mexico team!

We thought it would be fun to invite any one who could make it and just have a great time eating good food, hanging out and playing games to get to know one another better!

The game is called "Telephone Charades"...it is one of our favorites to play with youth kids...it's pretty funny with adults too as you can see by this video :



Yeah...it's going to be a great team!

Serving Him,
tarena

T-Shirt Design!

Brandon designed these t-shirts and was able to get them for $10 for anyone who wanted one! 

Great job!

Mandatory Meeting After Church

Today we had another mandatory meeting right after church.

I have really appreciated how the team gets right down to business and stays to the topics at hand...it helps with our five kids who are hanging out too! =)

We brought some oranges and leftover meat for our kids to snack on before they ran off with some of the older kiddos to play. I ended up enjoying most of the meat-I sure do love good food! =) Did I mention how excited I am to try some of the foods in Mexico? Well, I am very excited! =)

I digress...food always gets me off topic!

At the meeting we covered some of the ways we could raise funds for those of us who haven't finished yet (that would be us!! lol!)-I do appreciate that there are a few different ways already set up for us to work with. Takes a lot of the stress out of things!

We also reviewed "Job Assignments". Here is the list of the main positions that needed filled at this meeting:

• Food/Supplies Purchasing Coordinator
• Kitchen/Cooking Supervisor
• VBS (Vacation Bible School) Coordinator -craft coordinator, snack coordinator, sports equipment coordinator & Entertainment Coordinator
• Worship Leader
• Devotional Leader
• Evening Outreach Speakers
• Teen Outreach Coordinator
• Evangelism/Small Group Coordinator
• Accommodations Coordinator
• Mexico Base Camp Coordinator

(For time sake, I'm not going to list their descriptions, but I was amazed at how many main leaders are needed for each trip!)

Honestly, I was holding my breath (and not making eye contact with Brandon! lol!) that I wouldn't be asked to lead any thing. That sounds horrible, but I know my limitations and I was honestly feeling that if I was a leader I would be overwhelmed.

Please don't get me wrong...I LOVE to help out-it is actually hard for me and has taken me many years to learn my limits and when to say "no". I also don't want it to sound like I don't want the Lord to push me beyond my limits and stretch me. 

I do want to be stretched. I want to grow. And I'm excited as I know I will be on this trip...

I just also know that this is my first mission trip to Mexico with FIVE young children...and we eat a different diet right now to help heal our oldest son. This means that I will be a little busy and distracted.

It will be wonderful to help where I can and I can't wait! =)

At the meeting we reviewed a few of the things covered in the last meeting, talked about upcoming important dates and fee deadlines.

It was a great meeting and we are just getting more and more excited for the trip!

Before the meeting I caught Brandon and Geri at the fundraising table (our church can buy something called "SCRIPS") that is like gift cards where a portion goes towards the trip.):

 I also caught Gary (Geri's husband) sitting off to the side going over some verses with a friend. Isn't that so wonderful? I love to see people with hearts for the Lord and His Word...we have such a great team!)

Serving Him,

tarena

Taco Feed Fundraiser Fantastic Fun!

Our team spent Saturday chopping, cooking and preparing the dining room:

A man and his meat!

lots of cutting going on!

(yes they use real knives...remember we cook a lot and they love to be chefs!)

after awhile the kids got bored of prepping and decided to start the party early!

the pepper men

getting to know one another (Tim and I agreed that this was our favorite part of the day...that and the smell of  garlic and cilantro delighting my scenes!)

serious business (don't let those faces fool you-these ladies are HILARIOUS!)

so sweet!

they were full of great ideas-look at this chip platter!

On Sunday we set up and served the masses:

here they come!!!

take Hudson's word-it was a wonderful party!

I don't know what to tell you about this...I don't take responsibility for these young men.

Well, actually as they will be in Mexico with us, I'll do my best to keep my eye on them and make sure they don't get into too much trouble! =)

yeah...I think this was his third or forth time through the line...in fact this wasn't even where we were sitting as a family, it was just the closest empty seat from the taco line! Good thing they loved having him there and thought it was adorable!

"cleaning up"...the guy way.

oh yeah-we are going to have SO much fun with this group in Mexico!!

Woo-hoo! We are getting so excited!

Thank you so much to everyone who showed up to raise money for the community in Mexico! We had a wonderful time serving you all!

T-minus 8 weeks and counting!

I can hardly believe that 8 weeks from today our family will be driving to Mexico.


I have been dreaming of this for years, planning for months and now with the holidays over it seems to suddenly be upon us.


I'll admit. Right at this moment, I feel very unprepared. Of the $3,000 or so we need to raise we have only about $500. Supplies...I haven't even started getting supplies together. But I have the beginning of my lists, so that is a good start.


Some days I can't even believe we are finally going to get to take our children on a mission trip, other days the reality of doing GAPS in Mexico with 5 (FIVE!!) young children makes me feel a bit crazy.
At least Jesus was crazy too...in the good way.


So, even thought this will be a very photo-less post, I thought you would like to follow along and see what the Lord is doing. (and there are some trip prep photos in the last post, so that makes up for it, right?)


Here is where we are at so far:


By God's amazing provision we have been blessed by so many already...and as usual, the Lord has blessed us with money (sometimes by people we barely even know!) randomly and at just the right moment.


To me, this mission trip isn't just about how our "American family will zip on down to Mexico, fix up some things  so they are "right" and be off on our jolly way back home with an educational detour or two". No, not at all...just like life, for me this whole experience will be about what the Lord is doing and us joining Him in His work. We get to see Him work right now in how He provides.


Our kids get to watch day after day as their daddy comes home and God has used ANOTHER person to bless us on this trip. That right there has been an amazing experience.


I love watching them pray and see God answer. God is in the business of answering prayers. Last year we were all in awe as we studied the life of George Muller in our homeschooling (Quick note: if you haven't read a book on him, click here and order this one. This book will bring you to tears over the goodness and faithfulness of our Lord in providing for our daily needs! The kids were literally begging for me to read this book to them.). To see him pray for EVERYTHING he needed...and to watch God bless the socks off of him (and tens of thousands of orphans!!) was humbling. I need to pray more. I need to have faith more.


We are praying like George Muller.


Right now we have been blessed with:


$594 (and some change!) we also have some pop cans that we have been given and need to turn in, so that figure will be a bit more soon.


Here is where we are at in expenses:


-$200 first payment to our church to pay for the room and board and supplies (you can check out the ministry we are going through here:www.gomissionstomexico.com
-$456 for 2 birth certificates and seven passports!
-$18 for 2 books of stamps to mail out support letters
_______Total
$674




We have another payment coming up this weekend, and we are excited to see the Lord provide!
Our church is also doing a "Taco Feed" Fundraiser lunch that our family gets to help put on to help purchase supplies for this community in Mexico-it should be a fun weekend!


My list of supplies for our family includes really random things like:
Pro-biotics
Clay
Activated Charcoal
Aloe Vera


And we will be bringing snacks for the drive so far I have:
Fruit leather
Lacto-fermented Sauerkraut
Homemade beef jerky
24 hour yogurt??


The list I am having a hard time with is our "what to do while traveling" list...we have actually traveled many hours as a family, but not so much all at once. And 5 years ago we bought a portable DVD player for a trip and it was really nice, but it has sadly seen it's last day. So...do we get a new one? Do we rent one? We don't have smart phones or iPads or anything like that, so I would love to hear your ideas. Cheap ideas! =) We will be making some stops, but we are going to have some major time to kill! =)


Well, that gets you all up to date on how things are coming along! I'll try to remember to take pictures at our taco feed!


Serving Him,
tarena

Passport process!

Downtown for a few birth certificates...

  It was just a quick wait...and $40 later.

Then to a downtown post office for passports...$416 later!

We got a little bored waiting and had fun taking pictures.

Although, as it took so long (there was SEVEN passport applications they had to go through!) that they kids had to go to the bathroom, so they escorted us through the huge back area to the restrooms...SUPER COOL!!!

Yea! So glad to have this completed! Now just to pray that they arrive in a quick manner.

Serving Him,
tarena

Photos for passports...

Today I went online to find out more info about passports. There was an awesome tool that allowed you to take a picture and then it would crop it for you to be the right size for the passport photo! How handy is that, so I lined us all up and took pictures...the results from the photoshoot and online cropping tool are above. I was thinking we needed "straight faces" so that is why we all look so awful...very somber! lol! 

A few of these were the "outtakes", but they were just too cute not to include on here.

When I started looking online at the places to get our passports processed, I decided we would just go to a post office that processes passports. Simple enough. I looked at the prices and couldn't find any pricing for the pictures...does this mean they are included?? I figured they must be included, so I didn't print out any of the photos we took at home.

Bad move. 

They do charge to take pictures...they just don't mention it ANYWHERE on the website! Big bummer...this simple mistake (I should have called in and asked!) cost us $15 per person. PER PERSON!!

That's right, they charge $15 to hold a simple camera up to you and print out a picture. 

Word to the wise...go online, use the passport photo cropping tool, sent the picture to Walgreens.com to have it printed out for a whopping .10 and save yourself $14.90! 

Oh well...at least we found out we could smile and all of our pictures turned out so much better than the somber ones we took at home! =) lol!

And it's nice that passports don't expire for many years to come! 

Pictures of our adventure getting passports to come soon!

Serving Him,

tarena