The sign of winter's offical arrival!

Last winter Chad and I were disappointed by the contrast of the prior winter we had spent in Spokane.  We had a record snow fall that year and it was over two feet.  Last year here in Everett NO snow at all!  Well, today God decided to bless us with some snow. I love snow in that it is beautiful to look at, the trees all white coated, but I do not like to drive in it.  I've gotten used to it of course, but western Washington is not all that great at maintaining snowy roads. 

Anyways I'm excited to look out and see the beautiful snow.  It is perfect for staying home and getting my cleaning and homework done :-) 

Lincoln still loves the snow just as much as he did as a lil pup in Spokane. I tried to take a video of him dashing through it, digging his face in, sneezing and going back for some more...but I was too slow.  So a couple of pictures will have to do. 

                                                Come on play with me!! 

Updates:

Chad and Linc playing in the snow after Chad got home from work!



BUSY!!

I cannot believe how much I have slacked at posting, even taking pictures.  I don't remember the last time I used our camera.  Oh well!  When we have a moment maybe I can convince Chad to do a posting of his Arizona trip.  It was quite the trip for him; flight over the Grand Canyon, camping in Sedona, and such.  His pictures are great!

Well Chad and I are both pretty busy these days.  I am back in school as well.  I am going to Northwest University in Kirkland to get my bible class requirements for MAF.  I will be going every Thursday night for 4 hrs.  The homework and reading is pretty intense but I think I will learn a lot.  On top of that I am continuing with BSF, hopefully it won't become too much.  Chad is trying to finish up his CFI which is quite the task with work and all.  He got an offer to interview for a management position with the 777, he turned it down though so that he can focus on finishing CFI and we can get to the mission field. I have to say I am so proud of him for turning down such a nice offer.  Yes the money would be nice, but we know the Lord has a great plan for us and we do not want to get side tracked by things of this world (which is not always easy).

We have a new offer on the house that has been at the bank for a while now.  We haven't heard anything, but are praying for grace from the bank this time around.  Please pray with us that we can be freed from this financial burden. 

Well when I have more fun things to post I will.  A new update letter is about to go out :-) 

The power of the Holy Spirit

I learned an important lesson tonight.  Never be surprised when God answers a prayer.  I'm reading a book right now Forgotten God and going through Isaiah for BSF.  Well I decided this week that I was going to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to work in my heart and my life.  That I would experience the Holy Spirit in a new, profound way.  Well surprise surprise God is faithful to answer prayer.  Tonight my mom, step dad, and mother in law and I went to missions fest.  Gracia Burnham was the key note speaker for the night.  For those of you who do not remember them they were new tribes missionaries (missionary pilots just like Chad and I are going to be) and were living in the Philippines.  They were captured and held for over a year by the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group.  Gracia's husband Martin was killed during the 17th and final gun fight during their captivity.  She now speaks and has written two books.  Tonight God used her to speak to me in a powerful way.  But before I get to that, lets back up a few days. 
On Wednesday Chad and I met with the MAF (missionary aviation fellowship) recruiter about starting our journey as missionaries.  Chad has been working towards getting all of his requirements for three years now and is ALMOST done!  Praise God.  So we got the rest of the details and set a timeline to work towards...JULY!  Lord willing and only Lord willing we will start our candidacy in July.  Well, I have known that God has been paving the way for us for these three years and have seen him work in mighty ways as he has provided for us and opened door after door.  During our meeting it became very clear that Chad needed more general aviation experience so that he would be comfortable passing his TEC eval in June for MAF.  Well Thursday the head of MATA, Chad's school, told him of a potential opportunity for a new job in general aviation.  He will get more info on that on Tuesday.  But how amazing of the Lord to bring that opportunity just one day after our meeting with Perry. 
Now the idea of us being missionaries has always settled very well with me and I knew I was called to missions since 2000.  However, the reality of the call was not all that, I don't know powerful to me until tonight.  While Gracia was speaking I with out a doubt was filled with the Holy Spirit.  I felt an ache deep inside my soul to answer the Lord's call to missions.  I began to cry for reasons I still don't understand other than I was faced with my own selfishness and the power of the Lord.  I was speechless, couldn't sing the last song, but my spirit was singing and crying out to Him.  Thank goodness the Lord knows our thoughts and hearts because I had no words.  Gracia spoke of her own sin during that year in the jungle.  The sin of hating her captures, the sin of coveting FOOD (she knew she needed to trust the Lord for her needs and not be jealous of what others had).  I listened to her speak of those "sins" as she described them and I was humbled.  I had a rush of "oh my word Lord, I am a prideful, stubborn, covetous woman."  I pray that the Lord will start changing my heart now and preparing me for our journey.  I am so comfortable with this world, with the things I have..my coffee creamer, my bed, comfy clothes, tv, internet, to name a few.  We worry about jobs, money, selling a house...but where is my trust!  Is God the Lord of my life, my entire life??  Absolutely so I better start honoring him and revering him.  He has called me, weak, sinful, little me to go and serve him.  Isaiah 6:8 "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "whom shall I send? and who will go for us? And I said, Here am I, Send Me!"  I heard that tonight, the Lord asking me, will you really go?  Will you really go to the hard places, do hard work, for unloving people?  Yes Lord Send me.  I MUST be obedient to his call.  It is far more dangerous to ignore that Lord than to leave the comforts of this world. Gracia said tonight that many people are asking for a solution to terrorism, or to the moral decay, she said we may not like her answer, but WE are the solution.  God's children are the only hope, because we are Christ to this world.  The Holy Spirit lives in us and we can bring the truth to the lost, to the hateful and change this world.  We know this world will perish, but the Lord and his Word will last forever.  So I choose to go.  As imperfect as I am I say yes Lord. 
I pray that I will continue to be refined by the Holy Spirit and humbled every single day.  That I will expose my sin for what it is and ask God to cleanse me, and give me the fruits of the Spirit.  Thank you Jesus for dying for a sinner like me and for all of us.  Without you I am hopeless but with you I am restored and have joy in any circumstance. 

" No Matter where you live an what your days look like, you have the choice each day to depend on yourself, to live safely, and to try to control your life.  Or you can live as you were created to live-as a temple of the Holy Spirit of God, as a person dependent on Him, desperate for God the Spirit to show up and make a difference.  When you begin living a life characterized by walking with the Spirit, that is when people will being to look not to you but to our Father in heaven and give Him the praise." (Francis Chan, Forgotten God)


Written on Saturday October 9th

Another month

Wow!  I can't believe it's already been a month since my last post!  Life has continued as usual.  A few new things, a couple of bumps in the road, and many blessings.

 First bump, we lost the buyer to Chad's house, we are back to square one, but resting in the Lord's hands knowing that he sees the end result.  There has been plenty of frustration along the way, but we are learning the true meaning of TRUST! 

Praise: Chad started his CFI training.  We are not sure how long it will take, it's mostly book work and learning to prepare lessons, teach them, and fly from the right seat!  He will do great, he already teaches me in ways I can understand.  Not that I will ever be a pilot but at least it helps me understand what he is doing up there in those small planes.  I'm so proud of him!!
We are SO close to meeting all our goals and requirements for missionary aviation.  I need to get my bum in gear and start bible classes.  When that is done and Chad is done with CFI hopefully we will be ready to start the process in JULY!!!

Second bump (for me): WORK!  As many of you know Seattle Children's has had a rough go of it lately.  But I'm still extremely proud of my job and the work we do there.  We get to things I never would have imagined.  As a nurse it's very sobering when a BIG mistake happens.  It forces you to recheck yourself and realized that we are taking care of VERY PRECIOUS property every time we walk through those doors.  Not only are they someones beautiful child but the Lord's child and it is my duty to protect them and give them the best care possible.  It's easy to get complacent sometimes! 

We had some family come up to visit the last weekend in September which was nice.  I love that we are getting more time with family lately, when we go to the mission field it will be years before we get to see family.  So we praise God for this time.  Chad took me for a night in Seattle for my birthday.  Since my birthday is during the week and he is going to Arizona this weekend we spent our time together last weekend.  It was wonderful!  He spoiled me this year, what a guy!



Birthday dinner with Papa and Mimi





Bowling with the fam!

 I started BSF (bible study fellowship) this year.  I LOVE IT.  I am actually digging into the scripture and its so great!  I am learning new truths of who God is everyday.  Chad and I are also reading The Forgotten God. Its a great book that our pastor recommended.  Its a powerful reminder that we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and that we forget that too often.  And its true.  I all too often forget that I have a counselor with me every second of the day, to give me wisdom and discernment.  Anyways great book! 

Well that's our update!  Another update letter coming soon. 

Camping trip of the summer!

Well with all of Chad's flight training and new job we were not able to do a lot this summer, but we did finally get away for a weekend to camp.  Labor day weekend we packed up, took the ferry and camped on Orcas Island.  I have lived in WA state my whole life and have never been to the San Juan islands.  WOW gorgeous! 
This is the first year we actually camped with our own equipment.  We got a tent and all the other necessities.  You can tell we are out of practice cause we forgot so many things.  Even important things like a flashlight and camping chairs.  Oh well there was a little town where we got both.  Bummer cause we already owned everything just forgot to put them in the car.  Needless to say we have one more flashlight for our collections and now a total of 4 camping chairs.  We are set!

The first day we explored the island a bit, set up camp and cooked our first meal, hamburgers and corn on the cob cooked on the fire.  Mmm mmm good!!  Sunday we took the ferry over to Friday Harbor and did an ALL DAY kayak trip around the west side of San Juan island!  We were hoping to see the Orcas but missed one pod by an hour and the rest were over by Canada for the day.  Oh well we saw other fun things and just enjoyed being outside.  By the end of the 6 hours I was so sore and tired I could barely think.  But we came back cooked dinner over the fire again and hit the hay by 9:30 I think which is unheard of for us.

Monday morning we woke up when it was barely light, in the pouring rain and wind and got the boat we rented and went out to the lake to fish.  There were tons of trout out there.  But with me not having the right rain gear, and us not being the best of fishermen we only lasted 2 hours.  But by the end we were soaked, cold and sick of the weather.  So we packed up camp and tried to come home.  I guess we weren't the only ones sick of the rain because the first ferry was full and we had to wait 3.5 hrs for the next one and not get out of line.  So we had some breakfast, took a little nap in the car, played some go fish in the front seat, anything to pass the time.  When it was time to go we realized UH OH the motor to the fan in the heater had broken and we couldn't defrost the windows.  After sitting the car for hours everything was fogged up.  So all the way home we had to keep rolling down the windows and wiping them to be able to see outside.  It was not the most pleasant of experiences with it being cold and wet. Oh well, that problem is fixed now :-)

For more pictures from the summer look on the album to the right!

Pictures as promised

Pictures from a weekend of celebration. The dressy pictures are from dinner at the metropolitan grill in Seattle. Wish we had a picture with Billy cause he was there with us and it was very special. Chad's mom was there too don't think we got a group picture...bummer! Then the next day with lunch with my mom and step dad and Chad's aunt and uncle. What a special weekend that was!

Our friend Ann made this cake for chad!  Awesome

Finished!! Now What??

Well our dear friends and family the time has finally come, Chad finished his commercial pilot training.  He got his certificate on the 28th!  WOOHOO!  Praise God.  God has been so amazing through the past three years.  He has paved the way for Chad this entire time, and provided for us so faithfully.  Sometimes I kick myself when I worry about things because when I reflect on the past 3 years I'm amazed.  Since getting out of the Air Force Chad has gotten his airframe and powerplant license, and has become an instrument rated commercial pilot and now works for Boeing.  WOW!  And all debt free...even more WOW! 

Well we are not exactly sure what comes next but Chad is thinking of getting his multi-engine rating next.  He was going to do CFI (certified flight instructor) first but now maybe multi-engine or both at the same time.  I need to take some bible courses and we need to start really praying about and researching which organization we want to apply to. 
So if all goes well (mainly with the house Chad owns) then we want to be applying and starting the fund raising process in a year or so. 

Lots of exciting things ahead for us and we are so excited to see where God is going to lead us.  I will post pictures tomorrow.

Chad and I finally get a weekend together to go camping, yippee for that and thank goodness no worries about studying or flying just having fun!

Trip to the hot desert, aka Arizona

Last weekend I was blessed to be able to go to Arizona to see our friends Josh and Jen.  Jen is deploying in September for 6 months so it was awesome to see her before she leaves.  Chad was unfortunately not able to make it this trip and it was not quite the same without him, thank goodness we have a lifetime for trips together :-)

My first night there we just hung out around their house and relaxed which was nice.  The second night though, we went up to Scottsdale and stayed in an awesome resort, the Hyatt.  Thanks to hotwire we got it for cheap.  We swam in the pool, well we being Josh and I.  Jen had just gotten her smallpox vaccine and was not allowed in the water, but she waded a little. We then went to the Intercontinental and had dinner which was wonderful!  Best pork of my life, and WOW the view and the decor was phenomenal.

The third day we went up to Sedona. I didn't know much about Sedona me being a Washingtonian and all but WOW! Chad told me it was gorgeous but man is that an understatement. It's a different kind of beauty than here. We drove around, went to the state park, then went to slide rock! Slide rock was really neat. The canyon had a stream going through it, the rocks are slippery enough to slide down a small section or rapids, totally cool. Josh and I had a blast doing that, while Jen took video and pictures! Sorry Jen stupid smallpox.

My last day in town we slept in, then went to White Tanks national preserve, and Desert Botanical Gardens.  It was 118 degrees with the heat index and we could barely handle the heat!  But it was great last day together.