Beginning to move

The best way to cut back on stuff is to move. An even better way to cut back on stuff is to move out of the country.   The kids had to make some difficult decisions yesterday about what goes to TX and onto Paraguay (one bin), what stays at Grandma's (one bin), and what gets throw away (everything that doesn't fit in the previously mentioned bins).  

Yes, Rebekah is faking a sad look as you can tell by the smirk in the next picture.

Candy, Candy, Candy

We did our annual Christmas Train.   As you can see we loaded the cars with goodies.  We can't wait to bring this tradition to our Paraguay friends.  

We are just getting started with the building process.

Looking tasty.

Christmas Decorating

Darin and I weren't sure we would get a tree this year, but after a dramatic demonstration of tears by one of our children, we realized the tree was a very important part of Christmas.  So we have a tree.  It is beautiful and we had a great time pulling out our decorations from storage.  

Before

 


After

These items were stored in two boxes labeled, "X-mas Decor/Senegal."  They are our favorite, favorite items.  Last year at this time we boxed them up anticipating serving as missionaries Africa.  This has been a year of changes for us and we are excited about the ones coming in 2014.

Almost there

In just over two weeks we are going to be getting in the car and heading to Edinburg TX.

We are going to be attending the missionary language school at the Rio Grande Bible Institute.  After we have completed this program we will be returning to KY for a short time to get everything packed to head to Paraguay.  We are both nervous and excited to be finally heading out.  Please continue to pray for the sale of our house and that we would get done with the myriad of things on our to-do list.  I think I am busier now than I was before my last day at work.

14 Years

This past weekend Holly and I celebrated our 14th anniversary by renting a cabin in the Smoky Mountains in TN.  It was quite chilly, but it was nice to get away before the transitions we have coming up.  We are leaving Lawrenceburg KY on Jan 2nd and heading down to Edinburg TX for language school before go to Paraguay.  Please continue praying for the sale of our house and someone to take our dog.

The view from our front door

Just before we got this...

...we had these visitors.  I'm not sure if they what they were finding in our grass, but they sure invited the whole neighborhood.

The Masked Musketeer

Samuel had the opportunity this year of being in our home-school group's performance of "The Masked Musketeer."  He was Jose, one of the bandits.  His first time being the bad guy.  It was a fantastic play, and we could tell that all the kids had worked really hard to make it great.

Plan A

When my kids were younger, I began most mornings telling them about the day’s plan.  We would stop by the grocery store, the library, the post office, and some days, the park.  I stopped revealing the plan for the day as they grew older because they would grumble when Plan A morphed into Plan B or Plan C due to uncontrollable circumstances.  So far my track record with carrying out Plan A is lousy; I cannot think of a day that went according to plan.

But I know someone who is still on Plan A after many, many years.

            God.

He stated Plan A way back in Genesis.  He would send the Messiah through the woman’s seed to “crush” Satan’s head, defeating the power of sin in the life of those who believe in His Messiah.  As the years passed, God revealed more details with each passing generation, and in the NT, He perfectly executed Plan A.  The Messiah was born. 

A plan is easy to accomplish if there is only one element, but a plan with several elements is difficult to carry out.  With each added detail the intricacy  increases, making the plan very difficult to fulfill, but that is just what God did.  He made His plan intricate, full of details, creating a situation that looked impossible for the completion of plan A. 

                        Detail #1:  The Messiah would come through Abraham.    Genesis 22:17-18.

 

                        Detail #2:  The Messiah would come through Isaac.  Genesis 17:19.

                        Detail #3:  The Messiah would come through Jacob.  Genesis 28:14.

                        Detail #4:  The Messiah would come through Judah.  Genesis 49:9-10.  

           

                        Detail #5:  The Messiah would come through Jesse.  Isaiah 11:1.  

                        Detail #6:  The Messiah would come through King David.  2 Samuel 7:12.

                        Detail #7 The Messiah would come through Zerubbabel.  Haggai 2:23.

                       

Every promise, every covenant God made with men about the Messiah increased the intricacy of His plan.  The Messiah wasn’t just to come through the line of Abraham, He would come through the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Jesse, King David, and Zerubbabel.  Just read Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38 and you’ll see each of these men listed in the lineage of Jesus. 

            I have yet to execute Plan A when I have five things on my list for one day.

            Yet, God accomplished His Plan A, over centuries of time, following each intricate detail.  It is amazing to see how God makes Plan A then carries out Plan A to completion through His Son Jesus, the promised Messiah.

            What does that mean in our lives?

            “…for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”  Phil. 2:13. 

            If the God who orchestrated and carried out the plan for His Messiah is working in you, can you lose?  God, the maker of Plan A, will always carry it out unto completion.  You are part of that plan.  Don’t believe me because you’ve messed up so many times you are sure to be on Plan X by now?  Just study the men and women found in the genealogy of our Savior.  They were all sinners, and yet, somehow, God still used them to complete Plan A.  He can do the same in our lives.