3 Weeks and Counting

For those who do not know, First Baptist Vivian was God's first full-time ministry assignment for our family. Little did we know that God brought us there to send us out from there. He knew we needed a church like this one to be our sending church family, and we are so thankful for them!

Here are a few pics of our FBC family last Saturday's going away party.

Today is Saturday, May 24. In less than 3 weeks, in God's good and perfect will and timing, we will be in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, West Africa! (We fly out of Atlanta on June 12 and arrive in Burkina on the 13th.) Has the reality of it all hit us yet? Let's just say that after this past weekend, today we are more ready than we have ever been to get onto the field of God's calling! We left for northwest Louisiana on Wednesday, May 14, and returned home on Monday. Along with doing some fun family things, we had a God-blessed time of reconnecting with our Vivian family. We stayed in two host homes, spent many late nights talking and sharing, were blessed with a surprise going away party where roughly 65 folks from First Baptist came to love on us, met a woman at Trees Baptist Church who is heading to Burkina in August to attend a well dedication, and met another woman at Chick-fil-A who went on one of the first medical teams to work with Ms. Lynn Kennedy back in 2002. Our girls had a blast playing with old and new friends, got to go to a petting zoo and a science museum, got to play with our hosts' cats and dogs (they love animals), and were loved on by sisters and brothers, moms and dads, and grandmas and grandpas in Christ. And to top it all off, we were given the opportunity to personally share with and thank three of our supporting churches. At the end of Sunday AM's service, our sending church, FBC Vivian, surrounded us and our new pastor, Bro. Eddie Briery, led in a prayer commissioning us to the work God has set before us to do! These and many other gifts we were given over those 6 days will be some of the sweetest memories our family will take with us to Africa. THANK YOU, TREES BAPTIST CHURCH AND FBC VIVIAN AND EMMANUEL BAPTIST CHURCH! WE LOVE YOU AND ARE SO THANKFUL TO HAVE YOU WITH US ON THIS JOURNEY!!!

One of the greatest lessons God taught us during our time in Vivian last week was that walking with Him is an adventure: when plans don't work out as "planned," watch out 'cause His plans are so much more wonderful and His sovereign orchestrating and timing and ways are AWESOME!

The following YouTube features a song by the Talley Trio called, "Mountain Mover." It means a lot to Tracy and me as it sums up a lot of what God has allowed us to experience over this past year. I had the opportunity to sing it last weekend while in Vivian.

Since our time in LA, we have been knee high in packing! And let me tell you...it is a challenge! However, like everything else, by God's good grace and given wisdom, it too is getting done—though it's been a slow process. Two years of packing takes patience and endurance, to say the least.

Please pray for God's continued guidance in what to bring and what to leave behind. We hope to finish the majority of this phase of departure prep on Memorial Day. 

THANK YOU, ALL, FOR YOUR CONTINUED LOVE, SUPPORT, AND PRAYERS!