Laughter is good!

Ok so I have to share this story with you about my experience last night at a restaurant.  Ok, Travis the girls and I were sitting eating our food and my girls and I decide to head to the restroom.  While we are in there a mother and her 3 year old daughter come in and use one of the stalls.  The little girl tells her mom "I have to go poop!"  Then she starts grunting and grunting and asks her mom if she has any medicine in her purse.  The mom says "medicine for what?" the girl says "medicine for my butt when I poop, cuz then it will feel better and I will sing Happy Birthday!"  Ha Ha!  My girls and I had a hard time not laughing out loud.  Oh the things that put a smile on your face!

Waiting

I have been so encouraged by the time we had with my cousin in Florida.  I believe God knows exactly what we need when we need it.  I had been in a state of feeling like maybe we should just wait to ship because of things I couldn't see happening.  I was anxious that we didn't have all our purchases made to get on the crates and really was not trusting the Lord at all!  The reason I am sharing this is because I was starting to give up on God because I couldn't see that we should proceed with the dates we had set.  God used this trip to Florida to encourage my heart and show me that it is not about what we can see but that we need to stand on what we Know!  God has never let us down and I am so quick to abandon him, it makes me sad when he continues to show his faithfulness in the midst of my unfaithfulness.  I am so thankful to the Lord for his continued love of us.  God used my cousin to invest in us in ways I have never seen anyone do before.  It was like God was speaking through my cousin the things my husband and I needed to hear.  Not only did God use my cousin and his wife to encourage us but the body of Christ in a church we did not know.  We met some amazing God honoring people and look forward to our trip back in December.  I believe the waiting period is the toughest and yet most crucial time because it forces you to look to God when in reality you want to ease any discomfort on you own.  God blesses during the waiting period if you look to Him in it.  Thank you to all who continue to pray for us.  We need your prayers most!

Tampa Bay Rays

This has become our new name here while visiting my cousin in Florida!  Actually we are working on building our team as well as spending time with my cousin.  Their church put in the bulletin that the Rays were coming to visit and needless to say a few got a little too excited!  This is Travs and my first time in Florida (the girls are at home in school) and it has been enjoyable other than the humidity, the alligator and little lizards I've seen. ha!  Thanks to all of you who have been praying as we continue to raise our support team, we have had many opportunities to share here and are really encouraged by what God is doing.  I wanted to mention that last Friday Travis and I packed all our belongings in a 16' horse trailer and drove it all the way down to Mansfield MO to have it shipped with FIA (Friends In Action).  Let me tell you after many hectic months of making the purchases that were needed for Papua New Guinea, there was a sigh of relief as it was finally crated up.  God has been growing us through this whole process and usually it comes with trusting Him with the unseen.  We knew our stuff needed to be to MO in Sept. and it was going to cost around $4,500 but we only had around $1050.  I started to think; well maybe we should just wait until the next shipment in Jan. but Travis encouraged me that we should move forward, so we did.  A few days before we were to leave, we had 3 separate checks come in that totalled the amount we needed to ship!  God continues to teach me that I need to Trust Him in the unseen, that this will all come together in His timing and therefore I need to rest in Him.  This is not easy for me (Nikki) as I like to have a general idea as to what to expect.  Thanks to all of you who continue to support us with finances and prayers we really could not do this without your support!