Dear Friends, Dec. 27, 2010
As we stop and reflect over the past year it is with grateful hearts that we share with you a little glimpse into our lives and what God has been doing. This year has been a very eventful year for us! First and foremost it is our first year of marriage! We both agree that it is so much better than we ever imagined . . . and we imagined it would be good!! It has been a year of growing in the Lord, both together and as individuals, love, learning, and blessings, and we wouldn’t trade any of it for anything!! We have discovered that marriage is truly a wonderful thing when done God’s way and in God’s timing. What a blessing it is when both are in it for the other and together for the glory of God!!
Here a just a few of the things we’ve been up to.
Over the summer we enjoyed putting approx. 600 miles on our tandem bicycle riding the country roads and local bike trails in the evenings and on weekends. In addition to the miles put on together, Andy biked to work almost every day this summer and I biked down most afternoons to bring him lunch, adding 25 - 30 extra miles each week on our individual bikes. We are very blessed to be living only 3 miles from the airport where Andy works.
In June, we enjoyed a backpacking/camping excursion at the Kettle Moraine State Forest an hour and a half south of us. We hiked in 2 miles, set up our campsite, cooked supper, got a good night’s sleep and hiked the 2 miles back out the next day. We had so much fun together and are dreaming of doing more next summer only going quite a bit farther and possibly with hammocks instead of a tent!
We thoroughly enjoyed hosting a missionary during Oshkosh’s EAA Airventure week this year. Missionaries come from many of the aviation mission organizations to set up information booths. The young man we had staying with us is still in the support raising stage and works with the Spokane Turbine Center in Spokane, WA. It was a blessing learning to know him and hear of some of his experiences as a missionary kid himself. During that week we were also privileged to have over for supper a missionary couple that Andy has known for eight years and I for a little over a year now. They have been a tremendous blessing and encouragement to us as we continue our own journey toward missions. They work at the JAARS headquarters in North Carolina.
We are very privileged to have been able to plant a garden this summer. There is an empty lot beside our house that the landlord gave us permission to use. I thoroughly enjoyed gardening and then canning and freezing the produce this fall. I also canned peaches, pears, applesauce, cherries, apricots, and plums. Andy helped whenever he could which was a real treat!! It kind of made the transition from country to city a little easier for us although we both agree we prefer the country!
On Labor day we went waterskiing on a lake not too far away with Andy’s family. It was a lot of fun!! I amazed myself in actually being able to get up without much difficulty. Andy, of course, didn’t have any trouble!!
We had to say goodbye to Andy’s grandmother (his mom’s mom) this fall. She battled cancer for almost 7 months and went home to be with the Lord the end of October. We travelled to North Dakota the end of September and were able to spend a couple days with her while she could still enjoy a visit. One month later we were travelling back out to North Dakota for her funeral. She was diagnosed with cancer just one week after our wedding in March. We are so grateful they were able to be at our wedding. It meant so much to them and us.
Over Thanksgiving, we travelled to Oklahoma with my family for a family gathering on my mom’s side. It was good to see aunts, uncles and cousins who I haven’t seen in quite a while. It was extra special to be able to “show off” my husband as well!!
We spent an enjoyable Christmas day with Andy’s family sharing together, opening gifts, and then cross country skiing in the evening. We had our Christmas celebration with my family the weekend before which was also very enjoyable as we just spent time together and did some singing in the evening.
Work has been busy for Andy this fall and winter so far, for which we are very thankful. Over the summer it got quite slow and we were expecting it to get even slower over winter as it normally does so we are grateful for the work that has come in. His big project has been putting an airplane back together that came to him in pieces. Andy also keeps himself busy doing projects around the house and being a wonderful husband!
I keep myself happily busy here at home with all the things that have to do with homemaking; cooking, cleaning, laundry, baking bread, sewing, mending, decorating, and just making home a happy and welcoming place for Andy and a hospitable place for guests. I enjoy it very much!!
We are very excited about how God has been leading in regards to missions. After much prayer, consideration and a number of other circumstances we began the application process to JAARS (the aviation and technical branch of Wycliffe Bible Translators) in September. There was a lot of paperwork to go through and we finally finished it and in November sent it all in. After reviewing it all, they asked us if we would come to Waxhaw, NC for a Technical Evaluation (TE) for Andy. The TE consists of one week of working in the hangar on various mechanical projects and the second week is spent flying. At the end of the two weeks they make the decision as whether or not Andy’s skills meet their requirements. I, of course, will be going to NC with Andy as they also want to learn to know us as a couple, and I wouldn’t miss it for anything anyway as it is a huge step for Andy! We are leaving the 15th of January and returning around the 31st. We are very excited about how God is leading us and where He will lead us from here.
Andy received a huge blessing a couple of weeks ago. He has been in need of a tail wheel aircraft to fly in preparation for his TE. This kind of aircraft is hard to find available so it has been a matter of prayer for us. A friend of Andy's also heading into missions has been looking for a Cessna 140, which is a tail wheel aircraft, for about a year now and finally found an ad for one located in Ohio. When he called about it, here it turned out that the owner was a Christian. Upon finding out that they were headed into missions he offered to fly the airplane up to WI so that we could have a look at it and to fly it back if we weren’t interested. He also offered to check both Andy and his friend out in the airplane at no cost. He wanted to support them any way he could. The whole situation was totally God's doing because the circumstances surrounding it seemed impossible. The airplane is staying here and we have been blessed in a huge way by someone we did not even know a month ago.
In closing, here are a couple thoughts we’ve been having the last couple of weeks. We heard a message preached a couple of weekends ago that really got us to thinking. The preacher was talking about how we too often view God. Many times we view Him as a God that we have to perform for. That He wants us to do good and be good before He will bless us, is what we think. In truth, God just wants us to trust Him and let Him work through us. The strength than comes from Him to do the things that He wants us to do, not from us. Living a life of trusting God is a whole lot less tiresome because we are allowing God to fulfill his desires through us. We don't have to push, struggle, and strive. Yes, there are still battles with ourselves but they can be won with God's strength. There is no way without Christ that we can win a battle against ourselves. When we follow the principle of letting God work through us, than the verse that says: "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart”, really makes sense. When our desire is to trust and follow the Master than we desire what He wants and our desires are his.
May God richly bless each one of you throughout the coming year and may you grow closer to Him and find Him faithful.
Together for Him,
Andrew & Janelle
Isaiah 30:21
No comments:
Post a Comment