Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We definitely have a lot to be thankful for. Here in Michigan we had a white one. But as a write this, just a few days later, we're back to rain and mud. That's Michigan for you! Just thought I'd show you a picture. This is my mom's house.
~Tona

Everything Looks Incredible

This whole process of becoming missionaries has been a very slow process. We've constantly been at peace with knowing that God has a time and place for everything, hence, the long wait for departure. But in the past week - even less - so many things have come together we are just blown away! First of all, it's unofficial, but it looks like all of our pledges will be in by the end of the month. We were just over $500 away in monthly pledges from getting our clearance and since last Wednesday we've received quite a few phone calls for pledges that should send us on our way!

Then Friday I sat down to send out an email about selling our cars. I had it all ready to go out with the exception of needing a picture of the interior of Corey's car. Since he just made his journey from Atlanta to Michigan he hadn't yet cleaned out his car completely and still had some unpacking to do. On Wednesday of last week I had asked a friend at church to pray with me for our cars to sell quickly. It's the only hurdle left before we leave for the field. Besides my immediate family she was the only one I had shared with that we were putting the cars on the market this weekend.

So Friday we were getting ready to make dinner when the phone rang. A family from the church we attend was on thier way to a Saturn dealership when they felt like they should call my friend from church. They told her they were on thier way to buy a car and she told them to call me because we had a Saturn to sell. Within an hour they were at the house buying the car! I've never sold a car before, but I think it's pretty amazing to sell a car before you even had the chance to put it on the market! We knew this was God's divine power working in this situation.
So we are so excited to only have the van left to sell. After today we have no doubt that God has the perfect plan for selling it and we are praising Him for working such an incredible miracle in our lives!

There's so much that's been happening in every area that we just praise God for getting everything in order for us to leave. We are going to enjoy the holidays and start the new year heading out to a new culture. It's just incredible!

The Enemy Loves My Computer

I've come to realize every time we attempt to put out a new newsletter a freak occurance happens with my computer. Back in July we ran into a million problems. First our computer was struck by lightning which wiped out many features, including a printer we hadn't had very long. Every time seems to bring about issues, but it wasn't till now that I realized we had major problems every single time we try to communicate with everyone out there. This time my computer has had a "serious error" and no browser windows will open at all. I can't explore the web or my own computer, and that has caused issues trying to get out the online edition of our newsletter. If you're reading this and waiting, please be patient. I'm working on getting it out one way or the other.

James 1:2 is a scripture that we quote often in our house. If you haven't read it it says "consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds." It goes on to talk about how trials cause us to persevere and perseverence helps us develop maturity. As I groan about my computer never working quite right, I realize a few things. First that I can grow from even an experience like this, that it stretches my patience and creativity to find a solution. It also opens my eyes that the enemy is working over time to try and keep us from getting to the field and completing the plans God has laid out for us. That's exciting!

So pray for us, we need a new computer, but rejoice that no matter what trials lie ahead, God is bigger than anything that can come against us and in the end He will prevail!

~Tona