a pair of ducks

Our month long training at MTI was very beneficial in giving us some tools to equip us for the field.  We loved our time in beautiful Colorado where we shared our similar stories, fears, frustrations, hopes, dreams, struggles, tears, laughter and love with 50 people going to over 22 countries.  The first two weeks we spent in the “pilat” language acquisition program, learning great  methods, applications, and phonology we can use for understanding Malagasy. The last two weeks were a bit more personal with “digging deep” (as they call it) in the Splice program dealing with cultural integration and our stress management, conflict styles, spiritual vitality, etc.  Some of these tools we won’t be able to use until we are on the field.  But other tools are meant for the transition we are in right now.

We learned how our lives as missionaries are like “a pair of Ducks.”  This pair is comprised of some awesome, exciting, positive “yay ducks,” and bummer, sad, hard, difficult, negative “yuck ducks.”  These “pair of ducks” represents the reality of the “paradox” (par-a-ducks, get it??) that we cross-cultural workers face daily.  It is a cute analogy that addresses some deep core emotional roller-coasters that we are on.  Because good inevitably comes with some hardships, and if we avoid acknowledging the pain we sometimes insulate ourselves from true joys.  It has been great for Braiden and Jacy to understand and be able to express some of their yuck ducks and yay ducks while on the journey into another culture.  Because it is exciting and fun to meet new people, play new games, and explore (yay duck), but it doesn’t mean we are not sad or miss family and friends, and comforts from home (yuck duck).  We need a chance to express (not suppress) both in order to have a healthy understanding of what we are going through and how God can walk with us through it.  This analogy really works for everyone; as most of us are not void of sacrifice, as we are all commanded to daily pick up our cross and follow Him.  We also learned how we might suppress each other by always talking on the positive side of things, which doesn’t help the other person grieve, process, or feel validated in the hardships they are going through.  So our family now processes some of our busy full days with sharing our yuck ducks and yay ducks together.

We hope this helps explain a little of the daily paradox we are walking as we are getting closer to leaving.  We are excited and proud to be serving God in this capacity (yay duck), but have painful moments of realizing this means we are missing out on huge milestones with family and friends (yuck duck).  Please feel free to share with us some of the yuck ducks and yeah ducks you are going through and how we can be praying for you!

Hitting the ground running.  We are officially done with all of our trainings and ready to go on the field!!!!

Wait.  oops.  There is that money thing.

I know some of you have been asking “When are you going?”  This is a loaded question and believe me, we would love more than anything to give a clear, direct, confirmed date of departure.  But… there are a lot of variables and loose ends that need to come together before we have that kind of clarity.  We can project a time frame, but I think God just laughs at us when we make those kind of assumptions.  Here is what we know for sure:

 -That we can praise God for every inch of progress we have made in this journey because He is directing our path

-We have to be 100% supported before we can purchase tickets

-That we have some amazing incredible God-fearing people supporting us that have encouraged and confirmed us each step

-That God has already prepared those who will partner with us prayerfully and financially.

-That we need to be obedient in sharing with those He puts before us, the vision of the Red Island Project.

As we mentioned earlier, we recently switched to a career status, which came with just a few changes.  One of the biggest changes was a little hard to take although we understand it will help us in the future.  Before our status change we were at 72% of our monthly support and we dropped to 62% by switching to a long term status.  The main increase in our budget is from our Airline tickets which are now implemented as a monthly expense instead of a one time expense.  It is a good change with a hard reality, and God is good all the time.  So we are excited to see who and how God provides the rest of the 38% ($3000 more per month).  Please help us pray for the last leg of the journey and His continued direction.

It is getting real.  Coming home after being gone for a month is a little weird.  We are experiencing some “were ready to go” feelings we didn’t expect.  I guess that is what happens when we complete some of the big milestones that were in front of us.  I resigned from my job, we were commissioned at church, completed all our trainings, and now I am selling my Truck (your tacoma? yep, it’s time).  We still have some ground to cover, but we know it’s imminent.  We hope that we can truly embrace and cherish these coming days with many of you as we are excited for what He is doing in all of our lives.

Praise Report!!

We just wanted to share a “Praise God” for His continued provision  and a thank you to some of you who have felt lead to help in this specific area.  We shared earlier about Danielle’s situation with changing schools (read about it in steps of faith) and now we are thrilled to announce that she is sending off her application this week!!  YAY. This is huge relief and confirmation for Danielle’s journey.   Thank you everyone for your prayers and support.

God Bless!