Eventful

Greetings! Once again, I apologize for the absence of posts! We are currently in our last week of furlough! We are staying with my parents in Gresham, Oregon and have been flabbergasted by God's generous love and support through my parents.

From the moment we arrived here in Oregon, my parents were weepy and full of joy, encouraging us and looking for ways in which to bless us.....they even took the entire week off from work to spend with us! We were so blessed. We have never felt so spoiled! And they were so thankful and amazed at God's faithfulness to us in the Philippines as well is in our new pregnant state! Originally, my mother stated that I HAD TO COME HOME (that is, to OREGON) if I ever got pregnant....but this visit proved that the Lord had been speaking to them, too. They confirmed what we felt in our spirits.....that the Lord had brought us to the Philippines to serve and because my health history-this pregnancy was truly an act of God.....strange timing, but fully part of God's plan....we felt total peace that we are to return to the Phils and call it our baby's home.....

Then, this passed Sunday, we had a wonderful dessert get together with our friends who have been praying for us.....between the Knopp family (8 out of 9 of them came!), our neighbors, my best friend, Alissa and my mentors, Debbie and Deanie, there was a good number of us all telling stories and sharing in the faithfulness of God. We showed a brief slide show of our adventures and our new friends in the Phils, shared the vision that God has given us for 2008 and everyone confirmed once again, that we were to go back expecting God to carry us through the coming months because He has been so faithful thus far. No one encouraged us to come home or considered it unwise to return to the work given the pregnancy. We were so encouraged....they shared how they had seen a great change in Tim...so much more happy and full of peace....and they said they'd never seen me more joyful and we astonished at how much we missed our "home".

After viewing again the slide show Tim had made, Tim and I laid awake in bed talking about how strange it is that we feel a total peace about returning home....home to the Philippines.....we talked about missing our friends, Jenn and Joe.....my lady friends at the clinic....my peers....and missing the simplicity of our home, my Saturday mornings with An-An (I miss her!) and Tim's afternoons in Joe's back yard. We missed the smiley Filipinos....the taxi drivers....Gaisano....seeing God in new ways, both big and small.....and I miss my continuities. We're ready to go home....and for some reason, it feels more like home than ever before. God is so good.

Despite these precious moments, we have had our share of stress, too....from Impact Nations business, Tim's computer crashing for the 3rd time, and we found out our truck in the Phils died, some bills in the Phils were overdue that we were unaware of.....all financial burdens that have made us a little.....well, nervous. And then there's all the changes happening in me....I no longer fit into my pants (Praise God....tee hee) and the need for new clothes is becoming a little obscene.

Thankfully, my mom has come to the rescue many times throughout the trip making sure that I understand that because she cannot spoil her grandchild like she currently does my niece and nephew, she has to spoil me (and the baby) now! She bought me some comfy preggo pants, a few preggo shirts for the Phils, gave me some comfy undies (mine are now rolling south!), and some precious baby onesies for the first 6 months. Each gift was like the Lord confirming to me that He will continue to take care of us.....even in the small things like needing bigger pants. They also convicted me that I am to continue to believe by faith that this pregnancy is the fulfillment of God's promise to Tim and myself. To be honest, this is a challenge for me....there are days when I fear that this is all one big joke and that at some point, a disaster will come....but God reveals His grace once more....

Please continue to pray for us as most of you know that there are many added costs to having a baby so we need extra grace in our finances, but also please pray for the safety of our baby....my gracious naturopath saw me while I was in Vancouver and shared her joy and mild concern with this pregnancy. She is not worried, but wants to make sure that I am taking it easy and staying healthy....she is such a blessing.

Please pray that we make it home safely and that there will not be anymore financial complications, but financial blessing instead!.....and please pray for Mercy Maternity, too, as they have been hit hard these last few weeks with staff getting sick, financial burdens and high risk patients. Thank you for all your prayers and support! We are so grateful!
And to our friends in the Phils....we are sooooooooo looking forward to seeing you! Only one more week! We love you!
Be blessed.
PS. Sorry for the lack of pictures....with Tim's computer on the rocks, he hasn't been real motivated to take pics....but I promise we will this week!