Tag: Partnership

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September changes and challenges.

Changes, Challenges and Prayer Requests

Labor Day. Boats lined up to see the fireworks.

September was mostly quiet. We have been spending the month getting into a rhythm with school and we are continuing to meet with people building partnerships. We are trying to squeeze those last few drops of summer out with a few more camping trips. October however, will bring some new challenges for many reasons. First, we have a few churches that we are beginning to build relationships with so that we can create partnerships. This process of meeting with churches has come late in our journey due to COVID. Please be praying for us as we share our hearts and God’s will for our lives to these churches. Second, many of you know that our youngest daughter deals with an eye condition called Exotropia. We have monitored her eyes for a couple of years now and it has come to a point where surgery is needed. The surgery is very common and is considered outpatient surgery. We are trusting in God’s hand to protect our sweet girl. Please pray for peace for us and God to guide the hands of the surgeon.

Praying for everything to go smoothly. Pray that healing is quick.

Pushing Through The Stall

In August families including us began the transition back into school season. This made partnership meetings inconsistent and difficult. We felt the pressure of the partnership goal increase more than it had been prior. God has proved Himself faithful through this season and has given us the strength to push through the stall. September was a month of gaining momentum, learning how to adjust to a new season for everyone, and finding our new rhythm. We are sharing our story with our home church, LifePoint Church this weekend. This weekend is our church’s 16th anniversary and we are honored to have this privilege on such a milestone day. Sharing with our home church will kick off a season of sharing with other churches that God has been providing opportunities to speak with. If you don’t have a home church or yours isn’t currently meeting we would love for you to join us at our home church. We would love to share what God is doing at your home church as well. Contact us to set up a meeting. God is getting ready to do some amazing things we couldn’t be more excited to partner with him.

We are so grateful for the support that LifePoint is providing for us. Thank you for being our church home.

God is our Cornerstone

During the month of August, I (Seth) found myself relying on my own strength to push through. Days were long and I thought if I just do more we can get this to work. Just one month of relying on my own strength in partnership development was too much of a burden for me to carry without depending on the one who strengthens me. God reminded me that he is the one who is doing the work and I am coming alongside him. This meant that I am to look to his word for direction, encouragement, and depend on the firm foundation that he has already established. Friends, what season are you in? Is God the one leading, or are you carrying a burden you shouldn’t? Are you going the other direction alone instead of walking beside him? Rest in these words from 2 Timothy 2:19 (But God’s firm foundation stands bearing his seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity”).

Ways you can be praying for us:

• That God will protect our sweet girl and that she will have complete healing.
• That God will continue to build partnerships.
• That our marriage stays strong in this season of full schedules.
• That God would give us wisdom for these upcoming months.

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The End of Summer

New Video post! We wanted to share a bit of history. Click the video to watch.

Back to School for everyone!

1st Day of School!

August in our home means that it’s time to start back to school for the kids. This is our 7th year of homeschooling. The girls participate in a homeschool co-op that we are fortunate to be able to attend this year. We are excited about the new school year and getting back into rhythms. The girls are not the only ones going back to school. A unique opportunity has come up for some specialized training for me (Seth). Our original plan was to begin training in January but we were contacted by a pilot who volunteered to help train me. Please pray for our schedules. This season has already been busy with partnership building and now school this will add another thing to our full schedules and we will need God to sustain us during this season.

Training Opportunities

Most of you have heard me talk about my vision for the flight training at SOAR. The need for specialized training specifically geared towards the demands of mission aviation. I have been praying that God would provide for us the resources to build a curriculum from the ground up with the guidance of someone with real-world practical experience. This month I met with a missionary pilot on furlough from Papua New Guinea that serves with Ethnos 360. He is actually the training director in-country and has the primary role of getting new in-country pilots up to speed and also oversees recurring training. He and I will work together to build the new curriculum for SOAR. He has volunteered to take me through the rest of my training. This is a huge opportunity for him and us to take a blank slate so to speak and mold it the way that we can use our resources more efficiently. Equipping our students better and more prepared for the mission field is at the core of my vision. Stay tuned in the upcoming months for updates on this!

Family Reunion (Deb)

For our family, July/August is usually filled with church camp, mission trips, and many other things. This year all of that has been different. We have been blessed with opportunities to use our summer to serve but they look very different than we are accustomed to. One thing that we look forward to each year is that my (Deb) family gathers for a family reunion. I know many of you are rolling your eyes but we genuinely enjoy it. The weekend is filled with games and family time. We end the weekend every year with a small worship service. Hands lifted in love to our savior who sustains us each year. This year’s reunion was different for us and we were sad about all the changes. It was during this season we were reminded how grateful we were to be together. We were grateful for his provision and we were grateful for his grace which sustains us. The four of us have had a lot of ups and downs this summer. It was in this service where we sang “The Blessing” over our family and future generations that God reminded me he has been working and will continue to work. He was the reason we were together. Yes, we have family ties to each other, but we were also connected because we were a part of a larger family. God is working in each moment and each event for our good and his glory. Our home church regularly says this blessing at the end of the service, it has been such a sweet reminder of his goodness. So with this, I wanted to send this blessing over all of you who are reading this today.

Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Ways you can be praying for us:

• That God will continue to build partnerships.
• That our marriage stays strong in this season of full schedules.
• That God would give us wisdom for these upcoming months.

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Birthdays and Summer Fun

July for us finally felt like summer. With June being filled with weddings, graduations, and many other things it was nice to hit July and a hint of normalcy. Camping, birthday, flying, partnership meetings, and community time brought some busyness but also some much-needed relief from the never-ending bad news that is 2020. We were thankful for the rest and community time in July.

SUMMER CAMPING

Typically from spring through fall, we camp several times as a family. Camping allows us to unplug from media and reset our family compass and bond. Being in God’s creation and nature is restful for our bodies and souls. We come back from these trips refreshed, recharged, and ready to focus on what God had called us to do. We also love to share these experiences with others, so if this is something you guys like to do as well hit us up and we will plan a trip together.

  • Cousins are the best.
  • Jordis and her flowers
  • Bella loves the hammock

Happy Birthday Seth

This year has been different for a lot of reasons. COVID has changed how we spend our downtime. For the past few years during Seth’s birthday, we have joined our church on mission with our students as we serve our partner churches in other areas. On the years we have not served on mission trips, we have typically gone to the lake or camped at a state park. With COVID we are being cautious with our family. This year Seth’s birthday was spent at home. We had partnership meetings and other things on the schedule, so we played it safe. Quiet but still good. This guy spent his birthday without complaint loving his family and others well. We are so grateful for the love that he shows us. Happy Birthday, Love.
– Deb

DOING LIFE IN COMMUNITY

If you have known us for very long you know that this month we typically go with the students at our church on a mission trip. This year like many churches, our church, has had to adjust to a very different schedule. For us, that means combining a couple of events into one and staying local. We along with our students served and spent some time together in community. While we are sad to not be able to help serve other churches this year we loved spending some time with our students. Please be praying for our church and church partners in this season.

Ways you can be praying for us:

• That God will continue to build partnerships.
• That our marriage stays strong in this season of full schedules.
• That God would give us the wisdom for these upcoming months.

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