Getting Closer...

We are now just about at 70% of our support goal which has been encouraging especially as we get closer to being parents.  I have said it before, but we truly have had such a great time in this season with all kinds of people.  For instance last weekend we had the opportunity to go up to Enumclaw, WA to share about the ministry of MAF.  One of the first people we met at dinner, before we headed to the Saturday night service, was a guy by the name of Rob.  I love Rob.  He flew C-82s back in the day, which is the plane that was in the original Flight of the Phoenix movie.  It did not take much talking with Rob before I found out that about twenty years ago he walked around the perimeter of the United States to raise awareness and funds for MAF.  But it gets better.  He went on to tell me that during the time he was walking around the U.S. he got a new knee and heart valve.  Wow!  I couldn't believe it.
The more we hung out the more I realized what a heart Rob has for the Lord as well as MAF.  It was such a treat to have met Rob and have him introduce us as we shared our hearts before the congregation there in Enumclaw.  We left on Sunday encouraged and with several more life long friends to share this journey with.

With Rob

So what are we doing now?  Well, we are a little ahead of the game, but we are preparing to pack our crates which will be kept in storage for about a year and then shipped to Papua via sea freight after we complete language school in Java.  It is so much fun putting our lives into 270 cubic feet.  It's a big puzzle using all of our worldly possessions.  We technically don't have to be packing yet, but because Gracie is due in four weeks, and we will start training at MAF the first week of October and then I (Will) will get more technical training on the planes I will be working on in Indonesia through the middle of January.   If we don't do it now it might be a little more difficult with a newborn...or so I've been told.
So what kind of picture could we give you to look at without actually having our crates yet?  The plan of how we will cram our stuff into four wood boxes.  The fourth crate is the only important one, but to give you an idea of what the first three look like I have included the schematic of crate #1.  Oh, I will include crate #3 as well because it has our oven, which will produce some awesome eats.

Crate #1

Crate #3

Crate #4

Last week we took a break from packing and visited the Nike Hangar "Nike Air" thanks to a good buddy of mine who provides superb maintenance support for the Nike fleet.  Our tour included the hangar bathrooms, the machine shops, and two G5s all of which were cleaner than an operating room.  This picture is going to double as a belly update pic.

Phil's G5

Everything's great except for Frank

Nan getting hydrated and coming back to life

While at the doctor on Tuesday, Nan was able to get a couple liters of IV fluid pumped into her after a bug wasn't allowing her to keep anything in her body.  Then she was whisked away in a wheel chair as I followed to the labor and delivery floor for a quick tour of where our baby girl will come into this world.  After being monitored for a little while at "Triage" we were released being advised of the importance of a liquid diet after having an empty body.  So what does my beautiful wife request when we are on our way home?  Pizza.  We didn't do it, but it did put a smile on my face and then I knew she was definitely feeling better.  Another clue of when I know my wife is feeling better after sickness is when she goes into white tornado mode.  What is white tornado mode?  It's when my wife cleans and organizes kind of like right now as I am typing.  Don't worry, I do all the heavy lifting.

Gracie at 32 Weeks

While at the doctor on Tuesday, we had an ultrasound and found that Gracie was a bit low on fluid so we went back today, now that Nan is hydrated, to make sure she's good to go.  Well, she was still a little low, but still in the normal operating range.  If you are still reading this entry its more than likely because you just want to know who Frank is and what he has to do with anything.  Well, it is the type of breech position which Gracie is in right now.  We really want a natural birth as much as possible so for her to come out bottom first would definitely not be helping mom out much.  She has several more weeks to grow and move around still, so we are not too worried. 

Two more tidbits of information we found during the ultrasound is that Gracie already has extremely chubby cheeks at 3.5 pounds.  I am willing to bet two of her pounds are in her cheeks.  Although we didn't get a good still picture we briefly saw her in 3D to verify the chubbiness.  Another characteristic she has thus far is hair on her head.  Considering both Nan and I needed a haircut upon delivery it didn't really surprise us much.

One last note.  Today to avoid all the construction traffic at OHSU we decided to take the $57 million dollar tram that goes up the hill to the hospital.  If anyone is on the fence about coming to visit after we deliver it would definitely be a good excuse to come ride the tram.  If you visit us you get free tickets too so there is no excuse.  Take a gander...

The 12 ton car

View looking over the Willamette River

View from the top

Another view from the top

Safely in Vancouver, WA

Note:  12,000 miles not driven on motorcycle

After 12,000 miles of driving in the car we realized yesterday that we actually could have made it to Indonesia...but they still have yet to put that bridge in. As we finally settle in back here in Vancouver, more than ever am I genuinely thankful for everything that people have done and are doing for us.  As we prepare to bring Gracie into the world and go to serve the people of Indonesia we cannot do it alone, so we thank you for your support no matter what role you have played.  Also, the fact that we arrived back here to Vancouver safely is a blessing considering all the miles of road we covered with baby in womb.  As you might imagine the bathroom stops were frequent, but being with the most beautiful girl (soon to be two) on the planet made for some memories I will never forget.

Yesterday after church we moved all of our possessions from a friends garage in Hillsboro to the home of our friend in Vancouver.  Here we will sort, pack, and inventory our belongings preparing them to be put in the crates that I will make.  After the crates are constructed and filled they will await shipment to Indonesia.

Please pray for Nan.  As I write this she has got some kind of a bug that has made her pretty sick.  Please continue to pray about what your role may be as we look for prayer and financial partners.  

Recently we have been meditating on Acts 20:24...


"But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God."

Starbucks CHALLENGE!!!

We are so blessed to be on this journey that God has designed.  We are getting closer by the day to Papua, Indonesia, but still need your help!  In order to get to Indonesia we still need a team of people to join us! Would you prayerfully consider joining our team so we can meet the practical and spiritual needs of the people in Indonesia? 

We are so thankful for our supporters! 

Current day our monthly support is at 42.7%. We still need supporters for $3,727/month! Our one-time support is at 62.1%! All we need is $11,104.70 for our one-time support! 

STARBUCKS Challenge: Would you prayerfully consider partnering with us for $2.50 a day? (this would be $75/month) This is less than the average cost of a Starbucks coffee drink!  We ONLY need 50 more coffee drinkers to reach our monthly support by August 27, 2011! 

If you would like to support us please follow this link Helping the Grant's Serve the People of Indonesia!  

In order to get to Indonesia for language school by January 2012, our pledges need to be in by August 27th!  Would you help us? Thank you for following God's story in our lives! 

Blessings, 

Will, Nan & Gracie Jane

Update from Royal Oak, MI

Getting current

Last Friday we managed to scratch a little bit of time out of our day to go visit the Henry Ford Museum. It's the home of the chair Abe Lincoln was shot in, the limo JFK was assassinated in, the bus Rosa Parks was in when she refused to give up her seat, and several other interesting exhibits. Being related to Eli Whitney I (Will) enjoyed the model of the cotton gin and was amazed to find out Eli Whitney Jr. made guns with Colt. Another interesting find at the museum was the Chrysler Turbine which was a Chrysler produced car in 1965 with an Italian turbine engine.

The Chrysler Turbine

Fuel for dad

About a week ago we had a baby shower here in Michigan which was great for Nan as she was able to catch up with her girlfriends and me to meet them. Among some of the presents received was some coffee for dad as I am already not sleeping quite the same as before, but its all preparation for this next season of life.

29 Weeks!

Syracuse, NY to PA and My 1st Father's Day

At Hope Print House in Syracuse

A day after my first Father’s Day and I still cannot believe how God continues to show up in our lives.  We have explained to many of you that due to being on the road for three months we would not have any doctor’s visits to check up on Gracie.  It seems that lately the more opportunities we give to our good Lord above, the more He keeps working and we really could not be any more excited…especially me (Dad).

We are currently in Pennsylvania staying with some family friends who just so happen to have an ultrasound machine to look at Gracie…ON FATHERS DAY!  I mean are you kidding me?  My first Father’s Day and I get to see my beautiful daughter sucking her thumb while still inside my bride the most beautiful woman on the planet.  I am in awe.  In the video you will see a straight on shot of Gracie with the umbilical cord going straight down the middle of her face.  

Ever since finding out we were pregnant we have held Gracie with open arms not worried about what may or may not happen.  Many doctors will not see us for a one time check up because of the liability that comes with seeing a pregnant lady one time, but somehow through our friend in Michigan we were able to get an appointment for the crucial diabetes check which is a total blessing.

On Saturday we made the trek down I-81 from Syracuse and we were reminded of how awesome it is that so many of you are praying for our safe travels as we continue to cover many miles of road.  It was about noon as we witnessed a head on collision just 100 yards in front of us.  Doing 70 mph it was only a few seconds before we passed the scene and pulled over to check on the passengers of the two vehicles.  After all of the victims were taken care of and there was nothing more we could do, I cleared some debris from the freeway (including beer cans) and we were on our way.  Still shaking from the nature of the scene I prayed for all the people that were injured.  It was a prayer of praise.  I praised the Lord that no one amazingly enough was killed and for keeping us from being a part of the accident.  Again, we cannot thank you enough for your continued loyalty in surrounding us with prayer.

As I grow older I have become more appreciative of learning about my family.  Shortly after leaving the accident scene we met up with one of my dad’s friends who reminded me of my grandfather making gunstocks for Abercrombie & Fitch back in the day and a few other stories of my dad.  It was such a great time so I definitely needed to put up a picture of the two of us.

Thanks so much! Know you all are in our prayers as well... 

Blessings, 

Will, Nan, and Gracie Jane

In The D!

Well, we have been to Utah, Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, and now Michigan.  We have been spending so much great time with so many friends, new and old that we have not had time to blog. 

 One of the highlights of our trip came when we were able to visit mom Grant in El Paso on mother’s day.  It was so great to see mom, the new house, and help in the process of getting settled.

As we continued our journey east we settled in to the city of Austin.  Now if anyone knows me at all they know that I am not a huge fan of Texas the state or the football program, but as we met people and caught up with family we began to fall in love with the city.  The sun, the people, and the food (Rudy’s BBQ, Chuys, and Freebirds to name a few) were all part of the amazing experience of Austin.  We both agree that we will be going back there when we come back into the states.

Getting a Rudy's BBQ hand washing experience!

As we traveled over to Louisiana and up to Missouri we were able to see a little bit of the damage that had been done by the tornados, which was a first for the both of us.  We also managed to go over the Mississippi River and not through it.  As we think of all the disaster in the area and all the miles of road we have covered it truly has been the Lord’s protection to get us safely here to Michigan.

So does anyone know where Panera Bread started?  Well, I did not know either until going through St. Louis.  In the picture you will see that Panera was in fact started in St. Louis.  I have this thing I do with coffee there now that it is summer and blazing hot.  I buy a coffee, fill the cup with ice, cream, sugar, and then pour coffee on it.  About eight cups later I am ready to hit the road again.  So now I am sure you wondering “Wouldn’t you just have to hit the bathroom just a few minutes down the road?”  Well, yes but I will anyway because of the ever growing baby girl riding shotgun.

In St. Louis I was able to meet more of Nan’s family which was so great!  Among others I met the original “Jane” which is where Nan gets her eyes…and a few other characteristics ;)

With Grandma Jane

 It has been such a blessing to see so many great people, have so many great conversations, make a ton of new friends, and be able to share how Christ has brought us to this point in our lives.  We are honored to have the partnership team that we do so thank you so much for all of your prayers and financial support!  

In the Detroit area celebrating a cousin's graduation