Kids and Candy Airplanes

We are currently in Redding, CA which is our last stop northbound on I-5 before heading home to Portland/Vancouver.  Yesterday we had the pleasure of being guest speakers at a Bible school in Red Bluff.  It was great to share our hearts with the 3rd to 5th graders as well as some adults.  

We had an activity that is probably pretty familiar to any MAFer who has worked with kids.  It consisted of a stick of gum, a rubber band, two life savers, and a long tootsie roll.  What does that make (without cheating and looking at the picture)?  I never knew an airplane could be made with these materials, but sure enough they can.  

Just for the record the pictured airplane was not constructed by me (Will).  I know that in this set up the relative wind would rip the skin of the wings right off.

Anyway, that is a snapshot of us right now.  We will be home for Easter!

17 Weeks and Kicking!

This is what Nan looks like at 17 weeks!  Baby Grant is finally kicking!  And just two and a half weeks until we find out if we are having a boy or girl.

Ok for a non baby update.

We are currently nomads, homeless and on the road for the next four months.

It has been so great to catch up with old friends, family and meet new friends as we have finally settled into this new season of life.  The sunshine has also been a huge blessing.  Why? Well, after a crazy week of selling our stuff and packing our lives up we were a little stressed at times.  So when we finally crossed the California border there was sunshine and my beautiful bride came back to life.


There were several interesting events that happened in the Bay area, but the one I still cannot believe is the house I spent the first couple years of my life in was just on the opposite side of the neighborhood pool from a college friend's house.  So that was exciting.  The only memory I have at that age was walking across the hot street with no shoes on my soft baby feet headed to the pool.  Ouch!

In front of the Winchester House

While we were in San Jose my Aunt Lucinda took us to the Winchester House which was extremely interesting.  You can google the story, but basically Mrs. Winchester had her house under construction for about 40 years 24/7.  It was pretty sad to see what someone can do when they do not believe in Christ.

Just excited about guns...nothing unusual.

The Lord has blessed us greatly thus far with great conversations, lodging, and opportunities to share what Christ has done in our lives.  We look forward to many more opportunities to share our lives with people.  Your continued prayers for us as we travel, work as a team, and prepare to be parents are greatly appreciated.

Look for a prayer letter by the end of this month.

Sunshine and one step closer...

The other day was a refreshing moment in time for our little, now growing family... My husband surprised me one Saturday morning and informed me to dress warm and that we were going on an adventure. Which, if you are familiar with Portland, Oregon, that means dress for the rain! I peeked out the window last Saturday morning excited for the surprise date, but saddened by the prospect of the rainy skies that met me at our doorstep.

However, my excitement for the unknown and for a fabulous time with Will trumped the weather.  We jumped in the car, excited for a adventurous day together.  My spirits quickly lifted as Will started to drive towards the beach (a 1 hour drive from our home). I begged to know where we were going and he simply gave one clue - it is a place with a LARGE rock! If you live anywhere near the Oregon coast, you know the LARGE rock is Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach.  This is one of my favorite get-a-way spots!  He preceded to tell me we were going to spend the afternoon on the beach... As we drove closer and closer the rain came down even more rapidly and then blue skies broke through the clouds and yes, even SUNSHINE! We ended up spending a blissful day recharging our batteries together on beautiful Cannon Beach.  It was a day of walking on the beach, laughing, enjoying Apple fritters (Baby Grant LOVES them), sunshine and each other.


Our time at Cannon Beach was another simple reminder of God's faithfulness to us as HE provided a window of time to be renewed together. We found this incredible pattern that the water had formed in the sand.... it reminded me a bit of how God refreshes us and remolds us. HE takes us from dry, gritting moments in life and places us on the path HE has designed.  We must simply choose to stop and be still before our God...

"You sent abundant rain, O God, to refresh the weary land." - Psalm 68:9

A "FEW" Changes as of Late...

Well friends,  it has been a while but here are a few updates for each of you...

As of January 19th, 2011 we were welcomed into MAF as a Maintenance Specialist family and assigned to Indonesia! We cannot begin to express how excited we are to begin serving where God has called us.

We will be spending the next 6 months traveling the country to raise our ministry support. We look forward to spending time with our dear friends and family in the coming days and months!  If we are fully supported by October, Will will complete his Tech/Non-Tech maintenance training at MAF through December 2011. We then hope to leave for language school in Java, Indonesia in January 2012!

Before we leave Oregon, in the midst of our meetings and insane schedule, we are selling all our furniture and extra things on Craigslist, packing our bags and moving out of our current apartment! It is going to be a whirlwind, but one we are looking forward to this crazy process!

AND WE ARE PREGNANT! Baby Grant is due September 24, 2011! We are so blessed. God has provided the perfect little sweet baby in HIS perfect timing... This is such a gracious gift and joy as we miscarried in November.  God has graciously blessed us with another bun in the oven! Baby Grant is healthy and strong from what the doctors can tell. We are already in our 10th week! It is going to be a season of joys and challenges as we will be traveling across the country until we are 7.5 months pregnant :) I am sure we will have many stories to share as we go!

We COVET your PRAYERS in this process! If you want to read more about our ministry or partner with us please check out our website http://www.maf.org/willgrant

Thank you for following our story! We will keep you updated soon...

Love,

Will, Nan and Baby Grant

Peace & Immanuel...

Rushing, buying, wanting, longing... Our American Christmas season has become so encompassed with self and the desire for more that the true meaning of Christmas has become lost.  Instead of counting the sparkling gifts labeled with your name, why not unwrap the gift of a baby who lay in a manger over 2,000 years ago? Jesus Christ came as an innocent child, to take on our yuck, our sin, our selfishness so that we may have life eternally.  The treasure and most priceless gift you could receive this season is to stop and identify the treasure, a child who came to this world to bring you peace - Jesus Christ. 

Will and I have began our new venture in life as missionaries. In the season's hubbub, instead of buying we are simplifying. We have been selling much of what we possess in order to move overseas.  It is refreshing not buying each other gifts for Christmas (we made a few homemade gifts).  We have instead chosen to be grateful for each other and what we have already been given. We are remembering the reason and purpose of Christmas - it all began with a sweet infant baby born in a manger.  Jesus came not to gain anything, but to give of HIS life. What an incredible thought, to give ones life without seeking anything.

It makes us stop and think what is our purpose here? Are we living life for ourselves? Or do we have a greater purpose?

As we are preparing to go overseas, God has been reminding us about the gift that we are giving to the world. We are desire to teach the world about God's peace, hope and salvation.  

MAF adventures - Candidacy January 2011!

Welcome to MAF! 

Thank you everyone for the prayers.  Well, God has given us "the thumbs up" to continue our journey to serve overseas! We have been formally invited back to MAF for Candidacy and officially join the MAF team in January 2011!

Birthday Night Out!

We are still in a state of attempting to comprehend that we have actually made it through our evaluation and passed! Years of hard work and listening to God's calling led us to our evaluation at MAF and now... it is over! And the joy of next phase begins!  Over the next month we will be wrapping up our current jobs and preparing our hearts to serve overseas! Will and I could not be more grateful to be invited back... it is truly an answer to months and years of prayer.


Here is a recap of our time at MAF:

Our little friendly Mr. Squirrel 

We were there for about two weeks. Our adventure began before we could even unlock our MAF apartment door.  We were warmly welcomed over for dinner by our neighbors Ricky, Heather and sweet little Elise!  What a joy it was to get to know the people that we will be serving beside for years to come!  Throughout our time, the common thread at MAF was Christ's grace and love.  It was evident in everyone around us; people were genuinely raw and real about their faith.  It was refreshing to observe people who loved Jesus with all their heart, mind, soul and strength (Matt. 22)!

Being silly playing on the "display hose" at the firehouse!

Our stay included road trips, evaluations, many belly laughs, fun times downtown Boise, dinners with the MAF staff, birthdays and countless other memories.

Our evaluations were two different dynamics! Will's eval was a maintenance evaluation: spending most of his time at the hanger working on various projects with his Maintenance Evaluator, Doug.  My evaluation was a "social eval": I stayed "hard at work" building relationships with the staff of MAF (aka chatting with the women :)

At the conclusion of our time (and after MANY prayers) Will passed his evaluation with "flying colors" (no pun intended) and I passed the social aspect as well.  At this point, the board invited us to come back for Candidacy as a Maintenance Specialist couple for January 2011! We are so blessed and look forward to officially becoming a part of the MAF team!

God's beauty surrounds us daily...

God is so good! Thank you all for the continued prayers!  Our hearts are to follow our GOD wherever HE leads our family. Thank you for joining us on this journey!

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord.  "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."  Jeremiah 29:11 

Vulnerable Love and 10 Days...

“To love at all is to be vulnerable.  Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.  If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal.  Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.  But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change.  It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.  The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation.  The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.”  The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis


Let us love with an all-consuming, vulnerable, Christ-like love... Will and I are preparing to go to MAF in 10 days for our evaluation.  We are daily reminded of our purpose... To love the world unabashedly, purely, and rightly. To proclaim God's true and HIS salvation!  Remembering, "This is LOVE: not that we loved God, but that HE loved us and sent HIS Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." - 1 John 4  Let us go into the world and tell of this vulnerable love.