Today marks the beginning of the advent season and the
beginning of our countdown to leaving North America.
As my kids count down the days on their advent calendar and
we remember the birth of Jesus, we also get the excitement of counting down the
days until we leave for Southeast Asia. We continue to be in awe as we think
about all that the Lord has done in our lives to bring us to this point. It is
so surreal to think that our lives are about to change drastically in ways we
can't even imagine, but we are excited, knowing that God will give us the grace
to handle any challenges we may encounter.
I'm always struck by the story of Mary, a 14 year old girl
who chose to accept the call of God on her life. This decision brought great
shame on her and her family. When it was time for her to give birth to God's
Chosen One, she found herself in the unfortunate situation of being on her way
to a foreign city and forced to give birth in a barn removed from the comforts
of home and her family to care for her. I can imagine her crying out to God
saying, "Lord, you knew at what time your son would come, could you not
have provided me with a room at least?" Did Mary even know that there
would be a greater purpose for enduring a labour among the animals? Did she
know that her son's entrance into the world into a bed of hay was a symbol of
God's great humility and love for the lost and least of the world?
While by no means is our calling comparable to Mary's, I am
reminded that sometimes saying "yes" to God means that we won't
always understand the purposes for some of the road bumps along the way, but we
can trust that our God is sovereign, that he acts out of goodness and love and
that "all things work together for good for those who are called according
to HIS purpose (Romans 8:28)." And so we jump in. We say, yes Lord, we
will go even though there are many unknowns before us. We will trust you for
the grace to get through each day.
I thought we would share a few pics of our last month. The
top picture is one of Jody and Asa on their first ever boys camping trip! They
had so much fun enjoying the beautiful wilderness in this amazing land that
we've gotten to call home for the last few months. The picture here is one of
my lovely friend and fellow staff member Thaisa and I before her baptism. She
grew up in Brazil in a catholic tradition and had never been baptized as an
adult and wanted to take the step of water baptism.
This little monkey is such a joy to us. He is a year and a
half and certainly keeps us on our toes chasing around after his big brothers
and getting into all sorts of trouble!
All of our boys love bugs and creepy crawlies, but none
quite as much as Jonathan. Here he is covered in dirt and playing with a gecko,
one of his favourite activities!
We are now 85% funded! We still need about $500 per month in
donations to completely meet our goal. Would you consider signing up to give
even $10 a month? All donations will receive a tax receipt. ** Click here for
online giving (https://chimp.net/groups/lauren-jody-goodwin-gj26)
and ** here for direct withdrawal from your bank account.
(https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxKiBdkGuRU4Sl9SX2Z5Qk9GcVE)
We are so thankful for each and every one of you that is
following along with our journey! Please continue to pray for us as we prepare
to go!
