Fear to Faith

This past week I (Katie) had the opportunity to speak at the Living Streams (our church) Women's Biblestudy. I have had a lot of people ask me about getting a copy of what I said (I am so humbled and blessed that you would want to hear!), so I thought I would try to summarize my thoughts and journey here. I have to warn you, this is pretty raw Katie. This is the truth of what the Lord is doing in me currently. Honestly, its hard for me to be so open in such a "public" setting about something that is so fresh, but I keep feeling the Lord prompting me to do it, so I hope it is a blessing to you.

In this journey that we have been on since we went to that missions conference a year ago and met the people from Loma de Luz, the Lord has been teaching me so many things. I think He is always trying to teach me so many things, but so often I have such a hard time focusing and listening. I have been so shocked by the whirlwind that seems to be my life over the past year, that I have not been able to make it through the days without listening. And He has been teaching.

The things the Lord has been asking of me over the past year have not been easy. I was surprised by how hard it was been to sell my house and to give away everything that own. I have been surprised by how emotional this whole process has been ... thinking of moving my girls so far away from our family is hard. I have told the Lord that I want to say yes to Him. I want to follow Him into what He has for me each day. And I know in my head that it is worth it, but I have found myself wondering why. Why is it worth it? What do people mean when they say that it is so awesome to be in the middle of God's will, even if it means that the place He has me is hard? When I used to hear that, I found myself thinking that those people must just be saying that, but that it can't really be true. And now, the Lord has taught me that it is true, for a couple of reason.

First, I am experiencing His love in ways that I never have before; it is amazing. I have been so blessed with the most fabulous family and an INCREDIBLE, seriously incredible, husband who all love me so well. But, I have to tell you that they have NOTHING on the way Jesus loves me. NOTHING. He has been meeting me in the midst of this pain and struggle and joy. On days when I think I can't possibly do it anymore, I can't possibly say yes, HE IS THERE. He has someone call me in that moment to encourage me. Or send me an email. Or someone joins our support team. He is constantly assuring me that I am not walking this journey alone. He is with me every step of the way, loving me.

Second, He is transforming me and changing me. My whole life, I have been a person who has struggled with fear. Fear of so many things ... insecurities ... fears of what people will think of me ... fears of not fitting in ... fears of failure ... fears of not being enough ... fears of losing the people who mean the most to me ... fears of stepping out in the wrong direction ... fears of making mistakes ... you get the idea, right? Fear. The coolest thing: He is transforming that fear into faith. Changing it. Allowing me to take steps and do things that I never would have done before. Allowing me freedom from that fear. Breaking the chains of fear. Saying no to that fear. Transforming my mind. No. More. Fear. Praise Jesus. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not saying its gone. It's still a struggle. But, it is not my master and I am tasting freedom.

When I first felt the Lord call me to the mission field as an 8th grader, I thought that He would have me go on the field once I had it together spiritually and was a spiritual rockstar. Haha. I am definitely not there. Most days, I feel like a hot mess, like I am barely making it through. But, He is there. He is loving me. He is holding me. And He is transforming my mind: replacing my fear with faith.

So, what about you? It's not just me who He wants to do this for. He is dying to love you. He is dying to transform you. In fact, He did die so that you could be free. Free from fear. Free from insecurity. Free from __________. You fill in the blank. He wants to transform your mind. And He wants to love you in the midst of it, better than you have ever been loved before. But you have to say yes.  What if you said yes today? What if you ran to Him today, even if it felt like it might kill you? I promise, it won't. He is worth it, my friend. He is so so worth it. He loves you. Let's say yes together today. 

Tickets!

We bought plane tickets!! We reached 75% of our funding this past week and are ticketed to leave on January 25th. So. Crazy. Thank you so much to all of you who are getting involved in what the Lord is doing and making this possible! We are so grateful!!
We have had so many questions lately about how we are feeling ... and the answer is, YES. To all of it. We are excited ... this has been a lifelong dream and calling for both Peter and me. We are thrilled that the Lord is making it a reality. We are excited to see what He has planned. We are excited to see where He is leading and to jump in and just do life in Honduras. We are terrified ... we are preparing to move our precious tiny girls to a place that is totally unfamiliar and so far away from home. We are going into an unknown. Who will our friends be? Who will our kids play with? What kind of ministry, exactly, will we be involved in? How will we assimilate? So. Many. Questions. We are sad ... we love our family. We love our friends. We love all of you. It is hard to leave those relationships and hard to say goodbye. It is hard to think about all of the things that we will miss. We can't wait ... doing what God is asking us to do sometimes feels hard, but is also so amazing. Being exactly where I know God wants me to be is the best feeling in the whole world. The knowledge that I am honoring Him with my decision to say yes and follow Him where He leads is unparalleled. I can't wait to start living in the place that He has been preparing me for, that He has been preparing our family for.
Can we say THANK YOU again?!?!? Thank you for your support. Thank you for you kind words. Thank you for your prayers. We are so grateful. You are making a difference.

First Bags Packed

This past week we had the privilege of hanging out with a friend/doctor/future fellow co-worker from Honduras. She came to Phoenix to study for and take her Emergency Medicine Boards. It was so fun to have her here and get to ask her a million questions about what to pack/expect/etc. I'm pretty sure she was tired out and ready to go home after all the talking we did :)
One awesome thing was that she offered to take a bag back for us. When you are planning on putting all of the material possession of a family of five into 8-10 duffel bags, having someone offer you an extra bag is such a blessing. Abby, we are so grateful!!!
Anyways, can I just say that it was WEIRD to pack that first bag?!?!? So. Many. Emotions. So excited that this is, in a small way, starting. So weird that the next time we see that stuff, we will be living in Honduras. I cried and yet was so excited while I packed it.
Sometimes, I can't believe the contrast of emotions that I have about this change that is happening in our lives. How can I be so excited and so scared all at the same time? I'm so glad that when the Lord asks me to obey and to follow Him, He doesn't expect me to feel a certain way, He just wants me to be obedient. I am so grateful that He accepts the realness of me and where I'm at today and that He embraces me in that. What a blessing. And I am so grateful to so many of you who are walking this journey together with us and allowing us to be real about the process. You are changing us and helping us grow. You are making this possible.

The bag partially full of the girls' books and toys

Sister snack time on the patio

Kenna-girl

Every day that passes, this moving thing becomes more and more real. The most recent change is that Peter put his notice in at work. Wow. I don't know why, but that feels so HUGE. We are moving to HONDURAS. To be MISSIONARIES. In 2.5 months. Holy crap. (Is it ok for a missionary to say 'crap'?)

Kenna has been asking a lot lately about the move and what we are going to be doing in Honduras. She has NOT been excited about the move. The things she remembers about our trip in March:

1)Honduras is hot (apparently she doesn't think Phoenix is hot??)
2)Honduras has LOTS of mosquitos (I'm pretty sure she got all the mosquito bites for our entire family when we were there)
3)Honduras has ants (She stood in an ant hill when we were there)

We have been trying to help her think of positive things we can look forward to together. I have also been trying to teach her about missionaries ... explaining to her that missionaries get to go and tell people about Jesus. I have been telling her that SHE is going to be a missionary and that SHE will get to love people and to tell them about Jesus. That idea has made her more excited about the whole thing ... which is so comforting. I want her to be excited.

Anyways, when I picked her up from school today, her teacher told me that they were having a discussion about people who live in other countries. Kenna raised her hand and told her class all about what we are going to be doing in Honduras. When I asked her about it, she told me that she got to stand up and tell all the other kids what being a missionary means and that she gets to be one. Cue tears. I mean, really? Precious.

Thank you, Jesus, for working in my precious Kenna-girl's heart. Thank you for the innocence and sweetness of her heart. Thank you for teaching me as I watch You in her.

Overwhelmed By His Goodness

I am amazed and overwhelmed by how the Lord is working and providing, and assuring me that He is in control. Gosh, He's good. And I am so quick to forget it.

We had our first fundraiser a week ago. It was awesome. The people who came were so gracious and so generous. We were blown away. Before that day, we had none of our monthly support. After that night, we had 18% of our monthly support. Pretty. Cool. At the end of the night everyone prayed over us. Even. Cooler. What an amazing group of people the Lord has surrounded us with who are going to be standing with us in this new journey. We are so grateful!

Fast forward a week. One week is all it took for me to forget how good the Lord is and how much He is providing. I forgot and I started to try to take the reigns. I was beginning to anticipate our second fundraiser and telling the Lord that I couldn't do it; I couldn't ask, I couldn't do this fundraising thing, we were never going to get all of our money. I was panicking.

I mean, really? Hadn't I just seen His faithfulness ONE WEEK AGO?! But, you know what? He is so gentle with me. He continues to show me, not only that He is providing, but that He cares about how I feel about this whole thing and that He is with me in it.

Not two hours later, I checked my email and I had a few emails about four new people who want to join our support team. Wow. The Lord didn't have to do that for me. He didn't have to send me those emails right then, but He did. He knew that I needed encouragement and reassurance; He provided it. He is showing me over and over that He doesn't just care about my physical needs, but He cares about me: my thoughts, my feelings, the deepest parts of me. I am blown away by His love for me. And He loves YOU the same way.

Tonight we had a second fundraiser event and it went so well; just as incredible as the last one. We have the most amazing people who are partnering with us in this Honduras thing and we couldn't be more excited. After tonight we are 37% funded for our monthly budget!!

Thank you to those of you who are getting involved. Thank you to those of you who are being so gracious and generous. Thank you for partnering with us. Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for sharing in our excitement. And thank you, Jesus, for caring about us like you do. Thank you for caring about the little details in our lives. Help us to see you in those moments where you are loving on us.

A few pictures from the first event we had ... I forgot to take pictures at the second one.

What a blessing!

Community

So, tomorrow night we have our first fundraiser event. With people we know. To admit we have a need. To admit that we can't do it alone. To ask for help. Crap.

Why is it so hard to ask for help. Why is it so hard to admit that I need help? Why do I always want to look like I have it all together, like I can do this thing without any help? And who do I think I'm fooling?

The Lord designed me to live in community with people, to depend on the people around me, to need the people around me. He made me this way. Why do I run from it? I mean, I like community when its fun and we are laughing and playing together ...but community when I have to be real and admit my struggles and ask for help and accountability? Not. Fun. Well, not fun in the admitting, not fun in the asking, and so ridiculously humbling ... BUT amazing in the receiving. Amazing in the seeing how God provides. Amazing in seeing how the Lord created all of our strengths to form and fit together.

As we have been on this journey the Lord has brought a passage to us: 1 Samuel 30. In it, David goes to battle. Their town has been pillaged and he is going to battle to get back what was stolen from them. He takes some men with him to fight and rescue the women and children and bring them home. He leaves some men back in the town to guard what is there. When he comes back from battle, the men that went to fight with him agree to give the men who stayed back their wives and children. But, they don't want to give those men a share of the plunder. David, disagrees with this. He says that ALL men were needed to win the battle and that they will ALL share EQUALLY of the plunder.

That's pretty cool. We are all needed. We all have a role to play. Whether or not we like our role, whether or not we feel like we are making a difference, we ALL have a role to play and we will ALL share in the plunder. You are needed and you make a difference. I am needed and I make a difference. Big or small. YOU ARE NEEDED.

This is how we feel about Honduras. God is calling us to go, but we CANNOT do it alone. As He is calling us to go, He is calling people here to stay and get involved in what we are doing there. And here comes the part I struggle with so much ... admitting our need and asking for help ...

First, through prayer. We will not make it if we don't have people committed to pray for us. We just won't. We need you to pray. Will you pray about joining our prayer team to pray for us every month as we work in Honduras?

Second, we need finances. Why o why is this so hard to ask for and admit to? Seriously, I'm cringing as I type these words. But, you know what, I KNOW that He is calling me to ask. He wants me to admit that I have a need (ugh). And so, I'm asking. Would you talk to the Lord about whether or not He is calling you to join our financial support team? Our monthly budget is $4500, which broken into 30 days, is $150/day. Would you pray about sponsoring our family for one day/half a day/a third of a day every month?

If you will commit to partnering with us through prayer or finances, pick a day - on that day, as you pray for us and support, we will be praying for you and your family. The Lord is calling us to live in community, which means, we will hopefully be ministering to you as you minister to us.

If He is calling you to partner with us, you can go to the link that is in the "Partnership and Support" tab - we need to have 80% on our money committed in order to buy our plane tickets ... so, if He's calling you, click that link :) and if you do click the link, shoot us an email so we know and can keep tally for buying our plane tickets ... and can add you to our support and prayer list.

Third, come visit us!! We would LOVE to have you come and join in the amazing work that is happening in Honduras.

(whew, I did it!)

Some pictures of my super cute family to lighten the mood ...

Playing in the "lake" at the park after the rain

Z taking a break in the "lake"

Koley lovin' the mud

Kenna's not so sure about the mud situation

I mean, common, could they be any cuter? ;)

Chasing the Moments

At some point in the past few months, Peter and I were talking about life. It's hard. Why does it have to hurt so much? Why does it have to feel like such a struggle? Peter said to me that we have to appreciate the good moments. Look for the moments that are good, recognize them, recognize Jesus in them, thank Him for them.
The past month has been a hard one. It has been so good to see how the Lord is pushing us to Honduras, but it has been HARD. It turns out that selling your house and giving away all your stuff is hard. I know in my head that I don't want to put value in my stuff, but I do it anyway. I know that I want my treasure to be in heaven and not on earth (Matthew 6:19-21), but its hard to make that a reality. Well, maybe you have it mastered ... I'll say, its been hard for me. The Lord has been challenging me to practice what I say that I believe. And its been HARD.
And honestly, I've been struggling with the whole missionary thing ... not sure that I really want to go, not sure why He's choosing me for this, not sure I'm up for it. Again, I know in my head that I want to do and be where He wants me to be, but crap, its HARD, and my heart is having a hard time catching up. I don't want to leave my family. I don't want to leave my friends, or our church, or the girls school ... the list goes on and on. And then I wonder if I'm really cut out for this, would I be having all these fears and things I don't want to leave? If I was really good missionary material, wouldn't I just be happy to go?
Yet, I have to trust Him and trust that He knows me best, that He knows my family best. I have to trust that He has it all figured out and that He wants to use me. And there we are back to that trust word. I have been running into that a lot lately ... with my girls, with me, with His plans for us. He is asking me to trust. It. Is. Hard.
Parenting has been HARD. We have gone through so much change in the last month - the girls are adjusting just like we are and they have been crazy, to say the least. I am struggling with knowing how to discipline, how to love, how to not lose my patience when I have said the same thing for the 10th time to you .... just OBEY! How do I show Jesus's love to my girls? Am I showing them His love? How can I do this better .... or, lets be honest, how can I get through today?
But tonight, we had was one of those moments that Peter and I had been talking about. Such a sweet moment. We had been out at my parents house (have I mentioned how incredible my parents are?) having dinner and were on our way home. The windows were down (praise Jesus for cooler weather!). The music was blaring. The girls were dancing and screaming in delight. Peter and I were singing. And I was overcome with the Lord's goodness to me. He chose me. He chose me to raise these amazingly beautiful girls. Even thought I get frustrated, they are incredible. And he chose me for them. Wow. And he chose me to go to Honduras. Me. Me, who feels totally inadequate. Me, who so often feels out of place, who struggles with having a conversation with someone who I don't know. He called me. He has a plan for ME. He wants to use ME. He believes in ME. And that, makes me so excited for Honduras, so excited to go and see the plans He has. I am blown away by his care and his love and his purposes for me. And you know what? He has a plan for YOU. He chose you for your kids. He chose you for your job. He chose you to love on that person who you meet today. He wants to use you. I am struggling and learning how to say yes to Him, how to allow Him to use me and (this one is hard) learning how to be excited about what He's doing. I'm hoping and praying that the more I say yes, the more I get excited, the more those moments will run together because I will be experiencing more Jesus. I am praying that my eyes will be more and more opened to see Him. I know He's there, I just have to look for him, to chase after him. Will you practice saying yes with me? Will you practice getting excited about what He's doing? Let's run after Him together and chase those moments.

Training Conference

Peter and I had the opportunity to travel to Tennessee and Virginia for a conference/training with our sending agency, Christian Health Service Corps. We were gone for a week. Just Peter and I, no girls.

What?!?! I know, crazy. My mom, my dad, my Aunt Becky, and our friend Nikki are saints. Seriously. If you've been around my girls, you know that they are first and foremost AWESOME. But second, a huge handful. But they were so happy and content because they had amazingly wonderful family taking care of them!! Peter and I missed them WAY more than they missed us. But anyways, the conference ...

The view from the first four days of training. 

The first part of the conference was through Christian Medical and Dental Association. That part of it lasted for 3.5 days. It was packed with great information for us to think about and consider as we plan to move our family to Honduras in January (anybody else realizing that this is coming up very quickly?!?!). The next 1.5 days were with Christian Health Services Corps. There we learned a lot about fundraising and about safety while living in a new country. It was a great week. We met a lot of awesome missionary families who are planning to go to various parts of the world. It was inspiring to meet these different families and to hear about how God is working and moving and directing their lives.

As a bonus, Betsy and Donnie (my sister and her husband), live close to where the conference was held. We got to see them for dinner one night. They are so incredible. And fun. And awesome. If you don't know them, well, you should :)


Side note - a moving sidewalk in our terminal in the Charlotte airport caught fire while we were there! So. Crazy. This picture is of the gate that shut, trapping us in the end of the terminal. For 10 hours. So thankful the girls weren't with us!

Our not-so-happy faces after being trapped in the terminal for 10 hours!

Young Lives Camp

We had the opportunity, about two weeks ago, to spend a week at Lost Canyon, a Young Life camp in Northern Arizona. Peter was the camp doctor for the Young Lives week. It was awesome and hard and awesome :) Young Lives is a ministry that reaches out to teen moms, girls aged 13-18, who have babies of their own. Many of them have never heard about Jesus. Their leaders spend time with them building relationships and trying to be Jesus in their lives. Then they are given the opportunity to come to camp for a week. While at camp, volunteers fly in from across the country to watch the babies so that these girls can experience camp and be shown the love of Jesus. Throughout the week, these young moms are presented with the gospel message and with an invitation to follow Jesus. This picture is of all of the moms that made a decision to follow Jesus that week. Wow!!! So. Incredible.
Peter was the doctor for the week and he was BUSY. As he treated the girls and their babies, he spoke truth into their lives - praying with them (many of whom told him that they had never prayed), encouraging them, being a Godly male influence in their lives. Time after time, he would observe the girls, see their babies and what a great job they were doing taking care of them. He told the moms, "You are doing a good job. You are a good mom, " at which point they often burst into tears. No one had ever told them that before. It was such a blessing to be able to be apart of such an incredible ministry.
As a bonus, our girls LOVED it!! While Peter was doctoring, we

Skeeball!

spent the entire week outside playing, feeding the horses, slopping the pigs (yuck!), playing frisbee, playing in the rain, swimming, going down the water slides. Kenna went down both of the water slides all by herself!! She is one brave 4year old!!

Watching messy games

So. Beautiful. 

Slopping the pigs

Feeding the horses

The slides Kenna went down all by herself!

Koley

I first noticed that she had little tiny bumps all around her mouth. I was watching closely to make sure those bumps didn't spread. After about 15 minutes, she seemed itchy all over and I saw that the bumps were indeed spreading. So, I gave her some Benadryl and waited, hoping the Benadryl would take care of the problem. The rash got worse, so I called Peter (at work) and gave her more Benadryl. The rash continued to get worse. I called Peter again, put the girls in the car, and headed for the hospital. All the while, the rash was getting worse and she was freaking out.

As I was driving, I was having flashbacks to when I made a similar drive to the hospital with Kenna the first time she had peanut butter. And still more flashbacks to Halloween of this past year when we almost lost Kenna because she ate a Butterfinger. "Oh Jesus, help us."

I continued driving, watching to make sure she was still breathing. As we sat at a stoplight, about halfway to the hospital, she started vomiting. And I started to freak out. And pray some more. 

We made it to the hospital. Peter met me at the door, grabbed her from her car seat, and rushed her inside. They were able to start an IV, give her more medicine and stop the reaction. We stayed for three hours so that the doctors could observe her and make sure that the reaction truly was over. And now she is fine. 

It came on so quickly. I gave her scrambled eggs. We have been having a hard time getting her to eat protein. So, I thought I would try eggs. I watched her closely to watch and make sure she didn't have a reaction. Because of the allergies that run in Peter's family, and now in ours, I am very careful any time I give her a new food. For some reason I thought eggs would be fine. But they weren't. SO now we know. We are an egg and nut free family.

So thankful this beautiful girl is ok!

Peter and I have been talking a lot lately about trusting the Lord, about how much of our trust we give to Him. Some things we give Him willingly, others we hold back,  not sure that we are willing to surrender. Daily, it is a choice to give those things up to Him - often for me, not just a daily choice, but a moment-by-moment choice. One of the things I keep a close grip on - my girls. I know in my head that He is trustworthy, but my heart doesn't believe it - I am too afraid that I could lose them. But yesterday, the Lord asked me, challenged me to trust Him with Koley. And so, I practiced trust. I looked and remembered the ways that God has been faithful to me and to our family in the past and applied that to this situation with Koley, believing that even now, He is faithful. Even if that meant, I might lose her, I choose to trust, believing that He is still faithful. Every day is a journey with Him. This morning, I am feeling so grateful that His hand of protection was on my precious girl. Thank you, Jesus, for your grace!

Where You Go, I'll Go

So, our house sold. We feel such a mix of emotions - so excited for what God is doing. He has been moving and confirming over and over again that we are walking in the direction He wants us to go. That is exciting! But we feel sad too - it was a great house. So much family time. So much ministry. So much good stuff happened in that house.

We are already missing this view!

My mom (this is Katie writing) gave me a Chris Tomlin CD to borrow this week. There is a song on there that I can't get out of my head. It sums up how we have been feeling and what we are trying to do. I'm sure you've heard it. The chorus says, "Where you go, I'll go. Where you stay, I'll stay. When you move, I'll move. I will follow you. Who you love, I'll love. How you serve, I'll serve. If this life I lose, I will follow you. I will follow you." So, we are going. For the next 6 months, we are following Him to an apartment near PV mall. The girls are excited. We are excited. God is good.

Our front door for the next 6 months. Come visit!!

MedSend

We got accepted to MedSend!!! MedSend is an organization that makes it possible for healthcare professionals to serve on the mission field where God has called them, in spite of educational debt. Basically, MedSend raises money to fund a grant that will make Peter's Medical School loan payment for us while we are in Honduras. We could not be more thrilled. We feel so blessed and honored to have been chosen. We are completely blown away by the way the Lord is working and opening doors and pushing us onto the mission field. He is truly amazing. We are overcome. Thank you, Jesus! And thank you to those of you who are praying for us! We can feel your prayers. The Lord is working.

In case you want more information about MedSend and what they do, their website is medsend.org

Christian Health Service Corps

We found and have been accepted with our sending agency! We are so excited to be partnering with this amazing organization, Christian Health Services Corps! If you want to check them out, you can visit their website.

Christian Health Service Corps

We will be attending our first training with CHSC this summer for a week in July to help prepare us for our time. Things are moving. The Lord is good :)

On the market

This past week our house officially went on the market. Every step we take makes this whole process seem like more of a reality. Exciting. Terrifying. Can't wait to see what God has. So many emotions rolled up together.



And because this post seems so short, and because my girls are just too cute (i know i'm biased), here are some pics from this weekend we took, with their cousin Hadley, in dresses from my mom :)

Koley has started pointing at everything ...



Getting them all to sit still



Koley starting to escape



Kenna trying to help



More helping



Full on tackle



My fav

Going

It's been awhile since we have given an update ... trying to get into the practice of updating this. So, we have a lot to tell. We went to the missions conference in November and met a couple from Loma de Luz Hospital in Honduras. Peter and I overwhelmingly felt the Holy Spirit prompting us that this is it, this is the place He has been preparing us for. So, we contacted the hospital and set up a visit. We were there from March 17-24. We all five went because we wanted to see what it would be like to be down there with the girls. It was an adventure and it was hard.
Every morning when we woke up, after sleeping about 3 broken hours (we were all in one room), I told Peter, "I don't know if I can do this." And every night when he came back from working at the hospital, we would agree that this is where the Lord wants us. At the end of the week, we were convinced that the Lord was saying, "Go", and honestly, we weren't too happy about it. We love having our girls in Phoenix near their grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. We love being near everyone. We don't want to leave that. The first few days we were home, we talked about how we could make the choice to stay here and do what we wanted instead of what the Lord wanted. Ha. We were honest with the Lord about our feelings and asked Him to change our hearts and show us what He wanted. As we have kept praying and kept seeking the Lord, He is changing our hearts. He is giving us excitement. And he is assuring us that this is the path He has for us. Every day, we receive something in the mail, or hear a sermon, or read a verse, or receive a phone call from someone that somehow confirms that we are on the right path. He is whispering to us and challenging us to obey. And that is what we are doing. I don't always want to obey, but I trust that He knows best. I trust that He sees more than I do and that His plan is better than mine.
Right now we are looking for a sending agency, an organization we can partner with who will channel our funds, and hoping to have that figured out in the next week or two. We are putting our house on the market a week from today, hoping that it will sell so that we can live in something smaller until we leave. And we are having a HUGE yard sale this Saturday to start cleaning out our house.
We covet your prayers and we continue on this journey with Him.


Here are some pics of our trip :)

The girls dancing in our apartment ... no, Kenna had not just taken a bath, yes, that is sweat ... so HOT!


Playing with some of the other missionary kids ... this is Kingston and Kinzie :)



This picture kills me ... Kenna had just banged her knee when she jumped in the water .... so much screaming


Somebody washing their bus in the river


One of the beaches near where we are staying ... too bad its not beautiful where we will be :)


We spent our last night in Roatan ... a vacation spot in Honduras

Our Story

It started a long time ago. Two people in two very different places feeling a call to go, to follow the Lord, to live as missionaries overseas. They didn't know when. They didn't know where. They didn't know how. But they knew they were called.

For me (Katie) this happened in the summer of 1995 when I was on a missions trip to LA and Tecate. For Peter it happened in 1998 when he was living in South Africa. When we met (2002) and started dating (2004), we talked about how we both felt called to a life living as missionaries in a foreign country. This conversation has continued throughout our married life, still believing we were called, but knowing the time was not right. Until about a year and a half ago when we both began feeling the Lord pushing that the time was coming. We did not know what this meant or what it would look like, but we began praying and listening for direction. About that time, our friend let us know about the Global Missions Health Conference that takes place once a year in Louisville, Kentucky. We knew that it would be a great opportunity to gather information and make contacts and began praying that Peter's schedule would allow us to go.

As the year progressed, we continued to feel the Lord prompting that the time was coming for us to go. Peter's schedule opened up, and we were able to go to the conference - yay! :) We began asking the Lord for wisdom, to guide us, and to show us what He wanted us to see as we were there. We didn't know if that would be going to a seminar that answered some of our big questions, or meeting and finding the place He wanted us to go. We just wanted to be open to receive what He wanted us to receive.

At the conference, there were 200 different "vendors" set up with booths of information/recruiting. As we walked through the booths and talked with people, people kept telling us that we should talk with "Loma de Luz", a hospital in Balfate, Honduras. As we got to the booth and began talking with them, Peter and I both felt overcome. It was as though we were both hit with a tidal wave from the Holy Spirit saying, "GO". And so, we are obeying. We are taking steps towards Honduras as long as the Lord continues to lead us in that direction. Because we long, more than anything, to be where He wants us to be and to do what He wants us to do. We don't always get it right, but we are always striving to serve and please Him.