GOOD MORNING DAY 2

We are back on the road. We made it to Waco, TX and found a nice Days Inn to sleep at right off the highway. We don't have a long drive ahead of us, just about 5 hours. The girls slept great last night and don't seem to mind climbing back into the car this morning. We have had little sleep, but a cup of coffee with a double shot of espresso has me ready for the day. The weather has finally indicated that we are in Texas and I sigh in relief, because we left our coats behind in Illinois. The temperature is 50F and rising! We are listening to a CD by Selah that was a gift from our dearest friends Brice and Kellie Musgrave for this trip. The song "Before the Throne of God above" has a line that says, "My name is graven on His hands; my name is written on His heart." It's true; it says in the Bible that our name is written on the palm of His hand. I try to imagine the Creator of heaven and earth who knows everything about me, showing me the palm of His hand and saying, "Jessie, I love you so much, do you see how I have etched your name in my hand." Could you imagine looking down and seeing your name? How can we not fully trust a God who not only has our name written on the palm of His hand, but has even had nails driven through them for our sake? How great is His love.

What a long day…..

We decided to make this first day of driving a killer. We hoped by pushing hard the first day that we could make the rest of our travel days lighter and easier on the girls. Maybe if we cover enough ground the first day we could actually stop the next day to see a local attraction or two. That is just what we have accomplished. We set out around 6:30am and it's now 9pm. As I'm typing we have crossed over into Texas. We had planned to travel 730 miles and stay in Denison, TX for the night but we have passed it by and are heading forward. All three of the girls are asleep and Aletta is loudly snoring as always. We are seizing the opportunity to drive more while they are comfortably unaware that they are still in car seats.

On the road again Friday morning , Day 1

Let the journey continue! After a most wonderful two weeks in Illinois with my family we are now back on the road heading south. The Lord blessed Andy with some heavy snow fall as we headed out this morning, before the sun was up. He will miss the snow. We are now driving down a long strip of open highway with nothing around us. I cannot help but think about the long hours of driving ahead of us and the unknown awaiting us. The last two weeks were so wonderful to spend with my parents as they had so many great stories of their own time in Mexico. My parents packed up and moved to Mexico to become missionaries in 1984. I was only four years old at the time. They had never been out of the country and had no idea what was ahead of them. Those 9 years in Mexico made me who I am and poured into me the very passion that fuels this journey in my heart.

On our wedding day my father, at our request, preached the gospel message. During the message he spoke of the attitude many parents have towards serving the Lord. An attitude of, "You may have me, but don't touch my children." Of course, no parent really wants to see their kids move far way and find them in an environment that is not as safe. However, we know that God gave His only Son for us and sent Him to us to save us. The Lord calls us to hold everything in our life with palms open in offering to Him. Thank you to both of our parents for not just accepting what the Lord has asked from your children, but actually encouraging us to go. I stood out by our car hugging my mom goodbye while large snowflakes fell on us. As I hugged her a hymn rang through my head. "I surrender all to Jesus. All to Him I freely give". It was a beautiful moment that was cut short by my older sister yelling out the door, "Jessie, Live long and prosper" while holding up the Star Trek hand symbol. Ha,ha, too funny! I will never understand Star Trek.

A brief update

We are trying to up date our blog more often now that we are on the road and living out of our suit cases for now. We are now sitting at Jessie's parent's house, for a few days of preparing, as we have moved on from our home in Minnesota. We spent a good part of the day figuring out which way would be best to go all the way down to Guadalajara, Mexico. It will be a good four day stretch as it will be about 2000 miles from where we are now. This is a prayer request for us - The peace of the Lord, as well as the Lord's protection as we travel. Our girls especially will need extra grace for 4 days in the car, which is pretty tough.

We are planning to video log our trip down. Expect more soon.

Last night in Minnesota!

Beginning and the end

The beginning of the end of our life as we have known it for the last two years. I (Andy) am done working for the Directv as of Wednesday. I looking forward to spending more time with my family over the next few weeks. We moved out of our townhome and are now staying with my parents for the remainder of our time in Minniesnowta. (12" of snow before Christmas). It has hard to think about what we should bring or not bring with us. With a car top carrier and a small trailer the space is limited. We packed up the house and the stuff that we will be taking. We think it isn't much stuff, but adding a little here and a little there has turned out to be more than the space we have available. So, once we are done with our townhome, we will be focusing our attention on down sizing the stuff we have.

We are now in the middle of our Moving Sale. It seems that in the middle of winter, having a foot of snow, that the amount of people that come through our doors is minimal. Praise the Lord though, people have still been coming. It is amazing when they might have come only to buy one thing and walk away buying much more.

Jessie has been so gracious during this whole time. She has been such a blessing to me and my kids. She is a great mom even in the midst of so much change.

Sunday will be our last Sunday at Church Upon the Rock. We are sad to be leaving our home church. It has been such a blessing for us to be apart of a church that supports us in our decision to follow God's direction for our lives. They will be praying for us on Sunday. We need all that we can get during this time of transition.

Be Blessed!