Let it be with me just as you say...

So, I (Kelly) am trying hard not to miss this beautiful season of Christmas and gift of Jesus while we are having a "Jesus Adventure." I want to share a portion out of a book I picked up today. It so perfectly connected me and what we are experiencing right now to those precious months before Christ was born.

"What do Bible stories tell us about living this human life well, living it totally? Primarily and mostly they tell us that it means dealing with God. Always at the forefront and in the background of circumstances, events, and people, it's God. In the pages of scripture we see the acts of salvation, of providence, of blessing... We see God entering history in the form of a servant. Though there were auspicious signs that preceded and accompanied his birth, preparing the world for the majestic and kingly, the birth of Jesus itself was of the humblest peasant parentage, in an unimportant town, and in the roughest of buildings. He made a career of rejecting marks of status or privilege. Everything about Jesus spoke of servitude. Good tidings. Good news. Gospel. This gospel is not just any good news- it is the unexpected, fresh, surprising news that God loves and has provided the means for our salvation. God's love and our salvation are completely expressed and fully accomplished in Jesus Christ. That is good news. God is generous and never runs out of blessings. God delights in giving- it's what he does best. But his love is passionate and seeks faithful, committed love in return. At the Christmas season and throughout the year, may we respond to God's love and God's word with a heart like Mary, who humbly and willingly said: "Let it be with me just as you say." (Luke 1:38)"

From God's Message of Christmas Love by Eugene H.Peterson

Extreme Paraguay!

Extreme Paraguay - Introduction Video from Extreme Nazarene Ministries on Vimeo.

Almost to December...

Please keep praying for our fundraising. It is harder than I thought it would be and folks are so busy right now. I keep likening this to having a baby. I feel like we have been "pregnant" with missions for a while now, but the anxiety and labor of delivery is upon us. It at times feels overwhelming but just the same, we are sure and faithful that God's beautiful miracle is at the end. We are full of hope but feeling the pressure! Just in the last few days our scanner stopped working and we have been needing to scan a lot of documents/paperwork for our Extreme Nazarene personnel file (a wonderful time for it to break, right?). So we went to Cole's cousin's house and when we got there I had only 3 passports instead of 4. When we looked for it at home this morning it was like it has just disappeared. There were only so many places it would have been placed and it was in none of those places. I thought I lost it. We were going through trash, I was crying, the whole bit...until I looked in the scanner : ) Oh how our worry and stress will defeat us!! It was frustrating and discouraging, but also reminded us to rely on the Lord to do his will in his time. We must not wait lazily but work tirelessly to do good and trust that God will bless these efforts to please him.

Destination: Paraguay

Cha Cha Cha...The plan is to arrive in Arequipa, Peru in early February to begin Missionary and language training then from there head to Asuncion, Paraguay to stay for the following 24 months...BUT oh my goodness we have a lot to do before we get there (blogging not included)!!! I am working on our prayer cards and partnership letters to begin fundraising which is quite time consuming so far. Meanwhile we have to get through all the administrative requirements, packing, logistical details...while still having to be parents, clean house, run errands, cook dinner. Not to mention the holidays coming up which for us will be simplified in some ways and quite busy in others... We are trying to wrap our minds around it all one bit at a time! : ) Please pray for this effort! It is so hard asking for so much help (because we crazily need it!) but we are convinced that this is about the Lord showing himself to us all, not about us doing something that seems extraordinary. Christ is already doing amazing things here, in Peru, in Paraguay and all over... and He has called us to take part...that, to us, is extraordinary!

Our first exciting post!

Soooo... the Jesus Adventure is underway! I can start perhaps by telling you how we came by our blog name... when Cole was away in Colombia for two weeks we had tried explaining to the kids why daddy was going to be gone and what he would be doing. Teddy brilliantly started calling it daddy's "Jesus vacation". So we have decided to carry the idea on but of course this is much more than a vacation, but it is all about Jesus!

So, follow our blog! Check back every now and then to see what in the world is going on with us!

You can also check us out at www.extremenazarene.org/williams and while you are there browse the Extreme Paraguay info to see how you might get involved...perhaps you might find your heart strings pulled to come down too!