moving on...

Today is our moving day...again!

 

There is no way to express in words how much we have LOVED living at NTBI.  It has been a truly amazing, life-changing two years.  We have so many good memories of our life here.  And though we are sad to leave the relationships that we have built here, we are also excited to move on to our next stage of life. 

 

The past couple of weeks have been absolutely packed.  We have tried to make the most of the rest of our time here! 

 

Some of what we have been up to:

 

 

I went on a field trip with Kaine's class to Camp Michandoh.  It was so fun to see him interact with the kids in his class!

We said good-bye to some truly wonderful childcare teachers.  Our kids have been so blessed by NTBI's childcare!  (and sadly, I didn't get a picture of Halle with her preschool teachers...)

One of our good friends, Alex (a student in our class) came up to play Legos with Kaine for an afternoon.  Kaine loved it!  Alex, thank you so much for doing that with Kaine!

Nathan ran a 5k one morning...

And then we graduated later that morning!!  It felt a little weird to put on a cap and gown and march down an aisle to "Pomp and Circumstance" again, at 30 years old!  But it was such a great graduation.  Our teacher, Scot, had a really good message to our class that challenged and motivated us.  And my brother in law, Aaron also gave a great speech...read Jill's blogpost here to read his speech!

It was so great to see Scot again.  Remember a few months ago, I did a blogpost about this awesome family?  Well, Scot traveled back up to MI to speak at our graduation...what a blessing!

We have had many picnics and great times of fellowship with our friends...

And we have said some vere hard goodbyes.  This is Lisa: a very godly, loving, faithful woman who has mentored me these past 2 years.  I am so thankful that God put her into my life.

 

 

We are so thankful that, with all of these moves our family is making, our God is faithful.  We are privileged to serve Him!

 



Layla's twin

We are sure going to miss seeing these two crazy little girls play together!  Layla and Charlotte-Amelie are close in age and they get along so well.

 

And not only do they look alike... 

They also ACT alike!

 

 

Charlotte-Amelie, we are so glad that you have been a good friend to Layla these past two years.  Layla will sure miss you!  We love you  (and your family!)



so thankful

Our church family for these past 2 years has been AMAZING.  

They have been so incredibly loving, welcoming and supportive of us!  

We have spent countless Sunday afternoons crashing at families' houses, eating supper with them and having sweet fellowship with them.  They have been so interested and supportive of the mission work we are training for, and they have loved our family tremendously in so many ways.

We are so incredibly thankful for the 2 very short years that God has given us with them.  We are feeling so blessed to have them as our brothers and sisters in Christ!

Yesterday was our last day with them before we move back home for the summer, and then on to Missouri.  They had a farewell lunch in our honor, gave us a ton of cards and money, and sang us a song (which I proceeded to cry through...)  So it was a very bittersweet Sunday.

Here is Nathan praying with our kiddos before we left for church.  I think this is a priceless picture!

The Sunday School that our kids have been involved in.  

Layla and her teacher, Laura.

I have been blessed by so many ladies in church.  I love these ladies so much, and I have been so encouraged by these relationships!  Here is me with a dear friend, Kim...

Layla and her sweet friend, Amber.

Thank you so much to our church in Livonia...we cannot express to you how much you have blessed our family.  We love you!

Starting another round of goodbyes...

Goodbyes never get any easier.

 

We are finishing up our time here in Jackson, and while we are really excited to move on to the next phase of training...it is hard to leave so many friends here!

 

As my mentor and friend (on staff here at NTBI) told me recently..."It is hard to say good-bye to the students here every year, but we wouldn't want you to stay...we are training you to GO!"  (or something along those lines).  And it is so true!  God has graciously allowed us this time to grow here in Jackson, and He is now graciously allowing us to be trained in Missouri.  And then, Lord willing, He will allow us to bring the gospel to a group of people who, otherwise, would have no chance to hear it! We are so thankful for NTM's training, and so thankful to God for leading us in all of this.

 

So, that being said...we said goodbye to some very dear friends of ours yesterday.  Josh and Nicole are a fun, godly couple who have an amazing heart for the Lord and for the unreached.  Their enthusiasm and faith has been a testimony and example to Nathan and I in these past 2 years.  They will soon be welcoming their first baby into their family, and we rejoice with them--they will be wonderful parents!  They will be continuing on with New Tribes' training, but first they are going to work with their sending church for 2 years.  So by the time they begin their training in Missouri...we will be gone :( 

Josh is an amazingly fun, energetic, funny guy, and he is packed with personality.  He also loves everything to do with ninjas!  So you can imagine...the kids at our school (such as Kaine) just love him!    A couple of weeks ago, Josh spent his evening doing a "ninja party" for the kids here--it was so great!

Josh called himself "Sensei Josh"...

 

...and he had a faithful sidekick, "Sensei Nathan".  Ha...it was so funny!  The kiddos loved it.

 

Josh and Nicole, we love you guys so much!  We are so thankful that God has brought you into our lives.  We will be so excited for you guys to visit the MTC next year, and can't wait to meet your sweet baby :)  And of course, like we said yesterday...we will be so excited to see you at the Bema!!

Happy Mother's Day...

We are so blessed to have these women in our lives!  Thank you to our moms and grandmas...we cannot tell you how much we love and appreciate all of you!

 

 

finally...spring!

We have been enjoying this weather SO MUCH.  A winter in Michigan is very long!

 

A big event of our spring was our amaaaazing trip to Wayumi, out in Pennsylvania.  We returned back home this past Saturday, and really...the trip was amazing.  I took a ton of pictures (which I posted on my fb page, so maybe you have seen them!) and I thought about doing a blog post about our time there.  But then I thought, why do a blogpost when my sis already beautifully documented our trip on her blog??  Really, she did a great job on it, and we basically did all the same stuff they did!  So please, check out her blogpost about Wayumi!  (And Jill, thanks for doing it!)

 

So instead, here are some pictures from the past couple of days.  Again, this weather has been amazing.  I always love the beginning of spring!  I think I was made to live on the equator :)

 



Happy Spring, everyone!