an overwhelming task.

Well, we are in the middle of our classes here at mtc and let me just say...wow.  They are awesome!  We feel so privileged to be able to train here with NTM.  The teachers have so much experience with missions and we truly feel that we are learning from the best. 

That being said...oh my goodness.  I am starting to think HOW will we ever plant a church in an unreached people group?  Praise the Lord for His Spirit, because we know it is ONLY through Him that we will ever accomplish this huge task.  We are in the middle of a class called Worldview Analysis, which is really challenging us about the importance of learning the people group's worldview before ever trying to teach the Gospel to them.  We are learning that it is crucial to minister to others at a worldview level.  There is a TON of stuff I could say about this, but it is overwhelming for me to try and put it in this blog post.  Maybe another time :)  But all that to say--the only way we will be able to persevere through that process will be because of God's grace and His Spirit.  

Another class we just finished was called Big Picture.  This class gives us an overview of all the different stages of tribal church planting with NTM, and all that goes into seeing that church grow to maturity.  Let me just say it is a LOT.  Here is the model that they use (I think if you click on it, it should get bigger):

Again, if I think about our future in doing all of this, I just can get overwhelmed.  I am so thankful for the training and discipleship we will receive here at mtc, from missionaries who have been overseas, went through very difficult times, planted churches, been kicked out of countries by governments, and experienced everything imaginable.  

We are also thankful for the fact that we will have so many praying for us back home!  They are doing a great job of drilling into us here that church planting is NOT an individual effort.  It takes so many people in so many roles, and for that we are so thankful.  

During our "kickoff" here the first day of classes, they showed us this video.  If I begin to feel overwhelmed or worried, videos like this are great to watch.  It reminds me of the immensity and urgency of the task, and WHY we are doing what we are doing!  I loooooooove this video.

Thanks for your prayers!  We feel them, as we are finally starting to get into a routine here :)  Have a great weekend...we are looking forward to ours because my parents are going to make a quick weekend trip to see us!  Yay!

To Grandpa Jim and Grandpa Dave:

Kaine and Halle wanted to show off their latest thing to you guys :)  Hopefully you can watch them do it in person someday!

We love you and we miss you, Grandpa Jim and Grandpa Dave!

Love,

Kaine and Halle

this world is not my home...

 

So here is the story with our housing here at the MTC.  A couple of weeks ago I got a phone call...there was a crack discovered in our bathtub (in the apartment that we were assigned to), and there would be lots of drywall work, etc to go with it.  As a result, when we moved here we would have to live in temporary housing for the first week or so.  When we heard this news, we were a little disappointed but understanding, and we decided that we would be positive about the whole thing, even though it wasn't going to be ideal.

Long story short, we did move into the temporary housing (which was "old housing") for the first few days. The temporary apartment was small but they gave us 2 that were attached, so we had some more space.  There was also no shower or laundry, so we needed to use the "wash house" for that.  We put almost ALL of our belongings, food, and clothing up in our "real" apartment, and just kept the bare minimum with us down in our temporary place.  The maintenance guys here worked extremely hard to get our "real" apartment done for us so that we could move in before our classes start.  We cannot begin to say how much we appreciate their hard work!  A couple of the guys who were working on it are dads with families at home...and they stayed until almost midnight one night trying to get a lot done on it.  Wow.  What servants!

So anyway, on Friday morning the work was done and we were able to move in!  We are now almost completely settled, praise the Lord.  We are thankful.

So...what does the title of this post have anything to do with this, you might be wondering?  Well, as we were living in our temporary apartment last week, I was really struck that we were actually living out an analogy of an awesome spiritual truth!  (disclaimer:  I do realize that this analogy probably has holes in it and will break down at some point...but you will get the idea :) )


When we were living in our temporary apartment, we knew that it was just that...temporary!  We were very aware that it would just be for a very short time. 

Therefore, we didn't mind that it was pretty small...

I didn't mind that Nathan stuck forks in our "curtains" to hold them up...

Our girls could not care less that they had no pajamas (and had to wear their brother's tshirts to bed)...

It was really not a problem that we had very little living space...

And I had zero desire to unpack and put stuff in drawers!  Why waste my time in this temporary apartment when I could be up in our "new" place setting it up for us to live in? 

I thought this was all such a wonderful picture of having an eternal perspective.  It challenged me and really made me think...

When we realize that we are living in a temporary home (this world), we can put up with a lot!  We do not care to spend a lot of time and money on our earthly lives, because we know our time here is so very short. 

We want to be spending all of our time preparing for our forever home in heaven.  When we have a heavenly perspective it should affect the way we respond to unpleasant realities of this life.  It should cause us to be content with our circumstances here on earth!

An eternal perspective should cause us to live for this day...

and our REAL home!

 

 

I really want to emphasize that our temporary apartment was not bad at all.  We kind of enjoyed our time there!  But I will admit, it is very nice to be all set up in our new place now :)

our new home!

After spending an amazing summer in our hometown with our family and friends, we are now halfway across the country in our new home!  We are thrilled to be here, but also missing everyone back home.  We definitely LOVED our summer.

 

But anyway, onto our journey.

 

Nathan and Aaron did an awesome job of packing this trailer to the max.  I was a little nervous the door would pop open or something, and tons of stuff would spill out...but I know I worry and analyze too much :)  It didn't happen.

We are so blessed with such amazing parents.  My parents and Nathan's parents came along with us (Dad and Mom M, thank you for hauling the trailer!  And Dad and Mom S, thank you for hauling Kaine and Halle! :) ).  Aaron's dad also came with a truck full of our stuff--we missed you, Carmen!  Wish you could have come too!

We were honored to spend 10 hours in our van with this lovely traveling companion.  Deborah, we are so glad you came with us!  We so loved talking with you and catching up on life.  And our kids loved the attention you gave them, too!

I was super excited to see the Arch!  St. Louis looks like a beautiful city.

Finally, we arrived at New Tribes Mission's Missionary Training Center (MTC)!  We were so glad to be here.  The drive went well, but 10 hours of sitting down is a lot!

Here is a picture of our apartment (for now).  I will post about this more, but we are living in temporary housing while the maintenance guys furiously remodel our bathroom.  We are thankful for how hard they are working on it so that our family can move into our permanent apt soon!

And this is a pic of our "real" apartment!  Isn't it beautiful?  These apartments are kind of like 4 townhouses attached together.  So we will have a 2-story apartment, which I think is so fun :)  Our apartment unit is the one on the far left.  We are also excited to have good friends from NTBI as our next door neighbors!

Here is the view from our front door.  The apartment building that you see in this pic is another "4-plex".  Aaron and Jill live in this one.  We are so thankful that they live so close to us!

The staff has been so kind and welcoming to us.  Here we are with Tom, taking a tour of the place.

What a beautiful place that God has blessed us with for the next 1.5 years!

A staff family invited us and a bunch of other new students over for a cookout last night--it was so fun to meet new people and catch up with old friends!

They made our parents feel welcome too, which we were so thankful for!

We are very excited to be trained at this exceptional facility.  We know we are about to learn a ton and be challenged, stretched and grown.  We are so very thankful that God led us to New Tribes! 

 

 

We would appreciate prayers as we settle in, get Kaine started at public school and our kids in their classes, and as we continue our training! 

third annual slip n slide day!

Our kids are loving this tradition that we have unintentionally started!  Nathan's dad builds houses, so he always has tons of visquine (no idea if I spelled that right!) around the house.  They also have great hills that are perfect for a massive slip n slide.  So this is the third year now that we have done this, and it is so much fun!

 

At least, Kaine and Halle think it is so much fun!  They were loving that thing.

Layla, on the other hand...not so much!  Ha!  Poor girl...Nathan thought if he just tossed her down she would see how much fun it was.  Nope, didn't work.  (Love my picture-taking shadow in this pic!  Seems to be my usual pose :) )

Daisy wasn't too sure about the slip n slide either...

But Nathan sure loved it! 

And being the great daddy that he is, Nathan soon had the these two begging for more.  Good job, honey!!

 

 

Fun times.  Great summer.  Headed to Missouri for our next phase of training in just 2 days...and more on that later!

ahhh...these friendships of ours

Ever since we have been heading to the mission field, I have started viewing friendships differently.  While I definitely LOVED and valued friendships before, I now see them in a whole new light.  This summer we have been so blessed to strengthen friendships, but it is bittersweet. The closer that we get to people, the more difficult it will be to say goodbye!  Sigh.  How I long for heaven.

 

This was a very BUSY and FUN summer.  We filled it with family and friend time.  I wish I had taken pictures of each family or friend that we spent time with, but I didn't take my camera everywhere (although I'm sure it felt like it to my kiddos!)   Oh well.  So these pictures represent a small part of the people we (and our kids) were blessed by this summer.  (I am going to make a mental note to make sure to take pics of Nathan and I with friends next summer!  Almost all of my pictures are of our kids and their friends!) 

 

 

 

So thankful for friendships!  Nathan and I believe strongly that friendships are one of the GREATEST gifts that God has given to us.

2 peas in a pod

 

LOVE their matching facial expressions!!!

A visit from Aunt Jenna

A highlight of our summer is always when Jenna comes to visit!  Our kiddos absolutely adore their aunt Jenna, and they pick up where they left off with her like it was yesterday.  I am so thankful for that.  The last time Jenna was home was at Christmas, so our kids were so excited to be with her again.

 

Our time with Jenna was very short but sweet this summer.  She came home while we were in Florida, so we had a few less days with her.

 

Grandma Steffen took us to Grounds and Grains for a yummy breakfast (and super yummy coffee for me!!)...

We celebrated Kyle's birthday...(and no, Nathan is not sleeping in that first pic!  There is just something about Jenna that brings out the weirdness and goofiness in him!)  :)

Here is Kyle, just moments before his hair almost caught fire!  No kidding...it was singed and we could all smell burnt hair.  Yikes!

Kyle and Jenna took Kaine and Halle on an "uncle/aunt/niece/nephew date" to the Tin Caps.  Kaine and Halle had a BLAST, and they loved being spoiled by their uncle Kyle!  They came home with Tin Caps hats and these short little souvenir bats. 

And Kaine is showing off his almost empty bag of cotton candy :)

 

Good times.  Jenna, we LOVE having you home!  Now, we are excited to come and visit you and our kids can't wait to meet their "cousins" in Mexico!!