what do our days look like?

Our life and schedule this semester is a bit different than it has been during the rest of our training. We have settled into a pretty good routine, though...and the semester is just FLYING.  Just like the rest of life, right?

I thought I would show you what we do all day here at MTC!  I apologize ahead of time for the amount of pictures :)

So ideally, my day would start around 5-5:15 am.  I would get up, work out, shower, and sit down with my Bible and coffee.  But. Notice I said my ideal day.  And we all know that the ideal isn't usually what happens :)  

So sometimes my ideal day comes true.  But most of the time, I get up about 6:15 (that snooze button is just too easy for me to reach!!)  I shower and then I go and get my coffee (that Nathan has already made me--he's the best!).  I sit down with my Bible and then we get Kaine and Halle out of bed about 6:45.  They join me in reading their own Bibles (or a Bible story book) until 7:00.  We just started doing that this semester and I LOVE those quiet mornings with these two!

Kaine and Halle leave for school at 7:18 (on the dot--Halle is terrified of missing the bus!)

In the meantime, I wake up our other two sleeping beauties...

Get them ready for class...

And we pack up our computers and our ling books...and we are off to our class at 7:55.  Layla likes to help Nathan drive--she's getting really good at steering!  Don't worry--it's just on campus :) 

Daisy always says, "Mommy, can I help you?"  Help me do what?  Sit?  I don't know, but I sure love cuddling her on the way to class :)

Here is our classroom building.  Nathan and I are both taking an intensive Linguistics class this semester (for those of you who don't know)--and we spend all morning, every morning in the same classroom.

Daisy always likes to lead the way...

The preschool childcare doesn't start until 8:15, so Layla and Daisy join us in our class the first 15 minutes every day.

Goofballs :)

At 8:15, I walk Layla and Daisy over to their class (in another building).  We stop at the mailboxes most mornings--the girls love to put letters in the mail slot!

Then I drop them off at their preschool with their AMAZING teachers.  We have been so thrilled with the wonderful ladies who give of their time to invest in our girls.  What a blessing.  Here is Layla with Miss Sandy :)

Daisy and her sweet friend Ezly.  Daisy and Layla love being in class with their friends!

So then I head back to my classroom for the rest of the morning.  I have to say it is SUCH a blessing to be able to take ling with Nathan.  We can talk about nerdy linguistic stuff together then :)

At noon, we pack our stuff up and pick up Layla and Daisy.  We usually stop by the "Food Pantry" to see if there is yummy produce.  MTC gets lots of donations of food--lots of produce and donuts :)  Oh, and boxes of these marshmallows that Daisy holding up--and asking me again to get for her!  She tries everyday :)

We go home and eat lunch...

And after lunch and cleaning up, Nathan heads back over to our classroom for one more hour of ling class and then he stays all afternoon working on homework.  I don't go to that extra hour of class because there isn't childcare in the afternoon--and by then, I am ready to have my girls at home with me!  So I do my homework at home.

Oh, by the way...speaking of homework.  It is a very big part of my life right now!  Just sayin :)

So Layla and Daisy play for awhile before Daisy's nap...

Ha!  They fit under my thirty one bags so well!

Daisy's getting tired!  So I put her to bed for a nap (which she is starting to grow out of.  Will somebody please pinch me?  Very soon I will have ZERO kids who take naps!  Their childhood is going so fast!!)

Anyway, if you come to our house on almost any given afternoon, this is where you will find me :)  This is where I do all my  homework.  I usually work on it for 2-3 hours each afternoon, and sometimes I have to do more after the kids are in bed at night.  It kind of sounds like a lot, but it usually goes pretty well...

And that is largely due to this girl.  Layla is such a help!!.  She LOVES to color and do crafty things.  She is great at doing this by herself--but she is right there in the kitchen with me, so I love that.  Many days I will let her watch some kind of a movie, too.  Of course, Layla doesn't mind that at all!

There are some days, too, when I have a day off from homework.  On those days, I have more time to bake with Layla...

...or read books with her.  I love those days :)

Kaine and Halle get home from school at about 3:50.  I try to stop doing homework about when they come home.

Halle loves helping me get supper ready.  Actually, all the girls love it.  Sometimes it's helpful. (Halle is getting older!!) but many times not so helpful (ahem...Daisy)  :)  But it is cute!

Our evenings are usually pretty chill.  Lots of family time :)

Or sometimes we get together with friends!  These guys are Jake and Ally, our next door neighbors.  We are so thankful for them!   Such an awesome couple.  And their little Hank...he is so adorable!

So our average evenings are spent at home with our kids.  They are usually in bed by 8:30 or so.  And after that, I have time with Nathan!  Oh, but lots of nights it is spent doing ling :)  Oh well, this is just our season of life right now, and we really are enjoying it!  I think we self timed this picture of ourselves around midnight one night.  We were finishing up a KILLER of an assignment.  It is very rare for us to have to stay up that late though!

So...there you have it.  An average day in the life of Nathan and Rachel :)  Now, I'm ready to enjoy this weekend--my parents are here for a visit and it just makes my heart so happy.  Praising Jesus!

the judgment seat of Christ.

How much do you think about the judgment seat of Christ?  If you are like me, it is too easy to forget that I will someday be face to face with my Savior (what?!)...and we will look at my life together.  Jesus will justly determine what I did during my life (as a believer) that was eternal-reward-worthy, and also what works would be "burned in the fire" (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).

Now, just to make sure we're on the same page, this is NOT the judgment to determine if I will go to Heaven or Hell.  I won't even be at that judgment, because I have trusted Jesus as my Savior and I am a child of God.  Nope, this is a different judgment that God tells us about in His Word.

The Judgment Seat of Christ.  In the original Greek, the word is "bema"--which Paul used because the "bema seat" was the place where contestants in Greek sports were rewarded (think laurel wreaths). Therefore, many people today as well as Bible translations use this term--the Bema seat  of Christ.

Anyway, to live with an eternal mindset is SO my desire--and again, there are so many times I just. forget. about. it.

Crazy, that I can so easily forget something of such MASSIVE importance!

2 Corinthians 5:9-10

"Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done while in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad."

 God makes it clear in the Word that I will be rewarded for my works as a believer.  Will these rewards be worth it?  You better believe it.  On the other hand, will I be completely sorrowful and regret the many times and opportunities in my life that I squandered?  Yes, I believe so.

And He makes it so clear..."each one may receive the things done while in the body."  Right now, in my short lifetime, I have a very unique opportunity.  This is the only chance I will ever have to do anything of eternal value, to gain eternal rewards (or opposite--to lose rewards).  This. is. it.  Wow, that's a wake up call to me!

So friends...I have a recommendation.  Nathan and I watched a DVD called "The Bema" that was AMAZING.  It's not a movie, but more of a dramatized sermon, for lack of a better way to describe it.  It was so powerful, and I know it will be one that I will want to watch over and over.

Here is a link to buy the dvd--it is by Pete Briscoe, and just WOW.  We loved it.

Brothers and sisters, let's spur each other on, to look forward to this day and to live for this day!  To live for eternity!  I know that for the billions upon billions upon trillions of years that I spend in Heaven, that I would be forever grateful that I did so.  But we just need each other, don't we?  To remind one another--because our flesh just forgets.

Love you all!  I am so thankful for each of you.

(Another great book on this subject, that Nathan and I would both highly recommend:  The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn.  It is so good!)

"What are you going to do with those voiceless consonants"?

That is just one example of a question that I asked Nathan this past week!

Some other conversation pieces may have included:
"Do you really think the nᵈ could be its own separate phoneme?  That doesn't really make sense, since it only occurs initially!"

"Oh man, I can't believe I missed 3 CSE's on the Pima Bajo homework!"

"The [i] palatalizes alveolar and alveopalatal consonants."  (Okay, that statement was actually made by our ling teacher.  I'm not that smart yet!)


So, you get the picture.  Basically, our lives (and our conversations) are filled with linguistics right now!

How was our first week of Ling?  It was really, really good!  Here are some reasons why:

• The classes are interesting to both of us, which is really an answer to prayer!
• Layla and Daisy have been amazing in the afternoons--playing so well together, so that I am able to do my homework right there in the kitchen.  Seriously, it has gone so well!
• Nathan and I have both been able to get our homework done (for the most part) by suppertime each day!  We know this won't always be the case, but we are so thankful for such an encouraging start to the semester!

Even though this is where I am spending every afternoon...

We have still had lots of fun as a family.  Time for being outside in the beautiful Missouri weather...

And even a bonfire in the middle of January!  Who would have thought we would ever do that?  Growing up in Indiana, I don't think I ever experienced that!  So fun:)

Thanks so much for your prayers, everyone!  Once again, we are just marveling at how gracious God is to us.  He is so good.

this thing called "ling"

This next semester, Nathan and I will be taking an intensive Linguistic training--otherwise known as "Ling".  A lot of our schedule will look the same as before...

• Kaine and Halle will still go to the public school in town (this is their last semester of that)
• Layla and Daisy will still go to their preschool childcare class here on campus
• Nathan and I will still attend classes every morning (from 8:00 to noon)

However, there will be some differences from our other semesters of training...

• We fully expect our minds to be consumed by this thing called Ling.  Our Ling instructor even told us in an email: "I should warn you.  After this class you will never think the same way again...You might even become a little nerdy."  Haha!  Awesome!
• We will have WAY more homework than before.  Actually, today a friend (who took Ling last semester) told Nathan that MOST days he was able to get his Ling homework done in 4 hours.  Other days, it was more than 4 hours, and some less.  Hmmm...

So, Nathan and I have been thinking about the upcoming semester.  It is a bit rare for both the husband and the wife to BOTH take Ling, but after prayer and counsel with respected staff, we feel this is the right decision for our family.

But.  Thinking through the logistics of it is tricky.  Just think, if we EACH have 4 hours of homework every day, how will that work out?

We are trusting God to help us be productive and efficient this semester as we tackle Ling, family life, and preparations for Papua New Guinea.  We are fully expecting the semester to be VERY. BUSY.

But that is okay!  Actually, this will be phenomenal training for our ministry in Papua New Guinea, because we know that our lives there will be very full as well.

All this to say...we appreciate your prayers as we will start Ling tomorrow!  We really want to get as much out of our training as we can, but also balance that with our family life.  Another focus of our semester will be to be more intentional with our kids in helping them to develop good habits of being in the Word.  We have been  talking with them about ideas of how our family can make it work (time for reading and reflection, and then sharing with each other).  We tried it out yesterday, and it went great!  So we want to make time for that.

 (our first day of "family Bible study")

And of course we want time to just have fun together as a family.  We know it will all work out, we just need to be intentional.

(These two are so AWESOME.  Love them!!)

With the semester being so busy, I will probably not be blogging as much.  I will update it occasionally, but it just takes time, you know?  I will try to do more with instagram, which I find takes way less time.  You can follow me:  @rachebethm.

We love each one of you!  We thank God all the time for how loved and supported we feel.  Thank you!

starting a year filled with "lasts".

One year from now, our family will be flying across the Pacific, headed to our new life in Papua New Guinea.  

How do I feel about this?

Amazingly, God is giving me a great excitement and joy in starting this journey.  This did not happen overnight.  In fact, throughout much of our training, I dreaded the days when we would need to start doing paperwork for visas, passports, plane tickets, etc.  I was always glad that we still had a few years of training ahead of us.

Now, we are down to one more year.  Our training is almost done.  And God has instilled in me a desire to be in Papua New Guinea!

Of course, I have always been on board with doing tribal missions, always been convinced that this was what God had for us--but still, deep in my heart there was a sort of dread to actually go.

I am so thankful that I am feeling joy and excitement now.  And I do realize that these feelings will come and go (it will obviously be very painful to say goodbye next year!), but I am just trusting the Lord to keep growing me and causing me to depend fully on Him.

So now, as I look ahead to this next year...I am very aware that we will be experiencing our "lasts" before we are overseas.  Our "last" Valentine's Day to go to our favorite restaurant on a date...our kids' "last" birthdays in the States, our "last" summer, "last" VBS, "last" Christmas...etc etc etc etc.

This is incredibly bittersweet.  It reminds me of the kids' book Let Me Hold You Longer by Karen Kingsbury (have you read it?  I highly recommend it--but be ready to weep while you are reading it to your kids!!)  It is basically about a mother focusing on cherishing her kids' "lasts" instead of always focusing on their "firsts".

This year, my prayer will be that God will allow me to cherish each moment--and that I can pass this on to our kids, too.  We want our kids to be aware of what our future will look like, and to be captivated by the direction that God is taking our family.  We want our kids to catch the vision of the amazing things God is doing around the world--and that they will be so excited to be a part of it!  But on the other hand, we want to be intentional with helping our kids to treasure moments here in the States before we go overseas.

Thank you for your prayers, dear friends!  We feel them, and we thank you for joining us on this journey!

wayumi weekend.

This past weekend, Nathan organized a guys weekend to Wayumi, out in Jersey Shore, PA.  

{What is Wayumi?  Just think AMAZING teaching about missions and what God is doing in the world--and how everyone can be a part.  Those who run Wayumi are New Tribes missionaries with a passion for missions and unreached peoples--and seriously, the teaching is just amazing.}

Click this link to check it out!

We have been praying for this weekend for months.  Our major prayer requests:

• That this weekend would be, first of all, God glorifying!
• That the weekend would be a great time of fellowship and of guys spurring each other on.
• We prayed that there would be a good group from our sending church who would catch the vision of what we will be doing in Papua New Guinea.

Well, God abundantly answered those prayers!  God actually exceeded our expectations for the weekend--Nathan said he doesn't think it could have gone any better.  Thank you, Jesus!

We want to extend a huge thank you to these guys who took a weekend out of their busy schedules to go to Wayumi!  And for the wives who encouraged their husbands to go :)  We appreciate each one of you so very much.  

God brought a verse to Nathan's mind during this weekend.  

Philippians 1:3-5:

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

This is how we feel about these guys and the rest of our sending church.  We join Paul as we pray this about you all!  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Christmas break post #2

More Christmas break pictures!  We are loving this time after the holidays--we are still in IN, staying at Nathan's parents' house.  Our schedule has slowed down a bit, and now we are just enjoying each day.  Although--I would enjoy the days a bit more if I could walk outside without getting frostbite!  This kind of cold is just nuts.  It really makes me excited for jungle heat :)

So, here are some more glimpses into our Christmas break!

We celebrated 13 years of marriage.  It is incredible to see all that God has brought us through in these 13 years--who knows what the next 13 will hold??  (Hopefully a tribal church plant, among many other things!!)

My mom took me and my girls to the mall.  It was so fun!  They have hardly been to a mall (I think Halle has once or twice)--so they really loved it.  Thanks for that fun day, mom!

We spent New Years Eve with many families.  It was a very fun night.  Always a highlight of our Christmas break, that's for sure!

(Nathan did a devotion for all the kids--a great object lesson that involved shooting rolls of toilet paper into the air with a leaf blower :)  Great job, babe!)

We celebrated this sweetie's first birthday...Happy Birthday, August!!

And we have been celebrating Kaine's 9th birthday!  This lucky kid has had 3 different "parties" so far--this one was at my parents' and he requested shrimp for dinner :)

And then on another night, we took Kaine and his two best friends bowling--these three boys are so great.  They get along so well!  We are so thankful for them!

Daisy also came along, which made it even more fun :)

Daisy was even up until midnight, watching a movie with us and the boys, and playing Nintendo 64 with them...so cute :)

I had a fun coffee date with my girlfriends and all of our daughters :)

And we had a really awesome time on a double date with Aaron and Jill.  Loved that evening!!

We had a surprise birthday party for my good friend, Jane!  What a blast.  Love you, Jane!  And thanks for planning it, John and Pam!!

And another fun evening with our friends.  These couples are seriously gifts from God.  We are beyond thankful for them!

And...some random happenings...

Nathan worked some days for his dad.  Here he is, working on the room they are remodeling in their house--the girls thought the nail gun was too loud :)

I actually worked out a couple of the days!  Ha, that is a first for Christmas break!  I got the girls to join me one of the days--I guess this is their "workout pose" :)

And...Nathan and the kids played in the snow one of the days--before the arctic temperatures hit Indiana.  Much too cold to do that now!

We will head back to Missouri on Monday or Tuesday.  We will keep you all posted...thanks and love you all :)