Pushing Yourself

One of the good and bad characteristics that we have is that we aren't quitters.  We are highly competitive, hard-headed, determined, persistent and self-motivated to go the extra mile.  These are not always bad but we have so many times lived these characteristics out of selfishness and not out of a heart abandoned to the Lord.  We have set our goals, desires, dreams ahead of God's and asked Him to join us.  We haven't walked in wisdom from above.  Thankfully, the Lord is gracious and has shown us mercy and compassion even though we didn't and don't deserve it at all.

On the flip side, these characteristics are what keep us going.  It is what makes us keep going back out on the painful, bad, long, dirty roads to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, train and equip local believers, see new churches become healthy churches, listen to and work alongside existing churches and conventions, work with leaders and seek to maintain a healthy IMB team in Madagascar.  This don't quit attitude is what makes us endure the hardships of life, ministry and dealing with people.  We know that we are right where the Lord needs us to be.  We aren't going to quit.  However, as we have aged a little we have learned to slow down and seek guidance from above on the pace of life we must lead.  We have learned that moving ahead of the Spirit of God is not healthy for anyone involved.  Thus, as we see Him moving we are so excited that it is all Him!  He is the one at work and we are just called to be obedient.  We seek to live out a life of obedience by continually pushing ourselves to the max for His glory.  We are willing to waste our lives on Him.

I will be honest and say that as we keep pushing ourselves to the max and as we look at stateside approaching we are exhausted and worn out.  There are days that we don't know if we have anything left in the tank, and then we seem to just be rejuvenated by studying, hearing, memorizing or meditating on the Word of God.  We are thankful that as we push forward we are finding that the Lord is sustaining us.  He is so faithful!  However, we are pretty sure that we will need much TLC as we cross the finish line of another term when we exit the plane in DFW in July.  Until then, we are pushing ourselves to stay faithful to the task at hand and pushing ourselves to stay founded in the Word of God and in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Please pray for us to use His gifting in our lives to build His Kingdom and to always point to Him for any honor and glory.

Praises:
We had a wonderful prayer retreat with our IMB personnel in Madagascar
We have heard others and are seeking to set vision in unison with others and it seems to be going well
We have seen growth happening numerically and spiritually.
Emma is in her last term of High School
River and Baylee are both doing well in school

Prayer Request:
Upcoming trips to different places
Teams coming in June
Unity
Wisdom from above for us all
Perseverance to finish strong
Emma's shoulder to heal well
Phoebe to do well on finals at TAMU


Family pick minus the Phoebe at Easter

 Meeting with CA FBBM

 Meeting with CEIM Evangelism Committee

 Prayer Retreat in Isalo

 Emma Repelling down mountain



 Last turkey meal for Emma in the bush

 Adam is OLD!

 Teaching Church Circles in the dirt


Suzie descending down

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