Ireland Update

Would you continue to pray with us?  I thought it might be cool to lay out our Ireland updates/prayer needs this way:

From the last post:

• Our passports to come in with no problem (we hope to get them back in the next few weeks!)
  • They arrived exactly 4 weeks from the day we submitted them!  (normal processing time is 4-6 weeks)
• Complete provision for our trip (all 4 of us are going!)
  • Jesus is so good!  He has done for us what we could not do for ourselves!
• What our time there will look like (serving/outreach/being with people)
  • Still praying about some details, but the trip is coming together!
• Traveling Details/Logistics (that the Lord would lead us to the right deals/give us favor with prices, etc)
  • I’m so thankful to my mom who worked so hard to find/help me book the best deals for our family!  She does some travel agency stuff on the side and was able to beat the all inclusive packages I was stalking!
• That our time there would be fruitful
• Unity in our marriage and family as we prepare to go and during our time there
• That we would be able to hear clearly and know His will for our family
• That the Lord would prepare our hearts for all He wants to do in and through us there

Those last four are still our prayer requests, and I’m excited to see how the Lord will be faithful to answer them!  A few more to add:

• For those we would connect with there, as they pray and get ready to have us serve with them.  That our time there would be intentional and our hearts would be knit together in Jesus and His mission.
• For Branden specifically, as He seeks the Lord for direction and leads our family.
• For the serious spiritual warfare that has already begun and will undoubtedly continue/increase.  That we would trust the Lord and stand together in Him!

The Lord is doing so much right now.  I’m encouraged knowing that this hard, heart work is the Gardener pruning and cleaning, making us useful.  But man, some days it’s painful, even disheartening.  In these seasons where hope fulfilled mixes with the relentless stripping of the flesh, the work of the cross, the Lord reminds us to fix our eyes on Him.

Psalm 62:5-6 says, “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.”

In this is so much that we need – rest and peace, hope, security, salvation, shelter and safety, courage.  And the Lord alone is the answer for them all.  May we find all we need, all we desire in Him, especially when it means we must forsake ourselves.  Jesus do your work in and through us!

Thank you for being a part of this journey and praying with us.  We’re excited for what the Lord has in store!  If there’s a way we can be praying for you too, please share!  Blessings to you!