Aviah Crawling!!!

      We took this video the other day. She has started crawling after playing with some other kids 2-5 years old that are amazing with her.

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Thy Kingdom Come

Happy Easter (a few days late). I hope it was a great weekend spent remembering what Christ did for each one of us. Ours was spent cozy with our sick little munchkin while it snowed outside. The tradition here in Germany (at least in this area of Germany) is that they celebrate for 4 days. And  they are serious about holidays here. No work inside or outside of the house (that includes doing laundry). That means EVERYTHING including grocery stores are closed! It was really nice to enjoy this German tradition and have the four days that we did to relax and prepare for the busy season ahead!  A Little Piece Of Home...  We had a great end of March and beginning of April with a few people coming to visit from home. Hannah (Courtney's sister) arrived on the 27th of March and spent 1.5 weeks with us. We LOVED spending time with her and had a lot of fun together. Among the many things she treated us to was spending time touring Dresden, Germany and Prague, Czech Republic. It was so beautiful and really cool to see all of the historical stuff right near where we live. Aviah loved having her auntie around and Hannah was a big help bathing, feeding, and playing with Aviah. We were really sad to see her leave but she left with promises to return again really soon. A few days after Hannah left we had some of our friends, Jane and Ron, visit. They were doing a tour around Germany and stopped by on one of their last days. We were able to show them around the base and our little town. We really enjoyed spending some quality time with them. We were so blessed to have a little piece of home come to us for a bit.  Tomorrow, Tomorrow...   Tomorrow we begin a crazy and exciting season of life here at the base. In addition to our staff duties we have been accepted to the Kingdom school. We spent a couple weeks asking God if He wanted us to do this school and felt Him telling us to go for it. We submited our applications and were accepted! We are really excited for this new adventure here in Germany. The Kingdom school will teach us how to bring the gospel more into our everyday lives.It will be really challenging and difficult but will equip and prepare us for our future ministry. We are both scared and excited all at once. This is such a great time for God to grow us and pour into us. So, tomorrow it all starts with registration and cake! Kingdom Baby... That's the name that Aviah has picked up from staff at our base ever since we joined the Kingdom School. She has been doing well and has been growing so much. The other day, we were looking through her pictures from when she was born and it was insane to see how much she has changed.  She has recently learned to scream when she wants something or when she is frustrated. Kevin and I are learning how to teach her that certain things are not okay to do. This part of parenting is not so easy = ). Even at such a young age I see her exploring her boundaries. She is on the verge of crawling now but has been getting around for the past couple of months by scooting around on her belly.  This past weekend she had a significant fever and was pretty miserable. It's the first time (other than a cold at 3 months) that she has been sick. Aviah's personality is hilarious. She is very verbal and at times will just sit there babbling for 30 minutes straight. She definitely loves all this attention that she receives at the base and is an extreme extravert. There is a good chance that by next update Aviah will have at least one tooth and be crawling around. Watch out world, here she comes!

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Coffee and God.. =)

This is Kevin, and I have been doing a daily quiet time during my "30 minute breaks" at work. I have been listening to worship music and reading random places in the bible for encouragement while we are at home waiting to go back into the missions field long term. God has been revealing some AMAZING things to me during these times, and I have been dying to share everything I have learned, and couldn't think of a way to share. I definitely forgot about our blog =). So this is some of the things I have been going through the last month.

A few weeks ago, I was struggling with what God has called Courtney and I to do while home, with Courtney at home to spend time with our new daughter and for me to pass up a job working for my dad making very nice money and going to work at Starbucks instead. When Courtney and I put down onto paper our bills, and what we bring in a month...the bills outweigh the money we bring in by a LOT. But we are trusting in God that he has called us to do this, and that he will provide all of the finances we need. Well 7 months being home with this, we have been hugely blessed, and have been able to pay off every bill. One bill that we did forget about was the one that was made when our dog ate rat poison and the costs to get it out of her system...$500. It seemed like a huge mountain to climb, and I just started to feel helpless, like no matter how hard I was working, I could not get over this mountain. In my quiet time, God led me to read Phillipians 4:13 which reads "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength". For me in this moment, was the biggest thing I could read, just a great reminder that since we have been home, none of the bills have been paid through what Courtney and I do, but through God's never ending provisions. Not even two days after that, Courtney and I received a check for $400... one we never expected to receive.

He remains so faithful to you, especially when you walk in the life he has called you into. I just continue to thank God for all of his amazing blessings, and still at times think, "Am I insane, as the supporter of my family, to be working at a place that cannot financially provide for my family?" and God keeps reminding me that "Sometimes I call you to do things that to others may seem insane, but it is for my good, and I will continue to watch over you and provide when you need me". One story he really brought to me was that of Noah... When God asked him to build the Arc, he probably seemed very insane to not only his family, but to his peers. I know that if someone were to do such a thing today, most people would think they were crazy. God isn't asking us to build a literal Arc, but is asking us to build on our relationship with him and to show everyone around us that when you walk with God, he sometimes asks you to do crazy things, but when you are obedient to him...he won't leave you hanging.

This is just one day of quiet time with God. I will continue to post some more as I can.

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