Target Date of Departure - February 1st

The waiting game is over it seems.  We are aiming to leave around the 1st of February.  We are in the process of putting our house up for rent.  All the doors are opening without our effort.  For example, Chris's car will be SOLD tomorrow.  Someone asked to buy it today and the amount they will pay is the exact amount we owe on it.  CRAZY!!  I love it when God goes beyond what we could ask or imagine.  We were imagining being lucky to not have to pay alot out of pocket when we put it up for sale, not to mention having to try to sell it.  This whole process of leaving and following God has been so effortless.  We live in a  world where so much depends on our efforts but when God leads us to follow Him, the effort is all His.  All we have to do is follow.  A neat example of that is found here.  There is a part that says "read the story here".  Click that and you will be blown away.  Through this journey we are learning how BIG God is.  I said that in church on Sunday and it seems like such a small word but it's the one that comes to mind when I think about what He is doing. He is bigger than any giant we can ever face in this life. 

What are we doing now?  Soaking in every second we have here with our friends and family and trying not to think about leaving them.  We will be traveling north to Philadelphia after Christmas to see old friends and visit a church who will be supporting us (another crazy, effortless story for later).  We are selling furniture and gathering things we will need to take with us.  I am looking forward to the day where I don't ever have to see another Rubbermaid tote bin. 

All is quiet...

Where are we in our journey?  Waiting....waiting for God's next big move and hoping/praying it involves our house and it's sale.  But waiting isn't so bad.  It's like Christmas Eve for us and getting to open one present before the big day.  Our present right now is the overflowing love and encouragement from our friends and family. People around us and people we haven't seen or talked to in years just pouring love on us.  It's overwhelming and humbling.  Makes me want to tell Him to stop but all good gifts come from Him and we will take every single one.  It's hard preparing to leave our life but God knows what we need as we wait and He never fails to provide.  For that we are thankful. 

God's Story

On this journey most everyone tells us how amazing we are and how great we are for following God and what He is leading us to do.  Encouragement is something we all need  but I have to say It's Not About Us!  It's not about what we are doing, it's about what God is doing.  He is BIG and doing things I can't even dream up - like moving me to another country.  :)

It's our journey but it's His story. The story of how He would take an ordinary family of five and lead them to a third world country to do His work.  Our journey is only the introduction to a thousand chapter book He is writing and we get to tell His story.

Why? That's a good question...

We get this alot obviously. Who wouldn't want to know why two 40 year-olds with 3 boys under the age of 11 would sell it all, leave their loved ones and move to a third world country to live in poverty?  It's crazy isn't it?  Yes, it is in a way but in another way it makes perfect sense.  All we can say is that God is leading us.  Not "calling" us as some people in ministry term it but for us it has been a leading.  Sort of a "Hey, come with me to Guatemala".  I love that God does not force us to do anything ever.  Our heart has always been in helping people and giving to people.  We have been praying for some time for God to show us how we can do that more and Guatemala popped up on the radar.  At first I (Holly) was completely against the idea.  Simply because I loved our comfortable life: our house, church, friends, family, etc.  My life was blessed and I was enjoying the blessings after a few years of many challenges.  By leaving all that, God was asking me to die to myself and live for Him and what He has planned for my life. That's really hard and I wasn't going down without a fight.  And by His grace He let me kick and scream and cry and try desperately to hold on to all that I held dear to me.  And by His grace I can let go of my plan for my life and follow His. Now here we are, ready to go. 
But aren't there plenty of people in America who need help?  Yes there are!  And our answer to that is - God doesn't limit us to the country we are born in.  He puts us where He wants us and we happen to be going to another country. 
Some of the things we look forward to are loving HIV orphans nobody wants, loving kids who live in abusive homes and being an example to them, helping with medical needs, spiritual needs, and basic physical needs like hygiene and food.  We have so much here in America.  We are going to be with people who literally have nothing.  You can't fully comprehend what that means or looks like unless you see it yourself. We are looking forward to alot of visitors from the US. Get a passport if you don't already have one and come visit us!!  :)    Thank you to everyone who has been with us in this process and prayed for us and encouraged us.  We love you!!!

The Letter is Out!!

Oh wow!  It's getting real now - we actually sent out a letter to inform our world what has been laid before us.  There isn't much on our blog yet - check back often as we will have more to share soon.  God is doing some crazy things and we can't wait to see what they are and share them with you. 

House for Sale

Just in case you know anyone looking for a house in the San Marco area -

1631 Peachtree CIR North JACKSONVILLE FL 32207 Watson Realty Corp

More Letting Go

From the very beginning of this journey, the hardest part for me has been letting go of the treasured people in my life - just the thought leaves my heart broken.  The people in my life are all like flowers in a garden and I have a beautiful garden!  I am so blessed to have each and every one of you. I might not see you every day or even every year but you are part of my life and I love you!  For whatever reason, leaving the country feels like leaving my garden.  I won't be able to just pick up the phone and call you or get in my car and come see you or see you at church on Sunday.  I know I will miss you and that breaks my heart every day. I'm not a big social person and I'm not one to get energy from being around people but there is something about being in someone's presence that Facebook and e-mail can never replace. 
So, I am going to be leaving you all and that just stinks.  There will be a void that can never be filled where I am going.  It's not like moving to Texas and making new friends. Yes, we will meet new people but crossing cultures and languages will not make that easy and it won't ever be the same.  Just like letting go of stuff, God has met me here and poured out His grace but this part is not as easy and painless.  I know once we get to the other side of this journey it will get easier and when I get to hold lots of babies and love on lots of kids it will all be so worth it.

There is nothing normal about this...

This is what I tell myself every time a plane I'm on begins it's ascent and the ground below grows small.  This blogging business feels exactly the same way to me.  I'd like to keep it all to myself - it's safer that way, on the ground and incognito. But, it's too late - we're in the air so to speak.  Our house is for sale and we're moving to Guatemala. If you read our letter there's a lot more we want to share with you. If you didn't, I'll post it below.

In the letter we mentioned the Buena Vista Sports Academy for Boys.  So much is happening right now as this ministry is taking shape - really amazing things I'll share shortly but I wanted to post this video Brock finished recently that tells the story and the vision of BVSA.  Check it out - 

Intro to BVSA

Letting Go

The saying goes "If God brings you to it, He'll get you through it". That could not me more true for us these last few days as we clean out our house to sell. Our kind agent called it "decluttering". Decluttering the past 18 married years, 11 years with children and 9 years in this house. We live in a small, very old house so there is only so much a family can cram in here but we have done a pretty good job. The getting rid of junk is not hard. The getting rid of our treasured possessions was not as hard as I thought it was going to be either because God is so good - He pours out the grace to be able to let go of things that I wanted to spend my life with. Things I have and have been saving that I would never think I could let go of. It's weird because I love my treasures, I really do. But I have come to a sweet place of letting to. God is good and His grace is sufficient for anything He leads us to do.

The Letter

I've shared The Letter

Message from ctsteed@gmail.com:

Click to open:

• The Letter

Google Docs makes it easy to create, store and share online documents, spreadsheets and presentations.