Winter Newsletter

Today’s Verse:     Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. ~ Psalms 127:3-5

Home!   Oh the excitement that builds in us when we stop to reminisce the story that God is writing in our lives! In case some of you haven’t heard, our “Home Sweet Home” doormat no longer rests in the front of our Duffield home. That’s right, we’ve moved! Megan’s parents, the Austins, own a double-wide mobile home in Piney Flats, Tennessee where we currently live. It was given to them from Megan’s mamaw, when her mamaw passed away. Megan’s parents offered the double-wide trailer to us, to stay in, rent free. We prayed and evaluated the pros and cons of moving to Tennessee, and felt that it would be a wise decision. So we are now staying in a double-wide mobile home in Piney Flats, which is only 25 minutes from Kingsport and 30 minutes from Bristol and Johnson City.

Being here in Piney Flats shortens the drive to camp and work which results in saving us a few gas dollars. We started boxing our stuff just before Summer Camp (Bancroft Bible Camp) started. Throughout the summer weekends we had free, we have been moving our belongings from one state to the other. While relocating, a lot of things got shuffled around in our house, so we’ve got toilet paper in the kitchen, spoons in the bathroom, laundry detergent in the living room… you get the picture. It’s been our top priority to put our items in their proper places. While we are trying to achieve order in our house, installing a back-yard fence for Buddy (our dog) has been put on our future to-do list. We’re very thankful for the trailer that the Lord has blessed us with, and here is where we will stay until it’s time to move again.

Have we mentioned that we are welcoming a newcomer into our household? Megan has finally convinced me to give cats a chance, so we’ve been raising little Ninja since 10 weeks old. We’ve also gone ahead and got Megan her February 12^th surprise birthday gift... a baby! Our estimate arrival date for this blessed package is February 9^th! We are both bubbling with excitement about our little one. Just in case you were wondering, we are leaving the gender a mystery. Although this change does bring about some complex questions, we are trying to be meek and humble as the Lord “guides with judgment” and “teach his way.” as is promised in Psalms 25:9.

Camp!   We had some interesting twists at camp this summer. One of the unpleasant summer staff traditions, we passed around a head cold, but nothing major enough to prevent our strong-willed staff from giving their best. Besides minor head colds, other dilemmas and complications were few and far between. Our camper attendance at camp has been climbing the last 5 years, and this past summer we had a few weeks we were afraid we were going to run out of room! But it is a problem we enjoy having. Lucas was the Program Director this last summer, along with leading chapel worship, lifeguarding, and some weeks even being a Sr. Counselor. Megan helped with lifeguarding, and was the camp’s photographer and slide show producer when she wasn’t preoccupied being a Sr. Counselor. With the camper attendance rising, we expected this last summer to be slightly more trying and exhaustive than normal. Knowing we would be facing growing pains, we were very grateful for the passionate counselors the Lord sent us this summer.

We found out early in the summer that Megan was pregnant, but we wanted to wait until the end of the summer to make the surprise known to everyone. Unfortunately, the small head cold we were passing around, seemed to be the only thing that triggered morning sickness throughout her pregnancy. Under those circumstances, not saying you’re pregnant, and not acting like you’re pregnant, are two different tasks. After telling the campers to be watchful for the puddles of Megan’s regurgitation while leaving the chapel, it was hard keeping her pregnancy a secret. Thus we explained to some of the staff so they would not be alarmed. During the summer we had a surprise phone call from a friend, who asked whether we would be interested in a car he no longer needed. So we praise God for the little Toyota Corolla He has given to us. Over all, we had an amazing summer, and we’re looking forward with excitement to what the Lord has in store for us.

Work & School!       Since we’ve moved to Tennessee, Lucas has continued to work at Jersey Mike’s. Megan’s mother recently had surgery so Megan is helping her Mom with her Mom’s book store (Hillbilly Book Barn). We both are working, but decided not to put in as many hours as we were, so that we can contribute more hours to working at Camp. Unfortunately, because we moved during the summer our schooling was delayed but we have jumped back into it and hope to have it done by next summer.

Praises:

Ø  Praise God for the new home in Tennessee.

Ø  Praise God for the little one He has given to us.

Prayer Requests:

Ø  Pray that we can work steadfastly and finish our schooling before next summer.

Ø  Pray that the Holy Spirit will give us patience and wisdom as the delivery date gets closer.

Pray that we will be patient as the Lord prepares us to be full-time B.G.M. staff for His glory