Thanks to all who have been praying for the sale of our car. Your prayers were heard and God provided a buyer for it this weekend! The offer was too good to pass up, but still leaves us paying a little over $800 to pay off the loan. Not an expense we were wanting or needing to take on this week, but God Rocks.
Thanks to all who attended our sale this weekend. We were able to sell off MANY things. We started the sale with 18 tables full of items and plenty of free standing items as well. At clean up yesterday, we only had 5 tables of items remaining and 3 free standing items! The items that we still have for sale are some of our higher dollar items (Cybex Arc Trainer, Dining Table, Large mirrors, some weight sets, a hi8 Video Camcorder, and several Partylite collections). We are going to attempt to get these items posted on a few different websites so see if we can generate any buyers from there. The sale was profitable. The money from the sale is almost enough to cover the difference on the car! God Rocks!
We are going to be working on translating our marriage certificate and birth certificates into Spanish this week. (A Spanish translation must accompany the originals when we submit for our visas.)
Wednesday, September 1 is a special day in our home. JARA TURNS 11! We will be making the most of celebrating the blessing that God gave us in her on that day eleven years ago.
God rocks our world! I pray that you feel the rumble in yours as well. Thanks for following along and allowing the aftershocks of God in our life reach into yours.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
God Moves.
WOW!! God has moved mightily in the last 24 hours at the Stayton's home. Let me give you a recap and share the works He's done.
Thursday morning, we were stirring and awake at 5:30am which is no small feet on an ordinary day, let alone on a morning when didn't go to bed until 12:30-1:30am. As we awoke, Lora was reminded that it was 11:30am in Spain and a good chance that our friends, the Hoefts, might be online at Skype to give us all the details of the meeting he, Dave, had on Wednesday with the pastor, Pablo, and interpreter/elder, Caesar. This meeting discussed his and our involvement at the church as well as some logistical details for us while living there. (We had a meeting with our missions coordinator, Diana, at Horizon Christian Fellowship, our sending/home church, and, from that meeting, we had other questions and felt an urgency to get the ones we already has asked answered.) So, we skyped Dave and he was on. Not only was he on, but he was with Pablo and Caesar, whom we have never seen "face to face" but have had only communicated via email. It was a divine appointment set by God. It was surreal to hear a Pablo, through Caesar, express his excitement and eager desire to have us there serving with them. We are just as eager and excited. The introduction also revealed how badly we need to dive in to learning the language! It was further confirmation of God's call upon our lives. We are right where He wants us and are going where He is leading. We also got a lot accomplished in our conversation with Dave regarding the plans for us when we arrive. (We will need to be prepared to hit the ground running!) We are going to be provided a three bedroom apartment that is within the church's building. Thanks to a very generous gift, the furnishings for our living space beyond what is already in the apartment are going to be provided. We've established that our living expenses should be rather minimal and need about $1000 a month of financial sponsorship to sustain us while in Spain. We were able to get our passport numbers to Dave and the church leadership in Spain. These numbers allow them to write a formal letter that has to approved in Spain by the government and then sent to us to include in our visa application packet. Our FBI background checks have been submitted and we are hopeful to get them back in about three weeks (at least that was our request to have them returned). We have also contacted our church's travel agent, who specializes in missionary flights having relationships with airlines for discounted tickets. We have asked that she start checking availability for flights to Malaga, Spain on or around December 7th.
WHEW! I warned you God has been busy with divine appointments to confirmation on the call to discernment and vision for a timeline. As I sit here with all of our passports beside me, stacks of items priced to sell, and the very small pile of items to store, I am amazed at the work of God's hand in our lives. I'm humbled to be loved by Him, used by Him, and moved by Him. God moves everyday in big ways and small. Keep your eyes open to how He's moving you!
Thanks for sharing in the journey that God has prepared! The Stayton Family
Thursday morning, we were stirring and awake at 5:30am which is no small feet on an ordinary day, let alone on a morning when didn't go to bed until 12:30-1:30am. As we awoke, Lora was reminded that it was 11:30am in Spain and a good chance that our friends, the Hoefts, might be online at Skype to give us all the details of the meeting he, Dave, had on Wednesday with the pastor, Pablo, and interpreter/elder, Caesar. This meeting discussed his and our involvement at the church as well as some logistical details for us while living there. (We had a meeting with our missions coordinator, Diana, at Horizon Christian Fellowship, our sending/home church, and, from that meeting, we had other questions and felt an urgency to get the ones we already has asked answered.) So, we skyped Dave and he was on. Not only was he on, but he was with Pablo and Caesar, whom we have never seen "face to face" but have had only communicated via email. It was a divine appointment set by God. It was surreal to hear a Pablo, through Caesar, express his excitement and eager desire to have us there serving with them. We are just as eager and excited. The introduction also revealed how badly we need to dive in to learning the language! It was further confirmation of God's call upon our lives. We are right where He wants us and are going where He is leading. We also got a lot accomplished in our conversation with Dave regarding the plans for us when we arrive. (We will need to be prepared to hit the ground running!) We are going to be provided a three bedroom apartment that is within the church's building. Thanks to a very generous gift, the furnishings for our living space beyond what is already in the apartment are going to be provided. We've established that our living expenses should be rather minimal and need about $1000 a month of financial sponsorship to sustain us while in Spain. We were able to get our passport numbers to Dave and the church leadership in Spain. These numbers allow them to write a formal letter that has to approved in Spain by the government and then sent to us to include in our visa application packet. Our FBI background checks have been submitted and we are hopeful to get them back in about three weeks (at least that was our request to have them returned). We have also contacted our church's travel agent, who specializes in missionary flights having relationships with airlines for discounted tickets. We have asked that she start checking availability for flights to Malaga, Spain on or around December 7th.
WHEW! I warned you God has been busy with divine appointments to confirmation on the call to discernment and vision for a timeline. As I sit here with all of our passports beside me, stacks of items priced to sell, and the very small pile of items to store, I am amazed at the work of God's hand in our lives. I'm humbled to be loved by Him, used by Him, and moved by Him. God moves everyday in big ways and small. Keep your eyes open to how He's moving you!
Thanks for sharing in the journey that God has prepared! The Stayton Family
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
God has a Plan.
One of my (Lora's) life verses is Proverbs 16:9 "A man's heart plans his ways, but the Lord directs his path." (NKJV) God is continually challenging me with this verse in my life. I like plans, making plans, knowing what's ahead and prepare. God, however, reminds me daily that He is in control, not I! Just when I think I know what He has planned for me, what I thought I knew becomes something else. I can see looking back how God tried to prepare me for His plan, but I was too busy constructing my own or doing what I thought was in His plans yet I wasn't quite hitting the mark He had set up before me.
I was really hoping that we would be able to journey to Spain early this fall. Unfortunately, the visa paperwork process is tedious and takes time (at least three months). I was really bummed about plans being foiled, but, as my husband so gently reminded me, "We will get there when God wants us there." Now, I know that it will be around the holiday season before we are probably able to go. I can see God's goodness in giving us more time to spend with friends and family before our two year commitment in Spain. I was excited to get to have an entire semester teaching my PE classes at Horizon Christian School again and more time to prepare our whole family in the language and culture of Spain. But God continues to stretch me even in this time, I received a phone call yesterday morning that I would no longer be teaching at the school. While the principal was not actively seeking my replacement at this time, he received an inquiry into the position and decided since there was an interest, now was the time for the change. I'm very sad to be leaving the children after only two weeks. I know that I will see them, considering how much time I spend over in the building, but it's not the same. I know that God has a plan and is directing my steps. I just thought I knew the plan. Not having this job will significantly impact our income until we leave. I'm waiting to see what God has for me through this loss. Perhaps, He's clearing my plate because I need some more time in preparing for Spain each day. Perhaps, the money doesn't matter; after all, He is our provider. It's definitely an interesting turn of events. Thank you God for always being in control! (Thank you God that I am not!)
I was really hoping that we would be able to journey to Spain early this fall. Unfortunately, the visa paperwork process is tedious and takes time (at least three months). I was really bummed about plans being foiled, but, as my husband so gently reminded me, "We will get there when God wants us there." Now, I know that it will be around the holiday season before we are probably able to go. I can see God's goodness in giving us more time to spend with friends and family before our two year commitment in Spain. I was excited to get to have an entire semester teaching my PE classes at Horizon Christian School again and more time to prepare our whole family in the language and culture of Spain. But God continues to stretch me even in this time, I received a phone call yesterday morning that I would no longer be teaching at the school. While the principal was not actively seeking my replacement at this time, he received an inquiry into the position and decided since there was an interest, now was the time for the change. I'm very sad to be leaving the children after only two weeks. I know that I will see them, considering how much time I spend over in the building, but it's not the same. I know that God has a plan and is directing my steps. I just thought I knew the plan. Not having this job will significantly impact our income until we leave. I'm waiting to see what God has for me through this loss. Perhaps, He's clearing my plate because I need some more time in preparing for Spain each day. Perhaps, the money doesn't matter; after all, He is our provider. It's definitely an interesting turn of events. Thank you God for always being in control! (Thank you God that I am not!)
Saturday, August 21, 2010
The Time Has Come.
Well, Camp Indy has wrapped up for the summer. Our family took a much needed week's vacation to spend time together as a family and to have an early celebration for the girls' birthdays coming in September. Now, the time has come for Spain.
The time has come that we must start all the many, many preparations that we need to complete before we can leave for our two year commitment in Rincon de la Victoria, Spain. We are busy selling all of our material possessions in moving sales and on the Internet (Craig's List, etc), getting Visa paperwork and supporting documentation together, start raising support for our mission, and gathering financial sponsors. The selling of household items is going well. The selling of some of our bigger items, such as our car, our Cybex Arc Trainer, and a couple furniture pieces, is slow with few to no offers. We are meeting with people to share our testimony and the call that God has laid out for us in Spain. We are busy with home schooling the girls, concentrating on the Spanish language and culture as well as a few of the main curriculum areas for their grade and age. While I continue to teach PE at Horizon Christian School, Jared stays busy with various handy man projects that friends, family, or the church have hired him to complete. We are still living on Horizon's campus to cut monthly living expenses to as little as possible as we prepare to leave.
The time has come for God's call to be put into action. Join us in this time. Join us on this amazing journey that God has called us to embark upon in the mission field in Spain.
En el amor de Cristo
The time has come that we must start all the many, many preparations that we need to complete before we can leave for our two year commitment in Rincon de la Victoria, Spain. We are busy selling all of our material possessions in moving sales and on the Internet (Craig's List, etc), getting Visa paperwork and supporting documentation together, start raising support for our mission, and gathering financial sponsors. The selling of household items is going well. The selling of some of our bigger items, such as our car, our Cybex Arc Trainer, and a couple furniture pieces, is slow with few to no offers. We are meeting with people to share our testimony and the call that God has laid out for us in Spain. We are busy with home schooling the girls, concentrating on the Spanish language and culture as well as a few of the main curriculum areas for their grade and age. While I continue to teach PE at Horizon Christian School, Jared stays busy with various handy man projects that friends, family, or the church have hired him to complete. We are still living on Horizon's campus to cut monthly living expenses to as little as possible as we prepare to leave.
The time has come for God's call to be put into action. Join us in this time. Join us on this amazing journey that God has called us to embark upon in the mission field in Spain.
En el amor de Cristo
Friday, August 20, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)