It is (Mission) Monday Tomorrow...

I was reminded of this fact today by an anonymous friend...

SO in the interest of not letting her anonymous person down...

As I was thinking of the past few years, I thought each year had a distinct "flavor" to it, if I can say it that way. I even alliterated the different varieties for your pleasure...

2005- Foreshadowing of the future

2006- Feet to Faith

2007- Feet to Family ;)

2008- Firm foundations

To briefly explain!!

When Dan came home from his trip in March 2005, he would say OFTEN... "I have no idea what it is, but I know the Lord is going to do something amazing with our family." My thought...We have five kids, and keeping me sane would seem pretty amazing right now! (Pray for my husband, his wife if a bit of a challenge for him!)

That year brought many ideas and decisions, and the most significant- Dan surrendered to be a missionary, feeling led to Sub Sahara Africa. That is truly amazing!


In 2006, we had decided that whenever the Lord felt ready to move our family forward in this direction, we should prepare to be ready. Still unsure of any concrete direction, we decided to change our living situation and rent instead of own a home. This seemed like a logical thing, as you may or may not know the housing market in our area is unstable to say the least! (When we sold our previous home8 years earlier, we lost over $14,000.oo the day we signed the papers! The market had plummeted, and though we were glad to be out of the "city"- it cost us dearly! )
With that history, we knew "now" would be a good time to sell, we could make a little money, and be free from the time and financial constraints a home brings. This did not seem logical to many if not all of our friends and family! They all would often ask..."So why did you sell your house?" and "So are you planning to leave now?" Even a few pastors at church thought we had been a little hasty in the decision, but we KNEW it was of the Lord. Every once in a while I would call Dan Abram... sent to a place he knew not!

That year, our faith was tested and strengthened. We never thought we would be hoping to sell our home one day, and them "homeless" the next! It wasn't quite that drastic, but it felt that way! The Lord provided miraculously over and over with provision for us. Friends and family surrounded us with prayer and support. (It was definitely one of the most challenging years for me personally through all of this.)

2007 was, to say the least, an interesting year! We moved 5 times after selling our home, all within an 11 month time period. One time, we literally had no idea where we were going to go as close as a week before we had to make the move! (That was a trip and a half!) Dan and the kids moved the household without me once! Everything had a post-it on it with the location it needed to go. We slept in our camper for 7 weeks. We got home from our trip to Zambia, had Christmas and New Years holiday, and moved all within 3 weeks. (We really don't remember much of that time- jet lag was a great help actually!) Looking back it seems almost surreal- like we were on auto pilot. If any of us stopped to really think too long about things, we may have been like the children of Israel and murmured and complained. It was better to just trust all was as it should be, and let God lead.

The faithfulness God showed to our family was almost tangible. There was time after time when He would just reaffirm that we were doing the things He wanted, on the right track. Little baby steps that would lead to the desired end. There are still some physical effects, but our Micah barely throws up at night... and that is HUGE!!! (Follow the link for fill in on that!)


2008... here we are! Firm foundations seems a fitting title for this year. It is still full of
unknowns, as one uncertainty is to hopefully prepare for Dan and our middle child/son to go to Zambia to help set up... yep, a fish pond. It is also full of expectations for what the Lord will do with our family. Lord willing, Dan will finish his final courses in NSBI, and be left with some unbelievably hard and lengthy writing assignments. (And with this, I may earn my own PHT...!)

Our family is learning more and more what it means to walk by faith. Because of where the Lord has brought us- through the gentle and consistent nature of our God- we truly trust his leading and look to be more faithful and available for what He would call us to. As we begin month two of this year, it is with great excitement and anticipation. The Lord DID do amazing things with our family in 2005... and again in 2006 and in 2007. We cannot contain the excitement for what He will do in 2008!