Tickets and Tennessee

We have officially PURCHASED tickets after several waves of reserving them for different dates. We officially leave from Grand Rapids (instead of Chicago) on April 7th (instead of the 12th). We are so excited for what lies ahead. Thank you for your prayers!

We have been enjoying a great visit with Nathan's family in TN. The boys are loving the sun (and the rain!). We've gotten time with Nathan's parents, two of his brothers (and their families), and our friends, the Koehlers, (some friends from GR who moved to Atlanta).

Here are some pictures from our time thus far...

Cleared for Take Off!!

On Tuesday, just four hours into our drive to Tennessee to visit with Nathan's family, we received a phone call from the Chicago Spanish Consulate saying that Julie and the kids' visas are all ready! So, we are cleared to leave for Tenerife! Praise the Lord for His perfect timing and His provision- He moved the hand of those in the visa office sometime late last week, as it takes 48 hours for the news to arrive in Chicago so they can call us. We are very thankful and excited.

We have reserved tickets for April 12th as that is the first date that has reasonable ticket prices.

Thank you for praying with us and for us! We are thankful for you and for our Lord who is in the process of building His church all around the world!

Nathan, Julie, Elijah, Levi, Eliana, and ???

Some Family Fun

Nathan had some much needed time off of work which afforded us some great family time Monday and Tuesday. We were able to go on long walks, go to the butterfly gardens, eat hot dogs and ice cream, and just enjoy each other. Elijah got what is now his new favorite toy as it caters to his recent obsession with saxophones. He walks around playing music everywhere we go. Elijah brings his new big dinosaur on all of our walks too. We are so thankful for the warm sun and glorious blue skies God has granted over Grand Rapids the last few days!

Control

I'm realizing, time and time again, that I am not in control. You'd think I'd just learn the lesson, but God graciously keeps giving me circumstances to remind me that HE is the sovereign, and not myself.

Our last two weeks, in a nutshell: Discover I'm pregnant, shock- then excitement, reserve airline tickets for Tenerife as word of mouth was our visas would be ready last Friday, get rid of more furniture, start bleeding, worry about miscarriage (God is good), Levi develops high fever and lethargy, urgent care, antibiotics, blood work, ultrasound, baby is ok (God is good!), Elijah develops strep throat, antibiotics, learn visas are no where near ready, Spain makes it clear it is THEIR decision IF we get to come, cancel reservations, Julie has a melt down, Nathan frantically picks up shifts at Starbucks so we don't lose insurance, I pull out my neck (God is good), Levi draws a mural on all walls and surfaces of his room, daylight savings robs us of a precious hour, Elijah won't eat or drink...

But in all of this, we are seeing that GOD IS GOOD! His ways are truly not our ways, but His ways are good. We covet your prayers during all these transitions and trials.

On the cuter side of things, Eliana now likes to play dress-up! She puts hats on all by herself, and necklaces. I helped with the gloves :-) She even walks around with a purse at times! It's incredible how boys and girls are programmed so differently!

Some News...

While we find ourselves still in Grand Rapids, and curious at God's timing, we were finally given a glimpse of why He allowed our visas to be delayed. Saturday we learned that despite medical precautions (Nathan is officially in the 1% of men that have super healing bodies) we are expecting our 4th child! We were quite shocked, but we are thankful knowing that God is sovereign, and that He has chosen to expand our family. On Tuesday we were able to have an ultrasound and see the baby and heart beat.

We also learned today that our visas had been stalled as the office in Tenerife awaited a "tax" needed to proceed. So, hopefully tomorrow that issue will resolve, and Lord willing, we'll have our visas next week.

Our kids are excited about the move- so much so, that Levi has officially renamed himself, "Diego." We may let it stick since that's way easier to say in Spanish than explaining why our son is named after blue jeans.

Here are a couple pictures from the last week.

(Our Small Group going away party. We sure love these guys!)