movin' on out...

Well, we got our tickets. We're almost finished packing, and we only have one week left in the states! It seems crazy! We are going to Szopron first and then we'll see what happens. We want to make a trip to Thessaloniki in late November. My hospital bills finally went through and they are a lot more than we thought they would be, but God is in control, and to be honest, I'm over thinking about money. Yes, yes, it's practical to think about money, but when has God forgotten to provide for our needs? NEVER.

I'm so excited about this phase of our lives, and I can't wait to get to Greece! Of course, it's going to be difficult, but what isn't? So far: optomistic. I have an Almighty God whose got my back, and who has a plan for my life, the life of my husband, and the life of our two little cuties :D

Kristin out, next blog will probably be from Hungary!

P.S. I just noticed I have some regular viewers in Russia and Slovenia... if you are from a country outside the US, please give a global shout out under comments, thanks!!

a break for bloggin'

First, an update for those of you asking about our ticket progress... we have about $1,100!! That is a huge difference from the $0 we had a week and a half ago. Praise God... He sure does work quickly. We still need $1,234 (hahaha, 1234...) but I know if God wants us in Hungary November 3rd, He will work it out. Enough about that...

Things are pretty crazy, packing, getting things we need, trying to see everyone. My parents are grumpy because they're sad we're leaving. Ksena is sad we're leaving, but she really, REALLY wants to see Sarah and David Livingston... so that is her comfort in this whole situation.

Right now I feel like I just can't wait to get to Greece. I want to visit so bad!!! We are planning a trip for Thanksgiving weekend with some friends that are going there for a vacation, and to scope out places to live, and I'm so excited!!! Hungary will be good, but Greece will be better ;)

I don't know. I realize that I have a crazy life. Our life isn't glamourous. We don't have a lot of money (ever... lol). We don't have a lot of things. But this is the truest statement I can make: I love my life! I am happy. I am satisfied in God alone. I love being a wife and a mother, and I love being a missionary. I love telling people about Jesus, and I love that I don't know exactly what is going to happen tomorrow, or the next day. Maybe my parents dreamed something different for me, and those dreams weren't wrong, but God had something different planned. That different plan is JUST what I needed.

Also, I just wanted to add, I love my husband. I LOVE my husband. It is so much fun being married to him. We have our struggles, but we seriously place Jesus as the center of our marriage. If you are ever blessed enough to have the opportunity to marry your best friend, DON'T MISS IT!! Travis is my best friend, and I thank God for him every day, especially the hard days. I'm so glad that I battled off all those girls when we first met (which is so contrary to my nature), he was totally worth it.

the yard sale

Well, the yard sale did alright. We got about $750 out of it, and we sold Trav's academy brief case on Friday so we had money for change, yay! Now we only need $1,600. I am determined that if God wants us to go, that amount of money is a tiny amount, although my brain doesn't really agree. Sorry that this blog has been so much about money lately. As you can tell, I'm really struggling with this area in my life. Sigh. But God is teaching me.

flights, flights, etcetera

I called our travel agent, Karen, today to talk with her about plane tickets and they are going to cost between $2,000 and $2,400... bleh such a huge chunk of money, but it's still a REALLY good price because some airlines give missionary discounts. She asked me if I would consider letting Kati ride as an infant in arms, but I've already discussed on here that I would rather not do that. That would save us $500, but as we learned on our bus trip from Budapest to Krakow, Kati doesn't like sitting on people's laps, and ends up screaming, whether it be a 2 hour train ride, or a 7 hour bus ride.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. We decided we ought to go to Europe even though we don't really have all of the support we need because we feel like God is telling us to step out in faith, once again. So He is going to be the one to provide. I don't know why it's so hard for me to do this, because I've seen Him provide, every single time we really needed money, sometimes when we didn't absolutely need it, but wanted it for a short term trip or something. He already provided for a good chunk of my medical bills (which I will gladly pay as soon as I get them :D). So here it is, we are having a garage sale this weekend to raise $ for our plane tickets.

I also spent my prize money from Canvasthreads.com on new camera equipment (not a new tattoo as I had originally planned) so we can sell digital prints online to supplement our income. I knew there was a reason why it hadn't been working out for me to get down to the tattoo parlor and Travis and I had been discussing ways for us to make money without having an illegal job in Greece and one of the ways was selling photographs online. So we spent $360 on a flash, tripod, tripod head, 3 filters, a wide angle lens and several other camera related goodies. Now we have all of the equipment, we just need to learn how to take photos. Travis took a class in college and I have been doing amateur work since I was 14 because both of my parents used to be really into photography. But like everything else, I know God will teach us how to do it (of course that means we need to be diligent to study), but this is not our first priority, ministry comes first. I told Travis this would also be a great way to get to know people in our community, to go around asking to take pictures of things and people.

We're trying to see everyone who wants to see us before we leave, so our schedule is pretty packed, but if you want to get together, please let us know and we will try to work it out.

And if you're not my friend on facebook, here is a picture of the girls being dedicated at Newport Coast Lighthouse Church by a pastor we really love, Jeff Gipe. If you ever get a chance to go to Newport Coast, you should, the body is so warm and loving, we love going there, we only wish we weren't so far away geographically when we are home on furlough.

Dedicating Ksena Noelle and Katienne Grace to the Lord.

revelations in Revelation 1...

So yeah, I'm going through Revelation for my devos. I was so tempted to skip it because I have had a really hard time going through it in the past, but this time I am actually understanding a lot more, yay for spiritual growth! Here is my first revelation from Revelation...


"I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name."
Revelation 3:8


I really feel like the Lord used this verse to encourage me. Lately it feels like we're out of His will because it's so difficult for us to raise support. But just because we are having struggles doesn't mean that we are out of His will. He is the one that has opened the door for us to go into Greece, and He is going to provide. But we have to be willing to step out in faith. We don't want to be foolish, like it would be to go out with NO support, but we need to be willing to ask people to support us. We are having a yard sale next week, yay!! Hopefully we can raise enough money to pay for our plane tickets. We have a lot of cool stuff to sell, actually. I'm not 100% recovered, but it's time to get back to work. Five weeks left.

Post Surgery Update

Well as the newest member of the no gallbladders club, I must say, I am feeling much better. The pain the first couple of days was pretty brutal, but a lot of that was because of the air they pumped into my abdomen in order to lift the abdominal wall off of my gallbladder so they could remove it. I also learned something new about myself: Not only does morphine have NO effect on my pain (a lot of pain medications don't work on me, including most locals... yay having flesh on your toe nail burned with no pain blocker!), but I am allergic to it, so I will not ever take morphine again. For some people, like my husband, morphine will take you to such a happy place you can't imagine, but for me, it equals no pain relief and projectile vomiting. But I'm feeling better now.

Also we are offically sent out by Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, yay!! That is really good news for us.

Ok, I'm going to go watch Iron Man 2 with my hubby and parents. Happy Friday night everyone! Or early Friday morning to everyone else :)