Winding Down

Everything is winding down here. I say that with a big sigh of relief. This has been finals week and that always brings about a lot of stress. Today is the last day!!!! Most of our kids will be leaving tomorrow to go home and spend the Holidays with family. The rest of the kids will leave on Friday. Our Holiday break is 24 wonderful days that will be filled with family memories and lots of yumminess. 

I can't wait. I am sooo looking forward to this break and time with just our kiddos. This will be our last Christmas all together like this. Once Wyatt graduates things will change. I am trying not to think too much about that because I get weepy already. We might go into a village for a few days as a family over the break. Not sure yet. It depends on the opportunities for flights.

How is your December going? Busy? I remember how crazy the shopping lines can be. I don't miss that. But I do miss the crisp, cool air. The smell that is in the air this time of year. The togetherness of family and friends. The Christmas music we sing at church. The Holiday smells as you walk in stores. A real tree....

But I love how we can celebrate the true meaning of Christmas anywhere. Even here while we are laying on the warm sand with the sun shining in our face and the crystal blue water sparkling before us... yeah, doesn't that sound nice?  That is where we will be on Monday. Don't worry. We will think of you. Ha ha.

Anyways, please continue to pray for Wyatt, that he will listen to God's voice about his future. He is still undecided about the Marines. He applied to a college in Georgia called Toccoa but hasn't heard back yet. He is also looking into a school here. Pray for me to be clear minded in all I still need to teach him and show him so he is prepared. Also there are some changes that will be taking place in the dorm next semester. I can't go into it now, but I will later. I am not sure how those changes will go over.

Well, hope your Holidays are full of wonderfullness.  When you are stuck in traffic or standing in a never-ending line just think of the profound thought of our precious Father coming down to Earth as a tiny baby to give us life. and Hope for a future. We are so very blessed!

Love you

Rachel

Update

Hey. I wanted to give you an update on how our lives here are going. We have had a bit of rain. Off and on, which is good but what we need are days and days of rain. So keep praying. I feel like the unrest in town has gone down. We have been to the market where the murder took place and all has returned to normal.

There is still quite a level of discouragement among the missionaries serving here. I think this time of year is always hard. Holidays are when families usually come together and it is hard to be so far from those you love. Garth is preaching on Sunday on the topic of discouragement so please pray that God uses him in a mighty way to speak His words.

This time of year is hard for the dorm kids too. Some of them haven't seen Mom or Dad since August 13 when school started. I try hard to make this feel like "home" but nothing can ever replace Mom and Dad. We had a Thanksgiving celebration here last night. That was so much fun. Four of our kids have never done anything like that before, and really enjoyed the new foods.

At least once a semester we do a random media check of the dorm kids ipods, phones, laptops etc. The kids and their parents sign a consent form at the beginning of the year giving us permission to do that. It is one way we can help keep them accountable with the kind of stuff they are watching and looking at. Well, we came across some inappropriate material on one of the girls phones. Garth and I try to use these times as teachable moments. How can we show God's love to her even in this? I don't know if the girl is a Christian or not. She is one of our business kids. So far it has been difficult. She is more upset she got caught and I took her phone, than she is sorry for the videos she had on her phone. I am praying that God uses this to begin working on her heart.

One of our dorm boys Daniel, moved out. His parents said he was ready to be back with them. We don't know all of the details surrounding that, but any time a kid can be with his family it is a good thing.

Keep praying for our family. Keep praying for the dorm. God would love to see us all discouraged and fighting.  Dorm parenting is such a huge responsibility and we really want to do it well. This week we have Arnold's birthday on Friday and Garth's birthday on Sunday, along with a trip to Kali Biru (Blue River) on Saturday. One of our past dorm kids will be staying with us this weekend and Arnold's mom will be visiting from Bali. In all this busyness we want to keep shining His light bright enough for all to see.

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers.

Love
Rachel

Drought

There has been so much going on here lately. I know you haven’t heard from me for a while. Our Internet has been awful. Even now we don’t have any but I thought I would write and hope to send it when I can. The Internet comes and goes. Sometimes Garth gets up very early just to try to send and receive emails or check Facebook.

We are in the midst of a terrible drought. People are saying the last time it was this bad was 1997. Airstrips in some places are being shut down because the air is so hazy and people are getting restless.  We really need rain. There are villages where people are starving because their gardens have all shriveled up. We have water at the dorm and our gardens are still growing. So that is a blessing.

We do need prayer for some unrest going on in town. The other morning there was a murder at our pasar (open air market).  The head of our organization sent us all a text asking us to stay home. Don’t go out. Since then there have been some retaliation killings. That is the way it is done here. There is no good judicial system, so the people take matters into their own hands. Life for life. They consider that fair.

We are in no danger. No one wants to harm us, but please pray for the hearts of these people. It is hard to break through age-old traditions. There is so much freedom and hope in God. I just wish they could see it.

Also pray for the missionary families serving here in Papua. Satan is having fun scattering discouragement, thoughts of failure and frustration, and loneliness around those ministering here. So many of my friends are using all their energy to just try and make it through another day. This is a tough place to live. The heat, the drought, the lack of conveniences, the fact there is never enough money and the frustration that brings, the difficulty of travel, a culture that will always tell you what they think you want to hear but don’t ever mean it, etc. I have friends leaving early, or taking an unplanned furlough, or getting ready to leave for good just because they can’t “do this” anymore. It breaks my heart.

But God knows. He knows their pain and struggles. Garth and I are doing well.  God is faithful to give us what we need each day. Tomorrow we are going out on a date!  WOW! It has been quite awhile since that happened. It will be nice to spend some time just us.

Thank you for faithfully praying for us. We need you.

Rachel

Goodness

So much goodness happening all around us!  God is so amazing. I need to tell you about some of it. Number One big and awesome thing is that WE GOT A VAN!!!!  It is so super terrific! Now we can travel all together as a dorm. Before this we had a van that fit 11. We are 18 when everyone is here, so that was a bit tricky. We also got another motorcycle. This one is smaller and I can drive it. That has been loads of fun!

Emma's finger is healed from the stitches, and she is back to playing volleyball. Sophie's Indonesian soccer team is in a tournament, and doing well.

We had our first dorm outing last weekend and went to the beach. That was a treat.

Also, the kids are settling in and adjusting better. Still a bit of school struggles, and homesickness, but that is to be expected.

Another big praise is my Bible study group. I love all the things God is teaching me through this time and this group of ladies. Last session we read the book UNGLUED. Amazing. The book dealt with how you handle those moments when you feel like losing it. Now we are reading HE RESTORES MY SOUL-A 40 day Journey toward personal renewal. Right now we are talking about brokenness. Brokenness is when I realize there is nothing left to reach for but God. What does it look like when I am totally committed to do everything in His strength?

There is a great picture of this in the book. If you have a glove lying on the table and want it to go pick up a book, it will not be able to do it. It can do nothing on its own. But when you fill the glove with your hand the glove is transformed into the image of your hand. The focus is on the hand doing things not the glove. The glove is only strong when it yields itself to the hand. So we are to be the glove and let God be the hand.

Anyways, these are just a few of the things I have been pondering lately.  It is so exciting to change and grow. I certainly never want to just stay where I am. God has so much more in store for me.

Thanks for your prayers.

Love
Rachel

Beach Trip

I HAD SUCH A FUN WEEKEND. The whole high school (80 people) went camping at the beach for 2 nights and three days (Thursday - Saturday). The Seniors were actually there a day longer because they went out on Wednesday to chop down the forest and clear the beach, dig the bathroom holes, get the kitchen area set up etc. I was able to  go again this year as a chaperone.  What a blast. Gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, bonfires on the beach, guitar playing and singing while our voices drifted over the water, night snorkeling, frisbee, rugby, buckbuck, fishing... doesn't it sound amazing?

Emma ended beach trip by cutting open the pointer finger on her right hand causing her to need 5 stitches.  That was quite painful and we are praying for quick healing without any infection.

Now we are ready to settle down into a routine. For the high schoolers, this will be their first full week of school.  This week will also be the start of the first volleyball games and the Friday night meals.  Hopefully, the homesickness and tears here in the dorm will be less frequent as time goes on.  

Here are a few pictures:

First Day

AHHH! The first day of school is here.  All of the kids were up and ready with time to spare. Yahoo!

The dinner with all the parents last night went well. I am sure it was hard for them to say "Good-bye" to their kids afterwards. I keep asking God to comfort their hearts and I reassure them that we will do our best to take care of their kids while they are apart.

Here are a few pictures of the dinner and the first day of school:

I know many of you have heard about the Trigana flight that lost radio contact and then was found crashed into a mountainside.  Well, one of the helpers that works for Hostel One lost her husband in that flight. Please pray for that family.  Her name is Ibu Ona.  

Thanks, guys.

Love

Rachel

Almost Time

Hello to you all! This summer has been flying by and we have enjoyed every minute of it. Our summer has been full of great, memory making family moments and I am so thankful for that. We started it out with Wyatt's birthday while I was sick with dengue, a soccer group from America came and stayed with us, Sophie's birthday, then Garth and I celebrated our 20th anniversary in Raja Ampat, we had our MAF conference, a weekend campout at the beach and then shopping, (LOTS of shopping) to stock up and get the dorm ready for tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. The dorm kids will be coming TOMORROW!!!!  It is a crazy thought. 

I have such mixed emotions about that. Our lives change so drastically from when the dorm is open to when it is closed. I love having so much time for my family, and only having to split myself up between four kids and Garth. It gets much more tricky when the dorm is full of 12 kids, plus my four and Garth. But I am excited for this year. This is our ministry, and I love being a part of it. God always does such fantastic things and I am thrilled that He chooses to use me.

This year we only have two kids from America. The rest are from Holland, Korea, Indonesia, West Africa, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.  We will have 5 new kids ranging in ages from 13-18. Please keep us in your prayers, especially during the first few weeks of transition. Some of the kids have never been away from home. Some have only been homeschooled. It is a hard transition on the kids and the parents.  We will have 30+ people over tomorrow for a Welcome to Hostel 2 dinner.  Pray for Garth and I.  It takes awhile to "read" the kids, to know when they are having a hard time, when they are struggling. We are well aware that we can not do any of this in our own strength. Pray for our own kids as well. They are amazingly good at sharing us with the other kids but I am sure there are days that it is frustrating.

Thanks, you guys. 

Love you

Rachel

Celebrating

Ahhh, so much has happened. So much I want to tell you.  This summer is so packed full of goodness.  We were able to celebrate Wyatt as he turned 17! And Sophie as she turned 13! AWESOME!  That was fun. This last week, and this week we have been hosting 14 college kids from Toccoa Falls College in Georgia.  Some of these kids were in our dorm throughout the years so we are LOVING having them around. They are putting on soccer camps, teaching kids English, talking to the Indonesians about HIV/AIDS, and just being an all around powerful influence in the community.  Wyatt has been able to be a part of this and we love the effects of that. On Tuesday they fly to Wamena to serve there. Pray for them. Right now it is Ramamdan here and the banners hanging around say "Fasting forgives sins." That is the belief. So many won't even swallow their own spit. They so strongly believe that they need to do this severe fasting to make penance for their sins. If only they could understand that there is a God who loves them So very much that He died to save them from their sins. What freedom that would be!

Garth and I are away from Sentani right now celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. Garth surprised me with a trip to Sorong to a place called Raja Ampat (Four Kings). This will be a good place for to rest and recover from my dengue. I am doing so much better, though. Just need to rest.

OK. I just wanted to catch you up.

Love,

Rachel

The Mirror

YEAH! I have reentered the land of the living! I was out for almost 2 weeks, in bed for most of those days, on an IV for a few days ill with malaria and dengue. But I am on the upswing. Good news about the dengue. There are 4 types and you only get them once (so I've heard). This is my second time, so I shouldn't get these two strains ever again.  Yahoo!

Garth and I have Indonesian classes the whole month of June. I went to the first two and then got sick, so I am trying desperately to make it all up. Tomorrow I need to take all of the tests that I missed. Haha. That should be fun.

During my time in bed, I had a lot of stillness, quiet. Times when there was no noise and my soul could rest, not just my body. And it was so good. I think everyone needs a good week of bed rest. Turn everything off. Do nothing. No noise. No activity. Just the peacefulness of your own thoughts. It was super sweet.  There is so much that I miss when my life is too loud. 

C.S. Lewis said this-"We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."  Well, I was definitely in pain those two weeks. And I am glad for it.  One thing that I heard shouted to me during that time, is how often I want the mirror that I hold in front of me to reflect ME. I want my accomplishments and sacrifices to be noticed. And then I heard this, "Do you love God?" To which I answered, "YES, of course." "Do you really love Him?"  "YES, I do." "Then, push yourself out of the way." Boom! Just like that. It seems so simple. But I am used to taking up that whole mirror and loving it. Time for change. Ok. Well, you can pray for me while I begin to work on this.

Now, it is time to go study for Indo. Love you all.

Rachel

The Big Event

There are many times in my life when time is defined by events. This month in particular. There was so much packed in - some major events, (JSB, 8th Grade Celebration...) and some minor (Band concert, choir concert...). And now here I am. About to go to the last event. A BIG event. Graduation. Tonight. We have everything decorated. All of the gowns ironed. Chairs set up... I have come to realize that it is going to happen whether I want it to or not.  One of the boys graduating we first got in the dorm when he was 11. He is one of Wyatt's best buds. Good-byes here are so very hard. It is not like in America where your friend tells you they are going to school in Ohio, and you say, my Grandma lives in Ohio-maybe I will see you when we go there for Christmas...

It is different here. These kids are moving to a different country. Leaving their family behind. Leaving everything familiar behind. They have to learn how to drive, and get a license, get a job. Some have to become a legal citizen of their new "home",  figure out how Mom and Dad can afford for them to go to college on a missionary salary, adapt to a new culture, new foods, new ways of doing everything, and study and learn....AAAHHHHHH!

In this group of 10 Seniors graduating today listen to all the countries represented-Korea, USA, Singapore, United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Canada. I have heard it said that when missionary kids see flags, they see people. It is so true! After Grad our friends will scatter all over the world. And it is sad. It makes our hearts hurt.  Wyatt is losing the most. So many of his dear, close friends will be gone in a day or two. Pray for him when you think of it. Pray for these kids. They have a tough road of transition ahead of them. And pray for all those left behind.

Next year, I will be a Mom in the audience watching my Son graduate. I will be the one wondering if I taught him everything he will need to know. I will be crying huge buckets of tears wondering where all the time went. But, not yet. I still have one more year. 12 months to have no regrets. To enjoy, appreciate, & teach before he is gone. Pray for us to do a good job. Not to waste this year. To help Wyatt become the man God wants him to be. Roots and wings. Maybe God wants to use you to speak into his life. Please don't hesitate to share words of wisdom, advice, stories of hope with him. YOU matter. And we appreciate you.

I better go. Don't want to miss this!

Love,

Rachel

Prayer

So, I was thinking about something the other day while I was playing racquetball with Garth.  Is every return hitable? Like every time he returns a ball to me, is it possible to hit it? Or in basketball, is every shot possible to make from anywhere on the court with enough strength and practice? There are times we are playing racquetball and Garth hits one hard and I don't go for it because I figure that there is no way I can actually get it. But...maybe I can...

I think like that sometimes when it comes to prayer. It is so easy to pray for the easy things, "Lord,help us to have a nice day. Help the kids to do well on their tests, bless this food..." But, do I sometimes think that there are prayers that just aren't "doable", not possible to "hit"? "Lord, bring Your Truth to this nation, take this cancer away from my friend, heal Adalek's legs and help him to walk again, bring conviction to those doing wrong, get rid of my proud heart.." Do I truly with all my heart pray with certainty knowing that God will bring about His great will in each event? Do I pray believing that every prayer can be answered? That NO prayer request is too small!!!!!   DO I believe it? 

Hebrews 4:16 "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need." James 5:16 says, "When you ask, you must believe and not doubt..." 1 John 5:14 "This is the confidence that we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us."

I need to ask. He is listening. I need to be confident. I serve a BIG God. HE CAN DO IT! Maybe I can't hit every fast ball Garth returns to me, but I can know with certainty God will answer my every prayer.

Rachel

Lies

Hello to all!  So much has happened since I last wrote to you. I miss talking to you. We are in the midst of a heat wave here. It is crazy hot! There is not much you can do during the week to stay cool. Right now we don't have a membership at the local Sentani pool because it was too expensive. So we just try to think cold thoughts. Ha ha.

Hope Mother's Day was just dandy for all of the Mothers out there. Mine was nice. We went to a local restaurant as a dorm (That is quite the ordeal). Restaurants here do things quite different from America. The food can come out anytime. So, you don't eat together. There was a gap of maybe 45 minutes between when my food came out and when the other food came out. But it is the thought that counts, right? The dorm all made me feel special.

We have had some sicknesses go through. Cale got the sickest. Missed a week of school... but everyone is well now. YEAH!  We had our huge community garage sale. The dorm sold stuff and got some money to use for an end of the year party. We had SAT tests and AP tests, Track and Field Day, A Sports Award Ceremony... and lots to come-Choir concert, Band concert, 8th Grade Banquet, Junior/Senior Banquet and then Grad!!! Crazy!

Garth and I are teaching a class right now using the transition/re-entry stuff that we learned from working with Barnabas. The class is almost all Seniors and I am so excited for this opportunity to help prepare the kids for a smooth transition BEFORE they go back to their passport country. It is not easy. I remember. It seems like it should be easy, but you don't just slide back into the spot you left. You are not the same person you were before you left.

Anyways, real quick before I go I want to tell you something God has been talking to me about. Capture Your Thoughts! (2 Corinthians 10:5, Philippians 4:8, Colossians 3:1-2) Satan loves, LOVES, to trick us into believing lies-"You are such a mess-up, no one cares, you will never be as good as them..." He tricks you in the areas you are most vulnerable. SO, what will we do with those lies? Ponder them, feed them, stew in them and think that they are truth? NO WAY! Setting our hearts on lies is like setting the radio on a trashy, static station and letting that play in our home all day. The things we feed affect us. So stop feeding the lies. If the lies are louder than the Truth, then our soul is starving for God's Word. Don't get stuck in the stink!!! Lies flee in the presence of Truth! Speak Truth!!!

Love,

Rachel

Some pictures-

Me selling stuff at the Barang Sale (Garage sale)

Busy at the barang sale.

Clothes are always a hot item, that's why we get so many customers.

Cale lost a few pounds while he was sick.  His pants wouldn't even stay up without help.

Wyatt received some awards for sports this year.

Mother's Day lunch out.

Ladies Retreat

Hello. It is now Monday morning and I wanted to take some time and write you about my weekend. I was at a Ladies retreat from Friday - Sunday.  The meetings were held up at the school and the ladies all slept in the library. (When was the last time you camped out in a library? Ha ha.) Great fun!  There was a lady that came from Texas to speak and a church that sent little gifts, and candy for the ladies so we would feel pampered and special. I laughed a lot, and learned a lot. It was a beautiful time of connecting.

Our speaker talked about ways to measure your spiritual growth. These are some questions to ask:

Has my passion for learning about God grown in the last 6 months?

Am I less critical?

Am I able to hold my tongue?

Do I have more self-control?

Is my love more noticeable?

Am I having regular devotions?

Am I memorizing verses?

How hard is it for me to find peace?

Am I reaching out to others?

Am I thankful?

She defined growth as this: "When my desire to grow and get closer to God is greater than my desire to stay the same."

She also said, "God is much more interested in my character than my comfort."

I am so thankful that she was willing to come all this way for us!  What a blessing!  There were over 60 ladies there worshipping and ready to hear what God had to say. Thanks for praying. Here is a picture:

Growth!

Happy Spring to you!!!!  I have seen pictures of flowers coming up by you, green grass and piers going in the water. That means that you made it through another winter!!  Way to go!  It makes me cold just thinking about what you went through. Yikes!

We have greens growing all around us. I LOVE that in every direction I look I see signs of life. The Earth is so beautiful.  God is so very creative.  Physically I see such growth in my kids as well. I am officially the second shortest in my family; the shortest, Cale, only being 9 yrs. old!  Wyatt and Emma have been taller than me, and now Sophie has joined them.

We have been challenged a lot lately about our spiritual growth.  As much as I hate how fast Cale is growing, I am glad that he hasn’t been a baby for the last 9 years.  I love to see him change and watch his personality develop. As a Christian, we do not want to remain “babies”.  We need to grow in our relationship with God, we need to be stretched, our faith needs to be stronger. Think about where you were last spring. How much has your faith grown since then? If you can’t honestly see growth than something is very wrong.  Start pouring over the Scriptures. Take time every day to really talk to God. Listen to people when they point out areas to work on. Don’t let bitterness take root. Be joyful. Serve. Forgive and let go. Laugh. Treasure these moments. Life is SO much better when you are moving.  Put your hope in the SON, drink of His living water, and grow, grow, grow.

Love ya,

Rachel

Easter

Thursday

Hey you guys!  Hope you are well.  There is such excitement in the air here right now.  It is almost Easter Break and it is our basketball tournament.  We always host the tournament so all the teams come here. Because we have two gyms we are able to have three different games going on at the same time.  Our girls teams had two games on Saturday and won them both. The boys had one that they also won. Today the boys have two and the girls have one. There is a guy on a team that is taller than Garth!  You just don't see tall people here so this is crazy.

Easter break starts Thursday after school. The dorms will close and most of the kids will go to see their family.  They need this time with Mom and Dad to reconnect. And we need this time as a family to reconnect.  I am really looking forward to it.

This past weekend Garth and I were asked to speak at a Middle School Retreat. The theme was WHO AM I?  I love doing stuff like that!  There were around 30 kids from HIS and around 20 Indonesian kids.  We split the kids up and Garth took the boys and I took the girls.  I looked at what we think of ourselves compared to what God thinks of us.  Boy, if only we could truly grasp how precious we are to Him.  We are His treasured possession.  The Bible says that the King (God) is enthralled by our beauty.  He rejoices when He thinks of us. AND He thinks of us often. More often than there are grains of sand! 

Easter Sunday

Selamat Hari Paska!!!!!!  Happy Easter!!  What a fantastic day we had!  Sunrise service at 5:30 am followed by a church brunch and then another service at 9:30, a great family meal, reading of the resurrection story, haircuts, games, nap time (nice!), soccer, build your own nacho bar (yum-o), and a movie.  You know, NO ONE cares for you as much as God. NO ONE loves you as much as God. NO ONE will be there for you forever and ever like He will, and NO ONE will die a horrible death on the cross for you to give you a hope and a new life like HE did! HE DID IT!  For you. For me.  Thank Him. Bask in the peace of knowing you are dearly loved. God loves us as much as He loves Jesus. (John 17) That is amazing!!!!  It is a Happy Easter!  Because He lives-I have hope!

Windy!

Gracious!  The weather here lately has been unbelievable. Crazy, strong winds that are ripping out trees, rain coming down in torrential sheets... Day after day after day.  Wow! We just heard today about some people dying yesterday when a tree fell down by the Bank. I miss the sun. I have enjoyed the cooler weather, but I am ready to get back to life as normal-sweating in my bed at 5 am. Haha. It would be nice to have a balance, but I am so very thankful that I am not in the cold of winter somewhere.

I have been enjoying hearing all the stories of how God worked in the kid's lives during OE. It was such a challenging time, and the kids really saw God at work.  Emma lost her footing once and was sliding down a steep hill. She should have kept going but something stopped her. There was nothing there, but she stopped.  God was watching out for her. There were so many times that we were in a village setting up a water systems for them and the minute we were done, the storms came and started filling up the tanks. We saw sick kids get better. We saw high schooler recommit their lives to God. And the thing that I LOVE is that these life changes continue. It wasn't just a mountain top experience. I see them growing and changing. This weekend the High School boys are all going to an orphanage to live and serve. They will be bringing food to the homeless of Sentani.  They will be the hands and feet of Christ.

The girls are going to be serving as well in a different location.  I am thrilled to be a part of putting faith into action. 

The measles epidemic is still going on, so keep praying about that. It is mostly kids ages 10 and under that are dying. One man took us for a walk in his village pointing to a hut and telling us how many they lost, and another hut and another. And he would go around the village naming kids that had died. The church that we went to was only half as full as normal.   The government gave us 800 vaccines to take in and we used a LOT. I am thankful for that chance to save lives.

One thing I have been thinking about a lot lately is a quote I read. It says, "Faith is having the courage to let God have control." I need to trust Him. I can't say that I have faith in God and then try to control everything myself. He can handle it. I need to give it to Him and walk away. Leave it. Don't grab it back. He has totally got this. It needs to be my second nature, and ingrained part of who I am. When troubles, and stressures come, I need to just hand them off and keep walking. Right? My desire is to make this part of my new normal-Trust. Faith. Courage.

Rachel

A few more pictures - Oh how I love these faces!