The Final Approach

I've been thinking about this blog post for a long time. I was trying to come up with a cool aviation metaphor since aviation is what we are getting into, this is what I've come up with... When a pilot is getting ready to land his plane, he goes through a series of turns that take him around the airport and get him lined up with the runway. This is called "The Pattern". The last turn as you get lined up with the runway is called "The Final Approach". (Here comes the metaphor) we are on our final approach! We are in the midst of getting lined up with the runway, getting ready to come in for a landing. Garrett is enrolled in Vincennes University, he starts classes on March 15th in the Aviation Maintenance Technology Program. This week we packed our little Ford Escape to the gills (literally) with the bare necessities and drove for 11 hours out to Indianapolis, Indiana. It has been amazing to see the Lord's hand in every step of our journey. From little things like Logan sleeping for a good part of the way and being able to work in 3 apartment showings within 2 hours of arriving in Indianapolis to finding the absolute nicest Goodwill store manager EVER! to the big things like finding a beautiful town home in a quiet neighborhood that is only 10 minutes from Garrett's school. You can pray for us though, this is the first time in all of our moves that we are out on our own. While Ukraine was far far away, we still had a team that is like our family and a church that we joined right into. This time we are in a city where we know no one and on Sunday will begin the search for a church family to join. Despite this kind of scary thought, we are at peace knowing that the Lord has lead us here and there is a church family that we will be blessed by and hopefully be a blessing to.

Time Moves On

It is so hard to believe we have already been Stateside for a month! We are finally getting to settle down a little bit and think about where we've been and where we are going. Sometimes the Lord works in subtle ways and other times not so much! Our decision to come back to the States was the Spirit's gentle leading over the course of well probably the entire time we were in Ukraine. This was a subtle work, helping us slowly to see we weren't needed in that spot anymore. Not to say the work in Ukraine is done, but the work we had set out to do is well on it's way, and we are no longer needed. Our ability to settle down a little bit has been not quite such a subtle movement. Garrett slipped on some wet stairs and fell on his back, breaking his right shoulder blade. After the first flurry of doctor's visits and insurance company calls we have settled into a routine in which we are home a lot together. It is WONDERFUL! (minus the sling on Garrett's right arm and his inability to use his right arm, of course!) While this was definitely not the way we had planned to spend the next month and half, it has certainly given us some down time to begin to debrief our life in Ukraine. And while we are often tempted to grumble or becoming anxious about how we will get through this time, we are comforted and made joyful when we remember that our God is sovereign. As my mom always likes to say, "There is no Plan B." Every step of they way is covered with the Lord's faithfulness to his children. He sees our needs and he is faithful to provide, as we have seen so abundantly. We have a car that is paid for, we have a home to live in that is warm and full of love, we have food to eat and insurance to cover our many medical bills! What more can one ask for!?! Logan continues to be the joy of our lives and we are so thankful to be able to share him and his ready smile with all around us!