5 Minute Monthly: April

As I sit down to write this post, I have to remind myself that an April update halfway through May is still an April update, and I need to have grace on myself when I don't get a post out on time. Late posts seems to be our unintentional normal these days, and create a bit of a frustration on my end. Maybe one day I will write a monthly update on time, but until then, there is a lesson to be learned (there always is if you look for it)! As cheesy as it sounds, here it is: I may be late but our God never is. His timing is perfect and nothing he does is unintentional. It is not a frustration to him when he shows up "late" because that is exactly how he intended it to be. So here is our April update in mid-May. I wish I could say it was intentionally late for a purpose, but that is God realm of expertise. I'm just here to learn a lesson.

Life Happenings

This month Tyler and I spent a lot of time apart and on the go. Every weekend was packed full with travel and peopling. In addition, all the weekdays involved a lot of working overtime and establishing routines with Josiah. Throw in some dinner meetings and church commitments and family nights seemed few and far between. This trend has continued to present day and it has been hard to slow down. Tyler and I realize we are in a season of pushing to raise support and building relationships and, though it is hard, we are willing to walk through this busy time together.

At the beginning of April I went with my mom to visit my sister and her baby in PA! Josiah loved seeing his cousin again, and I really enjoyed the wholesome downtime I had with some of my favorite women. I did miss my husband though, and was ready to come home at the end of the week. The next weekend, Tyler's mom came for a visit and it was special to spend time with her, let her play with her grandson and show her around the beautiful Northwoods. The last weeks of April were a blur. For me, they involved a lot of time with my son. Josiah and I ran a 5K, had a game night, took lots of walks, spent time at Gramma's house and had long nights working through bad sleep (Thankfully Josiah is now back to sleeping through the night). Meanwhile, Tyler was a world traveller. He went to Florida for a weekend, where he preached a sermon at his uncle's church and asked for their support. The next weekend he was off to the UK for a short but meaningful trip to meet the church and its pastor. This was an amazing opportunity for him; his first international trip and one he will not soon forget.

These days apart were a challenge for us but also a gift as we leaned into relationships with others and time with our Savior and it made time with each other all the more sweet.

Ministry Update

This topic is a bit of a loaded one. It feels like there are many high and lows, twists and turns. Our pursuit of ministry in Hayward is encouraging. I am still co-leading a bible study and Tyler is loving getting to know the pastor of our church and having talks with him about future ministry. Yet, obviously our hearts are in our upcoming work in the UK and the road of support raising it is taking to get there. This is a taxing journey and we ask for prayer as move through the thick of not meeting deadlines and a slower process than we anticipated. We have some more to say on this subject but I will let Tyler share his thoughts in a post he will be writing.

So there it is! our month of April has past and we are jumping into May ready to see what the Lord's timing brings. Our view of his timeline is often skewed by what we want or expect. My prayer is that we will not interfere but rather continue to move forward in trust. Who knows...what may seem like a detour or distraction for us could be God's perfect plan playing out and THAT is an exciting thing to anticipate.

Pray With Us

Thank you for your support and care for our family. We are blessed to be surrounded by such amazing friends and family. Please continue to pray and consider partnering with us financially to help us reach our ministry goal.