I am sorry I am not keeping up with this very well. Forward progress is being made, just very slowly. Bart and I both feel that when things start to come together, it will happen very quickly and we will be in Central America before we realize it.
It is amazing what a work of faith this is. There is so much uncertainty and so many things we will not even know about until we are actually there. I have been reading Abba's Child by Brennan Manning. He was speaking about faith and how it is never without some doubt. That was such a reassurance for me. I always feel like I need all the answers before I take that next step. As we get ready to move into this new life, I know I will not have all the answers but I also wonder if I have the faith to move forward without them. I also know we are going to do this. So that is were the real "leap" of faith comes in.
Last week God gave me two different verses in Deuteronomy about "possessing the land." The first was from my MOPS mentor, and is Deut. 15:4b-5:
...for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.
The other was during my ladies bible study at church and it is Deut. 30: 16:
For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
It was so refreshing to me to be reminded that as I follow God's directions and commands for my life, He plans to bless me and my family in this "new land." All God is asking is that I follow the road He is revealing before me. Whether I have all the answers or not, I am to obey. But if I obey - He will bless me and my family. Why would I not want to obey? Aren't the blessings from Him that I have in my life so much better than anything I could have given myself? Absolutely. All I have to do is think about Bart or our precious Eden! How much better has being a wife and a mother been than anything I could have done with my life! I can't even imagine what is to come!
As far as what we are up to... We continue to work on cleaning and packing. We will be putting our house on the market this weekend. Please pray for a quick sale, as that will be the one thing that keeps us from heading out in January. We will be having our next garage sale in about 3 weeks to liquidate more of our stuff.
We are researching language schools so we can learn enough Spanish to function. We are also working on arrangements for a container to ship a vehicle and some of our stuff down. Believe it or not, it is cheaper to get a car here, ship it down and pay the taxes than it is to buy one there! We will also be in an urban area in a furnished apartment initially so we will be able to function until our vehicle and stuff gets there.
We are also beginning to raise our support. We have 2 churches that are coming along side of us for part of our funding, but we are counting on God to provide the rest through individual contributions. If God lays on your heart to help support us, please email us at carty.family@hotmail.com for specific information. We know that God will supply what we need.
Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. We love that we get to share this journey with you and look forward to what God has in store.
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