Kingdom Building: come as you are

in the wave and rush of moving to a new country, taking up new occupations, meeting new people and hoping to make friends, naturally, a lot of expectations and dreams are formed. and we all know that feeling- when the newness starts to wear off and reality starts to take hold. the fog of adrenaline and excitement starts to lift and you are able to see a little more clearly. and of course, there is a mixture of "good" and "ugh, not so good"...

new friends. ever-changing job titles. fun adventures. lessons learned the hard way. ideas tried. ideas flopped. joy. tears.

so is life, right? the "life of the missionary" is not any different at the core than the life of one who lives in their hometown. and that is what is becoming more clear to me (jamie) now, after 5 months. unfortunately, my bag of weaknesses and old wounds followed me here to the Dominican Republic.

actually, no- it's not unfortunate! because no matter where i live, no matter what i do, no matter how old i am, my God is faithful. and gracious. and loving. and he invites me to come to him as i am. aka- broken, wounded, and messy.

i don't think i needed to move to the D.R. to be reminded of this lesson, but it has come to me in a new light in the midst of different circumstances. so i suppose this post is a shout out to all of our friends and family back home, just letting you know that life is life here! but God is good and he is at work in us, even if it looks different than what we thought it would look like when we first moved here.

some updates-
- matthew is kind of "in limbo" right now, still technically the pastor here on campus, while also working almost full-time in house with the students. this is tough and good all at the same time. recently matthew said to me with a smile on his face, "i'm definitely learning a lot!"
- while CMA (Caribbean Mountain Academy) is in a period of transition between leaders, we are trying to revamp the program and critically consider all aspects of what we do here. this is tiring and exciting all at the same time, but much prayer is needed for this organization as many decisions are being made that will affect our course in the future.
- in the midst of these changes, the special programming- namely, the art program and horse therapy, are on hold until we get more of the foundational aspects of the program set in stone. this has been a hard step back for me, but this is where i'm learning to trust in God's timing. and this is where i learn to wait patiently!
- Gabe is just thriving! crawling (oh my!), eating fun new foods, clapping, and teething (he has 8 teeth).
- we shared a wonderful visit with my family at the beach this past month... so thankful to spend a whole week together!

so this is us! learning, growing, and trying our best to Represent Jesus To Those in front of us. your prayers carry us through the ups and downs of life and ministry. thanks for remembering us in your hearts even though we are far away.