Adventure Racing

This past Saturday Cooper, Jacob and their youth leader were in an adventure race here in our town. They had to run about 4 miles, bike about 8 miles and canoe 3 miles. They WON the race!!! What an awesome accomplishment! We are so proud of them!

So, our boys were in this adventure race.... Once the race started they had to run to a designated area and scavenge to find their papers .Then they hopped onto their bikes, then changed into their running shoes and ran for a while , then bike again, then loaded their canoe and THEN ran to the finish line. In between all of this, they had points where they had to sprint up hills,etc and get a card punched. Then after they finished the race, they had to answer trivia questions about things they came across while on their "adventure". (whew! ) I couldn't help but relate it to this great adventure race that the Evans are on. We have received our call and have been shot out into the race much like a race horse ..or ..an adventure racer. We seem to always be turning, changing, adjusting, growing yet steadily, focused on the end ... which the obvious would be Guatemala. The largest difference may be that at the end of all of this support raising we may reach our goal of Guatemala and be the ones to ask all of the questions....like......why didn't we eat more Tex-mex before leaving, why didn't we grab that last thing at Wal-mart? why didn't we order that kitchen ware that we wanted (okay, that is... that I wanted because I have a weirdness about cooking in metals that I can't identify..weird, I know) ... Anyway, what an exciting turn everyday seems to present and yet God continues to follow us...not like poperatce (sp?)but like a father.... eternally concerned for the runner, the distractions, the endurance.... And the best part is that although the race is there to be run.... We've already won... God secured the victory through his son Jesus ! A crucifixion paid it all and resurrection that said it all ..we run...not in vain but in GLORY.... Glory that presents peace when all is exhausted ...Glory that will be with us forever .... AMEN

No T-shirt required ,

The Evans ...aka... Adventure Racers for Jesus

Go LIONS!!!!

You can't really take in the Fall season without a little football. Jacob is playing football with a local Christian school and LOVING it! We are quite the site ... the eight Evans all showing up with their Lions T-shirts and water bottles in hand. We had a man stop us at the last game and ask if we were a home school group. David and I laughed and told him ..no, just our family. The man had such a funny look on his face. Little did he realize that we have a few friends that could make our little clan look like a TINY group.... W's,A's and S's...SO, if you haven't felt the cooler air outside, you should take a few minutes and throw the ball around with your kids, friends or pet and celebrate this great American game! GOOOOOO UCS !

***update on support raising****

Things are moving along! We are excited to say that we are at about 52% of our outbound budget and a little over 30% of our monthly budget. We (David and I) have set a leave date of March 1, 2009. This is a target date set by David and I (not FH) just to help us as a family try to tie up ends with the holidays and our school year. It is hard to believe that the Lord may be willing for us to leave as early as 6 months from now . It's hard to believe that we are making the largest move of our lives and we are not in the smallest way in control of any of it. What an awesome place to be! I have cried at realizing the time is fleeing and David and I have rejoiced sweetly when we see the Lord bringing our support in. This adventure is a rollercoaster of emotions and I'm sure that we ain't seen nothin' yet! (smile).....What kind of faith would it take to just read a sign in the sky or live out life following a yellow brick road? .... As for me and my house we will serve the Lord....even when things aren't so clear.. we know God to be faithful!

Thank you for droppin' in on our blog. I have no idea where the southern sayin' came in ...but for tonight .... good night yall!

Melinda

Lord, grant me the endurance to be patient....

Why is it that we can so easily lose focus? How easy I can get off course and become so busy that I just "do" life. I do the whole check list thing....write out my schedule, check it off ,carry things over onto tomorrow's list that didn't get done......I forget WHO I'm doing this life for... my confusion becomes David and the children when my greatest task in life is to love the Lord with all my heart and draw others to him by making God look good...No! not through the list stuff....just in loving and allowing to be loved by those around me. I am so blessed ! I LOVE being a wife, mother and sojourner for the Lord!

Lord, grant me the endurance to be patient for what lies ahead. Give me arms to embrace what lies before me today and let me not forsake the giver of it all by being so busy "doing" that I forget to be "giving". May you be glorified in our lives TODAY .

Lord, you are enough! Amen

Rain...not just for the grass!

When life gets a little wild ...aka... home school is back on for the year....it is wonderful to bring in the rain! Literally, in our new little casa we don't have a table inside. Our only table is on the back porch. After 2 weeks of wild planning, multiple visits to the copy store, scheduling and finagling 2 calendars, Spanish lessons, football practice, gym for my older guys and working all of the bugs out of our curriculum for 2 high school students,one 7th grader and still being in the process of planning for the three little ones who will be starting kindergarten next week..(whew!)...God threw in a HUGE home school kinda blessin' ! I had a candlelight breakfast on the porch with all of the children, no shoes ...just listening to the rain and hangin' out for a while before starting the madness! Thank you Lord ! I don't know if it was such a monumental deal for my children but for me ....it was HEAVENLY!

Praising God for a few wet days that were DESPERATELY needed..not just for the grass either!
M

Sobering but to be Savored...the sweet GLORY of GOD!

In my last post I indicated that summer was gone or at least on a rapid swing out. However, we still try to be getting in the last of this or that. This season in our lives preparing to go on the mission field is wonderful....wonderfully difficult at times, wonderfully graceful at times and almost always never the same day twice. I must say that in August we had 2 birthdays, our
anniversary, another child go into braces, both of our boys now in "high school" at home, 3 children starting "kindergarten" at home, a lost tooth , a wedding for my nephew and 2 huge miracles occur in our immediate family. Realizing all that God is doing in a swift amount of time will cause someone who has a real sense of temporariness to "this place" to catch her breath. I find that I almost am to the point that when walking out the door I grab my car keys, purse and camera. I'm not sure if it's just the "nester" in me (being the mommy) but we're leaving.... we are really leaving. No..no...no...we don't have a date yet and there's no news that we are not sharing with everyone at this time.... but the Lord continues to unveil his truths to us in a peaceful sense of living to the fullest, capturing the moments and befriending the stranger because this is it for a while. Our address here is temporal. Why does it take a drastic change in our lives to REALLY hunger for sweet closure to the ends of the days? to find out where the person you met really is with the Lord spiritually.... David and I were in Walmart tonight ... there was a couple in front of us who were in the self check line...David leaned over to me and said that the man was high...what?! I said...how do you know that ?.... David began to point out several things that were going on and it became VERY obvious that although most people watching me use the self check register at Walmart would think that I was on drugs...this man CLEARLY was. The very sad thing was that his wife was not and taking in all of the irrational things her husband was doing was just about to take her to the edge ...her jaw bones were clinched . Yet, at the door , the employee who checks your receipt was able to have both of them walk out the door with their "we've got it together "smile on...everything is great with us...we've paid for our groceries and our lives at home are lovely...... I could not break my stare.... Where are we going as a world ?... time is fleeing and our days are wrapping up and even in the uproar of Walmart on a Thursday night I can't go and approach this couple because my feet are frozen to the floor! Where is the sense of urgency for this place where God has me TODAY! I am challenged by what I saw and encouraged by what I've seen this week. Another story quickly, this week David and I were able to have a meal out at a local restaurant with a couple who are now going to be a part of our monthly support team . David had on his Food For the Hungry shirt and the waiter asked him if he was in ministry. After some small talk the waiter , very comfortably and boldly stated that he was a "devout atheist" and did not understand how anyone could believe in a God who would cause "such terribly destruction to the world". Our guest just so happened to be, as God had ordained it to be, a radiologist and well versed in physical science. He was able to cover some of the issues with this great guy and minister to him in truth and in spirit. Our guest and his wife are lovely people and never appeared offended or troubled by this mans opinion regarding our Lord. They smiled and laughed at his quirkiness and welcomed his humor and were a beautiful picture of God walking through this mans life and using his people (the 4 of us that night ) to engage in a great feet for this mans soul that was waging. I was only able to interject that I loved him (our waiter friend) ... the level of education required in the conversation was WAY above mine. And God , my father , knew that David and I needed company. God knew that David had the shirt to get this mans attention and our guests had the lovely attitudes and welcoming spirits that were unintimidating for this man and the head knowledge to justify some legitimate questions this non believer had. So, tonight I am overwhelmed with the fleeting of the days, the fact the God doesn't need us and yet I need him (my God) so passionately that without my salvation I think that my soul would stop breathing..even if my feet were given another day to walk in this place.

Father God, we don't deserve the gifts that you give, the view of the movement of you in others lives that we are taken into by you, opportunities to speak on behalf of your movement and saving grace in our own lives is breath taking... Yet by your stripes we are healed...by your blood we live ...and by your spirit we pursue things of a higher power that we can't explain only to tell the stranger .."I don't know the answer but I know the God who has the answer... can I pray for you brother? ...can I pray for you sister?.... Lord , find my feet movable in Walmart, find me haven hidden your words in my heart for the stranger...that all may know you who have known me...if not as their personal savior that they would KNOW that you are MINE! May my life be different God in a world that is craving for different yet it all is dressed the same.

Sobering but to be savored... the sweet GLORY of our GOD!

good night!

Summer- Going...going....gone

Wow! Where does time go? Is it just me or does it seem like every summer begins with visions of laying by water, the children playing endlessly outside with no bedtimes, no laying out clothes for a busy next day, the family having ALL of our dinner meals together, great bar-b-que ...and then...summer is gone! Back to school, bedtimes, laundry is back at the TOP of the t"to do" list... but AHHH.... schedules return. There is something so comforting to me that occurs when I can PLAN for the next day and be pretty sure that we won't deviate toooo far from it. This summer has been a very FULL season for us. Just some of the things that have taken me away from blogging (and staying up late into the evening to blog):

*Our oldest boys went to Argentina. They came home VERY sick. Jacob was in the bed w/fever,etc 7 days and Cooper for 9! (scary)
*My nephew was married to a wonderful and beautiful young lady.
*Cooper has gotten braces
*Grayson is having a little minor outpatient surgery
*David built some swing sets and tire swings in our back yard (VERY FUN)
*Jacob started playing football
*Grayson has a Saturday job
*David and our older boys went on a rafting trip
*and planning for 6 children to be home schooled next year (two in high school) whew! It's really amazing that I got anything other than this done! but I'm grateful for the opportunity !

Life is good ! God is AMAZING ! I hope that you will look forward to scheduling, school supplies, birthday parties, football and cooler weather! I know that we are!