In church today our pastor did a beautiful job of calling us back to creation. I think as a culture we're creating constantly...new coffee, new fashion, new weight loss programs, new Bible studies, new circles of friendships... as yet, while we enjoy our new creations so well and are driven to include others we seldom go to perfection... we (I ) seldom am inspired to call a friend and celebrate Gods creation with them. It's all around me all of the time... MY CHILDREN ...MY HUSBAND ... our marriage ....our family...the beautiful person that I bumped into (usually literally) at the shop, etc....... So, to ANYONE who has found themselves here at our spot on the internet today I want you to know that you are BEAUTIFUL....Maybe you're saying to yourself ,she doesn't know me.. ...she doesn't know what I've done or what I'm like. No, I don't and it's wonderfully PERFECT that way. God does know you. God has seen what you're like and he is amazingly aware of what you've done... I know this because I KNOW that he knows me and STILL loves me ! Yes, inspite of MYSELF !!! So, again I say that you are beautiful and infact, I love you ! whoever you are... why and how ? Because I know that God makes NO mistakes ! He is an exceptional, perfect sculpture with the artistic eyes this world has never been exposed to in flesh ! Go on and take one more look in the mirror today and agree with me that God did that .... he made you .... you're absolutely BEAUTIFUL ! FORGIVEN ! NEW! Don't just take my word for it... it's in Gods word . Have a glorious day !

*Your hands have made me and fashioned me; an intricate unity; Job 10:8
*The Lord called me from the womb; from the body of my mother He named me.( Isaiah 49:1b)
*You have granted me life and favor...(Job 10:12)
*...in the image of God He created him, make and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

Just when I had last thought.....

Just when I had last thought that I would be having some time to blog (I think that was Christmas break) everyone broke out in the stomach virus that lasted FOREVER and left me with NO time to write. I am going to try to be more intentional about posting. We are potentially within our last 12 weeks of being her permanetly. We will be traveling to our field training and off for some family time and then to Guatemala. Our support numbers are : outbound 100% and our monthly % is at 51.3 %. We are very encouraged and excited to see this.... just trying not to be anxious or overly eager about getting the last 48% in. We would like to get this in before we leave for field training so that we can attend our training being fully funded.

I have so much on my heart that I would love to share but I am going to ease back into posting. So, until next time....thank you for checking in and thinking of us. We would covet your prayers as we push through the last lap of this race set out before us .... Then off to a MAJOR change in courses..... The city and villages of Guatemala.

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Confession of a Home School Mom

Okay, I have a confession... even though I am a home school mom ....I am TERRIBLE at math!!! So, David ( who is AMAZING with numbers and life in general) is not here to calculate the percentages from our report to update you tonight! - I can tell you that we are only $6,000 away from our OUTBOUND budget. THIS IS A HUGE PRAISE!!!! Thank you Lord ! We are still needing our monthly support partners to grow. HOWEVER, we are thrilled to be up to about 49-50% . I will give you the official numbers soon. If you feel inclined , we would be grateful if you would join us in praying that this number grows from the many seeds that the Lord is scattering in regards to his love for the people of Guatemala and the Evans family in sending us overseas on our fathers behalf. We are humbled.

On a funny note.... I overheard two of my teenagers talking in the kitchen about the third one who had offended one of the two ( are you still with me?) I heard " Ah, you know you still love him? " .." HUmmm" .... "Ah, come on. Down deep inside you love him." ..... Yeah, okay ...maybe....way, way, way deep down inside."...... I couldn't help but giggle to myself and tell myself at least they didn't say NO. It's the SMALL words of love that are encouraging when you have 3 teenagers all three years apart.

melinda

Schools out for Christmas! I'm back to blogging

Wow! Is it really possible that the whole month of November and most of December have gone? That's what's on the calendar and we do have a Christmas tree up so... it must be true! Our family has been soo busy since I came back from China. What an amazing trip that was ! Truly, my most exciting adventure so far. We were able to be a part of 4 people beginning their walk with God and our friends have just emailed that 16 more have come to know the Lord! Plus they have held a translation class for villagers from many different areas of China! Gods' word is going out !!!! This is HUGE and we praise God with them for what they are witnessing there!

Here, at the Evans home, we have had a really different holiday season. Different in great ways. For Thanksgiving , our family(David , the children and I) shared Communion together. It was beautiful. We read the Communion passages from the Bible and went around the table sharing what we were thankful for. Precious. We were able to travel to Chattanooga, Tn and participate in the writting of the 30 year anniversary edition Bible for NIV. They are compiling every verse of the Bible in handwriting from individuals all over the country. This Bible will be available in the Fall of 2009. Grayson and I both wrote a verse. This was so exciting to me... We went from there to Build a Bear and our little guys and Grayson stuffed bears and rabbits, gave them hearts and little voices. Eli loves to make his bear growl right when he gets into bed. I was getting on to him for continuing to push the paw when he so sweetly looked at me and informed me that he was just saying "good night". Of course, why didn't I understand that ?

And all of the fun continues..... as of yesterday at 1:00 we are out for Christmas ! I think that I might be more excited than the children. I have a ton of plans... scrapbooking, reading, making a blanket with Grayson, making cookies...nothing that has to do with a text book for TWO weeks!!!

Things are growing by leaps and bounds with our ministry support! We receive our weekly reports on Monday so I will post where we're at Monday night ( since we have no school !!SMILE) . We also have heard that if we have our support at 100% by May 3rd then we can almost be sure that we will land in Guatemala JUNE of 2009!!!!!!!! It takes 30 days to process our visas, get tickets, pack our 16 Rubbermaid tubs (smile), to stop pinching ourselves, etc... this is a call from the Lord that has been working itself out in David and I for about 8-9 years now. We are Sooo ready to go! If you are a part of our team BLESS YOU ALL for jumping on board !!!! Thank you for allowing us to ALL be a part of what God is doing in Guatemala. If your not a part and desire to be WONDERFUL ! You can sign up and find out about us at www.fh.hcstafflist.org... just look for the Evans family. You can also google Food for the Hungry and read up on the wonderful things this amazing organization is doing to share the gospel of Christ in the hard places of the world in really unique and practical ways. In my words, they are changing hearts through changing lives.

Praise be to God from whom ALL blessings FLOW,

m

Bye .... for now !

Bye for now! I'm off to *hina! Due to my host and their opportunities I will not be posting from there but will try to load lots of photos... I'll have to wait until I come back to fill in the details ... so please check in and bye ....for now! * PS... The back pack is ALL of my stuff for 2 weeks in a foreign country!This is a FIRST for me. I'm usually the one with the trail of suitcases behind me just in case... this time...I'm practicing for Guatemala.

I love you all,

Melinda.....off to a foreign land to share a little of what everyone needs....the song "He's got the whole world in HIS hands" comes to mind. Catchy tune huh?

1)I will extol the *or* at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.2)My soul will boast in the *or*; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3)Glorify the *ord with me; let us exalt his name together.

*salm 34:1-3

Love...It's a GOD Thing!

Whew! Where do the days go? Seriously. Where did last Monday go , much less yesterday? With life seemingly to be going by so quickly I can do, do, do until I've filled up my day and never get "done". HOWEVER, I can say that the things that I consume my days with are different than they have EVER been before. Oh, I have done some of my things before on occasions when they have been socially expected or when I just happened to have a few extra hours (rare with 6 children) but there is something so special about this season in our life that I never dreamed would be the most glorious of these days. What days? These days of wrapping up living here in the United States. No, we have no news on dates, no unannounced news but with the holidays on us we are keenly aware that this will be our last Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, home school year with a library accessible (sounds dumb but HUGE), last round of birthdays here, youth group, children's choir, our new SMALL group and Bible study groups......ahhhh.....honestly, it can take your breath. The ONLY thing that makes seeing the end of things coming is the hope that God WILL give us BEAUTIFUL and FULFILLING new "things". So, the thing that is so special about these days that we are living in is the unjaded love that we have for the SO MANY that we are blessed to be getting to know and those that we have known for years. Our friends stay so close to our hearts that you just make time to text and say I love you... you call and make a point to get lunch on the calendar, you drive in the car and think of the beauty that they add to your life and the richness that comes from the few minutes you're together. I , personally, am learning that true love for someone comes not from the time you share as much as the time that you've invested. The time spent in prayer for the other and the words of encouragement are much more valuable than the coffee at Starbucks or the soup at Duffy's(however, both are WONDERFUL). Our most beautiful friendships are the ones that are hundreds, thousands and tenths of a mile away. They are the people that PRAY for us, financially support us, hang out with us......God spoke to me so sweetly just the other day about a special person in my life. We are not together often at all HOWEVER she is on my heart regularly and I LOVE to watch Jesus being lived out in a very real fashion in her life. I feel like in these GREAT and ADVENTUROUS days that we are in I am FINALLY realizing what it is about LOVE that brings so many people into itself in our lives ....it's just GOD. His beautiful plan for community and a sense of family that ties us all together and will make worship what he has planned for us in heaven .... it's just God and his love working itself out in our lives and the lives of those around us EVERY day. Who do you love? Did you tell them today?

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Love,
Melinda