You know isn’t it crazy to think that we are packing up again! I think you all most likely wonder if this is a post from last year! But yes we have to pack up again for going to Ecuador, but the thing with this move is that can only bring 5 bags worth of things! The funny thing is most of our bags things our going to be filled with stuff for Bela!

If you all could pray for me during this packing season. I need to choose What is going and what isn’t!

Thank you all so much !

Kirstie

So you all know that we have less than a month to go till we go to Ecuador!  Right now being a women I have so many emotions going on  so I ask everyone to pray hard.

One of my worries What to pack? Being a Mom I want to be prepped for every sitituation that my come our way, but we  can only take so much with us.

We also are behind on support raise, so it gets me worried that we will have hard time while we are down there.

But all in all I know that we have a Great God that will provide in all things!  So Anyone who reads this please  pray!!!!!!!

Thank you, Gracias

Kirstie

P.S. could you also pray for my Spanish speaking to just click!

Hello All!  This pask week has been busy for us, Kirstie has her 2nd interview with Best Buy on Sat, and we are finishing up some final details for a mass mailing.

Not too much else going on.  I will be at an overnighter this weekend leading worship for  a Children’s retreat.  So pray for energy!
I will also need some strength, this will actually be my first night away from Bela… (pause for “awwwww”)  I will miss her and her mommy!

Sorry that we didn’t have much more to write about this week, but thanks for staying up on the site!
Thanks and God Bless You!

This is a poem written by LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN. It really touched us, and we wanted to communicate it to you.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
“What are you doing?” I asked without fear,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said “Its really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.”
“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ‘Pearl on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘Nam’,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue… an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.”

“So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”

Please pray for our troops who are away from their families this year.
Merry Christmas!

Hey Everyone!
This week is National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child.

I hope that you all have completed a box for this year… They are especially short on boxes for Boys ages 10-14 this year. If you can, please pray about donating a box for this age group. The deadline for donations is this Sunday. If you need to find a drop location, you can click here.

I have seen first hand in Ecuador the appreciation and reverence that the recipients and their families have when they receive these boxes. A small act on our part can have a tremendous impact on children’s live. Here is a letter from a recipient that really touched me.

Russia
From the parents of Nina:
Dear friends,
We are thankful to the Lord for your kind hearts. God made a miracle and showed His love and care for our daughter through you. She had been dreaming about a teddy bear! She asked us many times to buy her one, but we couldn’t afford it. All we could do was to pray and believe that God would answer her prayers.

She prayed every night before going to bed about a teddy bear, and she dreamed about having one and singing lullabies to him.

She got so excited when she received a gift and opened the box. There was a teddy bear inside the box! Just like the one she had been dreaming about. There were also many other toys, crayons, and candies. God fulfilled the need tremendously. It was a great example of God’s love to our daughter. Now she understands that it is very important to open up your heart and bless someone—to serve someone. Tonight before she went to bed she prayed and asked God to bless those who sent her such a wonderful gift. Then she embraced her teddy bear and fell asleep.