Beginning Again

     We are now less than 24 hours away from heading back to Kenya for our next adventure! All of our stuff is in storage, our house is empty, clean, and ready for the renters, our bags are packed, and all the necessary tasks have been done (as far as we know!). I had a missionary once tell me that handing in her keys and getting on a plane without any was one of the strangest experiences she'd had. To have no keys to anything is both an unsettling as well as freeing experience. Although we technically still have two cars and own a house, by tomorrow morning all will be loaned to other people. We are enjoying a lot of excitement already in the very beginning of this new season, and are both curious and hopeful about what lies ahead...

    For those of you who are reading this and wondering what we are doing, we are heading back to Kenya for two months, then back to the States for 6 weeks, then back to Kenya again for another 3.5-4 months. These first two months will be spent mostly in Kapsowar, Kenya where we will be working with a missionary surgeon, learning to know and love the people and culture, and setting details up for a research project that we'll be doing upon our return to Kenya in February. Because of the amount of time that we will be gone, we decided to rent out our home and be "homeless" for a little while as Jason likes to say. :) Actually, we'll be staying with family and friends during our 6 weeks home over the holidays, and then hopefully moving closer to Vanderbilt when we return in late May / early June.  

   I'm hoping to keep up with this blog frequently while we're gone (as much as the internet service allows). We are so thankful already for the incredible love and support we've felt from our community here in Nashville. What a joy you all are to us! Thank you for all of your help with cleaning, moving, and cleaning some more, praying, caring, talking, and just loving us so well. We appreciate you more than you know!

   We've chosen Ecclesiastes 3:14 as our focus verse for this trip. 

  "I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him."

   We know that only what God does will last forever. One of the main purposes for our lives is for God to be glorified through people worshiping Him in spirit and truth (John 4:23). This is our desire and prayer  - that this trip will be all about God's work. We want to be focused on His agenda, instead of our own. Please pray that His purposes will be accomplished in and through us each day.

    Thank you all again for your interest and support in our lives. We are humbled by the many blessings and opportunities that God has given us. I'll hopefully write again soon! 

           Love,

              Meridith