Greetings To All:
If I were to ask most of you, "How are you?", could you thaw yourself out long enough to shiver out a response? And what would it be? We are doing well. Well, actually, 'well' is an understatement for now. We are very blessed in this time of our lives. As probably all of you know we are expecting our second daughter. The timing of it is up-in-the- air at this point. Baby and Kathy are both doing well, but the midwives that are attending to her continue to monitor her amniotic fluid level closely. She now has to go in for nonstress tests every three days. And if her fluid level drops too much more, then they will recommend induction. The original due date is March 7, but now it seems like it could be any time now. So how are we so blessed (besides health for Baby and Kathy)? We have received the 'essentials' for babies from friends and family in a completely unanticipated ways. A couple from our church out here asked us if we needed a changing table and crib: okay. The couple that we lent our pack-n-play and monitor to returned it without our asking. The MOPS group from Zion Chapel sent a care package of sleepers and a plethera of warm blankets for Baby. The women on base are going to have a shower for Baby this coming Thursday (provided we are not at the hospital at that time.) We have received so much and are extremely thankful that God has lain us on all of the hearts that He has. And we are thankful to all that have responded as above and in prayer. If anyone is wondering, it is not mere correlation that we ask God to take care of us and He does; He tells us to lean on Him and to ask Him for what we need. And this is for all of His creation. Could He BE any more awesome? We are also blessed to have prospective visitors. In the beginning of March two friends are coming to visit for five days. And once Baby is born others may come visit. Having visitors here is truly a treat.
Many of you also know of my opportunity to travel to Latvia, and now, also Germany on the same trip. After Kathy and I have prayed about it, we both have peace for me to go. I gave Jeff, our leader, the official 'yes', and his and my tickets are booked. I fly out on April 10 and return on April 24. We will be visiting YWAM Ropes courses in Hainichen, Germany, and in Latvia. We will be working with the Ropes staff in both places in doing training and improving their existing courses. In Latvia I will be training some YWAMers from different parts of Russia. They each have a desire to begin the process for having a Ropes Course on their bases. It is exciting to be a part of such an expanding ministry.
The base is going to be to capacity, and likely beyond, people-wise in the next two weeks. This week three outreach teams from Sudan, Thailand, and Russia are coming back. They've been gone since the beginning of December. The week after that perhaps 100 people will be on base for a conference on human trafficing. Another base happening is a team of 6 went to work with YWAM Haiti in their disaster relief effort. YWAM Haiti is in the middle of everything, location wise. They are working nearly around the clock to provide aide to upwards of 6,000 refugees. They are busy with coordinating efforts with other NGOs, planning a tent city for the refugees, and distribuiting food and water. Four of our team are committed for one month to this effort, and two have already come back. This base is planning long term to be a part of the entire process of disaster recovery with YWAM Haiti.
Prayer requests that we have include continued health amid uncertainty for Kathy and Baby and for wisdom and peace during the transition of adding another member to our family. Also, pray that Kathy and the girls will be taken care of while I am gone in April. Please keep praying for direction concerning the end of this year for us: what God has for us. We would like to visit China to reconnect with people from our last visit and with people whom we have met through here. Financial provision is also a prayer request: for month-to-month provision and for the possibility of a China trip at the end of the year.
The pictures above give you a little taste of our lives. For the mothers and the faint-of-heart: I am 44 ft up in the tree in the one picture. I really do enjoy that type of work. Kathy is sporting the baby-belly well, and so is Dakota. Oh, and what would a blog entry be without a shot cuteness doing whatever she happens to be doing?
So, thank you for taking the time to keep in touch with our lives. And please give a round of applause to Kathy for being the creative designer that she is and making over the appearance of our blog.
May God Bless You All,
Carson, Kathleen, Dakota, Baby
