Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Where Hubby Grew Up

I am delighted to tell you that we are third-generation missionaries. It is an honor to carry that title, and I do not take the heritage that has been passed down through my husband's family lightly.
On Christmas morning, I sat in a church building in Texas with 25 members of the original Sloan family (some last names have changed through marriage). Since we all serve on the mission field, none of us has a home of our own in the states. For this reason, we were all gathered in a church building, sleeping old-fashioned Baptist style - on cots, in sleeping bags, on air mattresses, and some even on church pews - just to be together for the holidays!

As we sat together during devotions, Tommy (hubby's oldest brother) raised the question, "I wonder where we would all be if Popsy had never been saved and gone to the mission field?"

"Popsy" and "Mimi" Ashcraft, as they were lovingly called, were the first generation of missionaries in our family, called to the field of Mexico.
Then, the Ashcraft's daughter, Billie, followed the Lord, along with her husband to various parts of Mexico as well. My father-in-law passed away six years ago, but this dear couple along with their eight children has called Chiapas, Mexico home since the early '80s.
Since we were recently in Chiapas, Mexico, visiting home, I took pictures of the property where my husband grew up to share with you. Even though this was not my first trip to hubby's childhood home, it was still fascinating to me to be there and realize all that has been done for the cause of Christ on this property.

The Sloan's home as well as their church and Bible institute are all located on one property. My mother-in-law still lives in this home and the church continues under the pastorate of her son Philip Sloan since the homegoing of his father.

Enjoy these pictures!

The house where hubby grew up

Small yard to the side of the house. David's mother dreams of putting playground equipment for her grandchildren here one day. With 28 grandchildren and 3 on the way, that wouldn't be a bad investment!
Front of the Sloan home
Storage shed in the backyard
Home and church within the same property
Church that David's father started, which is now pastored by Philip
Church entrance from the outside street
Church and wall around the Sloan's home

Street outside of the property, with mountains in the background
Looking down the opposite side of the street, with more mountains in the background
Unfortunately, when I went to the other side of the house to take pictures, I was distracted by my children playing with their cousins and never finished photographing the rest of the property. You can see in the background of the two picture below some of the staff housing and nursery area. The dormitory and classroom are not pictured at all, but are located to the left of this building, behind the church.

There is an outdoor baptistry right next to where the girls are playing
With faces as cute as these, wouldn't you have been distracted too?!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Three Little Princesses

Probably the hardest thing about being foreign missionaries is leaving family. So, that is one of the sweetest parts of furlough... reuniting and catching up on the last couple of years.
For our children, that usually means meeting cousins they have not met. Since we are in an ever-growing family of cousins (for our children), there are always new little ones to meet.

When we came back this furlough, there were six cousins we had not met. And, for us, this is typical. After all, there are 28 cousins on hubby's side of the family with two on the way!
On our recent trip to Mexico, Brianna was able to spend some special time with two of her thirteen girl cousins (one we had never met; the other we barely knew). Their Mimi bought them matching dresses, and these three princesses waltzed through their backyard childish kingdom with fluff and flair, as though they had known each other their whole lives.
Brianna, cousin Sophie (Fizzie's daughter) and cousin Debbie (Anna's daughter)


Heading off to never-ever land...

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Three's a Charm

There is so much to catch up on here in blogging world... And since I look at this little address of mine as an online journal, catching up is something I really want to do. So, we'll start with some updated pictures of my three little charms:

Davey, age 8 1/2

Brianna, nearly 4 with Nate, age 6 1/2
With darling children such as these, can you see why we decided we wanted a fourth one?! I am so grateful to the Lord for the beautiful family He has given me. A lady in a store recently saw my bulging tummy and commented that I am going to have a lot of children, to which I replied, "We are making an investment for our future!" Yes, some people invest riches in the bank. We, on the other hand, are investing in children! Riches will pass away, but our children are our Christian heritage that will keep on reaping rewards for generations to come. Does it get any better than that?

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Pictures of me... at 30 weeks

I have tried avoiding the camera these days... but apparently, I have been avoiding the computer as well by the looks of my blog and the very few posts I have done in the last couple of months!

I still have not been to an American doctor, although I do have an appointment coming up. Our traveling schedule has been very intense to say the least. We just made it back to Texas today, where we plan for me to give birth to little Micah James around January 28th. From this point forward we will be making smaller trips, always returning to this area. It seems surreal that I will be holding another baby in my arms very soon.
Mommy and 6-year-old Nate
I am feeling absolutely wonderful... just more tired with this pregnancy than the previous three. I am sure that has everything to do with age and having more children to be Mommy to as I wait. Hubby has been very understanding and does his best to help. What would I do without him?
I only have about 38 days to go. Wonder if Micah will be a "blondie" like my boys...? Or dark-skinned and dark-haired like my Brianna...? Isn't it so much fun that we don't choose for ourselves?