Prayer stickers for furlough

I have shared in the past how we make "prayer stickers" available at our display table when we are visiting churches.  (Be sure to click the highlighted words to see some of our past ones and read through the comments there to get ordering details for how we do this.)  

I thought I would share our updated one with you here today... I think this one is my favorite yet!  This continues to be an inexpensive, yet popular item of interest, especially for the little people who come to visit our table.  It is always nice to have something to give children who are brave enough to meet the missionaries.  Usually when we are handing them out to children, adults start asking for them too... and I love it!

This idea also works really well when we receive a "praying for you" note from a children's Sunday School class and we are writing back.  These flat stickers are so very easy to just tuck into an envelope along with our letter.  I love having something to give in return for those prayers!

So, please feel free to copy the idea, missionary friends.  A few other ideas I've seen out there, other than the traditional prayer cards are key tags such as these, only featuring the missionary's picture and contact information:

Image source

Or, how about refrigerator magnets that look like mini prayer cards?  I've seen those too, and they just have a way of not getting lost as easily as a prayer card!  Basically anything you can print on can be another way to leave a little reminder in homes of your need for prayers.

Whatever it is we do to get our prayer partners to remember us, the important thing is just that... getting our prayer partners to remember to pray for us.  Oh, how we covet those all-important, fervent prayers of God's people calling out to Heaven on our behalf!

What unique ideas have you seen as missionary prayer reminders?  I'd love to hear your feedback!

Emily Ruth

Before I get back to my regular blogging, I wanted to share some pictures of my newest little niece, Emily Ruth.  This beautiful baby girl was born August 31st to hubby's youngest sister Elizabeth.  She and her husband Ulises live in Mexico and work very, very hard in establishing churches.  God has given them many amazing successes, and we are constantly fascinated at what God is doing through them.

Emily is this dear couple's third child.  They have waited nearly 5 years for the Lord to give them another baby.  A year and a half ago, they were devastated by a miscarriage and prayed faithfully for the Lord to give them another child.  Ever heard the saying "three's a charm"?  Emily is definitely their little charm!  All three of their children are precious treasures who have been born into a very loving home.

For Christmas, our family will be heading to southern Mexico and we are looking forward to meeting our newest family member!  

Most of you know that my hubby is one of 8 children.  All of those children are {fairly} young adults who have an average of 4 children each!  Wanna know the grand totals of our family to date?

1 Mimi {Prampa is in heaven} 

8 children and their spouses

32 grandchildren

4 in Heaven who live on in our hearts and deserve mentioning

and...
1 on the way!

It is so much fun to be married into a large family!

California

Been kinda' quiet around here, hasn't it?  To say that our lives have drastically changed in the last month is an understatement.  Moving our family of 6 across the ocean for nearly a half-year furlough was no easy task.  But, looky there... we survived and are still smiling, to boot.

See that purty van behind us in the picture?  A completely unexpected blessing was our friends O & H giving it to us to use while we are back in the states.  And, you know what?  It has sliding doors for our children on BOTH sides of the van.  This is our first time to enjoy such a convenience, so we feel like we have "arrived" these days.  The Lord is good in providing friends and even better to give us friends who are willing to sacrifice for us.  {A big, public thank you, O & H}.

I am determined to get back into the blogging routine.  This blog is my #1 way of recording these special memories and blessings for my children.  Hopefully {for me}, my recent silence will be squelched.

Do you want to know how a family of 6 survives traveling on the road, how we pack, what we pack, where we stay, what we do as we travel, why we travel, what keeps us busy, etc...?  These are some topics that might be worth exploring as we live this part of our lives over the next few months.  Since this blog is also my way of giving our prayer partners a better glimpse into our lives and ministry, these topics will definitely give you a clearer vision of what we're up to these days.

Anyway, here are just a few words to describe some of my feelings the last couple of weeks...

Refreshed.

Encouraged.

Amazed at God's provisions.

Through all of these positive feelings, though, we find ourselves missing Ukraine and our dear friends there.  Why, oh, why is it that the world has to be so big?  And why does everyone have to live so far apart?  Why do we always have to be missing someone somewhere... whether we are missing "home" or whether we are missing our "new home"?

So, do you wanna know where I'm sending my love from this time {or did you already catch on?}   Not Ukraine.  Not Israel.  No... this post is being sent...

With Love from California.