The Journey Continues...
9/5/2014
Well, here we are once again. A lot has happened, but here we are. Ironically, we are even back in the big state of Texas. I can't complain about the food, but there are many things about Texas I dislike. I will spare you the Children of Israel complex ;)
We arrived a few weeks ago. The first week was simple, we just had to focus on getting unpacked and settled. The problem? We had no furniture except a bed and a lamp, and our car broke down and was in the shop for 4 days. Whilst stranded at our house and with nothing to unpack our things into, we got as much done as we could. The next week we were supposed to be free as well but at the last minute we were told we would be required to attend Bible study, prayer and outreach. We got furniture but had very little time to work on getting unpacked. Over the weekend we worked really hard to be done before school started but didn't quite make it.
Reluctantly we made it to our first day of school this week, Tuesday. A little window into our world: Monday is Sabbath (a well needed rest), Tuesday is a 13-hour day of classes, and evening prayer and then more classes, with some random afternoon breaks (after this day we had so much homework I think all the students were ready to break), Wednesday we had outreach in the morning (except for me, I had outreach and then ran over to the church to help the administrative pastor, and worked through my lunch), then another class, a short break, evening prayer, and then Wednesday night church service. Thursday was just one class in the morning, a longer break, and then evening prayer and another evening class.
Last night I slept in my clothes. I didn't even have the energy to brush my teeth or wash my face. Yesterday was our laundry day (because we live in community housing we only get one day a week to do laundry, but since most of our clothes were in storage all summer they all needed to be washed). During our break between eating, running errands, and Gabriel trying to get a head start on our overwhelming homework load, we only had time to fold one load. We now have three large loads of laundry that haven't been folded, they are all over our room. On top of that we still have a few things that haven't been unpacked/organized.
I am kneeling in the floor to type this because we don't have a desk chair yet. We were given one but it was too short for our desk and wasn't adjustable (maybe meant for a child's desk?).
Prayer requests:
Financial provision- we are having to trust God for our daily needs, food and housing is provided by the school and God has blessed us by providing money for gas, but we are responsible for our own personal items, and let's be real y'all, when married people are living in a home with other people -we are going to need some date nights to get away and be alone.
We also have a mission trip to the Philippines coming up *really* quickly! October 21-28!!! We need to send out support letters and organize some fundraisers.
There are other mission trip opportunities if the finances are available, and honestly, we would love to take advantage of the missions focus of this church if we are able!
ENERGY and supernatural time so we can get everything done and attend everything that is required of us.
That we would GROW in our relationship with God.
That we would LEARN what God wants us to learn.
That our baby girl Chelsea would be doing well without us there and know that she is loved.
That our cat Ani would be well loved and happy in her temporary home. [She has been with me since she was a baby and never does very well without me! :(]
That we would grow stronger in our marriage and our love for each other and learn how to flow in ministry together.
For me personally, I am praying for a real, tangible encounter with God's love. Somewhere in the midst of the trials we have been through I have lost that and I am realizing I don't feel God's love for me (I will elaborate further on my personal blog, enchanting, as soon as possible).
Please stay in touch, we are not going to be able to be on facebook much but email us your prayer requests and updates because we love you guys so much and want to remain a part of your lives, even from far away!
We love you all and miss you dearly.
<3 Nicole Whitney
P.S. As you can see it took me nearly a month to actually post this. Our lives have been non stop crazy since we got here. I have a weekly emotional break down every weekend, and Gabriel has his moments, though they are not quite as dramatic as mine. I am still hoping things will get better. Keep us in your prayers. Thank you for reading.
Well, here we are once again. A lot has happened, but here we are. Ironically, we are even back in the big state of Texas. I can't complain about the food, but there are many things about Texas I dislike. I will spare you the Children of Israel complex ;)
We arrived a few weeks ago. The first week was simple, we just had to focus on getting unpacked and settled. The problem? We had no furniture except a bed and a lamp, and our car broke down and was in the shop for 4 days. Whilst stranded at our house and with nothing to unpack our things into, we got as much done as we could. The next week we were supposed to be free as well but at the last minute we were told we would be required to attend Bible study, prayer and outreach. We got furniture but had very little time to work on getting unpacked. Over the weekend we worked really hard to be done before school started but didn't quite make it.
Reluctantly we made it to our first day of school this week, Tuesday. A little window into our world: Monday is Sabbath (a well needed rest), Tuesday is a 13-hour day of classes, and evening prayer and then more classes, with some random afternoon breaks (after this day we had so much homework I think all the students were ready to break), Wednesday we had outreach in the morning (except for me, I had outreach and then ran over to the church to help the administrative pastor, and worked through my lunch), then another class, a short break, evening prayer, and then Wednesday night church service. Thursday was just one class in the morning, a longer break, and then evening prayer and another evening class.
Last night I slept in my clothes. I didn't even have the energy to brush my teeth or wash my face. Yesterday was our laundry day (because we live in community housing we only get one day a week to do laundry, but since most of our clothes were in storage all summer they all needed to be washed). During our break between eating, running errands, and Gabriel trying to get a head start on our overwhelming homework load, we only had time to fold one load. We now have three large loads of laundry that haven't been folded, they are all over our room. On top of that we still have a few things that haven't been unpacked/organized.
I am kneeling in the floor to type this because we don't have a desk chair yet. We were given one but it was too short for our desk and wasn't adjustable (maybe meant for a child's desk?).
Prayer requests:
Financial provision- we are having to trust God for our daily needs, food and housing is provided by the school and God has blessed us by providing money for gas, but we are responsible for our own personal items, and let's be real y'all, when married people are living in a home with other people -we are going to need some date nights to get away and be alone.
We also have a mission trip to the Philippines coming up *really* quickly! October 21-28!!! We need to send out support letters and organize some fundraisers.
There are other mission trip opportunities if the finances are available, and honestly, we would love to take advantage of the missions focus of this church if we are able!
ENERGY and supernatural time so we can get everything done and attend everything that is required of us.
That we would GROW in our relationship with God.
That we would LEARN what God wants us to learn.
That our baby girl Chelsea would be doing well without us there and know that she is loved.
That our cat Ani would be well loved and happy in her temporary home. [She has been with me since she was a baby and never does very well without me! :(]
That we would grow stronger in our marriage and our love for each other and learn how to flow in ministry together.
For me personally, I am praying for a real, tangible encounter with God's love. Somewhere in the midst of the trials we have been through I have lost that and I am realizing I don't feel God's love for me (I will elaborate further on my personal blog, enchanting, as soon as possible).
Please stay in touch, we are not going to be able to be on facebook much but email us your prayer requests and updates because we love you guys so much and want to remain a part of your lives, even from far away!
We love you all and miss you dearly.
<3 Nicole Whitney
P.S. As you can see it took me nearly a month to actually post this. Our lives have been non stop crazy since we got here. I have a weekly emotional break down every weekend, and Gabriel has his moments, though they are not quite as dramatic as mine. I am still hoping things will get better. Keep us in your prayers. Thank you for reading.
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