Salvation is Here!

This kid accepted Jesus into his heart & his life has been transformed! We are so excited for this mighty young man of God and all he is going to do for the Kingdom of God. 

We love you Stephen Tate Harper!!! 

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. ~Romans 6:4

22 years AGO...

If you had told me 22 years ago that I would be married to the love of my life, wrangling 9 kids, adopting special needs littles, and moving across the world to reach the unreached people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ I would have said, "Shut the front door!" or " WHAT-Evvver!" or " Are you insane" Ha! But 22 years later I can say that I can't imagine living a life any different then the one God has taken us on. I am so thankful for the way God has grown us closer to Him and closer to one another, how He has been our strength an joy in rough times, our comforter in sad times, and a constant reminder that He is our Hope. We are beyond excited about where He is leading our family next. I can't imagine doing this earthly life with anyone else. I love you Babe!

Happy Anniversary!

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,we were like those who dreamed.

Our mouths were filled with laughter,

our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations,

“The Lord has done great things for them.”

The Lord has done great things for us,

and we are filled with joy.

Saying Goodbye...

83 days after our arrival here in Kailua Kona, we are taking the next step and heading to Northern Uganda for 10 weeks of outreach with our amazing team!

This past 12 weeks at YWAM (Youth With A Mission) discipleship training has been so much more than we ever imagined it would be. Living in community day in and day out builds deep, close relationships & this is our new family. We had no idea it would be so hard to say goodbye after only 12 weeks. Our trailblazers family is amazing & we love each and every one of them. Every person has impacted and inspired us in so many ways and we will forever hold the memories from these weeks in our hearts. The staff are all amazing leaders who love their students fiercely. Thank you for all you have done & for loving our family so well. You will ALL be etched into our hearts forever & we pray that one day we will meet again around the globe.

Week 1 

Thanksgiving 2014

Fun at the Natural Farm

Outreach Fun

Charlie & his Lulu

More Outreach Fun!

Thanksgiving Day 2014

Foundations School ~ Sept. 2014

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. 

~ Proverbs 27:17

Happy 17th Birthday Sydnie!

17! Seventeen!!! SEVENTEEN!!!!

This mama seriously can't believe that 17 years ago today you came into the world sunny-side up, dimples, screaming & almost without the doctor! You have been on a mission since you came into this world! We are SO proud of the young women of God that you are growing into and so excited for what God is going to do in and through you. Thank you for your servant heart, for loving your family so fiercely and for always bringing things back into perspective around here. We love you like crazy!!!

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." ~Jeremiah 1:5

Eleven. 11 ~ Happy 11th Birthday Tate!

Happy Birthday Tate!

Dude you are Swag! We are SO glad that God placed you right in the middle of our family. Without you it would be boring, and uneventful:) We love your fun-loving personality and your huge heart. We love how you take things apart, examine things & ask WHY until we have no more answers. Thank goodness for google. You are such a mighty young man of God & we are so proud of you! Thank you for making our family a little cooler, a little louder & little weirder!!

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. ~1 Tim 4:12

Update ~ Our Hearts

2 weeks. That's how long we have before we board a plane in Kona, Hawaii and head to Uganda with our family of 10 and 3 beautiful YWAM (Youth With A Mission) women for 10 weeks of outreach. We are super excited about all the places that our outreach team will visit in these 10 weeks & would appreciate your prayers as our team continues to prepare to LOVE the people of Uganda.

God has been so faithful as we have been digging in deep to His word and learning more about Him while attending DTS (Discipleship Training School). It has been a time of great growth for our whole family. We are excited about what God has been speaking to our family & wanted to include you in our journey & share a little bit of our hearts with you.

Our Next Step...
We will remain in Arua, Uganda with our family and continue to learn as much as we can about the culture, the unreached people groups, the language & the geography of the land of Northern Uganda & South Sudan. God continues to give us a heart for the unreached people groups and our desire is to continue to reach people for Christ. As we continue serving in north western Uganda we will be exploring our opportunities there as well as continuing to keep our eyes on South Sudan and transitioning there. We are so excited to finally all get our feet back on the ground in Africa and we are looking forward to all those we will meet and partner with. 

Thank you for continuing to cover us in prayer. 

If you would like to follow us in Africa you can find us on the following social media links...

If you'd like to partner with us financially we are still in need of $2500 in Monthly support. 

Join us and be a part of reaching the nations.

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." ~Matthew 24:14

Currently... Thankful!

I love reading everyone's 30 days of Thankfulness. And since doing a daily post is not possible for this mama, I thought I'd throw them into one post. I could post hundreds of things that I am thankful for, but I'll stick to 30 because I don't wanna bore anyone:)

1. the hand full of people who actually read this blog
2. the way my hubs leads our family so well
3. new friends from all over the world
4. old friends that we miss like crazy
5. family who love and support us
6. wifi
7. the staff at YWAM that love & encourage us
8. teachers who speak biblical truth to our kids
9. Target
10. Starbucks in Target:)
11. Adoption
12. friends who say "Yes" to God
13. beautiful Hawaiian sunsets
14. little girls with freckles
15. the gift of Down Syndrome
16. amazing books by missionaries {I want them ALL}
17. amazon.com
18. teenagers who make me laugh
19. a roof over my head
20. friends that let us borrow their cars
21. washable markers {don't ask}
22. laundry rooms with 2 washers & 2 dryers
23. essential oils {they're amazing}
24. Kahakai Elementary
25. Ms. O {C + L's teacher}
26. clean water that taste good from the tap
27. my bible, journal & good pens
28. amazing worship music
29. Charlie's service dog Toby
30. the Joy that only God can give me

I will give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart…I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.     ~Psalm 138:1-2

Happy Heavenly Birthday Pop!

A year ago today we traveled with the Harper Family to Cleveland Ohio to surprise Sid's dad for his birthday. It seems like it was just yesterday. We made some amazing memories on that trip and we are so thankful that we were all able to be together with Pop for his last earthly birthday & Thanksgiving. It was such a special time and we will all forever keep those memories in our hearts.

Today I am forever thankful for all the things I learned from this mighty man of God. Johnnie was such an inspiration to me. He showed me what it means to be intentional with every person you meet, to love every person unconditionally and to laugh, and laugh and laugh. As God continues to take our family on a new journey, I now sit back and watch my husband walking around meeting new people, making new friends and inspiring others to live life to the fullest. He is truly amazing with people and every day I learn more about what it really means to love people like Jesus loves them. I am beyond thankful for the incredible example that my Father-in-law was to my husband and to my children. Because of his great love and because he led his family by example his legacy will live on for generations. I miss you Johnnie more than words can express and can not wait to hug your neck again one day.

"Nothing great was every accomplished without enthusiasm." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

...in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. ~Titus 2:7-8

Currently... Updating. It's been a while:)

Our plan was to post weekly updates. Ha! We had no idea our days would be so packed and staying on top of that has been difficult. Here are little bits and pieces of some of the incredible things we've learned, heard and seen over the past few weeks. We just completed week 7 of the lecture phase and have 5 weeks left before we depart with our team to Northern Uganda for 10 weeks of outreach. Every week has been so good and we have learned so much more about the Character & Nature of God, Identity in Christ, Hearing God's voice and Lordship of Christ. We are so thankful for your continued prayers.

We are still in need of monthly partners. If you'd like to partner with us at any amount. Click on the DONATE button and join our team!

So Proud of ALL of these kids!

Currently...

appreciating ~ all that God is teaching us here

watching ~ kids hearts transforming

reading ~ Imprisoned in Iran by Dan Baumann {everyone should hear him speak}

laughing ~  at Levi laughing at himself

eating ~ chicken A LOT!

attempting ~ to squeeze a lot of stuff in every day

dreaming ~ God Size DREAMS

planning ~ for our future, but letting God lead the way

wondering ~ what Thanksgiving in Hawaii & Christmas is going to look like

brainstorming ~  creative ways to repack for Uganda

wearing ~  the same clothes over and over

preparing ~ our hearts to leave new friends

continuing ~ Doing the laundry!!

making ~ friends from everywhere

remembering ~ how much I love Fall & Missing it

getting ~ Stoked about heading to Uganda--5 weeks!

studying ~ the word

loving ~  my hubs ALOTTT

wishing ~ that God would turn on the AC in Kona

listening ~ to Bethel's YOU MAKE BRAVE album

enjoying ~ My new ROCK STAR STATUS BABY!!!

hoping ~ to find a bargain on rain jackets x10

missing ~ Tex-Mex, Chick-fil-a & sweet tea

praying ~ for peace in South Sudan

knowing ~ that God is in control

Some of my favorite quotes & points that stood out to me the past few weeks:

• The Gospel is Freedom. Freedom is the Gospel
• We should go against anything that get's between us & LOVE.
• Do you have enough faith to walk around the walls of Jericho for 7 days?
• Stop looking at sin and look at Him
• The ALL of your surrender will be the measure of your experience of the ALL of Jesus!
• LORDSHIP of Christ is knowing Jesus, having a heart like HIs, Acknowledging & hating sin, taking up the cross, denying self, and following Him
• At the end of the day have I displayed God's character or just mine?
• We spend so much time trying to pay the bill, but Jesus already paid the bill

And of course some pictures of class time, worship time & play time...

Darlene Cunningham co-founder of YWAM sharing her heart

Darlene shared so many incredible stories of making how we must make ourselves available & let God do the rest. So many things stood out in her teaching. Here's a few that really encourage and spoke to me personally:

• We do the possible expecting God to do the impossible.
• The amount of effort you make is the amount of miracle you'll receive.
• The safest place for your kids is for YOU to be in the will of God.
• Do you have a better plan for your kids than God?
• Your brokenness gives you a greater capacity to LOVE God.
• Perseverance leads to Faith.

Loren Cunningham co-founder of YWAM sharing God's story

And this man I could listen to his stories for hours...

• God is on a mission of Restoration
• Our goal is to be disciple makers
• Be careful with the short-term. Live for the LONG-term

Placing our feet in ALL Nations and praying for the World 

This is by far one of the coolest things I've ever been a part of. We spent an hour prayer walking over all the nations. Such an amazing time.

Levi worshipping

Mark Nelson ~ Bringin' It at FREEDOM Week!

Super cool Bayan Tree! We had to climb it.

A few crazies jumping off a 40ft cliff

These two cuties at black sand beach 

At Queen's Bath practicing snorkeling 

Every day God paints the sky

"Faith is trusting God's character when life has given you a reason not" ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Happy 15th Birthday Bay~Bay

Happy Birthday to this beautiful girl!

Baylie Grace Harper you make life a little sweeter around here. We love your compassionate heart, your love for others, your servant heart, and optimistic spirit. Thank you for keeping things in perspective, stepping in to help when Mama needs it, and for being such a good role model to your brothers and sisters. We love seeing how God is growing you everyday & you make us SO proud! Love you to the moon and back!

HAPPY 15th Birthday Bay-Bay!!!

Loving

Crazy!

Beautiful

Adventurous 

Friend

Inspiring

Compassionate

Sister

"I pray that my children may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." ~ 2 Peter 3:18