Phil 1: 4-6

4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

This verse keeps coming to mind lately as I look back over our last two years here in Mexico and consider all that He has done. I am not somuch talking about outward ministry, but the inward things of the heart that God has been revealing to us while we are here. Primarily, that the rooting out of selfishness in our hearts is an ongoing thing. It is easy for me to get discouraged with myself in this area and that is why I take comfort in this verse. Even if it seems as if I am at a spiritual standstill God is still at work in me.

We have also been growing in our understanding of how God desires our family to operate. Working in full time ministry and living in a needy area provides CONSTANT opportunities to serve and meet the needs of others. We can't possibly say yes to every opportunity. We know thisbecause we have attempted it. Discerning the areas of ministry God wants us to invest in and drawing some boundaries for our family is essential to our long term health as a family on the foreign mission field. Burnout is very real possibility if we do not take care of ourselves in this regard. Thankfully God has lavished us with His grace during our time of trial and error and we are feeling hopeful with renewed vision and purpose!

In other news, we just returned home from Texas where we had a month of visiting with family and friends. We really enjoyed the cold winter weather and the boys were hopeful for snow. I can't believe North Texas actually had a white Christmas after we left! We had fun stopping at every Sonic we passed and enjoyed some great Southern cooking while we were there. I had a lot of dental work done and we made the rounds to different doctors for various check-ups..it was just a time of recouping and tying up some loose ends. The children did surprisingly well on our 2 day 25 hour drive and we arrived back in Mexico just in time for Christmas. We celebrated our first Christmas away from home this year and began our very own family traditions. Nathan and I expected to feel sad, but it was probably one of the best Christmas' we have ever had. God provides for us in so many ways here, His grace being the most felt and obvious provision. On Christmas eve we adopted our first ever family dog "Sadie", and she has quickly made herself at home in our family. And of course this was our sweet Phoebe's first Christmas as well. We have learned some tough lessons this year and the trial and error aspect has been uncomfortable to say the least, but it all feels "worth it". We have pressed on, fought discouragement and grown because of it. It hasn't been pretty, but it's been necessary and we are so thankful to God for His patience and lovingkindess towards us.

Thank you for lifting us up in prayer. No doubt we have persevered this past year on those prayers. Thank you to those of you who stand behind us financially and make it possible for us to be here in Mexico. I pray that you all have a wonderful 2010 full of His goodness.

Because He is worthy,   Amey