LIfe lately :)

As I was sitting down to write this post the hymn came to mind "Great is Thy Faithfulness", in particular the verse, "all I have needed Thy hand hath provided, great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto thee." I have been wanting to write a post now for like a month, but never do in fear that what I am wanting to say will not come across as I hope. But I will try anyways. :) Life has been a crazy blur in the Loudermilk household lately! A couple weeks ago we made a trip to Ohio to visit all of our family there and had a few speaking engagements where we had the privilege of sharing our hearts for Africa. We had a great time and our time there flew! The day after we got back from Ohio, our two oldest "babies" started kindergarten! I am still in shock that we have TWO children in school. Kayden and Emmersyn are having a blast at school, and we feel very blessed by the teachers they have. It has been so fun to see them so excited about going, and Brian and I both agree that they both seem so much older since they started. They are so proud of what they are doing and learning and are loving making new friends. We are so proud of them! With the older two gone at school during the day, it has been much quieter in the mobile home during the day! It is interesting to see how Sophee and Harper's roles change when the older two are gone. So that is kind of a quick update with what has been happening on the home front here.
I wish I could put into words all that has been happening inside my heart over the past couple of months. We have been BLOWN AWAY by how God is providing and paving the way for our family. The peace I feel in my heart is so heavy and so real, it is almost as though I could touch it. So much has changed in our lives over the past four months, and it amazing to look back and see how God orchestrated all of it. Sometimes it is hard to see when we are right in the middle of something, how it is going to play out. This journey of our family getting to Africa has been a long one, about six years ago is when I felt the Lord first tell me we would be serving in Africa as missionaries. At some times it seemed utterly impossible, and so far off it would create a sense of defeat in my heart and mind. Now that we are oh.so. close, it is truly amazing looking back. God has been so faithful and such a gentle and loving Father throughout the whole process. There really is SO much peace and joy in this chapter of our lives, as we prepare to head out to the field. I feel like one of the biggest things I am learning right now is the joy of obedience. If you would look at our family from a worldly view, you might honestly think we were crazy. Selling our home, moving to a mobile home, selling our possessions in order to take our four kids to a third world country... so on and so forth. We have NEVER been happier though!!! That is what is so amazing to me!!!! When we follow the call on our lives, (and it is different for every single one of us), there is truly joy unspeakable!! I love thinking of my family and friends and seeing all the different callings they have on their lives. They all have different passions and gifting and seeing them walk them out is amazing. It (most of the time) seems so easy and just comes natural because that is what they were created for. That is how we feel with Africa. It is always so funny to hear people's reactions about us moving there, mostly the shock you can see on their faces. But for our family, this feels natural. I tried fighting it and denying it for awhile, and felt incomplete. Africa truly is our fifth child and it feels as though that baby is about to be born. The anticipation leading up to the "due date" (or also known as our launch date) is more than I can handle sometimes. Although it is hard to think about leaving our friends and family here, we become giddy when we talk about living there. Knowing that our lives are going to be changing in such a drastic way in the next few months, and also knowing there will be challenges along they way, but having peace that truly surpasses all understanding is amazing. There is no where else we would rather be right now. Sometimes at night when laying in bed, and looking around our room in the mobile home, I will become overcome with thankfulness and amazement at how God is taking care of our every single need. Needs that we weren't even aware that we had, and yet He still provided for them!
Brian and I were talking the other day of how the time is going to FLY before we leave. September is almost already here and my parents are taking our family to Florida for vacation for a week, and then my sister and nieces will be coming to Iowa for a week as well, so I know that month will go by so quickly! Then you have October, November, and December which will include all the holidays, our (9th!!) anniversary, family visiting from Ohio, trips for our family, and just the ever day business of life! Then January, Brian will be off staff of our church, the new year and preparing all the last minute details of us leaving, and then February is here, and (Lord willing) we will be gone! Crazy!!
There is also so more exciting news we have, but you will have to wait until our next couple of newsletters to hear about! So if you don't receive our newsletter and would like to, get me your address and will add you to our list. Thank you all so much for your prayers, as our family feels totally covered in them during this season. If you have any interest at all in joining our monthly support team please contact us at brokenforafrica@yahoo.com. We can guarantee it will be a worthy investment!