We’ve just had a wonderful Thanksgiving, celebrating with both family and friends. We had an amazing lunch at Paul’s parent’s house, followed by delicious dessert and games with friends. Beyond the great food, we are reminded of God’s astonishing goodness to us. Whether we are in the midst of a trial, or not, God is good. Period. Full stop. God calls us to be thankful regardless of our circumstances.

“Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (The Message)

Here’s the family at Paul’s parent’s place on Thanksgiving. Tre was napping during this photo. Josiah is the selfie-expert! 🙂

Here’s a pic of all 4 boys swimming on Thanksgiving! Tre usually stays on the steps, but that day, he ventured out with the big boys!

On Thanksgiving morning, Josiah participated in the annual Triptophan Triathlon. Paul could not compete this year, due to his leg. He should be able to swim again in a few weeks. Josiah ended up getting a flat tire on his bike, and finished down the field, but we are proud of his perseverance in finishing the race. He had good times in both the swim and the run. Lynnette volunteered at the race, while Paul, Austin, Kyle & Tre were the cheering squad.

The Fall quarter at the U of N is wrapping up soon. Approx 35 different outreach teams will leave around the 20th of December. This coming Thursday, Paul will be training over 100 of the staff and students that will be responsible for the team finances. He conducts this 2 hour training session each quarter, to ensure the teams are prepared to handle the thousands of dollars that goes with our outreach teams, as they travel. The following week, Paul will train the Winter quarter staff on how to properly budget for outreach.

If you’re on our mailing list, you should be receiving our Christmas card and an Annual Report by mid-December. They’re being printed as I type this. If you’d like to get on the mailing list for future newsletters, let us know, and we’d be happy to add you. Here’s a sneak peak of the boys during the photo shoot. They are growing up fast. This year, Josiah surpassed Lynnette in height, and it won’t be long before he passes Paul up too. (Josiah Freshman, Austin 7th Grade, Kyle 2nd Grade, Tre 2.5)

For those interested in our finances, here’s an update:

• Our Fall push for an increase in support of $1,000/month is going well. We’ve had pledges of $720 per month, although not all of it has materialized yet, and some donors couldn’t start until 2016. But we are thrilled by the response, which will really help with the increased costs we are facing.
• Comparing our finances in 2015 versus 2014, our missionary support income is up by 7.8%. Expenses are also up by 6.7%, so most of our support increase has been used up.
• Last December we were facing a large deficit for the year, but due to receiving several year-end donations, we ended up with a surplus of $204 for the year.
• This year, our expenses have again exceeded our income, by $3,338. This has been paid for by depleting our savings. We are not yet in any type of debt, but we will be before the end of 2015, based on our normal monthly support.

If you are able to help us financially during this time, that would be amazing! For more info on how you can give, please visit our partner page, or call us and we’d be happy to help with the process. All donations are fully tax deductible in the U.S. and Canada.

We pray that you will have a wonderful Christmas season. May you be reminded of the good gifts you have received from the Lord, and may you prosper in 2016.

“I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” John 10:10 (The Message)