Wishlist

We've created a small list on Amazon.com with a few items that would be helpful for our move to Papua New Guinea. You can check it out at the following link or click on the "Wishlist" tab on our blog page. Click here to see our list

If you can't access the link or want a few basic ideas, here are a few:

• Baby Boy/Toddler clothes: Between 6 months and 2 years. Preferably light, summer clothing.
• Amazon Gift Cards: To use for purchasing music, eBooks, and durable clothing before we leave. 

Thanks so much for checking it out!!!

Life is Beautiful

The past few weeks have been busy, but full of incredible beauty. We are so, so blessed! 

The beauty of a baby. Every moment is a treasure, even the difficult ones at 2am. I love every second. The adorable faces he makes. His tiny sighs of contentment after a good feeding. His little hand curled around mine. The weight of him in my arms. Such beauty... it takes my breath away!

 

The beauty of grandparents getting to see their first grandchild. I'm so thankful that my parents were able to visit for a week right after Kyler was born. It was such a special time... one you can't ever replace or get back. Beauty.

The beauty of a wedding. Clint's uncle lost his first wife 3 years ago very suddenly. The pain was so blinding... so startling. No one understood why. Yet God knew. He saw the bigger plan. 2 weeks ago, Clint's uncle remarried to a wonderful woman. God brings beauty from pain.

The beauty of the body of Christ. We've shared in two churches during the past two weeks. Has it ever struck you how beautiful the body of Christ can be? We came to share about our ministry. We left overwhemingly blessed by the people we met and their passionate love for God. What incredible beauty!

The beauty of remembering. Memories can be so painful sometimes. A lost loved one. A poor decision. A hurtful situation. Yet each of those memories have made us who we are. And hopefully, we have allowed God to use them to bring beauty and healing into our lives. Today, as we celebrate Memorial Day, I hope each of us will remember how God used the most painful event in history to bring us redemption with him. The ultimate beauty.

Life is so beautiful. Treasure it today. 

Where Are We?

After years of waiting, praying, and preparing, we are very close to our departure for Papua New Guinea. Just over 2 months to go! Wow! It's kind of surreal.... It feels like it's been a long wait; so much has happened since God first put the desire to be missionaries in our hearts as young teenagers. We're a lot older and wiser now... wise enough to realize how much we still don't know. But we're excited to be following God, because He knows it all!


So where are we in the process of our preparation?

Paperwork: We are currently working on Kyler's paperwork. We just applied for his passport today. As soon as we receive that, we will be able to apply for our PNG visas, which usually take about a month to process.

Support: We also are trusting God to continue raising up our support team. New Tribes Mission requires us to have 75% of their recommended support level pledged before we can leave. Praise God, we are currently at 62% of the recommended support level! We are humbled and grateful to see so many with the desire to partner with us in this ministry! If you'd like more info on our needs, click here.

Tickets: After we finish our paperwork and have the necessary support, we can purchase our tickets for PNG!

Packing: And finally, we will be working a lot on sorting our things in the next few months, figuring out what to take, get rid of, and leave in storage. For those interested, we will most likely put together a small list of things we will be needing, so stay tuned for more info.

There's a lot to do and not a whole lot of time. We've also got a trip to Georgia planned for June 4-15 (yay!). But we're excited to see God bringing all of the details together!

A Lesson from a Birth Certificate

"I don't have a birth certificate on file for a Kyler Laine Teele. You're going to have to bring all the paperwork in to the office before I can order one for you."

Our hearts sank. Those were not the words we wanted to hear on our answering machine. What in the world was going on? Just the day before, we had made a special trip to Portland to drop off the required forms for Kyler's birth certificate. We were hoping to get it as quickly as possible since he still needs a passport and visa for going to Papua New Guinea.

We discussed our problem. Had we left out some paperwork? Did it somehow get lost between offices? Would we have to fill out all the paperwork again (groan)?

God left us in suspense over the weekend. I love how He does that sometimes... how He gives you time to come back to truth and remember that He is in complete control.

Today, we received an email from the same lady who called. She said she mailed the birth certificate for Kyler yesterday!

God sees. He cares.

Just over 2 months left before we leave for Papua New Guinea. I'm so grateful for yet another reminder that God is with us on this journey!

He's Here!

After 42 weeks of waiting and a long, hard labor, we finally got to meet our little son for the first time! Kyler Laine Teele was born on April 30 at 1:38pm. He was 10 lbs and 20 inches long...big boy! We are so grateful that he is healthy!

It's been so fun getting to know him over the past week and getting to see his personality appear. We love staring at his tiny, adorable face... holding his tiny little hands. He's an incredible, precious gift from God, and we are hopelessly in love with him already!

Don't worry, many more pictures to come! :-)