Andrew started Hebrew II this Spring in order to complete the academic requirements for his ordination in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Just about a week ago he completed the class and we are grateful to the Lord that despite many struggles during the semester he did well on his final exam and received the necesssary grade in order pass. With that behind him, he is pushing forward in finishing up his internship requirements and preparing for his ordination trials this summer. Our hope is that he will be ordained by either the October meeting of Presbytery (preferrable) or by the January meeting. He feels much more confident and excited now that the academic portion is behind him and he can focus on the remaining requirements, though they will present their own challenges.
Julie has been working hard adjusting to life as a stay at home mom and pursuing becoming a Jazzercise instructor. She just passed her CPR certification test and is moving forward with preparing for her own set of trials in July when she will be tested on her knowledge and performance of routines. The test selects between 2 and 3 routines from a possible 10 that she has to perform correctly in order to pass. She really enjoys Jazzercise and is excited about the possibilty of becoming an instructor and taking over some of the morning classes at the facility where she is currently exercising.
Ann Renee is 7 months old and continues to grow and change almost daily. She has a plethera of indestinguishable syllabals that she is continually babbling as she tells her toys, Ellie (the dog) and her parents about all that she thinks and feels! She loves to laugh and bounce and sit on daddy's shoulders. She has just recently begun the process of becoming mobile by "scooching" as we have affectionately named it. Fortunately for the time being, the carpert offers enough resistance to make any serious attempts at moving around not worth the effort - but we are not far from having a mobile baby.
On the missions front, we have selected a mission board - United World Mission - located in Charlotte, NC and we have filled out the application and been invited to their Candidate Assessment and Orientation (CAO). This happens the week of June 5th-10th in Winnsboro, SC which is about an hour from where we currently live.
The current plan is that we will move to Costa Rica where Julie will attend language school and Andrew will begin teaching at a seminary on a part-time basis. The remainder of his time will be spent helping to write and teach currimculum in different countries around Latin America. We are very excited to attend the orientation and see how the Lord guides us and prepares us for our future ministry in Costa Rica! We still have a lot of questions but God has continually proven himself faithful to us and we are certain that he will continue to do so.
We covet your prayers as we begin this process. We fully expect that God will use this process to grow us in our faith and dependence on him and we are aware that it can be very difficult at times. We simply ask that you would pray for us as the Lord leads you. We will continue to keep you up to date.
Love,
Andrew, Julie and Ann Renee
