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PFO - Thursday July, 1

Another great day...I start to feel like a broken record. We are growing so much as individuals and as a family. Even the sessions that we think will have no connection or impact on us are teaching us so much.

Today, I  had the opportunity to lead our advisement group's Bible study. It was focused on 1Peter 1:5-7, specifically looking at how trials in our lives are supposed to be seen as a source of joy and contentment...because it is through these trials that our faith will be proved as authentic and GOD WILL BE GLORIFIED! It was an encouraging time of group devotion.

We looked with more depth at some of the challenges of international/multinational school settings. Some pretty interesting stuff for sure, kind of overwhelming to start to think about some of the implications of having as many as 10 different cultures/countries represented in a classroom...but very exciting as well.

After studying the different aspects of culture and their related effects on education, we had the most anticipated session of the week: "Singleness and Becoming Us"...(NOT REALLY, I actually felt that this was the session that would be the least engaging or useful for us - primarily due to the fact that neither Rebecca or I are single - duh). In fact, it turned out that this session was very important for us. First off, it made me appreciate all the things that Rebecca does for me and Justin. Just thinking of all the things I would have to do if I were single was overwhelming. We are blessed to have been placed in this partnership. God knows I wouldn't be able to do this alone. Aside from that, it was important for us, because there were many things that we hadn't realized that will be important for us to remember as we interact and do life with the single men and women serving in Vienna.

We had a chance to meet with Brett Howard, director of RCE. It was nice to put a face to the name and email address that has been a regular fixture in my inbox for the last 6 months.

We have been refocusing our efforts on making phone calls to engage potential monthly supporters. We were told today that we need to submit a report on our commitment levels on July 23rd. This means, that in the next 3 weeks, we need to gather a team of supporters who are committed to giving the remaining $3000 dollars of our monthly support need.

Please pray for us as we make our phone calls. Pray that God will go ahead of us and prepare the hearts of our friends and family. Pray that we will be bold and confident in asking people to join our team. Pray that we will persevere...and that we will find peace and rest in the coming days.

Please comment if you have any insight or response to what we're sharing...the comments are always encouraging...(mostly because that means people are actually reading our blog! :])

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