Soon very soon!

Hello to those of you who are new to this blog! Soon...very soon... we hope to have the newsletter out. In fact, the very next post will be...The Newsletter. We've been working hard on finishing up some lose ends with ministry applications, which is why it's taken us so long to get it out to you. We apologize for that, and can pretty much promise that it hopefully will never be six plus months before a newsletter comes out again. :)

Lately we've been enjoying the snow/ice days. Kristine has had the full week off from work because of the weather. Which has totally been a blessing because it's allowed her to organize the house some more (She's been dying to do that!) and get some Christmas gifts made. Yes, she's decided to make some fun gifts with her sewing machine. She figures the more she can figure out on the sewing machine and with the knitting and crocheting, the easier it will be when we have kids and she wants to make something for them. (No we are not pregnant...just wanted you to know!)

Mr. Gibbs keeps waking us up in the morning with his meowing. We know he wants attention, but we just haven't the time to give it to him. Does anyone want a cat? He's free....seriously... he comes with all types of accessories and we'll even pitch in for a bag of cat food and litter. We can't take him with us when we go to Michigan and we'd hate to put him in a shelter.... He's gotta be the only kitty though cause he loves attention and man... having another cat there would take that way from him! Plus he's got a cat-only disease called FIV. It's non-transmittable to humans.. so no worries about that and we even doubt sometimes if he even has it because we haven't seen any signs of it at all. So yeah...tell your friends... there's a cat named Gibson who's up for grabs!

We hope to be able to visit some of you in the upcoming months before our move across the country. We know that God has a huge plan in store for us, we just need to continue to be faithful and to trust in His guidance in our life. It may not make sense to friends and family for us to sell our house, many of our possessions, and leave our jobs to follow the call Christ has placed on our lives but when God calls... you gotta answer!

We went to Silver Falls to find snow....and we found it! We were so excited to frolic in it, although it was pretty cold! Eric took this photo candidly and we love it.

News...but no newsletter...yet!

Hello everyone!
The newsletter is now slated to come out in December. However, we do have some news! Eric has been accepted into SMAT (School of Missionary Aviation Technology) in Michigan. http://www.smat-aviation.org/ In August of 2009 he'll start his one year A&P program and maybe even work on a float plane rating! Exciting! We both know it's a big move across the country for us, but it'll be great especially since we were planning on downsizing anyway and the cost of living there is considerably cheaper than here. So we'll be just fine for a year! Hooray!

We'll probably move in late July or August and just drive across the country to Michigan. Right now we are both working at our jobs and getting the house ready to sell. We think having this letter will give us the motivation needed to get the house done. :) We know that often times it's hard to sell a house in winter, but we have until next summer to sell it. We trust in God's timing and that He'll provide the right buyer for our property and maybe someone who wants our cat! :)

I should add something....

Some of you think that the Michigan thing is really "out there" and random for us to be thinking about but I wanted to share with you something kinda neat that we remembered.

A few years ago when Eric and I just met we were thinking about moving to Michigan separately, me to do the Teach for America thing and him to do the SMAT (Airplane Mechanic) school. This is the same school that we are now looking at. Amazing eh? At that time we were thinking of joining New Tribes Missions, but as the years have gone by, we now are seriously looking at applying to Missions Aviation Fellowship (MAF). I went back and read the old e-mails and I was really really excited about the possibility of Michigan and so was Eric.

Isn't it amazing how God brings things back full circle? We don't know if Michigan is where God wants us, He could easily bring something else into play that we never realized. But until then it's fun to dream, pray and plan.

New plans, same couple...maybe moving?

They say the best laid plans often get changed, and thus it's the way for us. We'll soon have the newsletter out and then after that shorter updates will come more regularly. Right now there are a lot of changes happening, so we are prayerfully considering our options.

Because of the Stock Market and economy, we don't have as much money in our "savings" as we originally thought we were going to have for Eric to be able to quit work and do schooling in Portland. Because of this we've been thinking of other options and paths we could take towards missions.

One of those options is to move to Michigan. I know what some of you are thinking...how is moving to Michigan going to solve anything? Wouldn't that COST money? Well...yes and no. Ionia, Michigan has an A&P program that is only one year. It does cost more than the community college route, but with the affordable housing costs there, it would cost far less than renting in Oregon. This program is geared towards men who want to become missionaries so it would allow Eric to be in a supportive environment and to meet other guys who have the same calling as him.

It also would allow him to work another six months or so at Garmin, to be able to complete his flight ratings with Servant Wings and also to complete another course at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago because the Michigan A&P program wouldn't start until August 2009.

We'll see though, if the Lord blesses us financially to be able to have Eric quit work and go to school in Portland, we'll definitely do that route. If God has other plans, we want to keep being obediant to His calling for us to be missionaries and to not keep delaying it. Thus the Michigan option.

We'll see! Your prayers would be much appreciated as we seek God's guidance in our life!

Love in Christ,
Eric and Kristine Reed

Yes.... we know...

We haven't come out with a newsletter update yet because we've been finishing our Servant Wings Applications. They are 20 or so pages long and are in-depth. (Which is a good thing if you want to join a ministry) We can give you a small update in the mean time.....

Kristine is working at a preschool for autistic children in Beaverton and loving it! It's been a new challenge to learn more about autism and learn how to teach and reach these children, but very eye opening. You hear about autism on the news all the time, but there's no way you can fully understand it until you work with, or have, autistic children.

For the time being Kristine will be at this job. She has applied for a few different teaching positions, including the online teaching position with Connections Academy. Please join with us in prayer that she get one of these positions as it would definitely help us out financially when Eric has to quit his job in January.

We are still remodeling our home. We feel we have about a month's work left to do on the house...so that's good! We are continuing to look for places to live in Newberg, Beaverton, Hillsboro and the surrounding areas. It kinda all depends on if Kristine is staying with the educational assistant job or is going to get a teaching job. We're glad we have a little cushion of time before we have to fully decide on this issue, prayers about this would be very appreciated!

Eric has been going to Servant Wings meetings and has been working on his instrument flight rating lately. More information that to come later!

We still are debating about whether to start a family now, or wait a year to do that. Having children is something we both desire! So much so that Kristine's been gathering different baby things for about a year or so now just to satisfy her baby needs haha. We want to be smart about it and not to have too many changes at once. We don't take having a child lightly, we know it's a lifetime commitment.

Well.... that's a pretty good update for now, more to come later.... probably in a couple of weeks realistically. :)

God Bless,
Eric & Kristine Reed

Update

We are still working on the newsletter, we promise that the next newsletter won't take as long. We just need to make sure everything looks good and is said right because we have had a lot of changes in the past few months!

We added a music player to our blog! We are still working on adding songs to it. If you feel that the music is a distraction, you can scroll down and click on the II sign, which means pause. If you see a song on there you'd rather listen to, click on it! It's pretty easy.

Kristine got a call from the online school, a different one than the one previously mentioned in this blog. They wanted to interview her for anticipated openings in the fall. She decided to keep with the original plan and to stick with the para job. She told the person on the phone (she thinks it was a principal) of her plans and why she chose to take the assistant job. The "principal" agreed with her decision but told her to keep her number and to call her after we move because there still could be some openings. So that's a huge encouragement! Especially since we are thinking more and more about when to start a family and having that online option still out there is great.

The newsletter should be out next week, we know we said that last week...but there are a few new things we have to go through before we put this one out. :) If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail us at: ericandkristinereed@gmail.com and we'll answer them! God Bless.

Job Update (Kristine)

We've talked a lot about the pros and cons of the online teaching job versus the paraeducator job. We've also prayed about it some and we feel that at this time in our life, the job that works best with where we are at now is the paraeducator job. Kristine feels a peace about the para job, and hasn't felt a peace about the online opportunity. Kristine hasn't gotten a call for an in-person interview yet, but we felt we needed to talk about it and decide before the call did or did not come. Now that might seem like a step back to some people that know that Kristine's been applying for an actual teaching job for a while, but we feel this is where God wants Kristine to be.

This fall we are focusing strongly on getting the house ready for the move and finding a new place to live in Hillsboro, Oregon. Kristine's paraeducator schedule would allow her more time to work on the house during these critical months. It also allows us to visit friends and family and to go to the fly-ins and other events we want to do this year. So really it's perfect for where we are right now, and God knew that all along!

Maybe in the future God will present the opportunity again for Kristine to teach online, but right now she's excited to learn more about autistic children, to work with some fabulous co-workers and to trust God with our future and finances.

More updates to come! The next update will be our newsletter. We are waiting until after this weekend to send it out so we can update you on how Eric's flight test went. Thanks for all your love and support!

Eric's Commercial flight test update

I (Kristine) realized that I haven't updated some of you on Eric's progress so you can know how to pray.

Eric is retaking part of his commercial flight rating test on August 3rd. With this retake he'll be allowed to use his own plane. This is wonderful because he knows his plane and is very familiar with it. I won't go into any detail other than ask that you join with us in prayer on August 3rd that Eric be comfortable with the examiner, his plane perform well, the weather cooperate and that he remember everything that he's learned for the test.

Thanks so much for your love and support!

Another job opportunity.... (Kristine)

So I got a call today from K12, an online teaching job! I haven't signed contracts yet for the para job... so there's still hope.

I did a phone interview with them and they'll call next week if they want to do an in-person interview. I should find out either way in two weeks.

I figure that's enough time to hold out on signing a contract. If I got this k12 job then I would be able to teach from home, save tons of money on commuting, and even raise my children from home. Which is a BIG plus! It would also give me valuable training that could be used in future missions.

We'll see what God wants... I am pretty open!

Better about Blogging

We plan to use this site more and more to give periodic updates about our lives and about our progress towards serving God in missions with MAF (Missions Aviation Fellowship) Sometime we'll register a domain name for it, but we aren't that far yet. :) The above picture is from a visit with our friends Alex and Lael. They left a week after that visit to go to Hawaii for just over two years for a Navy assignment.

Moving!

Yes that's right...because of Kristine's job, Eric's schooling and Servant Wings we will be moving further North most likely to Hillsboro, OR. We are pretty excited about this, but we need to sell our house first. To do that... we have a little work left to do. Here are some things we are working on:

-Finishing the hardwood flooring in the hallway
-Replacing the old bathroom flooring in the main bathroom
-Painting the Bathroom
-Finishing to paint the bedroom
-Replacing the kitchen flooring
-Jacking up the post in the back to level the roof
-Fixing up the back deck
-Replacing the shake roof with a new contemporary one.
(If you have any suggestions for roofers let us know!)
- Fixing up the back shed
-Cleaning up the yard. (We have many overgrown bushes that need to be pruned)
-Replacing the garage door (Maybe)
-Painting the house (Maybe, the color is UGLY!)
-Painting and placing moulding around the floor and doors

Those are some things we are working on. If you would like to help in a certain area, please let us know! We'd love help to get these things done ASAP so we can list the house and move to Hillsboro by January or soon after.

Kristine got a job! Praise God!

God works in mysterious ways that's for certain. I've (Kristine) been trying for a year and a half to get a "normal" teaching job because I have my Masters in Teaching. For some odd reason things continually weren't working out. I had great interviews, the principals loved me, yet no one was hiring me. This was VERY depressing and I got very discouraged. So much so that I was applying to retail jobs.

Well I was certain that God wanted me working with children, I just didn't know where. These past few months I branched out and applied to several paraeducator (teacher assistant) positions around Washington and Oregon to help me get a "foot in the door". Most haven't contacted me, but one did and I had a great interview!

I got a job working as a paraeducator with the Northwest Regional Education Service District. I will work full-time as a teacher's assistant in an early intervention program for autistic children. I am super excited because the hours are great and it's right by the college in Hillsboro that Eric is going to go to in January. I will also learn a lot about autistic children and how to help them succeed in education. I've always wanted to learn about this and other specialized education things so I am super excited!

Yes... it's not a licensed teaching job, and it pays less...but for me it's not about the money. It's about impacting children's lives. Someday I would love to use my teaching license, and maybe I am supposed to out on the mission's field. But right now I am perfectly content working at a job that pays $14 and hour and full benefits so I can learn and grow in my knowledge. Who knows...maybe they will decide that they want me as a teacher elsewhere in the district? The schedule for this program is GREAT! It's year round and I love it.

Now I haven't signed any contracts yet...because she just offered me the employment. So it's not totally official yet. Next week I should be able to go up and sign some papers. I also contacted a Sylvan Learning Center in the area and it seems that they are hiring. Depending on the pay this could be a good side job to supplement income while Eric is in school. We'll see!

I plan on including a snippet of this in the new newsletter... I thought I would just blog it on here so people could see more information!

Jan/Feb/Mar Newsletter

Dear Family and Friends,

It’s been a while since our last prayer letter. To remind
you, we’ve decided to send out the prayer letters quarterly and
small e-mails with new prayer updates in the mean time. To give
you a quick recap in case you forgot, we are prayerfully moving
forward with our preparation to join MAF (Mission Aviation
Fellowship, www.maf.org). Here’s what’s been going on in our
lives these past few months:

Kristine is still a substitute with the Salem-Keizer school
district, however she is now also subbing in the Greater Albany
school district, the Dallas school district and the North Santiam
school district. She felt that by spreading out to more districts it
might give her a better chance to make more valuable contacts
for a full-time teaching position in the fall.
April 1st she went to the Oregon Professional Educator
fair. This fair had over 220 different school districts. Kristine
was able to visit with around 30 from the Oregon and Washington
area. At these booths she met with principals, had small interviews
and left her resume. There were some principals that
remembered her from her substitute work and also from past
interviews. So there’s hope that maybe because she is better
known this year and has more experience, that she will get a full-time
job. Prayers for that would be much appreciated.

Kristine is still working on finishing her Old Testament
Survey correspondence course from the Moody Bible Institute
in Chicago. This course is proving more difficult than she first
anticipated and is due to be finished in the middle of May. She
has two tests and two papers left. After she finishes she may
start another course to work on during this summer, but she isn’t
sure yet.

Eric also is finishing up two correspondence courses
from the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. One is the Elements
of Bible study and the other is Old Testament Survey, the same
one that Kristine is taking. This is proving to be difficult to finish
on time because he works full-time and can’t devote as much
time as he would want or need on the classes. So prayers for this
would be greatly appreciated as well! He has two tests and one
paper left for the OT survey class and around 3 papers left to
write for the elements of bible study class. After he is done with
these classes he’ll take a break from any new courses until after
he is settled in with the A&P program and has more time.

Because the deadline for the Moody classes is near,
Eric is taking a break until mid-May to complete them before
continuing to work on his flight ratings. After this time he
will focus strongly on completing his instrument, commercial
and maybe even his flight instructor rating by the time he
starts the two year A&P Program.

Right now Eric is continuing to work at Garmin until
September, or maybe even January, depending on how we
are doing financially to allow him to quit his job. When he
does quit his job he will be a full time student in the two year
A & P program at the Portland Community College campus
in Hillsboro. He needs to take this program to finish more
requirements for MAF. He tried to talk with Garmin about
working part-time and going to school but they wouldn’t let
him do that do to schedule constraints. With that in mind,
it’s even more important that Kristine find a full-time teaching
job somewhere so we will have medical benefits and an
income during the time Eric is in school.

Here are some things we would love for you to pray for
this next quarter:
⇒ Eric and Kristine to complete their Moody Bible courses,
specifically Eric to complete elements of bible study and
both to complete OT survey class.
⇒ Kristine to get a full-time teaching job for fall either in
Oregon or Vancouver, WA.
⇒ Eric to be able to finish his commercial and instrument
pilot rating and to start on the flight instructor rating.
⇒ Eric to be able to start his courses at PCC in September.

Thank you again for partnering with us in prayer
about our lives and future ministry. We really appreciate it! If
you have any questions please feel free to call us (503-566-
6852) or e-mail us (ericandkristinereed@gmail.com) and we’d
love to talk with you. If you would like to know more about
MAF, visit their website at http://maf.org/.

Love,
Eric and Kristine Reed