MAF Application

We received our MAF application via e-mail a few days ago! It's exciting to finally be at this point in the process. We plan on filling it out and seeing if we make it to the next steps in the process. We aren't sure yet if Eric will have all of the necessary IT requirements, but if he doesn't he'll just take more courses until he does!

Kristine is just tutoring right now but continues to apply for and interview for different jobs in the school district. It's her hope to get a job that she can work at until the end of June.

Right now the baby stuff is going well. Next week on April 16th we find out the gender of our baby. We are excited to start calling our little one by name. So far we have a crib and a changing table that we got for deals at random places. It's an exciting time. :)

That's the update for now....but getting an application is huge thing!

Update!

In hopes of keeping you all up to date, we are going to update this blog fairly often, well as often as we can!

We want to remind you that most of the family news and baby news right now will be posted on our other blog: http://littlelifeinmine.blogspot.com/ There fairly regularly you can go and read what's happening regarding the baby. :) We'll keep it updated with pictures as we get them and every week we'll post an update on where the baby is (or could be at) in development and an illustration of that.

Right now I (Kristine) am looking for another job. The temp position at the Christian school ended, which is a good thing because it means the person I was taking over for has recovered enough to teach again Praise God! I knew there'd be an ending sometime so I am only sad that I'll miss the school and the kids. But it was great experience for me and helped me know about a great school! I am still tutoring with Sylvan Learning Center a couple hours a week, so I am still involved with kids. Even though tutoring is proving harder and more frustrating at times.

Starting March 31st I am taking an ESOL class with WOU (Western Oregon University). I need to take 4.5 credits to keep my teaching degree. From what I hear, it's better to try to maintain and keep your degree than to let it go and try to get it back again. It does mean that we have to pay out of pocket for my education right now since I am not employed in a district. That's kind of a hard thing to take, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

Eric is hoping to take a break after this current quarter (Winter) so he can work on the house stuff and focus on airplanes more. We think this will work out better for us so we can finally get the house into a sell-able state. Yay! Then we can figure out life from there. In October we have the tech eval and that will help us and MAF know whether we are ready for candidacy or not.

So big things this year! We are excited about the journey!

It's been a while...

As I sit here reading other blogs, I realized that we haven't blogged in quite a while! Here's a small update:

Eric is still working on his tech classes at PCC. Hopefully this spring he'll get up in an airplane to get more flight hours. He still needs around 10 more hours to meet MAF requirements.

I have been working as a temp teacher for math and historyat the Christian School since Jan 25th and it's been great. It's a 5-7th grade class and I've learned a lot about planning for multiple grades. I also realized that I really do like teaching math. History is interesting, but I am not the best at it. I try my hardest though!

I've also been tutoring with Sylvan Learning Center. I thought this would be the easier job, but man was I wrong! I've had to deal with difficult students and lots of other issues. At least it's only three days a week for an hour. I can make it through that!

Eric and I have been going to BSF classes on Monday nights and really enjoying it. It's been nice to have a structured bible study to go to. We still love and enjoy our Saturday night group because we can go together and the people are great. BSF has been good because it's looking at a bible in a different way than we have before. It will also count towards our bible credits! Yay!

Baby is doing well. He/She is due Sept 4, 2010. The pregnancy is still a dream to me. Other than waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and my abdomen growing, it's been hard to tell that I am pregnant. Praise God! :)

On a continued note, as I've been looking at blogs and reading up about what's happening in the world and it really has solidified the call I continued to feel to serve overseas. I can picture my husband working in an MAF hangar with tech equipment and flying people and supplies to where they need to go. I can picture myself going out into the community to teach and reach the lost as well as raising our kids with Eric to care for others, live for Christ, and appreciate different cultures.

The amazing thing to think about is, in October is our tech eval. If we do well there and they think we are ready, we could be invited to candidacy in January 2011 or July 2012. If they accept us, we'll be well on our way to being missionaries with MAF.

We plan on sending out a newsletter in April when we find out the gender of our baby and have an updated photo. Those of you who haven't gotten a Christmas card, most likely will get an update of our newsletter in the "Christmas" card. :) Please keep us in prayer!

We are PREGNANT again!!!

Praise the Lord! We are pregnant again and due Sept 4, 2010. We are still using our other blog to talk about pregnancy and children stuff so you can check it out for more information. It is at: http://littlelifeinmine.blogspot.com/

Jobs and the future

Here's a quick update on where we are at in the whole missions process. :)

Kristine just got a temporary teaching job with a local private Christian school. This job is teaching 5-7 grade students math and history. It's a small school, and all five kids (two fifth graders, two sixth graders and one seventh) are in the same room. She is not sure how long this job will last as it's for a person who has to have surgery. It's only a couple of hours a day, but she feels this will be great experience to use later on the mission field either with our own kids, with the mission or national kids. She still has a dream of helping somehow with an orphanage and helping those children become more educated and adoptable/find good homes.

Kristine also got another job. This is working at Sylvan Learning Center. Yes, we mentioned before that she turned down this job initially. She wasn't quite sure about the three hours a week thing. But, with the other job being two hours a day in the middle of the day, she felt adding this job would be good experience too. Right now she is just training, but hopefully sometime she will start going out to the schools and tutoring children in math. Yes....math seems to be the subject God wants her to teach everyone this year! She's boldy stepping out and doing it, even though she's kinda afraid to! But this is what following God is in this instance, going out and trusting that since you've been equipped with the education that God is going to allow you to REMEMBER that education and build bonds and relationships for that education to be put into action.

Eric has started two new IT courses at PCC. They are proving to be a little more difficult, but he's able to finish them. We've been pretty busy the past couple of weeks, so he's had to find time to finish his homework in the midst of meetings and gatherings. He's still working full-time at Garmin AT too.

We both started BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) class on Monday night. We are excited to finally have a good way to start a daily devotional habit. This is something we've wanted for a long time. This will be excellent practice for us for the future when we are out on the field and have to study the bible for ourselves with no extra groups other than other missionaries or nationals.


So all these things are also things to pray about! We'd love for you to join us in prayer that we be able to continue to trust in God throughout this process. We hope to complete all the requirements to apply to MAF by January 2011. This means finishing up a bible credit each, Eric needs 10 more flight hours in a high performance plane, tech evals and a few other things.

It's amazing to know that we are less than a year away from applying. Before this seemed like a distant dream, and not it's becoming more and more real. We are following MAF blogs and reading about what they are doing in other countries. We can envision ourselves there doing the same thing. We think about what we would do if we had a sudden disaster where we were at or how we'd serve the Lord no matter what. It's actually encouraging to think about.

We pray that as this year goes along that God can continue this vision in us and that we can share it with all of you. Because honestly, if the Lord allows us to go out into missionary service....yes we are the ones on the field, but you are vitally important in this vision. It's you who are the arms reach out for us the hands to do the work. Without your prayers and support, the work on the field could not be done. Lives would be lost. People would NOT know about the Lord. So please, keep following and sharing in our vision...maybe God will allow you to see how it can become yours as well. :)

Blessings,
Eric and Kristine Reed