The Rich Young Man

I have to say that this weekend I could relate to the rich young man in Matthew 19: 20-23, and God not only worked on my heart but the hearts of my children as well.  We started the weekend with questions...What should we keep and store?  What should we sell?  What should we give away?  I didn't think I was that attached to my possessions, but as we were moving things out to the driveway to sell an interesting conversation occurred. 

We had talked with the boys about how two years was a long time, and that during that time they would out grow many of their toys.  They seemed to understand.  We gave them each a bag to put their very favorites in so that we could pack them in our luggage.  Later, we came back and I kid you not those boys had fit almost every toy they owned in those three bags.  We talked some more and they were able to let many things go. Great Job Boys! 

Fast forward to the day of the first garage sale.  We were carrying things out, and the boys really got in the spirit of selling.  They started taking MY things outside.  "Whoa!" I said, "stop taking that stuff outside I need that stuff."  Jacob looked at me with his beautiful child eye and said, "why do we have to let go of our things, and you can keep yours."  Called out by an eight year old (we will ignore the fact that we were talking about a toaster oven).  There were things in my house that I thought were priceless, but the truth is there is only one thing, one precious gift in this world that is priceless.  The atoning blood of Jesus Christ.  Thank you Lord for reminding me that I do not need thing other than You.

We also made the announcement and asked for our church's blessings for our mission on Sunday.  The out-pouring of love and support we felt will be one of the highlights of my life.  That is why I believe God sent us to the little church in Dean.  Thank you God for sending us to a church that knows how to love in a big way.

In closing we ask for the following prayers:
Please pray that everything goes smoothly at Mark's work.
Please pray that we are able to close up our house this weekend and move what doesn't sell to storage.
Please continue to pray for our ability to learn the languages we need to learn in order to spread the Gospel.

God Bless,
The Bullocks

The Adventure Begins!

We are so excited to share with all our family and friends the amazing thing God has been doing in our lives.  We have been praying together as a family that God's will for our lives would be made clear, and that he would open doors for us to serve together as a family.  

This week, yesterday in fact, we got the news that Mark will be the new Chief Dental Officer on board the African Mercy (mercyships.org) .  Mark and I will be headed to Tyler, TX for five weeks of training.  In July we will be going to Indonesia with an already planned mission trip, and when we return we will have three weeks before we head to the Canary Islands.  Once there we (boys and all) will board the African Mercy, and sail to West Africa.  Guinea will be our first port of service.   We will be serving in West Africa for two years!

There are so many things to accomplish in a little amount of time.  This weekend we will begin packing up the house in Wichita Falls.  Most things we are going to try and sell to help raise funds for the years of service, but some things will need to be stored.  We ask that you pray for our family as we embark on this adventure. 

God Bless,

The Bullock Family