I would just like to say how amazing my husband is. (:
Last night, I was at work at the Disney Store, closing, when little did I know, my fantastic husband was busy all over town and all over the apartment making sure that my Christmas was beautiful. Let me explain.
Our apartment really REALLY needed some help--reorganizing, cleaning, that kind of thing. We also had no Christmas Tree yet! Horror of horrors! We also had NO EGGNOG! What is a Christmas without eggnog?! So. Last night, while I was at work, even though he hates cleaning, he cleaned and reorganized the entire apartment, bought a little five-foot tree, lights, and set it up, complete with two little birds at the top instead of a star. He then proceeded to put the first gift under the tree, for me, and I came home to a beautifully clean apartment and a little Christmas tree lit with little white twinkly lights in the corner. Fantastic!
Then! As if that wasn't enough. He knows it's tradition for my family to watch "It's A Wonderful Life" and drink eggnog and listen to Christmas music and decorate the tree, all at the same time, and so he got eggnog (and ginger ale for me, because I'm sick), and ornaments, and "It's A Wonderful Life" he put in the movie player, and then he turned on Christmas music! All today. The best. Nicholas hates eggnog, so I drank a little, and we decorated our first Christmas Tree together. (:
I'm so happy to be married to this man, Nicholas Randall Dertinger. (:
Seriously. So happy.
6.12.09
30.11.09
waiting....waiting...waiting...
So...quick little update...waiting for the school to approve our internship choice. Our paperwork for PBT is due tomorrow, so fingers crossed! If we don't have the approval by tomorrow morning, we'll go ahead and call Nathan Davenport, our missions rep, to explain what is going on, see if he can buy us an extra day or two.
Also, we are still searching for a church. We have, however, found one in Sugar Grove, IL, that seems like it may be a great fit for us! We are very interested, and would like to continue checking it out over the upcoming weeks. Sometimes work gets in the way, and we are attempting to properly balance it without being irresponsible on either end.
So excited for all the things it is possible for us to learn through this amazing process that God hands us, and called חיים.
Peace and blessings.
Also, we are still searching for a church. We have, however, found one in Sugar Grove, IL, that seems like it may be a great fit for us! We are very interested, and would like to continue checking it out over the upcoming weeks. Sometimes work gets in the way, and we are attempting to properly balance it without being irresponsible on either end.
So excited for all the things it is possible for us to learn through this amazing process that God hands us, and called חיים.
Peace and blessings.
13.11.09
And the Application Process Goes On!
We are in the process of filling out all of our paperwork for PBT...still. (:
There is so much! But we are so excited, and we can't wait for everything to be completed, and we are hoping and praying and crossing our fingers for those acceptance letters that will make us jump a little inside. (:
Please continue to pray for us and with us, as Joy begins her new job at the Disney Store on Sunday. This is an exciting opportunity for her to spread the Word of God in a friendly, yet not so Gospel-friendly, atmosphere!
We also ask that you pray for our fridge. Weird? Maybe. But we still need you to do it! The past few days it has been leaking water all over the kitchen floor. The maintenance guy stopped by today to check it out, and he said that the electricity in that particular outlet was only working sometimes, meaning that the fridge only got to run sometimes. He replaced the bracket, said it should be fine after that, and to call if there were any more problems. We're hoping that the water that is on the floor right now is just leftovers from when it ran under the stove. We shall see in a few short days. (:
Thank you so much for your prayers and support and encouragement!
Godspeed.
There is so much! But we are so excited, and we can't wait for everything to be completed, and we are hoping and praying and crossing our fingers for those acceptance letters that will make us jump a little inside. (:
Please continue to pray for us and with us, as Joy begins her new job at the Disney Store on Sunday. This is an exciting opportunity for her to spread the Word of God in a friendly, yet not so Gospel-friendly, atmosphere!
We also ask that you pray for our fridge. Weird? Maybe. But we still need you to do it! The past few days it has been leaking water all over the kitchen floor. The maintenance guy stopped by today to check it out, and he said that the electricity in that particular outlet was only working sometimes, meaning that the fridge only got to run sometimes. He replaced the bracket, said it should be fine after that, and to call if there were any more problems. We're hoping that the water that is on the floor right now is just leftovers from when it ran under the stove. We shall see in a few short days. (:
Thank you so much for your prayers and support and encouragement!
Godspeed.
12.11.09
And the semester goes on...
We are almost done!!!!! In just four short weeks, Nicholas will have his bachelor's in Communications Studies, and in another week after that, I will officially be a senior. We are so excited!
We pray that God will continue to keep us in His will, and we are still waiting. We will be finishing our applications soon, and sending them in, hoping and praying for the best!
This is just to let you know that we are still very much praying and desiring to go to Papua New Guinea, and trusting God that He will provide!
Thanks to you who are keeping up on all of this; it is truly an encouragement knowing that there are people praying for us!
We pray that God will continue to keep us in His will, and we are still waiting. We will be finishing our applications soon, and sending them in, hoping and praying for the best!
This is just to let you know that we are still very much praying and desiring to go to Papua New Guinea, and trusting God that He will provide!
Thanks to you who are keeping up on all of this; it is truly an encouragement knowing that there are people praying for us!
30.10.09
News. (:
Today we learned that Joy has the option of getting her Ph.D. in Australia at what seems to be a very prestigious university, recommended by her professor. This means that it will be close to home (Papua New Guinea is just off the coast of Australia), and we will be able to perhaps spend furlough time there, while Joy is working on her Ph.D.!
Nicholas is ill from lack of sleep, it seems, and we would greatly appreciate your prayers. One of his jobs has given him a few days off to recuperate, and this weekend will be a good time of rest for him.
Please pray for his continued safety, health, and school as he finishes his last semester in undergrad!
Godspeed.
Nicholas is ill from lack of sleep, it seems, and we would greatly appreciate your prayers. One of his jobs has given him a few days off to recuperate, and this weekend will be a good time of rest for him.
Please pray for his continued safety, health, and school as he finishes his last semester in undergrad!
Godspeed.
21.10.09
PRO-ACTIVE PRAYER!
Please join us as we pray pro-actively for one another Nov. 10-Nov. 11!
Pro-actively, meaning intense, making-a-point-of-it prayer. Please join us! Let us know who you are and if you have any prayer requests as well!
We are asking that people pray for our spiritual preparation especially. We can have all the funding and physical preparation in the whole world, but without being prepared spiritually, it's all meaningless.
Pray with us! Let us know who you are so we can pray for you!
Pro-actively, meaning intense, making-a-point-of-it prayer. Please join us! Let us know who you are and if you have any prayer requests as well!
We are asking that people pray for our spiritual preparation especially. We can have all the funding and physical preparation in the whole world, but without being prepared spiritually, it's all meaningless.
Pray with us! Let us know who you are so we can pray for you!
16.10.09
Update #3!!! Wow, these are a lot of updates!
10/16/09--Awesome meeting with Nathan! We know a lot better how to prepare for our summer now, as well as how to use it as a springboard for future full-time missions in PNG!
Update #2!
10/15/09--We are meeting with Nathan Davenport, the leader of Pioneer Bible Translators, tomorrow for lunch. Pray that we will be able to discuss openly everything that this trip will entail.
We are also very excited because this will be the first summer that PBT does workshops (in PNG for those doing internships there) specific to Bible translation!!!! We are so thrilled at the opportunity to be a part of it!
We are also very excited because this will be the first summer that PBT does workshops (in PNG for those doing internships there) specific to Bible translation!!!! We are so thrilled at the opportunity to be a part of it!
The First Update of Many
Please pray with us and for us as we prepare to take a three-month trip to Papua New Guinea this summer with Pioneer Bible Translators. The dates of our trip are May 29, 2010 to August 4, 2010. Our goal is to understand Bible translation better, learn more about PBT as an organization and find out if they are a good fit for us long-term, and to serve God in whatever way we can while in Papua New Guinea. We will be traveling all over PNG, moving from village to village observing, helping, and attending workshops on the Bible translation process. Our desire is to do Bible translation and church planting in PNG long-term, and this trip will greatly help us in either further confirmation from the Lord that this is where He is leading us, or direction from the Lord that PNG is not where He is sending us. Either way, we are sure that this will be a wonderful process and are placing it all in His hands.
Ways you can pray for us:
*Preparation--pray that in the coming months we will prepare not only our housing situation but also our hearts, being fully ready to trust God with anything that happens.
*A New Home--we will need to find a different apartment before or immediately after returning from PNG, as our lease will be up in July. Please pray that God leads us in this process and provides opportunities for us.
*Nick's Work--As we will need to be gone for about three months, and many jobs wouldn't allow an employee to take that much time off, please pray for added favor at Nicholas' places of employment--Best Buy and Moody Bible Institute. It is likely that by the time we leave for PNG, Nicholas will be full time with Best Buy and no longer an employee of Moody Bible Institute, however, no final decision on that particular matter has been made. We would ask for prayer that wherever Nicholas is working, he would be able to take this time off with no penalty, and be able to return to said workplace when we come back to the States.
*Health and Safety--Please pray that God will preserve us physically as well as spiritually, and that we will be healthy and safe while we are on our trip.
*School and Stress--Joy needs to take summer courses in order to graduate on time, but they may be immediately preceding the PNG trip (down to the day before). Please pray that the Lord will provide a way for her to take the necessary classes to graduate on time, but also to be prepared and calm for the trip.
*Funds--Last but not least, please pray for monetary provision for us. We need to raise roughly $11,000 for the two of us to go. We also will need to be able to pay for the three months of rent while we are gone. In addition, we will be taking an extreme cut in funds while gone as we will not have an income for those three months. Please pray that God will provide the necessary funds for us, and that we will trust Him completely to do so.
Ways you can pray for us:
*Preparation--pray that in the coming months we will prepare not only our housing situation but also our hearts, being fully ready to trust God with anything that happens.
*A New Home--we will need to find a different apartment before or immediately after returning from PNG, as our lease will be up in July. Please pray that God leads us in this process and provides opportunities for us.
*Nick's Work--As we will need to be gone for about three months, and many jobs wouldn't allow an employee to take that much time off, please pray for added favor at Nicholas' places of employment--Best Buy and Moody Bible Institute. It is likely that by the time we leave for PNG, Nicholas will be full time with Best Buy and no longer an employee of Moody Bible Institute, however, no final decision on that particular matter has been made. We would ask for prayer that wherever Nicholas is working, he would be able to take this time off with no penalty, and be able to return to said workplace when we come back to the States.
*Health and Safety--Please pray that God will preserve us physically as well as spiritually, and that we will be healthy and safe while we are on our trip.
*School and Stress--Joy needs to take summer courses in order to graduate on time, but they may be immediately preceding the PNG trip (down to the day before). Please pray that the Lord will provide a way for her to take the necessary classes to graduate on time, but also to be prepared and calm for the trip.
*Funds--Last but not least, please pray for monetary provision for us. We need to raise roughly $11,000 for the two of us to go. We also will need to be able to pay for the three months of rent while we are gone. In addition, we will be taking an extreme cut in funds while gone as we will not have an income for those three months. Please pray that God will provide the necessary funds for us, and that we will trust Him completely to do so.
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