update

Mike is booking our flight today with the travel agent. If we fly out the week of the 11th, it will cost A LOT ($5000) more than if we wait a week. So in order to be good stewards of Lottie's money we are going to wait a week. Our flight is tentatively scheduled for the 18th. We're checking with our language school director today before we book tomorrow. I'm going to post pictures soon of the madness we call packing! ha

My friend Kelly posted this on her website! Matt Chandler, from the Village Church, teaches on the sanctification of marriage. It spoke to me. Listen and see if it speaks to you!
Click here

a place called bradenton

The Powells have been on the road again. We’ve spent the last month in Bradenton, Florida. There, just south of Tampa, we met the extraordinary people of West Bradenton Baptist Church. They are a very mission minded church and God is at work there in mighty ways! The church has purchased several homes adjacent to their property and they use them for missionaries on stateside assignment, or in our case, waiting for their assignment to begin. Michael and their pastor, Allen James, forged a new friendship and our hope is that they will be able to bring a team of folks down to Brazil in a year or two.

We had an amazing month. We spent some precious time with God and enjoyed being “just the 5 of us again!” Something we haven’t had since this past May. I was truly missing the simplicity of grocery shopping and making dinner for my little family. We didn't have internet service while we were there, thus my lack of posts, but it ended up being a blessing as we had more time to just hang out together and not be preoccupied with checking emails. The house did have a huge orange tree in which we partook of every morning for breakfast.

Mike spent many days with the boys fishing and that allotted me some extensive time with DAD!

Over the past few months we have waited and waited and waited and waited for our visas. I know I serve a sovereign God that can and will accomplish all things that HE desires but I couldn’t understand how that didn’t involve taking the visas out of the consular’s hands and putting them in ours. I began to grapple with the fact that we had sold our home and left all our friends and everything we loved to go serve Him and yet He wasn’t coming through with these seemingly small pieces of paper. The real sadness of where my thoughts were leading me was that it revealed the state of my heart. I expected God to figure out what my schedule was and jump on board quickly so I could get busy with things as I had planned.

As I talked with friends and family, everyone encouraged me to remember that God’s timing doesn’t always look like our timing. That He sometimes slows things down for purposes we might never know, whether it be our safety, better ministry effectiveness, or just simply because He knows that by us waiting for His perfect timing He will be glorified all the more. I knew this in my heart and even agreed wholeheartedly with everyone who spoke encouragement to me. Truth was, I really didn’t care why. I just felt that we had lived in my parent’s house way too long and wanted to get my way!

All this to say God shared so much with me during my time on the sand in Bradenton. He reminded me of how big He is and how small I truly am. The insignificance of me and this little life of mine compared to the majesty of the One who has and always will move mountains is quite humbling. My heart began to shift from feeling as though I was waiting on God to, I have been given another day in which I get to run to the lap of my Savior. I began to pray for God to help me learn to love Him more. How could I love the Brazilians if I struggle loving Him like I should?!?

Our time in Florida was simply wonderful. We said our last goodbye to cousins. We made a relationship with some amazing people at WBBC, we all have tan lines in the middle of December, but most importantly, I got to know God on a deeper and more intimate level than ever before. AND~Last Friday, the online status for our visas showed that they were ready to be picked up. Yesterday we drove back to Kentucky and went straight to the post office to pick up our 5 passports with visas stamped inside!

I just want to say thank you to so many of you that prayed for this day to come. I promise to keep you updated on our flight and schedule! We are saying our final goodbyes to family so please pray for this precious time! I’m pretty sure Christmas will feel and be much different for us this year for more reasons than I could possibly explain but I also have a feeling it will be one of the best!

Happy Thanksgiving

Give thanks & glory to the

ONE WHO IS HOLY!!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/karijobe?blend=1&ob=4#p/a/u/1/U5YcwlZAikk

Clubhouse Church

My mom cleaned out their walk-out attic this week. The boys helped with getting rid of lots of stuff and cleaning. After all their hard work, they've discovered a new place to hang out and play! They call the attic their clubhouse. They seem to spend every waking moment there right now. The weather has been perfect...not too cold and not too hot so they can be up there for long periods of time.

This morning we had "church" at home because we are really trying to get used to being able to worship and learn in small group settings like we'll be teaching others in Brazil to do. Mike thought the clubhouse would make an excellent spot for our time together this morning.

It wasn't your typical service. There were lots of ladybugs and wasps that tried to join us through our open windows.

The dust was, at times, a bit overwhelming for Jackson's allergies.

But we managed...

Just proves that "we" the church can meet just about anywhere as long as 2 or more are gathered in HIS name!

wAiTiNg oN tHe vIsAs

dOeSn'T hAvE tO bE sO bAd!


You can check out dinosaurs and beautiful jewels in museums, sit in old airplane cockpits, hang out on capital hill, ride the metro, look at dead chickens in windows at Chinatown, or just about any old thing!

Jayden's Party

So here are the pictures I promised awhile back from Jayden's birthday bonfire. It ended up being a very cold and rainy day so we all snuck inside as much as possible to avoid freezing. My mom found a cake idea online from a friend (Stacey Allgood) and duplicated it! She did a great job!



Thank you to everyone that came out! He felt so loved. It was wonderful getting to see so many of our family members for one last time before we leave! We love you all so much and feel so blessed to have you in our lives!

is your life dangerous or safe?!?

another answered prayer

We're getting word from so many friends and loved ones that are arriving on the field! I was in tears today while reading an email from a friend as they described their new surroundings. God is so good! He gives us love for a people group that we have prayed over for so long...and then that day we finally get to be amongst them and begin to live there! Words can't even describe~~

On Monday of this week, we had been told that all of our paperwork had been lost at the State Department. By all of our paperwork, I mean 6 months of paper acquisition and authentications and sweat and tears and Lots and Lots of $$$$!

After much prayer and many phone calls, all our visa information has been found and is supposedly headed back to us! This is a wonderful answer to our prayers. We plan to drive to DC next week to finalize everything! Have I mentioned that I'M REALLY READY TO BE DONE WITH THE VISA STUFF!?! ;)

Here's another picture that Roger took of the men in my life.

I'm sticking it on here for no good reason other than I just love the expressions on all of their faces!

Baby Gillum

Our last Sunday at FPO, the Brazil crew threw a Baby Shower for Emily!
It was so wonderful to be able to watch her little belly grow during our time in Virginia.
Steven & Emily will head to language school in January after the birth of their baby girl.

Day in DC

I apologize for only using pictures to tell our story lately but we have just simply been swamped and sitting down to type my thoughts hasn't been an option!

On Monday, we had to go to DC to get Mike's passport renewed. We had to be there in person in order for it to be returned in 2 days so our visa process wouldn't be slowed down. (That was a mouthful!) Anyway...we got the kids out of class and made a day out of it. We tried to spend the afternoon visiting some pretty well known sights. The boys (all four of them) had never been to DC, so it ended up being a GREAT DAY for us!

Some good news came our way yesterday. My brother and his wife had their second baby girl. Congratulations Matt, Mary and Ana! We love you all!

The guys were really good sports about posing on top of the Lincoln Memorial for me!

I love this shot!

A Day With Oleg

Today we spent about 3 hours at Deep Run Park.
It is this really cool park about 20 minutes from where we are living.
We had been there earlier in the week and met an AWESOME family. We decided to make plans to meet up and hang out again.


The boys were able to fish with their new friend Oleg and we also were able to share with him what we believe and why we are moving to Brazil. I promised Oleg that I would post his picture on our blog. He wanted me to make sure that I let everyone know that he is an aspiring actor so if there are any movie producers or directors reading this blog...make sure you give Oleg a chance. He'd be a great James Bond!!!! :)

OLEG: I know you're going to be reading this so I just want to let you know that we consider it an honor getting to know you better today. Like I said, this afternoon, we're going to be praying for you and your family. Jesus loves you SO much and HE has a plan and a purpose for your life! Keep seeking...He'll show HIMSELF to you! I promise!