Busy but Thankful

We've already had a great response from our recent newsletter. Thank you to everyone who has contacted us, donated, or told us that they're praying for us! We truly appreciate it. If you didn't get an email from us, let us know so we can keep you updated.

This weekend we bought most of our supplies to fix up the house, but we have to store it inside until our first "workday." Some guys at church will be helping us repair our fence, replace woodwork on the house, paint, do some landscaping, etc. Today we're having a new heating unit put in. We're also selling some furniture and sorting through what things we need to keep or get rid of. So needless to say, our house is a wreck!

In the midst of it all, we have to find time to play with the kids and do normal things. 

And especially since it's Easter weekend, we remember the tremendous sacrifice of our Savior. Nothing can compare to His love. In spite of the craziness around us, we fix our eyes on Jesus and thank Him that we have eternal life, hope, & joy!

Daily Randomness

It is so weird to think about moving to France on a daily basis, and then still do the "normal" stuff of family life. Tonight was Emily's pre-UIL concert at South Garland High School (as a Lakeview alumni, I had to hold my breath the entire time...).

Of course, we had to reward her astounding performance with some Dairy Queen, and then finished up the night with schoolwork for Timothy and giving Judah a bath.

We also sent out our very first email newsletter that explains part of our story in getting back to France. There is this really cool link on our page here where you can sign up if you want.

Anyway, as we move closer and closer to our goal, I am thinking more and more about how our life will change. Because there is so much unknown for us, I'm not sure how much will change, and what we'll be able to keep the same. It is EXCITING though, and we're all looking forward to it.

-ted

March Madness (France) Update

The clock is running out. It is going to be close. All the time and preparation of this team comes down to this moment...

Ok, for those of you that know me, you know that the term March Madness is probably the extent of my basketball knowledge. So even though this post has nothing at all to do with basketball, it does feel like this month has the same sense of excitement. We have had a lot going on already - a discipleship conference, realtors visiting the house, fundraising meetings, preaching at our church, etc... It feels like most of our spare time is spent thinking about France, or deciding which items to take with us, or talking to the administrators of the language school, or "who is our next meeting with?"

In the midst of all of this chaos, we feel a lot of peace. It was so great to sit around the living room with our kids tonight and talk to them about the upcoming changes. We have been in contact with the language school, and they have told us that there are several families from the US with kids that will be enrolled in the school this fall. One of the families even has a 13 year-old daughter that may be in Emily's class!

I love the faith of our kids. I asked them tonight if it was difficult for God to provide all the money that we still need for our budget, and Emily, Daniel, and Timothy (Judah was singing in his crib at the time) at the same time said, "No." And to be honest it kind of had a "Dad, get with the program," tone as if I was the one who didn't believe.

I want to have the same kind of faith. I want to believe God without hesitation. I do believe that He still works miracles in our lives today.

In case you don't know the backstory, and for those of you who may be keeping tabs, here are the highlights:

We are headed to France as full-time missionaries with OM (Operation Mobilization). We have applied for language school, and made our initial deposit. Our target date to leave is this August. We have to have 100% of our budget raised by July 15th. Did I mention that we also have to sell our house???

Our current numbers show us at 28% of committed monthly support and 23% of our startup raised so far.

Although this was a quick-glance at what is going on in the lives of Team Wallace, we would really love to talk to more and more people face-to-face. If we have already met with you - great! Please keep us in prayer. If you could think of 2 or 3 more people that you know who may be interested, please let us know. If we haven't been able to meet with you yet, and you're interested in what we'll be doing while in France, feel free to contact us.

I cannot thank God enough for the tremendous outpouring of love and support from our friends. We could not be where we are today without you.

-Ted
ted.wallace@om.org