Time sure flys by...
I'm sitting on the cushy couch in our new place in Sherbrooke, Quebec thinking back on a crazy year. Sometimes it is hard to imagine how I got to this point in my life. Not only am I living in a French speaking city attempting to learn a new language, I'm also on the virge of motherhood. Only 6 weeks away and we get to meet our little girl (name to be revealed when she arrives.. i know, i know... but some of us love surprises).

The pregnancy has gone well; everything has been "normal." Unfortunately the word normal does not always mean easy. From months of sickness to aches and pains where you never knew existed and shouldn't be mentioned to the huge lack of sleep? But that's the part of pregnancy that you deal with and think ahead to the end result... right? Apparently I starting to look Big as a few people around town ask me in French , pointing to my belly if there is 1 or 2. I just smile and put up 1 finger as I sigh relief. All this being said... I am looking forward to being a mom to this precious little one.. she will be so worth it!

One thing is for sure, it is in these times of sleepless nights and unfamiliar places that you look up the most, where your faith takes you to places you never thought they would. Maybe that is why I brought along the wooden "FAITH" carving that is directly in front of me on the book shelf. It is always good to be reminded how I got to this point in my life. God is good: He never leaves you... a great promise to hold on to.

maybe I'll actually write more on this, but no promises...

all my love,

Joy

here we go again...

Right now I am tired.. not physically, but emotionally as we pack all our stuff up once again. As we support raise we move from place to place.. but now it is official that we are Nomads. Often we feel like the Israelites wandering through the desert trusting God for their provisions.
The good news is that we are going to warmth and sunshine next.. I can't help but miss my roots in sunny southern california. It will be nice to be "home" again.

Please pray for us as we continue to adjust to the missionary lifestyle and that we would meet our next goal of 60% by Feb. 9th.

in love,
Joy

the past month

ok ok I know its been a LONG time..

A lot of time has gone by since I last wrote. We traveled to Maryland where we had a lot of fun catching up with people and, for me, meeting new people and friends of Chris... or as they may call him "Ricky." The picture to the right is the church where Chris attended for a number of years... and where the picture is being taken from is our little old house where we have stayed the past 4 weeks. It is about 100 years old it think.

A highlight was going on a date to the baltimore aquarium.. they have a dolphin show and I just love dolphins! I could watch them all day and hope someday to swim with them. There also was some tropical fish that were sooo beautiful. The picture doesn't do it justice.

The past month has been both rewarding as well as a time that has really tested our faith. While we remain optimistic we had a few days in Maryland when it just seemed like we are behind.. and like we won't make our goals. They were days when we felt like... "are we doing everything right..." "saying things clearly enough,..." or even "are we praying enough?" We realized that those are not really the right questions. God has HIS own timing and he will provide when He decides. And while it doesn't hurt to pray harder or more often, we realize we simply just need to be patient and have faith. Sometimes it hard, but we feel ourselves and our marriage growing in the process.

The past week has involved LOTS of traveling (from MD back to OH) and me being sick. I am on antibiotics for an infection, and I also got a cold more recently(I spend the majority of my day yesterday laying around in bed) :( We also had a fender bender last week which didn't make either our necks/backs feel too good either. We are both feeling good right now and are enjoying being by family once again. We had a good time a few nights ago babysitting Caleb, Chris' nephew, and enjoyed making a fort, watching kids movies, and playing with trucks. Caleb is very fun and very talkative. He always has a word to say about everything which tends to make us all giggle. Sam, Caleb's brother, is almost 7 months now and is a very happy and laidback baby. Chris and I look forward to having our own someday.

While we have been here snow flurries have been falling outside which has given us prime opportunity to use the fireplace. I love fireplaces! They give you such a warm feeling inside and just make you feel "at home," which is a nice feeling since we are moving around everywhere.

Hopefully, now that Chris has the wii and tv and family to keep him busy I will get the chance to write a bit more often.

love to all of you and we hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

Now it is time for my version on the camping trip!

Chris and I usually go camping once or twice every summer, but this summer we were not able to go. We tried to go on his own a couple times, but the weather got bad.

So Friday morning we packed up our gear and warm clothes and headed out to Mt. Hood National Forest to Lost Lake. As we drove there we went through vineyard and many apple orchards that led into forests of changing leaves. It was a beautiful drive!

We arrived and pitched our tent, and gathered LOTS of firewood from neighboring sites. Also because it was the end of the season, we were given free firewood from the guy at the "general store." This was great because it was actually dry wood. We proceeded to walk the trail/boardwalk around the lake, which was beautiful and enjoyable. Not too steep, just a lovely hike despite some mud.

We build a fire to keep us warm and cook our hamburger patties we had brought. They turned out yummy.. but I was pretty hungry by that point. We headed to bed around 11-ish and I tossed and turned and the ground was COLD and making me cold and I couldn't move much in my sleeping bag. We eventually, after some frustration, I gathered all my stuff, put on Chris' coveralls, and headed to the car to sleep. That is when I realized I had to go to the bathroom, so I walked down the road to the bathroom by myself if the dark. I think this was about 1230. (the picture to the right is the moon over the lake).
I survived and put the heater on in the car for 15 minutes and then finally was able to sleep. At 5, a flashlight coming through the window made jump.. it was Chris who said he was now cold and wanted to go back to the place on the trail where you could see Mt. Hood. I figured it would warm me up to move so still wearing 2 shirts, a sweatshirt, and chris' heavy coveralls we headed down the trail. (we think we may have found the nintendo/super mario mushroom you see at the left).

despite the cold, it actually ended up being very gorgeous site! It was perfectly clear and mt. hood was COVERED in snow. It made for some nice shots. Overall, the scenery made up for the sleepless cold night. We came back to have breakfast and hot chocolate (see picture above.. yes, that is me appearing all frumpy and Chris is wearing my coat) before heading back home for warm showers and a nap.

Now we are gearing up for weeks of traveling. We head to Lynden this week and then next week it is off to Ohio and then on to Maryland. Starting next sunday we have 4 sunday presentations in a row which is great!

As always, thanks for your support and prayers.

love,
Joy

Go Team.

Time keeps on going, and we keep working hard to find churches and individuals to support our ministry. We are racking up the minutes calling and following up. The bad new is we have had 3 churches say a polite "no thanks." The good news is that we have had a good response from 3 as well. ( 1 of which was are speaking at a few weeks. ) We just ask for continued prayer that God will nudge other churches to get involved.
Some days are tiring but the good thing is both Chris and I are goal-oriented.
GO TEAM KONOP!

As for other things we are up to: well, Chris took a look under the hood of the cars and realized some minor work needs to be done, so our "day off" will most likely be spend fixing them; well chris will be fixing and I will be watching.


As you saw on Chris' blog we also were able to go on a lovely hike which ended up being very long, but beautiful. We both were sore the following day.. we must be out of shape.
At one point Chris stopped to take a picture. He sat at the edge of the waterfall pointing the camera over the side to get a perfect picture. Well, it made me nervous and I was getting tired so I decided to take short break on the log.

Last week I was able to attend a women's dinner out
with ladies from church. It was encouraging to here a
testimony of how one woman saw God's faithfulness in her life even though there were many tragedies and mistakes. During that night one of the women talked to me and found out that I wasn't going to go to the retreat and insisted I go offering to pay for it... so it looks like I will be skipping away for a couple of nights in a couples weeks.

In Chris spare time he has also been trying to solve a rubix cube (he found it at the reunion)... he has been sitting here for a while twisting and turning it with no luck. After while he throws it down and then later he can't resist the temptation again. He is persistant!

The rest of our time is spent reading or watching the discover channel these day finding out about what Bear Griles newest adventures are and what the dirty job is today.

I hope this gives you a quick update on our lives.

in love,
Joy

last 2 weeks...

Tomorrow we move into our new place. We are excited to have a more permanent home to live rather than moving around from place to place.

The last week we were graciously hosted by Charlie and Brooke Granade who is our "Next Generation" Pastor.

This past weekend we took a break from writing letters and calling to head to Long Beach on the Washington Coast. It was lovely! While it was too cool to go in the water, we had a nice long walk along the Boardwalk and through the long grasses.

Along the walk there were numerous sculpures carves from logs. One of my favorites was one of dolphins... I love dolphins!

After we were in Idaho, we drove to Colorado to visit family and friends and also have a family reunion. It was a great time to see people! We enjoyed visiting Garden of the gods and Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs and spent a fun night going with the nieces and nephews down a big twisty water slide at a hotel.

Then we headed to Estes Park YMCA. We had nights of playing Bingo, Bon fires, picnics, and also drove through Rocky Mountain National Park. A special time was family devotions.. everyone did a great job! We also all played "keep away" in the pool which everyone enjoyed.

I have way more pictures so maybe later I will add some more and comment on them... it dinner time...

We hope you all are doing well!

love,

Joy

Here we go.....

Well, we did it! While Chris and I are very tired, but we have a newsletter redesigned and written. Now we are sent out to do ministry partnership.

Our plans are to spend 6 weeks in Vancouver/Portland area, then 6 weeks in Ohio/Maryland area, and finally about 6 weeks in California. If you know of anyone who might be interested in hearing about our ministry or would like to be on our mailing list please let me know. We need all the help we can get:)

Tomorrow, we head out to Colorado, very early in the morning. We will see friends and then family at a reunion next week. I get to meet Chris' friends from Moody that I have heard about, so that will being fun.

Today, we had a send off with a lovely lunch. Our managers, or counselors, prayed for each of and ours gave us a verse. Phil. 1:6 I was a nice end, yet sad as we have made lots of friends and now we must part ways and head around the world. It will be interesting to see how God leads in each of our lives. (The picture to the left is Brian and Heather, friends we met at our classes. They are headed to Indonesia).

Right now, we are finishing packing up for the long drive tomorrow morning. We are also watching the olympics. I have enjoyed watching swimming and gymnastics. What amazing athletes!

So here we go...