I’ve been meaning to write a witty blog post for some time now but whenever a free moment arises I either find a newborn baby in my arms or my eyelids close involuntarily and when I jerk awake and can’t figure out if ten minutes passed by or two days. We’re happy to have little Elliot finally here though although he’s not too sociable since he does nothing but eat. This little guy only lost one ounce of his birth weight and then put on over a pound in the following week! When you weigh seven pounds, putting on an extra pound in a week is pretty crazy. That’s like me putting on 28 pounds in a week. For some reason, doctors never seem thrilled when I accomplish the same feat as Elliot.

We actually got professional photos taken of little Elliot and with a little begging (and a cash bribe) we also got in a quick family pose during the shoot as well. I stole this teaser photo off of Facebook but credit where credit is due: Arise Photography

Good news! By the grace of God (and the generosity of our supporters), we’re actually getting somewhere with this big idea of ours. Well, actually, not so much our idea but God’s. I’d like to say I never doubted it would happen but at times my head was forcing my feet to shuffle forward even though my heart was hiding behind a tree somewhere with its tail tucked between its legs. But yet here we are, proving that God can take timid, wandering steps and make something out of them.

To be clear, we’re not the heroes of this story. God is. Our supporters are. We’re simply standing here wide eyed at His provision.

So what’s next? There are 4 Steps to our plan to help fill the critical need for aircraft pilots and mechanics on the mission field.

• Step 1 is to raise support.
• Step 2 is to get our mechanical training (and A&P license) at MMS Aviation. This will require a move to Coshocton, Ohio and will take about 30 months (or 2.5 years) to complete.
• Step 3 is to get our pilot training (and commercial pilot’s license) in partnership with MAG (Missionary Air Group). We’ll have to move to Burlington, North Carolina for this step and will live there for about 2 years until we complete the program. NOTE: Since we began this adventure I have decided God is calling me to be “Just” a mechanic. We are no longer pursuing the pilot training. Click here for that story.
• Step 4 is to take all our training and join a mission aviation organization for long term service. We have no idea who that organization will be or where it will take us but we’re trusting God to figure that one out for us once we get there.

We’ve been raising support for a year now and are surprised to find ourselves 97% funded (if we include verbal commitments with known dollar amounts that haven’t cleared the bank yet). This means we are getting ready to begin Step 2; our mechanical training at MMS Aviation.

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We are actively house hunting so we can move to Coshocton, Ohio at the end of May or beginning of June. You would think hunting a house would be easy since they are stationary objects and don’t jump around like deer or squirrels do but you’d be wrong. Since we’re on a budget, I’m going to have to get used to living without a bowling alley in my basement or my own private movie theater but I guess we all have to make sacrifices at times.

It hit me yesterday that we’re actually going to move and a weird thing happened; I got scared! I’ve been excitedly looking forward to this for over two years (since our first visit to MMS) but now that it’s almost here, the realization is actually penetrating my thick skull. We just moved to our current home last November and I feel like we’re finally settling in. Suddenly we are uprooting ourselves again and moving on. We’ll be finding a new (temporary) church, we’ll have new neighbors, we’ll hardly know anyone in the area, we’ll have to adjust to a new house, we won’t have Grandma Detweiler as a babysitter anymore, and we’ll be surrounded by Buckeye fans (How’s that for a sport’s reference?). I suddenly feel like putting on the brakes a little. This isn’t a new feeling. I felt this way one other time in my life as well. Ever since I went on my first date with Janice, I wanted to marry her. I yearned for the day. Then the day suddenly happened and I was scared spit-less. You could have slapped me with a 400 pound tuna and nothing would have come out of my mouth. Yet that was one of the best things that has happened to me so I’ll take fear as a good sign. Ohio, here we come!

If you know of any houses for rent near the Coshocton area, message us on Facebook. We’d be much obliged.

Also, we’re not fully funded yet. We’re about $157 a month away from reaching our support quota. If you feel like you want to do something heroic today, we’d be pleased as peach if you would join our team!