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This past weekend was a tough weekend at the Barnes' home!

Boyz II Men sums it up well, with this song!

We had two difficult goodbyes this past weekend one in which I will share and the other Terah will share with you all in a week.  

For the past four years Earl has been living with us.  This past Saturday night, due to the fact we have to be out of our home at the end of November, he had to move out.  I knew it was coming, but it is one of those things you put to the back of your mind, trying to ignore it.

This past Saturday night Earl drove up with a trailer and began loading up all of his stuff.  It was a tough night.  As we were working in packing the trailer, we did alot of "small talk" trying to ignore the deep emotions that were just below the surface.  

As soon as we finished loading the trailer, Earl and his brother left, leaving Christi and I in his empty room alone.  Tears now inevitably coming to the surface, I quickly gave Christi a hug and made my way halfway down the stairs and then I STOPPED.  I turned around and slowly reentered the room...

I was so broken.  Tears were flowing heavily now and I walked over to Christi and she hugged me tightly.  I told her how much it hurt to see him leave.  

Although I know he is in great place and God is moving mightily in his life, I did not want him to go.  The goodbyes are ever so hard for me and there are more that await us.

But that is just it, obeying Christ in your call, whatever it may be, isn't always pretty. Sometimes it hurts, a hurt that runs deep into the soul.  From this point on, I am not going to try to be "tough" and hold back the tears.  They are going to flow! 

Why?  Because, God gave me the gift of mourning loss.  When people walk into your lives and get all over you, it should hurt when they leave the "known' of your life.  

To Earl:  

I love you son and you make your mom and dad very proud of you!  It does hurt for things to change, but you will always hold a special place.

Love 

Mom and Dad 

An extra surprise came our way...

With 40 days and counting until we board a plane heading for our new home in St Louis du Nord, Haiti; we received some awesome news.

As we have shared with many of you all, our "dwelling" in Haiti was going to be one room in which NWHCM was going to put up a wall allowing for some privacy and add a bathroom.  As time was getting closer and closer to us joining our "one room dwelling" I sent an email to Janeil asking him about the progress of our home...and we received the following reply.

A new "dwelling"opened up on the campus of NWHCM one that is 3 bedroom 2 bath with a kitchenette and hook ups for a washer and dryer.  REALLY?  Are you serious?!?!?!

As I shared with Christi, we both began to cry in praise in how He has once again not only met our need but also added an extra special answer to a "want!"  A few hours after I shared with Christi, she shouted out to me across the house, "We have closets!", in which I could not help but laugh to myself!

I challenge us all to continue to live in a complete surrender and obedience.  I cannot wait to hear your stories!  

A little extra:
-  As I write this we have only 14 days left in our house in Hudson Oaks.
-  Please pray for the sale of our minivan....the price is $7000 if anyone is asking!

Love you all and thank you for the community!

The flights are booked...

We officially received our flight itinerary.  We leave on December 27th at 9 am from DFW.

I wanted to share with you all some of the events we experienced in the last few months:

1.  We have been driving a truck that is not ours since August 28th.
-  God's timing is perfect due to the fact that we have driven over 6,000 miles since early September.  Our little car would have not made the extra miles and we couldn't have limited miles on the van that we're trying to sell (sitting on Ken's car lot on fort worth hwy 180).

2.  Random miracles.
-  A lady stopping by our house and giving us 18, $100 bills, only for her to stop again the next week to deliver a Wal Mart Gift Certificate. What she didn't know is that this gift met our need for Nov. rent and house bills; which we didn't expect or plan for at the start of this journey because we thought we'd be out of the house by Oct. 
-  Meeting and having dinner at our house with Pastor Francois.  Pastor Francois is a Haitian Pastor that will be within a few hours of St Louis du Nord, the place we will call home in Haiti.
-  The way God has open doors from some of the smallest churches to the largest churches in Texas.  His favor has been extravagant.
-  The way God supplied for us to stay in our home until the beginning of December.  This has been really good for Terah, Ava, and Jordan.
-  These are only a few...

3.  The growth of our family.
-  Even in the craziness of Christi finishing up school and the randomness of our travel, our family of five have been able to learn to chill and enjoy the time with one another.  We KNOW each other in a way that we have not known each other in the past.  Hard to explain, but I believe it had to happen.

Why do I share this?  Because our call to obedience is about GLORIFYING God, or increasing the font of our God.  He has been so good to us and used many of you all to encourage us in the last few months..

To God be the GLORY!

We love you all!

The BEATLES had it right...

Yesterday, 

All my troubles seemed so far away, 

Now it looks as though they're here to stay, 

Oh, I believe in yesterday. 

What a powerful truth from the band known as the BEATLES!

So often we are burdened with the "roadblocks" of life.  Things arise that cause us to doubt the God we serve.  Maybe it is a hard day at work, a relationship gone wrong, an unexpected car problem, a medical bill, etc.

The Israelites did the same thing.  They find themselves in slavery in Egypt and a guy named Moses empowered by GOD, led a multimillion community out of bondage.  They see God do some awesome things in their deliverence including splitting the RED SEA.

And guess what happened.  Their stomachs started to growl...

"In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”  Exodus 16: 2-3

Really Israel, God brought you all the way out of the slavery you were in to waste away and to starve to death.  How ridiculous is that?  

Before you answer, we all do the same thing!  God moves mightily in the "Yesterday" of our journey and something arises today that causes us to doubt HIIM.  

Let us remember that GOD is good and HE is in control!  

May we begin to live out the words of the Beatles by...believing in the God movement of our YESTERDAY.  After all the writer of Hebrews reminds us that God is the same YESTERDAY, today and forever!

Rest in HIS PEACE!