The A, B, C’s of Moving to Mexico: A Prayer Guide for the Tolers

An old Chinese proverb says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”  Before that first step can be taken, however, there is a lot of prayer, planning and partnership that is needed.  2012 has arrived and the time for us to take that first physical step on our journey of a thousand miles is quickly approaching.  Many prayers are going up for our family, planning is well underway, and God is bringing together our partnership team.  Thank you for praying for us.  We are constantly praying for you.  In order to give you a glimpse of the planning process and to help guide your pray for our family, here are some A, B, C’s of moving to Mexico:

A is for apostille.      

• An apostille is a document which makes our documents such as birth certificates, marriage license and transcripts official according to international standards.  Pray that all these documents will arrive before we leave Texas. 

B is for Bins and Boxes

• Pray that we can pack everything we need to take to Mexico in the limited number of bins and boxes that we can take on the airplane. 

C is for choices.

•  Please pray as we continue to make choices about where to live in Puebla, Mexico, and that we’ll be sensitive to God’s leading to the perfect rental in His time. 

D is for downtime.

• Pray that we will have downtime to relax and spend time with our family in the midst of classes, homework, and travel.

E is for Elyse.

• Pray for Elyse as she says goodbye to friends at preschool and ballet and pray that she will stay safe and healthy through these many transitions.

F is for finances.

• Please pray that God will continue to meet our expected and unexpected financial needs through our partners and good stewardship.

G is for grades. 

• Pray that we will not only survive our classes, but that we will finish well with good grades.

H is for homework. 

• Pray for us as we finish our last session of classes.  We are taking a full load of graduate level classes which includes lots of homework.  Pray for time management and focus during these final weeks.

I is for involvement. 

• Pray that we may stay involved and connected with the friends we’ve made here in Dallas as well as our longtime friends “back home”. 

J is for junk. 

• Pray as we continue to sort through our “junk” and decide, once again, what we need to get rid of and what we need to keep. 

K is for Kieran. 

• Pray for Kieran as he finishes his first year of homeschool.  Also, pray for his transition during this time of travel. 

L is for language. 

• Pray as we analyze a difficult African language in one of our classes this session.  Also pray that Susan will be able to learn Spanish quickly once we move to Mexico so that we can both start learning the indigenous language that God will lead us to. 

M is for missions-focused. 

• Pray that in the midst of studies, packing, and moving we will stay focused on the mission to which God has called our family.  Also pray that we can effectively communicate the need for Bible translation to friends, family and churches that we visit before we leave. 

N is for new relationships. 

• Pray that we will be able to nurture the new relationships we have made in Texas at school and church. 

O is for Oaxaca. 

• Join us in praying for the people of Oaxaca who still await the Word of God in their language. 

P is for packing. 

• Pray for our packing and that we will be able to purchase everything we need before we leave.  Also pray for the kids as they say more good-byes to toys.

Q is for quiet time with God. 

• Pray that we will all keep this as a focus for our day.  Unfortunately, this is often the first thing to go when we get busy, but it is the first thing that needs to be done.

R is for relationship. 

• Pray that Kris and Susan will continue to grow in their relationship with each other and with God.  Satan uses stressful times to weaken marriages. 

S is for safe travels. 

• Pray as we travel back to the east coast in June and then to Mexico in July.

T is for “To-Do” lists. 

• Pray that we will be able to keep up with all the “to-do” lists that we continue to make every day!

U is for understanding. 

• Pray that we can lead our children through these transitions with understanding and grace. 

V is for vaccines. 

• Thankfully, we only have a couple of shots to get taken care of, but pray that the kids (and parents) will do well with these.

W is for wisdom.

• Please pray that God will give us wisdom during classes. 

X is for X-haustion. 

• Pray for strength that we will not get too exhausted during this process of moving.

Y is for yearning. 

• Pray that God will continue to deepen the yearning in our hearts to serve Him in Mexico and that he will guard that yearning from Satan’s attacks. 

Z is for  Zzzzz. 

• Pray for rest for our family and that we will be able to get sleep during this time.