Braelyn's results

Thank you all for your prayers for Braelyn. The test did come back positive, so she is allergic to penicilin. We are very thankful that we were able to find this out before we leave. Now we know to avoid those medicines in the future. The doctor did say that she could be tested again when we return. He said sometimes they grow out of it.
  
Braelyn was so brave during the appointment!! Aaron said she did so good. No crying, no complaining. Thank you again for your prayers for her.

On today's agenda......trying to find me a new pair of glasses and another list of more things to purchase before we leave. I have never really been a "shopper" and so this process of having to find and buy so many things has been tough. I think I will be totally fine with not entering a Wal-Mart for another two years :). At least that's how I feel right now.

We appreciate your prayers so much! We are working on getting our email list put together so that we can send out our first email update before we leave.

Update and Prayer Request for Braelyn

Just a quick update....

Things are going pretty well. We have been having a lot of opportunities to share at churches which has been great. Last Sunday we shared at the church I grew up in, FBC Dandridge, and a lot of my extended family was able to come and spend the afternoon with us. It was a great time of fellowship. I'm very thankful to my mom for getting it all together.
    This weekend we are traveling to Christiansburg, VA to speak at Good Shepherd Baptist Church. This was our home church during four years of medical school. We are excited to see everyone there and see how God is working.

 Prayer Request: This past January Braelyn had an allergic reaction while taking Augmentin. However, it was not the typical presentation of an allergic reaction to this medicine, so we have a doctor's appt this Monday morning with a children's allergist to try and figure out if she is truly allergic to this medicine or not. Please pray that the tests come back negative and that she is not allergic.

Also, it is looking like our leave date might be Oct. 2nd. We were looking at the end of the last week in September, but we are told it would be better if we leave at the beginning of the week.

We are busy trying to make our final purchases and sorting through the rest of our "stuff". I practiced packing an action packer full of the girls toys.....unfortunately, we can find our scale to weigh it and see if it is under the 50 lb limit. But it is a pretty amazing thought to think that most all of our toys can fit in one trunk! That is minus any books......probably going to have to spread those out in a few different pieces of luggage. Hopefully it will meet the weight requirement and I will know how to pack at least one thing :).

 My Pop, who is 90 years old, was able to make the trip and spend the day with us!

 

Thanks for your prayers and support. This season of transition seems like an emotional rollercoaster at times. We are excited for the opportunity, but it is a lot of work getting there.

Progress?

For the record we are still alive! Sorry for the delay in updates. We have been so busy with orientation in both Bristol and Boone for a week at the end of July. It was great meeting the other 14 physicians and their families who are in the same boat we are going with Samaritan's Purse to mission hospitals in Central America, Asia and Africa. 2 other couples are also going to Kenya but to different hospitals than we are. It was a lot of great info at both locations. Bristol orientation was at the CMDA and was a great time of learning from missionaries who had a combined 50+ years of missionary service. It was more of a big picture...setting goals, being aware of culture, how to mentor and be mentored.Things these missionaries wish they would have known on the front end.

Boone orientation was at the SP headquarter which impressed us with the amount of work and quality of work that goes on there in all their ministries. There it was more focused on the details such as conflict on the mission field, Q & A time with missionary doctors who recently returned from the mission field. How to do your taxes overseas, what banks to use, security training and some fellowship and hang out time.

Then I (Aaron) visited a great friend from medical school who lives in Seattle, Washington. That took us through the end of July and so far August has been summarized by DOLLYWOOD. 2 trips in 1 week! First with cousins and second with friends from med school and residency. As the pictures show, the kids love it but we were WORN OUT.

I've had the opportunity to speak at 2 different churches and have 3 more on the schedule tomorrow, next week and early Sept. Please pray God would speak through me to encourage and motivate through His word.

We have moved our leave date to the last week of September. I keep telling everyone "we want to leave as soon as possible but we are realizing we have no idea what is possible!". We are buying and buying (2 years worth of clothes for the girls) and hope to start packing soon. So many little details that we are trying to trust God to provide. We know He will, we are just so faithless sometimes. Thanks for keeping up!