We have plane tickets!
We are really excited that we officially have a plan for our trip to Arizona in March. Through a generous offer of air miles from a friend from Evergreen, we were able to book our plane tickets this morning. We fly down to Phoenix on Sat, Mar 15, and we will return home on Tues, Mar 25. While we’re in Arizona, we will stay in an apartment at UIM Headquarters in Glendale for all but one of the nights, and we’re really grateful that there are enough beds for each of us.
Our week of training begins Sun, Mar 16 with a dinner at the UIM facility. There are some other couples or individuals who are also going to be a part of this training, though we don’t yet know how many. Monday-Friday we will be in class from 9:00-5:00, with a break in the middle of the day for lunch. One of those evenings we anticipate having our official interview with UIM, as well. And then the week of training finishes up on Sat, Mar 22 with breakfast. After that, we will get to spend some days exploring the Phoenix area, and we’re already making a list of fun (and inexpensive) things to do. We anticipate taking a trip to Tucson on the 23rd to visit a church that has been sending teams to Rock Nest over the years, as well.
One question many have asked is what our girls will be doing while we are in class. UIM has provided a babysitter, who will also help them out with their homework. We’re hopeful that turns out to be a really great situation for our girls. We will also celebrate Mabel’s 12th birthday on Wednesday of that week, so we anticipate doing something fun for her on that night after we’re out of class.
Prayer Needs
- We don’t yet have a solid plan for our puppy, Murdock, while we’re away. We have a few ideas we’re considering, so pray that we can determine a solution that will be just right.
- Please pray that this time in Arizona would be a really great time for our girls. It’s a bit of a challenge to just “hang out” all day while we’re in class, but we’re hopeful that it can be a sweet time for them, and that we can make the most of the evenings and the extra days.
- Pray that we might be able to bless the others going through the training with us. We expect that we will be the “old people” in the group, and we are asking the Lord to give us hearts ready to serve and care for the others in the class.
Thank you for praying with us as we take these steps. The path in front of us still feels pretty unknown, but the Lord keeps making the next step clear just in time to take it, so we’re trusting Him to continue to do that.
Ryan and Leanne Donovan
