A lemonade stand

A precious daughter of some friends. She asked her parents to help her make a lemonade stand to raise money for the children at Amani Baby Cottage.  A couple of years ago, her older brother had a  lemonade stand. Can I tell you that those coins he gave us then were one of the most precious offerings we have ever received?! Now, she is old enough to want to give. Not just asking her parents to give her money, but having a heart to work and earn for the children. Yes, tears fill my eyes and heart when I think of these with pure hearts. Scripture says, "Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right." Proverbs 20:11

WELL DONE, C AND A, WELL DONE! Thank you to their parents for teaching them! Thank you!

Not there Yet!

WHERE WE WOULD LIKE TO BE, BUT NOT THERE YET, NOT YET, not yet, not yet............

We are waiting until our monthly support is complete. Please pray about helping us go to Uganda.

So many decisions. So many plans. So many things needing to happen, some all at the same time. So many hopes and dreams. So many phone calls and letters. So many duffel bags and foot lockers.  So many days making new decisions, changing plans, watching things not happen, holding onto hope, receiving calls and letters.     That seems to be the theme of our journey right now: "So many...".

So, what does a person do while having those  “so many” days? God’s Word clearly gives direction:

“To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in You I TRUST, O my God.” Psalm 25:1 
“The Lord is my Strength and my Shield; my heart TRUSTS in Him, and I am helped.” Psalm 28:7
“But I TRUST in You, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hands” Psalm 31:14

God’s Word is full of Scriptures that say “Trust in the Lord”, “Commit your way to the Lord”, “Be still”, “Wait patiently”. So, while there are "so many" to do while we wait, my soul will not be downcast. Our HOPE is in God and we will praise Him. He clearly showed me during our worship last Sunday, that it’s easy for those who have gone to Glory before us to worship Him, but what pleases Him so much is us praising Him through the "SO MANY!" No, I didn't make a mistake in making that "so many" blue, that is exactly what God is doing, changing us in the process. 

Maybe you are waiting on healing, financial freedom, family relationships, a spouse, a list that seems like "so many". While we are waiting on ours, we will pray for you. We would rather be across the ocean than still waiting, but God’s timing is far above ours. Meanwhile, we ask for HIS help with our "so many": the sale of our house, complete monthly support, tickets, and wise packing decisions. Thank you for following our journey. May you be blessed today. May your “so many” turned into "dancing and shouts of joy"!

......not yet, not yet, NOT YET, BUT NOT THERE YET, WHERE WE WOULD LIKE TO BE!

Happy New Year!

  A memory quilt for David, made by his big sister to cover him with love while in Uganda

Greetings and Happy New Year! We pray your family is well and had an enjoyable holiday season. Our family was together celebrating our Lord's birth and built great memories. Now. we are continuing the journey for our move to Uganda to build new homes for Amani Baby Cottage www.amanibabycottage.org . The Nuttall family has been blessed by an outpouring of love, support and prayer. Thank you.

As you may have read in the previous post, the children received duffel bags for Christmas. They are constantly thinking and rethinking about what they will pack in those bags and what will go into their carry-ons. Just in case you are wondering...no mention of clothing has been made. only what toys they just know they can't leave behind! Guess it is up to momma to make sure they are dressed! Our family was generously blessed at Christmas by a Bible study group at our church. Dustin received Barnes and Noble gift cars, Mary received a Kohl's gift card, David and Courtney DS games. What joy! We are eternally grateful for the body of Christ and our church family www.christcov.net . Thank you.

We are so thankful for the opportunity to be used of God to build for Him and the babies. Prayer is so important in this journey, we would appreciate knowing if you are praying. If you would like to receive specific requests, please let me know mariettan@sbcglobal.net . Thank you.

This past week, we celebrated life. Our oldest son turned 24, our 34th anniversary is today, and a precious dear friend went Home to our Savior. Even though we will miss our sister, Charlotte, we have such great hope in seeing her again. If you are reading this post, and you don't have the hope of Heaven in your heart, we pray you take the time to ask Jesus to become Lord of your life "For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life". John 3:16. Thank you.

If you want to contribute financially, you may use the pay pal button on the right. OR mail a check to our church Christ Covenant Church  17000 Longenbaugh Dr Houston TX 77095
Make checks payable to Christ Covenant Church with Nuttall missions in the memo. Thank you.

Duffle Bags for Christmas!

'Twas the week after Christmas
And all through the house,
Not a grandchild is stirring,
It's too quiet even for a mouse.
The stockings are packed away,
The ornaments stored with care.
Our last Christmas in TX,
Next year Uganda, we'll be there.
Now, Grandpa and Grandma sit in the living room,
Reflecting and planning ahead.
We are so thankful we were all together,
Our hearts and spirits were fully fed!
We pray you had a great season,
Celebrating with family and friends.
We are thankful for you our readers
To you our love we send.

We are continuing on our journey. A big decision was made this week: we want to sell our  house. This will be a HUGE undertaking for us.  Dustin was home for Christmas, but will be leaving on Dec 31. We don't want to see him go, but he is working out of state. That means the work here to prepare the house will need lots of hands. We hope to have work days and you can come enjoy the time with us: painting, repairing, painting, laying a kitchen floor, packing, painting, rearranging, did I mention painting yet? Well, we are excited to have made the decision, but wow, after 25 years in this house, this is a big change for us. On January 7, we will have our 34th wedding anniversary. God has been so faithful to us and our family. We look forward on the path He is leading and see His faithfulness even more on this big adventure! Stay tuned for more news on work days etc.

And he exclaimed as he rode out of sight
"And to all, a good night!"

update

An updated newsletter about Amani Baby Cottage. This is our destination for our journey. Dustin is the "uncle" part of the dream team. Thank you for reading. Thank you for praying. Thank you for your support. www.amanibabycottage.org

Merry christmas from Amani Babies

MERRY CHRISTMAS from the Amani Baby Cottage children!

Visiting Santa, sharing my heart

Blogging needs regular updates, right? We should share all the good things happening with our journey, right? right.

Well, sometimes this journey of our family is not all about the packing and the material things we are selling, giving or tossing away. This journey includes trust, patience, hope, rest and anticipation. At least, those are the things I am striving daily for....trust that all the finances will be here, hope that our vision of building a new orphanage will happen, patience while we are waiting, rest in knowing we are doing the right thing, and anticipation for the day we arrive in Uganda. All of those things are tied up in my heart. We believe God is leading us on this path, HE requires our trust, HE has the appointed day already in His heart and mind, HE gives us hope for tomorrow and rest for today. During this holiday season, I felt that familiar melancholy wave come over me. For the first time, I realized exactly what brings that feeling every year......I can't give enough. I would love to give to every friend, sister, brother, parent, cousin, niece, nephew, and every family I hear about on the radio that just don't have enough. I realized I had a sadness that I couldn't be with every family member at the same time. Through this journey we are on, I have asked God to give me an extra measure of trust, patience, hope, rest and anticipation. HE is the giver of His only Son, THAT is why we have hope. THAT is why we can trust, wait and build ourselves up in HIS strength. Thank you for joining our journey through prayer.....it means a lot to us to have prayer warriors holding up our arms. Thank you for letting me share my heart while on this journey to build brick and stone. HE is also building in our hearts.

On a lighter note, we took David and Courtney to see Santa. He was a patient, child-loving Santa. David felt really older this year and sat on his lap for the picture......just WHERE did the past 8 years go???  After their visit, I told Santa that David and Courtney would not see him here next year, they are moving to Africa! Then, Santa got up and came to talk to me. He has a friend that builds schools in Africa. No, I did not tell Santa what I want for Christmas....tickets maybe?