HoveyServinGod

About a month ago... We were bringing home our little guy...what a delight it has been to have him join us in this world and in our adventure!  Gunner has been a wondrous new chapter in our lives, and we give God the glory for entrusting him to us! About a month from now... We will begin our journey to MN with our little man!  We have A LOT to do between now and then...finishing our work here, SCA graduation, packing up, saying our "see-you-laters," etc., and it is overwhelming to think we only have a month to do that in!  PLEASE pray for us!  We are in the middle of a big transition, and while it is exactly where we want to be, we also are aware that we need divine help to accomplish the work before us!   About a month after that... We will be headed back from a month out in PA and VA doing required training with our mission, ABWE, to hopefully take the next step in pursuing full time missionary service as an extension of the local church....

Well, here he is......dual citizen extraordinaire.....at least until he is 18.  Gunner has gone through quite the application process these past three weeks trying to get legal to come home to the United States.  THANK YOU to the many who have prayed that his paperwork would come through and get processed in a timely fashion.  To God be the glory, it has!!!!  Brian went and picked up Gunner's USA passport as well as his Chilean passport this past Thursday.  As you can tell by the picture, Gunner was pretty thrilled.....:0)  

A Mother and her son...... As we are quickly approach this Mother’s Day, it is said...."What a mother sings to the cradle goes all the way down to the coffin. ~ Henry Ward Beecher” The impact a mother has on a child can never truly be seen in this life time.  I know I am very thankful for the amazing mother I am married to and I know she is impacting Gunner in ways that I never could!  Phyllis has stepped into the greatest role of this life time and I must say she has done it with amazing grace.  In Phyllis' words.....   Life at home with Gunner has been enjoyable FOR SURE......it is not without its challenges, but overall it has been wonderful and it is just beginning!  We spend our days revolving around sleeping; eating, diapering, and then we repeat the process!  I also find time to boil bottles, do the dishes (trying to keep up), take out the garbage, laundry, and all those other household chores that fill a mother's days.    ...

Well, our first days with Gunner have been an adventure.....and a deLIGHTful one at that!  We showed you in our last post some pics from Day One --Gunner's first moments--now it is time to catch you up on his first few days!  They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so we will try to keep our captions brief and hope you enjoy our new blessing! Day Two Gunner hanging out with Mom and Dad on his first morning in the world! A proud mama showing off her brand new baby boy!  An equally proud papa smiling at the joy of holding his little guy!    Day Three Gunner testing out his smile muscles....he is doing great!  Gunner hanging out in Daddy's arms and learning how to look at the camera......he's still a little nervous at this point, so he's only peeking out!  Gunner enjoying Dad snuggles!  Gunner's first attempt at smiling for "Say CHEESE!"  (He's going to be a natural.....FOR SURE!!!)  G...

We would like to introduce you to our son,  Gunner Elliot Hovey !!!! He was born at 8:45pm Chile time, weighing just under 8 lbs and just over 20" long.  Both Gunner and Phyllis are doing great!  We were greatly blessed through the delivery process and give God the glory for the baby boy He has entrusted to us! This was right after birth so Gunner's color did not even out yet. We want to thank Pam and John Sharp!  They are fellow ABWE missionaries and Pam spent the day with us in the hospital.  We are SO grateful for her as she translated some very important stuff in critical moments! We will be in the hospital for a few days and they Lord willing we will get to share much more....with lots more pictures!!!

We hope this message finds each of you well as you read along.   It is a busy time of life for the Hovey’s as we are in full swing with school and numerous projects going.   The weather here in Chile is beginning to change, the leaves are falling and the cooler weather is slowly moving in.   As we make the shift into a new season, we are doing that on multiple fronts as we are also anxiously awaiting the arrival of the first addition to the family.   The official due date is April 22, but that is only an educated guess and it is approaching rapidly…. We want to take some time to also inform you of yet another change that has been brought to the front of our minds.   There is no doubt that God’s timing is perfect and it is often interesting to see how little it actually aligns with “our timing”.   At this time in our lives, God has brought us to the conclusion that we are to pursue full time missions.   Phyllis will explain down a little farther ...

Easter is all about celebrating new life and Christ's resurrection......sure, there are family gatherings and good food, but those are not the MAIN things.   This Easter, we had the opportunity to help portray the new life Christ offers using Brian's welding skills.....sounds interesting, right?  While Christ's death is significant to our sin problem, EVEN MORE crucial is His Life--His RESURRECTION!!!  Brian and another man from our church, Alvaro, were able to help this truth be SEEN by putting up a cross in our church's front fence.  What I personally love about this cross is the color.....GOLD.  To me?  That represents Christ GLORIFIED and victorious over death and sin.  The cross in and of itself is not necessarily a pretty image--it was used as an instrument of death.  HOWEVER, Christ glorified and gaining victory over death and sin for us brings a golden glow to the once stark image. Here are some other pics of the process... The ga...