Enjoying my yard one last time...

Here is the greenery I was hoping would bloom before I left - and the one plant that did bloom.

What's Going On With The Dycks?

VisasLast Thursday we submitted the final paperwork to the Consulate in Chicago and expect to get our completed visas later this week! Once we get the visas we have 2-3 months to get to Asia-Pacific.

Goodbyes

Goodbyes are always difficult. We have said goodbye to my MOPS Group,







our Neighborhood Group,

the boys' Awana Club,









and to various pieces of furniture, including the boys' bunk bed!










We will deeply miss the friends God has given us.

Packing


Most of our time is currently being spent packing and getting rid of stuff.






Last Saturday we mailed all of the books that made the cut. That was quite the job! They all had to be packaged in small boxes and then put into an "M-bag" at the post office. Everything had to be weighed and well-marked. We should get them in Asia-Pacific in about 3 months - they're going over by boat!!


The boys got in on the fun!






















Yesterday we mostly emptied the office, though I still have papers to go through. This morning we left a plate of cookies and a big pile of stuff for the sanitation workers. Today will be spent in the basement to sort stuff into "taking with us", "storing" and "getting rid of" boxes. We hope to move out of the house Friday or Saturday and then finish up here while staying at the Luy's. Our closing date is May 31st.

Josh's last day of work will be June 9th.

Once we are out of the house, we will have the month of June to connect with you. Our prayer is to be available to serve you - our friends and supporters! Life is full and we have not had the opportunity to connect one-on-one with many of you. Please let us know how we can interface with you.

Thanks for your prayers!

Visas and Departure Info

Visas
On Tuesday, May 2 we got an e-mail from Bill Cork in Asia-Pacific letting us know that our visas had made it through the second of three steps! Now all that is left to do for our visa is to submit our information to the Consulate in Chicago - this should go pretty quickly once we have everything ready to send. We are so thankful for how quickly this has gone!

Departure
We were anticipating departing on May 30th or 31st, but have decided to delay our departure by one month. We have not yet reached 80% in monthly pledges. Please pray with us that the Lord would provide the additional pledges needed. We continue to pray for Josie's folks to get their visas to re-enter the US - hopefully our delay will allow us to see them before we leave as well.

Good-Byes
We are enjoying having Josh's folks with us this week. They watched the kids last week as we were out of town for some training, and now we have them with us until Friday morning. Jodi graduates Friday night from The Master's College in Santa Clarita, CA, and they plan to fly in for that special event.

A quote from my reading this morning:
"Faith brings God into the scene, and therefore it knows absolutely nothing of difficulties - yea, it laughs at impossibilities. In the judgement of faith, God is the grand answer to every question - the grand solution of every difficulty. It refers all to Him; and hence it matters not in the least to faith whether it be six hundred thousand (dollars) or six hundred million; it knows that God is all-sufficient. It finds all its resources in Him. Unbelief says, 'How can such and such things be?' It is full of 'Hows;' but faith has one great answer to ten thousand 'hows,' and that answer is, -God" -C.H. Mackintosh
Thank you for praying with us as we trust the LORD with our future.