Author: alithiadavis

Today marks our 12 year anniversary.  Twelve years ago we got to hang out with a bunch of family and friends as we chose to spend the rest of our lives together.  Since that day, we have lived life with each other.  She has been my partner in every way imaginable.  We’ve spent countless hours laughing and crying and talking and just sitting in silence.  We’ve tried to watch many movies, but I don’t think both of us ever stayed awake until the end of one.

We have invested our lives into teaching and encouraging others.  From working with the children’s ministry at H.I.S. Ministries, leading the youth at FBC, teaching the college Sunday School class, and guiding the Journey group, we have always stayed active looking for ways to serve.

I would not want to live this life with anyone else.  Alithia has been my rock.  She encourages me to stretch my faith in what God can do.  But, at the same time, letting my lead her in the most Biblical way possible.  I love you Alithia and I wonder what the next years will have in store for us.

Jessy was one of my kids in the Shanghai youth group. We all used to laugh about my adoration of all things IKEA. It seems only natural that we would meet back up after almost a decade at IKEA in her hometown of Jakarta. Even better, I got to meet her darling Liora and husband, Hadi! The only thing lacking today was time. Looking forward to our next meeting soon! ❤️.

Here are a few pics. We are finding more floor every day. We are excited about shelves coming soon for bedrooms, a wardrobe for the Bigs’ room (we call RyAnne and Elliana the Bigs), and a bed for us! Ours is currently on the floor. Shopping was a blessed experience. We would ask about an item and the sales lady would inform us it was on sale that day. ❤️ Until storage arrives, here are a few around the house pics.

We haven’t been here quite a week, but we wanted y’all to see our home and neighborhood. The inside is literally a maze of footlockers, luggage, laundry, and life! Will share more as we begin to settle in. Homes here come with nothing-appliances, furniture, zilch-except maybe a few geckos! Looking forward to sharing more as the days go by!

Michael wrote this on the last leg of our journey.  He did share it on Facebook already, but I really wanted everyone to be able to read this.  Please know we treasure your prayers.  Here you go-Michael’s Heart:

As I sit here on the plane somewhere between Tokyo and Jakarta, I am overwhelmed. I’m overwhelmed at the task God has given us. I’m overwhelmed at the amount of friendship and support we have been shown over our time in Blytheville. I’m overwhelmed at how much help another BAIS teacher who we have never met until today has been. I’m overwhelmed by how God works through prayer. I prayed along with many others that the girls would sleep on this leg of the flight. We are just about 2 hours into the flight and all my girls are asleep. I’m overwhelmed by the new classes I’ll be teaching, but also overwhelmed by God’s provision for completing the call He has placed on our lives.

Y’all, God is good. He is my comfort, my strength, my protector, the focus of my worship, the lover of my soul, the only person who completely understands me and loves me anyway.

As a 7 year old, I didn’t know a whole lot, but I knew my life needed Christ. I wasn’t sure how it all worked, but I knew that my life was his. I committed my life to him then and will not turn back now.

I know some of you who are following our blog or Facebook posts haven’t understood your need for Christ. Heaven is all about perfection, and any sin (taboo, politically incorrect, sharing that rude Facebook post, not loving on the orphans and widows) makes your going to Heaven impossible.

But….there is a way. Jesus came as God’s ‘son’ and lived a perfect life for us as an example of how to love God above all else and then love people as we love ourselves.

He lived life and then was shamed, beaten, crucified, and buried. But it didn’t end there. He overcame death and defeated it. And came back to life just as He said.

His perfect life gives us a hope that wasn’t there before. He, Jesus, is who we can put our hope in. We just have to allow Him to be the air beneath us and the breath within us. We commit to loving Him above all else, including ourselves.

That decision is just the beginning of life. Life in a way that you have never known before. Life that has meaning not just for generations to come, but also meaning beyond this world.

Talk to me about this Jesus that has me following him to the ends of the Earth. Has me uprooting my girls and moving away from the most loving and amazing family I’ve ever been around. This Jesus!  He is THAT big a deal. And He wants you to love Him.

Facebook has this cool Messenger feature you can use if you have questions or just go talk to the people in your life that you respect and know for sure this Jesus person is real to them also. They would love to share with you.

I love you guys. Don’t wait to make the most important choice you will ever make in life.

To ache this deeply from saying goodbye can only mean we have amazing people we are leaving behind. We are surrounded with such incredible support and love that it seems insane to not stay. We are thankful many share our heart and while hearts are breaking anew, your love stays with us. How marvelous is this crew that loves us at our worst and encourages to be our best. Thank you for loving us and we treasure your prayers. ❤️

There will truly never be words to describe last night’s Sending Service other than we were absolutely on Holy Ground.  To see the fulfillment of RyAnne choosing to be His an following through with baptism was monumental for this momma’s heart.  We will cary the prayers & hugs with us to the other side of the world.  Thank you to all who came, sent messages, and prayed for us as we journey to Indonesia.  I will attempt a longer blog post later, but for now…Much Love.

One week.  7 days. 168 hours. 10,080 minutes.  That is what is left before we say farewell to home.  It seems such a paltry amount of time. We need more!  More time for coffee, jokes, hugs, and giggles.  More moments of praying together, crying, praising, and sharing.  We really need more.

The older I get, the more precious time has become.  I find it fascinating that the most precious commodity is something we all have equally.  No one has more or less-we simply use it differently.  I will be held accountable for my use of time just like I will be for my use of gifts and money.  We are trying to use our time wisely before we go.  It isn’t easy for sure.  We are thankful for family and friends helping us through-even though their hearts are breaking, too.

This week will be filled with goodbyes-for-now.  Hugs, well-wishes, and, undoubtedly, tears.  We are living intentionally this week-checking off and marking every moment to be sure we see and do as much as we can before the plane leaves.  I wonder what would happen if I always lived this intentionally?  What if I made sure to seek His will about every day-not just when it is down to the wire or difficult for me?  Fact is, it is always down to the wire for all of us.  We are not promised tomorrow.  Can I ask you to hit your knees with us?  Ask Him what He wants your day to look like-and then obey.  Golly gee willakers-what a difference it would make for all of us.

Just finished praying for His guidance on our day and my first cup of Java for the day! Please continue to lift up our corner of the world as the final farewells and prep stack up around us. Much love ❤️

Ten Days.  Ten days of intense introspective into personal strengths and weaknesses.  Ten days filled with session after session of training to work with Third Culture Kids (TCK).  Ten days of amazing training for our girls on transition and people in the Word who also lived in places that were not their home.  Ten days of time for Michael Joe and I to work together and focus on this new direction in our lives. Ten days of new friends, mentors, and inspiration.  IMPACT training met so many needs-including those known and unknown.

Aside from the incredible training, we also met people passionate about calls similar to ours.  These individuals and families are giving up everything to move all over the world. They are obedient to His call.  I’m beyond thankful for the people we met at IMPACT. Due to the crazy intense nature of what we are all doing, friendships were formed quickly!  Our girls are already asking when they get to see their friends who are a country or two away. We feel the same. We can’t wait to meet up with these encouragers again!  

In the days ahead, we know that the truths taught to us at IMPACT will become vital to our leaving, transition, and entry.  Stay tuned in the days ahead for more specifics from our time at training because it was absolutely amazing! In the meantime, enjoy these pics!