Where We Thought We'd Be Today

If you had asked us 3 years ago where we thought we'd be today, this is how we would have answered...

We'd be living in a nice house in a nice neighborhood (we actually had signed a contract to build a house very similar to this one before God caught our attention and we headed on the path we're on now) ...

Ben would be working construction...
Alisha would be teaching English...
And we would have the cutest dog in the world (this was our dog Jack who got hit by a car and killed 2 summers ago :( )...

We had always been considering missions but didn't know where we would go or with whom, so we figured we would keep going down the "American Dream" path until we knew. Then God used several things to stop this path.

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Francis Chan's Crazy Love. We read it on our 1 year anniversary trip to Florida and were convicted in our pursuit of the American dream and what we thought were our "rights" as an American Christian (i.e. owning a house).

Chris and Evie Jones who were in training with New Tribes Mission (they are now in Papua New Guinea) came and talked to our small group. We were intrigued, so we had them over for dinner and learned more...

And of course, the Bible and prayer...

Through these things, God opened our eyes to the need in the world and our mediocre attitude to it. We realized that we were expecting God to just throw missions in our laps... and truly, we were waiting for that clear, you'd-have-to-be-deaf-blind-and-dumb-to-miss-it kind of calling before making any big steps toward missions We failed to recognize that God already MADE that clear calling in the Bible when he said "Go into all nations." We didn't need to WAIT for one. We also realized that we just needed to take it one step at a time. We didn't need to have our entire life planned out before us. And so we took the first step.

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Alisha graduated from Grace College, we sold some things and packed up and moved to New Tribes Bible Institute in Jackson, MI. So now, this is our house (our apartment itself is 730ish sq. feet so a bit smaller than the house we planned to build ;) ... but hey, we have a gym and weight room and cafeteria and library all in our extended house, so we can't complain). We are so thankful for the Bible training we have been receiving here...
Ben works at Red Lobster...
We are preparing to take the gospel to those who have never heard it...
And we have a sweet baby girl who has brightened up our lives...

Our family of 3...

To be honest, we still grieve the loss of the house we were going to build. It's hard to give up materialism. We still desire it, even though we have peace about giving it up in order to follow God's plan for us. We miss other things too. We wish we could have another dog but know that a dog doesn't fit in our life right now since we plan to head overseas. Ben greatly misses working construction, but maybe he'll get to do that within missions. And once we move overseas, we know we will miss our family and friends greatly. Following God's calling isn't always easy, but we know it's rewarding. Please pray with us as we follow Him, and pray that we would be strong when giving up our desires is hard. Thank you!! Your prayers mean so much to us.

What Will 2012 Look Like For the Millers?

2012 has arrived and is already in full swing! Many of you know that we are entering our final semester at New Tribes Bible Institute, and we will finish in May, so you may wonder what our plans are for after graduation. We have come to accept that all plans are tentative as God's plan is ultimate, but our tentative plans are as follows:

Jan-May 2012 --> Final semester at NTBI

March 2012 --> All 3 of us Millers will celebrate birthdays, Sophie's being most exciting, of course

May 2012 --> Move to the Warsaw/Winona Lake area (by the way, we'll be looking for a place to live - let us know if you know of anywhere on the cheaper end!)

May-December 2012 --> Ben will work, we will (excitedly!) be back at our church, CCC, and hope to plug in big time, Alisha will be a mommy, we will spend lots of time with many friends who we've missed these past couple of years, we will spend time with family, and we will prepare for our next step of training

January 2013 --> Lord willing, we will head to the next step of training, the Missionary Training Center (MTC), in Missouri ... this is a 1 year-2.5 year program depending what we study

Thank you for investing in our lives as we prepare for heading to missions!

And since no blog post is complete without pictures, here are some completely unrelated pictures...

We started 2012 off by attending Kyle and Lindsi Jones' wedding! These are friends of ours who attended NTBI last year, and Kyle's brother and wife are our dear friends who first told us all about NTBI and NTM (who are now in Papua New Guinea)

And Sophie is now 9 months!

Christmas Photo Blast

We had a wonderful Christmas, celebrating in both Indiana and in Vermont with family. It was Alisha's first time to Vermont in 7 years and Ben's and Sophie's first time ever to Vermont. Here are some fun Christmas pictures!

Sophie and Brayden with Great Grandpa Miller and Anita




Jenks Family (my mom's side of the family- all of us together except for my dad!)
Cousins :)

Getting in the Christmas Spirit...

On Saturday our school hosted a "Swingin' Christmas Party." They had swing dancing, but we didn't swing dance. We did enjoy the party though. Sophie dressed up for the party :)

We told Sophie to smile, and this is what we got...
The party was decorated really nicely :) Lots of lights and a big Christmas tree.
They had a photo booth there, so we took some fun pictures!
We just have 3 days left of classes and then we have a break from classes for a month!

Random Happenings

This past month we've been busy with random activities.

We went bowling with the married students here at school...

Alisha went with her friend Laken to see the new Twilight movie...
Sophie "checked out" the snow... she wasn't impressed...
And Sophie turned 8 months! Along with turning 8 months, she now has a top tooth (so 3 teeth total), she's crawling, and she waves hello and good-bye!

They were Foreigners and Nomads Here on Earth

One of our classes we're currently in is Hebrews.

For our homework, we are required to read each chapter of Hebrews in 3 different translations. Sometimes this seems tedious, but often I am encouraged by each version in a different way. Tonight I was reading Hebrews 11 and I was surprised that it took the 3rd reading (New Living Translation) to be struck by a truth that is so close to my heart because of where Ben and I are in life and because of what we plan to do with our life:

"It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God" (Hebrews 11:8-10)

"They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them" (Hebrews 11:13b-16)

I sometimes find myself struggling that we don't have a true home. I know that it won't get any easier either as our family plans to head overseas to a country we have never even visited before. These verses are an encouraging reminder that this is not our home. Feeling like an alien and a nomad on this earth should be expected as we follow Christ in faith. I am thankful that Hebrews 11 has reminded me of this truth :)

Random Sophie-ness to Catch Up On :)

Currently, poor Sophie is sick with a cold :( We're hoping she gets better soon!

In other news, Sophie is a pro at sitting up now. She's still not crawling, but she's starting to pull herself up on me a little. She also is an amazing jumper. She absolutely LOVES to jump! Maybe she'll have some of her daddy's basketball skills or her mommy's high jump skills?

At the end of October, we went to Indiana to celebrate Grandpa Miller's 75th birthday. Ben's cousin Ashley and I have babies that are just a few months apart, and here they are together :)

Sophie turned 7 months on the same day as the birthday party!
We're teaching her young to cheer on the best football teams... Notre Dame and Colts!
Sophie with her daddy on Halloween :)

Sophie with mommy on Halloween...

Sophie playing with her friend Ivy in the ball pit

Sophie ready for the cold winter in her new cute chickie hat, made by Keisa Troyer... check her hats out here! http://www.etsy.com/shop/keisajeanne