“Mommy! Mommy!” My day starts each morning at 7:15 with the high-pitched screech of an eagle— I mean toddler— and from that moment until both kids are in bed, the day feels nonstop. Each moment is filled with feeding, dressing, playing with, or teaching somebody— not to mention spending time working on raising our support team and preparing to go to Papua New Guinea. “The days are long but the years are short.” That’s what they say about raising kids, and I’ve found that to be so true. When did my little baby turn into a rambunctious toddler? When did my newborn become less cuddly and more interactive? There are days that I can’t wait for nap time, and then when they are asleep, I cry because they are growing up too fast.
This experience is not unique to parenting. We have such a short amount of time on this earth. We can easily fill it with e-mails, meetings, errands, cleaning, and various tasks, and then look back and realize we didn’t do the things that really matter. Psalm 90:10 says, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” God wants us to realize that our days are limited, and therefore use them wisely, for things that will matter for eternity.
That is why we are going to Papua New Guinea. We want to make sure we spend our lives on something that will matter forever— sharing Christ with people who don’t know Him yet. Thank you for spending time praying for us and earning money to help send us there. Let’s all ask God together to help us focus our lives on things that will matter for eternity.
God has done a lot in our journey towards getting to Papua New Guinea. We are now 76% funded for our monthly support- praise God! In addition to working towards getting to 100%, we are working more and more on the tasks necessary to get to Papua New Guinea. We have a coffeehouse event on May 13th to try to raise some of our startup fund. We have all of our passports and have sent things in to apply for our work visas. We are starting to find out what kinds of clothing and supplies we need to bring. Soon we will start doctor’s visits and immunizations. Please pray for us as all these things can feel overwhelming!
We are so thankful that we have the hope of eternity with God, not just this short life. Thanks for working with us so others can know Him too. Praise Jesus for His goodness and love.
Till all know,
Matt, Karissa, Ty, and Wyck Long
Please Pray:
– For our coffeehouse event on May 13
– That God would give us wisdom in the many small decisions we are making about how best to prepare for PNG
Praise God:
We have felt very encouraged by our church’s support
– We had a financial need, and last month, God provided the exact amount we needed through someone’s gift!