Seeking Him First...

"31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:31-33

It has been some time since we have experienced these verses with such profound understanding as we are right now. What will we eat? What will we wear? Where will we live? What does tomorrow look like?

In the heat of election season, and a time of much personal challenge for our little family we are reminded that our future is so much greater than anything we can see with these eyes. Ultimately our hope resides not in a political party, or a job, but in Christ. And our charge is to seek HIS kingdom first, not someone else's and not our own.

Our needs are met through the mercy of the Father, the grace of what Jesus gave on the cross, and the wisdom that guides our decisions through the Holy Spirit.

As my little brother reminded me tonight...
All the best things in life are free.
I would add, free, and worth giving everything for.

Green Bluff on Eden's First Birthday!

You Mean There's Life After School?

 It’s true. It just hit us in the past few weeks that life outside of school is not only existent, but drawing blessedly near! There is something about this realization that has fueled our excitement all the more. It is real and we are getting there. Of course, along with that excitement comes a healthy dose of responsibility for the not so insignificant question: What does that life look like?

Our First Family Flight! Electric City, Wa

You know this question I’m sure.

It’s the what next, the where do we go from here? Our plan for the future may seem vague, but our passion and excitement for it are ever increasing.

 

Knowing that God created us to do life together we strongly desire simply to go and share the skills I am learning as a pilot and our heart for the people God created and so desperately loves. There are so many ways that this could play out. Being a missionary pilot could land us (did you see what I did there?) really anywhere in the world; with so many needs in so many places it could include flying medical transport out of the jungle, flying supplies, or ministry teams, or Bibles, or mail, in to remote villages or even some sort of commercial work. Ideally we would love to be in a place where we can not only fly, but dig in on the ground and help care for abandoned children and love on lost people.

Training, Training & More Training…

As for those skills I’ve been learning; we spent the first two weeks of our semester in July learning about engines we are most likely to encounter on the field, how to troubleshoot engine problems on the ground and after take-off, and creating intentional faults in test engines in order to familiarize ourselves with what those failures would look like if an actual failure were to occur.

On The Way Home From Joseph.

I was allowed to plan my solo commercial qualification flight over a weekend, flying 250 nautical miles from Spokane to Boise, ID, on to Baker City, OR and ending up in Joseph, OR where Kell and the kids were spending the week with my family. I got to spend the rest of the weekend with everyone before flying home to Spokane with Elisha and Zacket to keep me company! A huge blessing and a trip I won't forget for years to come!

After that we had a week long Mountain Flying class covering the hazards and techniques of, wait for it, Mountain Flying! And then I began my current rotation of maintenance and flight weeks starting with re-familiarization of the 182 Cessna (the higher adrenaline, retractable gear plane) following up with an “emergencies” flight (simulated emergency procedures) in the same plane, and then a cross country flight through the Montana mountains.

This week we began re-familiarization and emergency procedures in the Cessna 206 (a bigger, slower plane); had the privilege of having many mission organization representatives visit for a week of consultation, and will now be moving on to challenging, back country airstrips.

At the end of this month our class will be taking the 10 day cross country flight required for the program. I am still $700 short for the required positive balance in my student account, but believing that God will give us a solution by the 17th so I can head out with the group for this crucial piece of training! I look forward to sharing about that and the other most recent parts of training with you in our year-end newsletter!

And Life Goes On…



Flying With Daddy!



We got news in the middle of July that the Network Admin position that I have been filling at Hutton Settlement will now be added to the duties of one of the house parents to make things more cost efficient. We are grateful for our time there and ready to see how God comes through for us in this bonus challenge! As of September 1st our income is totalling $650/mo. Then as December approaches so does the exhaustion of Nate's GI Bill and a total monthly income of $210/mo! We are praying and believing in earnest right now that God will miraculously provide, whether through a

new job or something completely different. We know we are supposed to finish this training and we feel like it is so close. And so we are leaning on the reminder and promise in Matthew 6:31-33!!!

Praises and Answers To Prayer:

• Last minute loans to finish last spring semester!
• The surprise $400 anonymous gift last month!
• Too many small “God hugs” as Kellyn calls them, to count! Grateful for His Grace!

Prayer Requests

• We desperately need internet at home for school & for work (and for keeping in touch through our blog swiftactionnews.blogspot.com!)
• God’s work in our finances for living and school
• That He would open doors as we begin to plan our 8 week internship for next summer
• That we would keep priority on relationship; with Him, each other, and those around us
  



Spokane From The Air!



We are on our knees for this and more and asking you to partner with us; to pray for us and for what God has next for us. And we’d love to hear from you when you do!

We are so, so grateful for your role in our lives, and the chance to be part of yours!

Nathan, Kellyn, Elisha, Zacket and Eden

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6