The Byrd’s Take Flight

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Do not copy, forward, distribute, or post this letter on social media View this email in your browser Vinaka Vakalevu! (thank you in Fijian) View this email in your browser It has been quite some time since I have written an update, I’m sorry it has been so long! We are so thankful that you are a part of our lives! It has been quite the adventure of a couple months since last speaking with you. Stephen and I have gotten married (holla!!!!), we have ventured to New York, Hawaii, Fiji, Auckland, New Zealand, and now to Queenstown. I find myself in yet another airport on the way to the South Island. It is like change once again is the only constant, transition our dear companion. What I have discovered in it all is that I can look forward on each second, each day, each week full of expectation on the grace that will be provided for us. There have even many ups and many downs and through it all, I find that my heart cry is “His grace is sufficient, His power made perfect in my weakness, my God will supply every need according to Christ Jesus, you can trust Him”. Exhibit A... Sike...our plane literally just got cancelled...exhibit A of the expectation of the grace that will be provided in this! We are just sitting here laughing and Stephen thinks that I am cursed because he never had flight problems until traveling with me and we have already had 2 big problems and 1 minor one. But hey, with every problem there is a provision from the Father. We are excited to see what this provision will be an where the Father is leading us through a cancelled flight. Life is such a fun adventure and I giggle at the reality that I am sitting on the ground in an airport with no clue what the next hour will hold, much less the next day or week or month. ....Exhibit B is that it has taken me a week to get back to finishing this after God has changed our path in so many ways and we find ourselves in Christchurch New Zealand living with Argentinians... Anyway, now to updating! The Wedding!!!! It was only the most magical day ever. But actually....what we saw was that God answered every single one of our prayers. Looking back, I chuckle a little bit because nothing that day went as planned either! We had plans A-D and but to far surpass all of them. In a winding staircase mid day, Stephen and I decided to make a whole new quick plan because it was raining that morning but we were confident, that with all the prayer, it would stop before the wedding and it sure as heck did! Every prayer you prayed was answered!  One of our biggest desires and prayer was that our guests would come and get to encounter God and truly engage in worship of Him as we celebrated. We never saw the day as about “us”. We saw it as an opportunity to lead many people into His presence and into a greater hunger for Him. Our marriage, in fact our entire lives, are about Him and so much prayer was sown into that perspective and we saw God answer! Many people told us that the wedding gave them a greater desire to pursue the Father. I seriously could not ask for anything greater. I rejoice and delight and glory in God that He used our wedding day as a time to bring people into worship and as a picture of the great wedding day with Him.  The Journey that is just beginning.... We began this adventure by honeymooning in Hawaii and Fiji which in itself has hundreds of stories of the ups, downs, and all arounds of learning how to be married, the people we got to meet and talk with and pray with, the silly adventures, the laughs, the tears, and the sheer variety of experiences we have had. For more of those, Stephen and I are just one video call away ;) It truly was a good time, filled with much adversary, that allowed us to begin our marriage on a firm foundation.    "Who gets to experience this?!" Now, in New Zealand, we have faced a whole new set of challenges. We had plans. We had ideas. But God. (Feel free to pity laugh at my Bible joke ;)  Every door we tried to walk through for about 5 days was closed right on up. Including that flight to Queenstown! We bought our van yesterday and have such vision for how we are going to build it up inside to be our little home when we are traveling around the islands.  We are currently living in an air bnb (kinda) with an Argentinian couple. I say “kinda” because we are their first guests and they have treated us more like friends and house mates than anything else. It is insane the hospitality they pour out and the blessings God has showered through them. They even let us borrow the car all day (!!!!) 3 of the days we have been here!! They invited us to their barbecue, allowed us to use their bikes, and just become a part of their life. The husband just so happens to be a carpenter and electrical engineer...the two things that Stephen want a bit of help on with building the structure of our van. Yeah, it just so happens that the wife is a graphic designer and likes to exercise the same way I do. Yeah, just so happens, eh.... God cancelled a flight to Queenstown not for a “what” (the van, a town, etc), it was cancelled for a “who”. And that “who” is the Argentinian couple we are living with. Not only has God used them so mightily to provide for us but He has also opened doors. We are living in a very very very post modernistic culture where religion is archaic. But the wife has asked me many questions as we have gotten up each morning at 5:30 to exercise. And this morning I got to share the entirety of the gospel with her!!!!! Come on Jesus!!!!! For those who have gotten previous updates, you know that the phrase "who gets to experience this" has powerfully changed my outlook on life and it seems like everywhere we turn we are met by something new and some new problem but we keep finding that it the midst of every problem there is a wonderful provision. Prayer Requests: * For Carla* and Matt* (the Argentinians that we are staying with) to see a difference in us and ask questions and ultimately for their salvation * For the journey of learning how to thrive in marriage in a foreign culture * For me, that I would develop a greater fear of the Lord specifically regarding His sovereignty * For the next couple weeks and building this van, pray for our communication, for creative vision, and for the empowerment to do the tasks needed Some Fun Pictures :) Stephen's first dive in Fiji!!!! He is now Padi Scuba certified and we can dive together on our travels! On the left: Stephen and I taking a helicopter tour over Hawaii! On the right: The "before" picture of the van we bought that we are turning into a tiny home of sorts ;) *names have been changed for their security Do not copy, forward, distribute, or post this letter on social media

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