New Year, New Life

Hard to believe that it's mid January already!  So much has happened since the last posting:  Jim is officially retired, as of December 29th, our house is in the final stages of approval for the short sale, we have begun sorting through everything to determine what we take with us, what we give away and what we need to store.  We ordered 50 2'-cube boxes for our container and have filled 12 of them so far.  We didn't realize when we ordered the boxes how big a 2' cube is -- you can certainly get a lot of stuff in one box!

One of our biggest blessing has been our Incarnate Faith Church family.  In the past, at Christmastime, we have participated in Advent Conspiracy, a great ministry that encourages people to spend less and give more, and focuses on providing wells for clean water in countries around the world.  Well, this year, iF surprised us by taking our supply list and making ornaments of each item, placing them on the church Christmas tree and then having our members take the ornaments and purchase one or more items.  We were overwhelmed by the generosity of this amazing group of people who love Jesus.  The tree was overflowing with all kinds of things, from peanut butter, to batteries, to gas cans, tuna fish, staples (thank you Cullen!) and so much more.  It is very humbling to be the recipient of so much love and support and we are so blessed to be going out to Africa with our family at iF right with us.

Hansen Clan
Kari, Dave, Julie, Jim, Riley, Jenni, Avery, Jaron

Before we leave, we planned to take a vacation with our immediate family, and since Jenni is in Nursing School and Kari is a professor at Galludet University, January was the only time we could all get together, during their winter break.  We took off on January 7th for 4 days at Disneyland and had such a wonderful time being together.  God blessed us with perfect weather, upper 70s every day!  And, because most schools were already back in session, the parks were fairly empty on Monday and Tuesday.  Sunday was the final day of the Christmas decorations, so we got to enjoy those, as well as the final night of Fantasmic.  And a bonus, at the end of Fantasmic, they had giant snow making machines going!  We were completely covered in snow, but without the cold.  Our grandkids loved going on all the rides, and would you believe it -- their favorite was Tower of Terror!  An extra special time was getting to have brunch with our niece Lacey and her husband Brandon, and then having dinner with Jim's cousin, the original Julie Hansen, and her husband Scott.

We've got a few more trips planned to visit family before we go:  We leave on January 25th for 10 days, visiting Jim's cousins in Central Point, my family in Lebanon, and Jim's family in the Seattle area. We know we won't see family too often, so it's wonderful to have this time to spend together.  Next month, we plan to visit 2 of Jim's sisters in Santa Maria and Arroyo Grande.

We continue to see daily God's provision for us in so many ways.  We've connected with old friends via facebook, had people donate items unexpectedly, had items we needed to purchase go on sale at just the right time, and so much more.  As we mentioned at the top, our short sale on the house is going through in record time, and just yesterday, Jim was able to connect with Kaiser about the jaw surgery he needs before he goes.  It looks like they will be able to do it in March.  We'd really appreciate prayer that it happens at the beginning of the month so he has a couple of weeks to recuperate before he leaves for Africa on April 2nd.  Yes, we did get our airline tickets, which just happened to go on sale.  I will fly out on May 26th, after Jenni's school year ends.  I'm really looking forward to having this special time with Jenni, Jaron & the girls before we leave.  Another blessing is that in September, my sister will be flying out to stay with us for a month.  She will be doing some teaching seminars, art workshops and training people in Oral Bible Story telling.  Isn't God great?!

The Hope of the Nations team that is in the states right now, will be here in Gilroy February 11-15th, so we are excited to have time together sharing and planning for doing ministry together.  If you live in the south bay area and want to hear them speak, they will be at Central Christian Church in San Jose on February 5th, and then South Valley Community Church on February 12th (a.m.) and Incarnate Faith in Gilroy on February 12th (p.m.).  We'd love to see you too!

Prayer & Praises:
1.  We are thankful to have gotten airline tickets at a great price.
2.  Thanks again to our family at iF for showering us in goods!
3.  Pray for the finalization of our short sale.
4.  Pray for Jim's surgery to take place in early March.
5. Pray for our financial support to come in.