The Long Awaited Arrival

The Long family has many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving - most importantly the arrival of our second child! Grant Oliver Long greeted the world on Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at 3:57pm. He weighed 9 pounds 11.5 ounces and was 19 inches long. He has a head full of blond hair, deep blue eyes, and an adoring big brother.

In the short first two weeks of his life, Grant has already had the opportunity to visit church for the first time and attend his first missions conference as the family travelled to Indian Falls, NY this past weekend. He already has 1000 miles under his belt and is well on his way to official MK status (missionary kid).

His birth has reminded us once again of the wonderful blessings God has given to us this past year. Not only have we been blessed with a beautiful and healthy child, but have experienced first hand the blessings poured out upon us as we travelled cross-country these past 6 months. We are so thankful for the many wonderful and caring people we have met along the way - the friends and families that have offered us their prayers, their support and their partnership in our ministry. As we trust for the future that God will continue to provide, we are too thankful for what is yet to be done! We have seen His hand at work in so many ways, and it excites us to see what He has yet to do!

Our hope for you this Thanksgiving holiday is that you too would feel God's blessing upon your lives and that you would be able to spend this time sharing in the hope for God's blessing in the days to come.

With Love and Thankfulness,
Jonathan, Corinne, Carter and Grant

A First at First

This past week we had the opportunity to participate in a missions conference in Corry, PA. Many of our meetings were at the First United Methodist Church. Their theme this year was "Missions: Our Investment in Eternity". We felt this was an especially fitting theme and logo following the recent events of our economy. We were reminded that missions is truly about earthly sacrifice for heavenly gain. Isn't that what God calls us all to? We should all strive to "Lay up our treasures in heaven!"

We can definitely say we were blessed by our involvement! Through the kindness of many individuals, we were made so welcome. We enjoyed meals and meetings in many of the congregation members' homes. We also spoke at the church for the Wednesday evening service. The worship, which was led by On Staff for HIM missionary Ken Fitch, was inspiring. Each day we enjoyed devotion and prayer time that was uplifting and encouraging.

Carter received specials blessings this week as well...we were surprised Wednesday evening with a birthday cake, balloon and gifts in celebration of his third birthday! Everyone showed us so much love and care.

We enjoyed a special "first" this week as well. We had the oportunity to share on CorryFirst Radio's Wednesday Nite Live program. You can enjoy our broadcast by clicking on the player below...hope you enjoy!

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Letting Go and Gearing Up

During our last trip we were on the East coast in Massachusetts. We made a detour through Plymouth so we could see Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II (a replica of the original pilgrim ship). Standing in the belly of the wooden ship reminded me that we are so fortunate to have the ability to cross seas in the comfort of an airplane! It was hard to imagine months at sea in the relatively cramped quarters with no sight of land. What faith the Pilgrims must have had to leave everything they called familiar for a land of unknown.

This last week, our family has been further preparing for our big trip over the ocean. We had a garage sale to get rid of some household items that we no longer need or won't be taking to Hungary. In the words of our two-year old "but that is mine!" It was a little difficult to explain that the items we were selling were worth letting go of and that something better would be coming along to replace it! It's easy to have that mindset in many areas of our lives as we become attached to the things of this world. But, God has continued to remind us that we lay up our treasures in heaven! Letting go of some of our possessions is just another step in the process of relying on God to provide our needs.

As we look forward to the next few months, we are definitely gearing up for some changes and some challenges. We continue to have a busy schedule of travel and speaking. We also are preparing for the arrival of the newest member to our family - Baby Long is due Nov 13th! It will definitely be an adjustment to have another little one in tow. We are excited to see how God will continue to provide in the months to come. We are still looking to move overseas the first of the year, so we continue to pray for the financial resources to become available. We simply ask that our friends and family continue to lift our ministry in prayer. We rely on that prayer for getting through all the "letting go" and "gearing up".