Assume Goodness

"Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good..." Psalm 135:3a

At the beginning of this month, we felt like Jesus' words for our family in 2016 were: "Assume Goodness." Not in a 'naive' sort of way but in spite of the challenges of life, we felt like He was inviting us to trust that He remains good and has good gifts for this year. He has already been true to His word! We wanted to share a few of them with you so you could celebrate with us. 

For some that have not met, this is William "Blake" Coppedge. Thank you to all who prayed for his arrival! He is a healthy baby boy. 

Technically, he joined our family in 2015, but he has already brought our whole family so much J-O-Y! Hallelujah! Praise God Forever! 

One of our happiest good gifts was having Joanna's mama and daddy here over the Christmas holidays. Nancy came early and was a tremendous help with welcoming Blake. Praise Jesus for good grandparents! 

God has continued to surprise us by bringing Arua friends to Scotland! Pam and Stan Wafler were with us earlier this month with two of their kids, Jack and Joanna. We were all so excited to be together. Praise Jesus for good friends. 

The girls (Sophia, Lucy, Elsie with Blake, Chloe) love being 'big sister' to their brother. Praise Jesus for good sisters!

While some of you all have recently had 'lots' of snow, we don't usually get much here in St Andrews. This was a good surprise though. Blake didn't love it but the girls enjoyed it on his behalf.

Billy's oldest sister was able to come visit us. She was so excited to meet Baby Blake. Big sisters have a goodness all of their own. She was such an encouragement.

Here is Sophia, one of our 'warrior princess for good.' We sure love these girlies. 

Billy has started at the University of Edinburgh and travels in by train several times a week. He loves the program and has already thoroughly enjoyed his reading on East Africa. The girls have likewise started back to school and God is helping all of them adapt to schooling with Baby Blake's schedule. Adjusting to being a family of seven has indeed been an adjustment yet the Father has been so good to us. Thus we are starting the year with a deep sense of gratitude. Hallelujah! Praise God Forever!