Life update & deployment dates

It has been forever since I have blogged, February was quite a busy month in the Finnell house! We have been hanging out with friends from small group and getting more involved in our church, Grace Bible in Killeen TX! Our small group has grown so much in the last 4-6 weeks...physically in size, but also in depth and closeness. We have recently had several eye opening conversations that have made us all realize how important we all are in each others lives...and that the group is a primary support group for so many of us. We have also been able to come alongside one another and serve each other in several ways this month through meals for a couple with a new baby, a welcome home party for a hubby coming home from Iraq, and a garage sale to send off friends who are moving to Africa! We are so incredibly thankful for the family we have been blessed with at Fort Hood :)

I love seeing simple people do extraordinary things so the gospel is heard and made known!

Deployment Update...

We also received Trevor's deployment tasking and dates! This news was expected, but still very hard to hear... We knew it was coming, but once you have dates staring at you on the calendar, it makes it all much more real. We have started clinging to one another for dear life already....and at the same time arguing about petty things we didn't used to argue about? What in the world? Everyone said this would happen, but for some reason I just thought we were exempt for some reason, news flash...We are not! So we have spent the month processing this! Trevor has been told that he must report no later than July 1st... Due to OPSEC (Operations Security) I am not going to disclose where he will be going, but we would def apprecate prayers! He will probably be leaving here sometime the last couple weeks of June! 

We also were blessed to find out that two of our best friends are expecting babies while he is deployed! The Walkers 3rd baby will be gracing us with their presence sometime mid August and The Timmons 1st baby in October! We could not be more thrilled for them! These babies will def be keeping me and my mind busy while Trev is gone, that's for sure :) It def gives me something to look forward to this fall! We LOVE you guys!!!! 

I think that's all for the month of February! We are praying for a great 3 months together before Trev leaves and that we are both able to really cherish this time and take one day at a time to enjoy it! 

In Him,

Trevor & Allison

Road trip to Keesler AFB!

So...Team Finnell decided to go on a road trip to the good ole' south! We went to Houston, New Orleans, and Biloxi, MS. We wanted to take a road trip, but our main reason was to check out Keesler AFB in Biloxi :) 

Night #1: We stopped our first night to see Lo in Houston & went out for sushi downtown with her and her roomie! 

Night #2: We drove into New Orleans, LA for the night! We stayed at a really fun hotel right on the corner of Bourbon street! We got to go out on Bourbon that night together and explored the town the next morning! We found so much culture in New Orleans and sooo much to see! 

Night #3: The next day we drove from Louisiana to Mississippi! That night we stayed at the Hard Rock Casino & Hotel in Biloxi, MS :) We had so much fun in the casino, Trevor taught me how to play black jack! 

Last day: Our last day was at Keesler AFB in Biloxi! We went to Keesler to scout out the base to see if I liked it enough to PCS there for our next duty station! I LOVED it! It's a small, quaint base right on the gulf coast in  a small city! :) I'm pretty sure we will be volunteering to move there if spots come available! No worries...we won't be going anywhere anytime soon, def not until 2012! 


Thanks for reading about our trip :) We had a blast! And this may be our next adventure! 

Meet our new child!

I bet several of you saw this post and did a "double take" thinking "What in the world?? New child??" That was the response I was hoping we would get! It's been a while since we've blogged... In our last post, we wrote about simplifying our lives. The first way we decided to do that was to downsize our vehicle. We used to own a Ford F150 and decided that it really was not necessary to be driving such an expensive and inefficient vehicle. Since our last post, we have sold the F150 and purchased a Mazda 3. This is saving us a considerable amount of money each month. One of things we were concerned about when we decided to downsize was where that extra money would go. We didn't want to downsize our vehicles just so that we could put money into other accounts for things like "date nights" or even into a savings account. While we both value saving money and think it is wise... I started thinking about this the other day and realized that it can be incredibly selfish of us to be storing tons of money away for our future here in America, when there are so many areas of poverty around the world AND in America. 


So one of the ways we decided to use that money that we are saving on our vehicle is to sponsor a child! His name is Aleisi Beriguete! He lives in the Dominic Republic and he's 4 years old. We chose a child from the DR because Trevor and I really felt called there after our honeymoon...We felt the desire to serve the people of the DR, we just didn't know how at the time. Aleisi lives with his mother and is responsible for running errands. His mother maintains the home and there are 3 children in his family. Aleisi enjoys playing with cars and running!

Meet Aleisi :) 

I challenge everyone to look at their finances and ask yourselves these questions: 


How do I spend my money? 
Does my bank account solely benefit me and my family? 
What am I saving for? 
Do I really need to save that much for MY future?
What could I cut out for $38 per month? 




$38 per month is what it costs to "adopt" a child like Aleisi and ensure that a child has food, shelter, and is able to attend school and bible classes. For us, $38 was a small part of downsizing our car. $38 also could have been me not stopping at Starbucks 7 times this month (which yes, I have been known to do!). It could also be going on one less date night per month if you and your spouse go out a lot. 


If you're interested in sponsoring a child, there are several agencies who will help you. Compassion International is one! Go to www.compassion.com and search for YOUR child :)