Bullet Post Update

::With 32 days left before we leave to go back to Uganda, we are beginning to ramp up preparations.  We can take 22 suitcases with us...full of clothes, school books, and a variety of things that are either difficult to find in country or very very expensive in country.  The kids are, for the most part, excited to go home.  For some of them, they are probably tempted to count minutes till we leave.  For some of them, they are still cherishing every minute left with cousins.

::I appreciate everyone's prayers for my health.  The doctors at Duke settled on a diagnosis of Primary Adrenal Insufficiency (AI) because of a form of non-classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia. (CAH)  I was likely born missing a partial enzyme that helps the adrenal glands produce the cortisol they are supposed to.  AI is a fairly rare disease and non classical CAH is a rare form of AI.  Many doctors haven't even heard of it...sometimes it's even featured on TV series that deal with rare diseases.  Often times people are surprised to hear that there is a group of people walking this planet that need daily steroids to stay alive.  AI is also a bit of difficult beast to work with, because your body doesn't produce the exact same amount of cortisol every day.  So I can't just take one pill every day and call it good.  If you are under job stress, a super busy day, have a difficult conversation, get in a car accident, or have surgery your body requires differing levels of cortisol for differing levels of stress.  Most stress is unpredictable...we know not what a day will bring...so more often than not, AI patients who loose the "fight or flight" hormone will have a few more sick days (for me that means lots of pain, fevers, stomach aches, nausea, racing heart, horrid brain fog, and lack of sleep) as we work in retrospect to gain back (cortisol) what God originally intended the body to do in tandem with life.  I carry a shot kit of steroid in case I were to ever find myself in a situation of sudden severe stress since patients with AI can easily and quickly go into shock. That is called an Adrenal Crisis and it can quickly lead to death if not stopped by a heavy dose of steroid. The positive news though is that most patients with CAH (me included) don't loose their ability to produce another hormone called aldosterone.  This offers me a level of protection (though not complete protection) from an adrenal crisis and I'm very thankful for that! (That's been the great news of the past couple weeks!)

I've known for quite a few years that this is my reality.  But it never fully set in until the doctor told me that it would likely be like this for the rest of my life.  Somehow I had always held out hope that if my life were to calm down enough (like maybe after Eric retires and the kids fly the nest? ha!) that I would someday be able to come off the steroids.  Well, that doesn't seem to be the case.  Seems like this is my "thorn" that God has given me to carry for his glory.  I do wonder sometimes at the idea that my life calling (homeschooling nine kids on the mission field?) doesn't seem to match with my diagnosis (take meds and do what you can to avoid stress. hmmm...)  I was convicted the other day though, that while I might not be able to do as much in life as I want, what I am able to do, I want to do well for the glory of God.  If I am able to do another activity with the kids or in the ministry, I want to do it for the glory of God.  If I am only able to sit on the couch for the day, well...that too should be done to the best of my ability for the glory of God.  Andree Seu says something like, "If the king asks you to conquer the hinter lands one day and shoe his horse the next, you do them both without slacking...for he is the king."  This is the cross that the King of Glory has called me to bear, so may I do it without slacking for his glory.

::We have several (about 10 plus) more churches to speak at through Michigan and Ontario, one more flight out to Oregon for our previous church's 25th anniversary, then a week of visitors, and then a week to pack.  Pray that we will find some rest, some time to pack, and a few more precious memories in it all.

Prayerful, Patient and Prepared...

The church signed this very sweet poster/card for us and gave it to us yesterday.

It's hard to believe that it's time to say, "see you later" to our dear ones here in Uganda.  We have two more days and then we fly back to our dear ones there in America.  We are so excited to see Timothy and the rest of our families!  It's been so long!  But our hearts are still a quite sad that we have to be away from here for a time.  Six months is the goal.  On the one hand, we know that it will pass very quickly.  On the other hand...it's half a year!  That's a significant chunk of time to be away!

We have 20 pieces of luggage that we are putting together, and, what feels like, more than a million little details in order to be able to leave our house and ministry in a good place.  It's no small task.  Our bodies are exhausted and yet, as if our brains won't get that message, we have been waking up at crazy hours with minds full of details swirling..."I need make sure I remember those CDs for homeschooling on the road. I still haven't gotten our malaria meds to take with us just in case. I hope we have power and water for the next few days so that laundry can be done.  Can't forget to pay workers before we leave.  Instructions for animals.  Instructions for compound. What do I still need to order off Amazon so I don't have to face Walmart right away?" The list is endless.

And crazy won't stop when we get on that plane.  Within just a few days of arrival in America, we have our first homestudy scheduled in order to complete Denise's adoption.  We also have an appointment for Benaiah with a pulmonologist set up.  Within a week, Eric and I will travel to Pennsylvania for meetings.  Within two weeks we will begin a cross country trek to Oregon with several stops along the way.

I've had three words on my mind to ask of you for our furlough.  In some ways I'm thankful for a few quiet hours between 4 am and 7 am, before the kids wake up and the noise of the day begins, so that I can take a few moments to copy them down. Three words... prayerful, patient and prepared.  Here they are:

Please be in prayer for us.  Pray for the ministry here.  Pray that the people that we work with will stand firm in their faith.  Pray for our fellow missionaries who will take on a heavier load than normal so that we are free to leave.  Pray for our hearts and the hearts of our children as we miss our dear friends here.  Pray for us as we leave "normal schedules" and slip into six months of "chaotic/not normal schedules" Pray that we can get at least a little homeschooling done.  (I know it's flexible, but our kids do need to graduate one day! haha!)  Pray that we stay healthy.  We've had a lot of sickness lately.  Pray for Denise as she enters a new culture that she's never experienced before.  Pray for the rest of us as we enter a culture we are expected to know, but might not really.

Please be patient with us.  Know that our lives are a bit topsy turvy right now.  A nomadic life has it's bonuses.  It also has it's burdens.  Please be patient when we show up tired.  Be patient, knowing that we...who are a bit on the introverted side...will be seeing and interacting with a lot of people in the coming months.  Know that we won't have very much time with just our little family.  Be patient with my kiddos who are actually leaving "home" to go "visit" America.  Be patient with them as they are re-learning and learning for the first time, things that are "as American as apple pie."  American teenagers probably should know what a Sausage McMuffin is, but we realized a few days ago that sometimes they don't. ;-)  My children who lived their early years in a culture that was a beautiful shade of blue and moved to a culture that is a beautiful shade of red have now become a beautiful shade of purple...more lovely than I could have ever imagined.  They will never be the blue that they were, but they are wonderful mixture that God is stirring up and I'm thankful for that.

Please be prepared for us.  So many people are working so hard to find housing, winter clothes, things we will need, etc...  Thank you for preparing for us in this way!!  We are so grateful!  If you live in North Carolina or Georgia, we are still in need of more winter clothes and sleeping bags for when we go across country.  Email me if you want details in how you can help out in this way.  Please also be prepared to hear what amazing things the Lord is doing in Uganda.  Christ's kingdom is growing and advancing and we are eager to tell you about it.  We look forward to being in many different churches in the coming months and telling you about what God has done.  We are also looking forward to hearing what God is doing in your neck of the woods!  Get ready to tell us!  We serve a great King, who is advancing his kingdom around the world.  Let's be ready to encourage each other and rejoice together in the mighty ways God is working.

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.  And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.  It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.  For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with affection of Christ Jesus.  And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."  Philippians 1:3-11

Today's the day!

Well, after more than a year of praying, thinking, planning, hoping, missing, loving, longing, anticipating, packing, leaving, crying and seeking

the day has arrived...

our bags are packed...

we've slept our last sleep in America...

we are eager for our arrival in Uganda...

with a small stop in London, thrown in for fun... :)

Thank you for praying for us.

No, really hear that...I'm not just saying it...

Thank you for praying for us...

God has chosen to use the prayers of his saints and he has heard and used yours in a mighty way.  We have felt his arms around us...sustaining us...lifting us up.

Even yesterday...Katelyn blew a strong ear infection, but the doctors and pharmacies around here were closed.  We asked those of you on Facebook that God would somehow allow us to get a prescription last night so that she could have 24 hours on it before having to deal with cabin pressure on her ears.  God heard and answered.  A doctor friend in Salem, called a pharmacist friend here in North Carolina...who then went back to the pharmacy at 9 PM to fill it for us! 

So thank you to all!  To our friends and family...we will miss you very much and eagerly anticipate heaven where we will never have to say goodbye again.  God is good and is worthy of serving...even when he calls us to move very far away...we only have a short time to work for him.  Please continue to pray for us. 

Updated prayer requests...

We praise the Lord that our trip across the country has gone very well so far!  It has been our best trip ever in terms of health, strength, cheerfulness in the car, and quality of visits with family and friends.  Not once have we had a child crying for more than 10 minutes and nobody has been sick so far.  We only had mild car troubles once we hit Raleigh, NC.  Our lights on the van and trailer weren't cooperating and it was night time so we couldn't drive.  But we were close enough to Eric's family, that our brother-in-law graciously drove the 2 hours out to get us. 

We also praise the Lord that Tessa, our missionary associate is fully funded!  What a blessing this is for her and for us!  She will be flying to NC to join us this Friday.

Please continue to pray

::that we will draw close to the Lord during the coming weeks.  I'm so thankful that he is both all-powerful and all-loving.  Pray that we will lean fully into the arms of our loving, powerful God during this time of transition.

::for our flight on July 18...that's in 8 days!!  Pray that all the details will work out.  Pray that we and our kids will sleep on the flight.  We have a red-eye flight to London, then a day in London, then a red-eye flight down to Uganda.  We are praying for deep, restful sleep on the plane.  (God is fully capable! :)

::for Tessa...that God would bless her with good good-byes to her family and friends.  That she will have a good flight here to NC.  That the kids will get reacquainted quickly.  That she will not be homesick.

::all of the details of passports, visas and paperwork to be in good-order when we arrive in Entebbe.

::that our van and trailer will hold up for us. 

::for continued good health. 

::for our container as it journeys across the ocean...that the Lord will protect it and its contents.  That it will arrive in good time...even before Eric starts teaching, if that would glorify God. 

Thank you for praying!  We really have seen the blessing of having many people lift us up in prayer. 

A few reflections on our last days in Salem...

We are officially “on vacation” now.  After two days, I realized I need to tell myself that I actually am on vacation and then start acting like it.  After the rush and work and stress of packing the container and finishing packing for four weeks on the road and who-knows-how-long without our container (3-4 months or more?) and the high emotions of saying goodbye, unwinding doesn’t come easy.   But…take a deep breath… we are on vacation… (or something like that…when we are sleeping in 11 different places in 30 days…hmmm… J)

By God’s grace, we jumped in over our heads…and by God’s power, he is bringing us through.  It’s a great position to be in, really…  For the last couple weeks, I went to bed every night, feeling like Gideon, begging the Lord for strength and help for tomorrow…knowing I’m completely inadequate and unable to do all that is required of me.  And yet, like with Gideon, God worked mightily in our weakness to show forth his glory.  Because of God’s grace, our last weeks in Salem were a time of thriving…not just surviving. 

In March, a friend of a friend called.  Rose Elena, who is a homeschool graduate and a wonderful organizer and babysitter, was wondering if I wanted help in those areas before she left for Mexico in July.  Help?  Oh my, yes please!!  She spent most of her days this spring, at our house!  Wow!  I didn’t even know we would need her help, but the Lord knew…and provided before I even asked!

Last week, another friend of ours spent the entire week with us.  She worked and packed and helped…we wouldn’t have gotten everything done without her: another gift the Lord gave to us, before I could even ask or think of it.

With all the business and manual labor, one would think I would have burned more calories than I took in, but no… people brought lunches, suppers and cookies and cookies and cookies.  Moving is not a good weight loss program with all these dear friends around… And paper plates, bowl, spoon, knives and forks…yup…they thought of that too.

 And starting on the Thursday before our departure, I believe we had at least 20 or more dear ones at our house wrapping, packing, sorting and folding.  My primary job the last few days was to pack only what no one else could and to direct the masses.

So thank you dear friends for praying for us!  God certainly answered our prayers above all that we could ask or think.  Please do not let up in praying for us.  We are still in need! 

::Pray for safe travels for us!  We are driving our 12 passenger van and pulling a 10 foot trailer.  So far, all is well.  I just figured out, with the help of our techno-savey cousin, how to hook a microphone to my computer and then my computer to the tape deck so that I can talk to the kids over the speakers of the van without having to YELL MY BRAINS OUT!!!  It’s great…now I really feel like we are in a bus…this time, a tourist bus…”and on the right you will see fields, fields and more fields of Alberta…”  But it really does make reading books easier…

::Continue to pray for good “good-byes.”  Saying good bye to our church family was really hard.  By God’s grace we have loved deeply (not perfectly, I’m sure…but deeply…) and now it hurts deeply…as it should… but that doesn’t make it fun.  We look forward to heaven where God will wipe away our tears and we never have to say good-bye again.  We have more “good-byes” coming…more friends and family across Canada and the US.

::Pray for health on the road.  Every year that we have made this cross country trek (three times now), we have been sick by the third week and super ready to go home by the fourth.  I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this…there is no comfort of home waiting for us after four weeks on the road…that’s when we take off for a whole new world…  Feeling like Gideon again at the thought of this and trusting the Lord to help us.

Thanks for praying for us!  Vacation pictures coming!!

Our Container is packed!

I can't believe it is done! 

We spent the day

 holding babies...

Sitting in bookshelves...

Lifting bed frames out of windows...

Writing down items as they were loaded...

Pushing and shoving and then pushing some more...

And what to do with left over furniture wrap??

Wrap the kids of course!!

 Lots of them!!

(And then organize races for them, watch them jump around the yard, and laugh hysterically as you make them lie down, then wriggle around like inch worms trying unsuccessfully to get up...cruel...I know! :)

Praising the Lord for an amazing day!!

Our Container is Here!!!!

Two days to pack!! 

Updates and Prayer Requests

Things are going really well around here, but very, very busy!  School is, much to my children's dismay, in order to keep mom sane, mostly done for the year.  We only have 5 weeks left in Salem!!  (Our container arrives June 15...did you see the counters on my side bar?) Yikes!

• Packing has begun and is in full force!  We have a space marked off in our garage that is the same size as our container and boxes are being filled, labeled for customs and stacked in that space.
• We are praising the Lord that we probably found a vehicle for our family and that it is already in Uganda--that means no huge import fees!  We are now praying that all of the final details will be worked out in a great way.
• We are also praising the Lord for providing for us our first missionary associate, Tessa!! Tessa spent a week with us in March and after her application process with the OPC missions committee was finalized, we were able to welcome her aboard our team officially.  Lord willing she will fly out with us in July and spend the following 5 months helping me in a HUGE way with the kids.  We are so thankful for the ministry that she will be providing for our family.  We are also praying that the Lord would provide for her financial needs.  She needs to raise support to cover the cost of her travel expenses, etc.

• We just posted our new address under the contact us section of our blog.  Did you catch the hint?  Care packages: welcome.  (Shameless, I know...) :)
• Please continue to pray for us as we wrap things up here.  Saying good-bye hurts.  There is no way around that.  We feel the hurt as we think about what we want to do "one more time" and squeezing in final visits with friends.  Our farewell dinner with the church is May 30.  Pray that this will be a good time of closure for us and our church body.  Pray also that Eric will continue his ministry here with zeal and wisdom until his last day.
• Pray for physical stamina.  My daily to-do lists tends to outlast my my physical strength these days.  Pray that the infinite God will be glorified in my finite self by allowing me to get done everything that HE wants me to in a day.
• Please pray that our house will sell for what we need out of it in God's good time.  Aside from a really bad scam artist trying to make a fraudulent offer (thanks to my husband for googling his name only to find out that he was freshly out of prison having served time for fraud and to our good police man-friend who looked up his record and subsequently contacted the FBI to add our complaint to Mr. Scam-Artist's growing list of evidence that will most likely be used soon to throw him back in prison) we have had no real offers.
• Please pray for our older children who will be meeting with the elders of our new church this coming Sunday, to, Lord willing, profess their personal faith in Christ.  This is a wonderful time in their lives and we are praying that the Lord will bless their child-like faith.

Thank you so much for praying for us!!  We really appreciate it! :) 

Installation into the Orthodox Presbyterian Church

We just arrived home from a wonderful time in Washington attending Eric's installation service into the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC).

Many of you know that currently Eric serves as pastor in the United Reformed Churches of North America (URCNA), but we are serving in Uganda as part of the OPC.  Typically, if a pastor were to switch his credentials into the OPC, his installation would be at his local church, but because Eric isn't being called to a particular congregation, but rather to Uganda, his installation service was held at the meeting of presbytery (the gathering of leaders from OPC churches throughout the greater Northwest area).  So in addition to the installation service, we also sat in on the meetings, which I could give a wife-ly commentary on, but I'll refrain...

Pastor and good friend, Dan McManigal, gave a very challenging and encouraging message from I Thessalonians 2. 





Rev. Dan McManigal of Grace Church

Rev. Calvin Malcor asked the questions of installation.

Rev. Calvin Malcor and Eric

Mr. Mark Bube, General Secretary of the Committee on Foreign Missions for the OPC, gave the charge.  Once again, we felt our utter helplessness to do this on our own strength and our utter dependence upon God.

Mr. Mark Bube

These two men, Rev. David Thoman on the left and Rev. Dan McManigal on the right have been a constant source of encouragement to Eric in recent years.  Rev. Thoman is the assistant pastor of our current church and is in the trenches, planting a new congregation: Redeemer Reformed.  Rev. McManigal planted another daughter church of our current congregation a few years ago (Grace Church) and has seen the Lord pour out abundant blessing on that congregation.  The six of us have enjoyed quite a few triple dates in the past few years and the fellowship and encouragement from these men has sustained us and edified us.  These men are lovers of God, warriors of the cross and and men of courage...we count ourselves blessed to have walked with them these past years.  Dan McManigal is also moving on as he and his family are moving to another city to obtain adequate education for their sweet boy who struggles with his hearing.  So our prayers are with them both: Dan as he seeks what God would have him to do next, and David as he continues to fight the good fight here.  We are also praying for God to richly bless our current congregation with a new pastor who will be an even greater blessing here than Eric has been.  

David, Eric and Dan

This week has also been exciting as we have purchased our plane tickets and packed our first boxes.  We praise the Lord for his grace.  Please continue to pray for us as we are in great need of God's continued grace and strength.

It seems...

...that my life is a pile of post-it notes these days...

We have no idea...

Last night we visited with some dear friends that just brought home two little ones from China.  As I sat at their table, next to me sat their new daughter-- two years old, engrossed in her bowl of food and shoveling, with no desire to think about anything else.  And my mind immediately flashed back to our own dear Matthew--newly adopted and freshly introduced to the experience of sitting down to a full plate of food.  If you've adopted a formally malnourished child, you know what I am talking about-- you know the zone that they slip into at every meal time.  The way they stare at their plate, shovel their food as fast as they can--nervously watching everyone else get scooped up-- constantly watching the serving dishes, asking for seconds, thirds, fourths and getting angry when you cut them off.  You know how they hover in the kitchen, sometimes almost burning themselves on the stove because they are trying to get as close as they can to their comfort.  Some of you know what it is like to see a child throw up because they are eating too much, too fast.  Some of you have found food under their pillows, in their toy boxes, in their drawers.

And you know that it doesn't stop after one year...

or two...

or five...

Today we still had to direct Matthew away from the food table at our church fellowship meal when we noticed him hovering, watching, calculating.

Hunger is like that.  Years after you are no longer hungry, the fear remains.  The fear that a full tummy won't be there tomorrow.  It runs deep--long after they have forgotten their place of birth or any details of those first days home, or any arms besides yours..

..the fear remains...

And we-- who have grown up with packed refrigerators, crammed pantries and left-overs thrown out-- have no idea what that fear is like. 

I choose to diet, I choose to let myself be hungry at times-- and I don't like it.  I often think of Matthew's bio-sisters at those times... but really I still have no idea what it is like to be them.  If I change my mind at three in the morning...cookies are waiting for me in the cupboard.  But I have no idea what it is like to not be able to change my mind.

Eric and I are in emotional turmoil at times.  We have seen first hand what hunger does to a person...namely our son.  But as we prepare for Uganda, we read books like When Helping Hurts which insists, out of a true desire to help the poor, that there are times when it is completely appropriate to withhold food, medical treatment, clothing, basic necessities so that the African people learn to be self-sustaining.  And I read the commandments of Christ in the gospels which say, "give to him who asks" or "if he wants one coat, give him two..." or "give expecting nothing in return..."  And I wonder, where do these things meet?  Is expecting and encouraging Africans to cultivate a self-sustaining economy asking too much of them?  Are we forgetting that they are dust--that their fears of starvation are real even when their bellies are full?

It's only Christ that will help our Matthew become satisfied.  He must find his satisfaction in Christ first.  He must learn that Christ is the bread of life--only then will he rest in Him to provide his daily bread.

Sometimes, I am gentle in my redirection.  I tenderly put my arm around him, pull him away from the stove and remind him that God will give him supper tonight and give him a snitch of food to remind his body of what is coming.  But often I'm in a hurry and I don't take the time necessary for dust and I over-react... I expect too much of him, too soon.  Instead of remembering that he is dust, how many times have I "laid down the law" in this house? I say with a sigh..."Matthew, you know we are about to eat; no I'm not giving you any right now."  I insist that because my standard is ideal (having a child that doesn't hover or become pre-occupied with food), Matthew must meet it now.  I demand speed sanctification in him and in the mean time, I refuse him that third portion that will cause his earthly fears to subside.

We need wisdom dear friends.  We need for God to show us how to love our African brothers and sisters.  We need to know how to remember that, like us, they also are dust and how to encourage them to grow without requiring speed sanctification.  And we need to know how to do this when the financial difference between us and them is profound.

It is hard.  And it is what God has called us to...

...therefore it is good...

Kinda like adopting and raising a certain very precious boy...

Hard and Good...

Please pray for us.

Work Day

Lately, most of my days start with that stomach deep feeling that I am totally in over my head.  8 kids, homeschooling and moving to Uganda?! --Oh, and let's just throw in a few weeks in Colorado doing missionary training just for fun...  Am I crazy to think that this can actually be accomplished?  Then after a time of prayer, God reminds me...

In my own strength...absolutely...

By God's power... "I can do all things"...even make it to Uganda without loosing my sanity...

Today, was a great day of seeing God work.  Our house needs quite a bit of work to make it ready to put on the market.  Today, God brought together a combined effort of 70 working hours through our very special friends being willing to spend a day with us.  In addition, other friends took our kids for the day.  (And survived...despite a trip to the store to stock up on diapers and formula because I forgot to leave the diaper bag with them...oops!)  Way more got done than I ever thought possible in one day.  I am so thankful to be the humble recipient of all this grace.

 And the great-extra-bonus-thing about a day like this?  We had so.much.fun together!  What a great memory this will be...

Even the little one had fun hanging out on her mamma's back...chewing on the straps...

And our piano went to its new home where it will be enjoyed by some friends of ours until we need it again.  We replaced it with a Uganda-friendly electric piano, which the kids absolutely love because it makes so many fun noises... 

...and I absolutely love because it has earphones...just sayin'...

And the piano guys only got, a-hem, a *little* bit of paint on them...oops, again...sorry guys!

Making Plans

There is so much to do to get ready to move!  My list is a mile and a half long these days. 

In addition I am trying to still squeeze in school--four more weeks before we leave for training and hopefully 10 weeks after training.  Here's to hoping that's enough time to get our book work done. :)

We have decided to pack up our house and take a shipping container.  So we are in the process of picking through our house:  trying to decide what to do with things we know we don't want to take. We are throwing away a lot of junk and trying to decide what to do with the other things.  We are selling some things and preparing some things for storage.  We are also looking at what we need to buy to take with us.  All of this takes so much time!  Especially when, I generally just have an hour every day to devote to it! 

We are also preparing our house to sell it.  There is so much painting to do--everything 4 feet and down needs a new coat plus a few other places.  There is a lot of small fixing to do-- you know--all those things that you think "one day I'll get around to it" and you just never do until it's time to sell.  Again...lots of time needed...not much time to be had...  We feel like we are trying to move a mountain with a plastic spoon.  We hope to have our house on the market by the end of January: a true act of God is needed on this .24 acre piece of earth we call home... 

In February we are planning, Lord willing, to go to Colorado for missionary training.  We will be gone for five weeks.  The training institute has classes for Eric and I in culture adaptation and language acquisition.  They also have classes for the kids in these same areas, in order to prepare them.  We are looking forward to this time of preparation. 

And speaking of time lines, we are looking at packing our container mid-June, making a whirl-wind final tour across the country, and then leaving for Uganda mid-July.

We are also still working on getting a missionary associate-- a young woman to live with us in Uganda and help us out.  We have a few people interested and are praying for wisdom for them and us and for God to provide us the perfect fit in this area.

Despite all this we are still trying to live where God has placed us.  I am trying to not get so swallowed up in details that I neglect the children.  We are also working at finishing well at IRC-- our current church--continuing to work hard and love fully, until the very end.  This is where transitions can be hard, right?  So easy to focus on things and leave the people behind.  And that is so not worth it.  Daily note to self--souls first, things second...God will provide for things when we continue to fish for people (our kids included).

And I am so excited to see how God will provide.  I'm so excited to see how this story will turn out...the great stories we will be able to tell--stories only able to be written by the marvelous hand of God.  That to me, is the best part of living beyond myself: the opportunity it provides to proclaim the greatness of God.  Don't worry--you'll hear it...that's why we started this new blog. :)