June 17th Random Thoughts

Just some random thoughts as we travel, yet again, further north to New York. Bob and I were talking about how many things in our lives in the past few years that now we see where preparing us for this trip. It is just amazing to me…
1. We have lived in an old house that is impossible to heat without going bankrupt. We kept the temperature at around 63 degrees all winter. We will be living in a city that is very cold in the winter and the apartments are hard to heat. They warned us that is can be cold, even indoors. We were like, no problem.
2. As far as “luxuries” we had none in our old house- no dishwasher, no DVR or TiVo, only one bath with shower, and no master bath at all- only a hall bathroom. Again, they were warning us about the absence of these type things and we were like no problem.
3. We were warned about mud and dirt, how easy it is to track in and how you have to learn to take shoes off at the door always. We do this anyway and especially now that we live in the apartment at my mom and dad’s house. We have no choice- when you park, if it has rained in the last 3 days, you are in the mud. Got me and Madeline really cool rainboots; trying to get Charlotte some too.
4. Three years ago I was beginning to work with the youth again and I really wanted to help with high school age. But through Dad’s leading I ended up helping with the college age. I have never felt led to work with that age. I could definitely feel that I was being lead to serve in that area. So I have and have loved it – really, really loved it. Now, as we plan to go, I have spoken with several teachers and “others” in China who “work” with college age students. College coffee houses are a very big part of the work going on there. And I feel very excited to be a part of that area of “work”. Four years ago I would have not felt confident or able to serve in this area.
5. I fought Dad about homeschooling my boys the second half of this year. After Thanksgiving, before we even discussed moving, I felt they needed to be at home with me for a while, But I put it off until mid-January. When I did pull them out, I felt a big sense of peace in them and me. They were not stressed about school anymore and I was actually excited. It has not been a walk in the park, but I was not as worried about their school abilities as I was their hearts, attitudes, and obedience. So we have been working on school subjects 40% of the time and their “life skills” the other 60% of the time. We have made great strides in these areas- and we will continue with this aspect of homeschooling always.
6. Buying a car- I have been driving the same old van for 10 years. It is in the beginning stages of being on life-support. We started looking for a new car over a year ago. We found several we liked; we had many opportunities to buy what we wanted. But when I would sit back and “think” about it, it never felt “right”. So we kept waiting and waiting. And then, we realized this was what we were to do and we were thankful we didn’t “jump the gun” on buying a car when it definitely was not part of the plan.
The van is slowly falling apart- doors both are tearing apart, window on driver’s side will not roll down, handle on back hatch broke off, radio station nob is gone, controls on drivers door have decided to pop up, CD player quit working, DVD player we can hear but no picture, and best of all- all the seats are getting tears in the leather where it has worn thin- fixed of course with duck tape. Our car will make quite the first impression for us when we arrive at training in another hour or so. Just think “positive thoughts” that it will last til we leave for China.


We are just amazed at how things work together for our good, whether we see it or not. I am sure there are many instances like this at work in your life too. Stop and notice and you will be amazed. We are so wrapped up in our own little lives that we don’t see how it all fits together. It is a humbling experience to say Your way, not mine and mean it. But it is an amazing experience to say, Wow! That is why! I see now and thank Daddy.

June 16th 2009- Our Nation's Capital

Since we were so late getting our passports (the state messed up on that one), we had to come to Washington, DC to the Chinese Embassy to get our Visas. Trying to maneuver around an unfamiliar city is bad enough, but with times restrictions and four excited children, it is about impossible. So after a long talk with Dad, we tried to plan a major detour to our trip.
So the night before we had to leave, we had to find a place to stay. Trying to be the best stewards as possible with the money we had been entrusted with, I was on the computer at one in the morning looking for good last minute deals. I tried all the discount hotel deal companies and ended up on hotwire. After asking not to let me do something foolish, I accepted an offer on a 4 star hotel in Bethesda at $69 a night. And it ended up being The Hyatt Regency!!! So we got to stay at a wonderful, very nice hotel .
But the biggest hallelujah was that the hotel was on the same road as the embassy; that was "lined up" because there is no way that could happen by chance. Out of all of Washington, the two places we had to go were less than 4 miles apart on the same road!!!!
While in DC we rode the train in to see the mall monuments. The whole way in, on the very crowded rush hour train, I heard that song by Brandon Heath “Give Me Your Eyes” in my head. As you look around at people, you can see need in their eyes- pain, disappointment, loneliness, sadness. I tried to make eye contact with as many as possible and just offer an encouraging smile. We will be in a gigantic city with millions of millions of people, most with empty looks. It is hard to fathom the need there; hard to imagine right now how challenging a task.
We are now driving out of DC and headed to Harrisburg, PA. We have one more night before we register for training tomorrow afternoon. We are going to try to see Hershey and go to the chocolate factory before we leave out. Hey, it’s a free factory tour and I am kinda a fan of chocolate.

In a Whirlwind....

The past few weeks have been a blur- a lot to be done in a very short time. It seemed so far off, but now we leave for training in a week!! We are learning so much through this process; it seems that Dad is working more on me than I could ever help others. He is showing me my flaws and selfish tendencies every day. And through it, helping me to humbly teach my children to live for more than self.
As gifts pour in to help us, we learn to humbly accept what we need. As the house empties out, we are learning faith and contentment with very few belongs. As I turn my business over to others to run, I am learning to trust. And as we try to sell our house in a very sluggish market, we are learning patience and to wait on God’s timing.
I have so many loose ends to tie up, but I have a sense of peace doing so that I never thought possible. I usually get very tense and impatient, but right now I am so chilled out and I just know He has it all lined up perfectly so I am good. Just trusting that we are dead center in the middle of His will for us makes all the things we have to get done an adventure in “What will Dad show us next?”