The Tree

We went to pick out our Christmas tree today with Tom, Karen, Zac, Jenna, and all of our kiddos. The sun was nice, but the wind was miserable. We were not dressed warm enough. I found our tree first - it was about 20 feet from our car, but everyone (Tom, Karen, Zac, and Tim) were determined that the best tree would be over the next hill. So we hiked around a bit until everyone was completely frozen and went right back to where we started. Of course, my original first pick was taken by this time, but we found another one close by.The boys rode the train, we drank some hot chocolate and defrosted inside, and then headed home with our prize.

The boys "helped" decorate the tree. Many of the ornaments got played with before they made it to the tree, and only one broke. Tim and I subtly moved the ornaments around so that they were not all on the bottom branches. :) End result - a beautiful tree. Now, all I need is a warm cup of hot chocolate, a good book, and some sleeping kiddos....

New Calendar

I just bought a calendar for 2011. I know. I'm not very technological when it comes to my organization. Tim keeps trying to get me to switch over to phone and/or online calendars and lists. I can't do it. I love looking at it on paper.

I started looking at last year's calendar to move over all the birthdays and anniversaries on to my new one today, and realized that I didn't want to forget some things. Last year at this time, I had just announced my pregnancy to Tim's family and was packing for Atlanta. What a year this has been! I can't believe that just 6 months ago, we were in Atlanta with only 2 kids.

We had so many crazy things happen while we were in Atlanta and at one point, I started writing things down in my calendar so I wouldn't forget. We were attacked physically, financially, and spiritually...and God was always with us.

Here is what I wrote down:

Drive to Atlanta

• car wreck in van
• flat tire on 4Runner

January

• A building burns down in our apt complex first night we were there
• Our apt has more roaches than you could ever imagine. One night I cried because I went back into the kitchen after lights out to get a drink of water and killed at least 20 roaches.
• Internet guys could not figure out how to fix our wiring for 3 weeks, so we had nt internet for way too long!
• No water all day in apt and muffler stolen on 4Runner on the 25th (had to buy off market muffler for over $200)

February

• 2 flat tires on van
• New muffler leaks
• Kids sick with fevers for 3+ days
• Kitchen drawer randomly falls off
• 4Runner is hit by hit-and-run driver
• Door handle on door falls off
• No water all day on 19th
• Gas leak - no hot water or heat for 2 days. We soon discover that our furnace and wiring is outdated and shady. Lots of prayer over this for our remaining stay.
• Unknown number of socks ripped b/c of protruding carpet staples (I know, sounds silly, but it was actually quite painful and became quite an annoyance after stepping on them multiple time a day)

March

• Clogged toilet for several days
• Power out all day on the 8th
• Caleb has fevers 4+ days with ear infections
• Tim has stomach virus

April

• Water out all day
• 3 people shot in complex over drug deal
• Caleb injures leg and limps for 3 days (x-rays showed no breaks)
• Clogged toilet for 3 weeks
• Tim has terrible cold and cough for a week
• I get poison ivy all over my arms that lasts for 5 weeks (I soon discover the kids have been playing in the "ivy" that is right outside my door and I am the only one allergic to it)

May

• Toilet is finally fixed and 4 days later is clogged again.
• Power is out for 8 hours on the 3rd.
• Toilet is fixed again and is clogged 3 days later. (When I say clogged, I mean it. Joel would sometimes forget, and that was always exciting. Let's just say, it was pretty disgusting and smelly in that bathroom.) They never fix it again before we leave....but thankfully we still have one that works.
• One of Tim's ears is clogged for a week and he can't hear out of it.
• Tim has another stomach virus.

I guess a reader of this would think that nothing good happened in Atlanta (if this is the only post you have read, please go back and read about our adventures in Atlanta in my previous posts). That is not it at all. Looking back over all of this, I am amazed by God's faithfulness. He sent us to Atlanta, and He protected and blessed us. We are changed.

Something About Beans

We had a fun-filled day today. My parents flew in town late last night, so the boys happily woke them up bright and early this morning. We had a big breakfast then headed to Weston, Missouri to spend the day there. Until yesterday, we were planning to camp there overnight but then decided to nix that after seeing the forecast of a low in the 30's overnight. Didn't sound very fun when you have have 5 children 4 and under and an eight month pregnant woman (not me for once!).

Anyways, we visited the Weston Applefest and stuffed ourselves with everything but apples....bratwursts, pulled pork sandwiches, funnel cakes, chips, kettle corn....a meal of champions. We then met our friends, Tom and Bobbi with their 2 cute girls at Weston Bend State Park. We still wanted to experience the best part of camping - cooking over the fire, hiking around, and making smores. The kids had a blast despite missing their naps. We even found the teeniest frog ever.

So why is the title of this blog about beans you ask? Well, the guys made us a wood fire in the grill near the picnic site. We were making our delicious dinner over the fire, chicken with vegetable wraps and baked beans, when I hear this amazingly loud explosion. I turn around to see my father running away from the grill covered in soot and something brown. The can of beans exploded and nailed my dad in the stomach. The timing was uncanny. He was doing a close-up video of the fire and our food. Somehow the camera survived and we have it all caught on video tape. (For a large sum of money, you can order your copy of it.) After the initial panic and scare, my dad is left with a large can-shaped bruise on his stomach, and we are left with a funny memory of the exploding can of beans.

The Gym Visit...For Posterity's Sake

I went to the gym yesterday to get a swim in for the week. Going to the gym is supposed to be a nice break for me. The boys go play in the childcare and I have time doing something I enjoy. Not so yesterday...

As I was dropping Josiah off, I realized that I had forgotten his pacifier in the car. It didn't seem worth the effort of walking all the way back out there to get it, so I just left him promising I would be back quickly. As I was getting out of the shower, I was paged. Josiah was fussy and hungry. I rounded up all three boys and headed to the car. No small feat considering they unwisely put the childcare center in the very back of the gym. We pass by the locker rooms, every office, and the lobby (including the salon and cafe). This is a long, tedious process.

I get to the car and realize I had left one of the two bags I have to bring in the childcare area. Josiah is screaming so I go ahead and nurse him in the car before beginning the adventure back. I unload everyone, we somehow make it all the way back in and then Joel proceeds to throw a temper tantrum in the lobby. Now we are causing a scene.

We finally get to the childcare area, collect the missing bag and head back to the car. About 10 feet from the car, Caleb trips and busts his lip and nose. He does his breath holding thing and passes out. I am holding Josiah, so I race to the car and throw him in his carseat (no time to put on his seatbelt). When I get back to Caleb, he takes one breath and then passes out again. I wait till he wakes up and then I laid him down inside the car.

In the meantime, Joel has scared Josiah and Josiah is now screaming as well. I run back over to the other side of the car and buckle Josiah in. I can't find the wipes and blood is going everywhere. Joel has apparently been playing with them and has left them out in the backseat. They are all dried out. I find some kleenex, calm down Caleb enough to make the drive home and leave.

I was planning on going this morning to the gym again....and for some reason, I decided it was too stressful today.

Question of the Day

Joel has been running full steam ahead since we left the hospital yesterday morning. He is on oral antibiotics (the same exact stuff that he was given through the iv) for 7 days, 3 times a day. It is nasty stuff! All the redness and swelling has disappeared - he just has a small scab on his knee.

Everyone has been asking us what type of bacteria caused Joel's infection, and honestly, we never found out. The doctor was pretty confident it was either strep or staph but they could not verify which one. Joel's scrape did not have enough fluid to collect a sample and since it was not in his bloodstream (praise God!), we do not know.

I asked the doctor if there was anything I could have done to prevent the infection and he said "no." That is kind of comforting to know that I didn't do anything wrong but scary that it could happen again. For my own sake, I am keeping him in jeans until that scab is completely gone!

My parents just bought the boys a swingset that was delivered on Friday, so we ended up working on that after we got home. It is quite a job, and Joel and Caleb love "measuring" all the wood for us and getting tools for us. The instructions say that it could take anywhere from 5-24 hours to get it put together. At the rate we are going, it is going to take us at least 24 hours to get that thing done! :)

Update on Joel

Joel slept well last night and woke up his usual talkative self. He has been very patient with all the doctors and nurses. Except for crying during the 3 tries it took to get the iv in (yesterday), he has been in a good mood. He is confined to his room and anyone who has spent even 5 minutes with Joel know how challenging that can be for him...and for us. We have been alternating movies and playtime to pass the time. Luckily, he is only hooked up to the iv when he is receiving the antibiotics (every 6 hours for 30 minutes).
We just visited with the doctor and we have seen improvement already. The swelling and redness in his armpits and neck area have gone down. He still has the redness and swelling around his knee and up to his groin lymphatic system. They will re-evaluate him tomorrow morning and if there is only minimal redness right around the initial scrape, they will release him. Otherwise, it will be another day.
Because the scrape does not have a lot of fluid, they were unable to test it to see what type of infection it is. The took a blood sample to check to see if the infection was in his bloodstream. No news is good news. They will test it for 48 hours, and if it ever comes back positive, then we will have to stay on iv antibiotics for even longer. So basically, if it is not in his bloodstream, then we may never know what exactly he had. They are assuming something in the strep or staph family. Keep praying! We want to go home tomorrow!The staff here at Children's Mercy is wonderful. They have been so helpful - even bringing us a baby swing to keep Josiah in. My only complaint is that they have been meeting his needs so well that when we get home, I won't be surprised to hear Joel say "Momma, I would like eggs and pancakes for breakfast. Then I want to color and watch a movie...."
Thank you all for your prayers and notes of encouragement. We are so thankful for such a strong network of friends and family!

If you are just now hearing about this and want to know what happened, I'll do a rundown of that last day or so below:
I noticed that Joel had an inch wide scrape on his knee on Wednesday. No big deal. Thursday, I checked it again - still didn't look abnormal. I did notice that it looked like he had a pulse around it. Thought it was a little weird but thought I would just show Tim later. Over night on Thursday, Joel woke up several times. He felt a little warm but nothing too suspicious. We were all hot since the air hasn't been turning on with the cooler weather. At one point, he did say his knee hurt, but he has always been a bit of a dramatic child so I just said we would put a band-aid on it in the morning.
When I looked at it on Friday morning, it was ugly. It was definitely infected and his knee looked a little swollen. We decided to take him into the walk-in clinic at the pediatrician office. Luckily, Tim had decided to stay home since he was supposed to work today, so he could watch the younger two. By the time we got to the doctor, I noticed the redness was moving up his leg in a line. By the time the doctor looked at it, it had moved to his entire groin area and his lymph nodes were swollen. She immediately called over and had us admitted at Children's Mercy. So here we are. Not the way we were planning to spend the weekend, but I am so thankful that we have such great care. I was a wreck driving to the hospital. Anyone who has watched their children be sick knows the fear of the unknown. I am so grateful for a God who cares. A God that assures us of life and a future with Him even when nothing else goes as we plan.

Branson Laughs

We have been on a vacation this past week with our families. We spent the first part of the week in Branson with Tim's family, minus Peter and Joy who had their sweet baby girl! It was the best trip so far that we have taken with kids. Joel and Caleb are finally old enough to do some fun things...and enjoy them. They had many firsts....Silver Dollar City, tubing, fish hatchery, and Joel got to go to see the Chinese Acrobats. He was a little bored at first (he clearly did not understand the amazing feats these acrobats were doing!). At the very end of the show, he watched in awe as they walked off the stage and down the aisle. He turned to me and said "Momma, those were REAL people!!" Not sure how he missed that during the entire show, but I wonder if he would have been less bored if he had been aware that it was not a movie.

Joel also created a great memory on our boat ride. About halfway during our outing, he suddenly came to me and told me that he need to go poop. NOW. I was already starting to smell something, but I was holding a sleeping Josiah. I quickly did what any good mother would do, and said "Tim, do something now!" Tim quickly stripped off Joel's shorts and hung him over the boat and into the water. Joel was not quite comfortable with that arrangement, so we decided to have Tim and Joel swim to the shore and complete the deed there. Shoes were thrown to the shore, and everything went smoothly from there.

I was very proud that both boys tried out tubing with us. They are growing up so fast and it is fun to see how different they each are. Caleb has no fear with water...he doesn't panic when he goes under so we definitely have to keep a constant eye on him. Joel, on the other hand, has always been much more timid. He has been taking swimming lessons and will now hold his breath and go under water, but he is still very cautious and wants us very close by at all times. It took a lot of coaxing to get him on the tube. He admitted to me that he was a "little scared" but I was very proud that he tried it anyways.

We are now in Dallas visiting my parents and my sister's family for Labor Day weekend. I'm sure it will be filled with lots of swimming and spoiling. We are so blessed to have such wonderful families on both sides!

Lesson from the Kids

I was watching Joel and Caleb play this morning. From all outside appearances, they were getting along fine, and Joel was being very sweet to Caleb by giving him toys to play with. If you looked closer, though, you would have seen that Joel was giving Caleb all the toys he didn't want by making them look very exciting. Once Caleb was occupied, he would turn around and play with all the better toys. I do have to admit that it seemed like a good arrangement since Caleb doesn't seem to notice and they were (for once) not fighting....soon enough Caleb will realize he is being manipulated.

How often do we do that as adults to others? Give them just part of our time, energy, money, etc and act like it is the best we have to offer when we are really just saving the best for ourselves?

A few weeks behind....

This is my chance to write about our last week in Atlanta, our move, and our new little son, Josiah. Two kids asleep and one off for a swim with his aunt, uncle, and cousin. Peace and quiet is rare around here lately. Hopefully, I can remember all the details.

Our last week in Atlanta was filled with saying good-byes to all the friends we have made in Atlanta. Tim hung out with his Muslim friends one last time. We shared a couple of meals with our friends

Ken and Lori who made our boys some cute bags full of toys and snacks for the drive AND sent 2 frozen meals home with us to make our transition easier. We also hung out one last time with our refugee family. This was especially difficult for us. We are their

first American friends....and they are our first (of hopefully many) refugee friends that we will make. They will be moving out of Clarkston in the next couple of months

to be closer to Khaled's job which is currently over an hour drive away.

The last evening in Atlanta, we spent at a fiesta to celebrate the birthdays of 2 little ones who lived in our apartment complex. The boys loved hitting the piñatas and collecting all the candy. In fact, we are still trying to eat through all that candy...

Joel finished off the evening with a nice dive into the cement on the walk home. He still has a scar from that one!

Our last good-byes were to the other students and families of GFM. We ate breakfast all together, and they were all so generous in helping us clean the

apartment and pack our cars up. With that many people, it took no time at all! We miss everyone terribly, but our so thankful for the time we got to spend there...

Our drive back was thankfully uneventful, and we had the help of Tim's mom. Our friends from home made sure our house was clean, stocked with necessities, and ready for our return. Have I mentioned before how lucky we are?? The first week back was a whirlwind of seeing family and friends and unpacking/organizing all of our stuff. And then....we had little Josiah on June 4th. The c-section

went as planned (and when I went in that morning, I was already having contractions 2-3 min apart!) and he was perfect. I feel like I have recovered quicker with this one....thank goodness! Joel and Caleb don't really give me too much of a chance to slow down! My mom spent the first week of Josiah's life with us - helping me with the boys and keeping my house spotless :) Thank you mom!

We are so glad to be back, but the transition has been difficult in some areas. Tim especially has had a hard time transitioning from most of his day studying and discussing the Bible to working full-time again. Add to that, the responsibilities of a house and now a home with 3 little boys....Atlanta seemed quite relaxed! Caleb has also had a rough time adjusting to all the changes. He seems to be getting a little better, but he has been throwing more temper tantrums and is more sad and/or frustrated than normal. Please continue praying for us as we seek out what God has in store next for our family.

Wrapping Up

Today begins our official last week in Atlanta. The past few days have been busy...just the way I like it! :) Last Friday, I took Joel with me to visit Rasha and her kids while Tim took Caleb to visit his Muslim friends. (We are doing the split and conquer thing more often with the kids since it is getting too difficult for me to chase them both around.) After visiting with Rasha for a couple of hours, I went to pick up Tim and we ended up spending another hour or so with his friends. They immediately gave Joel a Coke....which we knew was a bad idea since this was his first one, but we chose politeness over reality. He ended up waking up multiple times that night and had some...hmmm.....stomach issues for the next couple of days.
Back to our visit. It was the first time I had met one of the guys (he is from Iraq and speaks very good English). I had a great time asking them questions, and Tim even humbled himself and changed one of Caleb's diapers. Apparently, that is not something a man would ever do in Somali or Iraqi cultures. I think we amused them quite a bit.
On Saturday morning, we met my friend Lori, her husband, and kids at the park for a bit. Then, that evening, I had a girls' night out at the Istanbul Cafe celebrating my friend Jenna's birthday. It was quite an experience - we sat on the floor, watched belly-dancing, and I consumed lots of different types of hummus dips. I wouldn't recommend this sort of entertainment for families, dates, or husbands, but it was fun nonetheless. :)
We went to church on Sunday morning at the Methodist church we have been attending. It is more traditional than we are used to, but we have really enjoyed it. The pastor's messages have been right on - we talked about what true hungering and thirsting for Him is. Sunday evening we had dinner at Lori's. It was actually the first time we have had dinner with anyone American who is not with GFM since we have been here! I am sad this friendship has only just begun and I am truly going to miss her.
I had my last doctor's appt here (hopefully!) this morning. Just one of those tedious appointments where they check your heartrate, measure you, etc. Nothing really new to report there. The boys had their last official day of school. Wednesday they have a little art show and carnival, but today was the last day to be with their teachers. They are both going to miss it so much.
And to top off the day, the GFM girls had a baby shower lunch for me! I still have not been able to eat a thing since....they are all such wonderful cooks. Thank you girls for spoiling me!
Please be keeping us in your prayers. Tim is leaving a week early from school to drive back with me and will be trying to finish his schoolwork when we get back. Packing and moving along with keeping up with the boys are all putting a strain on my body. I have been having lots of contractions and have turned into a waddling pregnant lady! I know all of us are going to have a lot of re-adjusting to do once we return to KC.

Girl Time

I hung out with Rasha by myself for the first time today. I left the boys at home napping with Tim so that I could actually just enjoy getting to know her better. Now that Khaled has a full-time job, we have had a difficult time getting together with them as families.

When I spend time with her, I always learn something new. We ask each other a lot of questions and I am relieved that she is from a similar open culture. By "open", I mean that they are not afraid to tell you what they truly think. While in Atlanta, we have been around so many other cultures that are not very direct so you never know if you are offending them or if they mean something other than what they said. I have to admit that I am not very good with those cultures.

Anyways, I really felt like we connected today. We have more in common than I would have ever thought. I have learned so much about Iraq. I had so many misperceptions....probably because I have never before had much of an interest to learn about different countries or cultures. I used to prefer to just stay in my own little bubble world. It is easier and more convenient that way. It hurts my heart to hear what others have gone through. I have always said that I refuse to read or watch the news because I don't think my heart is meant to hold all the pain in the world. Maybe that is still somewhat true, but I have found that closing my eyes to those around me is not what God intended for any of us. Don't worry friends that know me well :), I still believe most news is biased and tailored to dramatize the worst things in our society, but I have noticed a change in me. I am now interested in and pray for the things going on around in our world. Yes, it is more painful for me, but I have also missed out on some of the awesome things that God is doing around the world too. He is moving...through both the good and the bad!

Friends

After living here for 4 months....with only 4 weeks left, I FINALLY made my first Atlanta friend. I forgot how long it takes to get to know people and start up a friendship - especially as a stay-at-home mom. After running into each other multiple times while dropping off our kids at Mother's Morning Out, talking after church, and then running into each other at a park two days in a row....we made plans to hang out. It seems ironic to me now. How come it took us this long? To be honest, I think neither one of us could really remember each other's names and were embarrassed to admit it! Finally, I apologized for my lack of memory and our friendship has begun. It is just another reminder of how our pride gets in the way of so many things. I believe every friendship (no matter how short lived) has a purpose, so I am excited to see what happens.
Since I am thinking about friendships....I have also realized how often I assume everyone else is "too busy". You never know until you ask. Several times. Never take your friendships for granted and make the effort to keep in touch. It is so true that you never know how much you value something until it is not there. Thank you to all my friends and family that have called, emailed, sent me packages, and supported me over the past few months. I can't imagine my life without you!

Just a Quick Update

Earlier this week, the boys and I got back from spending a week in Texas with my family. Tim spent a lot of time with the different international folks while we were gone. Somehow not having demanding children and a wife around seems to give him some more time :). He had some really good conversations with one of his new Muslim friends. After much debating and talking through different theological issues, we are left with praying for God to open his heart before any change can happen. Tim is very excited about how open he was to their conversations, though. The other praise we have is that our Iraqi family bought a car this week and Khaled found a full-time job! Both of these will have a huge impact on their lives and acclimating to living in the U.S. They are such a wonderful family, and we are blessed to be part of their lives.

Sacred Pathways

One of things we learned in the school about is how different people get closer to God. Personally, when I learn more about the universe, science, morals, apologetics then I feel like I understand more about God. Writing and discussing things with other people does something similar for me because my second highest pathway is relational. So for me to express that I am getting closer to God, I don’t express what I am feeling necessarily, but more what I am thinking. Small groups are very important to me because I am so high in the intellectual and relational pathways, but I have to be careful not to make other people do things that are a high priority for me.

Some people feel like they get closer to God in a 10 minute conversation with a fellow Christian and some in an hour sermon. Some people get closer to God through a walk in the park and some by an intensive Greek exegesis of the scripture.

Gary Thomas writes a book called Sacred Pathways in which he expresses all of the different ways which people worship God and get closer to God. I will try to summarize briefly, but you should read the book:

o Naturalist – Gets closer to God through being in His creation
o Traditionalist – Gets close to God through ritual, knowing that they are doing same things as his father, his father and the same as Christians one 1000 years ago.
o Ascetic – Gets closer to God through Solitude, Fasting, and Suffering
o Service – Gets closer to God through service to others
o Activist – Gets closer to God through actively challenging injustice, protesting, etc
o Contemplative – Gets closer to God through meditating on God’s character, love etc.
o Intellectual – Gets closer to God through their mind, learning something new about Him
o Relationship – Gets closer to God through being around other believers, activity may not matter so much as being in community with other believers
o Sensate – Gets closer to God through feel, taste, smell, seeing, and hearing. All senses engaged. Music, incense, beauty are all important
o Enthusiast – Gets closer to God through intense worship experiences.

I am high with Intellectual, relationship, musical worship, and naturalist in that order. I am low on ascetic and contemplative. Now if everyone we know in the body of Christ is spread out between these: How can the average church service appeal to everyone? In fact you can see people you know and even whole denominations in these categories.

The concept that is expressed in this book is fairly simple, but once you get hold of it I think it could be life-changing.

Catholic and Orthodox churches seem to believe in putting their folks on the tradition or ritual paths in the congregational setting.

The discipleship path that churches sometimes put their followers on can be pretty formulaic. The classic formula of Protestant churches is usually to put people on the musical path in the large group and then put them on the contemplative and intellectual path at home in their quiet times. We are told quiet times are the way to get closer to God, but we are usually not informed of the variety of activities of which this could be composed.

So what is the point? The point is that if you find that something brings you closer to God, then you should make a plan to do more of that. Make a spiritual game-plan based on the ways that you naturally experience God, but also plan to improve on the ones you are really bad at. For me this would be contemplative and ascetic, ie solitude, fasting, praying alone etc.

Awesome Reminder

This morning, the pastor at the church we have been attending spent the entire service going in detail over Luke 22...the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus. Honestly, I have not heard a pastor speak on this in a long time. It was hard to listen to, which is why we probably often skip over the details of His death and straight to the resurrection. How much more His sacrifice means to me when I am reminded of what He went through to save us!
We had several significant breakthroughs this past week. Tim was visiting an apartment complex in Clarkston this week and started up a conversation with a Muslim man from Somalia. They ended up talking for 2 hours about this man's life, and he was very appreciative and open to the Christian faith! Tim is planning to meet with him again this week....
On Friday evening, we spent some time with Khaled and Rasha's family. We read through Luke 19 in Arabic and English together and then discussed what we learned. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of us studying the Bible together on a regular basis.
We also had an answer to prayer yesterday! We have tried several times in the last month or so to reconnect with the Hispanic family that had lived in our building. They moved to another building (I know, it doesn't sound far, but it does make a difference!). Yesterday, Tim prayed that we would hear from them or see them yesterday if God wanted us to continue to invest our time in them. After dinner last night, Tim was giving the boys a bath when we heard a knock at our door. Sure enough, it was Louis, Gladys, and their two children! This was the first time they have ever visited us! Not sure what God has planned for in our relationship with us, but it is very clear that we are to spend time with them in our remaining weeks here.
Please keep us in your prayers!

Over the Mid-way Mountain

Thank you for your prayers...this past week and weekend has been much better! In fact, this past weekend was the best we have had here yet. We spent Friday evening at the park with our Iraqi family, Saturday we spent most of the day with other GFM families, and on Sunday we had a date night. One of the things Tim and I have learned here is how crucial having a close community is for us. When we don't have that, we both seem to dry up and lose focus. We really thrive on relationships with others. Surprise, surprise! :)
We are a little over the half-way point of being here in Atlanta and have been reflecting on what we have learned and what we still have yet to learn. One thing that has been reinforced to us is that we are in a season of life that requires a lot of time spent on our children. They are God's gift to us and we have a responsibility to disciple them. At some point, we pray they will be able to fully participate in our ministry and be a ministry to others. As frustrating as it can be sometimes, our outside ministries are naturally limited for the time being.
Our gifts and passions have become more clear - Tim and I both love to teach, disciple, and bring others together. We are still thinking through ways we can use these gifts more effectively when we return to KC.
We have been convicted of our lack of evangelism to non-believers. Whether or not we have a "gift" to share the Gospel or others is not the question, God still calls each of us to share His truth. This definitely requires us getting out of our comfort zone! Please pray that we will take advantage of all the opportunities that God gives us in this area.

Honesty is Humbling

I have been avoiding updating our blog for several weeks now. To be honest, I have been really homesick and have been questioning my purpose here. I hate being negative, so I was just waiting until I felt more like my more positive self. And here I am, several weeks later, not feeling much better. Maybe it is the pregnancy hormones, maybe it is the half-way slump, maybe it is another lesson God is teaching me.
Our true selves (struggles, fears, etc) come out when we are put in uncomfortable situations, and I am not liking what is coming out in me. I think one of my biggest problems is pride - I thought I was stronger than this. I didn't want anyone to know how much I really am struggling. It is difficult for me to understand why I am so unhappy when I know God called us here. Obviously, I have relied way too much on myself and not on Him. We are to have trust and joy in Him in every situation. God never promises that our lives will be easy. We are to follow Him, no matter the cost.
I've been reading one of the class books - The Untold Story of the New Testament Church by Frank Viola. I really recommend it - it is a walk through the New Testament in chronological order. It puts Paul's letters in perspective, and I have finally realized that his "defensiveness" in many of his letters has good reason! Paul was persecuted so often for preaching the Truth, and he too, questioned his purpose and had many disappointments. We are not supposed to be strong on our own. We can't do it - only He can carry us through the difficult times. Now if I could only listen and follow my own preaching....

Biblical Basis of Missions - Tim

I have not been keeping up with this blog very well, but here is something I wrote back in the early weeks of the Mission Training School:

In the Bible, if we pay attention we see that God always intended for Israel to be a blessing to all nations. We can see the basis of missions from the very beginning and all the way through the Bible and not just the New Testament. Many times we treat Israel in a way that is untrue to scripture; we act like God loved Israel more than the other nations. This viewpoint is simply not correct and it requires ignoring hundreds of verses. Israel was chosen, but not special. God chose Israel and blessed Israel, but then he commanded Israel to be a blessing to other nations. Israel did not bless the other nations. God was forced to disperse them throughout the known world. In Diaspora, Jews again obeyed God and as a result they again became salt and light to the nations in which they lived.

We do the same thing with our faith and our blessings. We like to see the top-line blessing in the Bible, but it is easy to ignore the bottom line command to be a blessing to others.

The Biblical basis of Missions is that God is above all things; what I mean is, is that he is the only thing in the universe worthy of worship. This is not arrogant or cocky because God is not only worthy of all worship, but for Him to desire the worship or the greatest good of anything other than himself would be false. How could we worship or rely on a God who thought higher of something other than himself? What should God worship? Us. The earth. Satan. None of these are good options. The glory and worship of God is more important than all things.

Of course, it is important to note that when we say He desires His Name to be worshipped, we are synonymously also saying that he desires for all people to be happy and to live in joy. This is a result of the fact that God is love. These two statements may not seem to be the same thing, but they are. This has significantly simplified my explanation on the purpose of my life. At its most basic explanation, my purpose in life is to reflect God’s glory back to Him. It’s as simple as that.

God not only desires his Name to be proclaimed above all things, but also it is clear in the Bible that God wants His Name to proclaimed above all else, by all nations, all ethnae, or people groups. His name is not being worshipped by all nations and because of this fact we have the temporary thing called missions. “Worship is the beginning and ending of missions.” (John Piper) Missions or Evangelism is always on the heart of God and should always be on our heart as well. His purpose was clear in the Old Testament and the purpose remains the same in the New Testament.

Finally in the New Testament, we have a method or more accurately a God-man by which man can be reconciled to God and the entire point of scripture fulfilled, but the Great Commission is not a last-minute thought or just an add-on command from Jesus. Rather the Great Commission is the culmination of the entire point of the Bible: For all peoples, nations, tribes, and tongues to worship God.

Hardened Hearts

I've had a thought stuck in my head for the past few days. The other day, our Iraqi family was talking to us about Muslims and described them as having "locked minds." It is such an accurate description, and it reminds me of the Bible when people are described as having hardened hearts. Peopl with hardened hearts or locked minds are the most difficult to reach, and I think it applies to so many of us...even Christians can have hardened hearts sometimes. How often do I hear a teaching or truth about God, that I just don't want to hear so I choose to just ignore it? That is evidence of a hardened heart even if it applies to only one part of my life that I am not willing to let God change.
Thinking about this has also made me realize how thankful I am for the freedom that Christ gives us. We are allowed to question and search for the truth...for The Truth will always be found. We do not have to be scared of the unknown or conform to a rigid set of rules to guarantee our salvation. He has more grace than we could ever imagine. True acceptance of His grace makes us want to follow His teachings and reflect His love to the world. The difference is in our motives - do we do things in order to receive His salvation or do we do things because we love Him and want to glorify Him?

Learning About Iraq and More

We just got home after spending the day with our refugee family from Iraq. Tim was able to briefly meet them earlier this week, but this was my first time to meet them. We are very blessed to have been assigned to a family that can speak English and are Christian! The wife is only a year older than me, and they have 3 children - 5, 3, and 1. We took them on their first trip to Wal-mart. It is an interesting place to explain and navigate when someone has never been there! It took us quite some time....managing all our kids, answering questions, etc, and then they treated us to a delicious lunch. We couldn't quite figure out what is was, but the main dish was very similar to stuffed green peppers. Over lunch, we talked about politics which made us realize how uninformed we are here. I know our news is very biased, and it was very eye opening to hear some first hand accounts. We have much more to learn!
It has been very frustrating for me to see highly educated refugees having to start all over in our country. I understand the logistics of it, but I can not imagine how humbling it must be for them to be forced to leave their nice home, jobs, and families to start over from the bottom here in the US. For example, the wife (Rasha) of our family was a dentist, and her husband (Kahled) was a mechanical engineer. They shared with us how hard it has been to be in their tiny apartment and feel so dependent on others. I know this is not the case with all refugees, but it has opened my eyes quite a bit.
The past couple of weeks have gone by very fast for us. Tim's family came to visit us last weekend. We celebrated Joel's birthday (again! :)) and visited Ikea. The rest of our week has fallen into routine with school and regular ministries. Tim is spending an afternoon each week with the three Taiwanese students, and they seem to be bonding very well. They even gave him a sweet thank you card this week! We also spent an evening with our neighbors this week. Gladys' (the wife) brother, came over afterwards and practiced speaking with Tim. His name is Jose, and we have been really impressed with his character and desire to spend time with us.
We got a lot of snow yesterday which is very exciting for many of the people here. We took the kids out to play and helped some neighbor boys make a snowman. It has been quickly melting today!
One of the girls in the school offered to watch our boys tonight, so we are going on our first date since we got here! It was last minute so we do not have any plans yet, but time alone is a blessing in itself no matter what we do. :)
Prayer requests:
-I have had struggled with loneliness again this week. Please continue praying that I will lean on Him and meet some more women.
-Tim's mom is having her biopsy this upcoming Thursday. Please continue praying for complete healing.
-Pray that we will have an opportunity to share our faith with Jose and the Taiwanese students.

Growth

As many of you know, Joel has extra sensitivities...water on his face, a hair in his mouth, socks not on right, sticky hands...all of those can send him in a panic. Although he has improved in many areas, it still can be very frustrating for Tim and I as we parent him. This week God has clearly shown me some of the benefits of Joel's sensitivities - I have needed some encouragement and thought I should share in case any of you have children with similar issues.

First, we were out with my parents for dinner on Saturday dinner, and I had ordered the boys milk with their meal. Caleb finished off his milk in no time, but Joel finally said "This tastes yucky!" I thought he was over-reacting until my mom tasted it and realized it was completely spoiled. The boys had drank from the same container...easy-going Caleb never even noticed, but Joel did. Today, I was laying with Joel trying to get him to fall asleep for his nap when he popped up and said, "Momma, do you snell (smell) somethin? I snell fire." Even with my sensitive pregnant nose, I hadn't noticed anything. I popped out of bed and peered out the window. Sure enough, there was a lot of smoke. Thankfully, it ended up being my neighbor starting his grill, but after one of the buildings burned down in our complex our first weekend here, we have been extra cautious whenever we smell smoke. I am reminded that God has made each of us unique, and we can use our gifts as strengths or weaknesses. What I sometimes view as a weakness (or an annoyance) is actually a strength!

So after that learning moment for me, here is a quick summary of last week. Monday was kind of rough. We woke up to find that someone has sawed off the muffler on Tim's car. It was funny (Tim looked so funny driving around in such a loud car!) until we realized how much those things cost. The original muffler was around $800 to replace, so we opted for a generic...still a whopping $200. That afternoon, I had my first dr appointment here in Atlanta. So awesome! I got to see the baby move and suck it's thumb in 3D. On Tuesday, I volunteered at the Cafe and helped two women with their resumes - one from Iraq and one from China. They are so sweet and it is such a joy to help them. That evening, we got a late night call informing us that Tim's brother, Peter, had lost feeling in his foot and it was turning cold and white. He went to the emergency room, and after a few hours, his foot suddenly gained back feeling! The doctors say it was probably caused by his shoes, but we are chalking it up to a miracle. Tim spent the afternoon on Wednesday with some of his new Taiwanese friends at Georgia Tech. Thursday evening we spent with the family upstairs. They are moving to a new building this week :( so we are bummed that they won't be so close. I should mention why they are moving. They had 4 adults and 2 children living in a 2 bedroom apartment. One of the guys moved out, so they said the "don't need all that room" and are moving into a one bedroom. The parents and 2 children all sleep in the same room together. Such a reminder of how spoiled we are! Anyways, my parents flew in on Friday and spoiled us rotten. We celebrated Joel's 3rd birthday and took him to the Aquarium. On Sunday, we visited the same church as last week and my parents took Joel to Chuck E Cheese.

The focus of Tim's classes last week were on prayer. This is something Tim and I have always been weak in, and we have been learning (and seeing) a lot on the power of prayer.

Prayer requests:
-Tim's mom has found a couple of new lumps in the past few weeks. She will need a biopsy in the next couple of weeks. Please be praying for peace and a miracle of complete healing.
- We have finally been assigned a refugee family. They just moved here in January from Iraq and our believers! Please be praying that we will be a light to them and that we will build a strong relationship with them in the few short months that we will be here.

So fickle

It has been a rainy weekend here. Yesterday we had one of those days of "Why are we here again?" We just wanted to go home. We humans are so fickle. We really did have a great week, and then just one slow, dreary weekend can change our whole perspective on things. I am so thankful that God is constant even when our feelings and circumstances are not.
Here is a rundown on our week:
On Monday, Tim spent some time praying and meeting with some refugees in an apartment complex in Clarkston. He drank lots of tea with a couple of families from Nepali and Bhutan, and spent some time with a missionary who is currently living there full-time.
On Tuesday afternoon, I went to the Internet Cafe and worked mostly with a Nepali woman on her resume and computer skills. She had very little English skills but somehow we were able to communicate a little. It really made me think about how much we take our freedom for granted. Her family would rather be here in a country where they have to start completely over learning the language and customs than where they came from. At the same time, they miss their home so much but are not welcome there.
On Wednesday evening, we hung out with our neighbors again. We had just eaten dinner and did a drop by. They had just sat down for dinner, but immediately made us sit down and join them. The food was delicious - shrimp with fresh lime, homemade corn tortillas, frijoles, and a lime/cilantro salsa. In order to not offend, I did eat it all but felt miserable afterwards. Two dinners and a baby in my belly does not feel good! :) We took them one of our boy's "First Words" books and practiced English and Spanish with them. It was a lot of fun.
On Thursday, Tim hung out with some international students at the university. He hung out mostly with 3 Taiwanese guys, and they are already emailing him! .That evening we hung out with one of the other families with GFM. Joel asks to play with their son constantly (Nathan who is 4). They play really well together and we are thankful that he has an older boy to learn from.
Yesterday morning, we visited the Hong Kong Market down the street. They had a lot of interesting things that I didn't dare to buy yet. :) I did get some fresh fruits and veggies, though.
We also tried out a new church this morning. We really enjoyed it even though it is very different from our church at home. I have never been to such an internationally mixed church. It was awesome to see and a great picture of what heaven will be like as we all praise Him together.
Prayer requests:
-That we will find a church to be part of while we are here.
-That we will remain constant in our joy and reminded of why God brought us here.
-That we will start another friendship with one of our neighbors in the complex.

Quick update from Tim, since I let Sarah do too much of the blogging:

The spiritual training has been excellent. I have felt very spiritually challenged the first three weeks, more so then I have in a while. The teaching style is open ended enough not to kill my passion. The leaders do not provide air tight doctrines so much as study the Bible and talk about what it means and then we discuss application. For example, last week we talked about the various doctrines within the church body on who exactly can go to heaven and which ones we may find in the mainstream of Christianity and also which ones seem to have very little scriptural backing.

We have a different theme every week. The first week was the Biblical basis for missions, the second was death to self, and now we are on intercessory prayer. We spend much of the time on the practical, but the philosophy and theory its given its due. I have read a couple great books on hot-climate, cold climate culture differences that are very specific on how not to misunderstand other cultures.

I have had good ministry opportunities with international students, lots of refugees, and Hispanics which are 95% of our apartment complex. There a lot of ministry opportunities in this city because of extremely high refugee populations. Today I spent the afternoon drinking tea with some folks from Myramar and some others from Nepaul.

How can we be praying for people you're ministering to or for your specific area of ministry in the :		Pray that I can meet up with the two international students from GeorgiaTech this week. Pray that God will keep giving us opportunities here in our apartment complex. Pray that we will find some more ways to do ministry as a family.
How can we be praying for you personally this coming week?:		If it is possible to pray for another person to die to self, then pray that for me. I feel I try to do way too much under my own power. Pray for me to make wise decisions on ministry. Pray for continued balance of Family, Ministry, Studying, and Work.
What praise reports do you have from this past week?:		We are back in the 21st Century with Internet! The ministry opportunities that we did get this week were awesome! We are very excited about the family in our apartment building! Sarah found a good pre-school to put the kids into two days a week! We go to spend the weekend with some family in Nashville and saw my brand new niece! Roaches didn't setup a Tower of Mordor in our kitchen while were gone.

Refreshed and Ready

We have now officially begun our 3rd week in Atlanta. Internet is up, and I am feeling much more connected. The beginning of last week was pretty rough. My poor mom was probably ready to fly here and take me back with her. She tends to be the one I run (call) to in tears, and that happened almost daily last week. I know that many of you have been praying for us, and it worked! One evening last week, I finally told Tim how desperate I felt, and we are finally on the same page. I don't know why I waited so long. Pride, I guess. I wanted to be the "strong" wife. I'm not promising that my tears are over, but I am feeling much more at peace.
The boys started preschool last week and loved it! Joel has already tried some new things (ate his first potato ever) and learning how to follow lines. They have weekly chapel time and music time along with other fun activities. Having them in preschool 2 mornings a week allows me to join Tim in him classes. One afternoon a week, I am volunteering at an internet cafe in Clarkston helping refugees create resumes. I am also trying to volunteer one morning a week in an ESL class for refugee mothers and their children.
Tim is planning to work with a couple of international students and volunteer at an after school tutoring program in Clarkston. As a family, we are in the process of trying to adopt a refugee family. Our biggest ministry will probably be close to home, though. We have become friends with a Hispanic family in our building. They keep giving us toys to take home and then we take them back a few days later. I have learned that this is a great way to keep people around that you want to hang out with. :) I'll be trying it out when we get back! The husband speaks some English, but the wife does not speak one word of English so I have yet to actually communicate with her directly.
This past weekend, we went to Nashville to visit Tim's brother, his wife, Tim's sister, her husband, and their new baby. It was so refreshing to spend time with them and hold a sleeping newborn. We are so blessed that all of our immediate family member's share our faith. It makes our time together so special.
Praises:
- Time with family in Nashville!
- Every single one of my prayer requests from last week was answered!
- Boys' preschool is working out so well for both them and us!
- Internet is up!
Prayer Requests:
- Roaches and bugs continue to be a nagging problem. Seems small but it is a constant irritation.
- That we would have joy no matter the situation.
- We continue to build friendships with our neighbors and those in our complex.
- That we will be wise with our finances and live off what have been blessed with.

First Week in Atlanta

I am sitting at a Chick-fil-a taking advantage of their free WiFi and children's play area.... Our drive from Dallas to Atlanta last weekend was pretty uneventful. Weather was nice. We did get a flat tire on the way...normally a pain, but a bigger pain when your car is fully packed and you have to unpack it before reaching your tools. Other than that, kids did great. We arrived at our apartment on Jan 2nd and started getting settled in. It really didn't take long since we have only our clothes, toys, and some miscellaneous things.


Besides roaches, some trash, and other random things that have cropped up, our apartment is very spacious (2 br/2 ba) and we don't feel cramped. It helps that our furnishings are limited. Our complex is probably about 95% Hispanic and many do not speak very good English. Tim can do introductions, and I just started using Rosetta Stone to learn a few key things.


The first morning we were here, one of the buildings in our complex caught on fire. All the gas was turned off for the day and that evening the gas company came by each apartment to restart our furnaces. Several apartments in our group were not safe, and after a lot of prayer part of the group relocated to another complex.



Because of the move, classes did not start until Wednesday morning, but that gave us all some time to hang out, help each other move, and figure out how to get around the area. Atlanta is big!! I have lived in Dallas and Houston, but I feel completely lost in this city. Roads change names constantly, and there is traffic everywhere and all the time...and we are in a suburb!



Here are some things to be praying for:

-My mental health - I have had a hard time adjusting and making friends since I have the kids with me and am not part of the classes.

-We are trying to decide if it is a wise financial decision to put the boys in a mother's day out program at a local church twice a week so that I can join Tim in the classes or volunteer.

-Decisions in where we should invest our time. We visited the refugee "dumping grounds" this week - a city named Clarkston- where we have so many options for our time.

-Opportunities to meet all our neighbors and others we can build relationships with.