Saturday, March 28, 2009

Com. Service

The Com. service this past Wed. was beautiful and very moving. It was very hard to say goodbye to people that night as well as when the rest of us left Thursday morning. I can't believe we are all official and on our way. We are still waiting for our visas and will probably be leaving for overseas in about 2 1/2 weeks.

Thanks again for the continued prayers on our behalf, we need them desperately, please pray for the upcoming transitions as we say more goodbye's and begin to "step out of the boat." Goodbyes have been hard on the kids, they made great friends in RVA and were very sad to leave them and their teachers, this is the not-so-fun part of their new life. Lastly but certainly not least, our sp. warfare classes have been coming in handy, unfortunately I have had several chances to apply the teaching as I feel the enemy has let me know the battle is on. Lots of strife and discord in the lives of loved ones, things that could distract or discourage, please pray that all will be resolved in a way that brings glory to the CEO.

Last Weeks Update

Well, a lot has happened since I last blogged. We were asked to speak at a church's RA/GA program a week ago and that was fun. But we picked four songs they had never heard of to sing with them, oops! We took "our" j-man and another one we "adopted" and shared about our countries and our lives with them. Each of my kids spoke as well, which was a great experience for them.

A week ago Thursday we were in DC for our ev. trip. Our assignmnet included a list of things to do or observe, one was to ride the subway, which the kids loved! We visited Macchiato's embassy and got a tour and also met the Vice Ambassador. We also ate at a restaurant that served authentic Macchiato food. We ordered four dishes to share as a family, two we loved, one was not bad and the last one....well, we're not used to it yet! And the crazy thing was everyone of the waiters were from that country and were followers of the Son! I thought it was a little gift from the CEO to let us know that He is already at work, and we get to join Him.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

The Countdown Begins...10..9....

I can't believe it, a week and a half left! Everyone here is SO tired and have kind of a "senioritus" (sp? is that even a word?)feeling. We are all ready to move on to the next phase, and yet in a way a bit apprehensive at all the changes we are about to face. RLT week went great and so did our Exit Interview. He was very positive and encouraging (I can't say those words together without thinking of "KLOVE"!) Anyway, we have an Exit Paper due on Monday and we will take a ev. trip to D.C. on Thursday where we are to ride the subway, eat at a restaurant from our country and I think we are also going to visit our host country's embassy.

By the way I have decided to call our country "Macchiato" so that I can easily refer to it. I thought that would be fun since it is known for it's coffee. Then when I get there I will assign coffee names to individuals that we work with so that you will be able to keep up with what is going on there. Who knows, maybe it will help you when you order at Starbuck's next time! :)

Marshall's class went to see several different places of worship and got to attend a service at a mosq. Afterwards they were given the chance to ask the Ima. questions, of which apparently he asked alot! Go Marshall!! He said he found it very sad and he felt like crying, I told him to remember that feeling, there is a reason we are going to the other side of the globe......

Please continue to pray for us and also remember a lady here who lost her baby at 20weeks and another older woman who is blind in one eye and then had to have emergency surgery because the retina detached in the other. Obedience to the CEO doesn't always protect us, but it does mean that He is always there with us in the midst of the muddy waters. Also one of our j-men had to fly out for a few days as his grandfather is about to pass. Lots going on here as I know there is in your own lives, know that we are praying for you all back home as well.

There is a Comm. service on March 25th, and special things are planned through out that day, if you can make it, you are invited! Just email me or leave a comment and I can give you the info.

Monday, March 9, 2009

SBC, FPO, RLT, ILC, OOB, MLC, RVA

They literally have an acronym for everything here! It's crazy and since I am too tired to think of a clever title I just thought I would throw some of those out at you.

We survived Contingency training but came out pretty exhausted. Much of our training centered around what the Burnham's faced in the Philippines. The book called "In the Presence of my Enemies" tells their story and is one reason why they do this for us.

It has been one week since our big snow and the last couple of days we have not even had to wear coats, it has been beautiful! I think the snow was one last "Hurrah!" from God since he knows we are leaving season's behind. We took it as a blessing and thanked Him for it.

Classes lately have been pointed to specifics on planting businesses. This week we have RLT week where we deal with our region and assignments. We have just finished giving our country report like a news broadcast. It was alot of fun and after lunch we will listen to the team from Japan.

The children had school on Saturday, since we had classes all day, and they had what they call "Airport Day". By that you might think that they took them to the airport but actually they use another building to similate an airport with both customs and immigration. They had to bring their luggage and their "passport" and were also given a certain amount of money. Older siblings were required to care for their younger siblings, sometimes even a few extra! When I ran into Marshall after lunch both he and Hudson said they were exhausted, going through the "airport" had worn them out!! They had to do everything form checking bags, ticketing, going through security and waiting to be let on the plane. One kid was joking around that he had a gun and they refused to let him on the flight(a valuable lesson I hope!). The teachers (and others) sometimes stole luggage or money and even younger siblings, they were sneaky. Campbell had her passport stolen and Marshall had to end up paying a bribe to get it back, isn't that hysterical? All water and snacks cost $5 a piece, just like a real airport :). Then they debriefed (another favorite term around here) them and told them why it was important for them to stay with their parents at all times and why the older kids should help with the younger ones, etc. I definitely think my kids will look at traveling on planes different from now on! Fortunately, Marshall didn't lose any of his sibling's and he even had one extra! We also were given a DVD that shows age appropriate situations and how to help our kids learn to handle them by obeying, staying quiet, or listening and being observant. Again, I love the training they give the kids here! Time to get back to class!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Cold Toes and Cocoa

We woke up Monday to at least a foot of snow and it was still coming down, I can't begin to tell you how beautiful the farm was!! So we decided to eat breakfast "in" and not walk all the way to the cafeteria when all of the sudden they announce over the intercom in our quad (which none of us knew was there and it completely freaked us out!)that school for the kids was canceled because none of the teachers could get here!

So that required one parent to stay home with the kids while the other went to class so Barry volunteered to stay home with the kids.(discern for yourselves his motive :)) Then our MIR's came to our rescue, because they prefer for couples to go through Contingency together, they volunteered to watch all the kids in our quad (our four, plus two). They had a great time playing in the snow all day. I think they literally drank their weight in cocoa, you can get an unlimited supply in the cafeteria and our MIR's did some "spoiling". Some j-men built an igloo on the soccer field (seriously, all four kids got in it at one time, it's great!) and they went sledding down a big hill in which someone made a ramp in the middle! But all survived and had a blast while we were uh....hmmm.... let's see what did the instructor's call it......how can I say it.... oh, yes, getting "stress inoculation". These are professionals flown in for this very purpose. All I can say is it was very intense and I was grateful to have Barry there!

I know I said I wouldn't be writing much but this is somewhat theraputic for me and hopefully not torture for you...but let's not go there! Thanks again for the prayers especially this week. I hope you all are warm, healthy and surrounded by those you love! Oh, and I haven't forgotten about the Matthew 2 comparison just no time right now.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Let it Snow...Let it Snow...Let it Snow!!

So......I haven't posted in a while. It has been busy and I have also had to deal with some other unexpected issues that arose, but we are still alive and kicking!! At this moment we have at least 6 inches of snow on the ground and it is showing no signs of stopping (Yippee!!)! I think someone said that we are suppose to get up to twelve inches, that would be so cool!

Tonight's service was the European Region and it was fun, they did it like a large house ch. style since that is the current movement in those countries. Afterwards the girls went out and had a snowball fight with j-men and j-girls while the boys played games at a friends house and then they built a humongous snowman! All in all a good day.

I probably will not have a chance to post much this next week as we will be in the middle of Contingency Training. What is that you ask? I really am not sure, it is all very secretive and hush hush. It deals with training us for hostile situations like hostage taking, kidnappings, crisis, and political uprisings. That got your attention didn't it? The reality is that our current world situation lends itself to this kind of preparedness. Our days are going to be a lot longer, the kids stay in school for an extra two hours (they are not involved in this part, thankfully!:)) So although I know nothing is really going to happen it is a little disconcerting not knowing what is coming. So that is all I will say about that because I will be sworn to secrecy myself.

Please keep praying for us we truly can feel it and depend upon it! .