5 year reflections

This memory showed up in my Facebook memories today.   Its something I have been thinking about a lot lately.  We have started to lose track of how long ago THAT year happened.  We have moved on and it is just a part of our past that some more recent friends don't even know about.  But it is still very much a part of who we are.

We have lived in Florida for over 8 years, all 3 kids were born here, after experiencing our first hurricane last year we feel we can our selves Floridians.  We have lived her for 8 straight years, except for that 1 year, technically 10 months.   That one year of Mother's Day portraits that is missing on the wall, because it was the day we left Florida. That one year that gives our life in Florida a pause.  There are the before Illinois years and there are the after Illinois years.   Before Illinois we were a picture perfect little family of 4 chasing after big plans of serving God overseas.  Perfect toddler and baby, and parents ready for adventure and sacrifice.  After the Illinois year we put down roots, bought a house, and became a special needs family, that holds loosely to our plans.

What happen during that year was painful, it shook us to the core, it made us stronger.  It grew our faith as we saw God show up.  And we saw God's faithfulness as he gave us peeks into the next chapter of our life.

God was FAITHFUL- We thought moving to our hometowns would make fundraising for the mission field easy.  What we discovered was it wasn't home anymore and it wasn't easy.  We lived on the money that was coming in for us and prayed for the rest.  We lived with cheap rent on the edge of town with one set of parents and watched God give us things we needed from furniture for our temporary house, to winter clothes for all of us as the kids had never seen snow at that point.  I realized I didn't know how to plan a birthday party in January when it was too cold to go to the park! (Thankfully God helped me out and it was 60 that day and we did go to the park!) One of my favorite stories of his provision is When he gave us a Nigerian hat!  We watched God repeatedly care about the little things in our life.

He was PREPARING us- During that year we had 2 perfect little kids so we thought.  Caleb turned 1 that year and we started watching him closely on the growth charts.  I quit nursing and we switched to formula so we knew he was getting enough, and he was almost a late walker but walked just in time no big deal.  As we reconnected with friends and met new ones I was struck that in this small town we seemed to be meeting an abnormal number of families that dealt with special needs.  Growing up I was around some peers and had compassion and helped those who were mainstreamed in my classes.  But I found it odd, those we connected with the most had extra challenges.  We had no idea that within 2 years of returning to Florida we would begin our own special journey with Caleb but also a short term journey with Andrew who was not in the picture yet.  Those friendships and conversations gave me hope that we too would have a full family life in spite of the challenges that we were facing.

God was GRACIOUS- Bob and I had both grown up close to grandparents.  And living in Florida while they all lived in Illinois meant a very different relationship for our kids.  During that year we were able to make many, many memories with all the grandparents and also 2 sets of great-grandparents.  Memories of sharing everyday moments, not just special holidays.  This meant that later when 3/4 of of the great grandparents passed away, our children, the great grandchildren had memories of their own.  And we had the memories of sharing our children with our grandparents.  Which we will have forever.

God was building MATURITY in us.  What a strange way to take us to the end ourselves.  Let us go sell everything (which we did) and go be missionaries.  But i can honestly say, its the only way he would really have us listening to him.  The missionary dream was always part of our family from the marriage proposal.  OUR 5 year goal was to start a family and go overseas to serve in support roles, we celebrated our 5th anniversary in Illinois.  If God had not killed that dream I know we would still be wondering When?  With that dream being killed we have slowly been able to refocus and really be open to God using us in our place and being committed to this place.  In the Pre-Illinois years we would tell you we are from Illinois and just here in Florida until God sends us somewhere else.  We wouldn't let ourselves buy a house or commit to any long term plans. With 6 months of being back in FLorida we both looked at each other and said "It feels funny but I feel like we should look at buying a house" Something we agreed before was not something we were interested in, we wanted to be free and not tied down, and now we needed roots.

We still get to SERVE.  Within two months of resigning from being missionaries Bob was able to return to his position at the Orlando Mobilization Center and continues to support the equipping and sending of missionaries around the world.  We have also been able to partner with several of our training classmates who did go on to serve around the world and who we get to encourage when they come back for training and visits.

God holds the master plan and we need to be patient for him to share our part with us.  I once heard it said, If you think you calling is to do what someone else is doing, its probably not your calling,  your calling is unique to you!  

Passing on Technology

Bob is now back at Orlando working in the main office. While it's nice to be back in comfortable surroundings and working with modern equipment, we still feel doubts: we wish we could be overseas, serving in the "real work". Although we know consciously that the work God has us doing here in the US is just as vital in the big picture, it doesn't feel the same (to our pride and self-image).

It's nice to get occasional reminders and encouragements of how we fit in the big picture of the hundreds of Bible translations going on around the world. One way the IT department of Wycliffe USA supports language projects is by donating laptops that are rotated out of use by the US staff. They are sent out to translation projects that request them. By US business and technology standards the computer may be old, but national translators are glad to update their ancient computers. Recently Bob's team received this note from a team in Nepal who was recently given one of the laptops.

Thanks for your prayer and support to our Project . We got the computer along with its battery and cds. It's very helpful for our work. Thank you for it. Before we had two computers but those were really really old and did not work properly. Your donation came at the perfect time and will be very useful. We start our next translation training session in just two weeks. Please remember us in our prayers and thank you for your support. 

In Him, thanks, Peter

New Neighbors, New Answers

We found our current house in an unconventional way: we looked on the missionary bulletin boards for the area. We had found our last house this way and we trusted the integrity of the community. We moved in to our house without seeing before hand; we made all the arrangements over the phone with the landlord. We had some pleasant surprises like the awesome treehouse in the backyard, and we are enjoying getting to know many of our friendly neighbors.

The couple next door works for Cru, a missions organization next-door to Wycliffe, and they were the ones who posted the listing we saw. Bob as been able to get to know them more as she has shared some rides to work. In one conversation our recent life detour came up and they also shared about their own depression and what they discovered was causing it: an auto-immune disorder called Celiac, which is an intolerance to gluten. It just so happens that it is a genetic disorder that also runs in my family, but I had never thought I suffered from it. I began doing some research and in addition to the digestive system symptoms that others in my family have had (that I never have detected), depression, fatigue and anxiety are all symptoms as Celiac effects how your intestines absorb nutrients.

I have changed my diet over the course of a few weeks, starting first with my breakfast choices and noticed an immediate change. So between some antidepressants, which I will hopefully be weaning off of in time, and a major diet change, I have energy once again to enjoy life and not just get through life.

Thanks to everyone who has been praying this is a huge breakthrough for me and looking back I can see the symptoms all the way back to college. It can be a very tricky disease to diagnose, with a biopsy being the only sure way to diagnose it. We will keep you posted as we find out more.

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The 5 year wait for a 2nd Vehicle

We purchased a second vehicle!  We have been a 1 car family for nearly all of our 5 year year marriage.  I would say that it has been a good thing.  We have been forced to communicate more, make choices and sacrifices for each other when it comes to sharing the car.  As counter culture as it is I have enjoyed the sacrifice and lifestyle of sharing our car.  Now that the kids are getting older its a bigger deal to be able to get out and explore and change our surroundings.

While we were looking at garage sales this weekend we bought a bike and trailer!  So now the kids and I have our own vehicle to travel around it and our distance to travel from home has at least doubled.  I'm looking forward to taking the kids to the nearby swimming pool and parks, out of range of a short walk but very doable with a bike.  I think our library may even be in range now!

Carpools haven't come together for Bob like they did before so having the extra vehicle has begun to seem like a bigger deal.  So praise God we got our new set of wheels for $125 dollars

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Faith Filled Friday

Lost and Found

Saturday, Bob was out and had his phone and his Nook. Somehow, (we aren't sure how) the Nook didn't make it home.  Yet Bob remembers having it when he was picked up.  We spent the afternoon looking around the house and searching the car for it, to no avail, and we went to bed assuming we would find it the next day in the house somewhere.

Sunday morning before we left for church he got an email from someone who found it, asking to meet up to return it.  We hadn't thought it was gone yet to even pray for its safe return.

Monday night he met the person at the bus station they found it at to get it back.  And we are in awe of God's goodness.  First, it was not found even in the area of town where Bob lost it, but much closer to our house.   Someone seems to have picked it up, rode a bus into town, and then themselves lost it at a bus stop further down the route. Or maybe whoever found it first didn't like the book selections on it and dumped it somewhere else.   Second, of all the people in Orlando to find it and email us, it was someone we knew from church! What a surprise to meet them at the bus stop!

Bob has his Nook back safe and sound and we are in awe.  

God is Good!



Don't forget one more day to enter our These Word Change Everything Giveaway!

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Thankful for the Words of God - Giveaway

This week we are giving away These Words Changed Everything, the story of Chamula Indians of Mexico hearing God's Words for the first time and how it radically changed their community

Enter the giveaway HERE.

The Chamula people couldn't comprend how the Ken and Elaine Jacobs, SIL translators, could devote their full attention to the translation work, and still have a means to provide for their living expenses.  When the Jacobs explained how other people in America were praying and sending them money so they could do the translation, the Chamula believers were amazed.  In gratitude upon the completion of the translation the leaders in the Chumula community  wrote a letter of thanks to the Jacobs' supporters in America.  A portion of it is quoted in the book and I share here with you.  

Because you have a goodness of Heart similar to that in the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, you felt it to be of extreme importance to send to Mexico Ken and Elaine Jacobs who were chosen by God to do the word of translating God's word for us. Now, the entire New Testament has been translated into our Chamula language, and we are able to say that we, the Chamulas of Chiapas, have in our possession and in our own language the Word of God. 

Before the coming of the Scriptures, year after year passed, and we never knew what God had to say to us. Now we Chamula Indians in large numbers are hearing God speak. We have come to know of forgiveness of our sins; we now know that God sees us well through Jesus Christ and what He has done; and we have come to know that we have new life through Jesus Christ.

Therefore, Brethren, accept our greetings and thanks as payment for what you have done for us. For, in reality, this is all we have with which to pay you. We have no silver or gold. The only thing we have to extend to you is Col a val.... 'Thank You'! (p 149)

How Grateful are you for having scripture you can easily read and study?  I know I take it for granted too often.  

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The Easy Choice

Bob started his new job at Wycliffe last week.  We want to share how God has faithfully provided this job and answered our specific prayers.  Bob applied for a dozen jobs in January while we waited to see where God wanted us.  He prayed that God would provide the job we needed, and also that God would make it clear what direction He wanted us to go now by what job He provided, and would make the choice easy. Bob also called his supervisor from Wycliffe, the job he left in April  2010 to focus on our partnership team in preparation to serve in Nigeria.  She did not know any potential openings in his old department, so we applied elsewhere.  Bob quickly got a call back from another position in Orlando and began the interview process.  These interviews provided us hope as we waited for an offer.  Bob received positive feedback and completed 4 of 5 interviews.

Then we got a call.  There was an unexpected opening in his old department. Bob applied and was quickly offered the position.  He was also still in the running for the other position. Both jobs had attractive qualities.  We were waiting to finish the interview process, when we got an email informing Bob that the other position was pursuing another candidate and not Bob.  Suddenly we had only one offer, and the decision was easy; just as Bob had prayed.

We are excited to be back at the Wycliffe USA Mobilization Center in Orlando, as we continue to support Bible Translation around the world with IT and our blogging.

Last week we got to share our passion with some friends from Carbondale.  Eboni and Kyla visited us during Spring Break.  Eboni realized how much we take having accessible scripture for granted when so many people desire it but still have to wait.

Why is the Bible important to you?

10 God Moments in 1 month

2 weeks ago I shared how God gave us a bed for Lydia before I said a word to anyone about it, that was only one of the God Moments/Miracles we have had as we transition out of support-raising missionary life to a more settled life in Orlando.  Lets review the last month:  

1. Bob's Job- By some God miracle Bob is able to go back to a very similar job to the one he had a year ago. He loved his job and can't wait to start this week. He had called his supervisor in January when our plans started changing and she didn't know of any openings, and a few weeks later called to let us know someone was going to be leaving after all. 

2.  Medication for me- We changed our plans to move overseas based on the realization that the hard time I was having adjusting was not just a difficult transition but something bigger, post-partum depression from Caleb's birth. Before we left Southern Illinois we were able to find a doctor (on the second try) who would work with us and was able to find a good medication that is helping me right now. I thank God that the first medication we tried, had a very positive effect.

3.  Finding a place to live- We decided to move back to Orlando where we feel most at home but also where a large number of homes are in foreclosure, we were able to find a great place to rent in our old neighborhood through a missionary network, and we seem to have a great landlord. 

4.  Helping driving South- Having family help us move wasn't working out and would delay our return to Orlando. Soon after Bob got the job offer I was talking with a family friend and discovered that they vacation in Florida. We also learned his work is pretty seasonal and hadn't picked up yet for the spring. He and his wife & son graciously drove our moving truck to Orlando for us. They enjoyed a day at the beach before returning home.

5.  Something to Leave Behind- When Bob left his job at Wycliffe last year I got him a cake to celebrate our leap of faith. The small group we were a part of the last 3 months we were in Illinois, surprised us with a identical size cake at our last meeting. They had no idea about the first cake, and that special group of people made leaving Illinois that much harder. 

6. Help loading the truck- We loaded our truck on Friday morning, we had a hard time finding people who were available to help us. We had 2 special families come help us in addition to Bob's family. Everyone who helped came at just the right time so we had plenty of help and were done in record time before the severe weather hit our area that day. 

7.  Weather while Traveling- We rushed to load our truck before a major storm hit our area and succeeded. The storm hit right at lunch time so we didn't waste anytime on the weather. After the storm passed it was immediately clear blue skies and we had good weather the other 2 days of the trip south!

8.  A Place to Call Home- The way timing worked out we were a little risky in not seeing our house before we moved in. I was sad because we knew it didn't have a screened porch. When we arrived, however, we were pleasantly surprised to discover it had built-in entertainment center, bookshelves, and desk and there was treehouse and swings for the kids in the backyard!

9.  Reinforcements- We arrived on a Sunday night at the same time our church has started having evening service so many of our church friends were unavailable to help us out. We knew one of Bob's co-workers was planning to come and when he arrived he brought reinforcements, his 2 teenage sons and 2 of their friends. They were a great team and we were done quickly. 

10.  A Washer & Dryer- 10 months ago when we left Orlando we sold the majority of our furniture and stuff because we had every intention of not returning before we moved overseas. We needed a washer and dryer for our new place and had no budget for one. We started looking and prayed. We mentioned it to our landlord and he remembered he had an old set in his storage garage and if we could repair the washer they were ours. One short service call later we had a working set!

And One more just for kicks:

Friday night we met one of our neighbors as they were setting up a garage sale for saturday morning.  They had a couch and a set of nightstands we were interested in.  We talked it over and planned to return on saturday to give them our answer, again not sure about the finance side of the purchase.  We didn't "need" either one and were content with our choice.  We left for the day and had some great family time.  When we returned the sale was over.  Later the neighbors came over and told us they had a successful sale, better than they expected and the 2 items we were interested in didn't sell so they wanted to give them to us, free of charge! Praise God!

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