The Journey Begins

We gave our notice from our places of employment.    Went to church for the last time, said good-bye to a few friends there, let our neighbors know we would be gone for a bit, received many phone calls from friends far away who wanted to say good bye and who promised to pray for us and then took care of all the final tasks that needed to be done as responsible citizens.  We had been working on preparing our home and place for my father who was so willing to come and house sit for us while we will be gone.  Worked on listing out everything that we could think of that we thought he might need to know while he was at our home.  Then we began to pack.  We had bought a luggage scale so we could be as accurate as possible with the suitcases weight so we could prevent any extra charges.  Laren bought several suitcases from thrift stores to help with the journey and demand of space.  As it is we are taking several suitcases (about 4), full of donated items like medical supplies, tools, socks, books and seeds that we are taking for either the Orphanage/School or others, plus a large box with a donated Mac computer which will be a real blessing for communications that the orphanage wants to do to keep everyone up to date.  Thanks Wayne, Jim and Angela for that huge gift.  Miles was loaned a shoulder mount for a camera to go with the camera that had been given by the same people (thanks Lloyd and Lenny), to document the school, location, property, students, villagers, etc. to help tell the story of the people there.

Packing is a time consuming project when you have so many things to juggle and the whole time you have to be very aware of how much weight you have to work with.  Two of the suitcases Laren found were hard cased, weighing #16 by themselves!  Great for protection, bad for keeping under #50 weight limit. But after much shuffling, removing and repositioning we succeeded!  We didn't get everything packed before we had to leave as some stuff was at Laren's parents place in Ellensburg, WA, where we would stay on our way to Seattle.  So all of those items still need to be packed.  Today we learned that someone here in Ellensburg has gone down and purchased socks for us to take back to the children. Someone we have never met.  What a blessing this will be for the children due to the cold nights and it will assist as mosquito protecters (around the ankles and feet).  So even as this is being written we are still not done packing.

Daddy came and we had almost 2 days going over where everything was located, how to take care of the pets, where the iron was, how much to water the plants, planting directions to get the flats of seeds started in March, etc.  I was hoping we would have more time with him, but due to needing to pick up some books in Spokane on Thursday before the holiday weekend, along with some things we needed to pick up ourselves in Spokane we needed to go so we could do those things. Plus with the storms that were predicted we didn't want to get stuck so we left Thursday a bit late, but we finally got on the road  around 1:20pm after Laren had to turn around to go back for his computer.  The roads were slick until Spokane, but our truck did fine, PTL!

So we can say we are officially on our Mission Trip!!  Miles and Lexi have both been asked to teach conversational English at the school, as they know English better than the Karen teachers do.  So we are hoping to gather info on good techniques for doing that well.  So early in this New Year we will pack up (and repack) all the new items we have just received en-route or that have been shipped here to Ellensburg, before we head to the airport 2:00am on the 5th. Please go with us Lord Jesus!

Two Weeks To Go

It is hard to believe that we are actually nearing the end before we leave our cozy home, our dear pets and head off to an experience that as yet is unknown.  We've told our various places of work, our friends and neighbors and that has created a lot of curiosity and a lot of questions being asked of us.  What an opportunity to share and ask for prayer and create an interest in the work we will be doing.  What will we see?  What trials will we go through? What blessings will we add to our collection of blessings already experienced?  Are we really going for 3 months?  Are we really going for only 3 months?  Will anyone miss us when we go?  Will anyone miss us when we come home?  What will our children learn about the world?  About other people groups?  About trials?  About trusting?  About themselves? About their God?  So many unknowns, but what an exciting adventure to be going on for God, as a family, together, serving Him who is our strength and provider.

Will we be able to keep up with this Blog, be together, stay healthy, and all the many other things that will pull upon our time?  We are trusting that God will give us wisdom as we set boundaries that are fully in His will, way and time.  Thank you so much for being interested enough to read and learn about what we are experiencing and how God is leading.  Most appreciated are your prayers for this experience and how it will bless others and change us.

These next few days will be a blur of activity as we finalize all the little things that need to be done.  We are still waiting to see how God will fill our need for someone to house sit and all that that entails.  We have several possibilities, and if none of them work, Donna's father has committed to coming and staying the winter in our home for us as his part in making this experience happen.  What a blessing.  Thank you so much even if we don't end up needing you to come, Daddy. Just knowing you will, lets us move forward without concern.

All three of the children's passports came in the mail today! Now to send them off for the visa's we need.  If we are unable to get the visa's before we go it would only mean that we had to make one  extra trip to a border to renew our 30 day visa we would get at the airport.  We are hoping to not have to make a border run if we don't have to, to save time, but we are sure it would add to our experiences we will be having if we do.

We are told that we need to "Press together, press together", this allows us to hold each other up, as the saying goes, "together we stand, divided we fall".  Let us press together in these last days, as the final work is being finished, whether in foreign lands or here at home, right where we are.  Let us stand together in truth, in God's plan for each of our lives, as we listen to Him, Answering His Call!