This is My life

Happy 4th of July!

Ten years ago began my happily ever after. 

Ten years ago today Jason put his arm around me for the first time and I knew it would be forever.

For ten years I have been able to call him "mine"...I couldn't be more blessed.

Happy "dating" anniversary to us!


(photo April 2007)

I almost forgot...

In the midst of having trouble posting those videos yesterday, I forgot to replace the end of my post.  So here it is again!

In case you were wondering, there WILL be a July Grab bag this month.  Due to the holiday weekend, it will be available July 7-11.  My creative team just got the goodies last night (well, that would be two nights ago now) and I am excited to do some of my own scrapping with it!

I'm here, I'm here...

I haven't forgotten you dear blog!

This week has been more of the same -- classes, discussions, etc all day long.  Such GOOD stuff to hear, learn, remember, anticipate.  I am so excited to be moving back to Asia and at the same time, becoming more aware of some issues I will face and some things I need to deal with.  I am learning and growing -- and that is a good thing.

One of my favorite parts of this whole thing is being around other people who have lived overseas, who are going overseas, and who understand it (even if none of us can explain it).  I love hearing the stories of people's experiences in different cultures -- the good and the bad.  It just gets me excited and motivated and happy that one day I will stand together with people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. Hopefully I won't look quite as silly as this guy ;)

And hopefully the heavenly transportation system won't be quite as bad as Japan (the video says China but it actuality it is Japan)

Sneak Peek...

Happy Sunday to everyone.  We have the morning off today for which we are SO THANKFUL.  It is been a crazy busy week, but totally worth it.  It has been so good to be around almost 200 other people who are moving overseas, who understand why we are doing it, and understand the excitement and fears we have.  The information has been great and the friendship has been sweet.  Looking forward to another week of it.

On Thursday we met up with Shari Barnes, a Memphis area photographer to take some family pictures for us.  Here is one of the sneak peaks she posted.  There are more on her blog.  If you are ever in the Memphis/Jackson area, be sure to look her up!  Thanks again, Shari...can't wait to see the rest!





 

Just saying hi...

Just popping in real quick during a lunch break.  Life is good, just really busy.  We are literally going from dragging ourselves out of bed at 6:00 and going non-stop until we fall down on the bed, asleep before we hit the pillow.  But the time and content is good -- learning lots and getting really excited.  It might be Sunday before I can get on again.  Yep, that's right...my computer has been staying off.  Crazy, I know :)

PFO days 1 and 2

The boys right before leaving Orlando...(this picture has nothing to do with this post, just didn't want to have a pictureless day :)



So...we are busy here in Southhaven, Mississippi at Pre-Field Orientation (PFO).  It is a twelve day program to help prepare us (and almost 200 others) for going overseas.  NICS, the organization that we are with, runs ore than 20 schools around the world.  All of the newly hired teachers along with some "seasoned" staff are together to talk about issues such as cultural transitions, personality types, third culture kids, and other similar topics.  We spend more of our day in classes and small groups.  Our kids have their own age-appropriate classes that involve lots of playing and some of their own getting-ready-to-transition type activities. 

It has been really goo so far.  I wish I weren't so tired so that I could take in more of it, but I don't think that there is any way around that.  It might just have to do with the fact that when I am at home I don't get to sit down for more than about three minutes at at time and so my body thinks that if my three minutes are up it MUST be nighttime :)

I won't delve too much into what we are going through (for fear of totally boring you).  But I might highlight certain things every few days.

Today we spent quite a bit of time on the Myers Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI).  I am sure that many of you have done it.  I haven't taken it since college...I was fascinated with it then and I am equally fascinated now.  My scores changed a bit, but I am still pretty true to my INFJ self (me and the rest of the 2.58% of the population who share this type):

INFJ: Seek meaning and connection in ideas, relationships, and material possessions. Want to understand what motivates people and are insightful about others. Conscientious and committed to their firm values. Develop a clear vision about how best to serve the common good. Organized and decisive in implementing their vision.

I love looking at and trying to understand the differences in people.  When we stop looking at people with a "right" and "wrong" outlook, we start to grasp how God truly made us all unique and all dependent on one another.  We can't all be the same....that was not God's design.  1 Corinthians 12 is so clear:

 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

What really struck me today is how much time Christians spend trying to get others to be like we are...to do things like we do...to think and see like we do.  I felt that very keenly this past year in Orlando -- we had staff that couldn't embrace or appreciate anyone who was different.  They wanted it all done JUST LIKE THEY WOULD DO. They didn't see differences as something beautiful that could be a blessing.  Instead, they saw it as a reason to complain, rebuke, and condescend.  Christian ministries can't work like that -- God will place different people gifted in different areas.  No one person (or couple) can do it all on their own...we need other people.  God created the Body for a reason -- He had no intention of the "hands" and "feet" to do it all.  It takes every person, working to the best of THEIR ability in the role that God gave THEM for there to be harmony. 

Such a good reminder.  I'm a tiny part of the Body but I have my role.  If I don't funtion the way I am supposed to then the whole Body suffers.  You have a part too...are you functioning as you shoud?  Do you see yourself as vital to God's plan?  Do you see others as important and necessary and beneficial.  Are you trying to do it all on your own?  Do you condem those with different methods?  Are you seeking your own glory or the glory of God?  Big questions on my heart tonight...

Paradise Found...

Okay, well, maybe this isn't paradise but it is the closest I have felt in a long time.  Here it is, only 7:40 in the morning, and I have NOTHING that I have to do until 4:00 pm.  And, to top it all off, I have wireless Internet. Can't get much better than that :)

But let me back up a tad...

Friday morning was kind of crazy.  Jason NEEDED to get out of town fairly early so that he would be sure to make it through the Atlanta traffic and be at the shipping warehouse by five.  There was still quite a bit to do and we scurried around.  Thankfully, many of the staff came over and helped out....taking Alaina to VBS, hauling trash, helping Jason load, etc.  Once Jason was gone the stress was down a bit since I didn't have any real time schedule.  I was hoping to be done by 11:30 so I could pick Alaina up at VBS and leave straight from there, but if it didn't happen, it was no big deal.  But it DID happen, even with 20 minutes to spare, totally thanks to my friend Erika who is much better at telling people what to do than I am ;)  I was so tired that I could barely speak or think..but Erika came in, could focus on what needed to be done, and gave people that were willing to help jobs.  It was great.  I was also very thankful that I had done a lot of the deep cleaning last weekend -- cleaning out the fridge, wiping out cabinets, etc.  We finished , we got out, and it was good to go.  Thanks, Erika, for everything. 

Caleb had driven in the truck with Jason so I had the other three kids.  I decided that for their sake I would only drive half way to Atlanta.  So we just drove for a few hours and then stopped at a hotel for the night...went swimming, watched TV, and relaxed. 

On Saturday we drove the rest of the way to Atlanta to meet up with Jason and Caleb.  We played at the hotel, went swimming, went to a park, ordered pizza, and just tried to enjoy each other.  It has been so long since we have been able to just hang out with the kids without having to say, "okay, but just for a minute."  You know it is bad when your four year old walks into a room and before he tells me what he wants to do he just asks, "Mom, are you busy again?" Poor kid!

(***note*** I have not calibrated my laptop so these colors look a little wonky, but I'll just leave it for now)

Yesterday (after a tragic death of our bike rack and a three-store scurry to replace it) we drove through Alabama and Mississippi to end up in Southhaven Mississippi (right near Memphis, Tennessee).  During our two weeks of orientation and training we will be staying with a family. The kids are in kiddie heaven -- more toys than they have ever seen, a trampoline in the back, and a little puppy that will be sure to hate kids after these two weeks! LOL!  Seriously, it is just such a blessing to have space and time and time to be together.  Right now Caleb is busy playing doctor on Jason and is, "giving him his meds" and giving him shots in his mouth :)

Things don't start up until this afternoon so I hope that this morning we can relax some and then run some errands.  Should be a good day!

This picture totally cracks me up...

HOW MANY PHILLIPS DOES IT TAKE TO PUSH A STROLLER??

And just because he is so cute, here are some pictures of Levi last week. A big group came to the Ranch where we worked and had big blow up toys and a snowcone machine.  He wanted nothing to do with the big water slide but the snow cones, well, what do you think?

Four days short...

It's only six am (I woke up at five), my coffee is hot (though not in one of *my* mugs, but I will have to get over that), and I am sitting here in a quiet house thinking about the last year.  We are just four days short of an entire year here in Orlando.  We moved 362 days ago and thought that we would be here for a while. But when you open yourself up to God's plans, when you tell him (and mean it!) that you are willing to go where He wants you to go and do what He wants you to do and that you will concern yourself much more with what God thinks of you than what people think of you...well, then, sometimes God just comes in and does the unexpected.  It's a good thing.

The last year has been very good for me. So much has happened, so much has changed.  There was a lot of good (Scrapbooker of the Year, the growth in our dorm boys, Disney, both Jason and I being home with the kids all day, living in community, welcoming little Katie into our lives, etc.) and there was a lot of hard (struggles with our dorm boys, "morning" sickness for 22 weeks, balancing family and work, dealing with staff who care more about a need for power and control than about peoples hearts, differing parenting philosophies among staff, learning to be true to who I am and who God made me while at the same time trying to set aside my needs and desires so that others can be blessed, etc. etc. etc.)  But as it is said in the book of Job, "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?"

Our God is a good God.  He blesses us with so much.  He also allows us to undergo trials because He wants to see us grow and mature.  He wants to perfect the good work that He began in us. He brings trials and struggles and joy and gladness all for the same purpose -- so that we can bring glory to Him.  It isn't about US.  It is about HIM.  It always has been and it always will be.

So in the good, and in the bad, BLESSED BE YOUR NAME

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful 
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out 
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering 
Though there's pain in the offering 
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out 
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

***********

My heart is full -- of wonder, amazement, excitement, joy, and anticipation. The next few weeks (and months) 
are going to be exciting an full of much emotion. I can't wait to share it all here!



The plan is still for us to drive to Atlanta today (Jason and Caleb in the truck with our shipment and me and the 
other three kids in the car). I'm really, really tired so we'll see how it goes. If I have to stop for the night I will. 
Monday starts two weeks of orientation and then it is on to a few weeks of family time. Glorious.

Have a great weekend. I don't know what my internet usage or time will look like next week. But I will pop in 
when I can and share a bit. 

Fast Forward...

We found out yesterday that we can skip taking our stuff down to Miami and go just one hour out of our way and drop it off in Atlanta instead.  GREAT news (especially for Jason who was going to have to drive ti Miami and back!)  The downside is that the Atlanta shipping place doesn't have Saturday hours so we have to leave on Friday.  Yep, as in TOMORROW.  And our boys are here until 8:00 pm tonight.  Can I tell you how crazy it is?  It WILL get done and I WILL get to start enjoying my family again. 

I might pop in tonight or tomorrow, but no promises.  Here's to my last day in Orlando...

A Little Creative Break...

All this packing and working and not sleeping is getting to me.  I NEED to do something creative, something that has nothing to do with packing tape and shipping lists.  I bought a few kits to scrap with this past weekend but of course, there has been no time to use them.  I haven't really been able to get the camera out (other than to take more photos for Craigslist).  I haven't had time to color with the kids or design new templates.  And it is killing me.

So it was a welcome break from the packing chaos to take some pictures for some friends.  We have talked about doing it for months, but things just never worked out.  In my desperation for a creative outlet I convinced them that I did have time to stop the sorting and cleaning long enough to take a few photos for their family.  I am SO CONVINCED that families NEED pictures of themselves (you know, where BOTH parents are a part of the process).  This is why my family is getting photos done next week.  I have no pictures of me when I was a little kid with my parents.  That is sad.  So when I find a family that is willing, I get excited.  I am not professional, but at least I can help some families get some photos that they would not otherwise have.

It took a few days but I finally took the time last night to edit some.  Although I tend towards loving color photos, the black and white seemed to make me happy last night.  But I'll throw in a few color ones too ;)  Here are a few of my favs.


















Now, where was that packing tape???