Finding Faith in the Battle

Wow! They weren't kidding when they told us to "expect intense!" We're two days into an 8-week FPO and I'm exhausted. Yet it's an amazing experience at the same time...funny how often God works with that dichotomy. We're being stretched spiritually, pushed into more reflection, prayer, and focus than we've had time to do before, and being held accountable for growth at every turn. I want to cry, and then I'm deeply grateful , and then I want to rebel all in a whirlwind cycle of emotions every minute or so! We've been on this campus before, and we had awesome times visiting and sharing until all hours of the night. Of course, that was without kids. I'm finding it much more difficult with the three little ones. Anya and Ethan love their teachers and their new class-mates and are so excited to have friends again, but they're showing some signs of stress too. Not eating the food, resisting bed-time, ignoring rules, bickering. Nothing the o...

Well, for the last 8 months, we've been anxiously awaiting training, the final step before getting to the field. More than once I was sure it would never come. Then we arrived in Virginia and it seemed to actually be within our grasp. Then Isaac got sick, and at 4am in the hospital with no chance of sleep, I imagined all sorts of reasons we would be held out of this training for another 3 months. But Isaac is a trooper and he's doing great, weight holding steady and starting to climb again, cold symptoms almost totally gone. And here we are, the day before we move our things over to the facility just outside of Richmond. Classes don't actually start until Wednesday, but it feels like the day before boarding school. Tomorrow we learn where our "quad" is ( apartment -like place we'll call home for the next 8 weeks), and might even meet our house-mates! We'll have private bed-rooms and a bathroom, but shared living room with 3 other couples or families. We...

Isaac's "first cold" which started on Tuesday turned worse on Friday. His new pediatrician was able to get us in, and warned us to keep a very close eye on him, given his young age and his severe congestion. At 3am this morning we had to go to the ER because of his respiratory distress. Almost 5 hours later they discharged us with the diagnosis of RSV, a common upper respiratory infection that is notorious for causing trouble in young babies. In fact, the ER doc described it as "a cold from hell." That may, indeed, be what what we're dealing with. After all, at this point in our journey, we anticipate a step-up in spiritual warfare. What better way to distract us than with a sick baby and no sleep??? Isaac has been doing much better this afternoon, and through it all has remained so preciously sweet-spirited. We pray tonight goes well. There are no treatments for RSV other than "tincture of time," prayer, and watchful waiting. We appreciate all of...

We made it to frigid Virginia, where we're staying warm against 0 degree weather (what's with this winter???) and recovering from a trying trans-continental flight. I won't mention the airline, but I'm quite convinced they were 'United' against us the whole way! =) First, imagine trying to check in 10 50-lb bags, 3 car seats, and a stroller while also managing 5 carry- ons and the 3 kids... at the check-in kiosk where we had to do the work ourselves, then pay for each piece of luggage (despite being within our weight and bag allowance!) and then carrying them all over for x-ray screening, all while being scolded for blocking the 2-way traffic with our things. Sigh. Then we were told at the security gate that we were specially selected for "some extra attention and assistance". Great, we thought. We could use it!!! Little did we know what that really meant is we were selected for full security screening, with pat-downs, some bizarre puffer machine that...

Isaac is 4 weeks old today, a fact I can hardly believe. As a whole, we've all adjusted very well to what I feared could have been quite rough. Granted, we've only just begun a year full of changes, but so far adjusting to 3 kids has been much easier than going from 1 to 2. Some examples of our success: Isaac is already up to 10 pounds. Might we actually end up with a normal-sized kid? Nursing has finally become easy, and we haven't had to supplement with formula or use a pacifier at all. Perhaps that's why he's 10 pounds! Anya and Ethan haven't shown any sign of jealousy or frustration with their brother, despite how much of my time he takes up. Ethan insists on giving him a morning kiss, a lunch-time kiss, a "nursing-time" kiss, and on and on. We are getting enough sleep to be functional and pleasant (most of the time!), despite the fact that 8 hours of broken sleep are DEFINATELY not the same as 8 straight hours. Probably not even the same as 6 stri...