The Ups and Ups of Stateside
Man has it been a whirlwind, this past month! At the end of June we flew to Richmond, VA to visit with Chad's parents and to attend a debriefing conference. What a gift to be able to meet with hundreds of others who know exactly what it's like to serve overseas, to count the cost and to miss things in your 'other home' at any given time! It was encouraging and inspiring, and a good opportunity to cry with new friends about my dad's cancer diagnosis. Very healing and reaffirming. Here's the song that we sang during our meetings; it's become my new battle cry! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk_HBla7C28
As soon as that was over, I flew to Dubai for a meeting. It was an amazing experience to travel without children--so easy! My team-mate Lynsi and I kept busy, since it was a working-conference for us, but it was good to meet everyone. Plus, we fit in a little bit of fun! Here is a photo of the two of us with the tallest building in the world.
When I got home from Dubai, we checked out the Botanical Gardens, the local parks, and hung out with family. Then we loaded up in the car and drove 11 hours to Ohio (it should only have taken 8, but between getting lost, and stopping often enough to keep our sanity...). There we packed in visiting with so many dear friends from our 7 years of living there--we only had 4 days, but we could have been there for 2 weeks and not spent enough time with people. Thanks to everyone who made it possible to have such a great time there: Peter and Alissa for the condo, all the meals and fellowship to everyone else. We remembered why we loved living there so much! Then onto Indiana where we met new friends. South Side Baptist Church "met" us on-line while we were in Malawi and have faithfully followed us ever since, and we finally got to meet. They were gracious to come listen to us on a Wednesday night, and to host us overnight. What great people we are privileged to meet on this crazy trip we call life! After Indiana, we headed down south to
Louisville, KY where we met up with Tim and Jill Menser, former team-mates from Malawi. It was just like old times! Then back to Richmond--1800 miles later, in time to get out to the Blue Ridge Mountains for rock climbing, peach picking in the orchards, and family photos with the Pumpelly family.
Now we have about 4 weeks left--no problem! We only have a 3-day trip to show the kids Washington DC, a week at Myrtle Beach, a week in Costa Rica for just Chad and me to celebrate 15 years of marriage...that leaves about a week to rest!
We fly back to Oregon on Aug 21st. My dad's health is remaining strong, which is a HUGE answer to prayer. We've been enjoying our time on the East Coast very much, and we're feeling affirmed that it was the right decision to make to stay here instead of heading back West early.
Stateside has been a wild ride so far, and I wouldn't call it slow-paced, but we're having fun and reconnecting and getting to share a lot about the past 4 years. God is good--ALL the time!
As soon as that was over, I flew to Dubai for a meeting. It was an amazing experience to travel without children--so easy! My team-mate Lynsi and I kept busy, since it was a working-conference for us, but it was good to meet everyone. Plus, we fit in a little bit of fun! Here is a photo of the two of us with the tallest building in the world.
When I got home from Dubai, we checked out the Botanical Gardens, the local parks, and hung out with family. Then we loaded up in the car and drove 11 hours to Ohio (it should only have taken 8, but between getting lost, and stopping often enough to keep our sanity...). There we packed in visiting with so many dear friends from our 7 years of living there--we only had 4 days, but we could have been there for 2 weeks and not spent enough time with people. Thanks to everyone who made it possible to have such a great time there: Peter and Alissa for the condo, all the meals and fellowship to everyone else. We remembered why we loved living there so much! Then onto Indiana where we met new friends. South Side Baptist Church "met" us on-line while we were in Malawi and have faithfully followed us ever since, and we finally got to meet. They were gracious to come listen to us on a Wednesday night, and to host us overnight. What great people we are privileged to meet on this crazy trip we call life! After Indiana, we headed down south to
Louisville, KY where we met up with Tim and Jill Menser, former team-mates from Malawi. It was just like old times! Then back to Richmond--1800 miles later, in time to get out to the Blue Ridge Mountains for rock climbing, peach picking in the orchards, and family photos with the Pumpelly family.Now we have about 4 weeks left--no problem! We only have a 3-day trip to show the kids Washington DC, a week at Myrtle Beach, a week in Costa Rica for just Chad and me to celebrate 15 years of marriage...that leaves about a week to rest!
We fly back to Oregon on Aug 21st. My dad's health is remaining strong, which is a HUGE answer to prayer. We've been enjoying our time on the East Coast very much, and we're feeling affirmed that it was the right decision to make to stay here instead of heading back West early.
Stateside has been a wild ride so far, and I wouldn't call it slow-paced, but we're having fun and reconnecting and getting to share a lot about the past 4 years. God is good--ALL the time!
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