The List

We have entered the frantic zone....and we love it.

In addition to school, we  worked on "the list." This is half of the list......I find it helps to write down my mental status as well.

The kids were a huge help making White Chicken Enchiladas and "sugarless" no bake cookies to take to Desiree and family.

We took time to wonder at the honey



The next few days will be busy - and we planned it that way. The Bowers will be here tonight and Friday. The Mission Team Arielle is going to Mexico with is arriving Friday night. When they leave Saturday a.m., we'll hop in the small car and drive the three remaining kids to OR. They will stay with BreZaak, we'll get to see Nate (home from Turkmenistan), Will and Sherri and my parents. We'll come Sunday  - hopefully by afternoon and have time to pack and leave at 0500 from Sacramento for a week in Pittsburgh at the Open Bible Conference.  We haven't figured out how or when we'll get the kids BACK from OR - but we figure we can think better at Conference? 

Medals, Meals and Mommy Fail

Michael was awarded a Meritorious Service Medal today for our time in Misawa, Japan. This was earned there; between the two bases it took 2 years to actually give it to him. ::snort::   I'm just glad it arrived before retirement. It made me sad to think of Japan knowing we aren't going back next month.

Attention to Orders - Chaplain Tangen reads the Medal Citation 

 

Father Lowe (Our Wing Chaplain) presents the medal

Ch. Lowe surprised us all by taking all of us and the staff to lunch! Wow! Good food and good times. He said he felt like celebrating!

Happy to see Ed caught ALL of us chewing and not just me. LOL

Some dear friends in this staff photo

Our next stop on base was the beauty salon. When we go full time in The Caboose I may have to drive to FL to get my hair done! I miss Barbara!

Arielle needed to pick up a copy of her immunization records for New Hope. It seemed like a good time to get Stacia's very LAST immunization. We've been on  a VERY slow schedule since her childhood reaction. She won't need more until she is 11 - a year away. I asked them to check on the boys' records. MOMMY FAIL.  They are both past due.  It's the story of my life - as soon as I get them caught up - I blink - and they're behind again. They were fussing about which shots were "voluntary" and I helpfully reminded them they are ALL voluntary and let them know which ones we wanted.

The kids insisted on ice cream after the shots....and since it was Stacia's last shot I agreed to take them for shakes!

 



"More than I can handle?" You BETCHA!

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. Therefore, my heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song.                          Ps 28:7 NIV - with an assist from NASB

A quick google on "strength" and you discover there are some really stupid ways people look for strength.  The internet is filled with inane quotes on strength - I may be guilty of having repeated a few of them a time or two.  ::grin::

While this verse doesn't tell me everything about strength or joy - it gives me a strong start.  To truly experience God, I will walk through some "things" and this is ultimately good.

If it flees when life gets hard, it's not the joy of the LORD.


Bottom line:

I won't know Him as my strength if I'm never given more than *I* can handle!

I won't know Him to be my shield if I never follow Him into battle.

I won't know Him to be my help if I never trust in Him and I won't trust in Him if I can handle everything just fine myself (see #1).

Because I HAVE experienced him as my strength, shield and help, my heart can and will leap for joy...even here....because the One who has proven Himself to be my strength, my shield and my trustworthy help does not change.

Diversions and Prayer Request

The post where I share a few random thoughts from meeting with Jesus this morning, and an ongoing prayer request.

"You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Psalm  16:11

My ability to walk in joy comes not from rosy circumstances, but from remaining in His presence.

My individual path may seem frightening, dark, unsure, but the reality is  I'm 100% assured I'm on the path of life.

Life can be hard. I can choose to remain in His presence and His joy becomes my strength and stability.

As I remain in His presence I am filled with His joy and am assured of eternal pleasures which will far outweigh any emotional or physical pain this world throws at me.

Michael shared a bit of our "path" in chapel yesterday, only because we covet the prayers of the family of God as we navigate unexpected diversions.  Many know Michael has not been feeling well or "right"  for several years and has visited a zillion doctors, been prayed over by countless saints and personally knocked down heaven's gates asking for healing.  We have openly shared each new tangent....but we've learned not all can keep up, in person or on the internet, and this leaves us having to answer questions, "No, he doesn't have lupus, intestinal or bone cancer or whatever," weeks and months after we have moved from that detour to another.  It's also a soul drain as people raise questions we simply don't have answers for at this point.

Michael does not like drama. He has  decided not to share further diagnosis speculations until we follow various paths to concrete information. He has asked the same of me and the kids.  Those who know me, know how hard "keeping quiet" truly can be for an extrovert who desires to be authentic and transparent and processes life in community....Yet, I respect my man, and this is a gift I can willingly give him. Thank you to those who care and have asked and have honored our desire to "let it rest" until we know something for sure. Your gift of  unquestioning presence has been beautiful.  We began navigating the current detour on 11 May and are set to receive more info the end of June.

Here is what Michael shared at chapel yesterday.  "We appreciate your prayers as we continue to investigate medical issues. I'm not ready to share a diagnosis, but it is not cancer."

I can also share this piece of concrete info. We have been in contact with the global mission's director of our denomination. It was with heavy hearts and tears that we shared our detour and the fact that we needed to back out of our July vision trip to Japan. Life is uncertain at this point. By July, we may be in a process which would not allow travel. It is not fair to our denomination for them to split expenses with us for a vision trip knowing there is a strong possibility we won't be able to take the trip and our plans for the future have been "paused."

Life has been plain hard since May.  Pieces were falling into place so easily. We were SURE we were on God's path for us - a path to Japan. Things are murky at the moment. Yes, "We appreciate your prayers as we continue to investigate medical issues."  We also appreciate your grace as we seek to find the balance between soul-draining drama and authentic transparency. We're doing our best.

My friend Mindee walks in the spirit. She wasn't in the service and, as far as I know, isn't aware of details at all. I've been quiet - and that fact in itself is a miracle of God's grace and empowering of the Holy Spirit y'all.  She gave me this mug......

Yep, it's cute and capitalizes on the fact we are moving into a trailer....but it spoke to me in deeper ways.  God uses even secular cards and mugs to confirm His voice.

The inside rim has this  saying on it....

You can't really see details on the mug...but the trailer (YES, I DO love the paint job) has a sign on the door that says "side roads" and the print at the bottom says, "Enjoy the view along the way, life is full of exquisite diversions."

We are on a side road.

The journey to His presence on the path of life remains the same.

I can choose joy and I will see Him work in the exquisite diversion, or I can wail, moan, focus on the pot holes and barricades and sink into despair and depression.

My word of the year is "Resolve."  Here are a few of my resolves.

I resolve to choose Him.

I resolve to dwell, remain, abide in His presence.

I resolve to choose joy in the midst of life's exquisite diversions.

I resolve to follow Him with courageous joy.

Note: this post was Michael approved to be concrete facts minus the drama before it was published. ::wink::

VBS Snacks

Arielle is busy working on VBS snacks for Mexico. She was quite sure the snowman would be easier with Sharpies (a gal after my own heart) until I pointed out they couldn't EAT them if she drew buttons with Sharpies. I'm not sure what the other two snacks are.

The mission team from OR will arrive here the evening of the 12th and will use our van to go on into Mexico on the 13th.

Eudcational Gaffe

Proving that educational gaffes are not limited to the early elementary age crowd.....

While we have 195 days logged for this school year, and we gave Arielle her diploma while we were with friends and family, there are still a few loose ends I want tied up. I'm THAT kind of homeschooler. We school year round so we can go at our own pace. We worked this week and have a few more days next week to tie up loose ends. One of those loose ends was this final paper for Tapestry of Grace.

Michael was checking over the essay and called for me to read it.  I calmly read his red comments until I got to this one.....My response was a bit more animated than Michael's.....Do you see it? It's a good thing we have Michael to proof these things.

 

"The Montgomery Bus Boycott began when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a crowded butt and was arrested."  I'm quite sure that is NOT how this period of history has been taught. This was a great opportunity to point out the inadequacy of depending on spell and grammar check to do your proof checking.  ::snort::

We called the student in question....

 

Nolan enjoyed a laugh at Arielle's expense as well.

 

Thanks, Arielle, for letting us share one final school funny from your "younger years." Here's hoping you don't have too many of these in college.

 

 

Today, Michael has worked on the car and sermon prep. We worked on finishing some school threads and cleaning the house. 

Friday's Window Shopping

Arielle and I left home early this a.m. for "the chapel."  Arielle spent the day watching children during a PWOC board training. I had breakfast with the incoming women's ministry board of Beale AFB and then led a workshop on the aims/mission and history of PWOC.  Michael didn't think I could do it in the time I was given. I did. I was outside waiting for him at 1048. LOL

Meanwhile, he got the oil changed in the van, loaded up the kids, and picked me up on base.

Our next stop was Grass Valley. We had lunch at South Pine Café. I enjoyed my Thai Tofu wrap. The others seemed "ok" with their choices.

We topped off lunch with a visit to our favorite Chocolate shop.  I would like to point out that "I" did NOT get an ice cream.  I learned from Becky well and ordered one piece of yummy chocolate. ::snort::

After our dessert we headed for DeMartini's RV sales.  Our test drive of a motorhome a couple of weeks ago has pretty much convinced us we don't want a gas motorhome.  Supposedly they had a Damon Astoria on the lot (favorite from internet shopping). We have found two models which work for us in a diesel pusher. A Damon Astoria (This is NOT one we are looking at - the ones we've found are cheaper. LOL ) and a Thor Palazzo (2 bunks and a front bunk). The Damon had already sold. I have been very interested in the toy haulers and they had some Class A Toy Haulers - so we checked those out. One model had a layout which would have given everyone their own "room."  The problem was our room would have been the grand central everyone went through to get to their rooms. I loved the options to set up the "garage" as we'd like....but I wasn't happy with losing privacy...and being a gas motor home there wasn't a lot of under storage either. This wouldn't have been a big deal for weekend camping...but for full time rving I think privacy will be essential.

That left an RV that had JUST come in.  It happened to be the model we were interested in seeing - though it was 6 years newer (and thousands more $). I LOVE the interior layout and furniture of the Damon - but it would appear we'd have to get a double bunk and modify it to three. Doable?

 

This Palazzo has some nice features - lots of under carriage storage, tile floor (vs carpet which doesn't wear well), bunks.....the thing is when you start seeing all the options you have to pull back and decide what is really essential. We  live, 99% of the time, by the  Dave Ramsey 10 day rule. Impulse purchases are very rare.  One like this "got away" four months ago, they will put this on the website and lot this weekend and it may well get away too.....we just aren't sure we're ready to make the decision at this point. But it's fun to look. We asked lots of mechanical questions and raised issues we've been learning about on our RV groups. ::snort::

 

Only two bunks - but they are spacious and have two drawers under them. Each bunk has a TV option - not sure they'll be staying if we buy this model. We would add curtains for each bunk - in addition to the doors that pull shut. The top bunk can slide back and down to make a couch and there's another TV across the hall. This can also convert into a big closet - if there is a time we are RVing without children.

 The kitchen is nice. The fridge is residential. I don't like the furniture. I can live with that. The layout is not my favorite,  but it seems we won't have the lay out I like AND a front bunk. ::snort:: Through all our discussions we have decided, for us and the ages of our children, a private spot for each child IS essential. We don't want them to have to sleep on the table etc.  Again this is not a vacation.

 

This model is the only diesel pusher we've found with a pull down front bunk. I can put a curtain up from the ceiling to the top of the bunk and Nolan has said he'd be happy to stay there. Our thought was Stacia in the front but she is adamant she does not want to be by the door.  The bunk can be raised higher or lower....

I really wanted more "wall space" to personalize what I lovingly call the "Geriatric Mobile."  Nonetheless, the private spaces for the kids are essential  -  perfect layout and upholstery really aren't.

We would have an external 42 inch flat screen TV...figure I could work out outside. ::snort::  There is also a big flat screen which hangs directly over the table. The kids love it, I'm not sure I could live with it.

Yes....five flat screen televisions in 33 feet of home...I can't see this situation staying this way. ::snort:: I simply can't see going from no television to five.....

Still thinking. We have found some damage on the trailer which will cost more to repair than we were planning. The repairs involve more than we can tackle....removing the roof, replacing plywood and putting it all back.....anyway....we figure we'll make a decision in the next month. LOL No hurry, we still have 2 1/2  months until we have to know what we want to do when we grow up retire.

We found a Papa Murphy's on our way out of Grass Valley. Arielle was waiting at home and we made pizza. John Wayne is waxing eloquent in the family room. It's Friday.