Friends, Family and Joy

The past few days have been FANTASTIC......Visiting with Don and Beth is always refreshing....and this time was no different.  Friendships maintained and matured over decades can be rare. Spending Don's birthday with him  added to the fun. Don was gracious enough to talk tech things with us (teaches Cyber Security at their hometown university - we do not have a secure system)....Back in college -30 years ago give or take -  Don was the Dorm Pastor who attempted to keep us all in line. Now we try to keep him in line. ::wink::

The Donald and Michael

Beth and I

 

There's a bird on your shoulder

 We were happy to host Joy Thursday night and Friday. Matt, Rachel and the boys were moving to a new home. Kudos to Nolan and Zander for helping them with the loading and unloading. When I was saying I can't imagine moving 3 weeks before my due date, Michael pointed out we did just that from AK to TX....but we weren't moving our THINGS in 107* weather!!!!!

The mission team Krista and Arielle are going to Mexico with arrived last night. It was a full house for dinner and a birthday cupcake for Don....Katie will be the girls' roommate starting in July.



Krista - fearless trip leader



Obviously Beth is the only "sane" one in this photo. LOL

 

Good friends, family, and time with Joy - days don't get much better than this! 

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.