Time Flies...

... when you're having fun... or when there are 1,000,000,000 things going on in your life!  I can't believe I haven't posted anything since June!  I was preparing some other posts back in June about my birthday and some really wonderful cultural things we did... but I see they are still in my drafts!  Oh well... maybe one day!

Also, the past 6 months or so have been a real trying time for me spiritually... listening to the Lord, struggling with some truths, needing serious changes in my own life, and still trying to get a handle on this "thing" called parenting and dying to self, etc., etc., etc.!

So a quick catch up...

In June... I turned 40!!

In July... we moved to our "permanent" house

In August... Olivia turned 11; we started back to school (homeschool, that is)

In September...  we started packing (for our 3 month trip) just as we finished unpacking (from the move)

In October... we boarded a plane to fly back to the island/town where we studied the language

In November... we HOPE to meet our little Joseph face to face

In December... we HOPE to rest, recover, and receive all the needed paperwork for Joseph plus Dano turns 42!!! and Wesley turns 6!!!

In January... we HOPE to return to our "permanent" home on the other island!

So.... there you have it... some highlights (not so exciting)... and not even a single picture!  Gee!  Of course... if you are my "friend" on facebook... you've seen pix... and have probably had too many updates!

We appreciate your prayers especially as we approach the birth of Joseph due in about 6 weeks.  Please pray for a safe, normal delivery... a healthy baby and mommy...and God's perfect provision during this crazy time of transition!

THANK YOU for keeping up with us and lifting us up!

Love,
Melinda & gang  =0)

The Lord Gives and the Lord Takes Away

One of the paper wreaths with the verse mentioned
below from the funeral on Tuesday along with the cross
used for the marker of the baby's grave.  

the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.  Job 1:21b

This was a verse on a paper wreath at a funeral I attended on Tuesday for a two day old baby born 7 weeks before her due date.  Sad doesn’t even come close to the emotion I was feeling.  Honestly, I was feeling many emotions. 

As we have lived on this island for 4 months now and in this country for 14 months, one thing I have noticed is that death comes more often for these people.

In the first three days of this week, I believe my helper attended three funerals. 

The first was for a young man in his twenties from her church.  He had gotten sick, went to the hospital, but died on Monday.

Tuesday she went to the funeral of the baby that I also attended.  The father works with Dano.  They go to the same church as my helper.

Wednesday my helper’s nephew’s wife died as a result of giving birth to her 5^th child and hemorrhaging. 

Although death comes more often, she continues to work diligently and with a smile on her face.  I think death is normal here.  It is a part of life. 

Isn’t that true though… DEATH is a part of LIFE.  None of us are guaranteed tomorrow.  We are only guaranteed that last breath we just took. 

So how then do we live?  Do we live as if that were our last breath?  Honestly, I don’t.  I always seem to live as if I have tomorrow… or next week… or at least another decade or two or more.  That is why I am always putting things off.  I THINK I have tomorrow! 

Lord, forgive me for my presumptuous spirit.  Help me to seize the day FOR YOU!  None of us are guaranteed our next breath.

How will that change what YOU do today?  How will that change what I do in the next 10 minutes?

Lord, give me wisdom and discernment for each moment.  Help me to live with urgency as if tomorrow is not guaranteed.  I don’t want to live in fear, but I don’t want to live as if THIS MOMENT doesn’t matter.  Give me a balance that will impact others in my life.  Help me to teach this urgency to my kids.  May our lives be a light for you as we share the REASON we choose to live life to the fullest.  May we share YOUR GRACE with everyone in our lives.

Thank you, Lord, that you have allowed me this moment to speak with you and listen to your Spirit.  In Jesus name, Amen

Now... I need to get off the computer and LIVE!

Blessings,

Melinda  

Sketch Tuesday - May 1, 2012

This week the topic was Blossom.  (If you click on that link, you'll see last week's slide show:  Athlete.)  I think the author of the blog was hoping for nice sketches of flowers this week, but she does always leave it up to the artists.  One of our new puppies is named Chloe which happens to mean "blossom" so Wesley & Emma included her in their pictures!  Remember, if you'd like to see them larger, just click on one of the pictures.  Enjoy!  =0)

Derek was not thrilled with the topic.  I told him he had to draw something.
He quickly came up with this idea!  I thought it was a very creative way for a
boy to "get around" a topic he wasn't too pleased with. =0)  His is just
a pencil sketch.  Most of his drawings are whether for school or free time.

Emma's picture with Chloe (once she's a dog).  Once again the mountains
can be seen in the background.  Obviously Emma likes those mountains
which surround us here!  Once again, she chose watercolors as her medium.

Olivia's sketch is about Felicity, the American Girl character.  She chose
oil pastels as her medium.  These are the normal "crayons" here.  Wax crayons
are almost impossible to find on our island.  Actually, I haven't seen them yet!

Wesley's watercolor painting is of our puppy, Chloe, with some flowers below
her and one tall one in front of her.  The yellow lines/dashes starting at her
head and going in both directions signify that Chloe hears something.  

Seth Timothy

Here is a new post about our Seth Timothy on his memorial blog:  http://sethtimothy.blogspot.com/2012/04/four-years-later.html

Thank you for remembering him along with us.

Sketch Tuesday

Sketch Tuesday is something we started about 2 year ago... did for a while... then, you know, life got more insane... and we stopped.  However, last week... we started again!  You may wonder, "WHAT is Sketch Tuesday?"  I learned about Sketch Tuesday from this blog which I follow.  She has a lot of wonderful homeschool ideas which I've used... others I just imagine I do them.  ;0)  But Harmony Art Mom is the one who came up with Sketch Tuesday which you can learn more about by following that link.  As you may gather from the blog's name, she's an artistic woman.

Sketch Tuesday, in a nutshell, is an assignment to draw something on a particular topic then send in the sketches to Harmony Art Mom.  She then posts them at flickr, and the kids can watch a slide show of their "published" art along with the art of other children.  The only requirement is to have fun!  =0)  I like that!  The kids LOVE watching the slide show even though our internet connection here makes it REALLY slow!    

My kids are very artistic... they LOVE to draw and create.  Can I be honest with you??  Art is NOT an area I am strong in... in being artistic OR in teaching.  I never had a REAL art class... and it is just not a gift...  in any area of the arts.  I am VERY left-brained!  However, God has given me these right-brained children!  They are a gift!  They teach me!  So I want to do Sketch Tuesday for them... so they have an assignment to complete (okay that part is for me) and so they have something that maybe stretches them.  I *hope* to one day expand the teaching part of this area when we do this to teach them about shading and contours and other things I really know nothing about, but for now... I just want to give the opportunity to use as many different mediums as they want to complete it with it still falling under the "sketch" category.  

I'm really awful at letting them get out the art supplies... you know... they make big messes!  But REALLY, I am getting better!  Right now they have the options of JUST a pencil sketch, coloring with crayons, markers, color pencils, watercolor color pencils, oil pastels (you know those really weird crayon things that are so messy),  or painting with watercolors.  We have poster paints, too, but that REALLY takes major adult supervision with the younger ones.  Maybe one week we'll do a special poster paint project... but not this week!  ;0)   

Anyway... I thought maybe I would post last week's pictures and this week's pictures that the kids did.  I really like them...  but of course, I am their mom.  But I thought their aunts and uncles and grandparents and others who know them might enjoy seeing them, too.  PLUS... I was thinking this would be a "quick" post... but look at all that typing I've already done... gee!  Next time it shouldn't be such a long post because I won't have to explain WHAT we're doing!  =0)  

Last week the topic was "Kitchen Drawer" which can be interpreted however the artist wants to!    This week the topic was "Athlete."  

Derek (9) chose to sketch things from a kitchen drawer and added some bowls to his picture.  I’m not sure if you can see it online, but one of the bowls has a silly face on the side of it.  Derek cracks me up!  He used his watercolor color pencils.  I’m not sure which technique he used… but I think he probably colored his sketch then added water with a paint brush to soften it.  

Emma (7) took out a fork, spoon, & knife to sketch them.  Then she drew a draw around them.  She added her color with markers.  I think it is beautiful.  She has an “eye” for things.  

Olivia (10.5) who LOVES everything in the kitchen drawers chose some of the items she often uses and sketched them.  She then used the watercolors to add color and a plaid table cloth.  

Virginia (3) joined us for the first sketch.  She insisted when she saw the others.  Olivia gave her the instructions.  She sketched a bowl & plate… not exactly what we have in the drawers… but they are from the kitchen!  Later she came back and added the black marker drawing on top.   I’m pretty sure she said it was a plane.  

Wesley (5) went through several sheets of paper and a lot of frustration before he was able to get on paper what he wanted.  His fits were discouraging, but his perseverance was encouraging!  He REALLY wanted to paint with the watercolors!  He drew a fork and spoon (rather large) with a plate in between.  The plate has chicken and something else on it… but now I forget!  

Derek’s athlete picture is just a pencil sketch of the “tools” used by an athlete.  

Emma’s sketch and watercolor painting is of a soccer game with some beautiful mountains in the background.  

Olivia’s drawing, “Football with Friends” is a picture of her and Derek and two of their expat friends playing soccer with two local friends they often played soccer with in our “yard” on the other island.  She included many details that were in our yard and on the house next door!

Wesley’s athlete drawing is adorable in my opinion!  LOL!  It is Gators vs. Panthers…literally, I guess!

Happenings in the Hangar

Here is very short video of still shots that one of Dano's co-workers made during an airframe overhaul of a PC-6.

(If you enlarge the video, it will lose quality... I had to compress it in order for it to upload from our location.)

If you remember the story about the airplane donated by the New York Stock Exchange Chairman, this is the SAME airplane.  If your memory is better than mine, you'll also remember that we were serving with JAARS in Waxhaw, NC when the plane was donated in 2007.  Dano got to help prepare the plane to be sent here for service in 2008... then when we arrived here in 2012 it was in the middle of this required inspection after so many flight hours.  If you watch the video, toward the end you'll see Dano in his navy blue pants, blue shirt (which looks gray), and tan hat working to ready this plane for service again!  (He's always on the right side when looking at the plane... sometimes in the front... sometimes at the rear.)  How exciting for him to once again be a part of getting this gift back to work for God's Glory!

What an amazing gift this airplane has been to the work of Bible Translation!  Every gift given... small or large, is an amazing gift.  We can't all give airplanes, but praise the Lord... we can all give something... our lives, time, financial gifts, prayers, encouragement... what else?  What is God calling YOU to give?  

2012!

I am so excited about this New Year!  It feels like it is full of so much potential!  As a family, we have so much to look forward to!

We get to serve the Lord another year doing what He has called us to do.  We get to watch and see how He will provide for all our needs through His people.  It is just an amazing, faith building way to live.  Challenging... but Faith Building!  

We will take a required trip to Singapore for new visas.  The government requires us to exit the country to get our worker visas.  Currently we are here on student visas.  While we are there, we'll get to see an authentic celebration of the Chinese New Year in China Town!  About 75% of Singapore's population is Chinese so really, almost all of Singapore could be considered "China Town."  We've scheduled physicals for all of us, hope to schedule dental appointments, and possibly a surgery for Dano's knee.  While we are there we hope to visit the *free* Botanical Gardens and the World Class Singapore Zoo.  So while we are going to Singapore for "business," we'll also take care of medical things and hope to have a little family vacation time as well!  We're blessed to be able to stay in the OMF guest house which will significantly decrease our lodging and meal costs.  

After this we look forward to moving to our next point of service...the place God called Dano and me to 12 years ago before we even had children!  How exciting to see God's faithfulness as we have continued to follow Him and as many of you have continued to encourage us in so many ways!  Dano is so eager to get his hands on some airplanes!  I'm eager to get "settled."  Our first home will be another temporary home, but hopefully by June or July we'll be able to move into our permanent home on this side of the world!  We're looking forward to seeing friends that we've already made in our new location by meeting them stateside, here, or virtually via e-mail or facebook.  

So as you can see, this year has a lot of practical things to be excited about, but we are also excited about the spiritual things God has in store for us.  Dano and I plan to finish reading through the Bible this year!  We plan to take a more focused effort on teaching all of our children to pray specifically and consistently.  We're looking forward to getting involved in a local, indigenous church in our new town.  We're excited about how God will use us in speeding Bible Translation.  And we're looking forward to the unknown... knowing God holds the big picture!  

As we have all of these to look forward to, we spent the morning of January 1st sharing these with the kids and asking them what they were looking forward to and what their goals for 2012 were.  In the same fashion of New Year's Eve, I gave each family member a paper with 2012 from the free download here.  On this page, they were to draw or write what they were looking forward to or striving toward in 2012.  Below you can see our final pictures.  If you want to see one better, you can click on it to make it a little larger.

Dano's prayer is that he'll be useful in the
hanger at our new place of service.  I have
no doubt he will be.  They are anxiously
awaiting his arrival.  They are very understaffed.

Derek

Emma
She said she wants to go in outer space and look
back at the Earth!  All I can say... she has big
dreams!  =0)  

Mine

Olivia

Virginia
(front)

Virginia
(back)

Wesley
He hopes to see a hippo... that is the little blue
drawing up at the blue water.

Wesley (the back)
This is the picture of all the animals at the zoo
he hopes to see... gorilla, alligator, iguana (we
have those in our yard), tiger, & lion.  

Thank you for investing in our family for so many years.  We look forward to continuing this journey with you as we serve side by side... separated by half the world yet side by side!  Your encouragement and support means more than you could ever know.  Your prayers for our family are priceless.  We are forever in debt to you... forever in debt to our Lord!  

May the Lord richly bless each of us in 2012... but not for our own good... instead may we each turn around and be a blessing to those God places in our lives!  We are blessed to be a blessing!  

Love,

Melinda  =0)          

New Year's Eve 2011

Olivia (10), Derek (8.5), Virginia (2.5), Wesley (5), Emma (6.5)
The kids in their Christmas jammies which traditionally
Granny (Dano's Mom) sends to the kids before Christmas.
This year she sent them in plenty of time, but with the
holidays & long commute they finally arrived
on December 30th... just in time for New Year's Eve
the next day!  The kids were THRILLED!  

2011 was an amazing year for our family...difficult, but amazing!  We are amazed and humbled how God called so many people to come along side our family and help us to serve Him where He called us to go.  So many of you gave so sacrificially during 2011 so that we could answer His call!  Thank you!  We could not be where we are without your faithful gifts and prayers!  We are ETERNALLY grateful.  We pray we are making an eternal difference in the lives of those we live among even though we may never be the ones to see the fruit.  Our hearts are forever tied to these people and this people group we live among.  We are burdened for them and the darkness in which they live.

As a family on New Year's Eve, we spent time remembering 2011 by looking at photos and videos from the past year and the fun memories they represent.  We lived in North Carolina and Tennessee before moving overseas!  For the first time as a family we lived near our family for about 7 weeks!  It was great to have so much time with our family (even though a lot of that time was preparing to move).  It was fun to celebrate 3 of the kids' birthdays with family just before leaving.  The kids loved those photos.  It was fun to look at the pictures of our new life here and remember how new and different so many things were.  Now those things are our new normal.

After that I gave everyone a piece of paper with 2011 on it from a free download booklet.  Everyone was free to draw or write whatever they wanted about the past year.  It could be fun memories, new experiences, blessings, or whatever.  It was interesting to see what each person chose and how they chose to represent it.  You can see those pictures below.  Dano and I also did one.  

Virginia
no idea what this means :)
She also had a pretty picture on the back.

Wesley (front)
This is the airplane that brought us from America.

Wesley (back)
This is the volcano we visited here.

Dano
This is a picture of our house and the rice fields
representing all God did to bring us here.

Derek
He has lots of things from the last year.  You
should be able to click on it (and any others) for
a closer look.

Emma
She has the volcano and a horse she rode at
the volcano.  (some coloring she did on the back
bled through)

Mine
I can't draw pictures so well... so I used words.

Olivia
She also had lots of things to record for 2011.

After this the kids started going to bed one by one... exhausted.  We were going to let Derek and Olivia stay up til midnight if they could to watch the nearby fireworks.  As usual, they celebrate things here in a BIG, LOUD way!  ;0)  Of course, our village could never afford the type of fireworks we are used to seeing in America, but we live right on the edge of a small city that has a hotel and several large, fancy neighborhoods who can afford nice, fancy fireworks!  We just so happen to live at a perfect location to see their display from our front porch!  Derek went to lay down "to rest" at about 10:30... we couldn't even stir him at midnight!  Dano, Olivia, and I played a few hands of Nertz (kind of like solitaire but for a group of people).  Olivia made it to midnight!  For some reason, she decided not to go outside so she enjoyed the display from the living room window while Dano and I went outside to watch and visit with neighbors.  It was a beautiful night with lovely fireworks, nice friends, loud horns, and a very busy street!  Amazingly, the four youngest continued to sleep!  We came back in around 12:30 a.m. and the noise level died down around 1:30 a.m.

This picture doesn't exactly capture the beauty of the fireworks,
but I've never claimed to be a photographer!  Look how dark
the sky is though!  That truly captures how dark it is here
when the sun goes down.  

We are thankful for a FULL year... FULL of God's Blessings, FULL of God's Mercy, FULL of God's Grace, FULL of God's Faithfulness!  Now we look forward to 2012!  You can look forward (hopefully) to my next post to see how we started 2012!

I pray that each of you are able to look back at 2011 and see God's Hand guiding you whether your year seemed harder than normal, full of heartache, or rich with blessings.

Blessings,
Melinda  =0)