Home cooked meals, Hot dogs and Hannah

How does one begin writing a blog?  For starters, do I need to have a reason to blog? Should I have some inspirational quote or bible verse to start? Do I need a particular subject or can I just ramble? Will others read my blog or will it simply be a journal of the stories of our lives? How often do I update a blog? Do I need to worry about punctuation, spelling and grammar? Do I want people to feel challenged, inspired and encouraged or do I just journal the day? Will I be vulnerable or will I share the silly stuff of life raising boys?  How does one begin writing a blog?

August 1, 2016 …  
Today seems like the perfect day to start my blogging career!  We’re in the midst of chaos preparing to move our family of 6 to Costa Rica for 3 years.  We’re packing up the house, deciding what to take to CR, what to store here and what to give away, we’re making life changing decisions about finances, retirement and our future, we’re lacking sleep, our minds are ransacked with questions and decisions that need to be made, in a few short weeks we’ll start home school, it’s raining outside, Adam is sleeping, the boys are playing the Wii, I’m sucking a lolli-pop which I never do and … it’s August 1st which somehow seems a better date to start a blog rather than march 6, October 19 or any other random day of the year!

We have just journeyed through what has felt like the busiest time in our almost 15 years of wedded bliss.  Hold onto our coat tails and catch a glimpse of our last 8 weeks … let me preface this by making note to the title of my blog … “Home cooked meals and hot dogs.” There wasn’t a lot of cooking or cleaning going on at home as we were blessed with delicious home cooked meals through training.  And on those evenings when there was barely enough time to breath … hot dogs were the dinner of choice or rather by default!  OK, here we go … we had a Dessert night, Chicken BBQ, celebrated 2 birthdays, completed 4 weeks of training with EMM (3 weeks at the Welcoming Place in Akron and one at Black Rock Retreat), participated in Global Fair, were commissioned with EMM, walked, swam, hiked and ate A LOT, mastered Spike Ball, got a cast off, one diagnosed and treated for Lymes disease, spent evenings catching up with old friends and sharing our story with new friends, a play date here and there, shared our story with 5 different churches, delivered a few babies, lead some worship and were blessed by many different worship styles, challenged with teaching from gifted teachers, learned about culture, experienced the Gospel through our senses, had a free family night at Reading Phillies, ½ price shakes at Sonic, smores and popcorn with the ants, visited a mosque, relished the quiet of a silent retreat, a weekend back packing trip, a girlfriend getaway, soccer camp, one date night, met with a financial advisor, doctor and dentist visits, and a highlight for the boys … meeting Hannah!  Yes, this is one long run on sentence!

Hannah & the boys

The boys were not thrilled about spending 4 weeks away from our neighbors, friends and cousins at the start of summer, until … they met Hannah.  Hannah has been one of God’s angels to our family!  The first Sunday night of our training they met her and all of a sudden wanted to spend every moment possible being adventurous with Hannah.  Their plea of “Why do we have to go to training?” changed to “Mom, can we go to training with Hannah today?”  Words cannot express how blessed we feel to have walked through these weeks of training with her.  God has done abundantly more than we could ask or imagine for our boys during this busy season of our lives through Hannah’s love, attention and affirmation of each of them.

the perfect B'day gift

My comfort and solace
Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” He knows what we need before we even ask!
Song by Bethel Music, It Is Well.  “Through it all, through it all, my eyes are on you, through it all it is well … So let go my soul and trust in HIM … Far be it from me to not believe, even when my eyes can’t see.  And this mountain that’s in front of me, will be thrown into the midst of the sea!  Through it all my eyes are on you, through it all it is well with my soul!”



Praises
-We’re are almost at 70% with our funds, depends who you ask : )
-We started our fundraising (March 1st) asking for 100 monthly partners of $100/month.  Is it possible we only need 30 more monthly partners at $100/month?
-A van for VidaNet … this van (praise) will be driven to CR with a prayer request attached … see below

Prayers
-4’ x 6’ enclosed trailer for the van to pull our ‘stuff’ we’re moving to CR
-Finances, we are humbly asking you to consider partnering with us monthly to make God’s glory known to the nations. EMM.org/donate
-Renters for our home in Akron
-Grace and peace as we start home schooling this month
-Keep our eyes on Jesus and reflect Him in all we do … even when we’re stressed that He would shine through