One Last Time

Lately I have been feeling unprepared for all the good byes we are having to say.  I tend to tuck it aside to deal with and "feel" later.  It helps get me through the moment, but my psychologist friends/family  would probably advise me otherwise.  :)  I have had many small private moments of grieving though.  I know there is more to come as we see people we care deeply about and say farewell.
People aren't the only things we need to say good-bye too though.  Part of the good-bye process for us includes saying farewell to those places that have meant a lot to our kids, and places they have great memories and will miss after leaving the country.  So, we have begun our farewell tour.  First stop was Chuck E Cheese.  Our youngest REALLY wanted to go here one more time.  She had a goal to win enough tickets to get large round lollipop.  Mission accomplished!

Our second place we visited was the Georgetown Ice Rink.  The boys especially enjoyed this.  They enjoyed sliding on the ice as much as skating I think.  They also got a kick out of watching how good  and fast their dad is on the ice.

And of course, we must include ice cream in this list of good-byes, so we made a trip to Little Dipper.  Over the years, we have biked there for ice cream and other treats.  There will certainly be ice cream in South America, but there is nothing like Hudsonville Ice Cream.  Hmmm… I wonder how well it would ship.

Moving Day

Well it's official……..We finally moved.  I'll admit,  I had a hard time letting go of this house.

It was my favorite home and one we had planned on staying in for a long time.  However, I knew almost two years ago that God was asking me to prepare to give it up.  And that day has finally come.  Even though we are sad to leave this house, we are very thankful that we were able to sell it now so that we can now focus on Peru.

A Month In Review

This has been a very busy and emotional month for our family.  Let's recap….
 *   Jason was in Africa for three weeks.  He had a very good, successful trip, albeit a tiring one.  Please continue to pray for villagers in Ambo.
 *  We had to give away Snickers, our dog.  That was heartbreaking.  Snickers was Adam's shadow and most loyal companion.  However, God brought to us a most wonderful home for the dog.  His new owners love him as if he was their child.
 *  We also accepted a contract on our house.  We were supposed to have closed already, but there have been a few hiccups along the way.  We are praying that the closing happens this week for sure.
 *  We had our moving sale.  That was really difficult as well.   I realize it is just stuff.  And I have let go of a LOT of stuff lately, including my home.  But it is still hard.  However God was SO gracious.  Thursday was our first day and we had many people come that asked where we were going, what we would be doing, etc..  Many were genuinely interested in missions and even paid a higher price for items!  I even had a couple people pray for us on the spot.  How cool is that?!
  *  Since the time we accepted a contract on our house till now, we have often been asked "So, where will you go in April?"  Our response has always been "We don't know.  We will see what God surprises us with."   My parents generously offered their basement to us if needed, but we just knew God was going to provide something.  Well, this week we have been told that a church, a mile down the road, has a house that is empty that we can use! Praise God!
  *  Support levels have risen 1% this month.  We still need to find more monthly/ annual supporters.  We are about 13% short of our goal.  We are still hoping to leave at the end of May, but that may not be possible if we can't get our support team built up fast.  Having said all that, we are still very grateful for all the support we have received and are praising God in all of it.