So Long Ordinary

First, a few pictures that Sean took of the girls playing around our MAF apartment over the past couple of weeks. They've had so much fun! In 24 hours, barring any major catastrophes (and, yes, it would have to be a catastrophe) we should be sitting in the airport in Boise awaiting our first flight. This can't be real. In fact, it feels so surreal that I'm really starting to think that at some point, we should go ahead and tell people that this is all just one big story - a make believe story . But, apparently, this is real. It's getting more real by the minute! Sean and I spent today getting all our things packed again. We've only been here in Nampa for 2 weeks but you'd be surprised at how much we'd spread out! We finally had everything all packed perfectly and I breathed a sigh of relief...until I walked into the laundry room and found a pile of clothes we forgot to pack! Good grief. So, we rearranged and reweighed and reconfigured and now I thi...

I can't live without music. I like many different styles of music, though I rarely listen to music with just any old lyrics. I have to be careful that the music I listen to is edifying or I find myself not doing very well. Country music is the worst! I catch myself crying and I have to turn it off fairly quickly or I'll be feeling blue all day long! Music gets in there and affects me deeply. Worship music, though, is my favorite. It is as vital to my ability to commune with God as prayer and time in my Word. It's why I'm lugging around a ginormous keyboard to the other side of the world when it would be far easier to leave it behind! Music speaks to the innermost parts of me and without the opportunity to worship through music, I...wither. God knows this about me. He knows how deeply I feel music and it seems like in just about every difficult season of my life (especially the moves we've made) He gives me a song that brings comfort. I actually only just rea...

Sean was busy flying most of the week and I spent the week trying to keep up with three very busy little girls while finalizing some details and getting a prayer letter finished. I may or may not have made multiple "necessary" trips to Wal-Mart and Target for last-minute things to throw in our luggage for Indonesia. We've also had a pretty busy social schedule (fun!). We had dinner at a friends' house, we went out with friends from Mexico one night, had a friend (who also happens to serve in Kalimantan) over for dinner one night, and were invited to the home of other friends from our Costa Rica days! That's four out of 7 nights! It's also one of our favorite things about being in MAF. We MAFers are serious about getting together! I'm hoping we'll be able to catch up with a few more people in the next week, too. We're going to Indonesia in less than one week! Our tickets are bought for July 31. We fly from Boise to San Fransisco to Singapore t...

I'll start out by saying thank you for praying for our goodbyes. It was a difficult time for all of us. Honestly, it still is.... Well, I think we've finally recovered from our long drive on Friday. Gee, if it takes us this long to recover from a day's worth of driving, how will we ever survive jet lag?!?!? I'm so glad God gives grace just when we need it. I'm counting on His Grace to get us through our future travels. Before we left on Friday, we found out that our visas had come in!!!! Isn't that awesome? God totally did it, because we were fully expecting to wait another 4-6 weeks. Thank you for praying. So, what are we doing? Well, this morning, Sean headed over to the hangar here at MAF HQ where he will begin re-standardization (a fancy word for getting to fly and dusting away any cobwebs that may have formed on his MAF flying brain). The girls and I are hanging out here in our apartment, doing nothing in particular. It's really kinda nice ...

We pulled into Nampa at 12:00 a.m. (Midnight) sharp. Yes, we got a wild hair and decided to just drive straight on through rather than dividing the trip up between two days. We're glad we got the drive over with - tomorrow we can just rest and catch our breath after the crazy week(s) we've had. There's so much I can't wait to share, so stay tuned! But for now...sleep.

The goodbyes have begun and I barely know what to say here on this blog. Every little thing we do feels tinged with sadness. I keep thinking, "this is the last time...." It's got me in the worse kind of funk. I've cried plenty and I'll cry more. There are many "sacrifices" made by the foreign missionary. I don't really mind any of them but one. Can you guess what it is? Leaving loved ones. We, as humans, tend to avoid the things that hurt. And if something does hurt, we then question what got us into such an uncomfortable position in the first place. Goodbyes get harder and harder with time, not easier. This round of goodbyes is the worst yet. But, as much as it hurts, I am comforted by the Comforter - the One who truly knows the heartache of goodbyes. And I don't question. I'm certain that God is in this move, that He has a plan and a purpose for us in Indonesia. He's proved that to me a hundred times over. To stay would be ...

We really had a great weekend with family. Fishing with Daddy Ben and Auntie Rachael. Maddie caught the first two fish! Brooklyn was not a happy camper until she finally reeled in some of her own fish. That made her feel much better! I got an awesome helicopter ride with my Dad. Along the river, over my sisters house, over Lime Kiln, up San Francisco Creek, around Bennet, down Rock Creek, over the ridge to North Rock Creek, over the Wildlife Refuge - seeing elk and coyote and, of course, lots of grazing cattle. Thanks, Dad, that was the perfect way to start a Saturday morning! Going to the Kids Carnival across the street from Grandma and Grandpa Cannon's house! What fun - and all for free! Sean and I wore out way sooner than the girls did - thankfully, their grandparents were around to take them back two or three more times throughout the day or whenever one of their balloons popped :-) The girls all loved the petting zoo. Brooklyn really loved this little goat. I'm ...

Sean came back to us and all is well again. I keep looking at him and saying, "It's so good to have you back!" We were pretty excited to see him at the airport in Albuquerque. Since we got back home we've been busy - packing, last-minute appointments, tying up loose ends. There are still lots of things to do, not the least of which is to have some good quality time with family and friends we won't get to see for a long time. Oh Lord, grant us all Your Grace in this season of good-byes. One highlight of the week was a visit from the friends that were very instrumental in our pursuit of mission aviation in the first place. They were with MAF in Ecuador years ago and I spent several months living with them there in Shell. Sean came to visit me (we were still dating at the time) and discovered mission aviation....and the rest is history! Anyway, what a treat to be able to sit down and visit with these friends who now live in Mississsippi - to reminisce, hear ne...