So Long Ordinary

In our "line of work" life is pretty unsettled. It seems like several times a year we get to experience good-byes - either we, or our friends are always moving. This can be a rather frustrating aspect of missionary life. You make friends...they move. You find new friends...you move. (And then there's the good-byes to extended family, don't get me started on those.) I'm not necessarily complaining. This is a part of the cost of our calling. We don't have to like it -and we don't - but we also know that it is worth it. Usually, we're sending these friends off to proclaim the good news in a new area. If we're moving, it's because we feel God wants us in a new place where we can share His love. It's obedience. It isn't comfortable but I find a lot of hope in the fact that Jesus Himself experienced this aspect of ministry. So did Paul and countless others. This obedience thing is messy, hard. Nobody ever said it wouldn't b...

We have a little tradition in our home of getting ice cream every Sunday afternoon. Sean takes the scooter and goes to a nearby store for ice cream cones. Then we all sit down together on our front porch and enjoy our once-a-week treat! It was Sean's idea to start the tradition a few months ago and our girls can't wait for the next Sunday to roll around! They are quite into this little family tradition...wonder why?! This is a tradition we want to continue as long as our girls will let us. Which should be quite a while if I know my girls! I'm so glad Sean brought out his camera last Ice Cream Sunday so I could show you the fun (and adorable-ness) we get to have every Sunday afternoon!

Yesterday, as Sean and I were getting ready to head out to run our usual Monday morning errands, I said to Sean, "I need an adventure!" Sean laughed and told me to get real. But as we turned onto a street where we could get a good look at the nearby volcanoes, we saw that it was a gorgeous, crisp, clear day. So I tried again..."Sean," I said. "I think you need to take pictures of that, let's skip out on all our other responsibilities and go! I'll come with you." Well, obviously, I know Sean's weak spot. He's usually all responsible and dependable and whatnot but mention a good photo op and he's all mush. So, we turned around, went by the house, got the camera and headed out for our adventure on the Piglet. We headed up to Ketep Pass, where we could get a good view of Merbabu and Merapi, plus some other mountains and volcanoes we don't know the name of. It was breathtaking up there. I found it hard to believe that Merapi was the ...

Yes, I changed the look of my blog again . It usually takes me a few tries to come up with something I like and I think this is it! Sean took the background picture of orchids when we went out on a little mini-adventure yesterday. I'll share more about that adventure soon, but here's a sneak peak... As I speak, Sean is helping our friends pack up their furniture to ship to their future home on another island. Please pray for the Kirkwoods as they have some HUGE transitions coming up. We're excited for them and, honestly, we just can't wait until it's our turn! I just finished my evaluation for Unit 4 and passed! I start Unit 5 on Monday and Sean will start Unit 6. Time is flying! Please pray for Paige. She's pretty sick today. She has a fever and obvious tummy troubles. I feel so bad for her. She keeps jumping up thinking she feels good enough to play only to realize again that her tummy still "huts." I kept her home from school today and s...

There is a fun little restaurant in town where you can sit right in the middle of a sawah (rice paddy) and eat. We took Maddie and Paige there on Chinese New Year Day for lunch since none of us had school. (Poor Brooklyn still had class.) As usual, our adorable girls drew a crowd...and, well, I guess I can see why!

Our friends, the Kirkwoods, are done with language school and preparing to move on to their area of service within Indonesia. We had a farewell party for them last night at one of the favorite restaurants in town (it's clean, cozy, and serves some American-style dishes). We all sat in a little back veranda-type seating area where the kids could play and the adults could chat without interrupting other guests. And that's when it happened...a rat scurried by along a beam in the roof overhead and ruined my appetite. Twice. I spent the rest of the evening glancing over my shoulder and thinking of the movie "Rattatouille." What is up with the rats these days?! Blech!

....Sean and I were sitting out front on our porch enjoying the gentle rain falling. It was a somewhat romantic and peaceful moment, stolen from the midst of harried and hectic day. Then, we watched a rat - a LARGE, half-drowned rat with a LONG hairless tail - jump out of the gutter that runs in front of our house, scurry right past us and run through our gate into the backyard. Ewwww. The good news is that he did NOT gain entrance into the Cannon home. That is very good news indeed. photo credit Zooillogix

A half day at preschool would do this to me too! This is a not-so-unusual scene here at our house these days. The photo above happens to be of Paige but we can all be found looking startlingly similar to this at some point in the afternoon. I really could have snapped this picture of any one of us. But let's face it, Paige can really pull the look off better than Sean can...