A Prayer Request(s)

Hey!  Wow.  We're in the middle of a huge move and it's been a tough one.  I can't overemphasize enough how faithful God has been through this past month or so, but as the rubber is really beginning to meet the road, we find ourselves coming up against some opposition. Moving anywhere is hard, but this time it feels...harder. I feel a lot more spiritual and even physical attack than I have in any other move we've made...and that's saying something.

So, I'm asking for prayer.  Here are some specific things we'd love you to pray with us about, if you are so inclined:

• Health.  Mine in particular.  I've been sick this past week.  A bad cold followed by a sinus infection followed up by an ear infection.  I cannot remember ever having ear or sinus infections in my adult life but today I just feel run down and defeated.  I'm struggling to really put my mind to anything because I don't feel well, and it leaves Sean carrying more of the load at a time when we both need to be able to work hard together. I'm already on antibiotics and the sinus infection is doing much better, but my left ear is completely stopped up, and it hurt bad enough last night to wake me up and keep me up for at least an hour. I need to be well!  
• Stress.  Every move and transition is stressful.  Sean and I are both trying to finish up the last bit of school in addition to taking care of all the details of our shipping container that is being sent from here to Borneo, finalizing and organizing the things we're leaving for three months, and packing. Turns out that's a lot heavier of a load than we imagined and it's getting to us. I am feeling more and more stressed-out about everything...and while it's to be expected, it is honestly just distracting and leaving me feeling too overwhelmed to even try.
• Language acquisition.  It probably goes without saying that, in the midst of all the moving, packing, and being sick, my language acquisition seems to be floundering.  I know a lot of it is just fuzzy brain from being sick and having my mind on other things, but I have been very discouraged in my language progress over the past two weeks.  I feel like the biggest dummy lately and that's no fun. We finish up our Unit tomorrow - pray for our evaluations tomorrow that we somehow manage to perform better than we feel we can at the moment!  And for things to soak in despite our lack of concentration at the moment.
• Packing.  This is one area that is actually going better than expected.  (Maybe because we've done this so many times?)  Anyway, we're pretty well packed and ready for our container to come on Friday...but the container packing process is a big unknown for us.  Will the container arrive when it is supposed to?  Will we be able to fit everything in?  Will the weather be good - as in not rainy - so we can truck furniture (to the place where we will fill the container) without all our stuff being ruined?  Will that container actually make it to Palangkaraya?
• Our U.S. shipment.  It's on it's way!  But what will happen between Alamosa, Colorado, and Palangkaraya, Indonesia is anybody's guess.  We can live without that stuff...but I sure would love to see it again, intact.  Sooner than later.  Somehow, I feel that if that can get to us in good condition then I can finally be "home" in Indonesia.  It is just stuff - but it's our stuff, and we've been "in transition," living in psuedo-homes for so long that I can't help but dream of the day when I have my own kitchen stuff again, and the girls have their quilts on their beds, and the curtains my Mom and I made together are hanging in the windows, and the little knick-knacks that make our house a home are properly placed.  Oh!  And I'll have an oven again ;-)   I guess I should just say, "please pray that our shipment makes it to us intact and quickly - even miraculously" because, by golly, that would just be wonderful.
• The girls.  Brooklyn is leaving behind friends and a class that she loves.  Maddie is losing her friends, too, and the independence she so enjoys at preschool.  Paige is just confused about what is going on.  I see that this move is hard on each of them in different ways.  They seem to be really focusing on the excitement of our future home in Palangkaraya and getting their toys that are coming in the crates from America.  (Another reason why I'm desperate for that to work out well.)  But at some point, they are each going to have to deal with the transition to yet another new home and life.  Pray for them.
• Spiritual health.  The busier it gets, the harder it is to carve out those vital quiet moments of prayer and meditation on God's Word.  But that is the thing we need most of all at times like these - so pray that God will help us carve those times out of our busy, full days so that we can find our rest in Him.  He's the reason we're doing any of this and wouldn't it be sad if we lost our relationship with Him for the sake of service to Him?!

I share all of these prayer requests because I know you'll pray, not to make anybody feel sorry for us and not to complain.  We're still doing well - we can still laugh and smile :-)  We still love what we are doing and where we are.  We still feel this great confidence and peace that God is going to provide all we need to make this move.  He already is.    But there is an enemy too, who would like nothing better than to see us fail or at least not arrive in Palangkaraya with sanity intact, health maintained, and hearts ready to serve.

So that's the real root of these requests - that we would overcome the attacks that come with this move by the power of God's relentless grace and strength, that we would arrive with joy and victory despite the enemy's attempts at discouraging and blindsiding us.

Oh, and here's a praise - our furniture is all built and ready to go!  This is no small thing.  I am thrilled with the results too, it all looks so great.  Praise the Lord, we have beds to sleep in, a table to eat at, and wardrobes to store our clothes in!

Another praise - a God-thing - we got a card in the mail today from a friend in the States just wanting to let us know that they are praying for us and telling us to be encouraged!  It was sent a long time ago, but it arrived on a day when we needed it!  Isn't God cool like that?