So Long Ordinary

I'm headed to bed on 12/21/2012 and guess what?  The world hasn't ended...not in Asia anyway! Today was a better day.  Sean is getting better ever. so. sssssslllllllooooowwwwwlllllyyyyyy.  He ate real food today and I'm so pleased to say he even kept it all down!  He also looked miserable much of the day and said he felt extremely weak.  But, we're making progress.  His fever hasn't gone above 100 degrees that I'm aware of, so I'm about 90% certain this is typhoid and those antibiotics are starting to do their job. Could take a good week or two more before he's anywhere close to normal again, but we are moving in the right direction now.  I've been blessed by so many of you lovely people caring and praying.  I just don't think you can know what that means to us... we feel very loved and blessed.  I've no doubt in my mind that this is all made less horrible by all the prayers going up on Sean's behalf over these past several days.  Thank y

Welp, we're on day five of Sean feeling miserable. If you are a Facebook friend, you've probably seen the status updates.  Sean has come down with something - we're not sure if it is dengue or typhoid.  I've never seen him so sick and it has made for a real bummer of a week.  As hard as this week has been, I'm not complaining.  Things could be so much worse - we all know that, right?  Others are suffering so much more.  Both in the U.S. and overseas, there is great suffering, illness, sorrow, and strife.  I refuse to let this get me down.  These are the things that come with living in a fallen world.  This is why we need the Christ in Christmas so very, very much!  I am putting on a brave face, doggedly remembering that Christ really is with us, that we have so much to be thankful for, that even when the days are dark, the Light has come and He has already won .  A little update on Sean this morning...he's still very sick but his fever has gone down!  We're

I t's hard indeed to believe that our little Paige Abby is already four.  It seems like just yesterday that I was laughing at "I Love Lucy" in between contractions one wintry Sunday morning in December.  Now, here she is almost as tall as her big sister Madison, and every bit as funny and precocious as Lucille Ball herself.  Paige was the quietest and easiest baby we had.  Now, she's probably the rowdiest and most difficult four-year-old we've had (and trust me, her sisters were plenty active as well).  She keeps me on my toes!  Some days, she'll disappear and I'll find out she went next door to our helper's house to steal back some shoes we gave them.  Other days, she's right in the thick of things, driving her sisters nuts as they try to finish their schoolwork.  She can give the biggest, wettest kisses and can throw a  wicked mean left hook.  She's wild and sweet and imaginative and quick-tempered and adorable and super-independent and her h

I can't believe we celebrated Paige's 4th birthday on Friday.  How did this happen? In the midst of a very, very busy week, we carved out some time to celebrate our precious little "baby." We had a really fun "rainbow" birthday party with our friends the Rogers. There was a water balloon fight...the 70 or so ballons I filled took all of 30 seconds to finish off.  Sigh.  The kids weren't getting each other wet enough so I had to help.  ;-)   Then we just hooked the hose up to the slide...   Next, was cupcake decorating time.  Pretty sure Paige ate all of hers before we even got to see them.   Aw, my cute, precious, precocious little four-year-old.  She's as sweet and mischevious as she looks in this picture.  We all love her to pieces...(though I'd say her sisters really do get frustrated with her at least twenty times a day!) She's a pill!

First of all, thanks so much for your prayers for Sean's trip!  It seems to have been a very successful trip...more details to come about what they did and how it all went! Our family is doing great.  We are extremely busy this holiday season but things are going so well.  We've lived in PalangkaRaya for a bit over a year now and it is really feeling like home.  We have hit our stride in family life, ministry, and relationships are growing, slowly.  We are so blessed.  Indeed, I am a deeper kind of content than I can ever remember being.  We are thriving and full of holiday cheer! And yet, in the midst of all these blessings and joys, I am heavy-hearted.  Though my personal life is going so well, I am surrounded by the pain and suffering of lost and hurting people.  These are the people I am learning to love, and as I watch them endure the hardships of life I am undone.  I don't know how to make it all better.  I don't know how to help them see.  I barely know how to sp

The main reason I'm stopping in here today is to say, "PLEASE PRAY!"  Sean has an amazing opportunity to share at a village interior for their Christmas program today!  He was asked to do this a year ago.  Rather than attempt it all by himself he has enlisted the help of our MAF Indonesian staff and our other MAF pilot, Isaac.  Together, these 7 guys will be preaching, leading worship, sharing testimonies, and presenting "The End of the Spear."   This particular community they are heading to is one that still struggles with spiritual darkness and old beliefs.  There is one small church there and a handful of true believers.  The guys are hoping to not only share God's love with the community but also to encourage the Indonesian pastor who serves there as a missionary.  If time allows, Sean is also hoping to make a 15 minute flight upriver to encourage another Indonesian brother whose life was recently threatened because of his faith and work in an even more