Poured Out

Well, it’s been quite a week so far!  We spent a few days with my aunt Bonnie in Bemidji, Minnesota at her house on the lake.  My cousin Ruth and her husband and four children were also staying there so the kids had a wonderful time together playing dress up and elaborate make believe games, playing in the little pool, roasting marshmallows over an open fire, and going for a boat ride on the lake.  Sweet days.  Now we are in North Dakota where the family reunion is in full swing.  We are all enjoying the wide open spaces, and I mean WIDE open spaces!  The family farm is really out in the middle of nowhere (from this city girl’s perspective!) and it’s glorious for the kids to be able to run free with no worries.  So far, they’ve been able to ride bikes and trikes, play with wagons, catch frogs, release them and re-catch the frogs (poor frogs!) and lots of other outdoor games.  Even the rain and strong wind today didn’t stop their fun.  It’s been neat to see the kids get to know their cousins and enjoy their company.  After lunch we did “Christmas in July.”  We had a few games and everyone got a little gift.  Then this afternoon we had a rousing game of kickball.  Tomorrow is church.  The girls will sing “This is the Gospel” and other family members will contribute to the service.  What a blessing to be here.  It feels like a real vacation!  Oh yeah, the mosquitoes . . . we haven’t seen too many but these critters well-known in the area to be vicious are obviously at work, judging by the little welts all over me!

We’re running around today getting ready for tomorrow’s flights over to ND.  I don’t know if we’ll have email or internet access during our week away.  So if things are silent, you know why!  Meanwhile, here are a few pictures to enjoy of recent weeks here in Oregon:

Joel and cousin Matty have been enjoying each other -

And here’s Joel looking really American -

Aliyah is doing great without training wheels -

Three girls ready to ride, but not bikes -

Here’s Hannah (seemingly a natural rider), on Sally -

Hannah with Linda H (she was with us on the ship last year, now serving on the Doulos for the summer!) -

And yesterday Paula visited our church, she was the midwife who delivered Aliyah -

The preaching seminar ended this morning at Westside – a good time I believe.  Tomorrow I speak at Westside, combining a message with a report on our ministry.  It’s been a manic week.  Thankfully we’re all healthy.  We are packing social visits into the schedule at an unhealthy pace, but know our time is short here.  We leave Tuesday for North Dakota, then a week later we’re back to pack.  As ever, the end of a visit slides away quickly.

Well, it has been the weekend for celebrations.  Today is Father’s Day – we plan on meeting up with my parents and sister and her family for ice cream and playing in the park.  I can’t tell you how thankful I am to have Peter as my husband and father to our kids.  Friday was my birthday and the day before was our anniversary.  Good friends of our babysat so we could go out for a special evening together.  We had dinner at an Italian place and then went to a huge bookstore downtown Portland (where we could easily spend a whole day!) before having dessert on the 30th floor of a skyscraper.  We thank God for nine wonderful years together!  Oh yes, I can’t forget one more event, we had Joel dedicated today at church.  He held his bear and was happy with all the other parents and kids up on the stage.  What a privilege to dedicate  our child – and ourselves – to the Lord.

A prayer I have prayed during our time here is that we would all be ready to go back to England when the time comes.  I have been somewhat worried about the kids in this regard but it looks like God is working in all of us.  We had a great conversation last night as a family, talking about all the things and people we are excited to see when we get home.  Aliyah said that she can’t wait to get back.   Keep praying for our hearts to be ready and content and that the kids would understand and catch the vision for the work God has given us to do.

OK, here’s another “funny” from Mariah . . . last night she said to Peter, “When I’m a Daddy, can I grow a beard?”  And earlier in the day when I told her that Peter was at a preaching seminar, she said, “When I’m a Daddy, I’m gonna preach.” Hmmmm.  We need to do some teaching on the whole gender issue!  At least she looks up to her Daddy!  Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there.

The weekend went well.  The preaching seminar, part 1, was well received.  Then on Sunday the gifts seminar seemed to go really well.  Unfortunately the weather was nice so that perhaps helped keep the numbers low, but I tend not to get too discouraged by numbers (I work most of the year in Europe, after all!)  Hannah and Aliyah have spent two days with “Aunt” Sheri – one of their favorite people.  It will be good to see them again today.  So we have had two days with just two small children in the house.  I don’t remember life like that, but it was nice!  This morning Mariah woke up and announced that she was saying “shhh!” to Joel “all night!”  Perhaps it was 15 minutes this morning, but to her it was the whole night.  She’s very cute and a great person to have around.  Joel is starting to sound out words, but he doesn’t seem to be rushing to speak (as with walking, why rush when there are older sisters around who carry you around and do all the talking that seems necessary!)

I keep getting asked if we are getting a rest while we’re here.  The truth is that we’re getting a change, and hopefully that will do for a rest for now.  This morning I had a biblical preaching seminar with 17 attending.  Tomorrow evening I have a four-hour seminar on spiritual gifts.  It seems like most days I go home from the library (my temporary office) and immediately get in the van to go visit friends for the evening.  We are nowhere near this social in normal life.  But it is worth it.  It is worth it to spend time with dear friends that we wish we could see more often.  It is worth it to hear and see how God is working in people’s lives.  It is worth it to reinforce our friendships together since fellowship and relationship is so central to real Christianity and what really matters in life.  At the same time, it is tiring, and we’ll be flying home in a month with mixed emotions – sadness at leaving, excitement to see friends back in Caterham, and probably a little bit of tiredness too!  After tomorrow my ministry load lightens considerably for the next month.  Thanks for praying for us.

The other evening we were driving home from Forest Grove with four very tired children in the back.  Sometimes tired children sleep.  Sometimes tired children cry.  This night tired children talked.  It was nice.  Mariah announced after a while, “The moon is following us!”  Maybe not, but thanks for reading this and following us – we do appreciate it.

Eleven years ago this month (it’s May for a few more hours!), Peter and I met on board the Logos 2 down at the waterfront in Portland, OR.  Today, our whole family, plus Grandma and Grandpa, Auntie Amy and Matthew, headed down to the river for some fun.  We walked down the street where Peter and I walked several times coming from and to the ship.  We stopped at the bakery where we got free samples of bread – yum! And then we walked along the waterfront and enjoyed the sunshine.  It was so fun to reminisce.  The Rose Festival is in full swing here but we avoided the “village” where they are selling all types of food and amusements.  Instead we found a grassy place to have a picnic.  The kids loved watching the boats on the river, including a couple of dragon boats which were practicing for the races coming up.  The Logos 2 was nowhere to be seen of course, but there were two old ships that were giving free tours.  Hannah blew me away when we were onboard when she said, “Look, Mommy, the tiller!”  My mouth was just about to open to ask one of the crew what the long wooden thing was.  I asked Hannah how she knew what a tiller was and she nonchalantly replied, “Oh, a book.”  Amazing.  This afternoon, Peter and I and the little ones took long naps while the older girls went to Grandma’s house.  We are having an amazing time here seeing friends and spending time with family.  The pace has been just right up until now.  I think things are about to get busier!  As we get closer to the end of our time here, the schedule is really filling up.  Pray for us to wisely use our time and be a blessing to those we meet up with.  At the moment, we are almost all healthy. Joel seems a little under the weather with a fever.  Could be the same thing Peter had.  I have not had a headache since last Sunday so I am really thankful for that.  Thanks for praying for us.  We’ll try to post some pictures soon.