Winterizing

This morning was so productive.  Sissi and I went out shopping and got some odds and ends at Walmart.  Then we ran over to Ross and got some sheets to put in our "Going to Africa" bin out in the garage.  We got some things for Khan at Petsmart and then went to Hobby Lobby to get our craft supplies for next week and more yarn to crochet a few more gifts.  Last stop was the Sunflower Market to pick up our turkeys (yes, plural ;)) and sandwich meat, cheese, eggs, produce, etc.  I splurged and got sushi for lunch and Sissi got to show off her use of chopsticks with the lady behind the counter who gave her some sushi rice...it was super cute!

We got home and after lunch we decided it was too nice of a day to not take advantage of it....we decided to winterize the backyard.  Now, this is something that is usually done by the end of October.  How is is that this year we have had no real snow yet and it is Thanksgiving next week?  In my mind, this is so strange!

Indy fixed a rung on the play set that had fallen out and he put a new piece of wood on the side that the kids had broken by standing on it several months ago.  I put all the chairs and tables away, took out the tomato plant stakes from the garden, added some stuff to the compost pile, and raked mulch...  All the while, I was thinking, I'm not going to be doing this next year.  I'm going to be living in a location that is 90 degrees, humid (I might have Orphan Annie hair there ;)) and there won't be a traditional (by American standards) "fall"!  This is one of my favorite times of the year, we absolutely love Thanksgiving and harvest time in this house.  We are always bummed when retailers seem to "skip" it and move right on from Halloween to Christmas.  Now, don't get me wrong, we're not big Halloween fans either and were so happy this year to do the Reformation Day Party at our house.  BUT, we do like to stop and take the month of November to remember what we are thankful for...for the founding of our nation, our freedom to be Christians, our wedding was in November (13 years soon), etc.

I guess I wonder what it will be like, will we miss the fall?  We can still celebrate Thanksgiving, no matter where we are, even without a turkey...it's all about our attitude and remembering what we are thankful for, it just might be different things that we're thankful for next year.  A new place to live and new friends.  I might even be thankful that I don't have to winterize my yard ;)...what do you think?  I could go for that!  I'll also remember that God is working a new thing in us, it isn't always easy; but, we're ready for it...

Isaiah 43:19 - See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

Our Family Photos

Thank you Courtney...if you're reading this, we absolutely love all the photos and it made it so hard to choose which ones....I'm putting quite a handful here for you all to view!  Let me know what you think!

A Provisional Invitation Received

So, what can I tell you, the school has decided that they are extending us a "provisional invitation"...of course, they told us several weeks ago that they wanted us; but, we're ALL still waiting on the Assemblies to complete their screening process.  We feel like we're joining the military all over again, it's amazing how much "stuff" they want/need to know about us!  Here is a copy of our good news:

Dear Indy,

The Hiring Committee has reviewed your application, resume, essays, and references and also spent time in prayer for you.  I have gotten an update from the Assemblies of God on your application and it sounds like it will be a couple more weeks before all clearances and approvals are granted. On behalf of this group, I wish to extend to you a warm welcome, provisional to your acceptance by Assemblies of God, to serve at Haven of Peace Academy beginning in August 2011.  We would have you teaming up with our current history teacher, Victor, and, between the two of you, teaching history to G6-12. 

We admire how you have a heart for the Lord and your pursuit of God’s will for your life in the present and in the future.  Your references gave us a solid positive review of you. 

So will you accept this invitation?  Feel free to take time to prayerfully consider this and let me know if you will accept this offer.  If you have any questions, please also feel free to ask. 

We are welcoming you to join HOPAC as we continue to provide an excellent education to the children of missionaries, Tanzanians, and an international student body representing over 30 nations.  HOPAC is making a profound difference with missions and in Tanzania’s development.  It’s a special place!!

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Jane Gruler-Johns
Personnel Coordinator
Haven of Peace Academy

A few pictures for you to view!

Gwangi, holding his Viking longboat that he made at our Tapestry of Grace (TOG) Co-op

Krypto playing YMCA flag football

Krypto playing Center...one of his favorite positions

Another shot of them running and playing the game

Distractions...

I can hardly believe that I let a whole month go by and didn't blog or update you at all....so I'll try to give you a quick "this is what is going on..." update!

We've been busy with school and co-op as I'm sure you all know; I'm teaching an Animal Kingdom and a Civil War class this semester at High Country, and there is definitely some prep work involved each week.  This year has also been a bit of a transition with both boys doing school.  Now that Gwangi is more streamlined into my schedule, Sissi has lost her playmate and that can make for some rough times as well.  She has really been stepping up to the plate though, she loves to string beads and put stickers on paper and color and cut and paste for her school work.  Her independence level has really been expanding as well.  Krypto had his last football practice and game of the season last week as well, so that has lightened our load a bit ;).

On the missions application front, we have been told by the school in Tanzania that their hiring board has approved us, they are waiting on final approval from the Assemblies of God before officially offering us the position though...and quite honestly, that could take some time.  The Assemblies Medical Co-ordinator has been out of the office and so they haven't really even started that part of the process.  The background checks have been completed and we've been approved at the District level, so it's moving along, just a bit slower than we thought it might.

So, distractions....our pastor spoke on this topic last week, specifically about Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall in Jerusalem after the exile, and we've been having quite a few distractions lately while we've been trying to focus on "building our wall".  There's been some family drama, as in some of our extended family not being overly thrilled with us going to Africa, and also in that they aren't getting along very well with each other.  I'll be honest, my patience level with this kind of drama and self-centeredness is wearing thin.  When you allow it to do so, it can consume you, and I believe it can make you physically ill (proof, my headache and stomachache for a day after some conversations with family members).  Are we supposed to let other people's issues and concerns affect how we follow God's leading in our lives...I would say emphatically, NO!  When there is a call, a definite leading from the Lord to do something, you are obligated to follow Him.  What I find most frustrating of all though, is when these "distractions" are from fellow believers...those that I would expect to be our staunchest supporters.  Our district pastor recommended we read a book, I've downloaded it to my Kindle PC app and have opened it several times, I need to get past the Table of Contents ;)....it's called "The Bait of Satan" and it deals with how the issue of offense can lead us astray in our walk with the Lord and can affect our ministry.  I am sure that is what is going on here...we have a higher level of expectations out of fellow believers and when they let us down and cause us to be "distracted" from what we know we are supposed to be doing, our righteous indignation can quickly become offense and anger.  I could really use some prayer and support in handling these situations in the light of the Lord.

On the home front, we have been busily canning apples and pears, cleaning up the yard for the winter, purging the house for our garage sale, planning a Reformation Day Party, putting in paperwork for next semester's classes at High Country, sewing shirts for the boys, working on scarves as gifts, catching up on scrapbooking, and just keeping up with school, laundry, and life.  I do need to download some of the latest pictures and maybe I can do that in a separate blog entry.  We love you all so much and are thrilled that you are keeping us, and our needs, in your prayers.  God Bless you all, and I won't let another month go by without touching base, promise!

An answer to prayer?

So, a few weeks ago, we attempted to drive up Pikes Peak...the weather got the better of us, and we were stopped just a few miles from the top for high winds!  This weekend, we made another attempt, and it was a beautiful day.  The leaves were changing colors, we got to find a letterbox, and take a beautiful hike; all in all,  it was wonderful...thank you Lord for teaching us patience, something I have been trying so hard to get a handle on lately.  I write this now and it sounds like the best day...what I'm not saying is that I got a horrible headache as we were on Hwy 24, getting ready to turn on the Pikes Peak Highway.  I got nauseous and I spent most of the drive up there with my eyes closed, wishing I was already back down again.  I honestly just wanted to be in bed!

When we got to the top, Indy watched the kids as they played on the "rock playground" and then we went in to the gift shop and ate some lunch, and then we took some photos out on the peak.  He bought me some Motrin and I took it and slugged a bottle of water and started praying "Dear Lord, I really want to enjoy this, please heal my headache, I don't want to remember this trip this way..."  I sat for a bit and by the time we were on our way back down, I felt pretty good.  Indy kept asking me if I REALLY wanted to stop and do the letterbox or just skip it and go home.  Initially, we passed it; but, then all the kids chimed in and started "begging" to go back and do it.  We did a U-turn and went back.  I am so grateful we did.  It was gorgeous, the leaves were changing, we had a nice little hike and found a really neat double-sided, hand made stamp.  I am so going to miss letterboxing in Tanzania, there is 1, it is at Mt. Kilimanjaro...I think we'll be planting more when we're there ;)!

I think this weekend we had a few answers to our "simple" prayers...thank you Lord for rewarding our patience and allowing us to get to the top of Pikes Peak, thank you for letting us find another really neat letterbox and finally, Lord, thank you for healing my headache so I could have an enjoyable experience and memory with my family.  I am so grateful Lord and sometimes it really is the small stuff, isn't it?!

"They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength..." Isaiah 40:31

What a cutie pie, she really wanted me to take her picture by the "Continental Divide" sign!

Bighorn Sheep that crossed the road, right in front of our van.

The changing of the leaves

On our hike to find the letterbox

View from the peak

The famous poem, this monument is just beautiful!

Our Weekend

It's Tuesday and I feel like I'm finally coming out of the fog of the weekend!  We went camping with several families from our homeschool co-op, High Country, and had a really good time...minus all the "incidents" :)...  there were bee stings, snakes, concussions, multiple car jumps due to dead batteries, sleepless nights with infants and even some pre-schoolers...and the list goes on!

It really was fun though, we were able to sit up at night and chat after the children went to bed and get to know each other a bit better; that some of us are cold, no matter what the temp., and that we all enjoy the outdoors and so we started talking about other trips we can take.  I so appreciate the group's patience with each other, the grace that abounded with our children, and that God loves us and looks out for us, even in the small stuff.

Our car, in particular, died twice.  On Saturday, as we were preparing to leave for the Civil War Encampment down in Parker, the car wouldn't start.  We got a jump from our friends and were on our way...stopped the car to get gas and also in Parker at the encampment, and had no problems...figured one of the kids must have left an interior light on overnight.  Well, Sunday morning, it was dead again, and I do mean DEAD....it took over 30 minutes to bring it back to life and so we WERE NOT turning it off...we came straight home and dropped off all the stuff and the kids, and Indy took the car right over to Autozone.  Now, we had talked on the way home, that we couldn't remember where we got the battery; but, knew it was less than two years ago.  The car had died on our ski trip to Keystone in Jan of '09 (SNOFEST, the military ski weekend).  The people at Autozone immediately recognized the battery as theirs and tested it, said it was bad, and gave us a new one!!!!!  No charge!!!  Can you believe it?  I was floored....  Thank you Lord!

Matthew 6:26   Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not worth much more than they?


Here are just a few pictures from our weekend....

Sissi and her new dance teacher, Bethany...she has class on Friday afternoons from 3:30-4:30

Sissi and big brother (still undecided on psuedonym...either Krypto or Spaceman Spiff, any votes???) with President Lincoln.  He gave them pennies, with his picture on them ;), who needs re-election buttons when you can hand out pennies?

A cooking demonstration at the Civil War Encampment on Saturday

By the "beach" at the camping place on Sunday morning

Gwangi (look up the old movie, and this nickname will make so much more sense) with his rocks!

My big boy, up in the tree...what a great location for some family fun!