Let The Travels Begin!

So many things have been going on lately that we've been extremely busy. It has already been two weeks since we closed on our house, and it has been great living with Rebecca's parents. We can't even describe how nice it feels to have that whole deal behind us. Now we have no debt at all and we're still amazed by God's providence in our lives. Getting together with family and friends has kept us busy but it's been nice to see everybody. Last week we lead a small group of kids in VBS at our church, which was really fun. It was a great week of sharing the gospel with these kids and it was nice to be able to do one last thing with the children at our church.

Mark had been keeping busy at work trying to finish up a big project before we leave for all of our travels. Thankfully he got done a couple days early so he could relax a bit and recuperate from the long hours at work and being constantly on the go. The people at work were all great to work with and it was a little sad saying farewell to everyone, the've all been so supportive of what we're doing. We'll look forward to updating them on what we've been doing when we come back on furlough.

Tomorrow we leave for Ottawa Ontario, the capital of Canada. We will visit Rebecca's sister there since otherwise we wouldn't be able to see her before we leave for Romania. We will do some sight seeing there and will also eat out at some ethnic restaurants. Next Monday we will drive to Brampton Ontario, to visit Rebecca's Oma who is 100 years old. It is pretty much on the way back so we thought it would be nice to see Oma again. Then we'll drive to Detroit and stay at a hotel there for the night.

Tuesday morning we'll fly out to San Diego California. We'll spend some time with Jim & Jodi Sorrels at the Heart 2 Heart office in Ramona. We'll have some orientation and training and there will also be some fun stuff mixed in there too. When we're done there we will fly to Sacramento to visit some friends we met at summer camp and we'll see some sights around there too.

After we get back from California we'll have about a week and a half before we leave for Romania, which is on September 6 (note the date changed from previous posts). We will be commissioned at our church on August 30 and we'll give more info on this and our departure in a later post.

With all of this traveling going on please pray that everything goes smoothly and that we have strength to enjoy it. Please pray that all the details continue to fall into place as we prepare to leave the country for two years. Pray that God continues to work in our hearts and prepares us for the transitions we will be going through. Thanks so much for your prayers!

Fun At The Big Lake

With our departure to Romania coming up fast we have been trying to get in as much time with family and friends as possible. It has been really fun seeing everyone and spending good quality time together. The weather has been beautiful for the most part lately so we have headed out to Lake Michigan for some fun times. We'll miss the lake, the beaches, and the lighthouses, but they will be nice memories for us.

The lighthouse in Holland.

We walked the pier with Mark's sister and brother-in-law Sandi & Jay after eating out at a Thai restaurant.

Our friends John & Karen took us sailing out of Muskegon Lake into Lake Michigan, this was quite an enjoyable and relaxing ride. They also treated us to a BBQ before and ice-cream afterwards. This was a nice way to enjoy friends and God's beautiful creation.

We spent some time with Mark's Dad & Stepmom in Ludington. It rained quite a bit that weekend but it let up so we could have a nice campfire and bike around Ludington State Park.

As much as we lament the long winters, lots of snow, and often cloudy skies, this still is a very beautiful area to live. There are so many things that nature has to offer in our state, probably more than most people usually think of.

We have really enjoyed the time we've spent with our family and friends, we'll miss you all dearly when we're in Romania, please keep in touch with us.

Next Steps

We are continuing to make progress towards our move to Romania. This past Saturday we moved out of our house and into Rebecca's parents basement with the help of many friends and family. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we close on our house. In the middle of August we will go to California to have more training and visit a few friends. Then, before we all know it, we'll be off to Romania! Our departure date is September 5. Here are some pictures showing where we now live (Caledonia).

The flower garden at the front of the house.

The view out of our slider downstairs.

There is a hummingbird hiding in this picture, feasting on the bee balm.

Robin taking a bath in the fountain.

Our bedroom.

Our mini kitchen.

The living area portion of our room.

Big Week Ahead, Lots To Pray About

Next week we have a lot going on as we continue to work toward leaving for Romania on September 5. We will be closing on our house early in the week as long as the bank paperwork gets done on time. Please pray that this goes smoothly and that it doesn't get pushed back any longer. We'll be moving out next weekend as it is the last one in July and we don't want to wait until August. So far many people have volunteered to help us and for that we are very grateful. Would you please pray that the move goes well and that we survive the packing/unpacking blitz?

For the last few weeks things have really been picking up with our support and partnerships. We will be meeting with the missions coordinator at Evergreen Ministries on Monday and Corinth Reformed Church on Wednesday. We are very excited about the doors that God has been opening. Please pray that these meetings go well and that God will work on establishing partnerships between us and these churches. We are also talking with at least two more churches and are praying that God continues to open doors for more prayer and support partnerships.

This is a time of transition for us and our lives seem to be in constant flux right now. There are still many unknowns as far as timing and planning, and our departure is right around the corner. Time seems to be really flying as we're busy busy busy. We are trying to stay strong in the knowledge that God is in control of all of this but the stresses we're feeling are becoming more intense. Would you please pray with extra zeal for us in these coming weeks and months? Please pray for strength and protection against the evil one's attacks, we can tell he's ramping them up already. Please pray for patience and peace as we face so much uncertainty and so many changes.

Thank you so much for your support, we couldn't do this without you and we are so comforted knowing that we have a large prayer warrior force standing behind us.

Birds and Blooms

One thing we have enjoyed since the day we have moved in is watching the birds. Often in the morning the Blue Birds perch on the deck looking for a nice juicy worm. We also see a variety of finches and in the winter several Juncos visit our feeder. It has been interesting trying to spot birds that aren't regular visitors. In addition to the birds, this year we have spotted three nests in use. One in the rose bush, one under the deck and one in the gutter!

Blue Bird

Indigo Bunting

Female Hummingbird

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Northern Flicker

Eastern Kingbird

Nest with Robin Egg and Cowbird Egg

Another interest has been watching the garden grow. We are getting excited because our crops are starting to mature, so we will probably get to enjoy them before we move out. We are still uncertain of the exact closing date of our house, but it will be in the next week or so. After that we have 14 days before we have to move out. The timing will be just right.

Green Beans

Tomatoes

Bell Pepper

The Joys Of Craigslist

Since we found a home for our cats Smokey and Chewy by posting an add on Craigslist we have been using the site more and more often. We have been really impressed with the responses and have been amazed at the things that can be found on there. We are now posting anything we don't want to keep on there, what an easy way to re-home our stuff.

It only took 20 minutes for someone to respond to our ad for our cats. The amazing thing was how many other ads for free cats that there were, but it was a case of perfect timing. And after all, who could resist them, they're so cute!

We didn't want to have to move our massively heavy hide-a-bed couch, so we posted it for free. Within 40 minutes several people were interested. Someone came the next day to pick it up, which saved us lots of trouble. We were amazed that there was so much interest in it because we didn't hide the fact that the cats had fun scratching on the arms.

We bought this car for cheap so we can learn to drive a manual transmission. It is a 1988 Mazda 626. In Romania the vast majority of the cars are manuals so learning how to drive them will help us out a lot. Mark is having quite a lot of fun driving this and Rebecca will be learning soon.

We picked up this laptop for Mark's Mom because she didn't have a computer and she wanted to keep up with our blog and e-mail updates when we're in Romania. It runs great and was very cheap. Now the fun part will be teaching Mom how to use it :-)

We've also been giving some things to family and friends who want or need them. Our house is beginning to look empty, especially without any living room furniture. This whole process is definitely God's timing, everything has been going so smoothly!

Departure Date And Excited Home Buyers

Things have been rolling along nicely with the sale of the house, our inspections went well, the buyers financing is going through, and we're already starting to move some things out. We talked with Heart 2 Heart last week and we both thought that it would be great to pick a departure date. We will be leaving on September 5 to go to Romania and start our ministry there. We are so excited! We will have a few weeks to settle in, then we'll go through the annual staff training and then we'll begin our language lessons. Sometime in mid August we will go to California to get everything set up and for more training. We will probalby spend some time in Cali visiting some friends, we're excited to see them too! Time will fly between now and then especially since Mark will be busy at work until we leave. Praise God for so many things coming together and for His rich blessings in our lives.

Last night we met the people who will be buying our house and it was great. They came over to see the items we fixed from the inspection, and we got a chance to tell them what we're doing and that they're the answer to our prayers. They seemed very excited about our house and told us some of the things they liked about it: the spacious kitchen, the beautifully finished basement, the big lot and country setting, and the already planted garden, among others. We showed them the garden and told them what the plants were and how we make compost in our compost box. Their 5 year old daughter was really excited to see her room in the basement, she loved how big it was. They truly are the ones God had in mind because everything about the house fits what they wanted. It ended up being really fun meeting them and showing them around, and we look forward to seeing them again at closing.

It is so exciting to see how God's plan for us is unfolding. Things are becoming more clear to us as far as God's timing and what He has been teaching us through this. Thanks so much for praying for us thank you for your continued prayers.

Garden's Goodness

We have been enjoying some strawberries from our garden and last week we finally had enough ripe at one time to make a strawberry rhubarb pie. It was delicious! Here are some pictures of Mark's masterpiece.

The berries and rhubarb

Rolling out the crust

All that was left after we brought it to our friend's house

Next week we will be making another pie, it probably won't last long! Our garden is continuing to grow, it has been enjoying all the rain we received recently. It is fun to watch the plants mature, even though we don't know what will be ready before we move out.

The first bell pepper

Tomatoes

Spinach...not sure how it will taste with all this hot weather

Green beans

Flowers

Our snake friend, he didn't want to stop and pose for a picture. He is about to hide in our compost box.

It is easy to be impatient after planting a garden and want results right away. Gardening can teach us not only patience, but to remember to watch for beauty and little changes along the way. Each step of growth is important and should be celebrated.