Orientation At H2H

Monday we left Ottawa so that we could head over to California for our orientation with Heart 2 Heart. On the way to the Detroit airport we stopped and visited Rebecca's Oma, who also lives in Canada. She is 100 years old and is still very sharp. She is always a joy to visit because she often has very funny reactions to things people say. Rebecca's Aunt Jenny was also there from up north in Canada. It was great to visit them both. After our visit we drove to Detroit and stayed the night there. We flew out in the morning and arrived in San Diego California in the early afternoon.

We went up to the 40th floor of a hotel to take in some views of the city. The weather has been steady 70's and has been very nice.

We went to see the ocean and enjoyed the beauty of the area there.

Our crabby friend in one of the tidal pools that we went to. After we toured the oceanside and the city we went up to Ramona which is where the H2H office is. Jim and Jodi are the founders of H2H and they are such incredible hosts. It is a great joy to stay with them. Wednesday we started our orientation, which consists mainly of going over what to expect when we get to Romania. We are talking a lot about how to be effective in ministry and avoid some pitfalls that are common for first time missionaries. Wednesday night we went and talked with Anna (J&J's daughter) & Austin's small group about what we will be doing in Romania. We talked a lot about how God brought us to this point. It went great, the group was very friendly and asked lots of questions. We ate Caribbean food for dinner which was very good.

Thursday after our orientation sessions we ate Mexican food and then went out kayaking on the ocean with JT (J&J's son). It was hard work but the scenery was beautiful and we enjoyed ourselves a lot.

The cliffs were awesome, but the best part of kayaking was being able to see these sea lions up close. We also saw some bright orange fish which are the California state fish.

After kayaking the family met us on the beach and we had a cookout and played some games. Jodi and a Romanian friend had fun walking the dogs on the beach.

We are having a great time staying here and are also learning a lot about what things will be like when we move to Romania. The time we're spending here has been quite refreshing as it is very laid back, which is a nice change of pace from all the busyness that we've been experiencing in the last few weeks. We have a couple days left here and then we'll go up to Sacramento to spend some time with more friends. Then we'll come home for a week and a half before we leave for Romania!

Canada, Eh!

Friday morning at 8:00 Am we left to go visit Rebecca's sister Elizabeth in Ottawa Ontario. Traffic was fine until we got to the border, where we waited for about an hour. Not too bad for crossing the border into the states but usually it is quite a bit shorter going into Canada. There was some construction but nothing major. Then we got to the Toronto area and it took over an hour to make it through, and that was in the early afternoon. We figured it was so busy because everyone was leaving from work early on a Friday. By the time we were out of that traffic mess we were fed up already, but we were in for some more fun. It didn't seem like people knew how to drive, being rude and cutting us off. One guy tried to squeeze in between us and a semi, and then was so impatient that he passed the semi on the left shoulder. We figured it was good practice for driving in Romania though, and we made it to Elizabeth's at around 8:00 Pm. We enjoyed an Indian dinner and recuperated from the long day in the car.

Rebecca had fun driving after Toronto.

Man, wish we would have taken a picture of that move!

Saturday we had brunch of bread and some tasty pastries from a local bakery. Then we headed out for a tour of the city. Ottawa is a very beautiful place, filled with classical architecture and landmarks. Being the capital of Canada there are many nice government buildings too. There are tons of ethnic restaurants too, so if we lived here we'd be spending way to much money trying them all out. For dinner we had Sri Lankan food which was out of this world!

We toured the governor general's residence where we saw traditional guards just like you see in the movies. The guard changed every hour, accompanied by bagpipe music which we enjoyed quite a bit.

Today we drove over a bridge to Quebec to see a great view of Ottawa.

We attended and enjoyed our first Orthodox church service. We have so much to learn about the Orthodox faith and the way they do things. We'll have plenty of chances once we're in Romania though as it is mainly an Orthodox country. We got to meet some of Elizabeth's Romanian friends and we talked about what to expect in Romania as we enjoyed an Ethiopian meal.

We have had a great time visiting Elizabeth and touring this city. Please continue to pray for safety in travels as we will be on the move again tomorrow.

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!