A Few Goodbyes

Today is the end of an era for us.  We just said goodbye to our two kitties, Smokey and Chewy. Since we are planning on moving to Romania we knew we needed to find a home for them so we've been asking around for quite a while.  Some people said we should put an ad on Craigslist, so we did yesterday thinking that it might take a few weeks to get a response.  Lo and behold we received an e-mail about 20 minutes after posting the ad.  Today we talked to the people who wanted to give our cats a loving home, and then they came to pick up our boys. We took some pictures before we said goodbye.

They definitely knew something was up, they were both slinking around and acting scared.

We'll miss you guys.

Awww!

Smokey says: I'm so cute, how can you get rid of me?

Chewy says: I don't want to go!  I'm hiding in the couch so you can't get me!

We also said goodbye to our nice car, the Camry.  We had promised Mark's brother Kevin that we would sell it to him before we left.  Kevin's car broke down and was having some serious issues so we decided to sell it to him now.  It was a great car and we really enjoyed having it.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend has always been a special weekend for us and our families.  Usually we go camping with Rebecca's family and friends at Yankee Springs Campground.  We have camped there almost every year since we first met but this year was a lot different.  We instead filled the weekend with several different activities, all of which were very fun.  Friday we hung out with our friends Scott & Kayleen.  We played games, went to some garage sales, and watched Ocean's 11.  We had some awesome egg-rolls for dinner and brownies for dessert, mmm.

Saturday we headed up to Great Aunt Phil's cottage on Lake Michigan.  It was a little overcast but overall it was a nice day.  Rebecca's parents brought their camper and Mark helped set up.  We enjoyed some good food, usually on weekends like this there are lots of goodies and this was no exception.  We had a hamburger fry for dinner, and one of the dogs ate part of Grandma's hamburger right off her plate she was holding.  Fun times.

We went for a walk along the beach and Rebecca spotted this, a Bald Eagle.  It isn't every day that you get to see one of these so it was pretty exciting.

The cottage sits atop of the sand dune, so there are quite a few steps down to the beach.

We always enjoy seeing rays of sunshine.

There was lots of extra sand on the beach piled up because the water level is so high.  We saw many cool erosion patterns in the sand.

Sunday we took a walk, the weather was beautiful.  We relaxed the rest of the day and played some games.

Monday we went to the Essenburg get-together which happens every Memorial Day at Mark's late grandma's house.  We had a hotdog roast with potluck side dishes and enjoyed seeing lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins.  It was another beautiful day and a nice ending to the Memorial Day weekend.

Planting Our Garden

Ever since we have lived at our house we have enjoyed having our own garden.  This year we weren't planning on planting anything new because we thought we'd have sold our house by now.  Since we haven't had any bites on the house yet and we don't know when God will move we decided to go ahead and plant anyway.  The weather has been very nice lately and there hasn't been any frost for a while, so last week we went to it.

Since we don't own a rototiller and our garden isn't all that big, Mark decided to plow it up using an old fashioned wheel hoe.  It was hard work but was fun at the same time, and it was very satisfying to see how nicely it worked.

We planted lots of beans, as they are one of our favorite garden vegetables.  Mark dug rows and laid down some home-made compost.  Rebecca spread the seeds over the compost and then Mark spread another layer of compost over the rows.  Mark had made a compost box (which you can see in the first picture) a few years ago and we have been filling it with yard and kitchen waste.  It has turned into some very dark, rich soil that will really help the plants to grow.

We also planted three tomatoes, two bell peppers, two zucchini, some spinach, and lots of flowers.

This is one of our two rhubarb plants.  It has a huge flower stalk, something we've never seen before.

The rhubarb flower.

There are also lots of strawberries in the garden.  What started out as eight plants has spread out and they now take up over a quarter of the garden.  We are really looking forward to making some strawberry-rhubarb pies, Mark's favorite!

Some of our asparagus came up this year too, but there were only a few stalks and we didn't catch them in time to eat.  Bummer.

It was very fun planting the garden, and now watching the plants grow.  If our house sells soon as we hope it will then whoever buys it will have some nice veggies and flowers!

Tulip Time

It's a special time here in West Michigan, it's starting to warm up and the sun is shining more often than not.  It feels great to feel the warm sun and to be able to go outside and enjoy the outdoors.  Last week we went to see all the tulips in Holland since it is Tulip Time there.  We have gone to see the tulips each year for the past four years and each time it is a really special treat.

The tulips were very beautiful and were blooming very nicely.  We stopped at a park to check out the multicolored assortment of tulips they had there.

We also went to the test planting park where there are fields of tulips that can be seen for free.  We didn't go to any of the larger fields like Windmill Island because they charge for entry.

We drove up and down tulip lane, following the signs is always a challenge but seeing all the tulips planted along side the road is always fun.

We posed with statues that probably look a lot like our ancestors from the Netherlands.  See the resemblance?

We could see a windmill from the test planting park, those really are tall fully grown trees all around it, that's how big it is!

We also admired some flowering trees throughout the city.  What a fun time we had.  God's creation is just so beautiful it can't be described with words!

House Update...

Wow, it's hard to believe that it is May already.  Recently we have had more activity on our house and even though it hasn't sold yet we are very hopeful that it will soon.  We had an open house last weekend and it was on a beautiful day.  Two couples came through and one liked our house very much.  They are just starting their search for a house so we can pray that they decide on our house.  Besides that there have been some other people interested and looking.  We don't yet know what all of them are thinking, but that's OK.

We would really appreciate if you would join us in asking God to sell our house soon.  We are still hoping that the house will sell soon so that we can start working in Romania in the summer.

Ludington Fun

Last weekend we headed up to Ludington for a mini vacation with some friends.  Our friend Jonah's work gave him two nights free at a hotel there, and one of his coworkers gave him their room so we had two free rooms for two nights.  

Rebecca was popular with all the kiddos, Lexi, Sam, and Precious.

We spent some time each night swimming in the pool and hanging out in the hot tub.  It was the biggest hot tub we had ever seen.  These are our friends Scott & Kayleen with their kids Lexi & Sam.

This is Jessica with Precious...

And this is Jonah with Precious.

On Saturday the guys went fishing at Ludington State Park.  It was a gorgeous day!  We didn't have much luck fishing though.  Scott just about hooked a two foot long dog fish but his hook was too small.  Just before heading back we decided to try one spot out again, and Mark had a bite.  The bobber went down and then the battle began, with a roughly 12" large mouth bass.  Unfortunately the bass swam right into a downed tree and the line got stuck, so he got off.  Man, the disapointment, but there will be another day to catch him.

Sam loved going fishing, and he kept saying "I'm going fishing" over and over.

On the walk back to the car we let Sam carry the worms.  To every person we passed he proudly exclaimed "I'm carrying worms!"  It was so cute and funny, boy was he having fun being a good helper.

Saturday evening we went out to eat at a local brewery and then ordered dessert to go for later.  Who could resist the chocolate mousse cake and snickers cheesecake?  Mmmm.

It was great spending time relaxing and hanging out with our friends.  It was a refreshing weekend and it was nice to get away for a couple days.  Too bad we can't do something like this more often!

Could They Be The Ones?

There are two big goals left in our journey towards becoming missionaries to orphans in Romania; raising the rest of our funding and selling our house.  We put our house up for sale at the end of September.  Since then there has been some interest but not as much as we had hoped for.  We have been learning patience and reliance on God as only He knows the right timing for our house to sell.

Two weeks ago we had an open house and the only person to come was another realtor who was having an open house near by.  He stopped in because he has a customer who will soon be looking for a house in this area.  We recently found out a little more about these potential buyers, and we were greatly encouraged and excited.  First of all, they are relocating to the area for a job they already have.  Since many people around are losing their jobs it is pretty amazing that they are coming here for a new job.  Secondly, they are looking for a country setting and a house with a large lot, both of which our house has.  Our house is in their price range too, and it sounds like they're approved on a loan already.

Could these people be the ones God will use to buy our house and get us one step closer to starting our ministry in Romania?  We certainly hope so and are praying that God works in their hearts and leads them to buy our house.  They are supposed to be coming to look at houses around the first week of May, so we would like to mobilize many prayer partners to bathe this issue in prayer.  Would you please join us in praying?

Perspectives Class Fires Us Up

We have been taking a missions class since the beginning of the year called "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement."  It has been a great class and we have been learning a lot that will help us better serve God in Romania.  This week had the opportunity to share with the class about our upcoming ministry to the orphans in Romania.  We talked about the orphans there and the great needs that they have for love and to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  We shared how we will be working with them, how God has called us to this ministry, and where we are in our support raising journey.

To wrap up we shared prayer requests and then led an open prayer.  The response from the class was awesome, many people offered up heart felt prayers and we really felt God's presence in the room.  It was an incredible affirmation and encouragement to us to know that so many people are behind us and that God's Holy Spirit was at work in so many people's lives.  

Even our guest instructor, the founder of Mission India, prayed for us and the orphans.  He has a heart especially for the minority Gypsies in Romania, because India is where all of the Gypsies are from and he has worked with them there quite a bit.  The lesson he presented was very challenging and stretching, and it was very applicable to the ministry we'll be doing in Romania.

We left class very energetic and excited about the work that God has yet to do in our lives. We're excited to see how he provides for getting us from here to Romania and about the ministry He'll have us doing there.  We're praying that he'll use us to transform not only the orphans but all the Romanians that we interact with.