Back Home on the Road

I think every time we go "home" to Seattle, we realize how much more "at home" we are on the road.  Several times when we were back my boys expressed their eagerness to get back on the road and back to their home - the trailer.  We left our trailer in California for this short trip and we stayed with friends and family.  It was such a gift to have people so willingly open their homes to us, but it also left us all feeling a little unsettled.  We have become travelers at heart for sure, but we all still like to have a place to land and our own beds to sleep in.  We are praying earnestly that God would give us a home in Seattle, where we can "rest" and "settle" when we're back visiting and doing local ministry events.

Our time back was very full!  We left with our hearts and truck overflowing! ;)  Caden turned 9 a few weeks ago and we were able to celebrate his birthday with family and friends.  We ministered in a few new churches and were able to reconnect with some friends from our home church.  Noah attended AWANA twice with his cousin at her AWANA club and then both boys went once at our home church.  Josh spent time with our pastor and I was able to spend precious time with friends and family, including a special date with my niece and a day out with my Mama!  In addition, we ran many local errands, including everything from wedding ring repair to dental fillings and stitches removal! :)

Helping Auntie with yard work.                Beware of these crazy ninjas!

 

 

 

      

                   One of my beautiful sisters           Josh putting his carpentry skills to work.

                          - I have two more :) -

 

We are back in California now.  The sun is shining and we are settled in our little home.  We drove 9 hours on Friday.  Then we drove another 4 on Saturday to pick up our trailer.  Our RV park was about 45 minutes from where our friends were "trailer sitting", so we were able to get the trailer parked and situated by early evening on Saturday.  I then went to the grocery store while the boy's recuperated.  Sunday we had an hour and a half drive to our morning church service, then a short break before our evening service at another church.  Despite our great fatigue, both services were wonderful and we returned to our trailer Sunday night in awe once again of God's powerful hand and his amazing graciousness at including us in His work. 

 



This week we are playing catch up at home and ministry management projects (i.e., flyers, press releases, RV park booking, bookkeeping maintenance, etc...)  We look forward to ministering at a Good Friday worship service on Friday and then leading worship on Easter.

I'll write here again soon.  But in the meantime, be sure to visit my Praise and Prayer page, which I updated today. I'll also be adding a new page to this site soon so keep your eye out for that.

I didn't forget I have a blog! :)

I'm sitting here overwhelmed at the thought of trying to catch you up on the past few weeks.  Of course, in theory it would be easier if I just didn't let this much time past between posts, but in reality I haven't blogged because there simply hasn't been time.  Life is all about priorities, right? and as much as I love blogging and as important as I know it is to keep all of our friends, family, and prayer warriors up-to-date on the happenings of our family...honestly, there are a lot of things that sit higher on my priority list. :)  It is not uncommon for me to go several days without having time to even open up my laptop.  I do my best, though, and I'm here typing now. :)

On Feb 25, I sliced my finger with my blender and had to get stitches.  It was such a pain not having the use of my middle finger on my right hand for two weeks, but I got the stitches out the day after we got home and my finger is back to normal now.

Ouch!

 



Here are a few pictures from the last couple weeks of our tour.

 

Believe it or not, I do actually get on the platform and participate too, but it's hard to take my own picture! :)

 

 

 

 

Fun at an orchard on our last day off in Bakersfield!

 

We left our trailer with some friends in California (since we'll be headed back there after our time home) in order to save gas and time traveling north.  Our stay in the Seattle area is less than three weeks, so we're staying a few days at my sister's house and the rest of the time with some friends from church.  We are so grateful for those willing to open their homes to our family!

Two days after we got back into town, we had a combined birthday party for Caden and my nephew Easton.  Easton requested a LEGO party.  The cousins, aunties, uncles, and grandparents all gathered for a loud chaotic LEGO building extravaganza!



We are enjoying our time back, despite the insane busyness of it!  It is a gift to spend time with friends and family!  We traveled back down to the Portland area for the weekend last weekend and had two wonderful ministry events.  Once again, connecting with new churches is always a blessing!  Tomorrow morning we are in the Olympia area, which means we don't have to pack up to go anywhere for the weekend.  We'll just drive down in the morning.  This also is a new church.  We look forward to partnering with them in their ministry to that community.

Next week we'll enjoy a few more days with friends and family as well as get some "home" errands done (i.e.dentist appts. etc...) before heading back down to California.  This time home is going so fast, but I am so grateful for a husband who was willing to fit this time into our touring schedule.  He knows how much I especially treasure the time back to reconnect so he is working hard to get us home more often this year! :)

Until next time (which will be sooner or later, that's the best I can promise you! :)
Love to you all!

Praying to have a heart like Paul

Note: I wrote this blog on Wednesday and intended to plug in the Scripture verses and finish the post in the evening.  Well, Wednesday evening I cut my finger badly on a blender blade and spent the night in the ER waiting for stitches.  I am just now remembering to post this.  Obviously much has happened since then, but typing without the use of my right middle finger (which is healing nicely but slowly) is very difficult so you will have to wait a while longer for a more recent update...

(Here is last Wednesday's post)

We have arrived in Bakersfield, California.  It was a busy week several days of travel which was interesting after having been stationary for five weeks.  Although we were very happy with the RV park we stayed in near Sacramento, we were all ready to move on.  It's so interesting to be at the place in our ministry where moving regularly feels more normal than staying put.  A few days before we left Noah asked Josh, "Dad, when are we leaving here."  Josh asked him why he wanted to know and his response was, "I just feel like it's time to move on." :)  This blessed me heart.  My boys have grown comfortable with our weird life and that makes this mommy so happy!

During our time of moving three times in the past week and a half, we had the blessing of sharing at a few new churches that we are excited to partner with in ministry in the future.  We also enjoyed some beautiful drives and an afternoon in Sequoia National Park, even seeing the largest tree (by mass) in the world.

 

 

Lately I have been reading 1 Thessalonians for my personal devotions and found myself churning for days on 1 Thess. 2: 3-9

 

References for 1 Thessalonians 2:2

• Cross References

• 3 2:2 - Ac 14:19 ; 16:22 ; Php 1:30
• 4 2:2 - S Ac 16:12
• 5 2:2 - Ac 17:1-9

3 For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives,⁶ nor are we trying to trick you.⁷

References for 1 Thessalonians 2:3

• Cross References

• 6 2:3 - 2Co 2:17
• 7 2:3 - 2Co 4:2

4 On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.⁸ We are not trying to please men⁹ but God, who tests our hearts.¹⁰

References for 1 Thessalonians 2:4

• Cross References

• 8 2:4 - Gal 2:7 ; 1Ti 1:11
• 9 2:4 - S Ro 2:29 ; Gal 1:10
• 10 2:4 - S Rev 2:23

5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed¹¹--God is our witness.¹²

References for 1 Thessalonians 2:5

• Cross References

• 11 2:5 - S Ac 20:33
• 12 2:5 - ver 10; S Ro 1:9

6 We were not looking for praise from men,¹³ not from you or anyone else. As apostles¹⁴ of Christ we could have been a burden to you,¹⁵

References for 1 Thessalonians 2:6

• Cross References

• 13 2:6 - Jn 5:41,44
• 14 2:6 - 1Co 9:1,2
• 15 2:6 - 2Co 11:7-11

7 but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.¹⁶

References for 1 Thessalonians 2:7

• Cross References

• 16 2:7 - S ver 11

8 We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God¹⁷ but our lives as well,¹⁸ because you had become so dear to us.

References for 1 Thessalonians 2:8

• Cross References

• 17 2:8 - S Ro 1:1
• 18 2:8 - 2Co 12:15 ; 1Jn 3:16

9 Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked¹⁹ night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone²⁰ while we preached the gospel of God to you.

References for 1 Thessalonians 2:9

• Cross References

• 19 2:9 - S Ac 18:3
• 20 2:9 - S 2Co 11:9 ; 2Th 3:8

 

 

I am working on memorizing these verses and have been praying them often.  This is the heart I desire to have in ministry.  I know this ministry God has called us to is a privilege.  It is his work we are doing and I want not just my actions, but also my heart, my motives, my thoughts, my attitudes to always be like that of Christ - sacrificing everything for the growth of the Kingdom.