More Changes!!!

Well our computer has been down for about 3 weeks so updating my blog has been slow. We are hoping to get it back soon. We have also decided to buy a new one now rather than waiting until our current laptop totally dies and we are in a position to have to buy quickly.
This week has been filled with so many ups and downs and changes. A few weeks back we talked about buying a second house if we came across a really good deal. We figured we would move into that home and keep our current home as a rental property. We thought we were going to buy our friend's Mom house for a really cheap price. Then after our friend talked to his Mom again she decided she did not want to sell. Then we met with our friend Carl who is a financial advisor with his own practice. He invests, sells life insurance.... he asked Rob if he would like to come along with him and learn the business. Carl has been doing this for some time now and their business is very successful and they are getting to the point where they will not be able to handle all of their clients. Rob has always said that if we returned from the mission field he wanted to sell insurance.
Carl will pay for Rob to take the 5 day class in Indianapolis and then to take his test in order to get licensed. We feel like this is such an answer to prayer. We have known that Rob could not continue at the bakery since his body is taking a beating and he is in pain all the time. This new position does not feel like a "job" but something he could make into a career. He will continue to trade stocks and work on building that.
I'm ready for Rob to put his two week notice in at the bakery today - but we need to wait and be patient. The next class for his license is not until May 4th. So looks like he will have about 3 weeks or so at the bakery. We are putting buying a house on hold for now as well. We will see what God has in store......

Life....

We have been back in the US just over 6 months. I can't believe it has been that long already. There are times I feel like we just got back. Rob continues to work hard at the cookie factory. It is the most physically demanding job he has ever had. It's hard to see him be in physical pain because of how hard he is working every night. This week he will go another 7 days in row just to start off another week on Monday with another 7 days possibly.
I signed Abraham up for school yesterday. I am excited for him to start Kindergarten but as I was reading through the material they gave me I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. I guess it's that feeeling that my little guy is growing up and will be going to school. Then as I read the list of what I can do to help him prepare for Kindergarten I felt stressed. It seems as though the things he needs to know to prepare for Kindergarten are the things I thought he would learn in Kindergarten. Oh my! I'm sure I am worrying and he will be just fine. He is doing good with writing and recognizing the sounds of almost all the letters. He just does not know the names of most of the letters since I was emphazing the sounds and not the names. Again I am sure he will do fine but I want him to do great and have confidence in school.

His basketball season is about up. I'm glad he had this opportunity as it's been good for him to make friends and to interact with other adults. The other day in practice the coaches were sharing the gospel with the kids and they said a prayer that they told the kids if they wanted to day the prayer in their heart they could. After practice Abraham told me he said the prayer in his heart! He was really excited! I asked him if any of the other kids did and he said "I don't know I was not paying attention to them!" So I thought it was neat that he just chose to do that on his own without the pressure of Mom and Dad telling him to or the pressure of seeing other kids do it. Rob and I pray this is the beginning of a life following Jesus for him. He such a special kid.....

Ants in my Pants!!!

I have titled this post 'Ants in my Pants' because lately that is how I feel.  I have been having this "itch" to get into our house and into our own space.  I'm looking forward to painting and decorating and all those things you get to do when you move into a new place.  However, our renter is still at the house and even though she does not have a signed lease she has been a friend and we don't just want to throw her out.  She has 3 children....  So I spoke with her the other day about her plans and she would like to buy a house, however she needs to wait on a few things before that can happen.  So at this point we have decided that by June she will have a more concrete idea of what is happening and then she will either commit and sign another lease or she will be moving out. 

So for us it looks like we could possibly be moving (at the earliest) this fall.  This does not help my "itch" at all.  However, I know the Lord's timing is best and once again I am having to learn patience.

Patience takes forever!!!  As my niece Gabrielle said at the age of 5.

Changes

Well today Rob composed a letter to the Elders of our church in order to inform them we will be moving on.  This has been a difficult decision to come to.  As Rob gave his life to the Lord in that church back in 1991.  They were also our sending church for all the years we were on the field.  We were prayed for and nurtured through many of our relationships with other members while we were in Asia.  Since returning from China and knowing that this is a permanent move we have looked at all things differently.  We wondered if this where we should live, is this the house?  Is this the church we should go to?  What relationships should we try to rekindle?  Our perspective is so different now than before.  As we spent our 7 years being missionaries our sending church changed and leadership is almost completely different from 7 years ago.  We could only guess as to how these changes had affected the overall feel of the church as we were so far away.  Upon arrival back it seemed clear that the church had changed into something that just did not fit our family.  I fear sharing all this might make some think that we are bitter or upset at something the church did or that we think the church is bad.  This is not the case at all.  There remains many people there that we love.  And how they have changed is not bad just different than what we would choose as we are looking at settling in one place.

The whole idea of even having the option to change churches once a month if we wanted is a little disturbing to me.  I guess I say that since from being overseas many times the believers do not have that choice.  They meet with the other believers around them and that is that.

Rob and I were a part of a house church while in China and we loved that style.  We feel drawn to be a part of a house church again.  At this time we really do not know where God is going to lead us but if you think of it you can be praying for us.

sorry still no pictures - we don't have our computer all the way set up since getting it back and so no new pictures have been added.

Computer is saved!!!

Our computer's hard drive died recently and we thought we were going to have to buy an entire new computer.  However, they were able to replace the HD and now we are back up and running.  I am so relieved.  We had all of our info backed up on an external HD so now I need to bring the info to the computers HD.  So I don't have any pictures for you this time since I just got the computer back today and there are no pictures on it yet!

Basketball Kid

Abraham is playing 'Upward Basketball' and he is really liking it.  Upward is a nation wide organization that teaches kids sports but they also teach Christlike character.  So they will pray before the game and give the kids Bible verses to memorize.  The focus of the games is to have fun but also learn how to play the sport.  He is actually a bit too young to play but we did not realize this until we had already signed him up.  His first game he was so confused that he began to cry and ran to the sideline to be with Rob and I.  Todays game went much better.  He was smiling the whole time and you could tell he had a better understanding of the game.  It was fun to see him interacting with the other kids and making friends.

It's fun to see him in this stage of his childhood.  Learning to be independent yet needing Mommy and Daddy when he falls and gets hurt!  We are so thankful for our little guy.  With trying to get pregnant for so many years before him and now after him, I realize what a miracle he is over and over again.

Back in IN.

I'm back home in Indiana.  My poor husband has been working everyday since I left 11 days ago.  We are very grateful for his job especially since the economy is the way it is, but it's been difficult to see him be so tired and worn out.  The company policy is after you work 14 days you then get one day off.  However, once Rob asked his supervisor about that they said "well, we try to do that, but it doesn't always happen."  We were told before he took this job that they do not treat their people good, I only half believed that.  Now I can see it's true!

Here he is in his work uniform!

It was hard to say goodbye to my sister when I know she is still going through something so hard with her daughter being in the hospital still.  I told her I wished I could wrap something around her and Todd so they would not have to experience the emotional pain that is ahead as they watch Ashlyn go through rehab.  I guess that is how Jesus is - he wants to protect us but then there are things in life we just need to walk through and it hurts him when we have to experience pain.

I took this picture below of Ashlyn the day before I left.  She is now off all sedation drugs so we can see how she was affected by the injury in her brain.  It was heart breaking to see her unable to take a stick with a sponge at the end and put it in her mouth.  I know the nurses and everyone say that at rehab she can learn all that she has lost.  but watching her be at this stage is really difficult.