Cultivating Childhood

Our time in Seattle is nearing an end.  As I think about what drives the motivation behind our move, I've also been struck by the many reasons why we could stay.  These last few weeks have been/will be more emotional for me than I usually am, but I'm trying to allow myself to feel that since I believe that this is a good place to be mentally as I process the transition. We attend a wonderful church We attend the North campus of Bethany Community Church in Seattle.  This church has really shaped and formed our hearts for God, and we have been blessed to be a part of its ministry.  It will be hard to leave this community of faith.  Our church also has a lot of wonderful ministries that it supports including Tabitha Ministries and YoungLives.  If we stayed, this is something that we could be more a part of. We have some great friends There are some amazing moms that I get to hang out with on a regular basis.  They are the unsung heroes of this generation who are raising the

Our trip back from Mae Sot was beautiful.  Aaron took us back in his car since he had to go to Chiang Mai anyway.  I was amazed at some of the beauty I somehow missed on the way there that I was able to witness on the way back. A village on a river Transporting an elephant. Unfortunately, I somehow contacted a virus from either food poisoning or some other way, and ended up being extremely sick that evening - like more sick than I can ever remember in my life.  I kind of want to forget most of that though so I'll save you the ugly details.  Thankfully, I was mostly better the next day, and at least fully functional.  I even tried eating again, and had some more amazing Thai food. Pineapple Fried Rice at the Night Bazaar I was so glad I was feeling better the next day because we went to go visit Partners Relief and Development that day.  We had sort of met some people who work for Partners in Mae Sot at the house church we went to, but it was good to talk to some

After our whirlwind of a first day in Thailand, we were ready to begin our mission in earnest.  Our goal for this overseas trip was to visit three organizations - all of whom work closely with the situation that is going on in Burma/Myanmar in unique ways.  We were hoping to find where God might be leading us.  The first place we went to visit was The Charis Project in Mae Sot on the Thai/Burma border. Using the tickets we had purchased the day before, we got on the Green Bus and proceeded on the 6 hour ride to the border from Chiang Mai.  The view from the road was gorgeous, and it was wonderful seeing this part of the country that we wouldn't have otherwise seen. Thai Jungle Shaky pictures from the bus really don't do it justice. We were greeted at the bus station by Aaron, the founder of The Charis Project.  We were blessed to stay with him and his family for the next few days.  Aaron Blue and his wife, Carrien, are doing some amazing work in Mae Sot and the

We went to Thailand last month.  It already seems like it happened ages ago, and I feel like we've come home different people. We began our trip in California where we left the boys with my parents for the almost two weeks.  We don't have much pictures of them from these weeks, but we know that they had a fabulous time with their grandparents.  They went to the fair, the beach, swimming at their great-grandparents pool, parks, and even a Gas and Steam Engine Museum.  They knew what was in store for them, so they were eager to have mom and dad go!  My parents were great, and I'm glad they got that time with them. We had a great flight going to Chiang Mai.  Phil's parents drove us from my parent's home in San Diego up to the Biola area where we had a nice dinner with some of our close college friends.  Then, our good friend Luke drove us to LAX so we could catch our almost midnight flight to Hong Kong.  The flight was about 14 hours long, and I spent most of my ti

Stories are dangerous.  They shape and change us.  Their words make us into who we are. My kids love stories.  They love it when I make up stories about them or read them books.  N seems to especially always have his nose in a book.  These books and stories will shape who they will become.  It is my job to make sure that they are surrounded by the best books there are in hopes that their thoughts will be formed by good character. But I also think of my own stories.  So many stories.  The stories that shaped my childhood.  I wasn't much of a reader as a kid, but I grew up hearing about the five missionaries who were killed in Ecuador and how instead of losing hope, their families went again and brought the Auca/Waorani tribe to faith in Jesus.  This story was personal as my dad grew up in Ecuador and was friends with the children of these missionary heroes. I think of my godly heritage.  My great-grandfather was a pastor and an evangelist.  My grandparents were missionaries fo

I know people are eager to hear about our Thailand trip this last month, but in an attempt to keep this blog chronological, I'm going to begin with the first half of the month first. Our big news is that we no longer have preschoolers in the house!  My baby graduated from Westgate preschool and will be joining his big brother in our homeschool next year (not that he's already had a pseudo-Kindergarten year already just by osmosis).  We just loved Miss Kimi and Miss Debi these last two years, and we are sad to say good-bye.  Z grew so much this last year in confidence and ability to handle new situations.  We are so happy for him. With Teacher Kimi With Teacher Debi We also earnestly began to purge our belongings and had our first yard sale this season.  It was a lot of work, but I'm glad I was able to get some things organized and GONE.  We'll probably do one or two more this summer. Every summer the local beaches host low-tide walks with beach na