In the past two weeks I finished my work at Lutheran Social Service, spoke at area churches with Kirk, completed our packing for Haiti, attended the funeral for the father of a dear friend, left on a family vacation with the Vander Pol clan to St. Louis, stopped on our way home from St. Louis to load the shipping container in Orange City, hung out with the Vande Lune's for the afternoon, picked up my brother's kids in Sioux Center to bring to Prinsburg (whom we have not seen in a year while they were in England), and returned home. Whew! We now need to focus on finishing packing for storage and selling the house! We hope to buy plane tickets this week and then have a final date for departure!
Fund-raising efforts are going well. Currently we are at about $35,000 of the $50,000 we need! Praise God for his provision! It remains scary and exciting to trust Him in delivering just what we need at just the right time...
In all the busyness there have been so many blessings! I'd like to recount just a few because I really am so grateful even though the blessings are whizzing by in the chaos of our day to day.
Friends and strangers alike continue to offer words of encouragement and offers for prayer when they ask about our on-going plans. We've also had offers for meals and childcare, and "how can I help". It remains an encouragement to experience the love of Christ in such a tangible way!
Our small group got together two week ago and surprised us with a HUGE tote of favorite foods and snacks to send on the shipping container! There were a few tears as the realization sets in that we are actually moving on, and leaving behind really great friends and supports. I also am aware of how hard it is to be losing friends over and over again, especially for those who remain anchors in our church family -- people who continue to risk friendship with those who end up being called elsewhere. It's not an easy thing to be the one who always stays and remains the stable force. We are really grateful for these kinds of friends and what they have put into our lives. They have been, and are such a blessing to us, and we'll really miss our times of laughter, tears, and prayer.
My mom has begun to voice how hard it is going to be for us to leave. We've been neighbors for a number of years now and the comfort of availability is about to disappear. They boys have popped in for tea (or milk or eggs or pancake syrup or whatever we're out of), climbed their trees, and dug trenches in thier yard for years, so she's going to miss us, and we're going to miss her and my dad, tremendously. So we drowned our sorrows in some therapeutic shopping with mom footing the bill. Hey, I'm a therapist -- I charge by the hour. Ha Ha Ha! : ) I'm making it out to be a little more exciting that it was since it was basically $300 worth of toiletries, bug spray, and "last minute" items to get on the shipping container, but it was really a gift to be able to stock up on things ahead of time and get them sent in the container instead of sent a more expensive way.
Another blessing was my Aunt Jewel's willingness to re-cover some couch cushions. We didn't send the couch because it was too worn, but I thought the cushions could still be useful so I enlisted her help in redoing them. She jumped right in offering up her upholstery fabric and batting and did it all without charging me a dime. Two days and many hours later I have beautiful new cushions with some extra pillows to make a couch with when we get to Haiti. She does beautiful work and has a generous heart.
Friends gave us a moving kit they bought and ended up not using. I think of them EVERY time I assemble a new box. How helpful it has been to have uniform size boxes!
Another friend not only offered me her farm produce but picked and delivered it when I was too swamped with out jobs!
Then there are the donations that have been rolling in! We've had someone come up to Kirk saying he could only give $20/month and "since it's not very much and he's on a fixed income, would that be enough to bother giving?" Yes! That is extremely generous!!! Humbled!!! There have been family members who have written checks with meaningful words of encouragement and church and community members who have jumped in with support. To God be the Glory! We've also had a couple of businesses commit to on-going support because they chose to give charitably from their business profits and like what they see happening with us at Children of the Promise. We're really grateful for all of these. We know in each case, the dollars really belong to the Lord and the gifts are given out of obedience to God's management of resources. We are really thankful to be witnessing up close how his resources bless and move others. It's a gift to be seeing it so personally!
Two weeks ago when we were gathering final items for the container, I came up with a short list of things that would be nice to pack. Not needs, but wants. Someone encouraged me just to put the items out there on facebook so others could know how to help, so I did. One of my small group friends responded almost immediately to give me her mixer and brought it right over. She later offered to buy me a brand new one, as did others, but I just wanted a mixer - new was not necessary! Someone I have only recently met on fb due to our common adoption experience offered to send me a new set of Corelle to go with my older set. She ordered them and sent them that same day and I was able to include them in the packing! New 2 You also made donations of silverware and dishes -- all things to make our time in Haiti more comfortable. How amazing to be blessed and cared for by the family of God!
I really hope I am not forgetting anyone because I have been so thankful for the many ways God is using others to make this Haiti time happen.
Wait! I am forgetting someone(s)!!! Evan TeBrake has spent weeks organizing donations from the Willmar area to be shipped on the container, and no small fish, either! He made the contacts and arrangements and picked up a load of plywood, a Bobcat, and more! He's just going into 11th grade, but has the heart and work ethic of a grown man. Then to top it off, he and Nick Daugherty picked up our packed boxes while we were on vacation, drove them to Orange City, helped stage and then load the container. Those are some amazing boys, and I've been so blessed by them.
BTW young ladies, just a heads up: these are the kind of young men you should be watching for marriage partners. I cannot speak to thier popularity or sports prowess but I can say they are the kind of dependable, hard working, smart, funny, God-seeking fellows you'd be lucky to snag some day. You've got a few years before their through school and ready for the marriage scene, but don't say I didn't tell you so if you let them get away!!!
I'm getting a little better at asking for things that can bless my family as we seek to serve the Lord in Haiti, so I was hoping I could ask for prayer for a few things are we come into the final month of preparations.
- Pray that we will remain in good physical and mental health as we prepare for the move.
- Pray that our house sells to the person/people God wishes to bless in this home.
- Pray that God will be preparing new friends for us and especially for our boys, in Haiti.
- Pray that God will plan excitement in the hearts of our boys, despite their sadness at leaving familiar friends, family, and surroundings.
- Pray for our daughters as we'll soon be a family and for that transition to go as smoothly as possible.
- Pray for our family and friends as they adjust to our newly defined relationships, as well.
 |
| Elijah by the shipping co |
 |
| The kids entertaining themselves with chairs waiting to be loaded. |
 |
| Packing the container. |
 |
| The work crew: Kirk, Evan, Nick, Robb, and Robb's Dad. |
