Clay Pots ~ The Past 6 Weeks

In the past 6 weeks we have slept in our own bed about 5 times. But we are grateful to be able to say that our suitcases are stored away for now and we plan on being home for awhile! In our last e-mail, we told you that we were going on a camping trip, and that our family would be taking time to try to deal with things that have happened to us as a family in the past few years. We talked about the highs and lows in the tribe and about our feelings and/or struggles concerning them. It was a much needed time in the quietness of nature to talk and pray. We made lists of all the good things that have happened in the past 4 years and all of the bad things. We asked God to help us focus on the good and to trust Him with the bad. It was a great time to get to understand our children and ourselves a little bit better. And we thank God for giving us seasons of refreshing, and the assurance that He will never leave us or forsake us.

The kids voiced that although they are loving the States, they are anxious and excited to return to home (the tribe) in a year’s time. Jason too is enjoying being here immensely, but misses his friends and desires to continue the task of discipleship. I, however, am still struggling with choosing contentment and joy when faced with returning to the tribe. Honestly and selfishly. I truly enjoy and love my culture here in the States. I love convenience, shopping, and lots of people speaking English! I love not being watched through my windows. I love wearing pants and jewelry. I love being clean and wearing new clothes. I love my husband not having to be pulled in a million different directions. I love being able to know when I go outside I won't be followed and touched. I love having a doctor and dentist to take my kids to. I love running out of groceries and running to the store at any time I want to. And I love going on a date with my husband and having the chance to actually miss my kids!

So can you pray for me? Pray that I will trust God to give me the grace and strength when I need it. Pray that I will enjoy this year instead of getting anxious when I think of having to go back. I can say without a doubt that I know God wants us to go back to the tribe and finish well, but I don’t want to go back and just survive… I want to thrive.

Thank you for being gracious with us as we have been traveling, healing, and ignoring e-mails. We felt that we needed to take this summer to re-gain our footing. And we are excited as fall approaches (what happened to the summer?!) in order to be more involved in your lives!

Here are some of the highlights of the past 6 weeks that we thought you might enjoy seeing…

We got the incredible privilege to attend the wedding of our friends in Northern Ireland, Tim and Vivienne (Eakin) Price, and while there we celebrated our 11th Wedding Anniversary with a stopover in Paris!

Malachi’s 4th Birthday!

Getting to spend a weekend with Uncle Jonathan (who isn’t very good at arm wrestling)

When we went camping all the kids were sooo excited to see their machetes again and be able to do what they miss the most….climb trees, cut trees, and make fires

More fishing of course

We got to go to the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) show in Oshkosh, the biggest air show in the world! Our to-be-pilot, Micah, was in awe of everything. There was a plane landing or taking off every 8 seconds!!