Procrastination and Forgetfulness Strike Again

You like how I wrote all about Gabriel but never made it back to talk about the other three at all? It's like that old joke about how the 3rd kid (and beyond) have no baby book or photos, but in reverse. Oh well. They're all great. I would write, "someday soon I'll come back and do new write-ups on all four" but I think we all know that won't happen.

If by chance there is anyone reading who is not also on facebook or hasn't talked to me in some other way... I'm going back to school, which adds a whole new element of insanity to our home. It's all online, and everything is due every Monday at midnight (with the exception of some short writing assignments due on Wednesdays). So basically, every Monday the kids fend for themselves while I work really fast, usually turning the last of the assignments in by around 11:57.

Rather than waste space blabbering on and on in my typical fashion, I'll just direct you over to Michael's blog for the latest news: http://thethorninmyside.blogspot.com/ You'll see that he's not nearly as long-winded as I am. And in a nutshell, you'll also see that he's getting out of the Army ASAP and we'll do long term missions instead. We have no clue when "ASAP" will be, but are really hoping it's not the full 3.5 yrs that he's technically obligated to at the moment. There are a few possible (legal! ethical!) ways out of that, but it will take a little time to figure it all out. We also have no clue exactly when or where or specifically what, will be next. "Missions" is a pretty broad term. US-based or international? Through the Southern Baptists (being raised in the SB church, it's what is most familiar to me, so I automatically think of it) or some other organization? Starting immediately after the Army with no gaps (unlikely) or later? How much later? All of those are great big unknowns. We're trusting that God's got some big plans and he'll sort it all out and reveal it to us. Well, actually, I assume he's already got it all sorted out. It's not like he's sitting up there going, "hmm... now, how are we going to do this?"

Here, I'll delve into the theological side for a moment. After all, I'm currently taking "Survey of Bibical Literature" so I feel qualified. While I know that God has it all figured out, I know some of it is up to us, too. The most obvious example is the Israelites wandering in the desert. It's not like God was just moving that Shekinah Glory all around because he was lost out there. They were continually screwing up, so he continually kept them out there. Moses screwed up, guaranteeing that he'd never set foot in the Promised Land. I mean, look how many amazing things he did in the years prior, but that one mistake kept the whole nation from entering the land.
I am so thankful that we're under the New Covenant these days. For one thing, if we all still had to sacrifice animals to pay for our sins, I think there might be a few more extinct animals! For real though, that is just one of many examples of how people's stupidity has kept them from receiving blessings. All of which leads me to some specific prayer requests. I've had a few people ask if there was anything specific, so I've been thinking about it for a couple days.

In no particular order:
*that we can stay focused on using our time between now and whenever, wisely. I've thought many times in the (fairly recent) past, "man, I keep praying for God to show me some ministry opportunities, but I just don't feel like it's happening!" And I can't remember now where in the Bible I was reading (or reading about... see Bib Lit class) but it occurred to me that if I'm not focused on glorifying God with the responsibilities He's already blessed me with (a home, children) and I'm not doing anything to minister to others who are even in my own neighborhood, then why would he give me even more!? If He can't trust me with the "little" jobs, then He's not going to give me more. So I've really been trying to make some changes, even in the past few months, not just in the last couple weeks, to correct that. As for Michael, I certainly can't speak for him, but I know for sure he wants/needs to get some seminary knocked out. As much as he can until whenever the "asap" time comes. It is so hard (believe me I know now!) to fit in school work with everything else going on. So, yeah, pray that we can fill this next phase of our life with giving our all, all the time. Even in the little things. (I mean, lets be real, does anyone WANT to wander in the desert?)

*Wisdom in communication with the kids. Let this also serve as a reminder - as of right now, all the kids know is that we're not moving anywhere this spring and Michael isn't going into Civil Affairs anymore. They don't know why. I see no reason to put them on a roller coaster ride that could last nearly 4 years. There's too much uncertainty. Once things get confirmed, we'll share. But we know that as time goes by, there may be some things that are confirmed but still far off enough that they're better off not knowing. Or some that we may feel compelled to tell them about before it's firm. And I also just have to be really careful when I'm talking on the phone! (so if you call and ask questions and I'm vague, that's why.) This is also why I haven't put anything specific on facebook - Aaric has a FB account now, and when I log in as him and look at his newsfeed, it's mostly me. Apparently his preteen friends don't talk a lot. Or I do. whatever.

*Direction!!! As I said, we have no clue what the future holds. If you know me at all, you know that I always concern myself with sorting out all the details. There is currently nothing to sort, and it's making me twitch a little. No, really, I'm fine. But let me lay out what we do know: Most mission boards have a fairly long application process. Two years isn't at all uncommon. Our wild guess is that the fastest he can get out is 1 year. Math tells me that to minimize a gap in the job-flow, we should start that process like, yesterday. So direction is needed. Do we not get out truly as soon as possible, but delay so the timelines work out better? Which board/org do we go through? Where does God want us working!? We're up for about anything (please God, no frigid climates!) but right now we're clueless. Just figuring out or at least narrowing down, which to work through would be a huge relief to me.


I think those are the biggies for now. I'm honestly amazed that I'm not more obsessed with it. The usual me would already have a spreadsheet compiled, with a list of all the organizations that interest us, what specific ministries they have, whether they're funded or we'd have to raise support, other rules/limitations to consider, where in the world they send people, etc. This me just has an informal list bouncing around in my head. It's a little mind-boggling but I'm really trying to just not think about it too much. The details, that is. The general idea of it though, I think on that a lot. Over the past year or so, I've gradually been adding more blogs to my list of ones that I MUST read regularly. Missionary blogs.
I'll pass along a couple of my faves:

http://www.midwife4jesus.blogspot.com/ - Stephanie is a midwife missionary in South Sudan. October is bringing a huge baby boom in their clinic, and she could sure use your prayers! I first found her one day while daydreaming, and I found a school/ministry in the Philippines that is a US accredited midwifery school, but also trains the midwives to be missionaries. They operate a clinic and birth center there. After finding it, I searched around for more information on the school from other sources, and landed on Stephanie's blog. And then later forgot all about her. Until earlier this year when I reconnected with an old friend, and as I poked around on her website, I saw that she'd just gone on a mission trip to Sudan. To the clinic where Stephanie is!

www.theveryworstmissionary.com - Jamie and her husband are missionaries in Costa Rica (yes please!) Her tagline says, "Inappropriate remarks, embarrassing antics, and generally lame observations from a Christian missionary in Costa Rica." So let me just add this disclaimer - if some PG13 rated language is going to offend you, don't click there. I love her perspective, and she's hilarious. Her post on raising support was reassuring (oh good, it's not wrong that I dread the thought of that being what God has in store for us!) and terrifying (they need more money! which is what I'd already heard from others, but her hilarity softens that blow). We have this picture in our heads of what "missionaries" look like and I like that she shatters that. They don't have it all together all the time. They think rude things about people sometimes, too. They're HUMAN!

http://bohemianbowmans.com/ - I found Jessica when a friend posted a link to her blog a few months ago. She's a homeschooling mom, they're in limbo land in between the Air Force and missions. So again, reassuring (other people on this same path!) and terrifying (they've been in limbo-land for over 2 yrs!) Every week, she features a "Plank Pullin'" post. She wrote a book called "Parenting Wild Things: Embracing the Rumpus"