sick...

please pray for me. i have been fighting something since thursday. i've been drinking orange juice, sleeping a lot, drinking tea, drinking lots of water, all that jazz... but it's finally got me this thing called a cold. been taking day-quil and tonight for the first time i took nyquil. i have a test on tuesday this week and really with two weeks of school, this can't last long. i know that's such a strong word... can't... if God wills it, what can i do right? but i believe in prayer and that He does know what i need, so... i will go now to rest, but just thought i would throw it out there. please pray that this will be a really quick round of the cold.

two more weeks

my beautiful city... welcoming us back

bike rides

and boat rides...

we have been on the move even during transition. constantly doing something... in two weeks my class will be done and hopefully all the final details of the condo will be done too!! i pray that from then til i have to start school, we will be able to have a time to breath. i have been so thankful for counseling and the friends that watch A so that i may have this time. it is good that in the midst of hectic chaos, i could sit and talk about the issues of my heart. in two weeks, i hope to spend more time in quiet at the foot of Jesus and just enjoy HIM.

i have an hour between the time that i drop off A at camp and i go to class. i love that during this time i get to have a long deep intimate conversation with my Savior. who else could i go to than the one who gives me life? i think of how much i miss P, but at the same time so glad that i have an eternal husband who knows me much more than P or any other man/woman could know. i am in debt for this life that the Lord gives me and the breath He gives me and the opportunity to serve Him in ways that i find myself not worthy of.

i have recently finished reading the book of daniel and am struck by how i lack in prayer. daniel prayed 3 times a day to maintain his intimacy with his Lord, but not only that he prayed for his people... i mean he seriously prayed for his people and asked for forgiveness for their sins and was just a man of prayer. i have been convicted at how i need to be on my knees more. i know i have mentioned this before, but my favorite thing about P was that i would walk into his study and he would be on his knees in prayer. i'm not sure if this is appropriate, but i find nothing sexier in a man than when he is praying on his knees alone in a quiet place. i knew that he was so worth following and respecting as my husband because i knew he was going to the right place for his leadership. i want to build this family on prayer and pour out my soul to the one who knows before i even utter a word and who will hear!!

praise God...

1. for A's adjustment back here and her camp as i have been going school.

2. for a car, condo, and all the wonderful people that have been helping with the remodeling of our condo.

3. for friends and family.

4. for His goodness and faithfulness in our life.

5. for KB, a friend of ours, an old student of P's. she will be our nanny while i go to class. so excited that she lives so close and is willing to be a part of our lives in this capacity!!! thanks KB... we love you!!!!

please continue to pray for us...

1. as we transition. still going through some reverse culture shock and adjusting.

2. as we start school in a month, both A and i will be starting school.

3. as i look pray through what ministries the Lord would have me invest in as i start my life here in the states.

4. as i long to spend to more time in prayer... pray that i will pray more.

AWOL

i've been AWOL due to my life rapidly changing. funny how just a little over two months ago i was in a completely different season of life. now that we are moved into our condo, me in school A in day camp, still getting things settled here and there, and finishing a few things around the condo still yet. i bought a new computer and two weeks ago it started doing something funny, in which i thought i was the reason it was doing it, but i took it in two days ago and my brand new computer's ram drive or something is out. so it's in the shop for at least a week... so i haven't been able to do much on the blog.

i will try harder to keep updates here... sorry family and friends.

is sexy the new cute?

i just don't know what to do in this society that i feel that sexy is the new cute. clothes for little girls are a seductive and it's just crazy how i feel like they are even acting that way. no more cute overalls with pigtails. i went to the pool with A this weekend and i was floored at how many string bikinis were worn by the little girls and older women. now i am not trying to judge, this is not my intention at all, but ... so the situation that floored me was how these little girls even knew how to move their bodies...

i'm currently reading a book "bringing up girls" by james dobson. it is a scary task... our job as believing moral people to raise our children in such a sinful immoral world. how do i really raise my daughter to be a child of God in this world that teaches her other wise?

my daughter is starting camp at the park district tomorrow and i think about how much i need to be on my knees. not that i think anything will go bad, but i anticipate lots of questions from her from what she sees, experiences or hears. then i think about public schools and i just think, wow...

when i was teaching, we were supposed to teach about the different kinds of families... mom/dad, dad/dad, mom/mom, divorced parents... but when it came to doing holidays, we couldn't teach about the real reason for christmas, but it was okay to teach about kwanza and other holidays. that's the world... it's sad... and i am someone who grew up in the public school and think A will do well (i'm not against public school), but it is something i will definitely have to pray about day in and day out and constantly be on my knees about.

just something i have been thinking about these days and it's an overwhelming thing, letting our kids go and grow...

please pray for me and A as we start this new endeavor.

i passed!!!

yes i passed the test. i had to take this placement test so i only have to take one class not two in the summer and i passed!!! woo hoo party time. one thing off the check list!!

if all things go smoothly, i think I could be in our own place by mid week next week and be settled!!!

thanks for your prayers. please pray for smooth transitions and a start to summer school and fun!!!

PRAISE GOD!!!

What I like...

This weekend I was sick. The weather here has been kind of crazy... 90's one day 40's the next. "The air got in me" as the Indonesian would say and that's why I'm sick. :) I sure do miss that place... I can't believe it's been over a month since we left and started establishing our life here... Kind of crazy how time is going by so quickly.

Today we went on a bike ride in the forest preserve and I was reminded of our prayer requests when we left for Indonesia the first time. We asked so many people to pray for me because I do not do well in heat. I got sick on the bike ride and praise God that JM decided to come with us because I think I would have had some serious issues. I have serious problems with heat and on our bike ride, my body went into hyper hot mode and I felt sick. We probably stopped a couple few times for me to take a breather in the shade, dry heave/throw up or to pour water over myself to help cool down. It was kind of crazy, but as I was sick through this, I told JM how the whole time we were in Indonesia, I never had these heat issues. The Lord listened to everyone's prayers of me staying healthy from the heat while I was over there.

One thing that I'm really enjoying about being back in the states is the longer sun hours. In Indonesia we got the sun almost exactly 12 hours, 6am - 6pm. Tonight as I drove home I couldn't believe how bright and sunny it was. I told A that when we got home she had to go to bed and she said, "but it's not night time yet." ha ha... The sun makes me happy although too much of it makes me sick. :)

I know a lot of you out there are still wondering what I'm doing back or what my plans are and how we are going to survive, so I thought I would answer some of those questions tonight before I go to bed.

The Lord has been tugging at my heart toward counseling for a while now and I feel now is a great time for me to dive in and start what the Lord has planted in my heart and feel called at this particular time for this next chapter. As I have gone through counseling and still do go to counseling, I find such freedom in who I am in Christ and freedom from all the chains that satan tries to tie me up in. So my heart longs to be a part of people's process in becoming free from bondage, lies and hurts that are too deep to want to dive into.

Some have asked if I left because it was too hard there... That is not the sole purpose of me coming back, but I can't say that it did not have some pull into the decision. I have a lot of support here. My support was limited there. I do desire to find what the Lord has for ERP, not what E and P had. If the Lord leads me back to the work later, then I know that He's calling me and I'm not going to complete a certain task. I will be going to do God's will not finishing what P started... ERP needs to find herself in a sense.

I will be starting summer school June 13th. I have a class I need to take, I may even have to take two, so we'll see what happens. I pray that we will be able to move into our condo this weekend if not mid week next week. God has sent me a great family of believers that care deeply for me and have been helping me with this place. I pray and please pray with me that God will bless them all 100 fold...

My goal for the next years while I'm in school doing classes and internships is to be a student and a mom. I really want to work with what I have to be at home with A as much as I can. That may mean that we don't do a lot of what we used to do (like traveling and eating out) and cut some costs here and there, but I feel me being at home is so much more important than all those things that it's okay to live minimally if need be. I remember a friend from FL who helped with life insurance stuff e-mailing me and reminding me what P said as we were setting up the life insurance... "I want you to be taken care of if anything happens to me." And that's what he's doing... P's taking care of us even though he is not here.

It's been an adjustment coming back to the states and it will continue to be... I still catch myself looking for the gear to the car on the wrong side... I catch myself speaking the wrong language to people... it's kind of crazy and those are just the little things... Please continue to pray for us as we adjust and reconnect with people... We need to find our niche and A and E now...

We really appreciate everyone's love and prayers and continue to covet them in the weeks, months and years ahead of us.

financial supporters

all financial supporters please stop sending support. especially for those of you who do automatic payment. please do not send for the month of june.

thank you.