We finally have our Bolivian work visas in hand and our
airplane tickets rebooked. We are
scheduled to fly out of Helena, Montana on Monday, February 25th, at
7 am. While our first tickets read January 23rd, the delay has
brought many added blessings, bumps, and the occasional bright spot in the
month of waiting. Here’s a run down of
our last month:
·
Host families: We had rented our house out as of January
1. So we’ve had two rounds of host
families, the Connollys and the Garrisons, plus a quick trip to see the Bays of
Kalispell and the grandparents on the ranch in central Montana. We could not have asked for more cheerful
families to show us kindness to us during this somewhat awkward time. (We often found ourselves answering the same question many times a day... “What! You’re still
here?!?”)
·
School: We had taken both the kids out of school, and
were not able to reenroll Kellton in his former elementary school. Not wanting our Kindergartener to miss too
much school (read Mommy wants to uh, share his inexhaustible questions with the
world) we put him in Montana City School.
Then surprise! He was assigned the Kindergarten teacher he
had reading lessons with this summer.
God had a good trick up His sleeve.
·
Home: We have all learned new things during this
season. For me, the phrase, “heaven is
my home” has often come to mind. Moving
out of “our house” (it’s God’s anyways, on loan to us), living in various other
peoples’ homes, has made me really long for something a bit more permanent. I
have been a broken record hounding the kids to be careful as we try and not
glue, paint, sticker others’ homes. However again and again, God has brought the
truth to my mind that this world is not our forever home.
·
Health: I think our family set a record for length of
time with colds, and the number of people we could infect. We got the Flynns, Connollys, grandma, great
grandpa, all jokingly citing us as patient zero. So slogging through illness has created an
increased need in each of us to show a bit more grace and patience. If only we were as potent to “infect” others
with the spirit and love of Christ.
So we still need to pack/acquire/find a few more things, but for
the most part, we are ready to leave for Cochabamba, Bolivia. We hope you’ll follow our updates each step
and pray for the upcoming new culture/language/ housing hurdles. And let us know how we can cheer you on and pray for you as well.
