Straight From Our Kids

"What do your kids think about going to Bolivia?"  If I had a nickel for every time I'd been asked that...  Of course, if it was contingent upon having a good answer, I'd still be broke.  So I finally decided to interview the kids, and see what they had to say in response to a few basic questions.

Q:  What do you think about moving to Bolivia?

K: I would be kind of excited because our friends have a Wii.  Excited to learn to speak Spanish.  For 3 years I’m not as excited.

S: Good.  ‘Cuz a gato is in Bolivia.

Q: Do you know where Bolivia is?

K:  No.  Do you know where it is Dad?  (long pause) Somewhere around a city close to the Sun I think.

  

Q: Is there anything you’re afraid of?

K:  You wasting all your money getting a new house & furniture & especially the stove.

S:  Dan & Daryl are a "kinda-know" right now.

Q: What are you excited about?

K: Get to see Nana in Bolivia.  And Michelle.

S: Kitty.

Q: You met Dan & Daryl.  What do you think about meeting their kids?

K: I’m excited about that.

Q: What do you think I should ask?

K: Are you excited about moving into a new house?

        -I’m excited about that.  I hope it will be a bigger area around our house so we can blast off rockets.

 

Q: How long do you think it will take to get to Bolivia?

K: Like three days.

Q: If you could take just one thing with you, what would you take?

K: Puppy (his beany-baby dog)

S: Soft kitty, little kitty, & blue blankey.

K: Daddy, you should ask me if I’m excited about growing up.  When we come back, I’m excited to be 8, ‘cuz then I can do things on my own without my parents.

Mom: What do you want your new teacher in Bolivia to be like?

K: Kind of blond hair, like Mrs. S.

Q: Why are we going to Bolivia?

K: We’re going to be missionaries. Because you like helping others.

S: To speak Spanish.

Q: Is there anything else you want to tell me about Bolivia?

K: It's gonna be fun going on the plane.

S: I liked it when you guys were at Bolivia, and I was at Nana & Papa’s.

Q: Thanks for the interview.

K: Could you write down even more please?  How about I ask you questions about Bolivia.

Interviewing each other after we were done.

Unemployment... And Beyond!

I am unemployed.  And I have been reminded of this today by pretty much everyone I have run into!  In my case, this really is a good thing, as it is an indicator of our progress toward Bolivia.  However, I find myself struggling with a variety of insecurities, and trying to project a confidence and excitement about everything in our lives. 

The image I'm afraid others have in mind.

So yes, I’m excited about being able to focus on fundraising, packing our house up, getting it rented out, connecting with friends and family, and generally getting ready for our move to Bolivia.  But being the fiscally conservative person I am (read tight-wad), I can’t say that I am truly “excited” about living on savings for a couple of months.  At the same time, I am proud of the fact that we have been disciplined enough to set aside money that can be used during this time.  I’m excited about actually moving forward, but I’m also a little overwhelmed by the thought of packing up for three years, with a two suitcase per person limit.  And while you would think we would be used to it by now, and I am truly looking forward to seeing more of our friends and meeting new ones, I’m nervous about getting up in front of three more churches in the coming month, not to mention still scheduling 1-on-1 appointments, etc. 

One area that Dana & I have been 100% in agreement upon is our general excitement for our kids in getting to be a part of another culture, learn the language, and grow up knowing the world is large, but they still have an important part to play in that world.  But that doesn’t mean we don’t have some stresses around all of that too.  Kellton started Kindergarten this fall, and while he seems to be doing well, he struggles with change and adapting to new situations…  Not that he’ll have to deal with any of that in the coming year.  Stori is such a fun little girl, but she has a stubborn streak and a wild side that we know are going to challenge us at times.  But we love them both so much, and can’t help but be excited about this as a family.

Overall, I would describe our attitude as “tempered excitement” right now.  We are absolutely looking forward to this challenge.  Yet, I’m pretty sure there will be days we feel we made the worst decision ever.  The good news is, we are very confident that three years from now, we will be very glad we stepped out in faith.

Picture of the... year!

Congratulations to my little brother Brett and his wife Micki on the birth of their new twin girls!

Another perspective on Missions in Bolivia

Daryl Collins is one member of the missionary couple we are planning to join in Bolivia.  This is a great video to see a little of her fun, crazy personality, as well as a great insight into their willingness to break out of the box and do missions in a way that reaches people right where they are.  Enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/50089703?action=share

Sorry I can't get the video to show here, you'll have to follow the link.

Bless Sports Ministry Video

This is Hans Finzel, president of WorldVenture, with Ariel, who helped start Bless ministry in Bolivia.  This project is really taking off in Cochabamba, and has a lot of potential to impact the community.

News article about Bolivia

From the category of "Random Bolivia information" here is an article that was on the front page of NBCnews.com today about one of the national parks there:

"Bolivian Park Declared One of the Most Diverse Places on the Planet"

Beginnings and Endings

The past few weeks have contained many beginnings and ends:

Last and 10^th annual Masterpiece Theater at Intermountain.

• End of 13 years as Chaplain at Intermountain.
• Beginning of my confusion as to how to introduce myself.  Stay at home mom?  Unemployed?  Carpool driver? Or the über-cool title, missionary?
• End of blissful no rush mornings.  Jammies for kiddos at 10 am…no problem, no more.
• Beginning of school clothes laid out, double checking that the kids have actually brushed their teeth for over 9 seconds.
• End of quarterly search for our next babysitter for the kids while I work.
• Beginning of my helping Quinn more on raising funds to ship off for Bolivia.  

• End of 13 years of chapel service on Monday nights. So Mondays is reserved for praying for Intermountain.

First day of school.

It can be a struggle to begin and end well.  Case in point:   Kellton was physically peeled off me in front of his class Friday.  Poor guy, on day 2 of Kindergarten, he was so nervous he ran out of the classroom thinking he was going to vomit (he didn’t, but beginnings can be rough).  Astoria on the other hand, ended time as “mommy’s shadow” very well.  Her first day of Preschool, she asked me to leave (however I couldn’t as I was the mandated teacher’s helper).

As emotional as leaving Intermountain will be more for me in the coming weeks, I felt a certain undeniable blessing from one of the residential girls with whom I was the closest.  She was my right hand gal during our Easter service last spring, and had a lead role in our Masterpiece Theater production of the life of Joseph.  

No one gave me more or tighter hugs than this girl, and yet she said, “It’s good for you to go so you can help poor people in Bolivia.”  What more could I ask for in a sendoff?

Astoria's model for our housing in Bolivia.  
Note the 4 beds and "people" in the beds.

Intermountain planned several surprise thank yous, send off, and gifts.  I was tongue tied as I know Intermountain had given me more than I could certainly have repaid, professionally and personally.

And yet, that’s just like God.  He sends us His grace, that unmerited favor that we can never repay.  And He sends us out to begin a new life of faith, and end our destructive flirting with sin.  We begin and end in Him, from our very conception to the end of our days.  He's our beautiful beginning and end.