The school year is winding down and it is such a huge relief. We've not been able to catch our breath for a couple of weeks now - going to bed late, getting up feeling exhausted...
This morning I finished up grading research papers and submitted another newspaper article. Now I just have one last test to give - tomorrow morning - and all the final exams to grade (which will be a snap compared to all those research papers). Of course there are all the end of the year details to address, also, like accounting for all the text books and cleaning a year's worth of accumulated papers from my shelves and drawers. I also need to leave all of my curriculum and resources in a state where someone else can pick them up and run with them IF I am not here in the fall. I would not want to leave that task until later in the summer.
Three priorities face Melissa and me as we find ourselves soon out from under the "9 to 5":
1) Get back on track with funding. We haven't made any contacts or scheduled any meetings for a couple of weeks now. Summer should be a good time to offer fill-in time on Sunday mornings for local pastors, but I haven't made any calls yet for that either.
2) Get repairs finished on the house and get it on the rental market or sold. Melissa and I keep vacillating on the whole Rent/Sell question. Renting would be quicker - we're pretty sure we could fill the house within a week if needed. But selling would take the whole issue away and we'd be done with it - if only we could get a decent asking price. (Either way, I have to deal with the dreaded pool clean-up. Nastiest. Job. Ever. Of course, it wouldn't be so bad if I ever figured out how to properly winterize a pool...)
3) Get our family to Seattle. Just one week from today (Oh my!), we'll be flying the entire family out to my brother's house in Seattle for my nephew's high school graduation. We will be there for a week and then be heading back to Indiana by rental vehicle - passing through Yellowstone Park, South Dakota, and Iowa. We hope to make the trip a combination of visiting family, sightseeing, and fundraising, but each is going to take a bit more planning to make happen!
Therefore Having Gone
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Update for Mid May
It's Mother's Day and I did my best - given the circumstances - to let Melissa know how much she is appreciated by all of us. The kids are getting old enough that they are actually taking responsibility for finding their own gifts for Mommy - and even paying for them out of their own pockets. (Praise the Lord!) We had a great steak dinner and Melissa's brother, Randy, and his family were here as well to celebrate with Grandma Trudy.
Life is a bit too busy in general right now. I have never been one of those who complain about busy-ness while seemingly taking great pride IN that busy-ness. Here's some of what's been going on/coming up. Melissa and I would appreciate prayer as we try to strike a balance:
* Missed school last Friday to take part in a funeral. My friend Luke was only 31 and went much too early. I have been praying for his mother especially today. Unless someone passes away in his sleep at the age of 99, most deaths are a rough business. But this one in particular was tragic. I loved Luke like a younger brother - I still can't believe he's gone. I can't write more about him without it turning into a book, and I don't have the time to write a book because ...
* Tomorrow starts our final full week of school. We have class all this week and then Monday of next week and then finish with three days of finals. Then freedom. Before freedom comes the grading of about 50 research papers still. (The grading got put on hold while Luke was in the hospital.) I just need to get the papers graded before the final exam grading begins!
* As soon as school is out, we'll have a few days to get some work done on the house. I guess we are thinking right now that we will be renting it out again, but there remains still quite a bit of work to be done before someone can move in: sanding, cleaning, yardwork ... THE POOL. Every weekend, Melissa and I talk about going to the house to work and then ... other stuff comes up. But we have to get it ready to rent by the end of May because then we will be leaving for ...
* My nephew's graduation in Seattle. We have never been out to Seattle to visit my brother Ryan's family and so decided to take this opportunity, since it is not likely we will have a similar chance to travel to the Northwest over the next few years. So we are flying out as a family and then driving back. Yes... DRIVING back ... 2,400 miles or so. Our intention is to present about Haiti whenever we get the chance along the way, all while doing some sightseeing. We're especially looking forward to seeing Yellowstone Park. And we're also hoping to see the highlights of South Dakota and some family there. (Which reminds me... I need to call them...) Also, we plan to swing through Iowa again.
* On the bright side, something has been taken off our plate - for now. We were anticipating spending all of July in Greenwood at OMS Headquarters for Cross Cultural Training. We wanted to get it in because it is only offered twice a year: July and January. Since we've come to the conclusion that we won't be able to get to Haiti full time by August like we had originally hoped, we definitely want to get there early in January for the start of the second semester. But now we're being told that the Cross Training is being reformulated, so we don't have to worry about being in Greenwood all summer, but that we won't have to stick around in January for it. We'll maybe get it in bits and pieces or over the internet or something. Anyway, that's a great chunk of time that is now open for funding work (and maybe a bit of relaxing along the way!).
* Which is good, because if we are stuck here in the States for a few more months, Melissa will be starting a new calendar at her school, with the new year starting August 2nd! The plan right now is that PROBABLY Melissa will be continuing on at her school and all four kids will be going with her. Meanwhile, I will PROBABLY be resigning my position so that I can concentrate all my efforts on fundraising. It is really frustrating not being able to leave for Haiti this August. I was just tonight reading a blog posted by Angie Bundy, wife of the Haiti field director, Brett, and the principal of the school where Melissa and I intend to teach. At one point she was lamenting our delay a bit - and it just made me want to go buy an airplane ticket right now and go!
* Speaking of funding, we've seen some great progress there - as well as some much-needed encouragement. One of the highlights recently has been the folks at Grundy Center United Methodist Church in Iowa. Apparently, they consider us 'their missionaries" and we are overjoyed to claim them as our supporters in ministry to Haiti. I will have to write more about them when I have the time. Right now, I need to get to bed so I can at least start this week well rested.
We would appreciate any prayers you can lift on our behalf. Let us know what we can be praying for you, too!
Life is a bit too busy in general right now. I have never been one of those who complain about busy-ness while seemingly taking great pride IN that busy-ness. Here's some of what's been going on/coming up. Melissa and I would appreciate prayer as we try to strike a balance:
* Missed school last Friday to take part in a funeral. My friend Luke was only 31 and went much too early. I have been praying for his mother especially today. Unless someone passes away in his sleep at the age of 99, most deaths are a rough business. But this one in particular was tragic. I loved Luke like a younger brother - I still can't believe he's gone. I can't write more about him without it turning into a book, and I don't have the time to write a book because ...
* Tomorrow starts our final full week of school. We have class all this week and then Monday of next week and then finish with three days of finals. Then freedom. Before freedom comes the grading of about 50 research papers still. (The grading got put on hold while Luke was in the hospital.) I just need to get the papers graded before the final exam grading begins!
* As soon as school is out, we'll have a few days to get some work done on the house. I guess we are thinking right now that we will be renting it out again, but there remains still quite a bit of work to be done before someone can move in: sanding, cleaning, yardwork ... THE POOL. Every weekend, Melissa and I talk about going to the house to work and then ... other stuff comes up. But we have to get it ready to rent by the end of May because then we will be leaving for ...
* My nephew's graduation in Seattle. We have never been out to Seattle to visit my brother Ryan's family and so decided to take this opportunity, since it is not likely we will have a similar chance to travel to the Northwest over the next few years. So we are flying out as a family and then driving back. Yes... DRIVING back ... 2,400 miles or so. Our intention is to present about Haiti whenever we get the chance along the way, all while doing some sightseeing. We're especially looking forward to seeing Yellowstone Park. And we're also hoping to see the highlights of South Dakota and some family there. (Which reminds me... I need to call them...) Also, we plan to swing through Iowa again.
* On the bright side, something has been taken off our plate - for now. We were anticipating spending all of July in Greenwood at OMS Headquarters for Cross Cultural Training. We wanted to get it in because it is only offered twice a year: July and January. Since we've come to the conclusion that we won't be able to get to Haiti full time by August like we had originally hoped, we definitely want to get there early in January for the start of the second semester. But now we're being told that the Cross Training is being reformulated, so we don't have to worry about being in Greenwood all summer, but that we won't have to stick around in January for it. We'll maybe get it in bits and pieces or over the internet or something. Anyway, that's a great chunk of time that is now open for funding work (and maybe a bit of relaxing along the way!).
* Which is good, because if we are stuck here in the States for a few more months, Melissa will be starting a new calendar at her school, with the new year starting August 2nd! The plan right now is that PROBABLY Melissa will be continuing on at her school and all four kids will be going with her. Meanwhile, I will PROBABLY be resigning my position so that I can concentrate all my efforts on fundraising. It is really frustrating not being able to leave for Haiti this August. I was just tonight reading a blog posted by Angie Bundy, wife of the Haiti field director, Brett, and the principal of the school where Melissa and I intend to teach. At one point she was lamenting our delay a bit - and it just made me want to go buy an airplane ticket right now and go!
* Speaking of funding, we've seen some great progress there - as well as some much-needed encouragement. One of the highlights recently has been the folks at Grundy Center United Methodist Church in Iowa. Apparently, they consider us 'their missionaries" and we are overjoyed to claim them as our supporters in ministry to Haiti. I will have to write more about them when I have the time. Right now, I need to get to bed so I can at least start this week well rested.
We would appreciate any prayers you can lift on our behalf. Let us know what we can be praying for you, too!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Time Out!
Do you remember playing games with siblings or classmates or neighborhood kids and having that amazing power at any time to put your two hands together in the shape of a "T" and shout, "Time out!" to stop the game?
As long as you didn't overuse or abuse it, the "Time out!" was all it took to bring the game to a grinding halt. Then, nothing else bad could happen - you couldn't be "tagged" or "out" or "it". (But nothing else good could happen either: if you made a move towards winning the game after you called the time out, then you were a cheater - scorned by all the other players. And what you accomplished didn't count anyway, so just stop cheating!)
But a properly used time out gave you time to catch your breath. Or tie your shoe so you wouldn't trip over it. Or run inside to the bathroom.
Of course the most gallant use of the "Time out" was when you called one on behalf of a teammate who had fallen. The game itself lost all importance while you gathered around the injured friend. If it was bad enough, nobody even suggested restarting the game. Somebody had to go get an Adult.
I have to tell you, right now I just want to call a big old, indefinite "Time out" on life. And it's not because I'm losing the game. There's so much good at the moment, but things are moving so fast I can hardly absorb the full impact of God's blessings. I am having trouble keeping up on writing Thank You notes!
So I've been wanting to call "Time out" to catch my breath for a few weeks, and now all of a sudden a teammate has fallen. And it's not a scratch and it's not a "shake it off" moment. It's bad. And in my head I've spent the week desperately screaming "Time out!"
Sorry to be so cryptic, but circumstances and my own scrambled emotions prevent me from being more forthcoming. Suffice it to say I've got a friend who is down and needs the Lord's help and I humbly ask for your prayers for him and his family.
There's need of a miracle. Actually ... several miracles. That's what I'm praying for.
"Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up." Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
As long as you didn't overuse or abuse it, the "Time out!" was all it took to bring the game to a grinding halt. Then, nothing else bad could happen - you couldn't be "tagged" or "out" or "it". (But nothing else good could happen either: if you made a move towards winning the game after you called the time out, then you were a cheater - scorned by all the other players. And what you accomplished didn't count anyway, so just stop cheating!)
But a properly used time out gave you time to catch your breath. Or tie your shoe so you wouldn't trip over it. Or run inside to the bathroom.
Of course the most gallant use of the "Time out" was when you called one on behalf of a teammate who had fallen. The game itself lost all importance while you gathered around the injured friend. If it was bad enough, nobody even suggested restarting the game. Somebody had to go get an Adult.
I have to tell you, right now I just want to call a big old, indefinite "Time out" on life. And it's not because I'm losing the game. There's so much good at the moment, but things are moving so fast I can hardly absorb the full impact of God's blessings. I am having trouble keeping up on writing Thank You notes!
So I've been wanting to call "Time out" to catch my breath for a few weeks, and now all of a sudden a teammate has fallen. And it's not a scratch and it's not a "shake it off" moment. It's bad. And in my head I've spent the week desperately screaming "Time out!"
Sorry to be so cryptic, but circumstances and my own scrambled emotions prevent me from being more forthcoming. Suffice it to say I've got a friend who is down and needs the Lord's help and I humbly ask for your prayers for him and his family.
There's need of a miracle. Actually ... several miracles. That's what I'm praying for.
"Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up." Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
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