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A Healthy Paranoia

"I just bought this airplane on Ebay. It has incomplete maintenance records, something about repairing the rudder, but the paint looks nice. I need you tell me if it is airworthy so we can fly it home."
Thus began my fantastic afternoon. I broke out my stubby flat and phillips screwdrivers, inspection mirror, flashlight, and recalibrated my eyeballs.
To be fair, this was just a drill. The guys with Proclaim had "maintained" a Cessna 172 while I wasn't around. My challenge was to find what was wrong with it. It was a BLAST!
Despite how I choose to play guitar (just kind of improvise) when it comes to airplanes I do have an ... Attention to Detail side, apparently. Engineering had something to do with that. I found two pages of problems. I did miss some ... sigh! But it was a great challenge.
My favorite problem? The navigation light lenses were switched, so red was on the right wing, and green was on the left. Pretty tricky!
John told me the sense of paranoia I had because I knew something was wrong was something I should keep no matter what or when the situation is.
I better go. I probably said too much. I'll tell you more later, but I need to look for a payphone.

Grace-Ism

"[Let's race]. First one there is a rotten old person!"

Life in Minnesota...for the Rest of the "herd"

Jerry posted with his experiences thus far as a mechanic in our new home...I am so grateful for a job he loves that gets him...and me, closer to our dream of being missionaries in Africa! But, you may ask, what about the rest of us?
Olivia's made friends, lots, already!! She's learned to crochet, is reading nearly nonstop, and coming up with lots of reasons why we should get a kitten. She loves to be a "home school" girl and have a lot of free time to read and crochet...and help mom too sorting and washing laundry, making meals, and helping look after Grace & Isaiah. Today in our new home church, "Journey", she was in her element -performing! She recited a memory verse on her own and sang with the kids' group.

Grace doesn't know a stranger and has had no trouble making acquaintances every where we go. She enjoyed decorating her side of her and Isaiah's room with dinosaur cut-outs and stickers. She's dinosaur/ Land Before Time crazy and is frequently a "long neck". Grace enjoys visiting our neighbors' two dogs: Socks & Cody, and kittens at a friend's nearby farm house. Grace is certainly the family entertainer and we love to hear the things that come out of her mouth ("Grace-isms"). Should we get one a kitten, Grace wants to name it, "Solution". Grace is enjoying "doing school" with Olivia in our class room/guest room, but wants frequent "fun breaks". She loves the early childhood preschool program we go to Monday evenings for her and Isaiah...they have all the fun things set up: a play kitchen, dinosaur toys and a sand box!

Isaiah makes this mommy tired!!The girls call him "Izzy busy". So appropriate! He's very much a 2 year-old boy full of energy and curiosity, and has to fight his sin-nature when we say, "no". He's in heaven living here at the airport. We frequently find him on his step stool by the window, yelling, "Pane. Dada." Plane. Daddy. He loves airplanes and knows that his dad does too, they just go together! He also likes his new room he shares with Grace, the airplanes Olivia put on the wall for him, and his Lightning McQueen, "Cars" bedding. He loves to be on the go, so much so, if someone mention the word "go". He comes running with his shoes, "Shoo. Go!" As he did in Wichita, he recognizes the route home and starts to fuss when he knows that's where we're headed. He's addicted to his pacifier, milk and baths, and pray for us...we need to start potty training soon! But his laugh... it's truly precious.

As for me, Breanna (if you hadn't gathered :), I attempt to keep the messes under control, the laundry & dishes mostly washed, and our home school lesson plans caught up. I am so thankful to God and those who prayed that this move has been so extraordinarily seamless! My biggest worry was that Olivia would settle in quickly and there wouldn't be too many tears. She fell in love with her room the moment she saw it and has loved her horse-loving retreat (she's decorated it as a stable with horses). She made friends practically immediately and says she loves it here.

I feel at home already. I've found a phenomenal home school mom's group and a women's bible study to join. The "Journey" church, I mentioned earlier, where we attend gave me the opportunity to help get them started with a children's ministry curriculum we do at Eastside in Wichita. I'll be teaching all of October, which if you know me, you know I'll have a blast!

The people with Proclaim could not have been more welcoming or accommodating! The house they provide for us was decorated gorgeously. They even had the beds made for us when we arrived, Uhaul and all, late at night. Though everyone knows we're transient, they welcome us with open arms.

This town is so beautiful. I like that I can easily find my way around (the small size helps!) The people are so nice and polite. I have been surprised at the variety of cultures found here...as Gioconda (Ecuadorian wife of Proclaim Aviation's co-founder, John Armstrong) puts it, "When I close my eyes and listen [to the voices around me], I feel like I'm home." Several times in Wal-Mart, I've felt like I was home in Costa Rica.

There are lots more boxes to unpack, but praise God, I'm putting things away at HOME! Yet, I still can't wait for the day when our possessions find a more permanent resting place on a shelf in Kenya, east Africa!

Grace-Ism

"Mom, you're crackin' me nuts!"