Settling in NC

Jerry "at school" doing a 100 hour inspection on a Cessna 206

Grace and Isaiah are loving their pre-school experience 3 mornings a week at MK Station on the center.

Olivia and I are also back into our "school" routine and she's doing awesome this year! Very much self-motivated and working hard. Having the littler squirts off to their school at 8 really helps us get going in the morning and get a lot done too!

Found this cute t-shirt for Isaiah ("I'm a Mama's Boy"). Couldn't resist since it's actually true! I'm sure he'll grow out of it , but I may take a wee bit of secret satisfaction in knowing I'm his comforter of choice and the one he wants to put him to bed (and the one he wants to drive!)...but Grace is definitely Daddy's girl, so he can take satisfaction in that. We do love to remind each other about these among all the other fun idiosyncrasies our three wonders possess!

Brief Respite

We had the chance to take a week long family vacation on Chincoteague Island in Virginia, before 2 months of training began in North Carolina. We stopped over in St. Louis on our way east to Virginia from Kansas, and saw the Jefferson Expansion Memorial, the arch. 

We chose Chincoteague Island because it was relatively close to training, and because it's home to the wild ponies made famous in Marguerite Henry's, "Misty of Chincoteague", which we enjoyed as part of our home school curriculum. Olivia is horse crazy, she, and her sibs, all had a blast!

Now in North Carolina

We're now in North Carolina, where Jerry (and me, it turns out) will go through ten weeks, or 2 1/2 months of technical orientation...that's bush flying, aircraft maintenance, and other vital skills a missionary pilot will need. I don't have any idea what they have in store for me...better not be how to hand out snacks at altitude!!!!
Pictures to come soon...
We're so happy to be all together in ONE place for a whole 2 1/2 months!
Tomorrow Olivia and I go "back to school" and Jerry goes to his school too. Even Grace & Isaiah will be going to pre school three mornings a week. I think they'll love it.

We'll write more when we know more :)

August Travel-on our last stop!

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Departure Date Slight Change

We've been informed our orientation dates in Africa got pushed back, so our departure date is moved as well, from January 9 to January 16...that is our target, but is still dependent on financial support commitments. As you can see on the right (on our "way cool" air speed indicator graphic), our support has climbed to nearly 60%.  That number does not represent any new commitments because we have quite a few people to follow up with still from our summer-full of multi-state travels.

But the fact remains, we will not be allowed to depart on our January target date if we don't have 90% commitment by December 16! Please pray to that end. Let us know if you are interested in helping financially, and we'll get you all the info. you desire!

Below is a recent photo of us in Texas, but sadly, no cute kids since ours are with Breanna's parents in Indiana now. We are counting down the days 'til we see them!!

beautiful Video

While I have a moment to spare, I wanted to mention this video below. I noticed it on the video feed to the right on our website. It really seems to capture for me why we want to go with Africa Inland Mission. It is beautifully arranged and so quietly assured it really speaks to me. I hope it does to you, as well.

Dylan's all right!

Dylan the Miracle Boy! From Gweni, his mom, Jerry's sister:

"THANK YOU for your prayers for Dylan!

God had mercy on us! 

 

Dr. Jeff said the throwing up was a clear sign of brain swelling, and the Neurosurgeon in Townsville, Australia agreed with him.  I'm glad our doctor didn't let on how serious he thought it was, during my night of hysteria, because I had

 enough fears of my own!  Anyway, sometime between 10 pm Thursday night, and the CT scan at 1 pm the next day, God healed Dylan's brain!!  Just incredible.  I can't help but think that there was a Divine reason the scan was delayed until after lunch.  If a scan in the morning had shown any

 sign of brain swelling, Dylan and I would have been on the King Air to Townsville for surgery.  We are rejoicing every day in our amazing God and in our little guy.

 

Love,

Gweni, John, Sierra and Dylan"

Praise the Lord, the CT scan of our nephew on the navy hospital ship near Papua New Guinea showed there was no damage from his fall! Praise the Lord and thank you for your prayers!!!

The following are excerpts from his parents' emails with the good news:

I didn't want to go into great length tonight (I will let you all know more about the amazing events of the day later), but here are the highlights:

• The weather usually keeps our mission planes from taking off in the early morning, but this morning there was a small break in the clouds above the end of the airstrip, so Dylan, Dr. Jeff, the pilot, and myself were airborne by 7 am.  It was very difficult saying goodbye to John and Sierra.
• A Navy Sea Hawk helicopter met us at the airport in Port Moresby, and got us to the USNS Mercy ship very quickly
•  just before 1 pm he fell into a very deep sleep!  So I asked the CT Scan Technician if we could try to scan him without anesthesia.  He wasn't sure about it at first, but did agree.  And Dylan slept through the scan, keeping perfectly still!  He only slept another 30 minutes past that time, then was awake again until our plane trip home.  Praise the Lord he didn't have to be anesthetized, which meant no IV drip in his arm, and no long recovery time afterwards!
• Then we waited another hour until the ship's pediatrician came to tell us the CT scan showed everything was perfectly normal!  What a wonderful peace that prononcement brought.
• We were able to take a shuttle (a whale boat) from the ship to the shore, where a car was waiting for us, to drive us to our mission's hangar.  It was late in the day, but the weather was still good in Ukarumpa.  So our pilot, Bruce  (who had been with us the whole day), was able to fly us home this afternoon!  We arrived at Ukarumpa around 5:30 pm.   I am so glad we didn't have to overnight in Moresby, and that our little family could be reunited so quickly.
• 
  
  Please keep praying for us:
  • We are emotionally wiped out.
  • None of the four of us have had much sleep.  Many others had very little to no sleep on our behalf - Dr. Jeff who was with us through the night then all day for the medivac and scan, three nurses who watched Dylan around the clock last night, Ron who spent most of the night on the phone trying to get us on board the Mercy ship, Thomas the Clinic van driver who was awake and on-call the whole night, our dear friend Beth who stayed by our side for much of the night and helped me pack, and Mark and Lynn  who worked to get our passports released in Moresby in case I had to fly to Australia (and I know I must be leaving out others).  Please pray for everyone's physical rest.
  • Dylan's sleeping habits were already "light" before this.  Pray that he can sleep deeply, and that the pain in his head won't keep him awake.
  • Pray that he will not start vomiting again (I am on emotional tenderhooks about this!) -- according to our doctor, and to the neurosurgeon he consulted in Australia, Dylan's chronic vomiting was an indication of his brain swelling.  But God preformed a miracle.  And by the time the CT scan was done, there was no swelling to be seen!  Our doctor keeps reaffirming that Dylan's recovery from such a terrible fall is a complete miracle.  Other than the scrape on top of his head, along his cheek and chin, he is doing great!  He didn't even need stitches!
  I will write more later.
  Thanks for standing with us in this!  Words cannot express what your emails have meant to us!
  Gweni (for John and the babes)
  
  
  
  
  
   Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 3:23 PM
  
  Subject: Answered Prayer
  
  
  It's 3:30 pm, and I was finally getting a bit of sleep when Gweni called.  She said the CT scan was completely clear.  They were looking for swelling, bruising or bleeding in the brain, but Praise the Lord, there was none.  The pilot and doctor (who had a fun day on the ship) and Gweni and Dylan are trying to get back to Ukarumpa before dark so they don't have to spend the night in Port Moresby-possibly the shortest medevac ever! 
   
  Thanks you all for your prayers, Gweni will probably write more later, undoubtedly with pictures!  God is good!

Jerry & Breanna's August Travel...So Far!

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Please Pray for our nephew!!

Our year old nephew, Dylan,  fell from a ladder onto cement on his head yesterday. Dylan has been  vomiting, and has been medivacked to where a US navy hospital ship is available to do a CT scan. His family lives in Papua New Guinea, where Jerry's sister, Gweni and our brother-in-law, John, are missionaries. Please pray for Gweni & John, they are very scared for Dylan, and of course, please pray for Dylan's healing!

We thank God for the dedicated clinic staff and doctor that stayed up all night on watch of Dylan and examined him at home. Thank you, Father, also for the pilot and plane that were available to transport Dylan and are waiting to see if they are needed further. It is for situations such as these that we are eager to get to Africa to serve the needs of missionaries and Africans there.

On The Road Again

The kids are having a blast with Grandma, Granpa & Tia in Indiana (Today they're at the State Fair!) Whilst Jerry and I are on the road again. This time the bulk of our three week support raising trip will be in Texas and Kansas, although we did see some friends on the way down in Missouri and Arkansas. 

Right now I'm writing from an Auto Zone parking lot in Poteau, Oklahoma because the serpentine belt went out and got to try out our cell company's road side assistance service. It worked great in getting us towed here. Times like these I am so glad my husband is talented in so many ways and one of those is as an auto mechanic. :) I don't dare ask him when he expects to be done, but we do have a hotel reservation in east Texas tonight, our old stomping grounds when we were at LeTourneau University....

so if you are in the area and haven't heard from us yet, please do e-mail. With the close proximity of the end of our last trip, the kids' birthday festivities, and packing up and moving from our house in Minnesota, we didn't get all the correspondence done we had intended to, in order to let people know we're on our way!

Olivia's Slideshow

We made it out of the house early this morning, and drove 2 hours before stopping. So, now that I have a moment be organized, I will put the birthday slideshow up for Olivia. She turned 10 (already?) on the 24th.

I did write a song for Olivia when she was 2, but it doesn't seem appropriate for a mature 10 year old. So, this is a fantastic song by Paul Simon that is much more relevant.

Well, better go. The kids want to go swimming and checkout time is coming up.

Birthdays (already a week ago, yikes!)

This is a slideshow I put together for Izzy's 3rd birthday. I know, three whole years packed into one slideshow, how do we do it? :) Every year we will need to get longer and longer songs to go with it.

I also made one for Olivia I will work on posting too.

Quick history on the song- I wrote it shortly after Isaiah was born. I had read through the book of Isaiah before his birth, and was consumed with it. There is so much passion there I had never appreciated before. So, my wish for Isaiah was for him to be just as consumed with God as his namesake of old. I took most of the chorus from Isaiah (the prophet) and set it in tension with holding a newborn; not wanting him to grow up but still hoping he will leap up and respond to God's question: "Who will go for us?"

I recorded the song one afternoon at a friend's house (Josh) in Rose Hill, KS. He added the 2nd guitar part and did the mixing, and helped me compose the chorus. He is 1,000 times the guitar player I will ever be, so it was a treat to do this with him.

That's all- More than you wanted to know!

-Jerry

Pray Sunday's The Day

We thought we would pull out of our home here in Minnesota, Indiana bound, on Thursday, then we thought Friday. Friday, we thought, Saturday will surely be the day. Now we're saying Sunday. The U-haul's in the driveway and the bedding is packed away and the fridge cleaned out, so it would be difficult to stall any longer :) It's not that we don't want to get to my folks house and see them before our next road trip, it's just so hard to pack up a whole household...and sort where every little thing will be needed (or not)...there are a plethora of piles: "treasures" to give away, to Africa, to Africa by way of Indiana and North Carolina, treasures to store at Mom and Dad's, summer clothes for Kansas/Texas road trip, fall clothes for North Carolina, winter clothes for the limbo period after training in North Carolina and before flight to Kenya in January. It's hard to just keep all the places, seasons and plans straight let alone what we'll need then  and there.

It seems all that can go wrong is trying to discourage us. I decided to introduce our Land Cruiser to a cement pole in a parking lot, the bumper really liked the idea and got a little TOO close. Now we have matching dents in the back AND the front. Our power steering went out along with the stereo! And the trailer wiring, too. Oh yeah, the oil needs to be changed before we leave. 

 The stress of the move has heightened my clinical depression to a near difficult to function level(My depression, for the past three years is usually undetectable with my daily medication, which I consider a real God-send and tremendous blessing!)). Today I felt like I did a whole lot of despairing, longing for bed, a shoulder to cry, wringing my hands and not a lot of forward progress....so, please PRAY for us that Sunday is THE day.

-Breanna

Packing for Yet Another Move

So here's the question, am I updating you on what our week has consisted of (sorting, packing, cleaning, packing, sorting, packing, packing) OR am I procrastinating from doing more packing? 

This morning I was saying to myself how I am so tired of this moving stuff that THIS will definitely be our last move! Then it occurred to me, we've chosen the wrong profession if we don't like moving! 

True, we plan to live in Africa for the foreseeable future, but being missionaries means that every two-four years we return on a 6-12 month furlough to come back and spend time with friends, family and supporters to explain face to face about the people we've met and experiences we've had while living and working in Africa. 

So think of us, packing, packing, packing and pray we get it done soon and have a safe, uneventful trip to our next destination, my parents' house in Indiana. 

The kids will stay with Mom and Dad while Jerry and I hit the road again for the most of the month of August, heading south this time, bound for Texas and Kansas. We look forward to sharing the story of our journey to minister through aviation in Africa with friends, churches and family, and find more members for our ministry support team, to help us complete this journey to the mission field.

A blur

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The past week has gone quick. A quick rundown (by Jerry):

• Wednesday (16): Left Portland Area. Visited Breanna's great aunt in Lebanon. Stayed with my great aunt in Medford. Attended Othello in Ashland (Bre's wish)
• Thursday (17): Spoke at a Luncheon in a Chinese buffet. Spoke at Alliance Bible Chapel in Ashland, Oregon for a potluck. Visited my grandma's grave, and left at 10pm for San Francisco area.
• Friday (18): 4 hours of sleep at a college friends house. Had breakfast and held him up from going to work :) Lunch 5 miles away with a friend from Papua New Guinea. Drove to Los Angeles. Dessert with another LeTourneau friend in SoCal (an ice cream parlor called PinkBerry). Spent the night with one of my cousins.
• Saturday (19): Breakfast with my three cousins and their families and my uncle. Drove to Phoenix, AZ.
• Sunday (20): Met with missions committee at Grace Bible Church in Sun City. Drove to El Paso. Spent the night with a LeTourneau Friend.
• Monday (21): Drove to Dallas. Stayed with my brother in Dallas.
• Today (22): Drove to Kansas City
• Tomorrow (23): Drive back home in Minnesota (and to Mom, Dad, and the kids!!) 

So, we are kind of tired, and that may explain why the posting has slowed down!

We will be very happy to be home just in time to pack up!!

Here are some pics:

Breanna holding her brand new first-cousin-once-removed: Wyatt

(yes we looked up the correct term for how they are related)

Luncheon in Medford

Speaking in Ashland, Oregon (Mom's hometown)

Flowers for Grandma

Waiting for coffee in Ashland for the long drive ahead (it was opening night for Dark Knight, so there were a lot of people in line. Took forever to get a cup :)

Watching the AIM video with family

Dad's Camry has been a champ for these past 6000 miles. However, we have noticed the floor is getting soaked. I am investigating the drain hose for the evaporator. It may be getting pinched and not draining correctly. I used my birthday present (Swiss army knife) and performed an aerodynamic modification to the line to induce a low pressure at the bottom of the drain line in case air was being rammed up the drain line while driving at highway speeds and thereby blocking the drain.

Tacoma to Portland

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Welcome back to reminiscing with Breanna (written by Jerry). This leg took us to Centralia, where Breanna spent her senior year in high school. We visited a friend, then went on to Morton, a small town in the Washington mountains surrounded by trees. It is where Breanna was born just a few years ago. :)

"Oli the logger" from a picture taken when Breanna was growing up

"Oli the Logger" revisited

We spoke at First Church of God in Morton for Sunday School and during the service. The shirt was a gift from my great uncle Harold on July 7 (see previous post). It came in handy, since it always helps to look nice when in front of a lot of people.

On the way out of town we thought we saw Mt. Adams erupt. Breanna said it looked "like a volcano poof." Then someone flagged us down. "Did you see it! Mt. Adams just blew"

We found out today it was just a forest fire, started by lightning LAST week.

July 7-10

Imagine the most ambitious, consuming, life changing goal in your life. Something tangible, something you can touch. Something you want to guard because you know it sounds half crazy.

Then you sit down with friends and family and put it out on the table - answer any questions, put your heart into it, and ask them to be a part. It is a mix of joy to be sharing this with people you love, but there is also apprehension on how it will be received.

That's kind of what we are doing. Sometimes the response is shock, sometimes it is joy and excitement. Usually they want to think it over.

After we pour out our heart, however, we know this goal of reaching Africa is in God's hands.

And so we pack up our suitcase and move on. Never quite sure of through which means God will choose to provide for His work.

We are certain of one thing. The only complete solution to what is afflicting Africa is grace. There is only one way to break the chain of revenge, violence, and abuse. A belief that compels us on and lives in our hearts. A belief that only God's Son can change the world, one heart at a time ... no matter how hardened or sour. What greater cause could we share?

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Sunnyside

Breanna filming on location in her old hometown, Sunnyside. We filmed the old paper route, and ticked off a local resident who wanted to know why we were driving around with a video camera. The price of memories...

"Home"...maybe not so hard to picture or imagine for many, but for those of us who have grown up in multiple locations, home is sometime just "where the suitcase is". But I was glad to be back in Sunnyside, my home from 1985-1990, where I had a paper route, had my first boyfriend and was baptized. The Sunnyside Church of God, where Mom and Dad pastored, was the church that sent a team on a missions trip to Costa Rica in 1990, that led to my family moving to Costa Rica as missionaries....probably the earliest step in MY journey to the mission field in Africa!!! (because it planted the love of missions and other cultures in my heart). 

I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with my BFF, Sarah and her family, and other friends who my heart swelled to see and learn how well and happy they are.

Sunday morning, Jerry and I spoke at the church and enjoyed lunch out with a group from the church. It was a joy to be surrounded by these familiar faces from long ago that all had a hand in the development of my spiritual life!

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We took a breather Sunday afternoon to catch a movie.We left Sunnyside this morning and high tailed it to an urgent care clinic in the "Tri-Cities" area. I started feeling rotten when we got after church and lunch on Sunday (at least it was after!!)...it was an infection I've experienced before, and knew I needed medication before the pain got worse. 

Praise God, though a little long waiting in the examining room, I got my medicine and am already feeling better!

 We drove north to visit with some of Jerry's family in Moses Lake. They surprised us with a birthday cake and even homemade ice cream to celebrate Jerry's 31st birthday a day early! Thanks, Aunt Grace & Uncle Harold!!

Tonight we're in Spokane with a friend of Jerry's from Dallas days. They are enjoying catching up, reminiscing and talking shop (He's a missionary pilot too!). I enjoyed playing with their darling nearly two-year old, that made me miss me nearly three-year old all the more!! Love you, Olivia, Grace & Izzy! Miss you!

P.S. (from Jerry) The catching up with friends and family is always wonderful. However, the true nature of our trip remains very critical, even though it does not lend itself to photographs, it is constantly ongoing. We are excited today to learn that with a recently added member to our team, our monthly support level is now 54% !! Climbing slowly but steadily (the airspeed indicator will be updated at our next breathing spot!). Thanks for coming on this journey with us!

Walla Walla to Sunnyside

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Much shorter drive today. I spent the time working on sending out our electronic newsletter, while Breanna drove.

When we first arrived in town she said she didn't recognize anything. This was the last place she lived before moving to Costa Rica. I was beginning to wonder if she was the native Sunnysidian I imagined her to be. Then we passed Skipper's and everything was familiar.

We plan on going with Sarah, Breanna's childhood friend, to see fireworks tonight. Breanna keeps looking for a newspaper to read about the events tonight, but I think she just wants to look at our picture that Sarah told her about.

We will call people and hope to meet with them tomorrow.

Along our trip so far, everyone has been very interested in our future involvement in Africa. It is always exciting to share our vision and see people respond.

This Sunday I will be speaking at Sunnyside Church of God.

Ogden to Walla Walla

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We actually slept in this morning. I had calculated the wrong departure time to be able to meet a friend of ours in Nampa for Lunch. So, while the extra sleep was wonderful after the long drive through the night, Breanna had to make several phone calls and sheepishly explain we were off of our planned ETA's!

We arrived in Nampa, ID at 2:30 and had a great time with our friend Tony from LeTourneau. We also met his fiancee, Janat.

Here would be a picture of them, except we forgot to pack a mini-usb cable to dump our pictures from the camera onto the computer!

We are now in Walla Walla, WA. That's a lot of w's and a's. We are staying with some friends overnight.

News from the home front indicates the little people are less restless and things are feeling more like normal.

On the phone, Grace whimpered, with a bluesy tone, "Dad, I miss you sooo much ..." Then two minutes later she asked, "Can I go watch the rest of my movie now."

Wall, SD to Ogden, UT

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Jerry drove 98% of the way here from Minnesota. I'm useless when driving at night. So I only did the last 2 1/2 hours of Wyoming to Ogden.

Jerry teased me when I was talking to my mom on the cell phone and the call was dropped a couple times. I told mom it was the, "ups and downs" in the road. 

Jerry reminded me they're called "hills". Funny guy.

The mountains here are beautiful and our priceline hotel find awesome...beautiful rooms, the most comfortable bed ever! Perfect for catching up on all that lost sleep before  our drive to Boise, Idaho in the morning.

Please pray fervently for our kids and Jerry's mom, Phyllis. We talked to them and it seems their day went well, although the girls had a tiff, and I think that combined with her first day of all the responsibilities overwhelmed mom. We have full confidence in her, though. Things will get better for them and they'll find their groove, but please keep them in your thoughts and prayers!!

And We're Off!

...Like a herd of charging turtles. We had planned to leave at noon yesterday, but our last minute "to dos" coupled with the more pressing need of finding a phone for Mom to use while we are gone (since we have only a cell phone and no home phone), changed our minds for us about our departure. We ended up leaving 1am-ish to two crying children (the other was asleep, fortunately). They kept asking, "Why do you have to go," and the more soul crushing, "I don't want you to leave." 

Jerry asks me to pray as we drive off, saying dryly, "We're gonna need it!"

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Last Day, Here we go!

Friday was Jerry's last day at the hangar.

Today Jerry's on the second leg of the drive from Dallas, TX. to here with his mom, Phyllis, who will bravely watch our three kids, while we drive and visit the west coast for three weeks, catching up with friends and family and sharing about our journey to the mission field in Africa and how we will get there!

We will REALLY miss the kids. And as we learned from our January trip for the TE, we will miss them more than they will miss us (Grandparents are just a whole lot of fun!!) So please pray for us,
Olivia,

Grace,
and Isaiah

especially at night when their absence will be felt most! (he, he!! Jerry will not be happy I posted this. He rolls his eyes at my love of pictures of him and the kids sleeping)

I am not sure if this is the start of the “big plunge” after climbing the start hill. That’s always the most anticipated part on roller coasters, right? Yesterday I finished up at the hangar where I have been working for the past ten months. Now I am a passenger in an Airbus A319 airliner somewhere over southeastern Colorado and heading to Dallas at 39,000 feet.Earlier today I flew with Cameron and Chris in a single engine Piper from Worthington to Omaha. Chris is the next Proclaim candidate and will takeover at the shop as well as flying.
The flight seemed significant to me. As I made my way to a shuttle to take me to the airline terminal, Chris jumped into the pilot seat to fly the Piper back. A completed transition ... I’m moving closer to the mission field, and Chris is coming up right behind.
I have mixed emotions. Leaving is hard, but it is satisfying to think of the new guys that are stepping up into a desperately needed role in the farthest corners of the Earth.On the flight from Omaha to Denver I whipped out my handheld GPS to get a better idea of where we were (the onboard maps have these annoying commercials that keep popping up!) I felt like I was cheating as I could see the oncourse direct route and see we were a little off as well as 200 feet below assigned altitude. It was almost like peeking in on what the pilots (well, OK the autopilot) was doing. I am sure it was the GPS that was in error.

On the ground, I remember a time at Cessna when we were developing the flap system for the Citation Mustang. An issue came up on how slow was too slow for the flaps to move. One engineer reported, after returning from California on the airlines, all the flap speeds he observed on that trip by looking out the window. 72 seconds for one type of Boeing, 47 seconds for another ... The Airbus I was riding on to Denver retracted full flaps in a stately 11 seconds. :)
In Dallas, I will stay overnight with Dad and Mom and also my brother, Steve. It has been awhile since I have been to Dallas. Tomorrow after church, Mom and I will drive back to Minnesota. She is going to watch the kids while Bre and I meet up with as many people as possible in July. Mom is really excited about this chance to care for these three... spirited grandchildren. The kids are excited too. Mom will continue to be my hero, especially during these weeks!
This is an exciting change for us. As the unknown seems to loom ever larger, and our pulse quickens, I am acutely aware of my Provision. God has cared for us even when we thought we were caring for ourselves on our own. He will surely be with us as we plunge further, and further, down (referring back to the roller coaster analogy, definitely not the airliner I am in!)

July Travel Plan

First to Idaho, then Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona then back home

Faith Lessons from a Five Year-Old

Over Memorial Day weekend, we visited friends from Wichita, meeting part way in Omaha. I (Breanna) took the girls to a small water park while the guys went to the Strategic Air Command museum.

Olivia and her friends, Abbey & Madelaine, that were closer to her age, went down the water slides all afternoon. After coaxing Grace to go down the shorter “mild” slide on my lap, she exclaimed, “I though that was the end of my life!” So I took her to the kiddy pool area, with a toddler-size butterfly slide. She stopped at the top, and I thought she said, “first I want to play.” So I turned around to look for other things to do in the kiddy area, but heard Grace talking, but not to me. She said, “Dear God thank you for today and help me to be brave and go down the butterfly slide, amen.” Then without a moment’s hesitation, she went down the slide.  

Ever since, she’s been a true model of “praying without ceasing”. She prayed her computer game would load on the computer. She prayed her friend Brit’s kite would fly. She prayed that Jerry would be able to drive the lawn mower out of the mud it was stuck in. 

We chuckle at the things she prays about, but shouldn't. She's teaching us a great lesson about praying no matter what the issue, or how important it may seem to others. 

Even so, we couldn't help a chuckle when she prayed that we wouldn't die in Africa (after we'd watched a movie in which a boy in Africa dies from a snake bite)

Butterflies

Homeschooling is amazing. The world is your classroom instead of the classroom being your world. I (Jerry) just usually see the highlights, but recently the girls had a fantastic project we could all observe. A kit came with a jar of caterpillars and a gel at the bottom for them to feed on.
The caterpillars swelled over a two week period from barely visible to large, juicy, hairy wrigglers. Then they climbed up the jar and attached to the lid. They shook and shook, stopped, then shook some more. Over the period of several days, they finished their chrysalis.
Then all was still for a long time. Then one by one new creatures emerged. They looked quite different and had beautiful wings - useless at first, but they held them up for a while as they dried into something capable of carrying their body through the air.
What really amazed me, however, was that not all the butterflies emerged. In fact, the instructions with the kit say it is normal for several caterpillars to not make the transformation.
I thought of myself, especially my courage. My thoughts of butterflies always assumed it was a natural progression for a caterpillar. I never thought of the risk. Could I allow myself to go into an unconscious state in a cocoon with the hope of emerging a brand new incredible flying being, knowing that at the same time this might be my very last breath?
I also think of Jesus’ poignant observation: “...whoever loses his life will preserve it.” I confess, I want Jesus to transform me, but I don’t like to think about the risk too much. The analogy breaks down with the bullet proof guarantee given by God. I won’t die in the cocoon. The transformation will happen, but I have to be ready to give up everything.
So, let me slip into a silken mummy bag of sorts. Everything is out of my control except to trust that God knows what he is doing. When I open my eyes, what will fill my vision? Wait and see, wait and see together.

Gearing Up

Our LAST yard sale is over. Yes, I mean it this time. It took a week of sorting, hauling, pricing, setting up and then slowly turning lobster red sitting outside praying for customers to come by. Profit-wise, it was mostly a flop, but it did get us to sort and pare down the belongings we toted here from Kansas. 

We're now ready to PACK for AFRICA!!! Why are we packing already? Because the 7 months remaining before we leave for Kenya on January 9 will be busy. Here are our tentative plans:

June: Jerry finishes his last month working as an aircraft mechanic with Proclaim Aviation. We'll compose and send a newsletter to update you on what we've been doing and where we're going. We'll plan upcoming fundraising trips, because filling our outgoing and monthly support funds is all that remains to get us to the mission field! Please e-mail us if you, your church, small group desire a vist & want to hear about our journey to Africa: (for our e-mail, see this link)

July: Jerry & Breanna travel to the west coast to raise support. Jerry's mom has graciously agreed to come here from Texas and stay with the kids the entire month. We'll be back to celebrate Olivia's 10th and Isaiah's 3rd birthdays at the end of the month.

August: Jerry & Breanna will travel to Kansas and Texas to raise support. The kids will stay with Breanna's parents and younger sister in Indiana.

September-November: Two weeks much anticipated family vacation, a breath before the plunge. Then 10 weeks of flight training in the science of being a safe bush pilot in North Carolina.

Thanksgiving and Christmas with family along with lots of packing and good-byes.

January 9: Fly out of New York for Nairobi, Kenya in east Africa!!!!