My BFF, Lola!

It's true, I have a new BFF! She is smart and patient, gentle mannered, and never loses her calm no matter how manyt times I don't listen to her! I love my in-law's GPS system! I call her Lola after the GPS unit in the insanely funny movie, RV. Anyway...moving on!
I took Shawn to the sirport for his EE interview today. We had to leave at 4:30 AM and I was in Rochester all day waiting for him to return. (In fact, I am sitting in a hotel parking lot right now soaking up the free wi fi - how sad is that!?!) :) I do not know why it didn't occur to either one of us that he could have just paid for parking for the day! We are losers! LOL!
He called after the interview and said that it went very well, and the guy wants us to continue in the process of going with EE. It would be in western Africa - Ghana (weird, huh, Lorraine?) BUT after talking in great length to the man, it is not really the type of thing that we would enjoy all that much! It is a lot of administration and very little relationship and discipleship. Of course, we would do that on our own, but the "job" would definitely be a job, and that is not really what we want. We will pray about it, but I think this is a closed door.
So now what?
You tell me if you get any burning bushes or visions...cause I am at a loss.
We are waiting to hear from the church, and we will look at a few other options that we put on the wayside because we want to look at one thing at a time.
Whew...
I am ready for Lola to take me home!!!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day that Shawn flies to Atlanta for an interview with EE. I will be going to the airport in Rochester to drop him off and then sit there all day, so if anyone is in Rochester and wants to visit...look me up!!!
We were hoping to hear from the church we visited last weekend, but I guess God is continuing in His quest to teach me patience! (I am a slow learner!) If we hear anyhting, we will let you know. I admit that I am ready to get into our own house and feel a little more settled.
Thanks for your prayers...we will blog again soon!!!!

info overload

We got news from Malawi this week that the house we had been staying in was broken into. The missionary that lives there now had $500 stolen from him and a digital camera. He had the money there because he was getting ready to buy bibles for a church that he would be visiting soon, so that is especially sad. The envelope was even marked for it. We also found out that our video camera is gone. (We still have things there, as we had expected to go back by this fall when we left.) Things like this happen in Africa. It is sad, but you grow to expect it if you are there for any period of time. I am glad that no one was hurt. The hardest part is that the thief appears to be someone we all know – but that is usually how it is also!
So, we could live our lives there in fear and mistrust or we could choose to love people. The same thing applies for here in the States. As Shawn and I get ready to look at churches to interim at while we figure out if we are going back overseas, I have had a hard time getting all my emotions in check. I want to tell myself not to get too involved, but I know that’s not what God has for me. So I get a little angry that I have to love people and get my heart broken again. I get even more worried that my kids will do this! But God never promises that our hearts won’t be broken – in fact his is broken each day by the creation that he made to worship and love him, who chose not too! Craziness, this God of ours! And Dangerous, overwhelming, take-your breath away! But I am so amazed and awed to be his child.
We got a few updates from a friend's daughter who is in Swaziland this week, and I read through tears as my heart longed to be in Africa. God is good.
In other news, Shawn finally had his teeth removed yesterday. He was put under general anesthesia, and coming out of it was pretty funny! They kicked him out of office before he was even really awake – they were really busy and needed the room, I guess! I practically dragged him out to the car, all the while saying, “Babe, open your eyes so you can see where you are going and we don’t fall on the gravel!” When I said that he would open his mouth wider! Then I would start laughing and he would get heavier…it’s amazing that we didn’t land in a pile on the driveway! I got him in the car and asked how to get home and he said, “Left,” so I turned left. Then he said, “No, right.” Then a minute later he said, “Left.” I just laughed because I realized that he wasn’t going to be much help, and found my way pretty easily! Every 10 minutes or so he would wake up and say, “Am I done?” Finally I left him in the car to get his prescription at Rite Aid and when I came back out he was actually awake for the first time! He doesn’t remember anything before that!
Then today he decided to try to finish a painting job because the weather was nice, but he was only there a few minutes when a bee stung him in the eye twice! He was in a lot of pain and started getting nauseas (he did just have surgery!) so I took him home! Poor guy! He is doing much better now! LOL!
I tried to publish photos last post, but I can't tell on dial up if it worked! Sorry! It takes a long time!!!

moving right along

Hello, everyone! I hope that this new blog finds you all enjoying life! We just got back from Delta Lake and are getting caught up on laundry and other things! We had so much fun speaking at family camp and senior high camp! God really used it as a time of refreshing and relaxing for us as a family, also. We played with friends and cousins (All of us!) and just plain enjoyed life! We also heard wonderful speakers and worshipped with awesome worship leaders. You can see pics of both family camp and explorer camp at the delta lake website! We had a lot of fun with the Schuerholz and Jones families…it was a like a big Kenmore vacation! LOL!
Last Sunday Shawn spoke at a church, and we are going back again this weekend to see about moving there for a while to work with them. They are a small church, and we are praying about the possibility of going there and loving them and letting God use us as he sees fit. Please pray for wisdom about all this!
So, what does that mean for going back on the mission field? Well, first of all, this is a mission field - just not as “exotic” as Africa! (And a lot more snow – yuck!) BUT we are still looking at going back overseas by next summer or when God opens the right doors. Shawn is still interviewing in a couple weeks with Evangelism Explosion and we will definitely keep you updated. Anything we do would require raising support, so we would not be leaving before next summer at the earliest anyway. We are willing to commit to June 2009 with this church if things work well this weekend. I don’t know what the future holds…I just know we want to be used by God and we want to obey. Please continue to pray that we would clearly obey his will for us each day. I admit that my heart is still in Africa, but I do not want to put my life (and my heart) on hold any longer.
We are sitting here enjoying the Home Run Derby for the All-Star game, so I will sign off for now. Thanks for your support!

From Delta..

This has been such a good week of family camp at Delta Lake!  We have enjoyed family, friends, activities, wonderful and challenging sermons, and good times of prayer and worship.  We are heading into a new week of senior high camp this week, and Shawn will be doing some of the missions speaking.  We are also here just to hang out with the teens and be available for them to talk to and ask questions about missions and whatnot!  We are really looking forward to it.

Thanks for your continued prayers and intercessions for us.  We have talked with a lot of people this week and done a lot of praying.  We came into this week wondering what God wanted from us, and we ended the week having a wonderful peace and excitement about being a part of this unknown adventure!  We will keep you all updated!