Rain, Rain....don't go away (too soon)

We've had some unusually beautiful rainy days here - you know... the kind of rain that just falls, gently, all day long, and really soaks the ground. The kind of rain that quenches your dry and thirsty soul and makes you just want to curl up on your bed with a good book, a cup of tea, and an open window - before you take a long nap! :) With four little ones (well...some of them aren't so little anymore :) that nap doesn't happen - but it's nice to at least be able to imagine it! :)

As I type this, Lillian is surfing around the chair I'm sitting in, babbling "Mamamamama" over and over again, laughing and slapping the window excitedly every time she hears a magpie or sees a chipmunk run by .... Jenna is running some bathtub water ... Ian is sleeping away (or, reading his assigned summer reading for his upcoming high school year- hopefully the latter! :) ... and Julie-Joy should be on her way home from swim practice with a friend. Life kind of hums a long, gently, and the comfort and routine of it all is as nurturing and soothing as the gently falling rain outside the window.

It seems all the more important as I know that routines are about to change - and new routines will start up. It always takes a while to adjust to new routines doesn't it! :) 

My sister Julie arrives on Saturday and we're all so excited to see her.  Then Tuesday late morning Reid, Lillian and I will head to the airport and fly out to California for Celebrate Recovery's training program at Saddleback church. We're looking forward to spending some time with the other members of our church who are going as well and covet your prayers for the days ahead and for the kids while we are gone (Ian will be on a high school back-packing trip for part of that time). We get in late

Saturday and take Julie to the airport the next morning. Then Monday we leave for Mt. Elim Bible Camp for the annual three day Timberline staff retreat.  And as soon as we return life explodes with school meetings and Classical Conversations preparation meetings and Bible school prep etc.  In the middle of it all we have some other decisions we need to make prayerfully as well e.g. about housing etc.

That's life in a nut shell. I hope to post a brief update from the conference next week and will close with this thought - in just a few weeks, a new group of students will be coming to Timberline to study His Word and grow in their relationship with Jesus. It's a good reminder to me of what Isaiah 55 says:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my Word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
    shall break forth into singing,
    and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

 

On that note, may we all find time to sit and soak in His Word today - may it succeed in the thing for which He sends it and produce much fruit in our lives!

Little Things

These have been challenging days with lot's of wrestling and struggling and hard heart-work and many hurting loved ones on our minds and in our prayers. In the midst of everything, the little things take on tremendous meaning...

... bright petunias and humming birds outside our apartment door

...quiet cups of tea with Jesus and the times when the Lord makes scripture passages come alive in our hearts

... daisies and purple lupines popping up everywhere around the house

...tea and heart-to-hearts with friends

... Lillian drinking two Capri Suns at supper time (we have struggled to get her to drink even a drop
of liquid for two months now and it appears she has developed a huge aversion for milk, so you know that's a big deal!)

....hearing Jenna laughing really hard

...watching Julie-Joy sew up a storm on my sewing machine (a friend once described her as Pigpen from Peanuts - she really does seem to have a cloud of dust - or a trail of STUFF - following her as she runs everywhere she goes! :) She is definitely our fun-loving, creative one! :)

... watching Ian's face light up when Lillian tries to get his attention

... seeing a beaver, a huge porcupine, deer, and a moose on one of our evening walks

...those fleeting moments when the house is clean :)

...eating fresh corn - and enjoying the fruits of our "putting-corn-up-labor"

... short notes from former students and their parents, that remind us that their encounters with Jesus here have eternal impacts.

And little things add up, like raindrops forming into a pool of water...and the more we remember how much there is to be grateful for, the more grumbling or anxious spirits dissipate and are replaced by rejoicing and praise. "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice." A double commandment. And if we love Him we will keep His commandments.

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu....

Being in full-time ministry requires sacrifice. And the most difficult part is often our family. We had a great visit with Mom and Dad and our friend Anne - and last night after they said good-bye to the kids (Dad already left for England, Mom and Anne are off to Ravencrest for a few days), Jenna sobbed and sobbed for about an hour. It reminded me of many tears of my own as a kid/teenager, sitting in an airplane, leaving the Chicago airport and knowing I probably wouldn't see grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins again for 3-4 years.

Dawn asked me this morning if I was doing ok with saying good-bye - I told her that after 41 years of many, many hard and difficult good-byes, I suppose your heart becomes a little calloused.  I remember my Grandma Stone saying that when we would leave, after visiting 3 weeks every 3-4 years, she would mop the floor or vacuum, just keeping her hands busy so that her heart would be distracted for a while.

There will probably be many, many more difficult good-byes to come as the kids are getting older

and more independent. I was thinking last night about how wonderful it will be, one day, to never have to say good-bye again! But until then we keep our hearts and hands busy with what the Lord has given us to do. In our case it's back to work at Timberline, doctor's appointments for the kids, swim meets and sports camp at church.

Prayer requests:

- Please continue to pray for our staff and that all of us would have the time to truly prepare our hearts for a new Bible School year after a busy summer guest season.  My prayer has been that the Lord would give each of us a clear vision for this coming year and would refresh our hearts and minds for service!

- We are preparing for a trip at the beginning of August to Saddleback Church in California where six of us from Winter Park Christian Church will be attending a Celebrate Recovery Training seminar.  Reid will be a part of spear-heading Celebrate Recovery in Grand County (I will be helping out as I can) and is really thankful for this opportunity to become more involved in addiction recovery ministry.
My sister Julie is flying out to stay with our kids (minus Lillian who is coming with us) during this time. Please pray for her sanity! :) It's also a busy time of preparing for a new school year for the kids as well as a new Bible School year at Timberline. The other day I felt a little overwhelmed at all that needs to be done in the next few weeks. So I want to keep first things first, eyes on Jesus and resting in Him.

- We need wisdom for one of our kiddos in particular for this upcoming school year as there are certain classes that are going to be very difficult for them. Both of our older two are entering a challenging transitional year into High School and Middle School (in the classical model these are also transitional in how they will be learning and the amount of responsibility they carry). We're praying they (and we as parents) can be patient during this adjustment!

- For hurting little hearts today in our family, saying good-bye to loved ones!

Memories

I think I did....ok, yupp, I did get slightly teary-eyed when Anne walked through the door yesterday. You see when you grow up overseas, away from family, especially in Torchbearers, and you don't get to see your extended family very often, the staff becomes an extension of your family - your aunts, uncles and cousins.

Anne and her family (two her daughters are a year older and a year younger than me) lived right next door for some of the most formative years of my life and we spent many afternoons running back forth (along with other friends from other families at the center as well!), drinking endless cups of tea with each other and getting into trouble...and wrestling through the difficult emotions of teenagers...learning what it means to grow up in a ministry environment, working out our faith (at public German schools).  And doing all kinds of creative projects.  (in the picture above - left to write, the McCalls, Anne and my parents at a visit to His Hill, the Torchbearer center in Texas)

Even I was surprised at the memories that flooded my mind when Anne walked through the door yesterday - so many childhood memories of what seems like an eternity ago. And in the evening our kids sat wide-eyed listening to Mom and Anne tell stories and laughing, laughing, laughing.....I know life was not always easy growing up - but quite frankly the hard times are an even further distant memory. And I pray that our kids memories of their time here at Timberline will be the same!!

This will be short - but here are a few urgent prayer requests:

Please pray for our staff - they are worn out and are in much need of this break right now! Please pray that these next few days will be truly and deeply refreshing for them!

Please pray for staff housing - the Thomas family has moved off-campus to Tabernash and it looks like more moving for other families could be underway in the next month or two. Affordable and live-able housing in Grand County is so difficult to find since this is a resort area.

We're so glad that my parents and Anne are visiting. Dad leaves tomorrow for England but Mom and Anne will be here for a week - what a treat to laugh and talk and catch up and remember! Tonight we're having a staff women gathering here at the house and a time for Anne to share her faith story. Would you join us in prayer that this would be a refreshing time for us as permanent staff ladies to reconnect with each other and if the need is there to have some honest question and answer time, that the Lord would open the door for this?

July at the Dale Home! :)

Summer wild flower season is under way and lupines are beginning to pop up everywhere! This picture was taken on a much needed alone-time-with-Jesus walk the other day - what a Creator we serve!!

This week we were able to reconnect with some friends from NC. They have a little one of their own and my friend was talking about how challenging it can be to entertain a one-and-a-half year old. I laughed, remembering all too well those first few years home alone with first Ian and then also Julie-Joy.  There were days I thought I would lose my mind from sheer boredom.  There are only so many times you can read "Go Dogs Go!" and there were days the kids had at least two baths just to keep them busy!

Life right now is anything but boring as it seems to be rushing down the road at break-neck

speed.....and we're so thankful for Lillian (here's a picture of the birthday girl!) who calls all of us to slow down regularly and enjoy that season of life when kids are little. It hit me the other day that this year we have one in high school, one in middle school, one in elementary school and a baby! This coming week we're meeting with a school administrator to make a plan of action for Ian's high school years!! In the mean time, the kids are busy with summer sports activities (the girls are swimming, Ian just started practicing with the high school cross country team). The times of the day when we can sit down and fully reconnect as a family are becoming more and more precious as I realize they will pass all too quickly.

Yesterday evening our family drove down to the Fraser Fields, parked the van and sat together in the back "oo-ing and ah-ing" at the fireworks. Sweet memories!!

We have several prayer requests for this season so I'll list them in bullet point:

- Lillian's health (she is having some testing done as she has dropped significantly on the growth chart) - mostly that she would take in fluids - she has refused to nurse all week and refuses all forms of fluids in any shape or form (straw, sippy cup, bottle, spoon, regular cup...you name it we've tried it!), so we're getting really creative with liquidy foods! Our prayer is that she would start drinking milk very soon as it has a lot of calories that she really needs right now.

- preparations for this coming school year and good conversations with teachers for Ian and Julie-Joy.

- staff housing at Timberline continues to be a need and a challenge

- the third guest group of the season is now here (we're SO thankful for a full summer season - it's also a lot of hard work). The staff has had very little down time. Thankfully Reid was able to take yesterday and today off. Please pray that the staff would be refreshed and ready/able to serve with joy!

- the continued ability to find creative ways to reconnect: e.g. Reid took Ian with him for a Denver Sam's Club and Restaurant Depot run for Timberline and that provided some good conversation time in the car; Reid and I try to reconnect in the evenings by going on a walk, playing tennis (I am not very good and he is very patient with me! :), or going to the store together.

- our family is excited because this coming week my Mom and her/our friend Anne arrive for a ten day visit (my Dad will be here two nights before he goes to England for the annual directors conference). Anne's daughters were some of my dearest friends growing up (fellow Torchbearer kiddos!) as well as our next door neighbors in Germany (and the reason I drink tea today! :) - I haven't seen her in 14 years so it'll be especially fun to reconnect!!