Settling In

Ok, I am running behind on being able to get on the internet and get these posted, so the dates are not going to line up with when I post them. I am going to begin adding the date to my entries here at FPO, since it’s hard to get internet.

10/24/2009

We have finished week 2 of FPO, and we begin week 3 tomorrow! This past week has been so good for all of us… especially Jonathan! He actually didn’t even cry when he went to school on Friday!!! :) I’m sure we’ll have to start all over on Monday, but Friday was a blessing to my aching heart. All the others kids have settled in very well. In fact, all day Saturday, Weston kept asking if he could go to school. I’m so grateful that my older two have had such a wonderful experience. It makes them look forward to school in Spain, even though they won’t understand the language. :) Even Carolina has settled in, and hardly cries any more when we drop her off.

We have settled into a routine, and it’s been quite helpful for all of us… we all tend to feel most comfortable on a schedule. The leadership here has a real heart to teach husbands to be a covering for their wives; so Tuesday through Friday, the husbands keep the kids in the morning and drop them off at school so that the wives can have some time for “personal discipleship.”… or, what I would call my quiet time. :) It’s been so wonderful for me. Wes really is amazing, and he’s always been so good to do that for me, but the consistency has been a blessing to me. It is a bit crazy for Wes… but I sure am grateful!!! :) lol.

Although we have settled into a routine, it really is a BUSY routine. During this week, Wes and I hit our 10 year anniversary of when we got engaged. We’d been talking about it all week; but when the day hit, we literally didn’t have 10 minutes to talk to each other! One thing that I treasure about our marriage is that we are each other’s best friend. We talk about everything… all the time. So, I’ve been struggling with not having that time during the past two weeks. Thankfully, one of the journeygirls here offered to watch the kids, so Wes and I could have a date. I was SOOO thrilled.

Of course, when the day arrived, Nathan came down with a 100.4 fever. He has made a good friend here (who’s name is Nate :) ), and he had spent the night at Nate’s house… his first time every spending the night with a friend… and he had a blast. He was just up to all hours, b/c he was so excited. I think he was over tired, and that was why he was running a fever. He was acting just fine… totally normal, but because we all live in such close proximity, they have a “quarantine” rule. Anyone with a fever of 100.0 or more needs to stay in his quad for 24 hours AFTER the fever is gone. I was so bummed. Nathan kept saying, “Mom, I’m fine! You can go on your date!” It was too cute.

Since he was acting so normal, and his fever wasn’t really that bad, we decided to put them all to bed, and THEN go on our date. It minimized the time and closeness that Tessa had with him. It was great!! Wes and I went and got desert at the Cheesecake Factory!!... and just talked and talked. It was SO what I needed! It was a wonderful night. When we got home, the kids had hardly even stirred, so I was thankful for that.

Tessa has been such a blessing to our family. Many of you may know Tessa! She was in our youth group at Bay Leaf when she was in 7^th grade. It’s crazy, and it makes Wes and I feel old. :) How incredible that we ended up at the same FPO! Tessa’s parents were missionaries, so she was in our youth group just for the year they were there on Stateside Assignment in Raleigh. When we arrived here, this beautiful blond girl strode purposefully up to me and started speaking to me. It took me a second to realize that this was Tessa all grown up!!!!!!! It was amazing. She has grown into a precious young lady with a heart and passion for the Lord. She is heading back onto the mission field, following in her parents footsteps. It’s exciting to see!

This past week, another young lady walked up to me, and I realized it was another one of our youth from Bay Leaf!!!! It’s been such a blessing for us to see these girls, years later, with such a passion for our Lord. Megan was here for Candidate Conference, so our paths crossed a couple times during the couple days she was here. We enjoyed one late night catching up with her.

Well, that is a quick update on what’s going on on our end. I didn’t really have a chance to tell you all that we are learning, but will do that the next time. God’s been so gracious to meet us where we are at, and challenge our hearts. Last Friday, just after I wrote that last entry “Transitions” they gave us a 3-hour block just to spend time with the Lord and seek His face. Wow. What a NEEDED time… what a refreshing time… it was exactly what I needed in order to get grounded and filled up again. Obviously, I was running on fumes, and I was so reminded that I can’t do it in my own strength. They’ve been so good at challenging us to truly WALK with the Lord… not to just do our token quiet time, but to truly listen and talk with Him, as well as digesting His Word. It’s been since college since I’ve been able to be this focused on my own intimacy with the Lord. I am loving it.