One Day at a Time

Steve and I got away this morning for some coffee at DunnBros and a much needed "catch up" time.  We were able to talk through and process our time away, his time in India (more to come on that), our time Stateside, talk through going back to Korea (which has been really hard for me to think about), and catch up on some goals we have as we return to Korea.  It was a great time of catching up and being able to talk with no distractions and no agenda.  We haven't been able to do that much in the last 10 months, we need to find a way to do it more.

After coffee we walked next store to a cute little used book shop and browsed....not that we really needed any more new books to haul back with us (I think we've bought several too many already) but book stores are just sooooo irrisistable.

I found a slim pale yellow tattered book from the 1960s called "Moments of Awareness: Inspirational Verses" in the .99cent bin.  Flipping it open I "happened" on this thought:

"One Day at a Time" by Helen Lowrie Marshall

"I'm glad life is given us bit by bit,

In minutes and days and years;

For if we were faced with the whole of it

How filled it would be with fears;

With all of its laughter and all of its pain,

It's sorrow and joy and care --

Why, even its beauty all at one time

Would be more than we could bear.

But God drops a bit of happiness here,

And lowers a shadow there,

And each of us has his portion of both,

The bitter and the fair.

And, wheather the way be rough or fine,

It's a comforting thing to know

We've only one step to take at a time,

Just one little day to go."

Email from Dad

There is nothing like a reassuring email from your daddy when you are about to do something hard (like go back to Korea when everything in you wants to stay close to the familiar, easy, convenient and love of family/friends).

Dear Steve, Hawa & Caleb,

 

I prayed for you this morning. I prayed for a nice, relaxing day as you look forward to returning to Korea tomorrow morning. I miss you all already! I was emptying the dishwasher and saw the little red cup, spoon & tiny fork that "C" used while here, and really missed him. I even took down "Goodnight Moon"  booklast night and looked through it.

 

Now don't be sad! I am glad for the time I spent with all of you.  Hawa, we had some good times hanging out & just talking when you were here and I appreciate it a lot. Lots of good memories were made.

 

The Lord has called you all to Korea for a time. And, I am joyful over your commitment to the Lord, so my prayer for each of you is that your "joy would be full" as you return. You are a beautiful family doing a beautiful work.

 

Love you much, Dad

 

Exactly what I needed in my inbox this morning.

Sweet Friends and an Updated Picture

Steve made it to the States late Thursday night (yay! praise the Lord!).  We drove to Rochester, MN to pick him up since all the flights directly into MSP were overbooked.

On Friday, we were able to meet up with some sweet friends.

This is half of our former small group plus 2 new additions who were added while we were in Korea! 

Below is a picture from almost 10 months ago:

Caleb was 8 months old, Tara was in her 3rd trimester and Megs was in her 1st Trimester

10 months later and an updated pic:

Caleb @ almost 18  months, Charlie @ almost 8 months and Jude @ 6 weeks!

Caleb and Charlie

And...Caleb and Charlie!

Oh so much fun!

Miss you girls, love you and love your sweet babies!



Happy One + Month Jude Dude!

Our Dear Dear Dear friends (Mark and Megan) recently had their first baby (a boy!) last month....

I was going to do a "Welcome to the World Jude"post but (ahem) his mommy didn't post pictures for a while so I couldn't steal any (I guess she might have a tiny little excuse though so she's off the hook for now)......And now that a month has already warp sped by, here I am posting about it and he is over a month old now!  At any rate, we are so excited for Mark and Megan and this new little blessing in their arms....now here's to wishing we lived closer so we could walk through parenthood with them!

India Team Updates

Steve asked me to go in his work email today and get his flight itinerary....while I was in there I found some India update emails that I wasn't included on =(  Sad!  Apparently I should check his work email more often....it's too bad, would have been fun to be in the loop while he was away.  But anyway, I thought this update might be interesting to pass along and some of you might enjoy the (belated) update from Pastor Nelson:

Hello all!

I wanted to send out a quick update on how things are going in India.

Everyone is fine. A few people have had some minor stomach issues, but nothing serious (they were all adults). Everyone is in good spirits and working hard. We are safe and having a good time.

Yesterday, we finished our pastor's conference. It was tremendous. We had a full building and I believe it was around 200-250 Indian pastors. Armistead, Houser, and I spoke over the course of 2 days to them. We have received lots of positive feedback and have been asked to do this more often. They desperately need more Bible teaching and are asking for it.

Also yesterday, the team finished painting certain buildings of the orphanage on the inside of them. Lots of work and effort there. The crew was tired, but finished it off. May those orphans know that someone cares for them and that God loves them.

This morning, we had the opportunity to go to 2 villages and preach the Gospel. At the first one, Steve Houser shared his testimony and I then preached the Gospel. We were out in the street between houses in the middle of a village doing this. Open air. Praise God, when the call was given to respond to the Gospel, 4 people came to receive Christ. We then went to another village and Brian Nuss shared his testimony and Steve then preached. God worked in the lives of all present!! The Gospel was preached!! We visited with members of the church of that village afterwards and were blessed by their hospitality. While out at the first village, all team members were given Gospel tracts and we went around in this village passing out Gospel literature. These villages were Dalit villages (Untouchables).

This afternoon has been a rest of sorts and this evening we will be going to another village. Lori Thomas (one of the youth from our youth group) will be giving her testimony next and I will be speaking again.

Please pray for God's continuing work in all of those things listed above. Please ask God to protect us, keep us all healthy and strong, and to make us bold for His name, and to move in the lives of the people we are serving. It has been incredible so far....all praise to God our Father!!!!!

Love you all and thanks for your prayers. KEEP PRAYING.

Nelson Chapman

a pic I "stole" from one of Steve's teammates facebook page

Attacked by Dogs

Over two months ago (I told you I'm behind in my blogging!) Steve did an outing with the youth to be attacked by the guard dogs on base.  Apparently, it's fun entertainment to watch your youth pastor get attacked by a dog.  It ended up being a really fun event - one of the men in our church works with the dogs and did a whole tour of the facilities, presentation and then let the kids dress up in the gear and meet the dogs (as well as letting Steve get chased down).  Below are some pictures of the event....

Meeting his opponent

Timmy in the gear

Suiting up

Getting ready

Steve running

The group that attended the event

Anyway, this all comes to mind because recently we were hanging out in the backyard at my parent's house and all I can say is.....

Like Father

Like Son!

Dear Steve

I recently had two (very short, ahem, ahem) facebook messages from Steve (who is currently in India).  From his breif posts it sounds like he is really enjoying India.  He said he has limited access to email but will be able to check one more time before he heads back to Korea (and then Lord willing back to the States to see US!!!).  He asked me to update the blog for him to check so here goes:

Dear Steve,

We miss you!!  I feel like I won't be able to wait 4 more days but I know I'll have to.  C makes it easier with all his running around, he is one busy boy to keep up with these days!

  I think you'll be amazed at his vocabulary and how much he has learned in just 4 weeks.  He will string 3 or 4 or 5 words together now to make sentances and he will repeat almost every single thing you ask him too.  He has even started responding to "I love you Caleb" with "I love you too."  He has been so good these past weeks - he is listening and obeying (much of the time) and he puts up with the car better than I expected.  We've done a lot of driving!  You will be proud of me, navigating our way all over (Brooklyn Park, Forest Lake, Albertville, Richfield, North Minneapolis, Lake Benton, St. Cloud) ~ We've been making some serious trips!  We start with a pile of toys and books in the front seat and by the end of the trip they are strewn all over the back! 

Poor guy has also been seriously over-tired and over-stimulated for about 4 weeks now.  Working through jetlag, going to bed way past bedtime, taking shorter naps or no naps at all.  It's amazing he isn't a total basket case.  I suppose he'll save that for when we get back to Korea.....He is such a sweetheart and such a joy.  It is so fun to watch him meet and interact and love everyone here. 

Last Sunday we went to church downtown BBC and got to see a number of people.  I found out some friends of ours are expecting their first baby!!!! But she hasn't announced on facebook or her blog yet so you'll have to wait until you get here to find out who it is!  Renee and "her" Chris came and met us at church, which was really special too.  After, my parents and Caleb and I went to Chipotle.

Monday we drove to Brooklyn Park and got to spend the whole day with Krystal.  Her Baby Bump is adorable...we got to see the nursery and talk lots of baby and got all caught up on just about everything.  It was great to spend time together and  Caleb enjoyed all her toys.

Tuesday I was supposed to hang out with Tara, Charlie, Mallory and Emery but Tara and Charlie got sick....the awful yuckie cold that has been going around and C and I just got over.  No fun.  But Mallory and Emery and Caleb and I met at a park in Forest Lake (about a 45 min drive for both of us) and spend the afternoon chasing two toddlers around the playground, talking, catching up, comparing notes, getting new ideas, and eating apples on the grass. 

 You know how Caleb has that really funny quirk where he has claimed his second pacifier as his "lovie" and has to sleep with one in his mouth and a second one in his hands or he can't sleep?  Apparently Emery does the SAME THING!!  I couldn't believe it.  Neither Mallory or I know what to do.....but at least we know someone else is dealing with it too and we can try to brainstorm a solution.

Wednesday Caleb and I drove to Richfield to see Meridian Crossings and my former manager and former co-workers.  It was so fun.  I miss those sweet friends!!!  Their new location is AMAZING and such a great facility.  Caleb enjoyed running all over the offices, climbing up in Brian's chair and using his desk phone (before I could find where he'd run off to), trying out the copier, getting fed from everyone's lunches and snack drawers, stealing someone's blackberry out of their purse when I wasn't looking (and then none of us could figure out who's phone he had taken or whose purse to return it to), drinking out of the "wawa foun-tain"  and wailing when it was time to be done..."fun mama, fun! foun-tain fun."  And of course the visit couldn't have been complete without a total on-the-floor meltdown before we left.....I was one embarrassed mama!  I wasn't surprised though, seeing as he gave me several big yawns right as we pulled up to the parking lot and we were there over 2 hours.....Poor guy.  Needless to say, meldowns + former co-workers = no fun  =( 

From Richfield we drove to Albertville to see the cousins and have a cousin sleepover. 

Unfortunately, Caleb fell asleep about 20 min from their house so his nap for the day was totally shot but we still had fun and it's great to be around another mom who "gets it."  I had a great time with them, even though Jeni and I stayed up way too late talking...you'd think we were in college with nothing to do in the morning, not two moms with kiddos to deal with at 6:30am! 

What were we thinking?!?  ;-)  While I was there, I also picked up some way overdue new clothes for you and Renee drove ALL THE WAY UP to go shopping with us.

The next day we drove back to C-town and Micah came home.  I told Caleb at dinner that Uncle Micah would be coming home but then when I put him to bed and Micah wasn't in yet he was really upset.  He stayed up until Micah came in (about 8pm) and I heard him in there going "Micaw Micaw Micaw"  Soooooo I got him up and he got to rough house and play and get all wound up until 10pm when I put him back down.  Yikes.  It was fun though and that is why we are here, right?  It isn't everyday he gets to stay up late with his beloved Uncle Micaw.  He sure loves him.

Friday my parents, Micah, Caleb and I went to the zoo. 

 It was overcast and rained some but was a ton of fun.  Caleb especially enjoyed his time with the three of them and seeing the monkeys, the sparky the seal show and the polar bears (which he at first thought was a dog and then a horse, poor kid was so confused). 

 After the zoo, we went to the mall, ate lunch at Panera (NUMMMMMY, one of my "must eat at" places), Micah took Caleb on a train ride (which he adored and won't stop talking about "Micaw, train, ON, fun" and I dropped off my rings to get their annual cleaning (so sad to be ring-less right now especially!).

After that Caleb and I headed over to North Minneapolis to see the LANGES!!!!  So. Much. Fun.  Rubi is so grown up and absolutely beautiful.  There are a lot of very cute little girls out there, but few that are just beautiful....she is one of them.  It was so fun to play with her now that she is "all grown up" and to watch Langes be parents.  Caleb and her enjoyed playing together too. 

 After dinner we went for a walk and walked past the last house we offered on.....In some ways, I still really like it and wish we were living there but I know the Lord has been good to us and we are doing exactly what we should be doing...even if it is hard some times. It felt funny to walk by and think about the past year - it has been almost exactly to the week a year ago we offered on that house!  It got late so Caleb and I ended up spending the night, which was great because then Kasi and I got some extra time to catch up.  Oh and G. Hill had his baby last night!!!!!!!!! Yahoo - Congrats to him and Kelli....I didn't get to see baby Isaiah though.  Sad.

This morning we headed back to C-town, Caleb got a nap that wasn't nearly long enough, we played outside, fed Joe snacks (C's favorite thing right now),

checked on the baby birds that he watched hatch out of eggs last week, "rode" the tractor (aka sat on it and pushed buttons), read books on the front lawn, watered the flowers, ate way too much food, and went and saw the house my parents put an offer on this week.  It's really nice, I like it.  It's on the river - really pretty back yard.  And it has a walk out basement with it's own bathroom, kitchen and fireplace.....so we'll have a place to stay =)

Tomorrow we head down to church, hopefully get to see Michelle and then head back up here for some sleep.  Micah leaves for Arizona early....I'm sad to say goodbye to him again.  It's been so fun to watch him with Caleb ~ He is such a great Uncle Micaw.

Well, how's that for a play by play for ya?  It's been a busy week ~ It's been a busy 4 weeks!  We've been having a great time but can't wait for you to come join us.

All my love, Me

Update from SCBC India Team

I missed a skype call from Steve yesterday and was pretty disappointed.  He left me a brief facebook message, sounds like he is doing well.  Received this brief update from the team Steve is on in India:

Hello all!

Just wanted to send out this message that all is well. The India Mission Team arrived safe & sound in Bangalore after a looong flight. We were taken out to a place to get some Indian tea and it was a treat.
We are staying at Pastor JD's house above the church. It is so nice of him to open his home up to the entire team. Pastor A is here and everyone is doing fine.

We had a good breakfast this morning. We are about to head over for prayerwalking and will then go over to a village to preach the Gospel. Here we go! Pray for the Lord to work mightily. The Pastor's Conference starts tomorrow...JD said around 350 Indian pastors will be in attendance. Praise God! Part of the mission team will go over to fix up the orphanage building tomorrow as well.

I have been told that we are going over to the orphanage today as well...and will be baptizing some newly converted adult believers from the churchthat at the orphanage because they have a large baptismal there. Wow! God is good.

We are so blessed to be here. God has stirred our hearts even more now that we are here as we were having devotions and praying together as a team. When we were worshipping the LORD together, we could hear the Hindi temple music down the street. 

Please be in prayer for us...love all of you.

India - Bound

As most of you know by now Caleb and I have been Stateside for almost 4 weeks.  It is hard to believe it's been that long - it has absolutely flown by.  I think just about every day has been packed with things to do and we've been hard put to try to find times for Caleb to squeeze naps in and try to get to bed on time.  I think Caleb has at least met one new-to-him person almost every day and many days found himself sleeping in his borrowed pack n play in yet another new location.  He has done wonderfully though and I have so enjoyed watching him learn and discover and try new things.  He has been soaking it all in and spouting it out his mouth in the form of lots of new vocabulary and many new names!  I just can not get over how wonderfully he has been doing - he's been obeying and listening, he has been thriving on everyoe's love and attention, and he has even done a great job in his carseat (spending many an afternoon driving, including a 5 hour non-stop drive to Grandma's).  It's been so sweet to watch him interact with all his family and enjoy them so much....It will be hard to leave.  I love watching my siblings excel at their new roles of auntie and uncle, I love watching my parents (and Steve's) be grandparents, watch our grandma's be proud greats, watch Caleb's cousins love him to pieces etc etc etc.  It's going to be hard to leave!

Lots of carseat time - poor guy!

C watching his daddy - we sure miss you hunnie!

C Loving the country and running all over outside in the grass!

Caleb and his Uncle Micah

Meanwhile, Steve has been back in SOKO working hard.  He has been continuing his normal jobs, he has been able to ramp up his time one-on-one meeting with students, he has plowed through his Seminary course The Gospels (recently finishing his midterm - awaiting the results!), teaching English, mold-proofing our house for me, and getting ready to head to India next week on a mission's trip.  He will be spending one week in Bangalore, India (he is leaving in a few hours!!) - there they will be working at an orphanage, distributing much-needed supplies like children's vitamins (and soccer balls), and speaking at a Pastor's conference.  Steve will be giving several talks in a series on the Names of Jesus.  Please keep his talks in your prayers and also keep the whole team in your prayers for safety and for an effective time in India.  Pray they will be a blessing and not a burden, that they will have sensitivity and share the word of the Lord. 

I will leave you with a quote from Steve that he shared with the church this morning :  "I am excited to partner with pastor Enosh. I love his vision for raising up men to preach the Gospel in India and I'm excited to touch those who are considered "untouchable" because I know that God has reached out and touched us when we were untouchable."

After flying back from India, Steve hopes to leave the next day to fly HERE! Caleb and I are getting so excited to see him again!  He plans to be here a week and then we will all fly back to Korea together.  We are planning an informal open house get together at Steve's parents house on Saturday, July 23 from 11am-8pm so PLEASE COME OUT if you can! We would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see as many people as we can.