Our San Francisco Treat

We have enjoying our stay in San Leandro this week. It is so nice to be back at sea level!! It is surprisingly cooler here too. My husband has been here a few times, but I have never been in California before. We saw some beautiful orchards all along the way out here. I had been looking forward to visiting San Francisco while here, but after the breaks went out on our truck, I didn't think we would make it. Thankfully the problem was fixed in enough time for us to take a quick trip to San Francisco yesterday afternoon. We took the train in which was one of our little guy's favorite parts. Here he is on the Barta.

Once in the city, we decided to take the trolley to the pier. After waiting for quite some time for it to arrive, we finally got on a crowded trolley. At this point I was carrying little guy and my husband was handling the folded up stroller. I had to walk almost the whole length of the trolley before a woman actually stood up and let me have her seat. What happened to being a gentleman? Anyway, we made it out to the pier. It was a beautiful day with no fog! We were able to see the bridge...



Lots of boats...




Alcatraz...



and the sea lions...



Here is our family observing the day...(I am around 21 weeks pregnant)

Our wagon train across the West

As we have been traveling many miles across the west, I look at mountains like these (and even bigger) and wonder how in the world women went with their husbands and children in wagon trains in order to settle out west. Not to mention there were probably many women who were pregnant like me bumping around on those rough roads, not exactly knowing where they would settle or what it would be like. I think I would have called my husband crazy if he asked me to do that! I'm having a hard enough time as it is with the paved bumpy roads.

Well our travels have brought us out to Utah. Here are a few pics of what we've been doing.



This was the location of our second week in Utah. Ferron. The town didn't even have a stop light. Oh so nice and simple and quiet!! I loved it for the week, but don't think I could live there b/c Walmart and any shopping was about 45 minutes away. If you look closely you can see our trailers in the background.





There were many different places to hike while there. This is the only place that I ventured out to. While I was standing in the spot where my picture with Ethan was taken, those on the rock above me kept saying..."Is that a rattlesnake?" I moved out of that spot in a hurry!! It was a definitely a rattlesnake hiding in the rock above me! Gross!!





We had lots of fun at the park in Ferron!! The little girl is my neice. Since I don't have a little girl to pamper, I like to take time to paint her nails and do her hair when she lets me. She is little guy's age and they have many adventures together. This park even had a climbing wall that little guy was ready to conquer all by himself. Thankfully daddy's a bit taller than him to get him over the top.



Here's what my husband does when he's not working. And I wonder where my son gets it from :-)

We also spent a week in Salt Lake City. Took a quick trip out to the great salt lake. It was a long walk from the "salt beach" to the actual water and a storm was coming up over the water so I never really got to stick my foot in it, but here are a few pics.



Little guy enjoyed the gift store and had his first taste of salt water taffy.



Couldn't leave out these pics of haircutting time. He's never looking at the camera b/c he's watching his favorite, Curious George.




We visited the Mormon Tabernacle before we left Salt Lake, but I didn't take any pics b/c my husband had already been there, done that. The grounds and buildings were beautifully kept. One part of the visitor center has a large statue of Jesus in the heavens and at various intervals a voice comes over the loud speakers as though it was "Jesus'" voice. We took little guy up to that room and the first thing he said was "Look, David!" (meaning David and Goliath David) As we left the many mormon cities in Utah to drive to CA, we had to drive through parts of Las Vegas. It was so eye opening to think of the vastly different ways that Satan blinds the eyes of the lost so that they will not hear or believe the glorious gospel of Christ. The mormons were very good kind people and for the most part clean cut. They "believe" in Jesus along with so many other things in order to make it to heaven. They are VERY religious. Las Vegas on the other hand seemed to be in a state of constant motion. Everywhere you turned there were things to look at and places to go. So many distractions, how would they stop to hear the word of God? What a deceiver our enemy is!

Looking forward to writing more about what we've seen here in San Francisco. Next week we'll be stationed in Vegas, so I'm sure I'll have more to say about it! (please excuse spelling errors. I'm too tired to proof read)

Praying for Others

Have you ever had someone just "pop" into your mind that maybe you haven't seen for a while? That happens to me quite often! This poem is a great reminder to pray for those "random thoughts." I believe the Lord brings people to our mind for a specific purpose, so take time to pray for others!

I can not tell why there should come to me
A thought of someone miles and years away,
In swift insistence on the memory,
Unless there is a need that I should pray.
We are too busy to spare thought
For days together of some friends away;
Perhaps God does it for us -- and we ought
To read His signal as a sign to pray.
Perhaps just then my friend has fiercer fight,
A more appalling weakness, a decay
Of courage, darkness, some lost sense of right;
And so, in case he needs my prayers -- I pray.

2 year old in the house!!

After posting so many serious thoughts, I thought it was high time for a fun update!

Happy Birthday "Days"

We had a few different birthday celebrations for Ethan's 2nd birthday. According to my husband, I go crazy when it comes to celebrating birthdays. But to me, birthdays should be special and fun and something you remember for a long time. You will only turn 2 once :-) It was so different this year to plan a party, invite friends and actually get party bags together. Never had to think about these things before!! We had a fun time at a nearby park with cousins and a few friends. It was hard to pick a "theme" for Ethan because he likes so many different things. I chose to go with a dump truck theme (hence the truck on the birthday cake). I crushed up oreo cookies to use as dirt for the bulldozer to drive on. One of the little party attendees was quite concerned that there was actually dirt on the cake and wasn't so sure if he wanted to eat it :-)


For a while after the party, Ethan kept saying, "Happy Birthday to Ethan," and thinking all presents that he saw were from him. One funny flashback of something that happened before his birthday... I chose to hide his birthday presents from us in our closet. I didn't work too hard at hiding them, although they were out of sight. One day after realizing Ethan was upstairs and very quiet, I walked into my bedroom to see him coming out of my closet holding his birthday presents! So thankful that kids his age are easily distracted!! He was excited to open that present later, but somehow it seemed like he was expecting it :-)

On his actual birthday, we found ourselves in Colorado, quite a ways from home. I still tried to make it a special day with balloons and streamers and a few presents. We were able to celebrate with the rest of the team traveling with us after supper. Ethan is definitely becoming an expert at blowing out candles!

Everyday Adventures

Ethan has a love for keys. Not just any old plastic keys. Oh no, they have to be the keys mommy and daddy have to use everyday. He prefers to hold one set of keys in each hand. Then he likes to go over to the door and try to lock or unlock it. Sometimes, like in this picture, he packs up his bag or pail with toys, gets his keys and says "Bye, Mommy." Curious as to where he is going, he tells me, "The store."

There have been many times that I am about to leave to go somewhere and, you guessed it, I can't find my keys. Thankfully my son is very predictable. I've figured out his hiding places :-)

Our next adventure is in the area of music. I am far from thinking my child will ever be some famous musician. But he does love to play the piano! He is sure to have the song book right in front of him. As he "plays" he is singing at the top of his lungs. Then he stops, turns the page in the song book and continues singing at the top of his lungs. Now, as we travel, we don't have a piano. He still comes to me at times and says, "Mommy, sing." So I get out the song book and he sits down on the couch and then says, "Mommy, music." (pointing to the cd player and trying to tell me to put some music on for him to sing to) Just recently he mastered singing most of Jesus Loves Me along with me.

The last adventure for now is actually one of my own. I have tried for a few years to make a successful and delicious homemade pie crust. I have failed for years too :-) My mother-in-law so graciously came over one day this summer to set me straight. She is an expert pie crust maker!! I think and hope I learned something from her. We did make two pie crusts together and they both tasted delicious. Now the next step would be to make one on my own. I'll have to let you know how that goes. Here is a pic of the cherry pie we made together.

Lessons Along the Way

"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee: and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee...for I am the LORD thy God...since thou wast precious in my sight." Isaiah 43:2-4

After sitting down many times and thinking to myself "Can anything else go wrong?" and "Lord, why all of this for us, right now?" these verses came to my mind. Comfort, reassurance and love shine clearly through these verses, but so does the truth that there will be times when you "pass through the waters and the rivers." At those times, like no other, I know that I am in a place where I can go to no one else but God! Through all the circumstances of these past few weeks and changes even months before, God knocked down all my feeble plans in order to clearly show me that there is nothing else and no one else I can depend upon but my God.

I have come to this point many times in my life before, but sadly I forget the important truths of complete dependence on God and get comfortable with my circumstances, my problem solving ability or my future plans. It is so easy even when things in life get shaken up a little to try to figure out "plan B" on my own without seeking God's plan. (I'm sure I'm not the only one to do this!) In pride I trudge forward, confident of my own way. When the trials come and my plans are knocked out from under me, the battle in my mind begins. To be honest, it is not easy for me to surrender right away and realize that even through difficult times, my God still cares about me and wants to change me. At this point, I am so thankful for the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that works to break my proud heart so that I can be taught. There is no sweeter place to be than bowed down before the Lord with a surrendered heart and will.

The other important lesson my God has been teaching me if found in James 4: 13-15

"Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."

I am a planner and I easily set my heart on my plans. Anyone else like that? So, I am easily disappointed and frustrated when my plans fall through or are changed. How foolish I am to hold my plans over God's will, God's perfect plan and get upset when my plan doesn't work. Does this mean that I don't need to plan any more? No. But I must continually bring my plans and dreams before the Lord and surrender them to Him. I want Him to guide my plans, even the making of them. When this is my attitude, my response to any change in plans won't be that of disappointment or anger, but rather joy that my God's plan is being worked out for the best.

There are many more lessons God has been teaching me along our journey, but I will save those for other posts :-).

The Infamous St. Louis Trip

The first stop on our journey this fall was St. Louis, MO. Missouri was the state of my birth and I hadn't been back since I was a little girl. I wanted to see what it was like, so I was excited to go! On the way to St. Louis we stopped in KY to visit with family and get a good night's sleep. Before pulling out the next day, I noticed some green fluid coming out of our truck. Apparently that funny smell and the lack of cool air conditioning was due to some problem with the coolant. So the rest of our traveling team drove on to St. Louis while we stayed in KY to find out what was wrong and fix the problem. We are so thankful that we had family in KY to help us out! Jonathan's sister gave me and our little guy a place to nap while she took Jonathan around to repair shops in order to diagnose the problem. Thankfully through the help of friends the leak was fixed at no cost and we were able to get on the road the next day.

Once in St. Louis, I started feeling like I was coming down with whatever cold Ethan had had the week before. Fever, chills...you name it, I had it. By the end of the week I was getting a little concerned for the baby, so I tried to get into see an obgyn, but no one would take an "out-of-towner." So they sent me to the emergency room. I knew I was sick. I just wanted them to check the baby and make sure everything was fine there. After drawing blood, they found I had a low white blood count and high blood pressure and didn't know what was causing it. They wanted to keep me overnight in order to watch me. Oh boy! Hospitals aren't the best place in the world to recover from an illness because I knew every ten minutes they would be coming in to do something to me, so there went my idea of sleeping! Finally they did take an ultrasound of the baby and found all the be well. At this point I was about 16 weeks along. My husband and I asked if they would be so kind as to tell us whether it was a boy or a girl. So one good thing about the hospital stay was finding out we were having another BOY! Anyway, after much pleading and begging on my part to be released the following day, they finally let me go after reviewing my blood tests and telling me I had a virus. Thank you very much. I really could have told them that from the beginning. Maybe they needed some more money?? I did realize the importance of taking it easy. I am one to keep going and going whether I'm pregnant or not.

Well, the same night I entered the hospital, my husband went home to take care of our little guy. After putting him to bed, he found out someone had hit our truck while backing out of the parking lot. Upon coming inside, he realized our trailer plumbing was backed up somewhere. He gave up for the night and went to bed :-). I spent the next week recovering and my husband worked on fixing all the other problems. We had to pack up our overnight bags and camp out at the Pastor's house while our trailer was being fixed. Once the trailer was fixed, our truck went in for repairs. By the end of the week our trailer's plumbing was backed up again. At this point, the rest of the team was ready to move on, so we stayed behind once again to take care of our problems. We are so thankful for the pastor and his family who so graciously hosted us several times throughout the week. After revisiting the repair shop on Monday, our trailer was "good to go." We were just ready to pull out of town for the next week of meetings when our trailer got stuck in a ditch after a sharp turn! Thankfully, we were still in town and the Pastor was able to call someone to help us get out. Praise the Lord that our trailer came out of the ditch all in one piece. (I have to admit that I went inside while they were trying to move the trailer. I couldn't handle the suspense or the possibility of our "house-on-wheels" crashing before my eyes.)

As we pulled out of St. Louis, we have never been so thankful for the many we know were praying for our safety and grace to face every trial. After traveling about 3 hours, the work the repair shop had done on our trailer was "falling apart." Thankfully my resourceful husband took pictures of the damage and was able to salvage it before it fell off on the side of the road. And praise the Lord for the reimbursement coming our way for the poor quality of work by the repair shop.

The story does end well, don't worry! We arrived in Greeley, CO safe and sound, in one piece, plumbing working, truck fixed and a healthy family. Hopefully we won't keep up our tradition of coming into the next few weeks of meetings a day late!

My purpose for describing in detail all we went through is coming in the next post. This one's getting too long!!

The Journey Begins

This is us. This is our truck and "house on wheels." This is us right before we left sometime mid-August for a trip that will eventually take us to California and back. An adventure-packed vacation, you might ask? Well, in part, yes. But ultimately we have the privilege and opportunity to travel to different parts of the country to share the precious gospel of Jesus Christ with those who may have never heard. We started on this journey in the spring, only we didn't pull our "house on wheels" behind us. We are so thankful now to have a little piece of home and familiarity as we trek from state to state. (You will understand fully what I mean if you have children :-)

Maybe you can imagine what it might be like to pack up your belongings and family to be "out-of-town" for an extended period of time. If you are like me, that brings with it many mixed emotions. At first I am so excited to be going somewhere, seeing something new, meeting new people (not to mention the break I get from having to cook meals). But then I realize that every week everything will be different. I won't know what to expect. I will miss my family, friends and church...my grocery stores, library and house. I will miss the constancy that I am so used to. Then comes the fear of venturing out into the unknown, away from home, especially with being in my 2nd trimester of pregnancy. So, as you can see, at least in my book, it is not always that easy to pack up and leave in order to serve the Lord. (Well, it may be for my husband. Just give him a place to sleep, eat and shower and he's fine!)

I have been very hesitant to write anything about what has been going on in my life during the transition, preparation and carrying out of our new ministry. But as I have been reading about the life and ministry of Jonathan Goforth and his wife Rosalind, I realized that missionaries are normal people that struggle just as much with fleshly battles as any other Christian. Just because your occupation is "missionary" it doesn't automatically set you on a spiritual plain higher than every day battles. I long to have a desire to serve the Lord wherever He has called us with gladness and selflessness and to see the needs of the lost around me as greater than my "creature comforts." So, I would love to share with you all that the Lord has been teaching me along our journey to conform me to the image of His Son.

How exciting it is to think that God places different things in each of our lives as we journey toward Heaven to make each of us more like Jesus Christ!