Post(s) on the Other Blog...

Hey whoever you are!  : )  Thanks for checking my blog...  For the next week or so while we're travelling I will be posting on our other blog and rather than copy things here, I'm just going to ask that you check over there (or subscribe to that blog if you use a reader) to see if there is anything new.  It will make my life just a little simpler and that's probably good.  : )  Thanks!

Click here to go to GRACE & PEACE.

Blessings!
Melissa

Just about finished packing...

Amazing!  And still (ummm...  recalculating...) 10 hours before we board the first plane!  I had a frightening thought a little while ago about travelling all day and through tomorrow night (incl. layovers) and going straight to the Peruvian MB Conference from the airport...  wondering what I'm going to look like.  I was relieved when I remembered I would have my suitcase with me so at least I can change clothes somewhere along the way!  I have so little idea what to expect on this trip...  It's really a good thing the kids aren't coming.  I'm a much more relaxed traveler without needing to care for them.

I need to finish packing if I want to sleep tonight (which I do!), but wanted to mention Lowell has written something over here :  http://familiaens.blogspot.com/2011/01/and-here-we-go.html that you can read to find out how you can pray for us if you feel the desire to do that!

Hopefully we'll be updating while we're travelling.  I am more convinced than ever this is what we're supposed to be doing.  I CAN NOT believe how at peace I am feeling right now and have been all day when normally packing for trips stresses me out like nothing else. (Not to mention that we're leaving the kids for way longer than ever before!)  Totally supernatural peace, friends.

God really does do miracles.

We appreciate your prayers for all the reasons my hubby mentioned in the other post...  so go read that one if you want to know more.  : )

Hasta luego!!!

Settling without Settling

This has been quite an intense month since returned from Abbotsford.  It's been a lot.  It's been good.  There have been some days that have been frustrating as we tried to figure out why it was so difficult to get internet hooked up, why it was so difficult to get a dryer that worked, why the plumber kept making things worse instead of better...  Last week Lowell wrote on our other blog about my cousin Karen passing away suddenly a couple of weeks ago.  Dealing with the little annoying stuff and grieving my cousin's death and trying to get settled in a new home and new "job" again all at the same time, I realized, was probably good preparation for when we move to Peru.  Surely we will be grieving saying goodbye to many, dealing with new roles, and dealing with frustrating details in a new place all at the same time as well.

It's an odd dynamic to be trying to get settled in while knowing that in possibly less than 9 months we will be uprooting and resettling again.  I wonder if I will remember what it feels like to really be settled?  How to get there?  The other day I was reading Genesis 11 and was struck by verses 31 & 32.

"Terah took his son Abram... Lot... and... Sarai, ... and together they set out from Ur... to go to Canaan.  But when they came to Haran, they settled there.  Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran."

It's interesting to me that Abram's father set out on a journey, but settled before he reached his destination.  We need to find a certain degree of settled-ness here, but not so much that we decide to stop!  Like being a tree that's been uprooted and placed in a temporary pot awaiting its final transplantation.  Like holding our breath.  Like treading water.  All things that are okay for a while, but not too long or you'll die or pass out or drown.  God knows how long we can and will live like this.

In the meantime, we are super excited that at the end of next week, we will be (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!drumroll please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) flying to Peru!!!!!   It will be a short trip, but I can not wait to get my feet on Peruvian soil.  We are excited about meeting our Peruvian brothers and sisters and visiting churches and exploring a few cities where we may end up living.  I expect that by the time we leave we will be even less tempted to settle in Fresno...

But let's all of us remember that none of us are ever supposed to be completely settled anywhere on this earth.  Our real home is heaven and until we get there, our hearts will never be completely satisfied.  They aren't meant to be.  Like Noah and Abraham and Sarah...

"All these people were still living by faith when they died... And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth...  Instead, they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them."  Hebrews 11:13, 16

Here or in Abbotsford or in Peru, we are always aliens and strangers longing for heaven.  And if we live by faith, God will not be ashamed to be called our God.  Let's pray and long for that!!!