It’s been a busy time for us, even though last week was spring break. After Josh quit working we have been able to meet with several people and just get to know them. It’s amazing how much you really miss something until you suddenly have it again.
We’re entering into that period of transition that is becoming all too familiar. The first few days of spring break we packed two big footlockers with all the things we want to have in PNG; most of it is “homey” stuff and stuff you can’t get (but will miss) in PNG, there are picture frames, my cast-iron grill pan, and a gazillion ziploc bags. We’re shipping these footlockers to a ministry in Pennsylvania that puts together big shipping containers for missionaries and gets them onto the cargo ship. If we ship it now, it should get to PNG sometime before we do. Right now our walls are painfully bare.
For the last half of spring break, we had the opportunity to visit with some dear friends from Florida (they visited us 3 years ago when we were in Michigan!). They have a big stretch of land right on a creek, we had plenty of sunshine, and some wonderful fellowship. It was so refreshing to just unwind. We had fun, too; we went to Decatur Creamery and saw how cheese is made, experienced the “super-natural” Gravity Hill in Shullsburg, and ate homemade waffles.
Easter dawned a little bit sad for me this year. Usually it is my favorite holiday, but this is the first time I’ve been away from my home church for Resurrection Day. We missed Grace in Florida, but enjoyed the fellowship at our church up here. That afternoon we went to our staff friend’s house where there was delicious food, great company, and a wonderful sense of fellowship and family. It helps, too, that he’s an NTMA pilot en-route to Asia Pacific, so we could talk about our upcoming ministries.
We’re down to the last couple of weeks of classes before we head for Belgium. This is that transition from “normal life” to “missionary life.” We may not have loved every second of being here, but we have made some deep connections with some people here, and it breaks my heart (and their’s, too, I know) for us to leave them. Even though we’ll be busy, I’m trying to soak it up as much as possible. It’s such a comfort to know that the Lord is still sovereign, even in this!
We have a big long list of our earthly possessions hanging on our fridge; most of the things on the list have somebody else’s name next to it claiming it when we leave. It’s weird, but I know that it will be a huge blessing to them when they get something they can use, and it’s a blessing to us because we don’t have to ship/store/find something to do with it all. It’s just stuff anyways.
The next few weeks are going to be very busy for us as we wind up the semester, pack, and begin our traveling, but I am going to try and update here as often as possible.
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