California, land of rest and sweat

Rest. This is the first time since we started training a few years ago that my brain has been able to rest. There’s extra space or something. Maybe it’s the 45 minute drive to get to a good grocery store. Maybe it’s the quiet mornings without the frantic hustle and bustle to make breakfast and a lunch and shuffle out of the door. I’m ever so grateful for slow at this time. It’s not like we haven’t been keeping busy, there’s just something different. I’m enjoying while it lasts.

So what have we occupied our time with you might ask?

Adoption grant paperwork is done! We wrote tons of essays and personal accounts, including details as to how much $ we spend on clothing each month. Lots of paperwork on top of the piles of adoption paperwork. I never thought responding to God in obedience would result in so much paperwork. I think it would be easier to do it if I knew there was a baby guaranteed on the other end.

Family! We only have so long before we head to Asia Pacific, so we’re going to spend as much time with them as possible–now it’s California’s turn. We get to spend time with our niece and nephew at their martial arts classes.  We get to eat meals together with his parents, and enjoy time together, not to mention Jim’s love for baseball–I keep catching myself watching the game. Weird, huh?

It’s been so long since all of the Downing boys were all in the same state, so it’s a good time to soak up all of the time that we can together. (We love horchata!!!)

Friends. We got to visit Payton’s old stomping ground, Jenness Park, and volunteer doing things he used to do, like adventure-rec. It was fun to get a good taste of a part of his past I hadn’t seen very much of! Plus, I got to spend time with some neat people and help little girls and moms make it up the climbing wall.

When people think of CA, they usually think of palm trees, but Payton usually thinks of mountains and foothills. So, he took me up to Sonora Pass so I could see places he’d scrambled or snowboarded. It vaguely resembled Colorado, especially the aspen groves! Projects! Our email/contact lists are finally organized and put in one excel document, which will make our lives easier, especially since they’re ready to go for overseas. We also made an adoption video, which we probably won’t use, but it’s there. I have cut down our papers by another file box by scanning to pdf. We’ve be hard at work practicing our violin too! I’m almost halfway through the “Old-time Fiddle For the Complete Ignoramus.”

The most fun project was at Grandma Haar’s house! All of the family showed up for a couple of days of laying new flooring and fixing a back porch roof. We all got grimy and sweaty from the labor, but it was the most satisfying thing I’ve done in a long time. 

Payton did some jungle-style tree trimming at his brother’s place–Payton jumped from the fence to the tree like a monkey and proceeded to trim it, I just told him where to cut. And we got to scrape, sand, caulk, paint and in general spruce up the windows of Payton’s other grandma’s old farmhouse. I find painting in the sunshine quite relaxing.As an added bonus, his cousin, Jana, stopped by! It was a good day with family, yet again!

Church. We’ve been able to connect with Payton’s old church here. It’s been great to get to know folks and just fellowship around God’s Word. Last week we shared our testimonies at the same youth group where he got saved, which I thought was neat. He preached 3 services this past week, and I played music. Lots of study. Lots of practice. We loved all of the fellowship with the body here.

We feel blessed if you didn’t catch my drift. 🙂 It’s been really good to be here, and we look forward to what God will keep doing as the days go by.