Turning Two

Elizabeth turned two the last Sunday of July.  Grammy and Grampy offered us to use their home for the celebration.  Elizabeth loves her sister's Bitty Baby doll, so Grammy got Elizabeth her very own Bitty Baby.  For now, we call her "Baby" but I am sure as the days roll by and Elizabeth starts to talk more, her baby will have a more clever name.  Elizabeth continues to be a joy to us.  She is a lot of fun and enjoys being tickled and chased by her siblings.  She's still pretty spunky and I know I'm a bit partial, but she's smart!  You can't get much past her. She may not talk much, but her understanding is impeccable.  Some of her new recent words are, "me", "baby", "bye", "kay", "dee-dee" (which is her word for binky), "mimi" for Grammy, "pee pay or pp" for PJ, and of course "mama" and "dada".  I think the funniest thing she does at this time, is she calls Paul, "Paul".  And it's a guttural sounding type of call...and then we she calls him "da-da", it's so sweet and demure.  It's pretty funny. I really need to get it on video!  She is also really into books right now. We catch her looking at books and "reading" them at all hours of the day. I love to see her happily content looking at books while sitting on the couch.  She also likes to be read to, of course...and so if you're sitting down, chances are pretty good she'll bring you a book to read to her (though half the time she just wants to flip the pages and not really hear the story!)  She loves being outside and she loves the beach.  She's not a baby anymore, that much is sure.

A Boy and His Birthday

 On July 16, PJ turned 10!  We had a small celebration for him down at Grammy and Grampy's beach condo.  PJ wanted his grandparents and cousins there as well as his best friend and his family.  So we all descended on the beach, played, swam, talked and ate some lunch before we got the singing and gifts underway.  Pictured above is the spunky 10 year old!

 Above, PJ and his boy cousins, friends and brother!

 Singing "Happy Birthday to You."  He blew the candles out before we finished the song!

 PJ's best friend, Joseph, gave PJ this book on reptilian scientific names.  He was thrilled!

 Grammy made him happy with some new LEGO sets!

 Everyone excited about new gifts!

 Most of the kids pictured with Calvin's gift to PJ in the background. A homemade LEGO construction complete with a couple dollars hidden inside as well as some mini-figs.  A very creative gift from a very loving brother.

 And, the gift we got PJ...snake tongs. He was over the moon.  Below is Sean, a cousin, with PJ and more LEGOs!

 Showing off with his snake tongs (above).

 Before our friends left, I snagged this picture of PJ and Joseph.  Such sweet boys, such a sweet friendship they have.  So thankful for this friendship and the ways in which I see God at work in them.  Thank you to Joseph and the Ohareks as well as the Henry family for coming and making his 10th birthday so very extra special!

a poem on TCKs

I am
a confusion of cultures.
Uniquely me.
I think this is good
because I can
understand
the traveller, sojourner, foreigner,
the homesickness
that comes.
I think this is also bad
because I cannot
be understood
by the person who has sown and grown in one place.
They know not
the real meaning of homesickness
that hits me
now and then.
Sometimes I despair of
understanding them.
I am
an island
and
a United Nations.
Who can  recognize either in me
but God?
~"Uniquely Me" by Alex Graham James

*TCK stands for Third Culture Kid
Please pray for Paul and me as we raise our TCKs...that we would shepherd them well, that we would have good communication with them and that, ultimately, they would bring much glory to Christ.  Thank you.

stone of help

Ebenezer in Hebrew is translated as stone of help.  Taken from 1 Samuel 7, where the Israelites feared for their lives and asked Samuel to pray to God for His protection.  After the Lord caused the Philistines to lose and retreat during the battle, Samuel offers up an "ebenezer" or a stone.  It is  a monumental stone set up to signify the great Help our Lord was to Samuel.

In the course of the past month, especially, we have witnessed our Lord's great help. We have not physically set up a stone, but I'd like this post to be a bit of a stone in honor of our King.  He has brought us through a valley, a trial, a battle, if you will.  And, of course, I don't really mean the Henry family, I mean our church in Ram 2.  As news of Tang's diagnosis with cancer hit us all very hard, we each one, I think, began to adjust to it, to process what was happening to her body.  News from the field was sparse at times but we continued to hold up Tang, Mot, Peace and their families and the church family at New Community.  Then, in April, news started coming more and more regularly.  We never knew if the next morning we would have an update on her passing.  Then, on a Saturday afternoon in mid June, EST, that news came.  Tang had flown to be with her Jesus!  Were there tears?  You betcha.  Of course, our first reaction is thankfulness that her suffering has ended!  I was reading last night in 1 Corinthians about the resurrection of the dead in Christ and how our bodies will be different, spiritual bodies that will bear the image of the man of heaven!  So, we rejoice!   But, we also mourn.  We mourn for her husband, her daughter, her parents and family.  We mourn for ourselves, that we will miss this servant of the Lord SO much.  There is a huge hole in the family at the church in Ram 2.  I can't even fathom the ache they have. But, as they held funeral services for Tang that week and as the week progressed it was clear that Christ was glorified and proclaimed in a very dark place.  In a place where there is no hope or assurance in death, Tang's death and funeral services brought hope of a better way.  In her life and in her death Tang's desire was to bring glory to Christ.  I actually happened to find a Christmas card Tang gave our family several years ago and in it she had written out her testimony in English.  It's very powerful and perhaps one day I will share it here, but even then, all she wanted was to glorify Christ...until the day she died.  And, I think the Lord, in His great faithfulness to Tang has done just that.  He has been glorified, His name has been praised, His Word has gone forth and many have been faced with this man Who was raised from the dead to bring new life and in whom Tang had placed all her hope and trust.  Now, we wait for the Holy Spirit to do His perfect work, to convict and bring repentance and to bring new life in Christ.  It is clear that the Lord usually uses affliction to bring about His purposes.  Our prayer is that many would know Christ because of the opportunity Tang's life and death gave to share Him...and to live it out.  Christ loves His Bride, the Church.  He is glorified when His Bride serves and loves sacrificially as He does and it is my deepest conviction that when we are loving through His Spirit, people outside the church see it and wonder at that kind of love and concern.  The church in Ram 2 continues to need our prayers as they process and grieve this one whom they loved so dearly.  May the Lord continue to be their stone of help.

Top pic(left to right) Tang, Ying, P'Khiaw, Yu with baby Adele

Middle picture: Tang dressed up at a baby shower for a woman who cleaned the church in Ram 2

Last picture: Tang and Mot with baby Peace, December 2012

*I wrote this post just days after Tang passed into glory.  Just today, I was looking through some old photos and found a beautiful picture of Tang smiling, tears came welling up. Thank you for your prayers.

North and South Carolina Trip

We headed up to North Carolina last week for Paul to help with training the MTW interns that left Friday to go all over the world to serve the Lord this summer.  The kids and I went along for the ride...kidding!  No, we hung out and enjoyed the beautiful campus of Ridge Haven, the PCA's camp.  As you can imagine, there are lots of hills...so we got our workouts in everyday, climbing hills, hiking, swimming and canoeing and kayaking on the pond.  We even managed to get some book work done.  Of course, we did a lot of exploring and learning about the bugs, plants and critters of North Carolina.

 Above: PJ and Calvin doing some math worksheets.

 Above: Adele writing in her "journal".  Below: Elizabeth playing with stickers! This kept her entertained for a long while!!!

 Calvin especially enjoyed the Honeysuckle on the walk to the cafeteria and the pond.  He begged me anytime we were near there if we could stop and eat some honeysuckle.

 Another first for the boys was kayaking.  They both really enjoyed the freedom of having their own "vessel" to steer.  I wasn't sure if Calvin could do it, but he proved me wrong!

 As usual, Adele met a friend.  This is Julia.  Her Mamma works at Ridge Haven and so we got to spend an afternoon playing with her.  She and Adele had a good time together.

 I had the super idea of going on a nice, long walk one evening and collecting leaves.  We then rubbed them into Adele's journal.  She really enjoyed this activity, and so did I!

 The above rock was along the roadway and we passed it multiple times a day. I don't know who put it there, but it brought such great encouragement to me every time I passed it.  What a great reminder!

 The above picture is the pond.  It's hard to see but there is a long telephone pole with a rope swing hanging from it.  Would you believe PJ jumped from that swing?!?!  He did!  He wanted to do it, so he and Paul each jumped twice. I was so proud of him. I only have video of it, no pictures!

 Adele was especially fascinated with the Mountain Laurel. It was blooming everywhere at Ridge Haven.  It was so beautiful.

 We found two luna moths...again, a beautiful creature and one we rarely see.

 Paul is in the above picture with all the interns!  This is just before they pulled out to be taken to the airport to fly off to their destinations!  What a blessing to be there and pray with and for them as they departed!

 After Ridge Haven, we had planned to camp at Table Rock, SC.  We had never been there before and it was really a lovely State Park to visit.  Above is PJ helping Paul set up the tent.  We had a meeting with a church on Sunday, so we decided to camp from Friday to Sunday.  As we thought about breaking camp early Sunday morning before our meeting and worship, we were wondering if we should break camp Saturday evening and stay in a hotel.  Well, as you will see below, John Boyte, a dear and long time friend came to visit us and offered us to stay at his in-laws home not far from Greenville.  So, that is what we did..and it was SO much easier!!!

 At Table Rock, we spent some time hiking.  As you can see Elizabeth had the easiest time of it...and even got a nap on our hike.

 Yes, you have seen it correctly, this is a copperhead.  Not far up the trail, PJ, who was in the lead, saw this and immediately identified it as a copperhead.  Of course, it was confirmed. If you know anything about our boy, he was and has been elated since seeing this snake. It was on his list of snakes to see in the wild.  He hasn't stopped talking about it!

Pictured above are Adele, Elizabeth and Calvin in front of Table Rock.  Maybe when they all get older we can do the 4 hour hike (one way) to the top!  But, it wasn't to be this trip!!!

Last, but certainly not least, is John and Paul.  It was such a wonderful blessing to see him.  On Sunday, we got to see him again along with his bride, Cheryl and another college friend and his wife and children.  Unfortunately, it was raining when we arrived at their house for lunch and I left the camera in the car!  We headed home Sunday afternoon. It was a packed trip, days were full of the beauty of God's creation (for the kids and me, anyway!) and we had the privilege of seeing old friends and meeting new ones.

LEGOland

 About a month ago we were invited with a home school group from our church in Orlando to go to LEGOland, Florida!  This was something that our kids had been wanting to do since it opened a couple years ago.  LEGOland gives a huge discount to home school/school groups and so we decided to go for it!  We stayed with some very dear-to-our-entire-family friends...our former pastor and his family.  Paul and our former pastor hit the beach with his oldest daughter but the rest of us headed out to Lakeland to enjoy the sunshine at LEGOland!  It goes without saying, but we had a blast!  It is the perfect park for those children 10 and under, in my humble opinion!  Pictured above is half of the group with whom we went.

 PJ pictured above in a LEGO shark's mouth!  LOOK OUT, Shark attack!

 Pictured above is Calvin with a LEGO guard in the kingdom section.  And below is Adele valiantly galloping on her horse, most assuredly winning the jousting tournament!

Elizabeth got a bit of the short end of the stick having gone with her three older siblings.  There were plenty of rides for her to ride, but not when Mommy had to manage other children and wait in lines that weren't suitable for her.  She did get to go on a few rides...and had a good time, overall.  I think her favorite part of the day was her nice long nap in a friend's cozy stroller!

First Family Beach Day 2013

 We hit the beach last Thursday. The kids could hardly wait to get their suits on and play in the sand and try out the water (it's still a little cold for the younger three and me!) and enjoy some quality time with Uncle James.

 Paul and I had a grand time watching this little whipper-snapper...she LOVES the beach.  She played for hours and enjoyed every minute.  Her mouth was pretty much opened like in the above picture because of all the new things she was doing!

 PJ found an old skate egg shell while he was boogie boarding.

 More fun with a bucket and a shovel...

 Uncle James found a sea star while he was boogie-boarding.

 Dada and Elizabeth taking a stroll on the beach.

Adele and Calvin digging a hole to play in.
It was a beautiful day to hit the beach.  We're excited for it to be beach season here in Florida!!!

on spiritual warfare

Nearly every Sunday I come home from church and pretty immediately I struggle with anger, impatience, despair and discontentment.  This has been going on for some time.  If I had to guess, I would guess years.  I am ashamed to write that, but that is the reality.  Every Sunday is a struggle.  Now, there have been Sundays when I come home in a good mood and refreshed but that is definitely not the norm.  I was talking with a friend some time ago and I am not sure exactly how long ago but she was sharing a similar struggle and she said so clearly, that it was spiritual warfare.  This was the first time I realized that my struggle was also a spiritual one, one in which the enemy of our souls was battling every single Sunday to bring me down and to defeat me.  Ashamedly, I have caved way too many times.

Today, dear reader, was no different to the dozens of times I've had this experience.  Sunday comes, and I truly look forward to worship and I truly enjoy worship and am refreshed and feel like nothing can get me down and then 10 minutes home all Hades breaks loose. Today, all Hades broke loose and then there was clarity.  After my "meltdown" (selfish and indulgent and full of self-pity) I took a walk around our neighborhood.  It has been raining here for the past two days, quite hard, but there was a break in the weather and so I put on my sneakers and went out to burn off some steam.  On the walk, my heart was full of evil thoughts.  Thoughts that I won't even dare to write here.  Doubts and disappointments loomed large in my mind and my heart was hard.  I was doubting the Lord's goodness to me and His kindness...and I was most definitely taking His patience for granted.  I am thankful we serve a Lord who is slow to anger and abounding in love and kindness.  

I came home, went straight to my room, shut the door and laid down in my bed.  A few minutes later, Paul came in, gently, and asked if he could share something with me.  I agreed.  And he proceeded to share the sermon he listened to this morning (he stayed home with the girls since they all had some sickness in the past 24-48 hours).  It was a John Piper sermon on missions and some thoughts the Lord brought to his mind after listening.  The chisel was set and the Word and Spirit were ministering together to cut away the fat from around this cold, calloused heart.  I was humbled and struggling to let down my guard but eventually, I did by the Spirit's kindness, I let down my guard and heard.  Paul was saying these struggles are because of the calling.  He named it spiritual warfare, a torment of Satan to try to discourage us and beat us down with his lies.  We aren't called to America.  We are called to Thailand.  We are called to a place in Thailand that is hard.  All of Thailand is hard and to add to that hardness is the unknown of what to expect down south.  The spiritual forces at work in our lives are very real.  We have an enemy and he does not want to see us get to Thailand. If he can stop us here and now, he will and he will do all that he can to stop us from going forward.  That means, he will fill my mind with doubts about the good God that I serve and the calling that my good God has put on our life, that means he will tempt me to anger and impatience, to harsh speech and unkindness.  He will tempt me to think, as I did today, "there's no way you can serve Christ...look at you, you're a mess! Who are you fooling?"  Yeah, I really had these thoughts. I really had these temptations and regretfully, I listened to every one of them until I came home and Paul greeted me gently and with truth.  I haven't been spending much time in Ephesians 6 lately, but I think that this is where I need to be for a while...taking up the whole armor of God so that I can stand firm against the evil one.  It's funny how so much clarity comes when the Lord shows you His truth and right now I feel so foolish that I haven't realized this sooner...that I didn't really hear the Lord in that conversation with my friend awhile back, but all this struggle is to bring me closer to Him, to a deeper dependence on Him and that is where I hope to rest.  I feel ashamed that I bowed my knee to the enemy Sunday after Sunday and unfortunately just after bowing my knee to my Savior who bled and died for me!  O what a wretched man that I am.  So thankful that Christ is bigger than this and He is showing me victory can only come through Him and depending wholly upon Him!

Ephesians 6: 10-20
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this  present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.  In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.  To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak."

*Please pray for our family as we do battle temptations and oftentimes we give into them.  Pray Ephesians 6 with us and for us and may we see the Lord strengthen our walk in Him and may we see victory over sin in our lives but also in the lives of many Thai people.

Horsing Around

 Adele and I had the joy of going to a small family-run horse farm two weeks ago to learn about horses and have a mini riding lesson.  The anticipation was so high for this event that though the skies were breaking free from their moorings, we weathered the storm, wind and rain and mud and muck and all.  Ms. Genna (the woman pictured above) has two horses and a pony.  We learned a whole lot about horses.  Ms. Genna gave each of the kids a packet of coloring pages that have also been very educational for my kids.

 Above, Adele brushing out Malfoy, the pony.  And below, Adele is cleaning out the hoofs...she said it was her favorite part!

 Above, Adele excited to take Malfoy for a ride.  Below, "no hands, Mommy!"  She was so happy!

And, she even got to lead Malfoy back.  Notice the water in the background...it was a VERY wet day.  But, we had such a wonderful time. In fact, we had such a good time, I took the boys back on Saturday for a turn with the horses.  That post will be coming soon.

A video of Adele riding.