Furlough 2008: Athens, TX

Wow, I'm such a slacker these days! I wish I had some interesting excuse but I don't. So one of my "goals" for the new year (much more motivating for me than "resolutions") is to catch up and stay caught up in my blogging/emailing/sending out newsletters. Yes, techincally it's not the new year yet, but I figure this is just as good at time as any to start. So back to telling you about our furlough...

From Kansas City, we drove down to Athens, TX, making a quick overnight stop in Tulsa to stay with Don and Donna Millican. We spent a month or two living with them when we were fundraising so it was great to get to visit with them again.

We arrived in Athens on Saturday night and Russ preached the next morning. I took Jackson to the nursery and happily stayed to play with him (by that point I'd heard THE sermon several times). I want to take a moment here to say how much I enjoyed being in the land of church nurseries and cradle roll classes. Jackson loves getting to hang out with other kids and he really loves singing (Our kid loves singing? Go figure!). And Mommy? She enjoys the break! Some of my most precious furlough memories are slipping into the pew next to Russ after making sure Jackson was settled in the nursery and being able to focus solely on worship.

Jackson and his "Tia" Candy

Back to Athens: This time we stayed with Gary and Candy Landis, who took care of us like family. Candy insisted on babysitting for us one night while we went to one of our many dinners. And Gary and Candy live on Cedar Creek Lake so the week was filled with fishing and trips on the Waverunner in just perfect fall weather.



That's not entirely true. The week was filled with eating, eating, eating--we just squeezed in time for the other stuff! It's always the same: when we get to Athens, the sweet folks at Eastern Hills have us over or take us out for meal after meal. I think we both gained a few pounds that week. Not that I'm complaining! There are some awesome cooks at Eastern Hills!

Time on the lake and desserts aside, I have to say what a blessing Eastern Hills is to us. Russ and I spent so long trying to find a church that would oversee our work. We had raised the majority of our funds but still lacked that critical piece of the puzzle. It's quite fitting that this time we stayed at the Millicans right before we went to Athens, because that's where we were living when we heard about this church in the middle of nowhere that was interested in us. At that point, we were happy to have any church willing to sponsor us but even now, we are constantly reminded how blessed we are to have this church. Whenever we are back in Athens, we're reminded how wonderful the members, staff and elders of Eastern Hills are. We spend our time with our family at EH in both deep spiritual conversation and laughter, which is just the way I like it! Every time we visit, we leave marveling at the goodness and faithfulness of our God for providing us with such a great church!

We spent two Sundays in Athens and then got up Monday morning and headed to the Dallas Metroplex for more adventures...

Merry Christmas!

We've got a little lull in our Christmas celebrations and I wanted to take the opportunity to wish everyone a merry Christmas! We've had two out of three present opening sessions (one via Skype with the Quireys, one by ourselves) and we're waiting for the Turners to wake up so we can open more presents with them watching the webcam. (I have to say that I'm tempted to call and wake them up--for old times' sake!--but I know they wouldn't be as amused by it as I would be! Anyway, it means Jackson has time for a nap before we talk to them.)

Christmas is one time when the differences in our `family traditions are blatantly obvious so we have had to reach a compromise. Last night we had Christmas eve dinner Quirey-style, with maple-glazed pork and roasted vegetables. This morning we had more of a Turner-style breakfast with french toast, bacon and mandarin oranges. (Although for the breakfast to be truly reminsicent of my childhood there should have been many candy canes consumed as well!)

We'll spend the rest of today enjoying new traditions, like going to the pool. The weather's been unseasonably cool (Oh no! 85! Could it be?!?) and rainy but today looks like it'll be a little better.

Whereever you are, whoever you get to celebrate with, may it be a wonderful day, full of love and blessings, as all over the world people are stopping to remember our Savior's birth!

Sunday

I'd like you to meet Geraldo and Maria Lucia.

One Sunday morning a few months ago, they were sitting outside when we got to church. He had definitely been drinking (it was nine o'clock in the morning) and it was obvious that they had both had really hard lives. They disappeared but a couple of months ago they showed up again and started coming regularly. Geraldo started studying the Bible with Randy and Maria Lucia sat in from time to time.

Midweek, we found out that Geraldo had decided to be baptized. We were so excited. The baptism was scheduled for Sunday after worship.

But that's not all--on Saturday, Maria Lucia decided that it was time for her to be baptized as well!

So that would make a great ending to the story. But there's something else...something HUGE!

You see, Geraldo and Maria Lucia are a sweet couple and they've been together for a while. But they'd never gotten around to getting married. As they thought about their new lives in Christ, they realized that their living situation wasn't what God wants. So they decided to follow up their baptisms with a wedding!

We had some decorations from a previous wedding and Jenn picked up some flowers and cake and we threw a nice little wedding together. Geraldo and Maria Lucia were so blown away by the way they were treated. They couldn't stop thanking us. I told them that now that they're part of our family in Christ, it's our job to take care of them!

Please join us in prayer for our new brother and sister. Pray that they will strive to honor all the commitments they made on Sunday. Pray that we can find ways to help keep them strong in their faith and their marriage.

One other cool thing about Sunday was that it was our ninth wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe nine years have passed already! (I would post some old picture of us but I can't seem to find one on our hard drive.)

While our friends and family have been dealing with snow, ice and sleet this week, we've had our own flurry of diapers and Pedialyte, trips to the pediatrician and emergency room, BRAT diet and probiotics. My fingers are crossed, but I think he's on the upswing now. Don't worry, it's nothing serious--looks like just a run of the mill case of diarrhea.

But I have the luxury of saying that. As "rich" people, living in a developed area, with health insurance and immediate access to hospitals and doctors, a case of diarrhea is, for the most part, inconvenient. If Jackson lived another life, it could have killed him.

So last night, as I changed yet another diaper, all I could think was how blessed we are.

Prayers Answered

When we left Brazil to visit North America, one of our biggest requests for prayers was the falling exchange rate. Our dollar had slipped from over 2 reais = 1 USD to less than 1.50 reais per dollar, and we were all wondering how long we could pay our bills and rent a church facility. I checked today, and we are sitting just below 2.50 reais = 1 USD. It is really amazing, and we are all holding our breath to save and save for the drop we assume will come before presidents are inaugurated and oil production is cut. We thank all of you for your prayers; our money has not been worth this much since the month that we signed our apartment lease almost four years ago! We are cautiously optimistic that we can make the next 12 months count in our giving and in our saving. Thanks to all who gave extra and even beyond the special contributions to help us stay here in Salvador.

Another small blessing is that our McD's has started serving breakfast! There are no pancakes, but it still makes us smile to have some option beyond yogurt and corn flakes. We made our first trip to a newly-opened Outback steakhouse this week, and it was awesome. Anyway, enough about how life is starting to resemble our former home country. We miss everyone during the holidays, especially our families. We love and thank God for the grandparents that make the biggest sacrifice - distance and time away from our son. Egg McMuffins and cheese fries cannot take all the hardship out of being foreigners here, but it does help us get through the tough times! Keep those prayers and letters coming!

Christmas Party

 

Today we had our English Class Christmas Party (a.k.a. An Excuse for the Missionaries to Make/Pig Out on All Their Favorite North American Christmas Treats). We had about 40 people show up for the party, which also serves as our wrap-up for English classes for the year. I have to say I'm looking forward to having a couple of months without English class to consume my Sunday afternoons and Wednesday nights! We had fun celebrating the season with our students. The party marks the beginning of the Christmas season for us; next Sunday will be even busier with our churchwide Christmas picnic and children's play. There will also be a youth Christmas party and a staff party. It's a busy time but we enjoy it!

In other news, Russ, Heather and I had an exciting treat last night: Outback Steakhouse! It just opened this week so we braved the crowds to go partake in a bloomin' onion and free refills. It wasn't cheap but I would gladly do it again!

Thinking of money, the exchange rate right now is awesomely in our favor. We've asked you to pray about it in the past so now we ask you to turn those into prayers of thanksgiving! And while you're at it, my mystery skin issue is back. One of our members, who is a doctor, saw it today and is now on the case. We think it's some sort of allergy but it's elusive so it may take a while to figure it out. In the big picture, it's not a huge problem, but it is definitely inconvenient and uncomfortable (not to mention that it's a little embarrasing having scaly hands and/or swollen eyes, depending on the day!). So please be praying that we find an answer soon!

(posted by Val--I don't know why it's saying this is Russell!)

Timing

Isn't it amazing how God seems to send us little reminders throughout the day to help keep us on track? His timing is uncanny (what else do you expect from someone both omniscient and omnipotent?) and I have to admit that a couple of times this week I have not just been reminded but humbled.

Sunday morning Randy was finishing up a sermon series entitled Being a Servant in a World of Bosses. The message was about how we need to find ways to help people everywhere: those in our immediate vicinity, people here in Salvador and people throughout Brazil and the rest of the world. As he was concluding his message, we heard some loud voices in the doorway. It was a group of about a half dozen men and one women, all noticeably poor and most quite noticeably drunk. One of our members greeted them at the door and invited them to come in and sit down. They not-so-quietly sat while we finished our worship time.

A couple of minutes after they arrived, I heard noises coming from the kitchen. Several of us stay on Sundays for a communal lunch so I went back to see who had started cooking. I discovered Leandro (recently baptized) and Lurdes (still working on her!) cooking away.

"Oh good," I said. "You've started lunch!" (Often we don't get lunch ready until 1:30 or later and my English class starts at 2:00, leaving me with very little time.)

"No," Leandro said. "This food is for the people who came in. They're hungry and we can't let them walk away that way! This is our chance to serve."

What timing!

And then today: I was in a mood this morning. Nothing was where I needed it to be. No one was doing what I wanted them to do. I was especially annoyed at our maid, Antonia, for no particular reason other than the usual list of petty annoyances. (Anyone who has had a maid in Brazil will understand!) But today it was just too much. I was grumpy and short with Russ, Jackson and Antonia.

I decided to go take a shower while Russ tended to Jackson. When I got out of the shower I went to do some work in the kitchen where Antonia was also working. As we worked she started telling me how much she appreciates the way we treat her. She said that she thinks of us as "Mom and Dad" (even though she's a few years older than us and has two kids!). She was just marveling at our kindness, how we brought her and her boys back gifts from furlough and how we share things we don't need/want anymore with her.

Again, that timing! I was so humbled.

I'm trying hard these days to be who God wants me to be, to leave behind all the worldly values that seem to have rubbed off on me. God seems to be taking me at my word and giving me plenty of opportunity to stay on track!

edit: I need to say that I am truly grateful for Antonia and the help she is to me, as well as for the monthly help that someone gives us to employ her. We "survived" for our first couple of years without a maid so I truly appreciate the blessing she is, especially now that we have Jackson. There are days (like last week) that I am frustrated with the way she chooses to do things but I wouldn't trade her for anything!

Just to Make You Smile

I'm working on my next post about furlough but I'm also hard at work cleaning our apartment. Apparently I'd never really gotten it back in shape after I was on bedrest so it was pretty bad. But I'm gradually making progress!

In the meantime, you can enjoy this little clip of Jackson laughing. Katie, this one's for you!

Furlough 2008: Kansas City

When we said we were going to Kansas City, we were frequently asked, "Who do you know in Kansas City?" and "Oh, do you have a (supporting) church there?". The answer was a resounding NO. We had no family, friends or supporters there and that's exactly the way we wanted it. While we love spending time with all the people who love us, it was important for us to spend some family time together just relaxing. (We did discover a college buddy of ours lives in KC so we made an exception for him which paid off big time when he helped us find great BBQ!)

It's hard to say what I enjoyed most that week. I had a phenomenal pumpkin pie concrete. But as a family, we probably most enjoyed the College Basketball Experience and the zoo, even though Jackson slept through a good part of it! So here are a few of the highlights (minus the pumpkin pie concrete--I didn't take a picture of it!):

The College Basketball Experience


The Kansas City Zoo


(Can you tell I'm in love with my new collage tool?)

Furlough 2008: The Carolinas

Okay, back to furlough. We had a lovely couple of days in Raleigh with my Grandma Turner. Jackson absolutely loved her little dog, Buster. I believe that Buster counts as Jackson's great-uncle, as he is Grandma's baby, making him my uncle. But no one in the family seems to agree with me on that one (especially my dad, who doesn't seem to want to consider a dog his "brother"). Jackson and Buster were about the same size so they played well together.



That Friday we drove down to the Myrtle Beach area. We love getting to spend time with our friends at the Grand Strand church. On Saturday night we got to visit with one of the small groups and Russ preached Sunday morning. We enjoyed some AWESOME Mexican food with our hosts, Chuck and Barbara, and then headed back to Raleigh. The next day we spent a little more time with Grandma and then flew back to Kansas City.

When we set our furlough schedule, I tend to think in terms of what is possible and not what may or may not be a good idea. As it was, I felt like I edited the "possible" but I think that next time we'll do even less and try to spread it out more. This leg of the trip we covered around 3500 miles in about a week. That was way too much. Fortunately we had vacation coming up.

Bats in my Bedroom

Well, I guess we have been gone awhile when our teammates have to chase bats out of our house before we return! Our son now proudly displays two teeth (bottom front), and we both have the tired faces to prove it. We are still dealing with the heat and the time change, so please keep us in your thoughts...

Ketchup

Well, we're back in Brazil. As many people have kindly pointed out, I barely blogged while we were stateside. But now we're home and getting this blog up-to-date is on my to-do list. It may take some time, though, because Jackson is infinitely more mobile than when we left and we're frantically babyproofing of our apartment. To tide you over, I thought I'd share these pictures with you. We had them taken at Portrait Innovations our first week of furlough when Jackson was almost seven months old. (I highly recommend Portrait Innovations!) Now he's almost nine months and it's amazing how much he's changed in the past two months.

Furlough 2008: Winnipeg, Raleigh

I can't believe I didn't update from Winnipeg. We had a wonderful time with my family. My younger brother and my sister and her husband came to town, as well as all my grandparents. Jackson had a great time getting to know the family. It was also such a blessing to get to see my extended family again--all the people at the church in Winnipeg who are my surrogate aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents.

Monday, we left Winnipeg and headed down to Kansas City. It's amazing how different it is to travel with a baby! In the past, the trip to KC would have taken us one day. With Jackson, we spread it out into an easy two days. Then yesterday morning we got up early and flew to Raleigh, NC. We're staying with my Grandma Turner for a couple of days and then are headed to the Myrtle Beach area.

We all seem to be holding up okay. Jackson still doesn't like long days in the car. I think that he doesn't understand why he can get out of his carseat on the plane but he can't in the car. He's so mobile now that being confined is torturous for him. We make sure to give him lots of opportunities to work his wiggles out when we stop. Thankfully we don't have too many more long driving days ahead of us--just a lot of short ones!

Our Family is Lots of Fun

We said goodbye to the 90-year-old great-grandfather today, as he left for Ontario. The American great-grandmother left earlier this morning. I (Russell) was one of those lucky people that grew up with one of my great-grandparents, and to see my son playing with six of eight was very special. We are thankful to everyone, including our team, who let us come and share Jackson with all of his family. We still have a week in Winnipeg as the leaves turn yellow, then it is back to America for the final month of travel. Patience to all who wait for our visit. We are having so much fun.

Furlough 2008: OKC, Stillwater, Blackwell

This is just a quick update while JT sleeps in. We got in Tuesday after a long day of flying. Jackson did so well. He got waaay more sleep than I did on the plane!

In OKC we got to: go to Target, go to church at Mayfair (Jackson's first time going to class!), go to Bunco with the girls, enjoy many meals with friends, get family pictures done and sleep a bunch recovering from the trip. And JT started crawling full force.

Then yesterday we drove up to Stillwater where R's mom works. She showed off the grandbaby and we ate at Hideaway Pizza and did a little clearance shopping at Old Navy.

Then we drove up to Blackwell, R's hometown. We all went out to the Kay County Free Fair. Jackson loved looking at the animals and we ran into lots of people we knew. I had an Indian taco and a funnel cake which made me happy, though today I wish maybe I had only had ONE fried item.

Today we'll hang out at "Grandma's house" (weird to call it that!) and tomorrow we'll go to church here in Bwell before heading on the big journey north.

A Little Stressed

Jackson, originally uploaded by russandval.

I'm going nuts trying to get ready for furlough. Russ and I were pretty good at packing our stuff up and heading out the door. Now we've got an additional person to worry about, a person who likes to take up our time during the day to keep us from getting stuff done and who, just this week, has decided that he doesn't like sleeping that much. Oh and he's got a cold. But we'll get it done and get on the plane on Monday whether our suitcases are full or not. (Anyway, aren't we supposed to leave for furlough with empty bags so we have room to fill them up?)

Several people have asked if we'll be coming their way or not, so I thought I'd post a rough schedule for everyone. I hate making our schedule because no matter what I have to leave people and places out. But we only have six weeks of furlough and two weeks of vacation and I love you all but we need our vacation time!

And this is a rough schedule--there are some travel and personal days I'm leaving out.

Sept. 9-Sept. 12 OKC
Sept. 12-14 Blackwell, OK
Sept. 17-29 Winnipeg
Oct. 1-3 Raleigh, NC
Oct. 3-6 Myrtle Beach, SC
Oct. 11-20 Athens, TX
Oct. 24ish-Nov. 10 Blackwell/OKC

So maybe we'll be near you, maybe not. We really would love to see as many people as we can but we're also trying to be aware of our limitations with the little guy. Drop us a line if you want to try to meet up!

Today

Today we took Ceara back to her parents. We had a fun couple of days with her but it was nice to take her back. Having two under two was a bit much for me, especially the diaper part.

Today we did a little more of our pre-furlough shopping. Loaded up on coffee (to take with us) and dog food (to leave for Samson).

Today we got hit by a 20-foot sign that flew off the back of a truck. Thankfully Russ was paying attention and managed to swerve, avoiding us getting totally clobbered by it. It did take out one of our mirrors and left a big scratch on the side of the car. I was not paying attention and it hit the side right beside me. It definitely shook me up a little. But then we laughed and laughed at the absurdity of it.

Today I keep trying to finish my lesson for the women's class on Sunday and it just doesn't seem to be happening. Maybe I should do that instead of blogging!

Welcome!

Jackson has a new friend! Last night Travis and Alicia's new baby BOY, Calen Xavier, was born. We're taking care of Ceara while they're in the hospital so today we took her up to meet her new brother.

She wasn't quite sure what to think at first but soon she was fascinated by him.

Now there are six kids on the team; four of them born within the past year or so. It's a whole new world!

getting around to it

Sleeping baby in lap.

Typing with my right hand.

Feel incredibly guilty about not posting recently.

Apparently unable to use pronouns.

What we've been up to:

• Inaguration of new building--about 80 people--cake, ice cream, good time
  

• Took JT to a birthday party. Another one tonight
  
• 
  
• Team strategy review--two days reflecting on what we've done and need to do next
  

• We've been having 25-30 people in my English class on Sundays
  

• Furlough is almost here--less than two weeks--so much to do

• Alicia is going to have a baby any day now
  

Point Five

Oh, this kid.


Today Jackson is six months old. He's changed so much; it's hard to remember back to when he was this kid:


I remember wondering in those first couple of weeks how I was going to make it to six months. Six months was a far-off oasis--the promise of rest and a simpler life where I wouldn't constantly be worried about keeping this fragile newborn alive. Sometimes when things were tough, I divided the year into chunks: "We've made it one month--we just have to do that eleven more times and he'll be a year old!"

And now we're halfway there and I wonder where the time has gone. I now know that I'm always going to worry about him, only now instead of jaundice and his developing immune system I worry about all the ways he can get hurt interacting with the world around him. (He's not crawling yet but between scooting backward and running around in his walker, he finds all kinds of trouble to get into!) But the worry feels different now. When I take a minute to sit back and reflect on God's faithfulness to us, I am reminded that he's in good hands. Jackson's survival is not exclusively up to us. That's a big load off.

It's a good thing, too, because as we're discovering who JT is, it's become obvious that we're going to have our hands full.

Speaking of full hands, he just woke up. The Sunday rush has begun. But I had to say, "HAPPY POINT FIVE, JT!"