Colorado and Beyond

We're back home. No one is puking. No diarrhea to clean up. No coughing happening at this moment. No insurance company to deal with. Mountain Dew in hand. I think I can actually sit and write today.

Colorado:

As most of you already know we spent three weeks in beautiful Colorado for our missionary training. We left on a Sunday morning and got there the next day, Monday afternoon. It was a smooth, worry free ride. We had such a great time as a family. We would stop at rest areas to run around and get a snack out of the trunk. Then we would continue on in the car watching movies, reading books, listening to music, and just being silly. I was amazed at how well the boys did and how much they enjoyed the ride, the scenery, and the hotel with the elevator of course. When we got into Colorado on Monday the weather was amazing. It was about 50 degrees with not a cloud in sight. We arrived at a beautiful facility and was first greeted by Tim, who later become one of our best friends at MTI. We settled in and felt right at home shortly after meeting couples, singles, and other families. Our trainer Robin was GREAT! He taught us so many things that would take me a long time to actually be able to put into words. I'll try to get some of them here.

1. We learned about exiting our world to enter other peoples' worlds and in the meantime not being afraid to cry out, "GOD HELP".

2. We learned about the many transition phases we would experience. (some we have already worked through)

3. We learned about living in another culture and the many benefits and tough things about it.

4. We learned about TCK's (third culture kids) and how all of this would effect Grady and Wyatt.

5. We dug deep into our hearts and learned about some things that were still hanging on from the past.

6. We learned a lot about each other.

7. We learned that God's calling for us to the mission field is one of the most amazing things and that we wouldn't trade it for anything.

8. We talked about how difficult it will be to say goodbye and how important it is to have healthy goodbyes. And, to do the same with hellos.

9. We learned that we're not the only people going through this. :) And in the meantime met some of the most amazing people that we've ever met.

10. We laughed a lot, we cried a lot, we learned new games, we saw people love our kids to pieces, we... I could go on and on, but I'll stop there because I think you probably get the point that it was an amazing, life changing expereince that we wouldn't trade for anything.

THANK YOU TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE SUPPORTING US AND THAT MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO BE ABLE TO ATTEND. NOT ONLY WILL WE BE MORE EFFECTIVE FOR GOD IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, BUT WE HAVE LEARNED SO MUCH TO HELP OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR FATHER, OUR MARRIAGE, OUR FAMILY, AND OUR FRIENDSHIPS.

Michigan:

Well, the ride home was not as smooth as the ride out, but we made it home. PTL! Wyatt threw up in the hotel on Friday night and then again in the morning (3 more times to be exact). Then, that went away mid Saturday morning and the diarrhea began. I'm not sure how many times we stopped, but it was at least double the amount as the ride out. Poor Wyatt! So, now we're home...Wyatt still has diarrhea and Grady's aweful cough at night is back. We have scheduled Grady's surgery to have his tonsils and adenoids out, but unfortunately it's not until March 25th. It's the soonest they could get him in. SO, it looks like we may be in the states until April or after so he can recover from that. If you could really pray for our family right now. We feel like we are being attacked because one of us has been sick with something since we got back from Costa Rica. It's really tough, but we know God is in control of it all and that HIS timing is the best and that's what we're trusting in.

As all of this effects our family I'm reminded of Job and all that he went through...wow, and I thought we had it bad. I'm thankful that I have a God to turn to who loves me and cares about me and never gives up on me. And as Wyatt says after he reads the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho, "Go God!" :)

Happy Cold Michigan Weather!