Friday, January 10, 2014

Another dab of ketchup

I am here to finally catch up with you...I have been so busy since mid December that blogging just took a back seat.  I know you well enough to know you are not offended. 




What has been going on?  Well, we had the annual Christmas party for all the mission staff...that always takes some planning and organizing, hopefully as encouragement to all of them for all the hard work they do year round.




We had the president of our board down as well for a visit, which was great as always...to get to talk, brainstorm, and just be an encourager and helper of what God has going here.  Lots to do, think, plan, and some things to fix as well in 2014. 




We got wind of some property near where Oscar is going to live...a great location, good price for lots, safe....it had it all.  We spent some time praying and thinking about how to fundraise to be able to do that....to buy property and then figure out later how to actually build a home.  But in the end, we feel like as great as an opportunity it is...we do not have the time to put into design and overseeing building a home without sacrificing quite a bit for the mission, and that is just not something we can do.  We have let that dream go for the foreseeable future...hard to do in one hand, but feeling peace that it is not what God wants for us, so that makes it easier...in some respects (as if there was not enough overwhelming proof that we are far from perfect!)




We did get away for three days as a family for a trip to the beach...that was a big Christmas wish for Cecilia.  We went to Tela, stayed at a very nice place, and the kids got to swim in pools as well as the ocean...as well as learn about the tides, that real tennis is harder than playing tennis on the Wii, about seashells and how to take care of live ones you find on the beach...and we all learned that going to Tela before Christmas is a good time to go, because we pretty much had the beach to ourselves. 




Year end accounting (still not done), reporting, action plans for the Churches, ongoing work with the coffee property, helping get paperwork ready for an upcoming container, banking errands, preparing a message to send back to a Church in the US via the internet, and getting ready for groups this year (first one arrives tomorrow!) round out most of the very exciting and stressful activities that are so necessary...but not exactly glamorous or make for great pictures. 




I have been struggling a bit as of late with a lack of feeling the presence of God in my life....in leadership of the mission, in making decisions, in knowing what to do, in feeling confident in who I am...knowing when to let go of dreams, or of people, or of what I think is good for what is better.  


Life is a challenge as they say, with waves crashing around us sometimes...we continue to stay in the fight, and by God's grace, and some days only by His grace in spite of ourselves...keep swimming.  








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