Christmas blessed us with a beautiful, healthy baby girl and lots of special time with family who traveled to be together for the holidays. A few days after Jono's family dispersed to their respective homes, my mom came to help us out and my dad joined her a few days later. They returned to Texas on Sunday.
We have only now been adjusting to life as a family of five without all the extra arms for holding, feeding, cooking, and doing laundry that have readily helped us since early December. It's a steep learning curve, but I think we are doing great. Jono seems to be bearing the brunt of the transition. When I went downstairs this morning he was trying, unsuccessfully, to drink a cup of coffee. He HATES coffee. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Last week we sent off for Lu's first passport and a renewal for G's, whose passport will expire on his next birthday (Egads! That means he's almost five!). Jono bought a ticket to go to Turkey next month. He will be there for two weeks finding and setting up an apartment for us. We would LOVE to move into one that we can live in for several years. Moving every year is for the birds and other migratory creatures. Not me with three children. We will move to Turkey as a family in March.
Had you told us when we left the Middle East in 2010 that it
would be 2013 before we would move back overseas, we would probably have wept a
few tears. What we thought would be a
quick turnaround has been 2 ½ years! But as we look back, we know that God has not wasted a minute of our time. He has used this season of our lives to do a deep work in our hearts and set us on solid ground for what lies ahead.
- We came back to the U.S. fatigued and approaching burn out. We are returning overseas refreshed, energized and renewed.
- We came back as a family of three, and we are returning as a family of five!
- We came back underfunded for our work. We are leaving with our budget met. God has met all of our needs as they arise.
- We came back with an inkling of what God was asking us to do. We are leaving with excitement for the coming years and a rounded vision for the future.
- We have had the chance to meet hundreds of new people and strengthen existing relationships. God has placed so many people in our lives in areas of friendship, partnership, and love. We are connected to many people who are involved through prayer, accountability, financial support, encouragement, leadership, etc. We thank God for the strengthening of our support network.
These next two months are sure to speed by just like the past two and a half years did. We are pretty much giddy about moving to Turkey. But my head spins when I think about all that lies ahead--long airplane rides outnumbered by children, culture shock, language acquisition.
We'd appreciate your prayers as we make this move and huge transition.
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| Introducing...baby girl Shirey! (No babies were dropped during the capturing of this photo.) |
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| Two enthusiastic, wonderful big brothers |
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| She's a keeper! |
