Okay, so we’re sitting on Nana/Papa’s kitchen floor in Charlotte, getting ready for the day, and I’m sharing with Aves that we’re exactly seven short days from leaving. So, she asks me to tell her the story Mommy tells her about the sheep and the Shepherd. Glad to comply, I launch into Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep, as told in Luke’s Gospel (3-year-old international version, of course). But she says, “No, Daddy! That’s not it!” And then she sets me straight with the “real” version. (more…)
Some photos from our Pre-Field Orientation with Network of International Christian Schools:
Avery with Marcos Molina (Bolivian teacher at our school)
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I wrote a little about this earlier, but after spending over a week dealing with our possessions (meaning selling, storing, giving away & throwing away), I feel like writing again. As we were working round-the-clock to get out of our house and spending hours deciding what to do with each thing we own (will an ice cream scoop be helpful in Bolivia ?!?), I kept thinking of this passage when Jesus sent out the twelve disciples to minister in the villages:
Mark 6:8-9 - “These were his instructions: Take nothing for the journey except a staff - no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. . .”
We are certainly not following this literally. We will be taking plenty of things to Bolivia with us, but these verses suddenly had meaning to me when before I had just skimmed over them. I believe God wants us to enjoy and use wisely the possessions He has allowed us to have, they are not bad in and of themselves. But Jesus knew that things have to be cared for and can divert attention from Him and from His work and relationships among His people. The second, perhaps obvious, application that hit me from this passage was just how much you have to rely on God to take care of you when you don’t bring along food, money, clothes or baggage on your journey. Jesus was forcing the disciples to let go of their self-sufficiency and rely totally on Him to provide what was needed to live and work for Him.
I feel very free since we have let go of many possessions, but we still have an excess of many things. I hope that we will learn a lesson from this time to think more carefully in the future about the difference between what we need and want.
We received some pictures of our new apartment in La Paz, and thought you might want to see a few! We are so thankful for how God provided this place for us.
Filed under: Preparing for departure
We are unable to take our cat Abby to Bolivia, so we are looking for a new home for her. Isn’t she just so cute and irresistible?
Some stats on Abby:
- She is 6 years old.
- She is your typical cat as far as liking to sit in your lap, be petted, etc. but generally on her own terms!
- She would do best in a home with older children or only adults, and no other animals.
- She still has her claws, but generally isn’t too destructive with them!
- She has epilepsy, which is completely controlled by a pill given twice a day.
- We would provide a litter box, carrier, dish, collar, bed, etc.
If you or someone you know might be interested in adopting her in the next couple weeks, please let us know.
Just wanted to share a little more about our apartment in La Paz that Tom mentioned earlier. God has provided for us way above and beyond what we had expected. We are getting a great deal on a three bedroom, fully furnished new apartment!
We will be living on the first floor of a four-story building built by a family from Lebanon. They live on the top two floors, and have three daughters. The two older daughters attend Highlands, and the youngest, who is four, will hopefully be a playmate for Avery. A Korean family who also has children who attend the school live on the second floor. So we will not only be adjusting to living in Bolivia, we will get to experience three very different cultures living all in the same building!
We are excited because the apartment is across the street from a park (meaning a small area with some grass) and is two blocks from a large market.
God is good!
Tom and I now believe in the whole idea that people and their stuff expand to fit the space they’re in! It was only a mere 15 years ago when I went off to college that my things fit in the back of a mini-van and a very small hatchback car. Now the stuff I own takes up a three bedroom house, a garage and two attics! But now, coming full circle, we have to pare everything back down to fit in a storage space the size of half of a dorm room. It’s very freeing and scary all at the same time. It makes you think about what you really need and what you don’t. As well as what you want to leave or not leave behind to your children. . .
Closed on U.S. house; went from homeowners to renters in a few short minutes. Let me rephrase that: we were debtors; now, we are ready to go to Bolivia without a mortgage or a lawn to mow! Woo hoo!
Same day, a hemisphere away, our friends Jason and Sarah landed us our apartment. Can’t wait to see (and share!) photos of it! More on that bit o’ coolness later.
Any missionaries (foreign or domestic) out there have a story to tell about your housing experiences? Love to hear ‘em.
Anne told me yesterday, “Tom, I just sold the fridge, and it’ll be gone two days before we leave the house for good.” Boy, are we ever getting ready to “go into all (or at least part) of the world”!
We have gleefully (and wistfully, at times) watched our craigslist sales become reality, with the passing of our grill, our patio set, our comfiest-ever chair, our washer and dryer (our parents and neighbors are amazingly super for letting us wash our clothes!)…
My canoe is [snif] going into foster care. My guitar will have to stay behind so I can cut down on luggage (of course, I’ll buy a new guitar before I buy groceries in Bolivia!).
The disciples were known for leaving all they had behind - their boats, for example (that hits home the most for me; I love Samwise Gamgee - that’s my canoe; what better companion is there?). I never thought I would be able to relate. Now I am learning a bit of the sting - and the absolute thrill - of letting things go to follow Jesus where He leads.
It really won’t be real until I am on the plane and my black Alvarez dreadnought and my green Old Town are a continent away… How terrifying, and perfectly wonderful.
Well, the closing on our house is a few days away. God was so faithful in providing our buyer (without realtor or “For Sale” sign, mind you) across the street! Now, we are just in the nervewracking (read: character-building) process of getting everything packed, stored or sold (craigslist, that wonderful, amazing, too-good-to-be-true online dream took care of the big selling issues!).
Pray for us to realize what an amazing time this is; in the midst of it all, it is easy to forget!
