Happy Thanksgiving!!

 Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrate countless blessings this year, not the least that the five of us slept together under one roof last night as Anna is visiting from California for a few days.

As a child we celebrated with my Dad's family for a HUGE Thanksgiving breakfast and then my Mom's side around 4 p.m. for more traditional Thanksgiving feast.

When I married Cory, lunch with his Mom's side made the pacing of eating even more important!

The breakfast meal faded out early in our marriage but the other two we've enjoyed every time we're Stateside in late November.

This year as tradition, we feasted with Cory's side.

The TerAvest side celebration moved to Friday to give my nephew Ty another day to adjust to moving from ICU on Wednesday and to hopefully allow his system to continue to heal so he can enjoy a bit of Thanksgiving food.

Thank you for all the prayers for Ty following his serious car accident on Nov. 17. He continues to do well and will soon transition to rehab for all his serious ortho injuries. 

We praise the Lord for being together. I'm especially thankful that I was able to be present for my brother Todd and Beth during the long days of Ty being in the ICU for ten days.

We are thankful for his rapid progress and healing.

Lord willing Anna heads back on Saturday afternoon and we will start our return trip to Zambia on Tuesday, December second.

We uncharacteristically started packing earlier than usual, which ended up fortunate with me spending most of last week at the hospital. 

Packing: lists, organization, change.....

November 10

 So this morning, to my dismay, I found that of the various copies of 'drafts' of our suitcase's contents, I some how saved an older version and not the one we finished on last week.

So I needed to go back, relist a lot of items and reweigh. 

Why do this...because the one trip we didn't our bags were delayed over a week and we needed to turn in the list of what they contained. Now I do it every trip.

The packing list includes a couple different colors of text. White is going items. Red includes items that can be removed the last minute if more important items need to find a space. Yellow is clothes, so can be located for our time in the capital before heading to Jembo. And to assure that each bag has a bit of clothing essentials. 

List to be printed once finalized so computer isn't needed to find things. 

Packing up 2/3 of Fritz's freshman year books and all of his 10th grade books is the biggest.

Because we use a literature-based curriculum, that means a lot of books, space, and weight in the checked bags.

Thankfully our tickets include two checked bags each and with second-hand clothing stores in Zambia whose proceeds support agricultural training for young people we don't need to pack much clothing...just things that bring joy. 

Thanks to a library card and now 14 partnering libraries around Michigan that we can borrow Kindle books from, we can save considerable space and weight. [Donation box weight of the books we can get electronicaly and a few others: 35  pounds]

This process included:   

1. Make a list of all the book titles
2. Cut and paste each one to the search list for the library [around 20 taps on the computer keys and pad.]
3. If found, write which library carries that book.
4. Remove from the list of books still being searched for. 
5. Repeat Steps 2-4 for the remaining books.
6. Remove the books available by Kindle from the packing pile. Place in box to be shared at church next week.
7. Spread remaining books among the 6 suitcases.
8. Pray that all suitcases arrive!

Celebrations and transition.

So the day after posting last week, Tuesday we received word around 8 a.m. of Cory's work permit approval and by the end of the day, good tickets to return to Zambia had been found.

A sigh of relief that it appears that the light is at the end of this waiting / limbo time! His Light!

The other big celebration for our family last week centered around Anna passing the California bar exam!

This Friday she and a friend will stand before a judge and be sworn in.

Google source ="Swearing-in of lawyers in California is the final step in becoming a licensed attorney, which requires passing the bar exam, taking the attorney's oath, and submitting a registration card. The oath is a formal commitment to uphold the U.S. and California Constitutions and to faithfully discharge the duties of an attorney. This is often done through a formal ceremony before a judge, clerk of a court of record, or other authorized official, such as a notary public. "

Anna arranged for someone to video this so we can participate from afar. 

The current plan includes Anna coming to visit Michigan for a couple days Thanksgiving weekend and for us to fly out on Tuesday, Dec. 2 for Zambia. The route is Grand Rapids to Atlanta, 6 hour wait until the LONG flight to South Africa- overnight. Then the flight north to Lusaka arriving Dec. 4 in the morning.

Lord willing, just a couple nights there-getting Cory's work permit card and doing some shopping before hitting the road for the five hour trip to Jembo.

So our days now include preparing to leave here: packing lists, shopping, organizing, last to-do items, connecting with family and friends.

A few inches of snow this week along with news of good rains starting in Zambia turn our thoughts to African spring planting. 

We know Rev. Patrick is working hard on the preparations.

We thank you again for praying for us, the family, and the work in Haiti and Zambia. 

Lots of ups and downs of feelings and emotions fill these busy days of transitioning once again.

One always hopes that major changes in life would somehow be easier than the previous...thankfully through it all the Lord remains faithful and walks with us step by step. 

Change

This past weekend the month changed, the week changed, and even the time changed here in Michigan.

Saturday the corn was harvested from the fields around the house so the landscape changed much like the fall leaves colors have changed in the last week.

The contrast of USA corn farming compared to the small farmers in Zambia is striking. 

Cory and Fritz enjoyed talking with the renter during rides in the combine.

We praise the Lord that Cory's Zambian work permit application was submitted on Friday so our wait changed from that to now waiting to hear back from Zambia if the renewal is approved.

Our thoughts pivot to finishing up to-do projects, packing lists, and what needs to be done for the transition.

Fritz continues to focus on finishing up the first trimester of his freshman year of high school. 

Last week we were driving a couple miles away and Fritz pointed out a fox standing by a small group of trees.

This was his first fox sighting and our first since we were children. Very interesting. 

Kris drove Mom to three appointments/events last week and three are scheduled for this week. 

The most interesting one was women's craft day at church on Saturday morning. 

Nice to get to know a few folks in a more casual setting. 

So many different ways to express creativity and create beauty. 

Hurricane Melissa hit southern Haiti hard taking a least 30 lives, with some people still missing. LaGonave and the north were not impacted severely-for that we praise the Lord. 

With American Thanksgiving only weeks away we praise the Lord for the countless blessings He showers on us daily. 

We want to be more intentional with our gratitude and praise!

October Update.

The days are slipping by both very slowly and rapidly at the same time. 

Sorry for not updating for a while but there really isn't much to say other than life continues.

Cory is actively working with the Zambian Wesleyan Church leadership to get his two-year work permit renewed. They have to do most of the application. Official paperwork [9 items] can take some time to complete. 

We continue to pray for the Lord's timing for our return while doing our best to remain calm and carry-on.

The fall color is nearing peak in our part of Michigan.

Soccer season is over and Fritz totally enjoyed watching his first American football game, celebrating with his friends over Allegan's homecoming victory.

Kris' mom's hip recovery has gone 'Great' in her opinion. Her to-do wish list is getting smaller. 

We even were able to check off her wish to try homemade fried green tomatoes! 

We continue to pray for Haiti as the very hard situation continues to drag on day after day. 

Schools have started in some locations.

We are thankful that the Kid's Clubs in the north continue to encourage children to look to the Lord.

In Zambia the rainy season is drawing closer as thoughts turn to planting season.

We plan to visit Hudson Wesleyan Church on Sunday- our last one scheduled at this time for this trip.

We so appreciate all our supporting churches and individuals who partner with us.

 Thank you for praying with us how to continue to support folks in both Haiti and Zambia without being physically present. 

Thank you for praying for everything to fall into place for our return to the field, as well as that we can wait well.