Furlough in a Flash- Friend Edition

I tried to correct the spelling of "edition" in the previous post but wasn't able to.

One thing that is really cool about being on furlough is that other people that we live with in Indonesia are also on furlough. Everyone is traveling from here to there and back, and the chances are pretty high that you could plan to meet up.

While I was in Texas I visited Chase and Kelli Reynolds along with their three handsome boys (Uriah, Nathan, and baby Corin). We spent the afternoon catching up, complaining (just a little bit) about the heat, and making the most amazing sign for the Rangers game.

I went the Rangers game with Tim and Kyle Cripe. Tim is the high school principal at Hillcrest International School, where I teach middle school. During the World Series some friendly bantering was going back and forth between the three of us.

Kara is somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. It's like that game "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" You know that game, and if you don't find it. Right now. Play it for days and learn something. :) I still remember my good friend, Abby, having that game growing up. I played for hours, and she went to bed. :)

Joel, Elaine, and Esther made their way to Camano Island. (I'm going to throw in some USA lingo that other people around the world don't know about or use.) They live in Minnesota and "GPS-ed" our address. We were so excited when they came! We hiked, camped, grilled out, hiked some more, ate incredible icecream, and visited with one another. Control yourself, you're about to see some incredibly CUTE pictures. :)

Furlough in a Flash- Sports Addition

It seems as though the rest of the world LOVES soccer. I do, too. I'll just say you've never really experienced the World Cup (save for actually being there) until you've watched some games in the middle of the night with a group of neighbors who are placing bets on who will win. In America, however, the focus is more on the sport that is currently in season. Josh and I have gone to a baseball game and watched hours of pre-season football games.

Here's my version of what we're doing: We're watching the Rangers play in Seattle.
Here's Josh's version of what's happening here: We're watching the Mariners play the Rangers.

See the difference? I'll just add that the Rangers swept the series. :)





It was a bit strange at first being the ONLY fan anywhere around you. You can't contain a Texan's fan for their hometeam. So, as you can tell by the scoreboard, I was a little loud :)

While in Texas, I made it to a Rangers game there. It was the closest I've ever sat to homeplate! It was SO cool. I was even able to spy Nolan Ryan from my seat. My friend, Kelli, helped me make a sign that said "We came all the way from Indonesia to see the Rangers". It was probably the BEST sign I have ever seen make it's way into the ballpark. Seriously. The camera crew either didn't spot my sign (impossible, because I held it up faithfully until my arms would fall off) or they... I'm just going to believe they didn't see it. Sure, there were alot of people there, but not that many amazing signs. Sadly, I don't have a photo of the most amazing sign ever. I'll ask my friend, she might have one. Not only was this the best view I've ever had, it was one of the best games I had seen in a while. They were behind the majority of the game, tied it up in the 9th inning, walked away with the win in the 13th inning, and finished the night with a firework show.





:)

Furlough in a Flash

Flight Camp!

Josh and I had the chance to serve at a flight camp for MATA (Missions Aviation Training Academy- http://www.mata-usa.org/) in the month of July. This is the flight school where Josh completed most of his training. Their goal is to train up pilots who desire to serve God through missions aviation. They have a summer camp for kids ages 13 and up who might be interested in aviation, missions, or both. They asked Josh if he'd be willing to flight instruct for the week. Josh had six students that he flew with once a day for five days. I helped feed these kids with bottomless pits for stomachs! I guess this is the life for some of you with teenage boys! :) It was cool to watch the campers get excited about flying. We had the opportunity to share with them about the work we're apart of and our team (which is really, really big!). By the way, you're apart of our team, too! If you read this, it means you're interested and maybe you'll pray for us. :)

If you've said even one whisper of a prayer for us or had a passing thought about us, you're apart of our team! :)

Furlough in a Flash

This will be a series of posts dedicated to the adventures of furlough. When I mention that we're on furlough some look at me with worried faces. Furlough in the airline world means you've been laid off, but in the missions world it means you're back in your home country for an extended time. :) There's a BIG difference.

These adventures are in no particular order, but I'll try to keep the chronological.

Here is a hike to Heather Lake.

Imagine living your entire life in a flat world. Your world has rolling hills that gradually increase. There's grainfields that dance in unison when blown by the winds. This is not my world.

This new world begins with mountains and trails covered by trees on both sides. It also involves that hot-cold feeling. You know, when you wear a long sleeved shirt you're hot, but when you take it off your arms are cold... but you're hot.



Our journey continued through trees for a couple of miles. Then we came upon snow. SNOW in July?! Yes. in. July.



Then FINALLY we came to the lake. After having quite a grouchy attitude, I was immediately quieted. It was incredible. The trees opened up to the clearest lake I have ever seen. The color green burst forth against the white backdrop of the snow. We were encircled by a world of waterfalls created by melted snow.







More to come.

Jumbled thoughts on a Jog

In America you have the freedom to run anywhere you want with only a few weird looks. In Indonesia, however, it's unusual when a white girl runs by. So we jog at the school- on a gigantic hill.

Yesterday I grabbed my music, shoes, and no map. :) I just did an interval run until I found my way back. I went through this gated community that has a lake. The roads twisted and turned, but it was a beautiful, sunny day. I got lost twice and that got me thinking. I have only walked through with my family and only paid attention to a few landmarks.

There's some adventure and "fun" in just taking off and going wherever we want- no restraints, no regards, no appointments, no expectations. Just go. As I was running, I took a wrong turn. None of the houses looked familiar- all of the houses looked unfamiliar when by myself! At first I didn't mind, but then my thoughts turned towards the dreaded "what ifs"... you know what if Josh goes to look for me on the normal roads, what if I miss dinner, what if there are dogs that are out of the gate... the "what ifs". The "what ifs" took some of the fun out of the journey, and fear began to creep in. The "what if" thoughts might not even show on the outside- that fear, uncertainty, lack of peace seems to only effect the inside.

All of the sudden, I recognized the road that led home! Safety, comfort, peace. Although the journey took longer than expected, it was really fun and felt good just to go.

I'm learning that this journey that I'm on is an adventure. Sometimes I'll take a wrong turn and not follow the One who knows the way. It'll take longer to get back on the road to home, but the lessons learned on the "wrong ways" might be well worth the journey. Sometimes "wrong ways" are hard lessons, and we want to quit and give up. Newsflash- you can't quit in the midst of the run because you have to go somewhere- back home or to the finish line. Don't give up. Continue on the journey-hard times and everything.

Don't fear the wrong ways but at the same time try to stay on the road home...

Great Adventures

This month has literally flown by!

- We landed in Washington on June 8.
- June 15-19 I was in Arizona for my college roomie's wedding
- June 20-25 in Washington (with my feet on the the ground!)
- June 26-July 2 in Orlando, Florida for a debrief about our time in Indonesia.
- July 3- Aug. 1 We'll both be in Washington.
- Aug. 1-8 I'll be going to Texas to visit my family!! :) (I'm really looking forward to that!)
- After that trip, I'll return to Washington and we'll plan again from there.

So this has been a busy time, but it's been so wonderful to reconnect with others!

This week in Florida has been such a blessing. We've met others who are co-laborers all around the world. We've been encouraged by our friends in Orlando and had the opportunity to just share our experiences. We had tons of great food and even took a trip to "Gatorland". I held the tail end of a HUGE snake and almost passed out!

Here's some photos because I know you're itching to see!

Before snake:


I shut my eyes closed, because I did NOT want to see what was coming! Here's the first touch:


I'm freaking out.








Then we had a chance to pose with the snake in groups. So, Josh was upset that he didn't get to hold the snake. This is me trying to be brave.


It was short-lived...


I have mixed feelings on any recommendations for Gatorland. :)
I also did not volunteer for this but was volunteered by former students and athletes of mine! They love to see me squirm! :) Now that I think of it, Josh was probably pointing me out too!

Here's the evidence.


This is Josh while they were bringing the huge snake out. It's clear who volunteered me, isn't it?

The Long Road Home

It began on May 31 with a seven hour flight from Papua to Jakarta. We booked a room at the transit hotel "FM7". The idea of a swimming pool with a nice place to eat sounded wonderful. The pool area had three different pools- a freeeeeezing cold one, a not so freezing cold one, and a hot tub. There was also a sauna, which we didn't go into but enjoyed wathching others come out and go straight into the ice pool.

From here we left on our 11:40 pm flight to Seoul, South Korea. We stepped off the plane and began the hunt for the shuttle bus to the transit hotel. **Note to self- while in SKorea, look for the yellow question mark when calling for the hotel shuttle. The hotel desk looked at us like we were nuts. The weather in SKorea was windy and chilly! We had our sweatshirts out though. We arrived around 10:30am, went straight to the hotel, and crashed for a few hours. We woke up hungry, confused on the time, and cold. We set out to find some food or Dr.Pepper- no DP but we found a fun Mexican food place, which unexpectedly had good food.

Our next flight left at 9 pm on June 1. I think. The SKorean airport has this really neat room with chairs that are reclined and comfy. It was a nice place to hang out. They also had DP and subway! So SKorea, your airport was fantastic!

Somehow we made it to Honolulu, Hawaii at 10:30 am on June 1- how did that happen? For real, we left on the night of June 1 and arrived on the morning of June 1- whaaaaaat? Thanks alot, International Dateline. Needless to say, our bodies were soooo confused on the time of day or date that we didn't know when to eat or sleep. We wanted to eat at weird times, and when the clock said we should be hungry our bodies just weren't hungry. It's been a wonderful place to adjust and keep the cranky, jetlagged monsters at bay.

Tomorrow we'll move on for our final leg of travel for now. We'll leave around 10pm and arrive around 6am. **Note to self- for future travel try to avoid night flights. seriously.

Here are some photos :)