Reflections

This young bald eagle greeted us to the states from a large fir tree outside Kristina's parent's house.

Well, we're back in the US now, enjoying family and getting accustomed to the cold weather.  The fall leaves held on just a bit longer than usual this year in Ridgefield, which was a special gift for Kristina from God.  We had a safe, uneventful trip back to the US, and the kids were really well-behaved.  We've been blessed by family and friends here in Ridgefield, who have welcomed us with open arms.  We're especially thankful to Kristina's parents, who've opened up their home to live until we find a place of our own, and we'll be spending most of December enjoying the hospitality of my parents in Idaho.

Stopping outside Papa and Grandma's house to shoot a picture of the fall leaves.

 It will take us awhile to fully reflect on our time in Shell.  Please be praying for us as we adjust to life back in our home country and look for a place to live.  In many ways, it will be very challenging for us to be living in the US.  Of course we already miss all of our good friends in Shell.  It was a true blessing and honor to live and work with those missionaries for a couple of years.

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about Baby D, a precious little 1-month-old baby who had suffered bleeding in her brain.  I wanted to give an update about her status.  After spending about a week in intensive care in Quito, she made a full recovery.  She was seen by Dr. Tacheny in clinic last weekend and appeared to be completely normal!  We thank God for the miracle of this little baby's life.  This was an especially critical case, but in our prayer times as a family, we felt a peace, as though God was telling us that she was going to be alright.

We thank God for a great time in Shell, and we're looking forward to this next chapter in our lives.  It's scary but exciting, and we're content to be in His will.  Thanks go out to all of you who have been alongside us the whole way!

Dan didn't wait 24 hours to go out fishing on the Lewis River and brought home some wonderful chinook salmon for dinner.

Weekend Call and Packing Craziness

As I pack up the house for our move Dan is busy with his last weekend call that he'll have here.  So far it's given him a run for his money as he not only has had clinic on his own this morning but there was a bad car accident in which he's had to admit eight people, four of them going to the operating room for huge fractures.  Dan and I are training for a race on Thanksgiving day that will raise money to dig wells in developing countries and have talked about finishing with a kick; I guess that's what he's doing today....Dan just ran into the house to get our pliers.  He needs to pull a large fish hook out of a boy's hands and the hospital tools aren't quite cutting it.

I've joked with Dan that this house packing is going to be a lot like packing for a family trip; he gets his own clothes ready, and I pack our luggage for all the rest of us.  So far it's been true in that I've packed up almost the entire house without his help, as he's been busy at the hospital.  However, I see it as a praise to ways that God has grown us over the last two years.  I remember getting ready to move here and being quite stressed about last minute details and bag weights as I took care of Caleb and Jael, even with Dan's help.  Now, two years later and one more kid, God's given me lots of peace about enjoying each day as it comes and understanding he's blessed me with the ability to organize well.  Instead of being bitter about not having more help I can use my "talents" (or maybe it's my OCD personality :) to help my family get ready for the move, and I'm actually enjoying the process.  Now I'm praying that this same personality can be at peace as we "drift" for awhile in the states until finding a home of our own :)