11 + 8 + 6 = 25 People Here Tonight

You may be thinking that Shonni's house is a bit crowded after adding 8 of the Big D family to their 11. No ... not crowded a bit. Tonight, another out-of-town family will be arriving with their 4 children. So, we will have 25 people sleeping here tonight.

Can't wait to put together breakfast for the whole CROWD! What fun!!!

Shonni and family not only have a big house ... but BIG HEARTS! We have been BLESSED by our time with them, and are so thankful for the amazing Bloggy Friends that the Lord has brought in to my life in the past 2 years. We can't wait to meet more of you in the coming weeks.

What to do with 15 children in the WINTER in Colorado?

Because of the Non-Fall weather, Shonni had to revise our plans just a bit. But, we still took the kids out and about, and had a GREAT time.

Rather than a picnic in the mountains,

we visited Wendy's instead.

Can you imagine how we must

have scared the other customers,

when we walked in the door with 15 children?

Elijah ... always the clown.

After lunch we visited the

Garden of the Gods.

Wow! Beautiful!!!

Shonni and I, combined, have 16 children,

that are 16 years old and younger.

(Which includes 12 that are 11 and under.)

Always a pic of our 2 sets of Virtual Twins.

Elijah, Rachel, Josiah, and Sarah

Notice the coats ...

we had to borrow them because

we did not come prepared for Winter Weather.

The Castle

Part of the Navigators Ministry headquarters.

Another pic of some of our beautiful children.

It's such a blessing to be able to introduce our children

to other families that "look like us".

Not only is Shonni's family BIG,

but they are COLORFUL too.

Explaining Make-Believe to Our Children

Another question for those of you that have adopted internationally ...

Do your older children have a difficult time discerning fiction vs. non-fiction? This has been a really difficult thing for our kids.

Rachel, reading Charlotte's Web, "Mom, is this story real?"

Mama, "Well ... what do you think."

Rachel, "I do not know."

Mama, "Okay ... what is it about?"

Rachel, "A pig."

Mama, "What does the pig do?"

Rachel, "I do not know."

Mama, "Does the pig talk?"

Rachel, "Yes."

Mama, "Do pigs really talk?"

Rachel, "No."

Mama, "Than, is the story real."

Rachel, "No."

Sooo ...

Do any of your families listen to Adventures in Odyssey stories on CD (or the old tapes)? We have listened to them for over 20 years. Our whole family LOVES the stories.

However, our precious Ghanaian children have had a very difficult time telling what is make-believe about the stories. Of course, the whole story is make-believe. However, even if the main characters were real ... they take trips in a time-machine that is completely make-believe. Our kids had listened to the stories for months before we realized that they just thought everything they heard was real life. So, if the people in the stories could travel back in time and visit with Bible-time people, than they thought that the Bible people just live in another part of the world. They truly don't understand the concept of history, which led to the question a few months ago, "Papa, are we living in Old Testament times or New Testament times?" Yikes! So, we realized that the Adventures in Odyssey stories might be adding to the confusion.

Which leads to today's predicament ...

We are in Colorado Springs, where Focus on the Family is based. The Focus on the Family main office has an awesome Adventures in Odyssey building where you can even buy ice cream in "Whit's End".

We've visited before, and our children loved it. Now, those children are asking if we can go again, on this trip.

However ... we have spent so much time trying to explain to the girls that Adventures in Odyssey is make-believe ... how do we possibly explain that we are going to visit Whit's End???

Yikes! It's WINTER in Colorado!

I'm EXHAUSTED tonight,

but wanted to write a QUICK note.

The day before we left home (Friday), it was a beautiful SUMMER day. We were all wearing shorts and t-shirts (or tank tops).

Saturday, we had rain all the way across WA and ID, and strong winds in MT.

Sunday, we had rain on and off, more strong winds, and COLD weather at our campground in WY. Brrr ... We piled on LOTS of blankets last night.

Today, we woke up and the kids asked if it was winter already in WY. I assured them that, "No, it's just the beginning of fall." However, about 100 miles down the highway, we came around a corner and saw SNOW. What??!!! Awhile later we came across the warning sign that said: 40+ mph WINDS ahead.

A few hours later, Shonni's dear husband phoned to ask where we were (what route we were on), and to warn us that a storm was headed through Colorado with SNOW expected at their place tonight. (Oh ... and we are supposed to CAMP at their place? Yikes!)

Just south of Denver, the SNOW arrived, blowing hard as we got off the freeway, to head up into the mountains towards their house.

So, what happened to SUMMER??? Since it was still summer when we left WA ... and since we are headed to TX where it is supposed to still be "summer-like weather" ... we did not pack winter clothes. We did not pack any coats.

I arrived at Shonni's house wearing a TANK TOP (with sweatshirt thrown over) and barefeet in Birkenstocks. It was FREEZING outside (seriously, freezing!)

Thankfully, Shonni and dear husband and 10 children made room for 8 more in their house. (I even get a bed to sleep in.) Whew! The tent trailer would be a bit cold tonight. THANKS SHONNI!!!

We had a GREAT evening with our new friends. And, we are looking forward to a FUN day tomorrow.

Takin' Learnin' On The Road

We had our first official day of homeschooling today. For those of you that live in other parts of the country, many Wa. State public schools do not start until after Labor Day, and many Wa. State homeschoolers do not start until later in September. While June is usually quite rainy in Western Wa., September can be a beautiful month. So, homeschoolers often like to enjoy some peaceful playdays in September, after the public schools kids head back to the classroom, and before the days turn grey. (We didn't have the peaceful playdays; but we had a lot of work days around the house to put it on the market.)

Anyway, we started our homeschooling in the van this afternoon.

Rachel & Elijah sat in the back bench, reading and working on math workbooks.

Carissa sat across the middle bench (with her leg up, as she recuperates from knee surgery), helping the little ones behind her, and listening to Elijah read aloud out of his new reading books.

Josiah, Hosanna, and Sarah sat in the front bench, working on math workbooks, reading history resource books, and reading literature books. Josiah, at one point, was reading an Usborne books about world cultures. When he came to the page about Ghana, he had quite the discussion with Sarah about the type of house she lived in in the village, etc... It was so awesome to hear him asking questions, and telling her about the book he was reading.

Ben was up front, reading his new history text: Joy Hakim's "The Story of US." (?)

What a joy! The opportunity to travel the country, while "doin' school". Along with history, literature, and math ... the kids were learning about geography and map reading.

Adopted Children and Their Questions & Answers

Just a couple of quick questions for those of you that have internationally adopted children:


Do your children have a hard time making decisions?


At AM/PM for lunch ...

Mama, "Rachel, would you like a hot dog or corn dog?"

Rachel (with a blank stare), "I do not know."

(Sarah arrives, not having heard the previous conversation.)

Mama, "Sarah, would you like a hot dog or a corn dog?"

Sarah (with a blank stare), "I do not know."


Now, both girls have eaten many hot dogs and corn dogs. They know what they taste like. But, yesterday, neither of them could tell me which they would prefer. They had absolutely no idea which they might like to eat for lunch. I handed them each a corn dog, and went on to the other children (who quickly told me what they wanted).

BTW ... this is a "budget trip", not a "health food trip". So, AM/PM hot dogs and corn dogs are a nice cheap lunch.


Do your children ask questions where the answer is very obvious? And, if you ask the question back to them they quickly can tell you the answer?


After arriving at a VERY LARGE hotel last night ...

Sarah, "Mom, is this hotel bigger than the Guest House in Ghana?"

Mom, "Well, Sarah ... let's look at it? Do you think it is bigger?"

Sarah, "Yes."


This type of conversation takes place quite often. It's as if they are asking a question, when they really might be meaning to make a statement. Maybe they are so unsure of themselves, that they ask questions rather than making statements. But, in many ways they don't seem unsure of themselves.

So, I'm just curious if any of you have encountered these types of situations also. Would love to hear your thoughts, and what you might have done to encourage deeper thinking before answering questions and/or asking questions.

Fun Day!

I was too tired to post last night, so will just take a quick minute this morning before we Hit The Road again.

A couple of days ago, a dear friend BLESSED us with a significant financial gift. While I knew that we were to take this trip (for multiple reasons), I was a bit concerned about the financial side of things. While we will still make it a budget-friendly road trip, the gift will definitely allow a few special things.

We were planning to spend last night with a precious bloggy friend and family. However, they were hit with the swine flu a week ago. While they were feeling better on Friday, I just didn't want to risk it.

We had to revise our plans. Since we had a very long day of driving yesterday (nearly 600 miles) ... and we have another 500+ mile day today ... and we had a very long, hard week ... I really wasn't looking forward to setting up and taking down a campsite in the middle of two very long days.

With the gift, then, I decided to TREAT the children (and Mama) to a special night at a hotel. I popped online on Friday night and found a GREAT deal at a really neat hotel.

Rather than camping at a K.O.A. last night (under ominous rain clouds) ... we stayed at a hotel with Indoor Water Slides.

Rather than eating Mac & Cheese at the campground ... we had pizza delivered by Papa John's Pizza.

Rather than eating Cold Cereal for breakast ... we get a DELUXE (and FREE) breakfast here at the hotel.

So, we had a few FIRSTS ...

Sarah & Rachel's FIRST time at a hotel.

Sarah & Rachel's FIRST time at a water slide.

Sarah, Josiah, Rachel, & Elijah's FIRST time to have pizza DELIVERED.

Time to head downstairs for breakfast, before heading out for another day on the road.

Tonight, we get to camp at a K.O.A. in Wyoming ... and I am looking forward to camping. Praying, however, that it doesn't rain, as we had rain almost all day yesterday (across WA and ID).

We had a GREAT day of driving yesterday. Thanks for your prayers!!!

What a Crazy Week!

I'm glad you all enjoyed the Family Pictures this week; since I didn't have time to write any new posts.

Crazy, busy week!!!

But ... I've checked everything off my lists;

and I am ready to ...

Hit The Road! Yippee!

What did we do this week?!

... 2 surgeon appts. for Carissa

... 2 physical therapy appts. for Carissa

... 5 kids caught up on immunizations

(since we are losing our insurance

at the end of the month)

... wisdom teeth extraction

surgery for Jeremiah

(yea for insurance this month)

... paint the exterior of the house

(as strongly suggested by the realtor)

... paint the kitchen cupboards

... clean, clean, clean

(house goes on the market on Monday)

... shampoo all carpets

(which is a LOT in a 3400 sq. ft. house)

... deliver Jacob to a friend,

who then delivered him

to an out-of-town friend,

for a month-long visit

... wash ALL kids laundry

... finalize itinerary and details with

all friends and family

... pack the trailer

... pack the van

... pay bills

(what will be due in the next month?)

Check! Check! Check!

All lists checked-off.

Off to bed in a little bit.

Up at 7:00.

On the road by 8:00.

(quick stop for a 24 oz. Iced Mocha)

Then ... Montana here we came.

Tomorrow, we will cruise all the way across Washington ... across the top of Idaho ... and into Montana (for a total of 567 miles). The following day, we will continue on (473 miles) to Wyoming (to camp at a K.O.A.). And, on Monday we will get to meet our first Bloggy Friends for this trip ... in Colorado. Can't wait!!!

I should have internet every night, so I'll keep y'all posted as we travel. (Did you notice ... "Y'all" ? I'm practicing for my 2 weeks in Texas and Louisiana.)

Ugh ... I posted this at 11:30, and really did have all intentions of going to bed before midnight. But ... I had forgotten 1 Major Task that HAD to be completed before we left. So, it's now 1:30 and we HAVE to be on the road by 8:00. Please pray for me today ... that I would have MUCH ENERGY ... PEACE ... PATIENCE ... and JOY today.

A Couple More Pics

Family Pictures

Vicky just commented .... and pointed out that you can click on each picture, and it will be enlarged on your screen. You really should check out the facial expressions in the pyramid picture. Enjoy!

We like Converse!

We like Converse tennis shoes.

At our house, we call them ...

"Chuck T's".

I don't exactly know why,

but that's what Papa

has called them for 30+ years.

Here's a Professional Picture of our

30 Chuck T's.

Maybe Converse would pay us for advertising?

and ...

a Close-Up of the 15 Styles.

The Family Photo Shoot

Yesterday was the day for our ...

Fun, Family Foto Shoot.

In the past, Cassie (our eldest daughter ... and professional photographer) and I have always done the family photo shoots. However, this time, since I wanted ALL 13 of my children in a picture ... together ... with Papa & Mama ... we needed another photographer. Thankfully, Miss Cassie has a few friends that are also professional photographers. So, she was able to work out a deal with her friend, Mark. They both have different areas of expertise in their photography, so agreed to spend the day teaching each other a few things. Mark, also, owns Cassie's dream camera, so she was able to borrow it for 2 of her own photo shoots earlier in the day, which she totally enjoyed.

Now, since we have always done our own photo shoots, I have always had the pictures at the end of the day (except, of course, for all of the years that we used film, and had to wait for it to be developed). This time, however, I must wait for the photographer to edit the pictures before I can get them to share with you all. Very sad! However ... I did take along my camera; and we did have a friend with us. So ... I am going to share a few snippets of our day with you.

This is all 15 of us, standing around,

while Cassie decides how she wants

us to pose for the next picture.

No Easy Task

This is the "Ground Inspection".

Mama wanted a pyramid picture

(which was NOT a popular choice).

The 1st chosen area ... the grass was damp.

The 2nd chosen area ... little piles of doggy doo.

Thus ... the "Ground Inspection".

Everything Looks Good

The Pyramid In-Process

(we won't mention the grumblings

from the bottom row)

The "Bowling Pin" Pose

Elijah, Jacob, & Josiah

Sarah

Hosanna

Lindsey & Carissa

(always LOVE the "Twin Pics")

Despite the recent knee surgery,

it has sure been fun to have Carissa home.

It had been 16 months since

"The Twins"had seen each other.

Fun to have them together again.

Almost ... the Whole Family

After our afternoon at the fair, we went to visit Uncle Larry, Auntie Janie, and the kids. We rested a bit ... drank some iced tea ... visited ... fed the kids sandwiches ... and then got ready to go to a wedding. But, before the wedding, I had to ask Janie to take our picture. We had 12 of our kids with us all day ... but were sad that Jeremiah had to stay home to work.

Miss Cheri got married last night. She and Cassie (along with Miss Sarah) were best of friends from about age 4 - 14 (when we moved away 10 years ago). It was so much fun to be back at our old church, and to see so many of our old friends. It was amazing to see so many of our kids' friends, that are now married and having babies. Wow! (Which means, many of our old friends are now grandparents.) Now, while our friends have been adding grandkids to their families, we've just been adding kids. When we moved away 10 years ago, we only had 8 kids ... now we have 13. Most of our old friends had never met Jacob, Sarah, and Rachel ... and most had not seen Josiah and Elijah since they were little. So, it was fun to introduce them to the younger half of our family.

Overall, it was a night filled with memories, reminiscing, beautiful music, fellowship, and good food (w/ an AMAZING Greek dinner at the reception).

The reception was over at 11:00, and we still had our loooong drive home. Thankfully, there isn't much traffic that time of night, so we pulled in at 1:30 a.m. It was a very long day (having left at 7:30 a.m.), but very much worth the drive.

A Day at the State Fair

We had a

FUN, FUN, FUN,

family day yesterday.

13 of us left here at 7:30 a.m.,

to drive 150 miles

to Puyallup.

Today was the 1st day of the

State Fair.

The traffic was HORRIBLE in Puyallup.

What should have been a 3 hour drive,

took us over 4 hours.

We met up with Cassie in Puyallup,

as she had driven up from Oregon.

Yippee! We love our Big Sis.

On the first day,

everyone gets in free from 10:00 a.m. - Noon,

thus saving our family over $100.

At 11:40, we were still slowly creeping

down the hill towards the fair grounds.

We finally told the kids to,

"Jump & Run".

If we had to pay for a couple of us,

that would be better than all of us.

We finally made it to a parking lot

(still over .5 miles to the fairgrounds).

I grabbed purses and my camera,

while Papa put Carissa on his back.

Remember the knee surgery?

Yes, he was piggy-backing

his 20 y.o., 5'8" daughter.

Go, Papa, Go!

As we were still a block or so from the gate,

and the clock was ticking quickly towards 12:00,

a fair worker had mercy on us,

as he opened a back gate and said,

"Hurry, folks, hurry!"

Whew! We made it!

We found the other kids,

had Carissa sit on a bench,

and went to rent a wheelchair.

Only to find out ...

all wheelchairs had already been rented.

What??!!!

Okay ... let's take turns piggy-backing Carissa.

After not getting there until 12:00,

we had to decide quickly what all we wanted to do,

since we could only stay until 4:00,

because we had a wedding to attend.

Draft Horses

Corn Dogs

The Coats

(our FAVORITE musical group)

"Al's Brain"

(w/ "Weird Al" Yankovic)

Chicken Teriyaki & Rice

(at our favorite Young Life booth)

Roberto the Magnificent

(our favorite Juggler)

Just One More Day

I'm so excited!

I can hardly wait!

Just one more day!

Tomorrow Night!

All 13 of my kids ...

WILL BE HOME!!!

Yea!!!

For the first time EVER ...

we will have all 13 kids TOGETHER.

Yes ... the first time EVER!

Saturday afternoon ...

I BEGGED the big boys to get off work ...

so that we can take some ...

FAMILY PICTURES.

Woo hoo!

Yippee!

Yahoo!

Fun! Fun! Fun!

We've already got some fun, crazy ideas ...

for the Big D Family pictures ...

Pyramids ???

Chuck T's ???

I'd love to hear your ideas,

for Fun, Family, Fotos ...

Pray for Our Nation

Linny, at A Place Called Simplicity, wrote a blog post this morning about a Senate confirmation hearing that should be deeply troubling for any Believer.

I hope you'll take just a moment to pop on over to Linny's blog .... and then take another moment to phone your senator about this confirmation that is being voted on.

Walking Through the Tough Stuff ... Without Regrets ...

While we have now been walking through The Crisis for a full 3 months, I want to make sure that you know that we have NEVER regretted adopting all 3 children. We KNOW that God called us to bring each one of these precious children home to America. We KNOW that He knew about The Crisis before we adopted, and He still directed us to bring home these children.

We are praying that the Lord will soon work out the details for Jacob to go to his "forever family", but we do not regret being his family for the past 18 months. Has it been difficult? Yes. Do we regret adopting him? No. God never promises that parenting will be easy, whether with adopted kids or bio. kids. God does promise that He will always be with us, and that He will give us the strength to walk through whatever path He has led us down.

For the past 3 months, as I have shared The Crisis here on my blog, the Lord has really used my openness and honesty to help others open up about their adoption challenges. I have received MANY personal emails, where adoptive moms have finally felt that they had a safe place to share their stories. Just this week, on one afternoon, I received 3 such emails: adoptive moms thanking me ...

... thanking me for sharing The Crisis

... thanking me for not trying to sweep the situation under a rug

... thanking me for not keeping things "hush-hush"

... thanking me for not pretending that adoptions always have a fairy tale ending

Today, I would like to share the personal story of one of the ladies I heard from a few months ago. Chelsea has given me permission to share her story, in hopes that it will be an encouragement to others walking through the challenges that adoption might bring. I hope you'll read through to the end ... because there IS a light at the end of the long, dark tunnel.

My husband and I had thought about adoption, but had never taken any concrete steps towards completing our family through adoption. Four years ago, we were visiting a relative and met a charming three year old boy who was in foster care. My relative informed us that parental rights for the child had been terminated, and the child was free for adoption. This relative remembered that we had mentioned adoption, and before we had any time to get cold feet, within a month, our home study was complete and my son had been placed in our home. Since we were distant relatives, the social services agency was able to expedite our approval to adopt my son. Six months after placement, the adoption was finalized.

To say we were clueless is an understatement! Because we were considered kin, and everything was expedited, we never took any pre-adoptive classes. All we learned was by having our feet in the fire.

When we first met our son, we were excited that he called me mom, and right away thought that meant he was attached to us. Boy, were we wrong! he was just as happy calling anyone who showed him a little love, mom and dad. In his first 3 years, our son had already been in 15 foster homes. He had no sense of permanency or stability.

The last 4 years have been extremely challenging. We have both questioned our ability as parents, and even our sanity! Our lives have turned upside down; and everything we thought we knew about parenting has had to be thrown out. Nothing we had ever done to correct our oldest bio. son worked with our youngest. Our youngest had severe behavior issues at school, and the school was totally unprepared to handle his issues. We had to both get different jobs where one of us was always a phone call away, because we were being called daily to pick up our son. His behaviors had escalated and they could not control him.

We were feeling so alone, incompetent, and like we were sinking, while also failing our son. Nothing we did seemed to work, or make any difference. My husband and I finally went to therapy, to keep our sanity.

We have since educated ourselves about adoption issues, gotten my son a therapist with experience on adoption issues, and found a school in a different district that is equipped to help him. We also have great family support and the Great Healer. We are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

Now, we see less of the behavior problems; and about 90% of the time, we have a boy who is full of joy, zeal for life, is loving, charming, friendly, and affectionate, and who loves his older brother and wants to be just like him. With the help we have gotten, the behavior issues are being addressed, and we have seen a 180 degree change.

Would I do this all over again? Yes, Yes, Yes! I have grown spiritually through the last four years of trials; and my husband and I have become stronger people. The tougher the trials, the stronger our resolve and dedication to our son became. I am so thankful to God that I can now see the answer to my many anguished prayers. The icing on the cake has been to watch my 13 year old son love on his brother, even when his brother is unlovable. He is protective of him; and I cry watching him grow in compassion, and an unexplainable capacity to love.

My husband and I are now committed to help others who are going through adoption challenges. We seek out adoptive parents. We give a listening ear, and share all the resources we know of. I am thankful that God in His sovereign wisdom only gave us a month to prepare for our adoption. Otherwise, we might have second guessed ourselves, and missed out on the blessing that is our son.

Chelsea

Update to Midnight Ponderings

Thank you all for your comments, thoughts, wisdom, etc... on my last post. I thought I'd take a minute now to update you on some of the situations. (Things can change quickly around here.)

Cars, Trucks, Vans

The DREAM SUV ... turned out to be too dreamy. It is the 4x4 Diesel model, so it is priced almost twice as high as the regular model would be. I don't think we could even trade both our monster van and my station wagon and afford it. So, no DREAM SUV for now ... I'll keep looking.

I was glad to hear that dear "adopted" daughter Vicky would miss the Big Van. None of my other big kids have weighed in on the matter.

Houses, Farms, Vacant Land ...

I appreciate all of your thoughts on this. I do believe that the 2 bedroom / 1 bath farmhouse is too small, UNLESS we could afford to add a master bedroom/bath, and an office. The property is BEAUTIFUL, but we need space for our homeschooling as well as everyday life. And, hospitality is a HUGE part of our ministry ... so we need space to invite people over to.

Denie ... don't know where you live, but I had to laugh at your comment that "in that climate, 10 acres are as good as 10 bedrooms". Um ... no ... our winters are WET, dark, and cold. There are several months out of the year where the kids really can't play outside much.

Many of you mentioned the possibility of renting a home, before buying. But ... there is a problem with that ... we have not found ANY rental properties on the island, besides the Vacation Rentals. Since this is a Tourist Destination, there are many rentals available ... for over $2,000 per WEEK. Yes, that's right ... that would equal $8,000 per month. So, wouldn't quite work for us.

Finances, Salaries, Medical Insurance

We found out yesterday that we will be making even LESS than we thought ... so the past 2 days I've really had to walk out the "trusting Jesus" side of things. Jim needs to find a 2nd job, or I will need to find a job when I get back from our Road Trip ... which adds a lot more ponderings ...

... where do we go about finding these jobs?

... Jim would need a job on the island,

but then we would never see him.

... if I get a job where we are living now,

than maybe we shouldn't even put the

house on the market until next spring.

YIKES!!! Wisdom needed!!! Prayers appreciated!!!

Midnight Ponderings ...

Life is a whirlwind.

My multi-tasking brain is on overload.

I went to bed at 10:30, and lay there wide awake for one and a half hours.

It's now after midnight, and I thought I'd do my pondering with all of you, instead of alone in my bed.

Cars, Trucks, Vans

We own a wonderful 15 passenger van. But, we are moving with only 6 children. Should we sell the van, and buy a vehicle that holds 8 or 9 people, rather than 15?

I saw my DREAM SUV on the local car lot today. It is no longer made, and this one is the 2005 model, the last year it was made. I have been looking for this exact SUV for the past 3 months, all over Western Washington. I wanted to buy one before our California trip in July.

The SUV is MUCH more comfy and fun to drive than our BIG MONSTER VAN. (I drove a friend's on a 5 hour trip 8 years ago, and this one is a newer model.)

The SUV would fit better on all of our ferry trips. It would fit better in our new church's small parking lot.

Why did I just spend $1500 on new brakes for the van last week, and then think of trading it in? I could of really used that money to buy the SUV.

Should we sell my little station wagon, that only holds 5, and buy the 9 person SUV, and keep the 15 passenger van?

I LOVE to take ALL of my kids places in my big 15 passenger van. But, how often will that happen any more? Even when we go to family camp in Oregon, someone usually has to drive because of work schedules. And, when all of the Big Kids do ride in the van (as we have done on two trips out to the island) ... it is very crowded, and not very comfortable. The Big Kids would probably prefer driving one of their own cars, but they probably don't complain because they try to keep their Mama happy. (Thanks Kids!!!) The SUV has MUCH more comfortable seats.

I dream of taking grandkids on family vacations with us. But, none of my big kids are even married yet, so that won't be happening for awhile. By the time grandkids would be ready to go on vacation with us, we'll probably only have 4 kids still at home ... so we'd have room for 3 grandkids. And, hey, maybe our grandkids' mommies and daddies will want to join us on our vacation ... so they can drive their own SUVs. (Cassie already has a cute little 4x4 SUV that Mama loves to drive.)

Sooo ... what do you think? Keep the BIG MONSTER VAN? Keep the little station wagon? Buy the Comfy SUV?

Okay ... next topic of my late-night ponderings ...

Houses, Farms, Vacant Land ...

Where, oh where, Lord

do you want us to live

on the island?

I have been reading a new blog this week, that has really gotten me thinking. The family has 10 young children and they need to move. They have found some HUGE houses that are in foreclosure, that they are trying to buy. In one of this dear mom's blog posts she was talking about wanting a house that is "big enough" for all of the kids; and it really got me to thinking about our island options.

First of all, I have been asking the Lord why he couldn't have called us to minister in their part of the country ... where they are putting an offer on a house tomorrow ... a 7,700 sq. ft. house, with 7 bedrooms, on 7 acres. The asking price is just over $200,000. This house, on our little island, would easily be over $1.5 million.

Okay ... I really haven't wanted to move to this other part of the country. And, I am soooo..... excited to move to the island. But, the question remains ... how are we going to be able to afford to buy any type of house on the island???

So, again, the question keeps rattling around in my little brain ... how big is big enough? While I LOVE the 10 acre piece of property ... can our family live in a 2 bedroom farmhouse?

If God had called us to full-time ministry in Africa ... this 2 bedroom farmhouse would have been a mansion for us. Of course we would have been content to live there. So, why do we think it is not "big enough" for us here in our little corner of the Good Ol' U.S.A.?

I LOVE to invite people over. Will church folk feel crowded if we invite them to a 2 bedroom farmhouse? In Africa ... the whole village would probably come to visit, and no one would feel crowded.

So, are our standards different, because of where the Lord has called us to minister? Should they be?

Or, are we afraid that those we minister to will have different standards, and they won't be comfortable in our home?

Should we buy the farmhouse, trusting that the Lord will provide a way for us to add a bedroom and an office? Would the church folk come together and do an old fashioned "barn-raising"? Or is that just in the movies?

What if we can't add a bedroom and build a detached office? Would we be content? Are we asking for too much? Will our children regret moving to the island? Will they wish that Papa had kept his more secure job, and that we could have stayed in our comfortable house? Will I?

We KNOW that we KNOW that we KNOW ... that the LORD has called us to the island ... and we are so VERY excited to be there. But ... there are so many unknowns right now.

Moving Details ...

We live in a 3400 sq. ft. house ... with 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, and currently 14 people living here. We are talking about downsizing to a 2 bedroom, 1 bath farmhouse (with no family room, no play room, no office, no library, etc...) ... and having 8 people living there.

What do we do with our STUFF? It would be better to sell everything NOW, so that our house would be emptier and look better for the realtors. (We've already FILLED a storage unit and our large garage.) But ... we don't know yet where we are moving to. Maybe the Lord will provide a big, beautiful house on the island Maybe the church folk will do a barn-raising and build us a master bedroom and detached garage. But ... maybe He won't ... and maybe they won't ...

Do we have a garage sale and just start selling mass amounts of furniture? We could line the sidewalks around our house with bunkbeds, dressers, couches, etc.... What about grandma's and grandpa's heirloom antiques??? I always dreamed that someday they would grace a beautiful Guest Room. (Ummm ... we've always hardly had room for our family, so we've not had a Guest Room yet.)

If the Lord had called us to Africa ... we would have sold all of our belongings, knowing that He would provide what we needed when we got there. (We certainly wouldn't be taking Grandma's antique dresser, for a Guest Room in Ghana.) It's just STUFF. But ... I LOVE some of my STUFF.

You may be laughing at me ... but these are SERIOUS ponderings ...

I don't want to hold onto STUFF, if the Lord is calling us to sell everything. I so want to be content if we are to live in a 2 bedroom, 1 bath farmhouse. But, I don't really KNOW if that's what He is calling us to do.

Finances, Salaries, Medical Insurance, Trusting God ...

While we KNOW that the Lord has called us to full-time ministry ... and we KNOW that the LORD has ALWAYS provided for us. It's still hard. We have absolutely no idea how much we are going to make every month. It all depends on what is put in the tithe bucket each week. Yikes! The budgeted amount is just 1/4 of what our family was living on a year ago. But, we are BELIEVING that the Lord will provide over and above that amount.

We know 3 families that have not had a guaranteed salary for over 35 years each. And, the Lord has always provided for them. They own nice houses, and drive nice cars, and travel all over the world preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. We have known one of these families for over 20 years, and another family for over 10 years. We have seen God's faithfulness for them.

I TOTALLY trust and believe that the Lord will provide for us. However ... I don't know how to walk that out on a daily basis. I am a planner/organizer/administrator. It if very difficult to plan a family's finances when you don't know how much each paycheck will be. I know that I need to ... Let Go, and Let God. But, it's just not easy.

Oh, yea ... how about the Medical Insurance ponderings ??? Our medical insurance ends on Sept. 30th. Do we spend $1,000/mo. for a private policy ... with no guarantee that we will have $1,000 to pay for it each month? Do we try to sign up for State Medical, which is a TOTAL HASSLE (and HUGE time consuming process)? Do we not have insurance, and trust God to pay for any medical bills that might arise? (This is VERY scary for us, after Elijah's $230,000 medical bills just 4 years ago ... that were paid for by insurance.) But, we are not to live in fear, but in FAITH. Along with that FAITH, however, we need wisdom, and God does give us a logical mind for a reason ...

Well ... it is now 2:15 a.m., and I have to get up in 7 hours. I was planning to get some extra sleep tonight, but my mind won't stop whirring. (And, of course, on top of the above listed ponderings, I'm still pondering The Crisis, The Road Trip, some serious Big Kid issues, and just the everyday LIFE stuff.)

If any of you have any words of wisdom ... or ponderings to add to my midnight ponderings ... I would LOVE to hear them.

Thanks for your continued love and support during our CRAZIEST summer on record.