Easter 2013

40 Days is over  ~  Easter is HERE!  He is Risen!

Nothing about our 40 day push turned out as we thought it would, but everything is right!

We planned on blogging often during the 40 days.
We planned on being busy.
We planned on traveling and speaking in a lot of churches and small groups.

We did not plan on stomach bugs, food poisoning, a kidney stone, our planned language school closing, or my Dad passing on to glory on March 3rd.

We did not plan on taking a few weeks to stop, wait, and listen, to receive guests and sympathy, and to pour over paperwork.  And then we resumed at full-speed even though we were exhausted from receiving guests and from grief.

We did not plan for those things, but God did.
He knew everything.

And it's the little things that get me.
The moment when my dad died was the only time my brother, sister, mom and I were in the room alone with Daddy.
I held his hand.
His last food was a pepermint patty.  Remember taste the sensation?  And we could laugh.  We needed that.
And then there was the friend who just happened to be close by that weekend, who could come for the funeral; the cousin who was able to come from far away; the scarf from a Texas friend to keep giving me hugs.

Even through the ups and downs during the 40 days, and without being able to work as hard as we planned, God provided new partners and supplied our needs.
We have now made it to 94% of our monthly support.  We're so close!
We have a new language school destination in Albertville, France.  We are applying for visas and plan to depart as soon as possible.
The coming weeks are full of appointments and sharing about our EthnoArts work in Cameroon.  It's coming together after all.

Thank you for praying and keeping us busy.  Keep praying!

Enjoy these photos from "Talents Unmasked," an event held last week at our church as a fundraiser for the Grant family and us.

Sisters Heidi & Melissa perform a piano duet

Dave shredding out a solo

Kristin, with Andrea, her piano teacher

Ben performing a solo

The fabulous Garber sisters

Peter performing a blues rendition of Blessed Assurance

Noah sliding an oreo from his forehead to his mouth.  He was victorious!

Sunset over the Peaks of Otter this week

Day 17: What a weird couple of weeks...and finally back in the saddle

Well, this 40 days thing was supposed to be a time of being very busy and blogging a lot about what we were doing every couple of days.  Then craziness broke loose on our family!  It's been quite a ride for the past two weeks, but finally we're getting back in rhythm.

I (Chris) have no intention of fishing for sympathy, but I thought it best to relay the events of the last couple of weeks to show how we can rely on God's faithfulness through all kinds of things.

When last we checked in, we were at the JAARS center in Waxhaw, NC.  On Friday morning, Feb. 15th, Lori and I were privileged to take a class in off-road driving.  We had about an hour and a half in the classroom discussing some techniques as well as equipment choices.  Then we got in a well-equipped Isuzu Trooper and hit the course.  We had to traverse some steep hill-climbs, some big mudpuddles, lots of deep-rutted trails, narrow passages between trees, and even a staircase of boulders. We had a blast!  Lori especially loved moments such as when she asked the instructor about "that fallen tree across the trail."  "Just go right over it," was the instructor's advice.  She was quite wary, but enjoyed the adrenaline rush after going over it!  You can view a very shaky video that we shot during our driving here.

With our instructor after dirtying up the Trooper a bit.

Later that afternoon, things went bad.  We went up to Charlotte to visit some cousins of mine, and illness set in for myself.  That evening we ended up back at our room in Waxhaw with me running a fever and having stomach-flu symptoms.  After a night's sleep, I felt better and we proceeded with our plans to travel to Cross Hill, SC (our hosts had already been through the flu, so they welcomed us just the same!).

In Cross Hill, I was set to preach the Sunday (Feb. 17th) morning service at Liberty Springs Presbyterian Church.  We had a great time visiting with Lori's distant cousin and her family while we were there.  Sunday morning went well sharing with this small but enthusiastic congregation.  Immediately after lunch, we bolted for the coast and our evening engagement with Grace EPC in Hampstead, NC.  It was a long drive, the kids were very cooperative, and we made it thirty minutes before we were to begin presenting!  That evening went well as Lori shared with an adult small-group and Chris presented to the youth group.

The next morning (Monday, the 18th), as we were finishing breakfast and getting set to head to Newport News, VA, Noah came down with the stomach bug.  So, we changed our plans and decided to head straight home to Lynchburg.  We did stop at the beach and played for a short while before lunch (Noah claimed to feel well and enjoyed the beach too).

The kids playing in the sand at North Topsail Beach, NC

When we arrived home, I was feeling sick again, and this time we suspect something amiss with the lunch we ate.  It took a couple of days before I was ready to eat much, and by Wednesday (the 20th) I was feeling better.  Then that afternoon...the kidney stone.  All I have to say is it was very, very painful.  It was a roller coaster ride of pain medication and constant drinking of water, gatorade and apple juice for three solid days.  Finally, on Sunday morning, when I had gone by the hospital to get a refill of pain medication from the ER doctor, I passed the kidney stone!  It took a couple of days to feel back to normal, but we're good to go now.

For the sake of perspective, we staged two of the kids' lego mini-figures fighting over the kidney stone.  It's amazing how something so small can cause so much pain!

Last night (the 28th), we had our first presentation since all of the sickness and such.  It felt good to be back doing what we're supposed to do.  I know the sickness all had a purpose.  It quite likely was God's way of showing me that I can become too task oriented and forget about the most important things along the way.  The roadblocks were a reminder to keep important things where they belong.

So we're down to just over 20 days left in our 40 day push.  It's hard not to think that the last couple of weeks was time lost.  But I have to remind myself that it was time used to get/keep my head and heart right.