east to west

(Once again, a post that I'm publishing looooong after I've written it--this was originally written on January 23rd, but it's taken me a while to gather up the pictures and finally load them all in.  Regardless, I'm glad to finally get this trip documented for posterity...)

Well, after an extended Christmas break with family, we have finally finally arrived at our destination in Los Angeles.  For the next four months, our family will be living in community with 12 others, as we all prepare for our three years in overseas mission.  While four months may not seem like a lot of time to most people, we are so very thankful for the chance to unpack our bags and settle into one place for a while.  I hope to keep up with my blog posts on a more regular basis now that we are staying put for a bit.

Our journey here was a long one.  That's an obvious statement, I know, since we did travel literally from the east coast to the west coast...in our minivan...all five of us together...for hours at a time.  But all in all, I'd say that everyone did great.  And thanks to lots of books, art supplies, more "I Spy" and "20 Questions" games than I can count, a well-used DVD player (one movie per day maximum!), well-timed breaks, and yummy snacks, we emerged smiling and excited at all of our wonderful stopping points.  And boy, did we ever enjoy those little layovers.

Our trip began a little over a week ago, when we left my parents' home with some tears and lots of thanks for a great and relaxing time with them over the three weeks since we had arrived from Greenville.  That time was much needed and much appreciated after the whirlwind of activity we had experienced in closing up our home and storing our few belongings with wonderful friends in Greenville.  And we also needed some time to just decompress--and, as always, my parents joyfully provided just what we needed.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Our first stop was in Pearland, Texas, at the home of our dear friends, the Davises.  These sweet people were our neighbors when we lived in Houston and we will be forever bonded with them after we jointly experienced the drama and aftermath of Tropical Storm Allison in June of 2001.  Early one morning (specifically, about 3am), we awoke to find the first floor of our little two-story town home completely flooded with close to two feet of water.  My husband immediately called our neighbors to alert them, but we all soon realized that there wasn't much to do other than wait for the flood waters to recede, which they eventually did--leaving in their wake a mess of trash, mud, photographs, food items, books, and furniture.  Luckily we were all safe and unharmed, but you don't live through  something like that without forging a close bond with those with whom you experienced it.  I'm happy to report that even as they approach and enter their later years, Ray and Jerry are as spry, warm, and witty as ever.  It was a privilege to spend such quality time with these precious people.

After our time there, we headed into San Antonio, where we bunked with our former Army buddies, the Narayan family.  With four kids ranging from age 2 through 9 (and all their accompanying toys and entertainment), this was a total funhouse and our kids had a blast!  It was great to spend time there, catch up with the goings-on of their sweet family, and compare notes on post-Army life.

While there, we also spent a great afternoon at the Witte Museum, where the kids learned about mummies, dinosaurs, and the gastrointestinal system.  But I'd venture to say that they had the most fun at the hands-on kids area, where they banged on drums, rode a bike on a cable suspended in the trees, and did some pretty cool rock-climbing.

Our weekend in San Antonio was capped off with a fun and fabulous reunion with several families whom we had grown close to in our time there during my husband's fellowship training in the Army.  These years hold especially fond memories for us, as Joshua was very young, and the births of our girls bookended our years in the city (Madison in 2003 and Caroline in 2006).  So to reunite with dear friends, to meet kiddos who for years we've only seen growing up in Christmas cards, and to watch our kids connect with their kids without skipping a beat, was a true joy.  Additionally, for us to realize that as much as our lives and situations had changed (and none of us have been stellar about keeping in touch), and even though life had given us all great gifts and great challenges, our connections have remained very much the same.  The gift of truly "picking up where you left off" was not wasted on me or my husband.  Being with this gang and sharing our collective stories was truly food for the soul, and we are sincerely grateful.

The next leg of our journey was spent in El Paso, our home from 2006-2009.  We were so lucky to be able to stay with our dear friends, the Lunas, whose friendship with us began when our kids played soccer together.  You know how every once in a while people enter your lives and you just sense that they are meant to remain not just for a "reason" or a "season", but rather for life?  That's these folks for us.  We were welcomed just like family into their home, enjoyed Angela's spectacular gourmet cooking everyday, and relished in watching our kids soak up every single moment with their kids.  Lucky for us, they were willing to enjoy a little break from school one day and accompanied us up to White Sands National Monument, which is a breathtaking area in New Mexico where white gypsum covers miles of land as dunes and hills.  All the kids--big and small--enjoyed plenty of awesome sledding down those hills.  Like their daughter Madison observed, "it's like snow sledding without getting all wet and cold!"

One of my favorite memories of our time there was the chance to see their oldest daughter, Miranda.  When we last saw this young lady, she was fighting the battle of her life as she endured months of powerful chemotherapy to treat the acute leukemia that had invaded her then 10 year old little body.  Although she and her entire family endured that painful time with more grace and faith than I can describe, no one can truly know the suffering of that season of their lives.  Imagine then my incredible joy at not only seeing her healthy and thriving, but then watching her absolutely school my children and her siblings at their Wii game of "Just Dance."  She rocked and rolled and set new records with both accuracy and stamina.  Once again, food for my soul.  Brava, Miranda!

While in the city, we had one more opportunity to gather with a few Army friends and reunite our kids at one of our favorite parks.  Not only was the El Paso weather picturesque as ever, but we experienced that same connection as with our San Antonio friends--other than the growth and changes in all of our kids, it almost felt as though no time had passed since we had last met for a park date and catch up.  It was again such a great time to hear where life had taken them and share our experiences as well.

And I can't possibly close without a shout out to our buddies, Suzanne and Joaquin.  This little guy was Joshua's absolute best friend in El Paso and leaving him was probably Joshua's biggest challenge when we moved to Greenville.  Despite almost three years since seeing each other or communicating, these guys did not miss a beat when we visited with them last week.  As Suzanne and I happily caught up for a couple of hours, I kept looking over to these boys, expecting them to take off for an impromptu game of touch football, or frisbee, or tag--something!  But instead what I witnessed could be likened more to a couple of old buddies at a nursing home: they were catching up, reminiscing and laughing hard at old memories, sitting quietly for a few seconds and then starting their breathless chatter once again--for close to two hours!  Joshua left that time with a huge smile on his face and his takeaway thought was, "Joaquin really hasn't changed at all!  I'm glad."  I don't know how common this sort of bond is for 10 year old boys, but I am full of gratitude that our boy gets to experience that gift, and I pray that he will always have it.

And after all that fun, we landed in Phoenix for a couple of nights at the home of some former MDA missionaries, who could not have been more gracious, honest, or warm in their sharing of their home and their experiences.  Not only did we have a great time learning so much about life in missions, our kids got a fabulous pottery-making experience right in their dining room.  Thank you, Tim and Sheila, for a great last leg of our long journey.

A friend loves at all times...

Proverbs 17:17

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. 

Marcel Proust

we're here! we're okay!

So much for trying to keep up with blog posts on a regular basis.  This morning I received an email from a friend in Greenville saying that he'd noticed that we haven't updated the blog recently, and he guessed that meant that life in L.A. was keeping us busy.  How right he is...

So, in a nutshell, I want to let our friends know that we are doing well and that we are so happy to be fairly settled here in our new home in Los Angeles.  We arrived on the afternoon of Sunday, January 22nd, after a long and fun-filled trip across the country (blog post on that coming soon--I hope).  Once we spent a couple of days unpacking and getting set up in our new living arrangements, we were free to check out the city of angels.  We enjoyed a beautiful bike ride along Venice and Santa Monica beach, visited a cool science museum, had some delicious Thai food with friends, and learned more about our kids' school and our surrounding neighborhood.

Our arrival here at the Mission House confirmed the wisdom of and need for our extensive downsizing before we left Greenville.  Our life here is simple living, indeed, and we love it!  My husband and I reside in a small room that contains a bed, a desk, a sink, and a very small closet.  Our room is connected to Madison and Caroline's room by a bathroom and shower.  Joshua has a similar set up and he shares a bathroom with another boy close to his age, whose family is also here for mission formation and preparation.  We've had to be creative with our unpacking and our storage, satisfied with existing in mighty tight quarters, and fairly obsessive with keeping things clutter-free (there's just no room for extras!).  This house was, after all, a convent in years past.  Despite these apparent limitations, however, we are truly loving our time here, and are so grateful that we still have over three months to soak in the experience.

Our fellow missionaries-in-training all arrived later that same week and we slowly got to know one another.  Slowly, that is, until our first week of classes began on Monday, January 30th, and we were all asked to take turns and essentially tell our life stories to our fellow classmates.  At that point, our knowledge of one another grew from superficial to deep, surface to very meaningful, in just a matter of days.  It was one of those retreat-type experiences where you speak with absolute authenticity and vulnerability, sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly, taking the risk that you might be judged, but not really caring since you'll all go your separate ways at the end of the retreat weekend...except we are all  sticking around here for a while.  I have to say that that time of opening ourselves up and learning so very much about the others number as my favorite days here thus far.  Our group is a beautiful motley crew of individuals, including two families of five, two couples, and three single gals.  In our adult class of eleven, our ages range from 21 to somewhere in the 60s.  Our group includes marrieds, singles, newlyweds, divorced, and widowed.  The stories that we heard (and continue to hear) brought peals of laughter, gasps of astonishment, and many, many tears.  It is a true privilege to be walking this journey with such a diverse, interesting, and faith-filled group.

Another experience that has been filling our days has been negotiating the basic survival details of occupying a house with 17 other people (there is also a house caretaker who lives here and has become a good friend of ours).  Over the course of the first week, we managed to make schedules for the cooking and cleaning responsibilities, grocery shopping each week, and the use of the washer and dryer.  So far communication on the inevitable bumps in the road has been good, but we know that we are all human and therefore so very far from perfect.  But we also know that we are in this community because of a Call much greater than any of us, and we are committed to growing and learning through this experience.

I know that many dear friends are also wondering about our sweet kiddos.  By the grace of God, they are doing wonderfully.  Despite some resistance before we left our lovely lives in Greenville, they are thriving both at the Mission House and in their new school.  Though the transition to a local Catholic elementary school has had some challenges, they are all making lots of new friends and have great teachers to guide them into the new semester.  They are also very lucky to have playmates right here in the house with them: the other family that is here has a boy and two girls, all of whom are very close in age to our kids, and that has made for lots of fun (and sometimes pretty loud!) evenings and a much easier movement into their new school setting.  Again, we know that it won't always be smooth sailing, but we are grateful for the many blessings, small and large, that we see each day.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28