We Made It!

Wow! We are finally here! After raising support, selling a house in a crashing market, car accidents, illnesses, broken backs... It's a miracle we made it at all!

We had a three day drive to Texas. Nothing unexpected or dramatic to report. PRAISE GOD- we take nothing for granted these days. The kids did suprisingly well driving 8-10 hours a day. With the exception of a few (o.k. maybe more than few) hair pulling moments it was rather uneventful. Sean drove the Uhaul with Grandma, and my sister, Aimee and I switched off driving the Suburban. All things considered, it went ok and we made excellent time - probably due to our refusal to make too many potty stops (we made those with the smallest blatters use gatorade bottles!) I'm not kidding...desperate times call for desperate measures!

It was amazing to drive across the south western portion of the United states. The cultural differences are interesting and funny. For example, Starbucks are few and far between in New Mexico...but boy do they love their Dairy Queen! We observed that political correctness is definitely not widely practiced in this portion of the US. One billboard that stands out in my mind was an advertisement for Hand Woven Rugs and in big red letters at the bottom it read "Made By Real Indians!" My sister and I laughed as it was apparent we weren't in California anymore.

Texans are funny. They are the kindest people...but the worst drivers!!!! They literally run you off the road! And I'm sure our California license plates didn't help our cause any. Ironically, the sign at the state line reads "Welcome to Texas! Drive Friendly Now... The 'Texas' way" We couldn't help but laugh at the irony.

One more funny Texas story.... We went to IKEA the other day to get some necessary items for the house. And we walked past a lady who was talking on her cell phone and speaking in French. My six year olddaughter, Leah, looked up at me with wide eyes and asked, "Mom, was that lady speaking 'Texas'?" And I said, "No, sweetie, she was speaking 'French'. " To which Leah exclaimed, "WHAT? They speak 'French' in Texas?" And I said, "No, she just happens to be speaking 'french' while in Texas." Leah relaxed and said, "Oh good."

O.K...just one more story. My kids had their first experience with humidity. Just the other day we were unpacking and the kids were playing in their new rooms it was nice outside so we had all our windows open. Well around noon it became overcast and rather humid (about 85%). And my kids walked out of the rooms with perplexed looks on their faces and said, "Mom- why are we sweating?" To which Sean replied..."It's humidity...welcome to Texas."

So far, our fellow servants at GFA have been amazing! They've been bringing us meals all week and had us unloaded off the uhaul in less than an hour!

We had our first prayer meeting on Tuesday night. And we got to hear K.P. Yohannan teach for the first time in person! The teaching was just what I needed to remind me why we are here. KP gave a really great message...very confirming for us. I'll briefly highlight the points he made-as I'm sure it will strike a cord with us all...

- Deny yourself, and forsake all for Christ

- To not fall into the trap of following the "religious" ways of man. How easy and subtle it is for us to try to walk in the Spirit in our own strength by using the "methods " of man. For example, we should avoid the 1+1=2 type books and theories OR try to model our lives after others OR try to apply the philosophies of man into our daily lives in an effort to complete in the flesh what was begun in the Spirit. In a nut shell, that we are all to walk in the Spirit and not try to reproduce a pharisuetical counterpart in our flesh.

-That we are to travel lightly in this world and not to become entangled in the things of this world and become weighed down by our possessions.

-That materialism, as we well know, is such a subtle tool of the enemy to distract us from our purpose. (A much needed reminder for me right now as the temptation to spend money setting up "home" is ever present ....especially because we live so close to good shopping!)

We got to meet (a brief introduction) KP personally. I must confess, we were a bit starstruck.

Well that's all for now. Next Blog will be all about GFA...! I'm confident we'll have many good things to report as Sean starts 'work' on Wednesday!

Thank you again for all of your love and support - without it we would not be here.