Wow...is it time to go already?

So, here we are.  The end of our time at YWAM Virginia and we go with mixed emotions after being here nearly a month.  This has been such an amazing experience.  Just this morning, we were given a few minutes to chat to the base during worship and explained that we were about 2 miles from here at a Civil War site about 9 weeks ago.  We were in this area for days and had then put in an application with YWAM as we headed to NW Pennsylvania.  During that time, we received a response and after being accepted here, we came back.  God has done so many wonderful things since we have been here.  We talked as a family last night and decided to give out index cards with a request for information.  The request included 1) a favorite memory with our family and/or 2) a note to our family and/or 3) what they might have learned from our family.  The responses will be read to gain the impact of God using our family in this place.  I want our children to know how absolutely amazing God is and how he allows them to use their gifts to love on others. 

Our morning worship this morning that again, proved to be such a blessing. 

We have had the chance to complete work that had either remained on a list or was otherwise unable to be completed.  We have moved, replanted and are now harvesting a small garden.  We cleared ground, built a fence, and landscaped.  We pulled up, dug, and replanted volleyball poles and a net.  We "held down the fort" for 6 homes and about 6 other buildings during the base's retreat.  We dug a large hole for the beginning of a new walkway.  We trimmed trees, moved mulch, and trimmed bushes.  We helped sand and refinish an old floor.  We cleared an overgrown area to now be a usable space...the list is long, BUT, outside of all of that, we have made some great friends.  We have heard such strong testimonies from people.  What makes this place so amazing is that there are so many young people here that are on fire for the Lord.  They don't have much money or space to themselves but they are mission minded and servant hearted.  It is quite refreshing to see and very encouraging.

The start of a deep hole and allot of work. 

We have identified our enemy...concrete.

My tree trimming crew.

The garden and the cleared area behind it that he worked so hard on. 

Kamryn wanted to sit and be an encourager for a while.  We were told later that she was indeed, very useful.  She yelled uplifting things to the climbers and helped them along. 

Zachary and his "spot" each day as he worked so hard to prepare meals for about 50 people. 

We take away many things from this place.  We are taking away not only lots of smiles but also lessons learned.  We learned so much about each other here.  After 15 years of marriage, Kelly learned things about me that she didn't know (like I could drive/operate a tractor).  I learned so much about her heart and abilities.  She has such a servant's heart and an ability to pray that is amazing.  My children have shown me that they have passions for situations and things that I didn't know they had.  Kamryn is a true leader; she prayed in a group and also led worship one morning and melted the hearts of some adults.  Her worship time was complete with Bible story which include a unicorn, a lion, a boy, girl, a gun, and a piece of fruit.  She told us how the boy and girl made a poor decision and ate the fruit after being told not to.  Then they shot the lion and he died...BUT...he came back to life.  (In my mind the story was of miraculous things, choices, sin, THE Lion, and a resurrection!)  We also sang songs, played a few games and prayed often.  I learned that Caleb has a passion for the earth, creation, and gardening.  I also learned that Zachary had an ability to pray that blows them away.  This season and the work done here has given Zachary and I some good time to "talk".  We have many great chats and the Lord has allowed me many opportunities to share wisdom and Biblical principles.   I am thankful for the time we have had together.



Some of the bounty!

Kamryn gave us our seating assignments and put the boys on instruments. 

Reading the story from "Genesis 7:3-4" as stated by Kamryn. 

The worship songs included Jesus Loves Me and some new, never-before heard music!

We were asked to show our worship through dance. 

Outside of the things of my family, we have learned so much from others here.  I could go on and on but there are about 50 people here from everywhere; all over the US, Canada, South Africa, Brasil, Korea, and Chile!  They are tender hearted, they care, they love, they serve, they persevere, and they blessed us greatly. 



We stopped for a Sunday treat as families after going together to church on Sunday.  We had such a great time with these guys. 

During a Sunday soccer game, someone got hurt.  Kamryn ran out to hug them. 

Kamryn and Kathryn...workout/play buddies for life!

Us with Alex, one of many friends from Brasil.  (He rocks on a guitar!)

One of the dining rooms where we ate lunch and had great fellowship each weekday. 

Some of our friends in another one of the dining rooms.  (Being surprised with a picture!)

Just some really great folks that we loved spending time with!

Zachary and Sam...such an awesome fella'.  We liked him even though he likes the Astros. 

The kitchen team! 

Our newest friend here but the kids (and us) love him!

Some of the running buddies. 

Another one of our beautiful Brasilian families. 

The kids with "Jake 1" on "his" cart. 

Another one of our amazing Brasilian friends, Fernando. 

"Bamboo" invited us for dinner on our last night.  What a great way to end this part of our journey. 

We are taking more pictures tomorrow and we may try to get them all loaded but we don't know when we will have internet access again.  So if you haven't had enough of random pictures of our awesome friends here...just wait!

We have been greatly blessed by being here.  The Lord has shown us many things and is allowing us to take Great things away.  We have met people with wonderful passions and abilities who had great tolerance for our children (at times) and my "yakking" and poor sense of humor.  Even through the hearing of gunshots, dark nights and noises, and breaking down of our "house", we have loved every minute here and will miss this place and it's people. 

We are hugging a bunch of necks tomorrow morning (Tuesday) and will be on our way to spend some time with David Lee at UT and then we have to head home to deal with a few "situations" that have come up and we need to be there for.  During all of this, we are praying about our continued journey.  We are praying about the direction that we should head and what our next YWAM assignment will be. We will wait on the Lord and show us His plans. 

It's hard to believe it's been over 100 days!

It's official, we have been on the road now for over 100 days...104 to be exact.  It doesn't feel like it at all and we are still going strong.  The space (or lack thereof) isn't bothering us at all.  The lack of stuff is sometimes noticed but easily overcome (like a saw or something we only use once in a great while).  If we were able to identify any negatives, they are FAR outweighed by the positives.  God has continued to show us amazing situations, allow us to meet amazing people, and has allowed us to be part of such a wonderful story. 

This is how it all started 104 days ago.  Our home and our family!

 This week we are still at YWAM Virginia.  As a team, we completed our fence to include paint and landscaping.  This was a great accomplishment because the kids were able to see it go from a huge mound of earth with weeds and trees to a beautiful entrance to the YWAM base.  We are very proud of it. 

This is how this part ended...from a weed/tree covered hill to this.  So proud of this family!

We also worked on the volleyball court.  I requested Zachary to take a couple days off from the kitchen as he continues to help cook meals for now more people than before...50 now I think.  This gave Zachary and I a day to work together and talk allot.  We pulled the volleyball net down, pulled the old poles up, dug 6 holes 34 inches deep and set them in concrete.  Then the net went back up and the sand was finished.  We had a great opportunity to talk about a few things and when completed, we felt good. 

We also got to help finish one of the old houses here.  The floors had to be sanded and the 100+ year old floors needed some work.  We started after lunch and Zachary and I had stopped at about 2200 that night.  This was some hard work but we worked together with a couple of friends, had a chance to talk and share a bit, and also made the home a more beautiful/functional place for upcoming students. 

I know he looks like a captured prisoner but he really was happy to be up late and working with the guys.

The garden (a.k.a. Caleb's labor of love) is going strong.  He is waiting on a couple of green peppers to get bigger and he has been sharing his tomatoes with, "...the people that were so encouraging..." (as stated by Caleb) and everyone has loved them.  He does near daily tours and answers questions for all. 

We have had a few issues with "the house" but after getting a prayer team together...those issues were quickly fixed/disappeared.  We are thankful that the Lord hears us for ALL things, even issues with our house.  He continues to keep us safe, even if we get nervous when we hear gunshots, and we have stayed healthy.  He is amazing and continues to remind us that "God's got it"!

Outside of working, we also officially started our school year.  The kids reminded us that to start something we would have had to stop it.  They were obviously reminding us that we never stopped school over the summer.  Nevertheless, we had a celebration meal (that they gladly ate) and took our first day photo. 

First day of school!  Heading up the stairs into their new school building.

Ms. Cindy (our Victoria, BC friend) brought over a card for their first day of school.  (She also brought a bag of rockin' chocolate chip cookies that didn't last long.)

Kamryn learning Spanish.  It's neat when she picks up some of the words in Portuguese that sound like Spanish words.  She does very well...but it's hilarious! 

She was so proud of her letter that she wrote to Kelly and I. 

On a day off, we took a trip to Jamestowne, this place was really neat.  I remember being there with my mom and dad when I was about 7 or 8 and this is the only place that I have ever "revisited" so that was pretty cool.  This is the first permanent English settlement and it shows some great history.  We made it a point to go here because this place and it's history is one of Caleb's subjects for this school year.  We read about in his book and then went there to experience it.  We were also able to join in on an archeology tour and learn so much about how history is studied through archeology there.  Oh...by the way...we earned another Jr Ranger Badge.  This one was really nice!

Studying history and making the teachers proud!

Listening to the archeological tour and learning so much.

Looking for some artifacts that were found in the area. 

This was hilarious!  These are 3D goggles and Kamryn kept them on feeling around with her feet to see if she would step on the ladder or jump into the hole. 

Studying the original settlement of Jamestowne.

Filling in some information for the badges and learning about John Smith. 



Standing with Pocahontas.  This was neat because I did this when I was a kid...except that she was on about 6 feet off the ground on a large stone. 

The site of the first landing...so cool!

Turning in their Jr Ranger books.  They also worked on a different archeology book and turned it in earlier and got those cool orange backpacks.

Another badge earned!

Learning about glassblowing in the early 1600's.

Again, there is so much to tell but I don't want to put anyone to sleep so I won't go into the many people that we are meeting, sharing stories with, and otherwise sharing smiles with.  It is amazing that when doing all things, even buying plants or eating at a local restaurant, we are asked where we are from and/or why we are here.  It never get old sharing how God has worked in our lives and sharing the Love of Christ.   But please believe that we are still about having fun together and living and learning life together...all centered on Christ. 

Although you can't see it, he was very proud of the @4in snake that he caught in the garden...by himself...without us around. 

Kamryn is doing a fashion show. 

Doing a family devotion on the Fruits of the Spirit.  Great lesson. 

Many of the kids on the YWAM base.  They spent the entire day playing together.  So blessed.   

What...I got hot and tired of walking on them!

This was a shirt that all 3 of our kids wore as babies.  We passed it on to our Brasilian friends...and possibly created another St Louis Cardinals fan!

Some of our Brasilian friends that we spent another evening with; such amazing folks!  (The guys were all out playing soccer tonight)

We are praying about where we were heading to next.  Our original plan was to be here for about another week (for a total of about 4 weeks) and then move on.  There has been an opportunity to stay here and help and we are also researching our next YWAM locations and what we could see in between.  We will listen to the Lord and see what He has in store for us.