with friends.

at the beach.

we wrote our names on rubber duckies, and watched as a surfer carried them out.

then we watched them come right back.

there’s a metaphor in there somewhere, you know.

Those of you who get our monthly newsletters know what a huge answer to prayer this is, and how much preparation went in to it! We’re thankful for all of you who have prayed for us, and shared in our excitement.

What this means now is that we’re jumping in to the next phase: ministry partnership development. Equal parts awesome and scary, I think.

Lots more to write about that, but for now I wanted to point your attention to a few things:

• There’s a new tab at the top of this page: Support Team. There you’ll find links to our sending church and missions agency, if you’d like more information. You can also fill out a form to let us know you’re praying for us, or to express interest in teaming with us financially.
• To your right I’ve added a button. It links directly to reachglobal’s online giving page. If I did it correctly, our name and donor number should already be entered on the form. Donations are tax-deductible.
• We started a facebook page. You can follow us by clicking “like” here: http://www.facebook.com/caseyandaliciainmexicocity

9 months

10 months {cringe}

…and his 11-month shoot publishes tomorrow!

This is an announcement of another sort.

We’re moving back to California. And soon.

I’ve held off on this post for as long as possible– we wanted to tell as many people in person as we could. But the move is coming up soon: November 30th, three weeks from today {gulp}.

This isn’t the happy westward trek that I had imagined {especially those first few months here in Louisville}. We’ve grown quite fond of life here and feel really sad about leaving– especially this abruptly– without any sense of closure to our time here. These have been incredibly formative years for our family; we’ve endured seasons of great joy and also great challenge.

A man’s heart plans his way,
But the LORD directs his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

Our new family theme verse.

We had a really hard time making this decision, and tried to work out any other possible scenario. In the process it became increasingly clear that this was what we needed to do. As we’ve talked with friends and family about it, there is a general consensus that the move makes sense. I’ll spare you the lengthy details of our reasoning {finances, continued physical limitations, etc} as they’re pretty straightforward. I can assure you that this wasn’t a quick or easy choice for us.

After we made it, however, we both felt hugely relieved.

The sadness we feel is an acute and sweet reminder of God’s faithfulness to us. When we got here I was lonely. I prayed that God would provide a warm church family and good friends. He provided more abundantly than I could’ve hoped for! So though I am sad now I know that he will be faithful again.

Of course we’re thrilled to be returning to our sweet families, the beach, good produce.. but the move is bittersweet. Lord-willing, Casey will finish his degree online. He has six classes left. We’ll live with Casey’s parents {can you imagine the generosity of taking in a family of four, especially with two very young children?!}. We’ll live just across the driveway from my almost-here niece! Oh, and Ryan and Beth, too. My parents and brothers are about 15 minutes away. In short, we have lots to be thankful for and excited about.

Would you pray for us? We still face quite a few unknowns {employment, a good doctor, etc} and aren’t sure what this next season will look like. We’re packing and trying to finish the semester well.. but also looking ahead to what God will do next. We know that even amidst great change, he is unchanging.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? …Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? …For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angesls nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:31-32, 35, 38-39

(via beth’s iphone)

They were happy to do it.

He wouldn’t listen.

He can cover his own expenses, thankyouverymuch.

She won.

Every day, I get up an hour before my kids to read the bible and exercise. My house is always clean, and always smells of freshly-baked bread. That’s because I make all of our meals from scratch, using fresh and organic ingredients. Penelope never disobeys. And my baby? He never cries. Casey and I always get along. I have never, ever yelled at him. Or my babies, for that matter. I am never behind on laundry. Each night I read or craft instead of watching television. I look amazing when Casey gets home from work, and dinner is always ready on time.

I am never overwhelmed.

But you see, I have this friend. She tells me the craziest stories. I can hardly believe them, being that I’m so put together and all.

Here’s one of her favorites:

She hears her fusspot of a little boy crying in his bed. Well, in her bed actually, since he doesn’t  have a bed yet. But that’s neither here nor there.

So she hears him crying, and sees that her little girl is happy and occupied with a few books.

My friend sneaks into the next room to comfort her crying baby. He’s been crying a lot lately, so this is hardly unusual. After not more than a couple of minutes, she emerges from the room. She doesn’t remember what she noticed first– her daughter no longer sitting on the couch, or the distinctive snap-crackle-pop of a crunch coming from underfoot.

She looks down to notice a small sprinkling of Rice Krispies.

“Hmm. That’s strange. Nobody ate cereal today.”

Around the corner she discovered her mischevious toddler sitting on the ground, mashing handfulls of cereal into her mouth, straight from the bag.

“Hi Mama! Mmmmmm, cereal!”

Then she explored further, and found that  e v e r y   s q u a r e   i n c h of her apartment was covered with a fine layer of cereal. More cereal than she’d imagine could fit in just one box.

Can you believe my friend?!

When I’m not walking around in a sleepless stupor, I love to read.. a few books at once. Probably evidence of my own tendency toward discontentment, but that’s a whole different post. At least I finish them, right?

So here’s my fun summer reading list (which will surely spill over into the fall, and probably even the winter, if my kids/family/general responsibilities have anything to do with it). Reviews to follow:

Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne (because I’m always plagued with a bit of wanderlust)

Life of Pi by Yann Mertel (because if you read the description, you’ll reserve it at your library, too)

Three short novels: Nathan Coulter, Remembering, A World Lost by Wendell Berry (because it wouldn’t be summer without a Berry re-read)

The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon (because I love a good historical what-if.. and enjoy this author)

The Prince of the Marshes by Rory Stewart (because I loved his first book)

The Omnivore’s dilemma: A natural history of four meals (because it sort of goes along with my homesteading kick)

So that’s it. What’s on your list?

No kidding.

We got a call today that our car was at a city impound lot, and that we could meet an officer there in an hour. That’s all. Imagine our suspense for that hour– was GramCam a pile of charred rubber and steel? Mangled fenders? Narcotics in the trunk?

The first time we called the impound lot they asked “Oh yeah, the Camry with the missing door? We’ve got that one.” Hmph.

On our way to see Ole Reliable, we got a call from the detective in charge of our case. He wanted to finish up details of our report, and asked questions that clearly revealed he had no idea our car had been recovered.

Casey: “Excuse me, detective.. we’re on our way to pick up the car now, we got a call that it had been found.”

Detective: “Oh yeah? Where’d they pick it up?”

Casey: “Um. We don’t know”

((what you can think, but cannot say: “YOU’RE the detective, no?!“))

Detective: “Great, well, give me a call back and let me know what they say.”

…Case closed?

Anyhow.

We arrived to find GramCam completely intact. Not a (new) scratch to be found. They found it parked illegally at Churchill Downs this morning, and so it was towed. Home of the Derby. And our abandoned stolen vehicle.

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better? Casey’s ipod was still inside! What a lousy criminal, indeed.

So, our car was stolen for three days–we got a crash course in thankfulness and a very tangible reminder of how blessed we are.

The End.