Life!

Skype

Skype is a pretty fascinating tool! I got to spend a couple hours this morning hearing and seeing J on the webcam. Good to know he has not changed much as you can see by the pictures below. He also was kind enough to bring his new motorbike into his bedroom and start it up to show me. He almost got gassed out but I got the affect. It was so nice to see him and talk to him, it has been since April.

He was getting tired...he is 11 hours ahead of us.

Ahhhh life.......

The next 2 months are going to be a nightmare if I don't get busy. We must be moved by June 6, the girls have a trip to take after that and then we are camping the last week or so of June. So...what do I do? I sit down and play with Google Earth. It's pretty cool, I located where Jeremy will be living for the next year or so then I zoomed in on it again and again and thought I would share it. (As if anyone reads this....haha) So anyway he is living in Salatiga on the Island of Java (They might spell it Jawa...who knows?) in Indonesia. :

Saying goodbye to Jeremy

Out doing last minute errands and getting a last ride on the Black Pearl!

Here we are all at the airport on April 12, 2008.

Lots of baggage!

Last time we see J, going through security

J's last Sunday in the US

Today after morning service our church had a send off party for Jeremy. They gave him a money tree and there was a potluck dinner and much of our family was there. He is leaving this Saturday and will arrive in Indonesia later the following week. We are sorely going to miss him but he is so excited to get going and we are happy for him and proud of him. Here are some pictures:

Jeremy, Pastor Harris and some deacons

Peg, Mom, Christy, Ruth, Drew, Jan, Eric, Lisa, Phil, Dusty, Gordy and Mandy

So it seems that we are moving

Wow things happened really fast, I still am a little numb! Just a few weeks ago we felt hopelessly stuck in a house that was falling apart around us and a neighborhood that was getting more ghetto-like every day. We have wanted to move toward Lansing for a long time now anyway because of church and mostly for the sake of the girls' involvement and friendships there. We also wanted to be more involved with all the people we know there who home school. And we also prayed about the fact that Jeremy is moving to Indonesia next month and mom will be alone. It has been a comfort to us that he has been there off and on over the past several years to help take care of things around there and keep her company. Phil and I have also been hesitant to get involved in church because of the distance and it has been hard to cultivate friendships there for the same reason. So we prayed about all this for a long time and BAM! the Lord answered it all at once. It just so happens that an acquaintance of ours has been trying to sell his house for 3 years and it has just been sitting there empty. He is selling it to us on his own and is working with us even under the worst of financial circumstances. God is so good! He totally did this! We are still looking at our options as far as our house here and will probably have to sell our camper and truck but trust that will all work out too.

The girls will still be able to see their family here as much if not more than they do now as Phil will still be working in Grand Rapids and can bring them in. They will also keep in contact with their close friends here but most of their friends are in Lansing anyway.