One Year Ago, Job, Butterfly, Wasp, BCS

Yesterday afternoon Tina started looking back on this blog from one year ago. The first thing that she said to me was to take a look at how much I had focused on God and writing Bible verses compared to now.

This is one example of how getting involved on the mission field where there are many, MANY things to be done (at all hours of the day) can take your focus off of your priorities. It can take away your time. As I reflect on why this change of focus has occurred, I think I know why. One reason is that we are getting up later in the morning than we used to. But, the primary reason is because we are getting more involved here and have less time. The blog became more of a family and milestone update than it stayed a medium of putting my thoughts down on a blog. I don't think that I have lost my focus on God (in fact, my focus is probably more on Him). We have had MANY reasons to trust and rely on him more.

There are others who may be able to accomplish the delicate balance (implying that it needs constant attention and evaluation) of missions and family, but for me family is far too important to try to stay on the mission field and maintain that family - especially when one of those family members has "special needs."

I think that as churches and individuals encourage missionary work as a vocation, the biblical priorities MUST be stressed and the seasons & realities of life on the mission field MUST be stressed as well. In my experience of going through this process, it is not mentioned as much as I think it should be (if it was at all).

My experience has shown me that mission work is BEST aligned with singles and empty-nesters - this allows for missions to have a higher prioritized effort. We all have seasons in our lives and we need to recognize that and prioritize our efforts given the season we are in. Intentional (not happenstance) quality time with family needs to be done "in season." This is a large topic and there are things that I may not be clear on here, but I am trying to communicate my thoughts and intentions to you.

Job

Today, I have a second phone interview for a job back in Minnesota at a broker/dealer. I had my first interview a week ago and it went well. If all continues to go well and it seems like a good fit, I'll be working with someone that I have worked with in the past. I am excited about this opportunity! If a job offer is made and I accept it, I'll be starting as late as they would allow and will travel back to the States alone if necessary. Tina & the kids will stay back until the adoption is complete. That is the current thinking I have. God knows what will happen and we'll stay connected to Him to know what direction we'll head.

Butterfly

Once again, Kayla and Carter have raised a butterfly from a caterpillar and once again it was a monarch. We watched this one come out and dry it's wings off for a while. It eventually flew away. It seemed to enjoy walking around on us between drying it's wings off and flying away.




Wasp

The swelling in my arm is just now finally starting to subside from the sting on Thursday. It was hot and the skin was itchy and tight. It's nice to have relief and that it didn't sting me in the face or anywhere else more painful - it stung me in a pretty safe spot (all things considering).

Boring Car Stuff...

Mitsubishi Montero IO

This car doesn't get used much. It has a few issues that I am in the middle of fixing. I believe all dampeners are bad (shocks/struts). The swaybar end-links are bad and the swaybar bushing is bad. There is a little free play in the steering too. I had tried to tighten the mounts of the power steering rack once before, but that didn't seem to last long enough - we'll have to look to buy the factory original parts.

Its tire is bad, too - as you can see...