rhythms of grace

LakeHouse visit

We just returned from my parents lakehouse at Lake Hartwell. Lincoln calls it Mimi's Legohouse....not sure why, it is not even a log cabin? Regardless, they love it there. It has a wraparound porch big enough for them to ride their scooters and plastic cars. The highlight though is the bonfire each night. Marshmellows must be cooked, or flamed, or scorched, or not cooked at all just jammed into your mouth. Elizabeth's mom joined us so the kids had fun with her. Also, my uncle took us all on a hayride through the neighborhood. It great to get the kids out into nature. They have great fun exploring. Yesterday Lydia and I were sitting by the fire just before sunset and 3 deer appeared about 75 yards away in front of us. It was so exciting for her. She loves animals.

School Break

Life is moving so quickly. Elgin is talking more each day. He calls Lydia, "Lilililia" and Lincoln, "Gingkon". He is putting short sentences together. He is also making messes at a much quicker pace. They will all be going to the same school starting Monday, ABC Montessori school. Elgin and Lincoln go to preschool 3 days a week and Lydia goes to 1st grade. This week they are all off from school. So, I am here today with our 3 plus my niece and nephew as Elizabeth works at the clinic today.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

I was so proud of Lydia at dinner a few nights ago. We were all having dinner and Lydia was talking about a documentary she saw at school on MLK.....in the first grade...impressive. So my mom asked her why MLK was so special? Lydia (hand motions included) said it used to be that the white kids were in school over here...and the black kids had to go to school over here....and Martin Luther King was trying to make it so the white kids and the black kids could all play together.

Here we go 2007

We are thrust into 2007. My resolution and I am not a resolution person...is to be a better blogger. I really like doing it I just somehow lose my days and never get around to it. I am too busy living...I know you can relate. The kids loved Christmas at Mimi and Pappap's house. The holidays were mostly uneventful. Elizabeth and I went on a cruise for our 10th anniversary (Dec. 29). The cruise experience was brutal. We enjoyed time away alone together but it rained the whole trip, the boat rocked incessantly, the boat itself was small and stinky, and the service was bad. A nightmare.

Elizabeth continues to work for recertification. She has received her nursing license and is now waiting to receive her temp Nurse Practitioner so that she can finish her recertification. Artie has been working on his doctorate program and chasing kids.   

Houston

This past weekend we took off to Houston to visit Elizabeth's brother and family. I-10 from Pensacola to Houston is a long boring drive but it was worth it in the end. We all had a good time. The kids loved being with their cousins Jonathan and Madison for the weekend.

Lincoln turns 3!

Well Lincoln had his 3rd birthday today dispite the fact that he has been running fevers and on antibiotics for strep throat.  He slept most of the day, then spent the evening much happier at Papa and Nana's house.  They had a party for him and surprised him with a cake and some new toys.  My (Elizabeth's) parents are hosting 5 of their Taiwanese exchange students over the weekend, to give them a break from dorm life.  These are some of the same students they taught when they were living on Kinmen island, and they have become more like additions to their family.  So we enjoyed celebrating Lincolns birthday with them and some prospective American exchange students looking to go to Kinmen and eating a huge authentic chinese feast they cooked up. 

Nursing Obstacles

As many of you who follow us know Elizabeth has been dealing with all the bureaucracy to get reinstated to practice as a nurse and a nurse practitioner. For five years she kept up her licenses while we were in Prague. She took tests and we paid a lot of fees to maintain the certifications. The final year one paper slipped through....we did not pay our $$$ and send in a form so she lost her active nursing status. To get a Florida license she must first be recertified in Georgia. So she filled out all the paper work, they assessed her situation...and instead of the old fee and a fine, she now has to do 160 hours of nursing under a supervisor - another nurse. This likely means volunteering somewhere, which she already set up with some great people here who run a free clinic. She was excited about starting with them next week even. Unfortunately, Georgia's nursing board said they will issue her a temporary license but Florida will not accept it. So, all that is for naught. They also told her she will have to do some additional clinical hours to reinstate her Nurse Practitioner license as well. She now has to find somewhere in Georgia to do all the hours. She has begun contacting friends there. This creates an extremely difficult dynamic for our family. We have some difficult decisions ahead.

All of this has us thinking and praying intensely about what to do next...move house, send Elizabeth traveling, let nursing go altogether for now, etc. Nontheless, we trust God is in the middle of this situation and will lead us through it. Please pray with us.

Atlanta in a flash

We popped up to Atlanta this past weekend. We drove up Saturday and returned Sunday. We did it this way so as not to miss the kids' soccer games. I took Lincoln to his game with Elgin in tow while Elizabeth took Lydia. It was picture day for Lincoln...need I say more. One hundred 3-4 yr olds attempting to take single and group photos. uggggh! Lincoln had to be coaxed for what seemed like 20 minutes to join the team photo. After that experience came the game. He did not want to play or even stand over by the team. I told him he needs to make a simple choice, play or we will go home and play. He repeatedly said, "I dont want to play and I dont want to go home" About 15 minutes into the game he stood on the field for 2 minutes while the other kids chased the ball. He walked over to me and we left. We have concluded Lincoln is just too young for this. We thought it would be cute and he would make some friends, get some exercise, etc. It has been tougher on mom and dad than anything else. Lydia, on the other hand has fun with it. So that was Saturday morning. After soccer we headed out for Atlanta.

We had a great time with friends at Midtown Church on Sunday morning. I shared some words and after the meeting we had lunch and talked with as many people as possible. It is always fun but is hard because we really want to have meaningful conversations with so many people. After a long lunch and chats we got back in the car and returned to Pensacola.

Later that same night a friend, Rob, arrived from Sarasota, FL. He just moved there with his new bride. We know Rob from Prague where he spent two years. For the past couple days Rob and I have been doing a lot of talking about life, God, films, music, Krispy Kreme, software, etc. He also got baptized into family life with three kids.

Back at Home

I have returned from the great northwest....and it is great. I love the weather and all of the green. They actually have seasons there, which is nice especially with fall starting there. Also, our green here seems faded to their brilliant green.

Anyway, the orientation ended well. I had a lot of fun meeting everyone and being challenged by looking ahead at all of the work. At the end of my time I spent some time with friends David and Linda Snell. We know them from Prague. They live in Oregon and Prague. I envy that....maybe someday.

Portland

Im in Portland now in class starting the Dmin. So far all is well. It is the second day in a room full of 25 or so people all with laptop computers. Hard to tell who is engaged in class and who is reading the news online or gaming. It must be wild to teach a group like this.

I have had a great time staying with friends Joe and Lisa outside of my class time. We did a very short hike, did some time at an Irish pub, and went to the Portand Grill atop the big pink building in the center of Portland. Mostly we have hung around at their apartment  catching up. Today after my class we will meet up with a friend down in Salem.

Elizabeth is holding down the fort at home with three young ones. Also, she is making connections to get her nurse practitioning life back up and running.

Let the Transition Begin

I finished up at the coffee shop officially yesterday. Me moving along from the coffee shop was the plan from the beginning so that time has arrived. Actually I plan to be back there to volunteer on Sunday Sept. 3 and I will fill in from time to time and offer any counsel that will be helpful along the way. It is a little strange because I dont really feel that I am leaving. It is nothing like transitioning out of Prague when we moved out of the country. We are not moving at all. I am really glad God gave me the opportunity to meet the folks at the Community Life Center and I look forward to the future of my relationships with many people there.

We are taking the plunge back into ministry with Grace Connections as you probably already know if you got our letter. We have a great peace about the people and the goals of Grace Connections. It is good fit for us. Many of you might wonder why we did not return to Grace Ministries International. Let me say that we love the people at GMI and we had a great experience there. GMI has been refocusing its ministry to discipleship counseling and training others to carry out discipleship counseling. That refocusing is great, however, I dont sense God is leading me to focus on counseling. It is not my heart's desire to spend most of my time counseling and teaching others to do so. I respect it completely and have done my fair share of it. Grace Connections will allow me to spend time on school work, join in with their programs, respond to teaching invitations, and work as a sourcing agent for missionaries. So, our decision was more about what fits with the movement God is doing within us. I am actually working on international projects with GMI right now. So, we will continue to work alongside GMI.

I fly out for a 15 year class renunion in Atlanta tomorrow then on to Portland on Sunday morning to begin the Doctor of Ministry program. I am excited but even as I write now, I have a long list of things that need to be done by morning. I will have the opportunity to meet up with good friends I met in Prague. I will post some lines about my time in Portland when I return. Unfortunately my trip is causing me to miss Lincoln's first soccer game ever with his Big Ducks squad

Transition...again

We have another transition coming at the end of August. Artie's time at the coffee shop will come to an end. The coffee shop is up and running. What's next? This is what we are intensely praying about now. Please pray along with us. We are strongly considering a move back into full-time ministry.

In other transitory news, yesterday Lydia started first grade and Lincoln preschool. They absolutely loved it. Elgin is also transitioning now, from a crawler to a walker.

Summer Ending

We landed from Prague and spent about a week adjusting. The kids were up all hours of the night....and day. It was tough there for a while for Elizabeth and I. Our trip was great though. It was amazing to see everyone and spend some quality time with them. We wish it could have been longer.

Summer has flown by. Lincoln is just about potty trained and Elgin is just about walking. Also Elgin just had a birthday. He turned big number 1 on August 3. Lydia will start first grade this week and Lincoln will attend a preschool 3 days a week.

Check out the new photo album, Prague 06. We just posted 20 new photos.

Prague this week

We have been going nonstop meeting people here in Prague. It has been a great time of reconnecting. Artie had the opportunity to share at a Czech church this past Sunday morning and we spent much of the afternoon afterward having lunch and talking with many of those who attended. Later that evening we met other friends, talked for hours and returned home late. This has been our typical day here. Start early, return late. The kids are having fun and doing well considering the lack of anything familiar. Grandmas help has been invaluable.

Prague Arrival

We made it to Prague late on Tuesday evening. In total our trip was 30 hours. It started with a little jet fuel leakage delay in Pensacola. We flew on to Atlanta...and on to Dusseldorf. Then shuttled to a not so close rental car company and picked up our rental car and proceeded 10.5 hours to Prague. Artie consumed a most certainly unhealthy amount of caffiene to keep us on the road but we made it safe and sound only jetlagging.

We got up on Wednesday and began meeting with people. We have really enjoyed our time thus far. Everyone is amazed at how much Lydia and Linc have grown and of course they love meeting Elgin. It feels very natural to be here. Lydia got to see her two best friends today, Matthew and Mitchell.