5 - Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!  We have been trying extra-hard this year to have a traditional Christmas.  Well, until this afternoon, when we headed to the beach.  I spent the last three days in the kitchen, which is very normal for me.  I’ve made lasagna, 6 kinds of cookies, homemade rolls, pies, ham, homemade baked beans, casseroles, salad, caramel popcorn, and baked and assembled 2 gingerbread houses.  

We’ve had hot chocolate, watched the Polar Express, looked at Christmas lights and opened presents.  And it has been wonderful.  But not the same.  We don’t have our ornaments or decorations, definitely don’t need a fire in the fireplace, but most importantly, we don’t have our family here.  And “things” just don’t seem so important this year.  That’s probably a sign that our family is moving in the right direction.  And I’m going to expand on that thought for this blog. 

You see, we are still adjusting to being a missionary family.   Before leaving the U.S., my husband had a great job and we were living a spoiled life.  I had access to almost anything I could want.  Furniture, clothing, restaurants, jewelry, activities, entertainment, education, electronics, blah blah blah.  And my kids were getting spoiled, too.  So it is going to be a challenge to undo that spoiling – for myself and for them.

I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have nice things.  In the Old Testament, Job was blessed with riches when he refused to turn his back on God and I believe that God continues to bless us with earthly possessions.  But having those things makes it hard to remember that you don’t need them.  I don’t need to go to Sonic and have a Dr. Pepper; as much as I would really truly like to do that, I don’t NEED to. Every single day I see, with my own eyes, people that do without things that I consider needs.  Like an oven. Or a car.  Or a toothbrush.  We can live without those things. But we can’t live without God.  And I know that in my brain.  But getting it through to my flesh is a whole other struggle.  Because my flesh likes stuff.  Like spring-form pans, 800 thread count sheets, and Blue Bell Homemade Ice Cream. 

Living here means we don’t have easy access to most luxury items.  I can get them if I am willing to pay an arm and a leg or bring them here in a suitcase from the U.S., but that little bit of distance gives me a chance to stop and think: “is it worth it? do I really need it? can I have/do something else instead?” and that forces me to appreciate those things more.  Like the rolling pin and pie plate that my mom-in-law sent me. I am appreciating that pumpkin pie today.

Scottie and I prayed last week that God would give us a Christmas joy for this season.  That we would remember that the reason we celebrate is Christ’s birth but that our kids would also feel the magic of the Christmas season, too.  Because sometimes the emotions I want to feel aren’t always the ones that I’m feeling.  You ever felt that way? Or rather, didn’t feel the way you wanted to feel? If you’ve ever dealt with depression, I think you can relate. Emotions aren’t an easily managed part of life. 

Sometimes my walk with Christ is like that.  Following the path that God has for me isn’t always rainbows and Happy Meals.  Sometimes God asks me to do something that I don’t want to do.  And my silly human brain (or someone more sinister) says, “Carli, if God wanted you to do that, he would make you want to do it. He would give you a deep desire and happiness about doing it. He would make it easy and you would be happy doing it.”  Well, folks, that ain’t how it works.  Not all the time.  Peace and happiness are two very different things.  I feel peace when I do what God asks me to do.  But I’m not always happy about it. 

There have been many days in the past 4 months that I have not felt happy.  And I am a happy person.  Seriously.  I’m almost always happy.  But there have only been a few moments when I haven’t felt peace about being here.  And when I don’t feel God’s peace, I stop and pray for it.  I beg for it. And I recently started praying for the happiness, too.  And I have an inkling that God has created us that way on purpose.

 

My flesh wants the steps to go like this:   

1)  I pray and God asks me to do something

2)  I feel happy about doing it and want to do it  

3)  I do it

4)  God is happy with me for doing it

But I’m starting to realize that the steps usually go like this instead:

1)  I pray and God asks me to do something

2)  I think about if I want to do it or not

3)  I ask God if he really wants me to do that because I don’t really want to

4)  Sometimes God says, “yes, I really want you to do that”

5)  I try to think of a way to do it without really doing it

6)  I finally do it

7)  I feel happy….that God helped me to be obedient to Him…but not necessarily about what I did

So the moral of my story is.  Stop waiting to want to do something.  Obedience doesn’t require happiness. I enjoy teaching here.  The students in my classes are a joy and blessing to me.  And I feel such privilege to be able to teach them, to pray with them, and to be a godly example for them.  That’s a big deal. 

Last week we had our Christmas parties at school.  These are 3-hour parties.  And there aren’t really any restrictions here.  Food allergies aren’t a concern here (mostly because few people have food allergies here).  So I planned a fun party and we had a great time.  Scottie helped me make snowballs with white pantyhose and flour.  They loved their snowball fight.  We had a ton of food and Shirley temples (which they call Mickey Mouses).  And we played kickball.  Of course I played.  Not that I’m any good.  “Run faster, Ms. Carli!!”  It was great to spend some time with them, just hanging out and having fun.  I’m looking forward to going back in a couple of weeks.  Christmas break has been a wonderful time to spend with my family and rejuvenate.  And I’m feeling the happiness.  God is filling me up every day.  

May your life be filled with blessings,
Carli

If you would like to support our ministry, you can do so with the link below.  Select our names from the staff list (near the bottom). Click here to donate.

4 - Two Months In

Although we have only been in the Dominican Republic for 2 months it seems like so much longer.  We got here and tried to hit the ground running. I told my pastor in PA that we wanted to rent a house, get our cell phones turned on and buy a car in the first three days. Well, I think by most people's reaction we did it pretty fast but we didn't quite reach that goal of three days. We did find a house and get our cell phones turned on in 3 days, go God! On day two Carli started teaching 6th grade in a Christian school with a 98% Dominican student enrollment.  On day 4, as many of you know, I had to return to Pittsburgh to host an FMSC MobilePack that many of you were a part of. Wow, did God show up there or what! After that I went on to MN for some training with Praying Pelican Missions. Meanwhile, Carli was "holding down the fort" in the DR. Not that anyone would expect anything less but in the middle of being a first week teacher, dodging a tropical storm and figuring out how to navigate a new culture she managed to sign up for electricity and buy all the furniture and household items we needed. Much of this would not have been possible without all the awesome people that God has put in our path. People have been so willing to help us by translating or navigating the massive amount of bureaucracy that exist in this country. It did take two weeks, several visits and a few phone calls to finally get the electricity on. Kudos to Carli and the girls for not killing each other in a 100 sq ft hotel room for 2 weeks.

   Shortly after I got back we moved into the house. We were without electricity for a couple days but God was very gracious and sent us some cloud cover both nights so it wasn't too hot. After a couple days we were able to get electricity and plug in our fans. Then it was on to the task of buying a vehicle. Our friend Liony was awesome in helping us navigate the process of buying a vehicle in a foreign country. Thanks to his help we now own a vehicle in the DR. The next challenge was "the attack of the killer mosquitos". After a few nights with the windows open without any screens we realized this was not going to work. So after a few trips to the hardware store (Yes I miss Lowe's and Home Depot) and a few days we figured out how to install some homemade screens. This task like all the others we have learned just takes so much longer here than back in the US. If you want to do anything here take the time it would take in the US and double it. Why you might ask, well it could be the lack of our language skills, the "we don't get in a hurry for anybody" attitude, the heat, the crazy way people drive or the fact that nothing is where you would think it would be in a store.

    Carli has started to get in the swing of things as a teacher and is really blessed by the love her students show her everyday. She comes home many days with a smile on her face telling me about all the hugs she got from her students that day. She sends many nights writing lesson plans, test and curriculum from scratch because she wants the best for her students. She gives her students 100% every day and doesn't settle for being good enough. These kids will all have a greater chance of success down the road because of the English, Math and Science she is teaching them daily.

 The girls are starting to adjust more and more every day. I won't lie and say that everything has gone perfect and they no longer wish they were growing up in Pittsburgh with their friends and living the life they had grown accustomed to but it gets better for them everyday. They have Bible, Spanish and Social Studies every day in Spanish. Being that they don't speak very much Spanish all that work comes home as homework. They are all studying hard, going to tutoring twice a week and wearing Google Translate out. It seems everywhere we have lived our house is the epicenter of adolescent activity. After only 2 months in our house that is true here as well. There was a game of hide and go seek happening before dinner this evening. We had a sleep over the first weekend we were in the house and we all caught a movie with some friends last Friday. There are good days and there are still some bad days where they long for some of the comforts of our previous home but they get fewer and farther between the longer we are here. One awesome thing about the move is that they are reading their Bible more, asking what certain verses mean and singing God's praises daily. Its awesome to see them grow in their relationship with God.

  As for me well I have been busy as well. The first couple weeks back I spent my days trying to take care of as many of the mundane things as possible so Carli and the girls could focus more on school. Meanwhile, I was really wanting to dive head first into ministry back in the bateys. I have been able to get out to the bateys a couple days with Pastor Mede, a local pastor in La Romana. We were able to distribute some FMSC MannaPacks, share the good news of Christ and encourage the people there a little bit. Pastor Mede was giving a word on the first day we were in the bateys from Galatians and he just pitched it over to me. So here I was in front of about 100 people and didn't know the language. Well God was able to summon the words I did know and I was able to share with them that my family loved them, that we were here to help them in any way we can and that they are not alone. I told them that I knew the world was not ok. That they needed more food, work and to hear more about God's word. They were very gracious and welcoming. They said Amen so they either understood some of what I said and liked it or were happy that I was about to shutup and sit down. Either way it seemed to encourage Pastor Mede so much that I got to read Galatians 4 out loud in Spanish at the next batey. After talking with Pastor Mede about how to make a sustainable difference in the bateys he said clearly that we needed to bring some English classes to the bateys so the people there can get jobs in the tourism industry. Well I'm really bad at Spanish and I speak Texan not proper English but we are working on plans to make it happen. For the past few weeks I have been helping  another missionary with an English class in the community that he works in and Lord willing start classes in the bateys in the future. I took part in my helping host my first mission team last week as an official PPM staff member. That was awesome. More on that in another post soon.

   There are a lot of challenges and sometimes they seem insurmountable but we stand firm in our calling to help the people here and are excited that the getting settled period is coming to an end and the ministry chapter is beginning. Please keep us in your prayers.

Scott

If you would like to support our ministry, you can do so at the link below.  Just select our names from the staff list (near the bottom).      Click to Donate

3 - Intricate Provision

Well, a lot has happened in the last week.  So much has happened that I've been too busy to do much blogging.  But I know you're all curious about how things are going so I am sitting in the hotel hallway (above the office where there is sometimes Wi-Fi) and giving you a much-deserved update.

Last Friday we received our passports back with another denial letter for our Visas.  So we decided to get on a plane anyway and figure it out once we got there.  We left EARLY Saturday morning.  The flights were great and we arrived at the Punta Cana airport just after lunchtime.  Unfortunately, the van we had reserved wasn't available and we had to squeeze into a Ford Explorer.  11 gigantic suitcases, 5 roller carry-on suitcases, 5 backpacks, 1 guitar, 1 car seat and 5 Ethridges squeezed in - like we've lived here forever. (Bella said today, "In the US if you have 2 people on a motorcycle it is dangerous.  But here, if you have 3 people on a motorcycle there is still room for a couple more.")

The drive to San Pedro was an eye-opener for the girls.  They had a million questions and they didn't wait for answers before peppering us with more.   We had rented a GPS but she really knows nothing about San Pedro.  One of the main one-way streets in San Pedro is where our hotel was and she thought it ran one-way the other way.  Which, by the way, is okay to do if you're a motorcycle.  But not a car.  The people on the street kindly waved their fingers at us and told us where to turn.  We eventually found the hotel and the owner just happened to be there that day.  He lived in New Jersey for a few years and spoke English - extremely hospitable, even told us a few places where we could eat in the city. After unloading all of our luggage, we found our way over to the big store in town (similar to super Wal-Mart but with less selection and higher prices) and explored. We somehow found our way over to our new friends' house and they fed us.  They had also lined up a few houses for us to look at the next day!

Sunday morning, we got up and found our way to church.  Worship in Spanish, sermon in Spanish (though they provided us each a headset with a translator!), and some much-needed rain.  Then we had a delicious meal of fried chicken with another missionary family.  That afternoon, we looked at a few houses and contacted Liony (our bestest Santo Domingo friend!).  He had arranged for us to have a much cheaper rental car for the first two weeks. And he even delivered it to us!

Monday, I went to my first day of school.  And boy did I feel unprepared!  I had to register my 3 girls, too, which actually took a few hours.  And get all the school info.  There's a lot!  And look at the curriculum for the 3 classes I'll be teaching.  And I had no clue what my students' English skills and capabilities will be.  So writing my very first lesson plan feels a lot like jumping blind into a swimming pool and not knowing if it is full of water, jello, mud, lava, rocks, or scorpions. That might be an exaggeration.  But I'm usually a decently prepared person.  Not that I don't fly by the seat of my pants fairly often.  Any procrastinator will tell you that their best work comes at the last minute.  I also got to see my classroom and meet a few of the teachers. Oh, and Open House would be at 4:30 the next day.  While I was at school, Scottie had the girls and looked at another house - which he tells me is awesome and I'm going to love.  He also went with another friend and got our cell phones hooked up.  Big bonus!  That night, we drove to La Romana to see another friend and eat dinner at La Crema.  They had some muy delicioso desserts! 

So Tuesday had arrived and we were making great progress toward settling in. We had signed a lease and put a deposit down on a house! I went into school again while Scottie took the girls shopping for uniforms (2 kinds of pants, socks, black shoes, belts). There's another new teacher there and she happened to mention that she was excited for the first day of school tomorrow. WHAT?! I thought school didn't start until the 24th!  Nope.  They'll be in your classroom tomorrow at 7:45am. 

At this point, I started to feel fear.  Real fear.  There was no way I'd be ready in time!  So I did what I do when I'm afraid and I prayed.  I sat in that empty classroom and prayed for peace and provision.  And that's when God said, "I have been providing for you, Carli. Look back at the last few days.  The flights were good, no problems with the luggage or customs. The car was cheaper and easier than you expected.  The hotel owner spoke English.  You haven't gotten lost a single time in San Pedro.  I've directed your steps and surrounded you with people that are willing and able to help. I've been with you every step of the way. So calm down. You have what you need and you'll be fine."

Now I'm not gonna lie and say that the next 3 days were easy.  But I really am fine.  I've had the privilege of getting to know the 35 6th graders that I'll teach this year.  And I've had time to eat dinner with my family and braid my daughter's hair.  Lexie will tell you that we've been too busy.  On Friday, I finally had enough energy to fight her into the shower and afterward, she proudly exclaimed, "that's my first shower in the Dominican Republic!"  7 days.  It had been 7 days since she had showered.  And we all survived.  I even have my lesson plans written for next week and some copies ready to hand out. 

And I am starting to see how God has provided for us in such intricate ways.  So many little things and in so many little ways.  Things have just worked out.  And there are so many people that are generous with their time, information, translation skills, you name it.  So I'm confident that as we continue on this journey, God will lead us the way that we should go. 

So here are a few things that I have noticed. 
1) When all the TV stations are in Spanish and your kids have nothing to do, you can put Tom and Jerry on.
2) I don't think Dominicans like personal space.  They need to be close to each other and you.  Even if there is a whole ocean to swim in, that 12 year old will splash and kick right next to you, no matter how many times you move. 
3) Staring is socially acceptable, no matter how uncomfortable you might appear. 
4) Americans do not know how to wait patiently.  Dominicans are expert waiters.
5) The electric company here is just like the DMV, only less friendly.
6) If your car (or motorcycle) fits you can go there. Or park there.
7) Traffic laws seem to be nonexistent but there are plenty of law enforcement officers all over. I'm hopeful that they're there to enforce the really important laws.
8) There is no DP in the DR. <sad face>

2 - Now to Get Going

We returned from our trip in June and hit the ground running.  We prayed that if God wanted us to be there by August 10th, he would knock down the obstacles that were in our way.  First and foremost, the house (and attached mortgage!).  Our plan landed in Pittsburgh on a Tuesday.  We spent all day Wednesday and Thursday preparing the house - painting rooms, mulching gardens, de-cluttering closets - got photographs taken of the house on Friday and listed it on Saturday.  Our totally awesome realtor (call me if you need to buy or sell a house in that area, because she is the best!!) had an open house on Sunday.  And we accepted an offer on Tuesday.  A good offer.  

Now what to do with all of our stuff? You know the stuff that accumulates after 16 years of marriage and 3 kids.  And what about the stuff that we really didn't want to take with us?  My brother offered to drive up from TX and take back anything we really wanted to keep (my wedding dress, some Christmas ornaments, a box of the kids school & artwork and our photo albums).  And the rest had to fit in 10 large suitcases and 5 carry-ons.  So we had a garage sale, a BIG garage sale.  

Why do my kids have to make
crazy faces in every picture?!

It's difficult to go through your entire house and decide what you really need and want. But its a healthy exercise.  I gave each of my kids a box and told them they could keep anything they put in the box - no questions asked.  Not one of them filled up their box.  What we were doing was making a difference in their attitudes and actions.  And we hadn't even left yet.

We sold almost everything the first day of the garage sale and people were generous. I was touched to see so many of my friends and neighbors come out, pitch in, and tell us they were praying for us.  And once the stuff was gone, it was much easier. A friend of mine graciously adopted our 2 dogs and I hope to see pictures of happy furry babies on Facebook. We cleaned out all the leftover food in the fridge and pantry - my friends tell me its weird to "shop" at your friend's kitchen but it was a relief for them to take it.  Less stuff for the landfill and less trips I had to make down the stairs.  Then we cleaned the house and said goodbye.  

People have different reactions when they heard that we were leaving.  And most everyone had some crazy question that came into their mind.  "What about all your winter clothes?" "How will you drive there?" "What will you do with your couch?" and I can tell you that I had thousands of those thoughts.  Over and over again.  But every single time I tried to foresee a problem, God seemed to be there with an answer.  CarMax will buy your car.  An accountant with church is happy to give you free advice.  An attorney that's a friend of a friend would be happy to squeeze you in on short notice and draw up your wills and powers of attorney.  

And there's something else I noticed that I hadn't anticipated.  People I knew slightly and close friends. People that knew I was far from perfect said things that surprised me.  "I've always known missionaries growing up in the church but I never knew someone BEFORE they were a missionary."  "I would love to do that someday." "You're so brave." But that's the thing.  God doesn't call the perfect.  I'm not perfect and neither are you.  We never will be.  I'm not called to be perfect.  I'm called to do His will. And so are you.  Do I pray that my family can be that missionary family where the kids sit in the front row at church quietly and pay attention to the whole sermon? I'm a realist.  That's not my family.  We're loud and crazy and obnoxious.  And I want us to be loud and crazy and obnoxious for God!  I want everyone I know to be loud and crazy and obnoxious for God! 

So take a step in that direction.  Step out of your comfort zone and listen to that small voice in your heart telling you to do something for Him.  If you're not sure it's from Him, ask him to confirm it.  Then DO IT!  If it's from God, He will confirm it for you, somehow.  And maybe the next time He whispers to you, it'll be a little louder and a little clearer.  And you'll start to know His voice, in whatever manner He chooses to speak to you.

The Liberty Bell

Where are we now?  We're waiting again.  Our visas haven't been processed by the Dominican Republic Embassy. Am I stressed? Nah.  I've had plenty of friends offer for us to stay with them. [And I might need to take some of them up on that offer it it takes too much longer ;) ] It's out of my control and that's ok.  God's got this.  We'll go when it's time for us to go.  Maybe our house there isn't ready for us yet.  Maybe there's some unfinished business here that needs to be taken care of first.  Maybe I'll never know why we're delayed.  That's ok.  God's got this. In the meantime, we've taken a trip to Philly (to visit some friends that were with us on the February trip) and worked on our Feed My Starving Children MobilePack that is happening on August 22nd. We'll stay busy.

Our family at Washington's Crossing (the Delaware River)

So if you see me around town this week, say hi and tell me you're praying for me.  My family needs spiritual protection because I know Satan's not happy with us.  Spiritual warfare isn't something I spend a lot of time dwelling on but its in my prayers every day.  I know God's angels are fighting for us and everyone that prays adds ammunition to their weapons.  

And I'll be praying for you, too.  I'm praying for boldness and courage.  I'm praying that you take those steps that He is whispering to you.  I pray that you find comfort in reading your Bible the way I do.  And I pray that our stories can forever intertwine, brothers and sisters in Christ.


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."                                                   Jeremiah 29:1
                                     


If you would like to support our ministry, you can do so at the link below.  Just select our names from the staff list (near the bottom).      Click to Donate

1 - Starting our Adventure

So I'm going to write a blog.  Well, I'm going to try and write a blog.  And I'm not going to focus on grammar or punctuation...ok maybe a little.  I just want a way to tell people our story. Starting now. 

The Ethridge family - ignore Bella's eyes, she was being a goofball.

But you need some background.

My husband, Scottie, and I live in Pennsylvania with our 3 daughters.  Ashley is 11, Bella is 9 and Lexie is 7.  A lot has happened in the last few months.  Scottie had a great job with a local company and I was blessed to be a stay-at-home mom.  Actually, I didn't stay home much.  I volunteered at plenty of PTA events, led a Girl Scout troop, helped at church, etc.  And I started working part-time at church last year.  We owned a beautiful house in South Fayette - one of the top rated districts in the state.  We had 2 dogs and a minivan and life was good.  Life is still good, but its changing.  

Last year, our friend, Dale, gave us the book "Draw the Circle" by Mark Batterson.  If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.  But don't read it if you don't want something to be different in your prayer life.  Mark challenges you to change the way you pray - to truly seek God's desires for your life.  As we worked through a 40-day prayer challenge together, we both turned our lives over to God's purpose.  We challenged God to take us where He would have us go. To be the leader in our marriage and family.  To use us as His instruments.  And He has spoken volumes to us since we opened our hearts and ears.  

During the prayer challenge, Scottie heard God telling him that we should go to the Dominican Republic. Specifically, that we were to serve the people 40 miles west of Punta Cana. I like adventure and could always see myself in the mission field so I said, "sure!" We didn't know anyone in the DR and had never been there so we started looking into short-term mission trips.  We found one that was set to go in March and signed up.  But it got cancelled.  And we questioned God, "Is this what you want us to do?" We felt Him tug on us again to go to the DR.  So we found another trip and this one left in February.  We registered and paid and quickly got our vaccinations.  About 3 weeks before the trip, we had a conference call to finalize plans and go over some details of the trip.  And Annie (the team leader) told us that we would be heading to Batey 106, just north of La Romana.  Wanna find a map of the DR?  You don't have to.  It's 40 miles west of Punta Cana.  Oh, God is so faithful!  We were blessed with this confirmation and pushed ahead, not sure of exactly what God had in store for us.  Scottie had a vision of us living there, but we weren't sure of when or how.

Our trip in February was life-changing.  But I think most short-term trips are.  Then you go back home and get back into the routine of life, holding onto that little piece of your heart that was changed. We didn't want that.  We stayed a few extra days to see what it would be like to be there on our own - explore the culture, wander the streets, eat the food, listen to the people.  And we felt such peace there.  We felt God's presence the entire week we were there.  I got to see people that lived a faith-filled life because there was no other option.  The people in the bateys don't have many of their basic needs met on a daily basis.  They're hungry.  They're isolated.  They're abandoned.  But they're not.  They're close to God and you see His face in their faces.  You see His joy and peace and love.  And you feel it, too.  It radiates around them.  And we both cried on the plane ride home.  God was on that island and we wanted more of Him.  

So we came home and started researching mission organizations, schools, cities, visas...how and when did God want us to go?  Google became our best friend.  Especially Google Translate.  We read ex-pat blogs, looked at real estate, and tried to familiarize ourselves with the history of the country. And we booked another short-term trip for the beginning of June.  And that wasn't an easy trip to make!  

After filling out a number of applications with mission organizations, we found that our timeline didn't really match up with everyone else's.  Most organizations have 2-3 year plans, meaning that you don't move until you've been trained and fully funded.  We felt like God was saying we needed to be there in the fall of 2015.  So we asked ourselves, "are we rushing this? are we getting ahead of God? are we really equipped for this?" and then we waited.  Waiting for God isn't the most fun thing I've ever done.  But He's never failed me.  His timing is perfect and through the waiting, my faith has been built stronger.  

You see, Scottie and I aren't patient people.  We are doers. We are goers.  We go on vacation.  We don't sit on a beach or by a pool. We adventure, we explore, we learn.  We go!  And we go fast.  After we got back from our trip in February, we took our girls on a mini adventure.  Thursday afternoon we decided to take a trip to Chicago to pack food at a Feed My Starving Children site.  So we packed our bags on Friday and left after the girls got out of school.  8 hour drive, quick stop at a hotel then onto packing food for starving kids.  And we drove home Saturday afternoon.  We've been known to make a day trip to Washington D.C. (about 4 hours from us) for Memorial Day.  We just move fast.  And I prayed that God was using that as a gift in us to get us to the Dominican Republic faster than others were saying was feasible.

Our trip in June was, again, fantastic.  Back at home in the DR, we prayed for answers as we planned to meet with people and visit schools that we had researched.  Our short-term trip ended on Thursday and God walked us through Friday.  Through our research, we got connected to a couple of missionary families that live in San Pedro de Macoris and found an English-speaking private school where our girls might attend school, but they didn't have any available spots for our younger two girls. We still wanted to see the school so we arranged to meet with the principal on Friday morning.  

After a tour of the school, we stood in the courtyard discussing our move to the DR and the principal asked if either of us were teachers.  You see, she was trusting God to provide her a 6th grade English/Science/Math teacher.  I qualified and if I taught, my girls would all be guaranteed spots at the school.  Tuition-free.  I prayed about it that night and God said that was my job.  Every person we had spoken with about moving to the DR had told us to slow down.  We thought we were supposed to be there at the end of August/beginning of September.  If I was going to teach, I would need to be there by August 10th.  Woah!  It really felt like God was saying, "speed up! you're going and I'm going to make it possible!"  

That same day, we met with some awesome missionaries that live in San Pedro.  Jodi has the spiritual gift of hospitality and was ready to answer all of my mundane questions.  And she put my mind at ease about the kids. She even showed me how she does her laundry.  I feel so good knowing that someone has gone before me and survived.  Mike loves baseball.  In fact, that's what he does in the DR.  His ministry is baseball.  Have you met my husband?  He loves baseball, too!  What a huge blessing to have godly people set before us, happy to help us, and possibly for us to serve with.  I'm praying for our future friendship.  I'm praying that I can be a blessing to her in some way.

But we were "going rogue" as my friend, Annette, would say.  No training.  No language skills.  No mission-centered organization to help us with support raising and relocating.  We were flying blind. Until dinner. As we sat at dinner and marveled at the way God had provided for us that day, Scottie got an email from Praying Pelican Missions.  They were interested in partnering with us to be their missionaries on the ground in the DR.  And they have the training.  They have a website and are a non-profit to help us with support raising.  They'll even be able to partner us with other missionaries in the area.  

I'm not surprised at God's faithfulness or His timing.  I sometimes wish I knew what was coming but then, trusting Him is where the good part is. Stepping out in faith and believing that He is gonna be there to catch us. Not just saying it but doing it.  That's hard.  And all His promises are true.


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