In other news…

We haven’t blogged in a while. Okay, we haven’t blogged in over 7 months. To be honest, we haven’t really had a lot to say.

And then just a couple weeks ago, I (Jocelyn) started a brand-new blog. So…… What’s the news that’s worth blogging about?

We’re adopting!!!

Okay, so that’s not exactly new—we’ve been talking/praying/planning/researching/learning/reading/etc… about adoption for several years now. But now we’ve changed gears from passively observing to actively participating.

Just this last Thursday, we received our acceptance letter to Antioch Adoptions! (the adoption agency of our choice) Woohoo!!

Adoption takes a while—quite often, longer than nine months! This new blog (although not limited to one subject or audience) is being written with our child(ren) in mind. Hopefully, as they grow up in our home, we can share stories of everyday life when we were waiting, hoping and praying for them. As many of these posts (especially about adoption) will be written for our kids, they’ll be addressed to child(ren) from mom (to be). Yet, as I’m not a mom yet, I can’t fully claim that title (which is why all proper family titles (i.e., mom, dad, grandma, uncle) are simply initials). Some posts –specifically for our kids–will remain private, although most posts–especially ones that have to do with progress in our adoption– will be as public as a library.

Why all this writing?? Because. Stories. Are. Important.

(And ’cause we can’t keep up with everyone on the phone about our latest adoption news!)

“Tell me a fact, and I’ll learn. Tell me a truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.”

– Steve Sabol

So anyway, if you’re interested in reading about kids we haven’t even met yet, the super cool team at Antioch, paperwork, State of Washington parenting classes, what we’re learning and the like, feel free to click on over to www.jocelynjoy.wordpress.com

Expectantly,

Jocelyn (& Brian)

Proverbs 16:9

Hey!  So it’s been like how long?  We thought about doing a “proof of life” photo of us holding a newspaper, but we don’t have a newspaper, and we weren’t going to go out and buy one just for a photo.  So you’ll just have to believe us when we say we’re alive and well in Washington State. 

Washington still.  Yep, that’s where we are.  Good ol’ Monroe. 

So…
There's really no super-easy way to start into this...
We just resigned from LIA last month and we don't have any current plans to return to Brazil.
Why???

• Part of it is our visas.  They are just not happening. 
• Part of it is our church's recommendation.
• Part of it is God directing us to not go back right now-- something we've been fighting for 2 months.

We prayed.  A lot.  And we sought godly counsel from close friends and the elders in our church.  And we took our time—this was not an overnight decision.  When we looked at our clear answer, we really didn’t like it.  So we did the whole thing over again—just to make sure.

We prayed.  A lot a lot.  And we sought godly counsel from close friends and the elders in our church.  And we took our time (this might explain why we haven’t blogged in a while).  At the end of it all, we still weren’t really enthused about it, but felt peace and confirmation about what we needed to do.  And we did it.

Even though we resigned from LIA

• Our heart for missions and reaching the lost has not changed.  Our first job is to be obedient to what God asks us to do, and this is what He is asking us to do right now.

• We still love our team and support the ministry of LIA.

• This was not a decision made for us.  As much as we respect and appreciate the support of our church, we have independently reached the same conclusion to resign from LIA.

• We would like to consider re-joining LIA in the future, but are totally open to other missions and ministries that God may lead us to.  

So what’s next?  Honestly, we don’t really have a plan at this point.  For now we’re just settling in/saving up/listening up to what God wants us to be doing next.  Brian’s got a pretty cool job, Jocelyn’s been busy with some part time work, and it’s been great to be involved with our home church for more than just the summer.  We could be here for a year.  Or 10.  Or maybe just six months.  We aren’t exactly sitting on Plan B or Plan C in our back pockets ;)

Oh, there is one thing we’re kind of working on…  We just signed up to go to our first adoption class on May 7th!  (There--I just had to include some good news with this long, sad blog!) 

But yes.  Please keep praying for us.  These last two months have been incredibly....hard.  And while this has been super No Fun, we still wouldn't change anything-- we are sure and certain of God leading us to LIA.  And now (though not by our first choice) He is clearly leading us away.

Thank you so much for your encouragement, your prayers, your support, and just for reading and caring.  We appreciate you and invite you to e-mail or talk to us if you have any questions, comments, rebuttals or tomatoes...   

Much love,

 

Brian & Jocelyn<><

Planes, cars and auto-robots!

So, I don’t know what the weather’s like where you are, but it SNOWED today!  And yesterday. 

What else is new?  Brian got a job, and we got a “new” car this last week!!!  Here’s how it happened…

Since we came back to Washington in July, Brian has kept busy with some various and sundry landscaping/hole digging projects (and Jocelyn’s been nannying kids here and there).  But now it’s cold.  And there’s “nothing” to do.  And that’s great for a few days here and there, but not so great for longer than that.  As we kinda hoped to be back in Brazil (LAST MONTH) and as we aren’t (and Visa stuff will take at least another 2 months), we decided we need to be reasonably settled here (get a job) until it’s time to move on again.  We just barely started praying for a job (and with the help of a friend) within a week Brian was hired at Glasair!  This is a big deal, ‘cuz Brian never did find a job last summer.  And the summer before that after exhausting many possibilities, he went thru a temp agency and spent the summer racking fish!  Funny story—Brian thought that having that fish job on his resume was virtually worthless, but when the hiring-manager guy saw it, he said “if you can work with fish, then I know you can work hard.”  So true :)  

So, what kind of business is Glasair?  Building airplanes!  And this is definitely NOT Boeing!  If you’re interested, check out    http://www.glasairaviation.com/ .  Today was Brian’s first day :)

So that was the job part…. this is the car.  We hadn’t thought ahead to needing a second vehicle for commuting and the like, but Someone else had!  A couple in our church just got a new car and they gave us their old car!  We’re so thankful for another set of wheels, and amazed at the timing of how job & car happened! 

Our little 1990 Ford Festiva!  Thanks so much!

 

In other news…

We went to Schuyler’s VEX Robot competition last Saturday!  Yes, that souped-up erector set with wiring in the picture IS a robot!  Schuyler (with his partner Jordan) remotely control the robot on a playing field with other robots competing against each other to complete tasks (and de-score/sabotage the other teams efforts) to win.  This competition is kind of a big deal—the first place team from the meet got to go to Florida for the finals!  Schuyler and Jordan were in the lead for quite a bit of the meet (ahead of 33 other teams!) but were eliminated in the semi-finals.  They still finished well and walked away with the “Judges Choice” award for their unique and efficient robot design!  Great job Schuyler!    

In other news…

Isn’t this picture cool?  Yes, Brian took it.  Happy Thanksgiving!

In other news…

Remember when I said I’d make up for all the “in other news” sections that I skipped in previous blogs?  This is why there are 3 of them in this blog.  Anyway.

Have you heard of “What’s in the Bible?”  It’s a new DVD series from (the Veggie Tales Creator) Phil Vischer.  We don’t normally use our blog as advertising space, but consider this a shameless plug.  We’ve been thru 4 plus years of Bible/mission training and we both learned things we didn’t know on the first WITB DVD….  I’ve got to get ahold of DVD #2…!  For more info, www.whatsinthebible.com

Thankfully,

Jocelyn (& Brian)<><

Our Working Vacation :)

We’re home!! 

It was pretty cool—living in Missouri and going thru Missions training with Brian’s parents on staff.  But that was like—sooo 2009.  Since then, we’ve moved to Monroe, gone to Brazil, we’re back in Monroe for a while again, etc…  And now Barry and Carol moved from Missouri to Colorado earlier this year and are involved in a new ministry (Missions Training International) living much closer to family in the Colorado Springs area.  We wanted to visit them, and this last week of October turned out to be an ideal time as they had a week off of work, and were also moving from an expensive apartment into a cheaper (and nicer!) one.  We were able to spend a whole week with them and also time with Brian’s sister Laura, nieces, and Grandma while visiting beautiful Colorado attractions and taking pictures.  Kind of like a “working vacation” :)  Enjoy the pictures…

Getting ready to move out--see all the boxes behind us?  Wanna know what Stephanie, Jocelyn, Jennifer and Laura are watching?  If you need a good guacamole recipe (or a laugh!) click here :)

Barry grilling up some burgers for our Sunday afternoon BBQ

Love this picture of Jennifer and Stephanie flying paper airplanes (with Uncle Bri) in Grandma’s back yard :) 

Aren’t they CUTE???  So much fun—Jennifer is 5 and Stephanie is 7!

Carol cleaning the fridge.  I wish we had before and after pictures of the stove.  Didn’t even look like the same appliance after Carol was thru with it! 

Us with Grandma :)

Garden of the Gods.  We FINALLY got to go!  I’ve been to Colorado SEVEN times now, and I think it was on my “list of things to see” at least 5 of those times.  Mission accomplished!  It was stunning :)  Note the people in the bottom left corner to get a better idea of size/scale.

Yes, exactly “I don’t see any people!”  That’s because they’re so tiny next to the huge and awesome rock formations!  I promise though, that white-ish smudge is a person. 

We had a few other adventures— Jocelyn was stung by a ninja bee (no we don’t have a picture, if we did, it wouldn’t really have been a ninja), celebrated a new Israeli friend’s birthday, and went a whole week without having my coffee cup, pillow and hairbrush (3 things I usually don’t travel without).  All in all, it was a great week!  And wow, it’s November already.  And we’re still in Monroe!??!  Stay tuned…

Reminiscently,

Jocelyn<><

September--October

Hey, where’d we go???

Contrary to popular belief, we did not fall off the earth.  As you can see, we’ve actually been to some high points of it.  In mid September we enjoyed camping with Victor, Schuyler and my parents in the Yakima area.

Brian was hired by friends to do some serious re-arranging of their yard.  I helped him, and we spent 80+ hours landscaping.  We finished the project up at the end of the month…

Before (above) and After (below)

Which was right around the time my dear friend Julia married Scott!  We were so blessed to be home for their wedding!

Just last week, Brian went with my Dad on a “photography trip” and camped for the night up in Leavenworth.  This is one of the calendar-worthy pictures that Brian took.

And while Brian was out taking pictures, my friend Candace (who visited us for a whole week from Pennsylvania!) and I enjoyed spending time in beautiful Sequim for 2 days and a night!

I think we have a theme of enjoying being out-of-doors…  :)

Indoor activities that we’ve been involved in aren’t so picture worthy.  Like compiling and filling out 20+ pages of paperwork stuff for getting more PKU formula.  And Visa stuff.  Yes folks, we’re still working on it.  We’ve finally (after sending it off THREE times) received the completed paperwork from Chicago.  We’re still waiting on Brazil, and then can move on to the San Francisco part of the process.  One step at a time!

But for now, we’re off to Colorado!  We’re leaving tomorrow morning and will be visiting Brian’s family in the Colorado Springs area for a week!

In other news…

You’ll just have to wait for a double-feature next time!  3:30 comes early in the morning and that’s when we’re getting up to leave for the airport!

What’s “the parking ministry”?

Wow, has it been almost a month since we blogged?  yes… 

And what have we been doing with ourselves???

We recently finished “The Twelve Days of Parking”!!!  And it’s more than just a song….

Our church rents a building which just happens to be next door to the fairgrounds here in Monroe.  Long story short, to help pay our rent, our landlord allows us to park cars on the property during fair events and that helps us to be able to afford the rent.  It’s much more complicated that all that, but you get the general idea.

So, in 12 days, 79 people invested over 2,800 hours and parked about13,000 cars. Who says small churches can’t do big things?  There was a huge range of involvement—from youth in our church who came out to wave plastic yellow bats to direct cars, to grandmas and grandpas who came to serve dinner to the parking team in the breakroom, to stay-at home moms who would bring snacks and make cookies, to people who bought tons of bottled water and gatorade to keep workers hydrated, to people who spent hours working by themselves mowing the lot and painting parking space lines on the grass.  It was real.  It was fun.  And it was real fun to function as a church family working together. 

Here’s Brian directing traffic…..  When it got dark, we all traded our plastic bats in for some short light sabers (orange plastic attachment on a flashlight).

 

Jocelyn just outside the ticket booth on a chilly day (showing off my red pants!)  I’m so glad we decided to store a bunch of our winter stuff when we went to Brazil (though we weren’t anticipating using it this winter!!) 

And we had some hot days as well….

So anyway, that was our life for 12 days.  And nights (as we both had dreams about parking cars!!)

 

In other news…

We’re getting to know Rosetta quite well.  Rosetta Stone that is.  Brian completed Level 1 about a week ago, and I just finished it yesterday!  On to Level 2 now…

And we’re still working on Visa stuff.  We’ve been to two different police stations, the courthouse, the bank a couple of times, the post office, and Seattle twice (for getting a renewed prescription for formula).  Lots of errandy things getting done…. but still lots of waiting to happen.  Thanks so much for praying for us…

encouraged and semi-bi-lingually,

Jocelyn & Brian<><

Family Camp!

That’s what you get when you throw a tractor, a bunch of tents, monster marshmallows, barbecue grills, a lot of water balloons and most of the church family into the parking lot for 36 hours!

Yes, I did say the parking lot.  So wasn’t quite as roughing it as going to a “real” (designated) camping area, but our parking lot does have “boonies” (grass and not just pavement) and we did have Honey Buckets for the weekend (to create outhouse ambiance—and not clog up our sensitive toilets in the church).  AND since our camping site was so local, it was super convenient for people who had to still go to work on Saturday be able to camp as well.   

Jocelyn & Megan at dinner on Friday evening. 

Abby & “Snickers” a hybrid wolf.

Water balloon launchers!

Haha, this was so fun to watch….  a still photo really doesn’t do it justice.  Mr. Ross brought his tractor (and a couple other motor vehicles purely for the enjoyment and entertainment of the kids).  The guys all threw water balloons at the kids riding around in the trailer, and the kids all threw water balloons back.  The ladies all watched and laughed.  Who knew having an open field for a campsite could be so much fun? 

Campfire, s’mores and worship :)  A sweet time together.

So family camp was pretty much awesome…  it was so much fun just hanging out and catching up with everybody…. meeting new church members and just sharing life together.

Relationally,

Jocelyn & Brian

In other news…

In a hemisphere south of us…  work is still going on.  Check it out on our teams new blog http://www.lightinaction.org/blog/

Joel hard at work in the Rock House

Cynthia in a scene from Episode #6…  strategically filmed 2 weeks ago while no one can tell that she’s pregnant!  Arlen & Cynthia are expecting child #3 in January :)

Thanks!!!

This last weekend we had our “pounding”….  It was lovely to sit back and relax for 2 days after moving and unpacking and just hang out and visit with people who stopped by and brought us stuff.  Here’s a little bit of some of the spoils we were blessed with :)

Like I said, that’s just a wee bit—a fraction really.  We have a fridge and pantry full of food, and aside from “borrowing” the apartment we’re living in, we are also borrowing a very nice couch, chairs, 2 dressers, hangers, sheets and towels, some kitchen things…..  and wow, the list goes on.

We are humbled…. and really thankful.  And encouraged…  and overwhelmed!  Thanks to everyone for meeting our practical needs in a physical, tangible way!  We truly serve a God who gives good gifts to His kids—- and we are definitely experiencing it!

 

 

And I said last week we’d update ya’ll on what’s going on with our visas.  So.  Here we go….

Everybody has heard of “Plan B.”  Plan A doesn’t get so much publicity because it’s usually rather quick and painless.  Occasionally there’s a “Plan C” rolling around, but even rarer is “Plan E” for our visas.  Yes, we’ve done our homework, and we really think this one is going to fly (no pun intended)…  So anyway.  Lots of details that involve both the Chicago Consulate and the San Francisco Consulate, re-doing some of the same paperwork, doing some new paperwork, getting it all in the right places with the appropriate amounts of money.  And a lot of waiting.  We’re waiting right now—for 2 sets of paperwork to come to us (some from Brazil, some from Missouri) but we are also working ahead on stuff we know we’ll need (like background checks).  So….  What does all this really mean?  We are hoping to head back by the end of October/early November.  That’s quite an optimistic hope, but there it is anyway.  Our “Plan B” is early January.  It’s rather pricey to travel during the last half of November/most of December, and it would be kind of sad to miss spending holidays with family by just a couple weeks.  So that’s where we’re at with visas. 

Thankfully,

Jocelyn (& Brian)

 

In other news…

Something I appreciate even more than before we went to Brazil is…  the public library (I hadn’t been to one of those in 6 months!)

And we just read this book.  And really really enjoyed it.  We have a disgustingly large amount of things in common with the author and hence, we have lots of things to learn from his experience.  Anyway.  If you ever come across it, or are looking for a fun book to read, we highly recommend it :)

Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, and missionaries live with people (and occasionally by themselves….)

While we have very much enjoyed “communal living” (living with people in their houses (or in their chicken coops))… we are excited to be moving into our “own” place for a couple of months!  My parents own a condo and it just happens to be empty right now, and they’ve graciously offered it to us for the next couple months while we’re here :) 

So exciting!  Today, we pulled a bunch of our stuff out of storage…  kitchen things we haven’t seen in more than a year…  picture frames…  our books….  we’re borrowing a couch, a couple of dressers and a microwave from some friends who are living in an already furnished house right now…

Don’t worry though—we won’t get too comfortable…!  As we unpack in this lovely apartment (the nicest place either of us have ever lived in!) I revel in the fact that all our clothes are in a real walk-in closet…  but at the same time, it doesn’t “make me happy.”  I will enjoy having a master bathroom as long as we live here (no bathroom in our chicken coop!) but it doesn’t bring me real joy.  I love the fact that I have a washer and a dryer in a hall closet exclusively for our personal use…  but I wish that I could disassemble the washer and ship it to Brazil to replace our team’s washer that has so many little issues.  For real—we are thrilled to be home in WA and living on our own for a bit, but we also miss our little 9x9 cement and screen housie and our team and our work in Brasil…       

Anyway.  After a long/lazy absence from blogging, we hope to return to our regularly scheduled Monday night blogs…  Coming up soon—more ever evasive and ominous Visa DETAILS (boring, yet necessary) …  Until then, enjoy a few somewhat random pictures, and “in other news” :)

Domestically,

Jocelyn<>< 

 

At Nathaniel & Danielle’s wedding in New Hampshire (worthy of it’s own blog, but since a picture is worth a thousand words, it’s just going to have to do).

 

Just before our flight to Seattle!  Brian with all our stuff…  rather tired (I looked even worse!) 

 

Visiting with Joshua last week :)  We spent 3 days with him at his house in Bremerton and enjoyed the hike and view at Green Mountain.

Unpacking in the bedroom….

and…

In other news….  You’re invited to a POUNDING!!!

What is a “pounding?”
A pounding is an event (much like a housewarming party or open house), where guests bring gifts of food (a pound of this, or a package of that) to help a family who just moved in set up their kitchen. Really, it's just an excuse to have people over-- there's no pressure to bring anything :)

How do I participate in the pounding?
Come stop by and see our temporary home for the next few months. Enjoy some coffee, have some funnel cakes, visit with us and bring something to help fill our fridge and pantry if you’d like to. As we are going to be living here for just a short amount of time, we would like to ask for just consumable things (food, household cleaners, etc…) and not things that we will need to give away or store in a few months.

When can I poun—er, when is the pounding?
Saturday, August 7th, 2pm-10pm & Sunday, August 8th, 2pm-8pm

Where is Brian & Jocelyn’s pounding?
Monroe!  Our apartment is on Currie Road (off of Fryelands Boulevard).  Send us a message and we’ll send you some more info (just don’t want to much personal info on the web)…

Hope to see you soon!

Heading Home

28 days ago, we left Brazil.  Since then, we’ve been to 9 states + Canada, gone to 3 weddings, taken about 4,000 pictures, slept  on  many different floors, air mattresses, futons and beds, cooked food for a wedding reception and had many adventures with friends and family.  I wish we could do a blog for every day we traveled…  

Tomorrow, after a solid 4 weeks of traveling, we’re flying to Seattle.  We’re looking forward to being home for 3-6 months while working on visa stuff.  For now though, we’re getting set for one more flight…  one more day of travel…  sleeping on one more very nice air mattress which is incredibly welcoming right now.  In fact, I think I can hear it calling my name…

Traveling-ly,

Brian & Jocelyn<><