Easter 2014
We had a wonderful Easter, though I only have one picture to document it.
In the pew early while Daddy got ready with the men’s chorus
But let me back up, because I last left you with us in Washington, about to leave for Idaho, making a return trip to Washington in a few weeks. All that happened, or is still planned for, but it didn’t happen in the smoothest of ways.
Tuesday morning, Amelia was still coughing and sickly, and Levi was acting off, so we cancelled our plans for the day, made up new ones to celebrate our anniversary in a low-key way and went about our business. (Confession: those blog posts you read last week had been written in advance, hence the lack of real-time updates.)
Wednesday morning, Matthew had a fever, as did Levi – both over 100F, so we cancelled that day’s plans and looked ahead to our plan to drive out Thursday. Our hope was to spend a day with friends in northern Idaho before heading South to Boise/Nampa, but we didn’t want to spread the plague. It seemed mild, though, so we held out hope.
Thursday morning, the hope was dashed. Levi was still at 102F, Amelia was much better, and Axel was a little off. Matthew was much better, too, so we let our friends know and began packing. We left around 1pm, after a tasty lamb lunch with my parents. Levi threw up an hour into the drive. We made it halfway to Boise (which was the new plan) and spent the night in Pendleton, OR. The hotel room was clean and comfy, buuuuuuut, Axel was feverish and not consolable. Levi, too, was feverish. We finally put the two big kids in their bed and tried to get to sleep. Axel would not.
It was a loooooong night with a sick baby who fussed and whined – poor guy was so feverish. A bath helped a little, but not enough to put him to sleep. (Levi and Amelia were true angels and slept through the WHOLE night in the tiny hotel room.) We finally got worried about Axel, so Matthew headed out with him in search of a thermometer and some Ibuprofen. Axel did indeed fall into a fitful sleep in the car as Matthew drove around only to discover Pendleton does not, in fact, contain any store open between midnight and 5am. Not a single one.
Thankfully, it was about 4:30am when he learned this, so he cooled Axel in the morning air while waiting for the grocery to open. I, meanwhile, was grateful for some sleep back at the hotel. Turned out Axel was still in the 100-101F range, so nothing too daunting, but the poor kid finally fell asleep in his car seat and we got a few hours in the morning before the big ones woke.
At the hotel breakfast Levi threw up twice, Axel fussed some more, and we were back on the road to make the 3.5 hour drive home. Easy peasy.
We made it, mostly intact, and no more sickness while traveling. Whew.
Actually, the kids instantly improved upon coming home – and our house was perfectly tidy and clean, thanks to the best house sitter on the planet.
But the yard, oh the yard…
We moved into the house in September and knew the yard was a mess. But it had grown in the month we were in Washington to reveal that the entire front yard was dandelions. Not dandelions in the grass, but JUST dandelions. Lots of them. Oh, and some bluebells. But mostly dandelions. Have I mentioned the dandelions? It was amazing. And disgusting.
Two hours later, Matthew had rented a rototiller and dug up the entire yard. Thankfully, it was over 70F outside – truly inspiring weather!
Matthew and Amelia attended the Good Friday service that evening while I stayed home with the sick boys.
Saturday was more yard work, unpacking, tending children on the mend, and preparing for Easter.
Easter Sunday came, sunny and warm, and it was wonderful to be home at our church. It seems we were truly missed and we felt the love! We had a simple lunch at home, took naps, played some games, and headed off to evening service. It was a wonderful day of rest!
We were asked recently if we had any Easter traditions, which got us thinking. We do not. But why? After thinking it through, we realized that the last four Easters have been spent in four different locations. The last three Easters (Amelia’s entire life of Easter Sundays) have been spent in three different countries, on three different continents. You can read all about 2011, 2012 and 2013 Easters if you’re curious.
What an interesting life – one that is possible only because of the sacrificial lamb that we celebrate on that glorious Resurrection Day.
Checking In from WA…
Tomorrow we head back to Idaho after a very successful trip to Washington. What made it so successful? Well, having a constantly full calendar with appointments aplenty visiting with friends and new contacts to spread the word about what God has called us to do in Congo – and building our team – made it all worthwhile. If you’re really into the numbers, we’ve topped 75% and have several people who have expressed interested and promise for joining our team and so we expect we’re actually even closer to our goal of 100% supported by the end of May.
Actually, Washington has been so wonderful we’re going back. Yep. In two weeks. We contemplated extending our stay, but we really had some things to take care of in Idaho that couldn’t wait any longer and could use the two weeks back “home.” It’s only about an eight hour drive, not the worst thing in the world, so we figure it’s worth it.
So, we’ll be back [in WA] the first weekend in May – we have a few new churches and new people with whom to share. We are so excited to see God open so many doors near the end of this long journey of building our team. We plan to spend about three weeks in the Pacific Northwest.
That being said, we aren’t finished raising financial support. If you are considering becoming part of our ministry, please do so. Our goal of being fully supported by the end of May is still totally doable, but we hope that YOU can be part of making that happen. Visit our support tab up top to know how to set up ongoing support – monthly, quarterly, yearly, whatever. We are so CLOSE and so EXCITED!!!
And THANK YOU for supporting us, whether it is through finances, encouragement or prayer!!!
Eight Years Later…
On this day (April 15) in 2006 over 350 people gathered at Faith Presbyterian Church in Tacoma, Washington to witness two lives joined together. I’m pretty sure many saw two crazy kids getting themselves in way over their heads with plans to spend life in Alaska. All this, after a lengthy (insert sarcasm here) six-week engagement (or a two-year friendship, you can look at it either way).
Eight years later I still picture us as two crazy kids in way over our heads…but in the last eight years I’ve seen God work and provide in more ways than I could’ve imagined on that sunny/rainy/hail-y/cloudy day in 2006 (yes, we had all weather fronts…should’ve been a sign).
In eight years we can count…
- life lived on two continents
- life lived in three states
- owned two houses
- called six structures home
- owned five vehicles (including a moving truck and a motorcycle) – correction two weeks later, it has been SIX vehicles
- owned cats, a hamster, fish, chickens, quail, guinea fowl, and rabbits
- and, of course, four children (three here, one in Heaven)
What in the world will the next few years, or the rest of our lives, bring??? I can’t wait!
So much love times eight years equals lots more love.
Life in Washington
We are still in Washington, almost three weeks now, and plan to hang around for another two or so, depending on how our calendar fills (or doesn’t). We spent the early part of this week in Bellingham, right near the Canadian border. We stayed with some of my high school friends, now an adorable married couple, and visited some friends, supporters, and a church where Matthew presented our ministry during his visit here in January. It was a neat time, especially because the weather during the day was so lovely. We even had a little time to ourselves and took the kids down to the beach (a Washington beach) where we found tiny crabs and lots of shells and rocks.
Back in the South Sound area on Tuesday afternoon, the kids and I (Lisa) immediately got a cold, but I was hit the worst. Wednesday morning and afternoon was me huddled into a ball and sleeping. Levi and Amelia had coughs and runny noses. It was less than fun – Matthew, taking care of all of us, and I, lost track of the day and time and even forgot an appointment until it was halfway over. This did not help us feel better. However, by that evening we were feeling much better and continued with all of the rest of our plans as scheduled. Yesterday Levi and Amelia were totally fine and I have just a cough leftover. Whew!
This weekend will be another busy one, but we still have some time to visit with people next week if you were thinking of trying to meet up with us! Next Sunday we will have the opportunity to share with a new church, so we’re really excited about that! Please continue praying that things will come together. We passed the 70% mark of our needed monthly support, but that’s still a stretch to go!
I’m stealing a pic stitch that I posted on Facebook, because it’s the highlights from our beach day…
An African-themed Weekend
Pretend I wrote this at the beginning of the week instead of the end, ok? It was a fairly busy week, though not quite as busy as our first week here and not as busy as next week is stacking up to be. However, we’ve covered a lot of ground, met with a lot of awesome people, and – yes – added new people to our ministry team! We are at 70% of our ministry support goal!
But, what I wanted to tell you about was our fun weekend, because the theme was drawing us back to Africa and how much we miss it and how amazed we are to be called to such a special place on this Earth. Friday night we celebrated our anniversary a few weeks early. We scored a neat dinner-and-a-show deal a few months ago and got to go on a double date with Matthew’s brother, Andrew, and his wife Amy. Andrew is stationed overseas with the military at the moment, so it was a fun surprise that our paths crossed at all on our visit to the US, so it was extra special to be able to go out with them. (And thanks to Matthew’s sister and her family for providing Levi and Amelia their very first sleepover – they had a blast!)
Dinner was at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse – a fancy place with a special dinner. Four courses of the most amazing foods we’ve ever eaten (seriously), matched with a wine for each course and described by a sommelier. We sat with another couple who shared many of the the same interests as our dinner party.
After dinner we walked the block to the Paramount, a historic Seattle theater and sat for The Lion King. If you haven’t seen it, I highly HIGHLY recommend it. It had so many authentic African elements that took us right back, even if the scenery in Kinshasa is a bit different than the safari. Even Matthew, who is not a fan of musicals OR Disney films really enjoyed the show. The only downside was missing Africa so acutely when it was over!
Fast forward in the weekend to Sunday morning where we attended church at my parents’ home church where there was a visiting children’s choir from Uganda. It was so special to hear their stories, the awesome music. And a fun side note – Matthew was wearing one of his Congo shirts and it shared a pattern with some of the costumes of the singers! What are the chances!?
So, in short, last weekend made us miss our home across the Atlantic. We REALLY want to go back. We love being in the US and seeing so many friends and family and sharing about the vision of how God is working in Congo…but we would truly prefer to be working and living in the place where God has called us to be. Last weekend was a distinct reminder of that.
The First Two Days in WA
So, we’re starting our month in WA – and the first two days have been really fun. We spent yesterday settling in to my (Lisa’s) parents’ house and resting a bit from the long drive (nine hours with kids, including a nursing infant) the afternoon/evening/night prior.
For lunch we headed over to Andrew and Amy’s house. Andrew is Matthew’s brother and is on some R&R from his post overseas with the Army. It was so great to be able to time our visits to overlap and see him for the first time since before we left for DRC! We had a traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal – Matthew had been brining the brisket for two weeks and it was so delicious! We hung out a little bit before I took the kiddos home to give the brothers some time together.
This morning I spoke at our Tacoma church’s ladies Bible study, sharing updates about what we’re doing and how it’s going – such a fun group of ladies with great questions! We picked up Matthew and then headed for a chilly afternoon at the zoo with some very good friends.
I thought some photos might be fun, and it’s been awhile, so here ya go!
Uncle Andrew and Auntie Amy with the newest nephew, Axel
Levi & Amelia had their first turn at a gaming system at Uncle Andrew’s
Duck Duck Goose
Duck Duck Goose gone awry
They’re clearly having a terrible time
Daddies (good friend, Colin, and Matthew) and their kiddos observing the puffin feeding
Levi liked the walrus
Three monkeys
A little blurry, but you get the idea: Tiger.
Axel liked the zoo, too, from the carrier
The classic shark mouth picture is a must at the Pt. Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
THROWBACK! Finn & Levi in the shark’s mouth, about six months old
Arlo, Amelia, Levi, & Finn saying goodbye to the zoo
The Linds Go to Washington
Last week and this week are all about MP – ministry partnership, or deputation, or, in plain talk, the process of building our support team, focusing on prayer and financial partnership. This part, like I’ve said before, is not just something to get through and be done with, but rather an opportunity to minister to those around us, to open people up to the opportunity to give to God’s expanding Kingdom and the work around the world and knowing, first hand, the missionary they support. So, we’ve been focusing the last two weeks on getting to know more people at our church. We’ve been attending there on and off since we joined MAF in 2011, but consistently since September and became members in October. Now we’ve been having people over and getting together at every opportunity just to have more familiarity with other members there – so that, when we’re gone, we know our church home knows us well and will pray for us as friends. We’ve had at least one get-together nearly everyday, mostly dinners at our house, but I’ve SOOOO missed hosting as much as we did in Congo, so it’s been a fun challenge to host so many dinners and still chase three kids around and keep up with the house. Matthew has been fitting in other parts of his days (house remodel stuff, general manliness) around making plans for our upcoming trip…
Sunday evening we’ll start the eight-ish hour drive to western Washington [state]. We both grew up there and have lots of friends and family and still consider it part-home. Matthew was just there in January, but as a family we are looking forward to making new friends, inviting people to join us in ministry partnership, and, obviously, introducing old friends to Axel.
If you happen to live anywhere in western WA, please let us know since our calendar is already filling up and we wouldn’t want to miss you. We’re trying to reach out to anyone who has been following along and praying for us for the past three years and getting some face-time with them (Facetime also would work, if you are Apple savvy). So, if this is you, send us an email at mlind@maf.org and we’ll get together. We plan to be there about three weeks in order to reach as many people as possible. We’re looking forward to this trip, though it will be busy.
As far as timeline for language school and arrival back in DRC, we’re hoping to nail this down a bit more as we get closer to 100% supported. So, if you’re hoping to support us, but haven’t made that final step to actually beginning, please let us know how we can help. And if you’d like to start giving, but want to wait until we’re out of the country to do so, we’d love to put you down and it will count toward our 100% goal. Just let us know!
Thank you all for praying and supporting us all this time. I hope to keep everyone a bit more updated as we travel around western WA, but these next few days will be so busy, I know I won’t be on here much…except to make plans, of course.
Final Day of Training
Today is, technically, the last day of training on our entire calendar. That being said, I think the only thing going on is breakfast and lunch and some flights, but Matthew isn’t going up today. We’ve been in training for the better part of the last five months, doing everything MAF offers. It’s true, outside the technical standardization for pilots and mechanics, we (Matthew, specifically) have attended all of MAF’s training modules. Orientation, ground school standardization, leadership/management training, ministry partnership seminar, and finally, the annual seminars for the chief pilots, chiefs of maintenance and instructor pilots (they have fancy names with cool acronyms, but heaven help me, there’s no way I remember them).
So, what now? Now we are totally reliant on God and who He has selected to partner with us in ministry, especially financially. We also need to sort our stuff and pack, since having a new baby, investing a bit of time/energy into our house (aka investment) and all of that training has taken all the time we had for sorting and packing…so now we can start that process.
As I mentioned previously, we are putting together meetings in Washington, arriving the third week of March and staying for a few weeks, visiting old friends and new, and some churches. We are also finding opportunities here in Idaho to share about our ministry. Our goal is to have 100% of our monthly financial ministry support by the end of May. Have you been praying about how that could look for your family? We are happy to help if you have any questions!
I got the sweetest message from one of our favorite families from the road trip yesterday (can I have favorites??) stating that they wanted to begin teaching their children to tithe and give and the subject of giving to missionaries came up. Hey! They know some missionaries! So, our newest monthly partners give, I’m told, about $5 per month of their allowance. If that’s isn’t super adorable and amazing at such a young age, I don’t know what is. I hope they are totally blessed by their giving!
Pray for us, I believe I have the last of the sickness that seemed to hit everyone in our family twice. Pray as we plan our WA trip – it’ll be busy but we also want it to be effective. Pray for MAF as an organization – there are some structural changes going on in the next few months that are totally exciting, but will be a lot of work for the home office staff that we’ve come to know so well over the last five months. Pray for our kids. Levi and Amelia are at a stage of bickering and strong wills – and it’s exhausting for this mama! Axel is just about the sweetest thing on the planet, my only “complaint” being that his longest night stretch is four hours. And of course, pray for our timeline and future plans. There are still some unknowns (language school? where exactly are you going?) and we know they are known by Him.
Photo 25 Feb
Just a little morning photo…they love each other, sometimes.
10 Years Ago…
One of the things we learned in the most recent training was that people want to support our ministry, but they also [potentially] really want to support us – so getting to know us is a big first step. We WANT you to know us. So, for tonight’s blog, a little reminiscing on this exact night, February 21st, 2004…
My parents had been excitedly telling me about this really fun thing they saw for nine months now. They had seen Contra Dancing, an old English style dance that is the classy version of square dancing – they share similar steps, but it is done in long lines and is a true social dance. They insisted it also looked like a lot of fun. My mom had discovered a monthly dance in Tacoma (Washington) that I should try. When you’re 19 you jump at the chance to try anything your parents suggest, right? Hence the ninth month stall.
Finally, I decided I’d run out of delay tactics and excuses and I had also successfully convinced my bestie to tag along. We had both grown up Israeli folk dancing at church, so it was no big deal to go to a dance, but to go not knowing with whom we’d dance? It made it decidedly less exciting to anticipate.
We walked into Well’s Hall, a true dance hall that was rectangular, with a large stage at one end with a lively band playing and a second story, wrap-around balcony up above. It was lovely. The celtic dancing music – fiddles, piano, and any other assortment of instruments – overwhelmed the senses. Thankfully, we ladies were relaxed knowing they were going to teach us the basic steps in the thirty minutes before the dance officially begun.
The dance steps were easy and we were confident we would survive and maybe even have a good time. The crowd was a bit eccentric, but clearly there for the fun of dancing. And everyone was so helpful to us newbies. The process was that for each new dance you found a new partner – this was the “social” part of social dancing. Then you also passed down the line and met everyone else there. It was a grand time.
Of course, like all good love stories begin, there was a boy…across the room…handsome, blond, clearly confident in his dancing abilities.
And he looked about 15. So forget that.
But he asked me to dance, helped me through a few of the more complicated steps, acted older than 15, and he really was cute…so I may as well keep coming to the dance month after month. And I did.
Fast forward ten years and what you have is a beautiful love story, orchestrated by our Maker. And that cute blond boy no longer looks 15. Fun fact: he also thought I looked about 15 and, thus, wrote me off…but was glad I kept coming month after month.
And, of course, so was I.
The Lind Family 