Day 3 -- Consulting

I started my day at 6 am today with my dear friend who lives over here. She and I always talk about curriculum and how to best nurture our kids for God's glory. It's such a great way to start a day here.

Since then, I have worked on getting all of the details together for the workshop that I will do this afternoon called 'Teaching Kindergarten through First Grade at Home: A Practical Approach. The workshop is very hands-on and gives a ton of information on what to teach when and how to do it very inexpensively with things that you can easily take from the States or get in obscure places like Estonia. It has been one of the most fun workshops that I have ever put together since we will actually do some of the fun activities together (we can act like little children for a little while). 

I have also met with a mom who has a 5th grader and a couple of younger ones. She is making decisions about what venue to use for education next year for her oldest child. They are planning for their children to attend American universities so want them to be prepared for that when it comes. Sounds easy, right? But it is quite a challenge for a student with a US passport to succeed in US university when he/she speaks, writes and reads perfectly in Albanian, but struggles with reading and writing in English (since they only get minimal education in the public system in English). So we discussed the different ways that their family could go about making the decision and all the factors to be considered. 

So now I am off to set up for this afternoon's workshop. Think popsicle sticks, feathers, beans, markers and construction paper. How fun is that?

At the Hotel

You would not believe the sheer amount of food that three teenage girls can eat. We went to a Hungarian restaurant for dinner tonight and the girls decided to 'share'. When it came it was a huge platter (think Thanksgiving turkey size) heaping with food. And they ate it. Maybe they are just storing up for the week:)

We are at the hotel where the families will come We got here just before dinner and unloaded the vans/moving truck. And really saw that the old adage -many hands make light work- really is true as 20 people unloaded and carried all of the supplies and baggage to the various rooms.



James 4:13-15 (New American Standard Bible)

 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit."

Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

 Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that."

Here am I, send me.

GETTING HERE - Miracles

Yesterday (actually Thursday, but the days get mixed up when they are combined during a flight), we got to the Santa Barbara airport and immediately saw the creativity and power of our Father. I only have a few minutes before the battery dies on this computer to write about it, but I have been sitting in bed for the past hour just recounting how amazing it was so I decided to get up and write it all down.

As soon as we got to the SB airport we found out that our flight to SanFrancisco was significantly delayed and that we would probably miss our connection to Frankfurt. The agent checking our passports started right way to work on something. She didn't tell us what it was. Finally, we deduced that she was rerouting us through LAX. A couple of minutes later, all four of us -- in the last four seats on the flight to LAX -- RAN- not walked, more than jogged - to security to get on a flight that took off only 5 minutes after we were booked on it.

We arrived in LA only to find out that the re-routing only worked for Amy:) After 45 minutes at the ticket desk waiting for the agent who was 'consulting her supervisor' in the back room (we think they might have had coffee and doughnuts in that back room, but ...), we were again given the last four tickets on a flight. Okay, this flight was completely booked but they had 4 seats. And because we have such a fun and creative Father, the seats were -- wait for it -- together. What are the odds?

So after 10+ hours on the flight to Frankfurt, we arrive too late to catch our connecting flights to Munich and on to Budapest. So we get in line to again be rebooked. Only, for some reason, we notice a different counter off to the side. I told the girls to wait in line while I checked out whether or not we could use that line (there we 50 or more people in the line that we started in). Sure enough, the line that we needed was the off-to-the-side counter with only 3 people in it. I waved the girls over and we started the rebooking process. Amy was already checked into a direct flight to Budapest but needed an escort for that leg, so even she had to wait with us. But, no worries, the flight to Budapest was delayed 20 minutes:) Maybe she would catch that flight and let everyone know what was happening with us.

Ah, but the fun never stops. My limited understanding of German came in handy as I quickly realized that the ticket agents were trying to get the three of us on the plane with Amy directly to Budapest -- she would not even need the escort. The words hurry and quick were used several time. AND then, for the second time on the trip we found ourselves RUNNING to a plane. The security screeners took us right through even though there was a line of 50-75 people. They hand checked us and we ran to the gate.

Miracles -- I'd say our Father was really on a roll:)
  1. of 4 flights for which we had tickets, we flew on none - yet arrive one hour early at our destination.
  2. the attitudes of all 4 of us were attitudes of adventure and not inconvenience - even mine:)
  3. as we landed in Budapest, tired from our trip, I asked the Father if maybe He wouldn't mind arranging something other than 4 transfers on public transportation to get to our destination and as we walked through customs, we saw a dear friend who had a ranged for a van to drive us directly there.

I was reading in John 4 on the plane. In it Jesus is traveling through Samaria and it says that He was weary from the His journey so He sat by the well. We are here now, weary from our journey, and we are sitting with the Giver of Living Water and thanking Him for taking care of us.
Then Jesus, who is tired, does this astounding thing, He starts to minister to the needs of the woman at the well, then to her whole town. Please pray that we will have HIS grace to minister to everyone around us following His example.

We are here. Today we will pack up two moving vans full of all the equipment we need to minister to these families. We will drive 2-3 hours to the hotel where we will be for the next 5-6 days and unload it. We are tired but here to serve.

Tomorrow families will arrive and we will begin to minister to them. Please ask for their safety and a sense that our Father is bigger than any circumstance that can be thrown at us or them.

Serving together with you,
Jean, Holly, Claire, and Amy (together with the SHARE Ed. Team)

Provision

Are you always amazed by what the Father does? I am. I was thinking and praying this morning about how grateful I am that I do not have to do anything in my own strength (and that in my own strength I can do nothing).

As I was getting ready for this first trip, I was struck by the fact that I would have to purchase the plane flights for both subsequent tickets before leaving. I looked in the checkbook and it really did not look like it could possible happen. But within about 36 hours I was able to purchase the tickets to Istanbul and to Central Asia AND saved about $1300 over the estimated cost of tickets. Now that is amazing. And now for the kicker, I still have enough money in the checkbook for the lodging, food, and travel expenses while we are on this first trip. If that is not something to be thankful for, I really can't imagine what is:)

So to top off the whole Provision topic: visas to certain countries are tricky to come by. And, again I am amazed. Both of the visas were granted for me and I just got word that team members who are living in Europe just got the Kazakh one. SO.... YEA!!!

Here we go today. A dear friend is traveling with us. She is 18 and we have one leg of our journey that is different from hers. Would you ask the Father to make sure that all goes well with that transition and the details that are attached to it? THANK YOU!!

Bon Voyage.

Disclaimer

Okay, this is the official and only warning that you will get. This blog will be filled - filled, I tell you - with grammatical errors and misspellings. I most likely will blog at midnight or later, but that is not the real reason. The real reason is that  I will not have my two faithful and trustworthy editors (Linda and Nancy) to fix my errors before they are sent.

I am off to finish my list of things TO DO before going.

Getting Ready

Dear friends,

This blogging thing is totally new to me, but I hope it will help me to keep you updated as I go on each of my trips. If you do not know which trips I am referring to, you can email me to find out more.

The girls and I are getting ready - packing, finishing up school stuff, straightening the house, etc. Last night Matt and I went out to eat to celebrate our 22nd anniversary. If you are saying to yourself, she is old enough to have been married that long, then I send you a special blessing. If you are saying, wow, she is old, well...

I finished the workshops, or at least the handouts for the workshops, that I will be doing in all the countries I will visit. I would really love it if you would ask the Father to lift the burdens from the shoulders of those who will be at each location. Ask also that we will be sensitive to what needs should be addressed for each family. Also that we would not do any of this through our own wisdom.

On a practical note, my knees always bother me on these long flights and there are alot of long flights in the next 6 weeks. I would love for you to lift that up as well. And, of course, safety for the teams and for the families who come.

I am really grateful for all of you and for the opportunities do do all of this! Thank you!!