A New Normal

I like the phrase "A new normal."It has a quick and to the point ability to communicate that your life is in some state of change. In order to have some sense of stability you need to function in "A new normal."

There's a problem with it though, you must find it.

Why?

Because you lost the old one and it's probably not coming back.

I imagine you've experienced it yourself with a new marriage, a new baby/child, a new job, or a new home. Regardless of your circumstances finding it takes time and a recognition of new patterns.

We have not found our "new normal" yet, but we're working on it. I don't expect our posts will have a lot of rhyme or reason, but should be interesting until "Squirrel!"


Here are a few new pictures I took when the kids and I tagged along on a field trip to a science center.

Give me Five

Redheads always have time for redheads

Climbing fun!

Good thing brothers are patient

Water-ball thingy

  Blessings to you all from South Texas.

Tarantulas and other things

So, what have we been up to lately?
 
Well, last week Elijah found a Tarantula on the sidewalk. It was upside down but not dead. He figured it must have been sunbathing (must have needed some extra vitamin D). So he scooped it up with a stick, put it into a child sized wheel barrow, and then excitedly brought it to our apartment. Although I had forewarnings that there were tarantulas at the apartments, we had not seen any yet, and I had concluded we probably wouldn't until next summer. It was with this idea that I found Elijah's news quite alarming, especially with seven-plus little kids clamoring excitedly about trying to get a peak. They were giving me advice on what should be done to it. A blow dart, as well as incineration were some of the top suggestions.
I knew from previous research that tarantulas are not lethal or even in the rank of black widows, however, the size of one in real life had me wishing I had rubber gloves and a shield of some sort as defense; doubly so, after Emma remarked that they can throw urticating hairs at you.
"What?!" my mind panicked and my feet involuntarily took two steps back.
"Urticating what?" I asked.
"Do you know what you're talking about?" I challenged.
I wanted to believe she was making this up, but I could not rule out that she may know something I did not (shocking, I know).
"They throw what?!" I looked furtively and suspiciously at the humongous spider.
"What is this? Some kind of ninja spider?" I thought to myself.
Thinking as quickly as I could, I ordered one of my children to retrieve the butterfly enclosure (the go-to for all the kids' reptilian finds). I then carefully prodded the tarantula into it with a long stick. The whole while I was ready to jump back and run if it looked to jump at me or throw its tiny hair-darts.

With it safely secured and put up from curious gawkers, I put it on top or our counter to figure out what to do with it.

That night, I researched to try and identify what kind of tarantula it was and came to the conclusion it was probably a Texas Brown Tarantula.
I also found this Youtube video of Orry Martin who implanted the idea to hold it. Yep, I said hold it. I chickened out that night, but the next day, before releasing it to the wilds, I finally got the courage to hold it.

And of course Emma had to too. She is way braver than I am when it comes to critters.

My take on it, after the initial shock, is I found I like them considerably. They are very beneficial down here for pest control and very docile. I did get to witness this one kick some hairs when I was trying to get him out of the butterfly enclose but by no means did his speed, distance, or accuracy make it into ninja star fame. I could wax on about all the fun things I learned about them but won't, you're welcome.

Here are a few more pictures of our life down here.

 

Back in School

Studying hard

Eli's fashion non-sense

A close up.

Rain clouds

Some of the rain from Friday and Saturday.

Two redhead friends

Time to get to work. Bless you all in your own adventures.

Getting Settled

Are we settled? Yes, as far as unpacking goes, we are. Have I got my bearings in the Brownsville/Harlingen area? Nope, still working on it.

We have not made it to the beach yet as there is a stinky red tide affecting the area. Hopefully we will soon though, since two of my boys, Elijah and Jonathan, have already bought some boogie boards to hit the waves with.
 

So, how did Scott's first day and subsequent days of work go from the perspective of his wife? It went well. I can tell it will be a good challenge for him. His eyes seem to be larger now with the influx of information and to-do lists before him, but not undoable or unenjoyable. He has mentioned many areas he wants to jump in and start working on, but presently he is just trying to get a good scope of what all needs to be addressed, and what takes top priority right now. I am happy for him.

Campus life as been good. I thought it would be more difficult to adjust to but it hasn't thus far. Things are pretty different from the norm but not bad. Take for example: Today, I had a living room full of boys watching a movie on our projector. They were being so good and quiet.

Most days the kids spend the majority of their time playing outside with their new friends and the shared outdoor toys. People here watch each other's kids, and in doing so the kids seem to have a larger area to canvas and subsequently more freedom.

I must say it is really is exciting to be here. We played rugby, a really mild version of it, with missionaries going to Ireland. Today, I visited with missionaries who are leaving soon for southern Mexico, to live there, to love people and present them with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. A couple nights ago, we sat down with a family  in their second year of training, contemplating some really hard places to take the good news. I expected to see fear in their faces but what I saw was a supernatural love for people and a determination that Christ is worth far more than their very lives. These people are so ordinarily extraordinary!

Pray for these new friends of ours. They are the salt and light going into dark places.  

On a different note, Fall doesn't exist here. It's the middle of October but my body thinks God has stopped the seasons. Do I mind? Surprisingly, no, my feet aren't cold at night.





 

The Anchor Holds.

Hello blogger world, this is Charissa. I know a different poster brings a different flavor, but hopefully it is not too unpleasant of a one.

As I was thinking of a blog post title, these words, "The Anchor Holds," popped into my mind as a good description of where I am spiritually in our wild adventure in the south. However, "The Anchor Holds" is also a song sung by Ray Boltz. I've heard it before but it is not a song that I have ever called to mind, perhaps because it reeks of the 90's. So, I acknowledge it's a song but I am not referring to it as my heart song.

What I mean is, through all the trials of making huge decisions to leave home, hearth, extended family and friends, the anchor that is Christ has remained strong and steady. By His grace, and through the many prayers offered up by the saints on our behalf, I have found Him to be that anchor, that strong tower that is my home. He has not left me or our family and that is my comfort. So I write, right now, with my right hand, that it is very well with my soul. The homesickness that I anticipated has not come and I am content. The anchor holds fast and I am thankful that when He is our ground, our true home, we will not be adrift for long.

Below are pictures I took along the way of our journey. Some from before, during and after.

This cake was shared with us the last Sunday we were with our church family. I truly appreciate the love that went into getting it for our commissioning as stateside missionaries. We truly love you CBC family!

A good friend with a great smile!

Here are a few more of the smiling faces that sent us on our way.

 This was taken on day two in the middle of Nevada. It was so beautiful! I felt like we were in New Zealand, or Lord of the Rings.

Where'd he come from?

Driving into a mountain. Not really, but it kinda looked like that for a while.

 That little person is Emma. The magnitude of these columns were staggering! I can not tell you how beautiful God made these rocks. I wish you could transport there to see for yourself.

 This flower was a walk by shot on the way from the rest stop. It wasn't until I saw this on the computer that I noticed the tiny detail of these flowers. This is where I should have had a tripod. However, I am thankful for what I did get.

They look like tentacles.

 Here, we made it to our new home with new friends. David is in the center helping Lydia hoist up Shania on a make shift zip-line. Oh the adventures to come at the 6th street campus!

 Here is our little motorist loving the freedom to use any of the riding toys he can get his hands on. The scowl is on account of being a redhead on an overcast day.

 Notice our new plates. Yesterday we registered our vehicle and changed our driver's licenses. Felt pretty real when they took our Washington ones away =(

This is Emma stalking a lizard. She's a reptile kinda girl. I love her adventurous spirit.

That ends your visual candy for the day. Today is Scott's first day on the job and I am anxious to hear how it went.
Until next time. Blessings to you!

We made it to Texas!

We made it!

We arrived in Texas on Sunday evening and are now getting settled in Los Fresnos!

Our travel blog with pictures can be seen here: https://findpenguins.com/perry/trip/texas-2015.

Adding some additional pictures here.

First day on the road

We got drinks!

Take a swig!

Big rocks, where is Waldo?

Family wheel

Near the end of the trip, soo bored

One dead tree

Dry and mountainous

Lake Mead

Gearing up for Texas

Welcome to our ministry blog! We aim to use this as a way to provide periodic updates to those who are interested in what we are doing.

So begins a new chapter as we gear up for a move to the country state of Texas, to the city of Los Fresnos located in the southern tip.

We visited Los Fresnos in the spring and the weather was warm, slightly humid, and the ocean water was so nice!

It can get hot in Texas, but we're not going there for the weather or the beach, but to live for the glory of God.

So, why Texas?

Scott has accepted the position of IT Systems & Help Desk Administrator at To Every Tribe. He will be serving the ministry and missionaries by providing technology support and training. Technology brings glory to God because He made it and has given men the knowledge to scratch the surface of God's genius! May we use these resources to aid in the gospel going forth to all nations!

"To Every Tribe was founded in 2003 by David and Tommi Sitton, former missionaries to Papua New Guinea.   To Every Tribe has a two-year missionary training program at our Center for Pioneer Church Planting (CPCP) and sends missionaries through our Missionary Sending Agency (MSA)." ¹

"[The] CPCP endeavors to train and mentor cross-cultural missionaries for the remaining unreached regions of the world where there is still no grace, no gospel, and no name for Jesus Christ." ²

"The MSA facilitates, develops, supervises, and leads the field missionaries and ministries of To Every Tribe. The goal of the MSA is to have field missionaries who are not simply surviving on the field, but thriving." ³

Please pray for us as we embark on this new journey, that we may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.

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1 http://www.toeverytribe.org/about/ ↩
2 http://www.toeverytribe.org/cpcp/about/ ↩
3 http://www.toeverytribe.org/missionary-sending-agency/ ↩