Bitter Sweet Day

Thursday, September 18^th was a sweet day for our family, because as you know, our 3 youngest children gave their lives over to Jesus.  However, it was also a bitter day for us as well.  Not only did Josiah fall from the top railing of a balcony (about 20 feet high), which could have been fatal…but my father, Rob Campbell, passed away from an unexpected heart attack.  We are saddened by the loss but also rejoicing that he is with Jesus!  AND I am thankful I didn’t have to experience 2 deaths in my family in one day.

I will start off by sharing about Josiah’s fall and end with a tribute on behalf of my dad.  Some of you may have already read about this on Facebook, but for those that don’t use Facebook this will be news to you.  Extended from the kids’ bedroom is a balcony with couches, etc.  We have told the kids that they are not allowed on the balcony unless mom or dad are with them.  Early on Thursday evening Josh was downstairs preparing dinner for the entire household and I was in our bedroom typing my latest blog “3 Special Salvations – Our Children.”  Suddenly I hear a scream from the kids and am wondering who’s fighting with whom.  Then the scream became more alarming and I knew something wasn’t right.  Josh and I both heard it and ran towards where the scream was coming from – outside in the back.  We found Josiah sitting on the tile flooring outside all by himself.  I immediately go to him and pick him up.  Then Gracie tells us that Josiah fell from the balcony.  We had her repeat what she was saying because it was too unbelievable.  It turns out that he and Gracie were playing on the balcony.  Josiah was on the couch, which leans up against one of the side railings.  He then proceeded to climb on top of the railing.  I’m not sure exactly what happened after that, if he decided to climb over the railing and stand on the little ledge or if he just stood up on top of the railing, but Josiah tells us that he then decided to let go.  Of course, doing so he lost his balance and fell to the ground.  We checked him for a concussion and any protruding bones, bumps, bruises, etc., and miraculously he had nothing but a scratch on the bottom of his left pinky toe.  The moment we found him we began praying over his body and that no injuries would result.  We also PRAISED THE LORD for sending angels to protect our sweet, brave little Josiah.  There’s no way he could have fallen that far without help from above.  Josiah was a bit rattled, understandably, but he woke up the next morning saying his feet (mainly left one) feels great.  Josh and I have scoped it out and put pressure on it to see if he flinches in pain at all, because we’ve noticed him favor his foot and limp a little, but he says it doesn’t hurt at all.  We continue to declare wholeness over his entire body, and my heart cannot express how grateful I am that he was protected that day.  What causes a righteous anger in me is that the enemy knows Josiah just gave his life to Jesus that very morning.  I don’t think he liked that one bit and would love to end Josiah’s life early, but I know all of heaven is rejoicing because Josiah is part of God’s family FOREVER no matter what, and even earthly death cannot separate him from God now!

I don’t like how the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy.  He’s a punk!  On the same day that Josiah gave his life to Jesus, I received heartbreaking news that my dad, Rob Campbell, passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack.  I will rewind to how that all happened.  It was actually the morning of Friday, September 19^th in Africa when I woke up early and picked up my phone to see what time it was.  I believe it was around 6am.  I had received a private message via Facebook from someone saying that they were sorry to hear the news and that they love our family and are praying for us.  I was puzzled at first but then thought maybe they were referring to Josiah’s fall from the balcony so I thanked them for their message and then moved on.  Although, there was still something not quite right to me about the message I received because I had spoken to this person in years.  I then noticed that I had been tagged in some Facebook posts so I began reading those.  The same pattern of “I’m sorry for your loss” and “our prayers are with you,” were plastered all over Facebook.  At that point I sat up in bed and noticed Josh was reading posts on his phone.  He said that he read some posts about “Uncle Bob” so he said to me, “Don’t worry, it’s about Uncle Bob.”  I said, “Yes, my cousins and aunts and uncles call him that.”  In my spirit I knew something was wrong and sensed that my dad had passed away, but it wasn’t confirmed until my sister, Amber, sent me a message to have me call her.  Fortunately, we can make phone calls back and forth through Facebook for free…..something we discovered not too long ago!  She informed me that Dad passed away that afternoon from an unexpected heart attack while at a cross-country meet in Kimberly.  Some middle school girls found him lying on the ground (he may have possibly hit his head during the fall) and tried to roll him over but couldn’t so they cried out for help.  Some others went to find my brother, Ryan, whom also helped coach.  My mom was back in Shelley at the time.  They tried to resuscitate him, but I believe after 40+ minutes my brother told everyone he was gone.  I can’t imagine being my brother, Ryan, and seeing my dad lay their lifeless, but my understanding is that he had peace and was comforted.  My dad passed away doing something he loved.  For those that don’t know my dad, he was passionate about running and coached for many, many years.  I allowed the tears to come as Josh wrapped his arm around me, but immediately my heart broke for my mom.  As I explained to my kids, “Grandma just lost her honey.  He’s not on earth anymore where we can see him, but he is alive with Jesus.”  My sweet, little Christian has been so sensitive about the situation since he heard the news.  He came up to me later that morning and said, “Mom, it’s okay to be sad.”  Then he gave me a big hug!  He also asked if it would be okay if he told people in the house about what happened so that they could pray for “grandpa”.  He colored me pictures all throughout the day, even one of grandpa as an angel.

Some call it “Campbell stubbornness” but I’d like to call it determination – that’s one thing I inherited from my dad.  He’s always been a hard worker and was blessed with many incredible talents – teaching, coaching, painting, building things, creating new foods or concoctions (okay, that’s a Campbell inside joke) – just to name a few.  He will be forever in my heart and honored in our home.  His grandchildren will grow up knowing all about him.  I tell Christian all the time that he has Grandpa Campbell’s smile and it’s soooo true!!

For those that know my background, they know my beliefs are different than my family’s.  HOWEVER, all week long our family has been talking about John 3:16.  I know my dad believed in Jesus.  In the body of Christ, there are many doctrines or teachings that have been developed that divide the church (which is unfortunate), but the truth is that JESUS is the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him [John 14:6].  The greater our understanding of this truth is, the greater we’ll walk in freedom!  I asked the Lord to show me what my dad was up to, and this is the picture I got:

My dad was laying on the ground, younger in his years, and a puppy dog was licking him on the face.  He was smiling and laughing, rocking back and forth on his side - full of joy!  Sometimes pictures I receive are symbolic, and I believe the Lord was saying that joy and childlikeness has fully returned to my dad and that he’s having a GREAT time in heaven!!

I will be flying back to the States, arriving on Tuesday, to attend my dad’s viewing and funeral service the following 2 days.  The Lord is my provider and I trust in Him for this journey!  Please cover Josh and the kids in your prayers while I’m away.

On behalf of everyone that has shared their condolences, love, prayers and support – THANK YOU!!

3 Special Salvations - Our Children!!!

Every morning before starting school, we spend time as a family worshipping the Lord through song and dance, and then we talk about whatever the Lord has placed on our hearts to talk about.  Sometimes we pray for things on our hearts, sometimes we talk about our feelings, sometimes we share pictures God may be giving us so that we can discuss/pray into the meaning of them.  Who knew that this morning was going to be a very special day for our family and 3 youngest children…..!

After worship and prayer, we began by reviewing the Bible verse we’ve been talking about this week: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  After Josh had them repeat it a few times, I asked them who the “Son” was referring to.  I don’t want to take for granted and assume that they already know.  It’s good to ask probing questions to affirm one’s understanding of something.  I then felt led to explain to our kids what “perish” meant and the difference between that and eternal life.  When we receive Jesus into our life, even when we die physically on this earth, we will live forever with Him in Heaven.  As we were about to move on, I had these thoughts going on in my head: I’m sure my children have already received Jesus.  They go to church.  We’ve talked about it.  There’s no need to ask them now………..But then Holy Spirit prompted me to ASK them if they believe in Jesus and have received Him into their lives/hearts.  Christian seemed unsure if he had or not.  Gracie and Josiah said no.  I went on to tell them that receiving Jesus into one’s life is a personal choice that we must all make at some point – there is no right or wrong age for when we do it, there is no right or wrong way for how we do it.  Why?  Because God looks at the heart and not at our religious approach or traditions.  I told them that if they ever want to receive Jesus into their life to let Mommy and Daddy know and we’d help them, or they could just ask Jesus into their lives on their own.  Growing up I know how detrimental it is to make decisions for yourself and not based on others’ expectations of you, so I said nothing further and didn’t want them to feel pressured or manipulated into making the choice today.  Right as we were about to move on, Christian says, “I want to receive God/Jesus into my heart TODAY!”  This was a bold decision for Christian because often times he tends to shy back and fears the “unknown” – like what it will look like to allow Jesus to live in Him through the Holy Spirit – but I am so proud of him for choosing to be bold and be an example for his younger brother and sister!  I mean, his whole face lit up and he was grinning from ear to ear when he said it!!  When Gracie and Josiah realized what was happening, they too decided to receive Jesus into their hearts!!  I will briefly mention, so as to not exclude Jade, that she gave her life to the Lord already when she was younger and has been seeking after Him ever since!  Josh helped the kids to vocalize their decision to God through prayer (a simple conversation with Him).  Of course, joyful tears were streaming down my face!!

I expressed to the kids how they just made the best decision of their lives!!  I shared with them how, ever since they were born, I’ve prayed that they would all know Jesus at a young age – and when I say “know”, I’m referring to having a personal relationship with Him.  I shared with them how Mommy didn’t understand fully what this meant until I was almost 25 years old, and even then God took me on a long journey of discovering who I am as His daughter!  I shared with them how angels and a cloud of witnesses in heaven were rejoicing over them at that very moment!!  They just smiled!

We’ve been praying over our kids that they would see angels and that God would speak to them in their dreams, amongst other things.  We invite angels into their rooms and into our home every night.  Jade began to share how she’s seen angels before.  She said one time she saw a very large angel laying in our bed in Pemba, Mozambique 2 years ago.  It was during the first few weeks when we were there and our entire family was sleeping in one room.  She said we weren’t laying in the bed at the time, just the angel was, and his feet hung way over the bed….he was VERY large.  She then shared how she saw another angel at our old rental house that we just moved out of.  The angel was standing in the corner and its wings were encircling our entire home.  Then Christian said one day he saw Jesus.  We asked when that was.  He said at the hospital.  We asked when he was at the hospital, and he said, “When I was a baby I saw Jesus in the hospital.”  We asked what Jesus looked like, and he said Jesus had brown hair and was wearing a white “thing” (he didn’t know what to call it) and that Jesus looked a little older than Daddy. 

I love how our kids are learning that they can have a close relationship with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit NOW, and that they’re not far away or a figment of the imagination like many think.  For those reading this whom haven’t made the personal choice to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, it’s never too late!  God loves you right where you’re at, and He wants you to experience His love like never before.  That is the gospel in its simplest form.  Many have accepted the idea of Jesus or teachings about Jesus but still don’t know Him.  Some live in bondage of fear, offense, lies, bitterness, unforgiveness, hurts, pride, control, etc., but God’s word promises us an abundant life – a life full of peace, love, joy, patience…..FREEDOM!!!  His word also says that we shall know the truth and the truth will set us free!!  When you know Jesus, it transforms your life and you are free to love Him no matter the cost!  For me to love Jesus, it cost me my pride, it cost me giving up my right to be right, it cost me surrendering my life to Him – oh yes – there is a cost.  It will require you to let go of things, but in the end it is so worth it.  At some point the Lord is going to have me type up my testimony, my story, but until then I will leave you with this………………

Psalm 118:24 - Today is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it!!  Thanks for rejoicing with us!!

Footprints

To go to villages in Africa where they have very little and yet do not complain, that’s where I want to be!  To see children line up with excitement – bowls and cups in hand – waiting to be served a simple meal of porridge and cabbage with juice to drink………..it’s priceless!

We’ve had the opportunity to go to an Iris base called Footprints in Lammermoor, South Africa on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of this past week.  The first day was a bit more challenging because our own kids were still experiencing jet lag and were tired.  Christian became very dehydrated and began throwing up after a few hours of being there and playing with the children, so we ended the day earlier than expected and headed home.  Christian woke up the next day feeling much better, and we have remedied the dehydration problem by purchasing water bottles for each child.  We fill them up multiple times a day, and they have all done great with drinking water now.

During our second visit, we were greeted by many sweet smiles from the smaller children that live on base.  I am proud to say that I have learned all of the little ones’ names.  I believe there are 28 children that live on the base, but we have yet to spend much time with the older ones.  Josiah has made friends with a few boys his age, specifically Duncan and Mikey, and I like to think of them as The Three Stooges!  They all have quite the personalities and keep us laughing!  The children have enjoyed the area as they have a playground, sandbox, trampolines, horses (Captain & Charlie) and other pets.  I’ve been told that there are pet snakes somewhere, but I have yet to see them…Jade is okay with that! ;-)

We went with a team on outreach to a village called Allveville.  We brought yogurt and frozen fruit drinks with us and simply loved on the children there.  I encountered great teaching opportunities with our children during this time.  Gracie and Josiah were both wanting yogurt, but I explained to them that they wouldn’t be having any unless there were some left over (which we gathered there wouldn’t be).  We brought a backpack with snacks for them anyways, just in case it was a longer day than expected.  I wanted our children to know that it wasn’t because they were “undeserving” of these special treats, but I took the opportunity to explain to them why we were there and what we were doing.  I basically taught out of Matthew 25:35-40 and explained to them how these African children sometimes go without meals and rarely get special treats like this.  Jesus commanded us to go and feed the poor so that’s what we’re doing.  Josiah and I then went on a walk to where the garbage piles were.  I told him that the children live in these little homes surrounding the piles of garbage and sometimes there are people who even live in the garbage dumps and look for food there because they don’t have food to eat like we do.  He said, “Ewww.”  I told him it’s sad and that’s why we’re here to help them.  He was really soaking it up in his spirit because as we walked back to the group he said, “Mom, can you tell me that again?  I want to hear it again what you just told me.”  He then asked me to walk over to the garbage dumps so that I could explain to him the truth of God’s word again.  It so touched my heart that he was actually absorbing in his own heart what I was speaking about!  There was one little boy there whom Josiah really connected with.  He began playing chase/tag with him and both were giggling the entire time.  The boy found it funny that we hid behind a parked vehicle so he couldn’t see us and then we slowly snuck up behind him (because his back was towards us) and surprised him!  Shortly after, it was time for us to head home.  Josh did enjoy his time there, not only hanging with the little children, but also visiting with a couple of the teen boys there...encouraging them with their dreams.  What a glorious day!

The next day, Friday, September 12^th, we went to Donald’s Village to feed the children there (after spending some time at Footprints and making paper airplanes for some of the children).  As the village children gathered, they lined up with their bowls and cups (for possibly the only meal they’ve had that day, I’m not really sure) and some other team members dished them up porridge, cabbage and juice.  They were thrilled!  I was blessed to pray for some ladies while there and speak into their identity.  In case anyone is wondering, they do speak English where we are.  While playing in the dirt, Gracie was swarmed by a bunch of children.  Everyone loves her blonde hair (which I just cut about 6” off of).  She handled it rather well and didn’t shy away from them like she normally might.  I did check in with her to see if she was okay, and she just kept on playing in the dirt.  Gracie may be shy at times, but she does have a boldness and fearlessness in her!  I see more and more how content our kids are to simply play in the dirt – the simple life.  One of the team members brought nail polish so Jade enjoyed painting the little girls’ nails yellow and pink.  There was music playing, and I tell you what, these little African girls can dance!!  It was such a place of joy!

These village children may live in shacks, wear dirty/holey clothes and not have much food, but in my experience I have never heard them complain.  I don’t think they deserve to live that way, but I do believe we can all learn a little something from them.  When you begin to focus on your troubles or lacks, then the enemy pounces on the opportunity to enlarge them and tell you lies so that your situations or circumstance become worse in your mind than they really are.  That is why God commands us to focus on the positive [Philippians 4:8].  When things don’t go exactly the way you expected or envisioned they would, stop for a minute and ponder the following – God, where are you in the midst of this?  Help me to see where you’re at work so that I can grow closer to you!  Because the truth is, God is always at work.  Don’t accept the saying that “everything happens for a reason” because not everything that happens is part of God’s plan, but God will use everything in our lives for good if we allow Him to.  We just need to make sure we’re magnifying the positive instead of the negative in our lives.  This is called having a heavenly or kingdom perspective, and when you focus on the truth instead of the fact, it will set you free!

We Made It To Africa!!

Our traveling experience with Emirates Airlines has been incredible!!  We thank God that he blessed us with affordable plane tickets through the best international airline company known.  We’ve experienced very little turbulence and extremely smooth landings and take-offs.  AND I’m happy to announce that no one’s ears hurt either!!  We experienced no popping or blocked hearing upon our landing in Africa.  Thank you to those that covered this in prayer. During the flight from Dubai to Johannesburg, Africa (which was non-stop), I (Mindy) finally caught some sleep.  It was an 8-hour flight and I do not know how long I slept, but all I know is I woke up to a voice on the intercom announcing that we’d be landing in 20 minutes.  The kids slept most of the time too.  An 8-hour flight only felt like a couple of hours to us.  We did put the 2 youngest children (Gracie & Josiah) in pull-ups during our flying travels, just to be safe, but we are happy to say that they both stayed dry the entire time!  Christian even got to experience losing his 1^st tooth all on its own too!  He actually had 3 baby teeth pulled shortly before leaving the States because an adult tooth wasn’t coming in properly, but this was the first tooth that fell out all on its own and while flying of all places!!  It’s not every day you lose a tooth on the plane!

One thing to cover in prayer is the kids’ glasses.  We only have 1 pair for Gracie (for those that don’t know she got glasses about 1 week before leaving).  Both she and Josiah are currently farsighted.  We “had” 2 pairs of glasses for Josiah, but the nose piece broke on his newest pair so we have reverted back to him wearing his old pair (which are actually better) and are praying that super glue will do the trick with his other glasses.  Pray that we have no more problems with glasses.  Even better yet, pray that eyes are healed!!

Upon landing in Johannesburg, South Africa we were faced with an escalator and no elevator.  It’s very challenging to get all your little ones on the moving escalator along with their suitcases and backpacks.  Fortunately, we were blessed by 2 people who insisted on helping us.  When we got to the bottom, an airport worker got carts for all our carry-ons and backpacks, another huge blessing because at this point the younger kids were tired and could no longer carry theirs – which meant Josh and I were carrying 2, sometimes 3, backpacks on our shoulders in addition to pulling 1, sometimes 2/3 suitcases on wheels.  Our shoulders were fairly sore at this point.  Wishing our favorite masseuse was here to massage us!!  You know who you are! ;-)  Aside from that, our kids did very well traveling and doing their part with carrying or pulling their own luggage.  What troopers!!

After our carry-ons and backpacks were loaded onto carts by the worker, she continued to lead us to customs and passed the ginormous line of people waiting.  That’s right, she took us to the VERY FRONT of the line (which looked a mile long!)  This probably saved us 1 ½ to 2 hours of waiting in line.  Then she and another lady worker helped to locate our 3 tubs, which don’t come through the regular baggage claim conveyor belts, and got us more carts for our remaining 9 suitcases.  After loading everything onto 5, yes 5 carts, they assisted with pushing them out to the front doors where we waited for our shuttle driver, Ralph, to pick us up with his car and trailer.  He arrived around 5:30pm and took us to Pretoria (about 1 hour away) where a couple named Fred and Rene have opened up their beautiful, did I say beautiful, home to us!

A team of young adults met us at the gates where they unloaded all of our luggage for us.  Our family was given 2 rooms to sleep in and a bathroom.  We were prepared for Pemba, so for those that are familiar with that area, our kids keep asking, “Where’s the red dirt and ocean?!”  There are many young adult missionaries living in the home with us, but in the future things will be changing.  We don’t know how long we will be here, but we are praying for clarity and clear direction on that.  If you receive anything from the Lord related to our family, please feel free to share it with us via e-mail or private message in Facebook.  Even if it doesn’t make sense to you, it very well might make sense to us!  A very delicious dinner was prepared on our behalf, and we enjoyed sitting with everyone in the dining room (which isn’t a custom with everyone’s different schedules but they wanted to honor us and we felt very honored).

We’ve posted various updates on Facebook, but for those that don’t use Facebook, we are experiencing some jet lag in our family but there’s actually a funny story behind that.  So, as you’ve read in our last blog, our kids were wide awake at 4am in Dubai.  For their first morning in South Africa, they woke up at “5:30am” so we looked at this as progress…..!  We decided to spend some time talking with the kids about how they’re feeling so far and then for those that wanted to they prayed over various things.  We then decided to worship together to a few songs – fast, lively songs like, “This is What You Do” and “Deep Cries Out”.  We did try to be somewhat quiet because we didn’t know who’d be awake at 7:30am.  Josh also read Psalm 91 over our family.  Afterwards we decided to head downstairs for some breakfast.  Not long after, one of the young adults came down and said he was headed to preach to some students.  He normally has to be there at 7am.  In our minds we’re thinking, um, you’re a little late this morning.  That’s when the light bulb went off…..!!  After asking him what time it was, it turns out it was only 6:45am instead of 8:45am like we thought.  That means the kids actually woke up at 3am instead of 5am like we thought, oh my!  It turns out our phone clocks were still going off the Dubai time zone and hadn’t recalculated, our bad!  We hope we didn’t wake anyone with our family worship time. J  Although, as our Vineyard Meridian Pastor Reeni pointed out, waking up to a family worshiping the One they adore isn’t so bad!

Today was our first full day in South Africa, and both Josh and I felt like it was to be a day of “chillin’.”No plans, no “we have to get unpacked/organized”, just simply hanging with the kids.  It turns out we all needed it because we ended up taking a family nap around 9/10am and slept until about 1pm. We decided to wake the kids up so they’d actually go to sleep at a decent time tonight.  When I woke up my phone said 3pm, and I was worried that I had missed our Skype session with my parents at 2pm, but then Josh pointed out that the time on my phone still hadn’t updated to the South African time zone and it was really only 1pm.  Phew!!  Unfortunately, the Skype session never happened because Grandma and Grandpa Campbell (my parents) were having connectivity issues.  Pray that gets resolved soon!  We are being diligent with getting the kids adjusted to the time difference from America (8 hours different) so we kept them up for the remainder of the day so they would actually go to sleep at night.  They managed to fall asleep around 9-9:30pm, with the exception of Christian whom stayed up playing Legos and coloring in our bed until 10:30pm.  Please pray that the kids sleep in until at least 7am.

Our plans for tomorrow morning (Tuesday) are to head to the Footprints base in Johannesburg to meet the director, Pastor Yolanda, and the rest of the team.  Excited to love on some children!!  We’ll write another blog on how that visit goes.  It’s now midnight so I’m going to try and get some rest.  Until next time………..

And We're Off!!

….and we’re off!!  We said our “see you laters” to family and loved ones and boarded our first flight out of Boise, Idaho Friday afternoon on September 5th.  It was an emotional time, especially for Josh, as it's the first time in almost 38 years that he's been away from his parents.  They've always lived in the same city, and his dad is one of his bestest friends!  Thank you to those that showed up at the airport and also to those that wanted to be there but couldn’t make it but were covering us in prayer.  Prayer is powerful and we have definitely been covered and experienced God’s blessings and favor!

It’s one thing to go on vacation with a family and pack a few suitcases.  It’s a whole other story packing up and moving your family of 6 across the world.  The Lord gave us much wisdom on how to pack, what to pack and techniques to use that would enable us to locate our luggage quickly, and it has all proven to be very successful.  Josh had the brilliant idea to wrap orange duct tape around our luggage handles so we could locate our carry-on luggage quickly on the carts after landing in Seattle and at the baggage claim in South Africa.  We even numbered each one of them so that we can locate them quickly upon arriving in South Africa, in addition to making lists for what was in each suitcase (in case any luggage gets misplaced).  When the lady was checking us in at the Boise Airport, she said I should write a book to help travelers with packing techniques.  Maybe I will, maybe I will!  I was very diligent when it came to packing and weighing each suitcase and tub because I didn’t want to pay any overweight fees, which could apply to each airline we use (in our case only two: Alaska Airlines & Emirates).  I’m proud to say that we made the weight limits and even came under weight on a couple of suitcases.  We were a couple of lbs over on one, but we just took a few items out and shoved them in another suitcase that was 10 lbs underweight.  Maybe we could have fit Gracie Beers in our suitcase after all!!  Wink, wink Mel Beers!  There is also a weight limit on carry-ons, and we knew we were way overweight on those, but we were praying that they wouldn’t even weigh them…and sure enough they didn’t, thank you Lord!!  I’ll just say we’ve had the smoothest check-ins I’ve ever experienced, especially with 12 large suitcases/tubs and 12 carry-on suitcases/back packs.  We discovered that, because our layover in Dubai is longer than 12 hours, they wouldn’t be able to check our luggage in all the way through to Johannesburg, South Africa.  They did suggest, however, that we check with the airline in Seattle to see if their system would allow them to do it.  Of course, that’s what we asked and prayed for, and once again the Lord came through for us!  While in Seattle Josh checked with a boarding assistant, they re-tagged all 12 pieces of our luggage and checked them in all the way through to South Africa, hallelujah!  Upon arriving in Seattle, we got off the plane and faced multiple flights of stairs.  When trying to figure out how the kids were going to manage pulling their suitcases up the stairs, a worker came around the corner and led us to the elevators.  What a blessing that was!

Our first stop out of Seattle was in Dubai, which is where I am currently typing this blog while the rest of the family sleeps.  Everyone slept great on the plane, except me.   I didn’t sleep at all, but I thank God that He blesses me with supernatural rest often.  During our flight Josiah kept looking out the window and saying, “We’re not flying, we’re not flying.”  He said this because everything looked the same, just sky and clouds below, so he thought we weren’t moving.  What a cutie-patootie.  We call him “joy boy” because he’s always making us laugh and is constantly full of joy and smiling!

Upon getting off the plane in Dubai, we had 2 gentleman offer to help us carry our luggage.  We must have made quite the scene with our children and 12 carry-ons.  Just imagine what it would have been like to carry those on top of 12 more checked suitcases/bins!  The hotel we are staying in is absolutely beautiful!  The boys got a kick out of the front entrance glass doors that open and close (like at Wal-Mart), and pretended to have special powers like in Star Wars.  While checking into our hotel, a lady randomly came up to Gracie and started petting her hair and saying it’s beautiful and looks like Barbie.  Let the “petting” of Gracie’s hair begin.  This is exactly what happened when we came to Africa 2 years ago because people there aren’t used to seeing blonde hair, and Gracie’s is definitely blonde!  We are blown away by the beauty of our rooms, a suite with 2 rooms in 1.  Of course, we put all the kids in one room so that we could enjoy some privacy of our own! ;-)  We have a balcony which overlooks the beautiful city of Dubai.  There is even a swimming pool on the roof, although we won’t have time to enjoy it during this visit, as we must leave the hotel @ 7AM to catch our next flight.  In comparing time to Idaho, we are currently 10 hours later.  When Josh and I first looked at plane tickets and were deciding whether to stay overnight and get a hotel or choose a route with a 9-hour layover in the airport, we decided to go with the option of staying overnight so the kids could get some good rest and we’d just spend a little extra money on a room.  Well, then God put it on our hearts to ask our friend, Samantha (whom we just briefly and recently met within the last year), whom used to live in Dubai if she knew of anyone that could host our family for a night.  She wasn’t able to find anyone, but her mom (Elsa) so generously offered to take care of and pay for ALL of our sleeping and transportation arrangements.  We have been blessed by a lovely woman, whom until this evening, we hadn’t even met before.  I love how the body of Christ comes together in ways like this, and we are truly grateful and humbled by Elsa’s love for us and our children.  She not only met us at the airport while holding a beautiful “butterfly” sign with our names on it, but she arranged for us to be delivered to our hotel room and bought us dinner and personally delivered it to our room – while staying for a while to visit.  On top of that, she did a little shopping and purchased outfits for each of the kids and blessed me with some beautiful rose-gold jewelry!  Oh wait, and there’s more………..  She bought us some yummy chocolates to top off our dinner with.  Hip, hip hooray to Elsa and her beautiful heart of gold!!  We are thankful to have met her.  Now she’s a part of our journey and we’ll never forget her!

I am happy to announce that no one has gotten motion sickness on the fights nor are anyone’s ears bothering them.  The reason I bring this up is because we were praying over these two things after our last experience going to and coming back from Africa.  On our way there 2 years ago, my ears remained clogged for 2 weeks until they finally decided to pop and clear up.  It was painful for at least the first few days but not this time!  Also, on our way home during our last trip to Africa, Josiah threw up on the descent/landing on two separate occasions.  So, now you know why this is such a big deal and another blessing from the Lord!

Some of you may not know the most recent changes in our plans, but right now we are currently headed to Johannesburg and will be staying with a couple there (instead of on a base) until God directs us otherwise.  We will arrive there Sunday afternoon, South African time – around 8AM MST (in Idaho).  We will have many opportunities to serve at Footprints, the Iris ministry there, because their need is great.  We have chosen to live each day at a time, asking God what He’s up to for each day so we can partner with Him in what He’s doing.  We are continually learning what a surrendered life looks like, and I recently came across this article that speaks directly about the things that are going on in my heart……

“Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” Psalm 37:7

Surrendering your life means:

- Following God’s lead without knowing where He’s sending you.

- Waiting for God’s timing without knowing when it will come.  Not being afraid to step out and take risk because you know He is with you.

- Expecting a miracle without knowing how God will provide.

- Trusting God’s purpose without understanding the circumstances.

You know your life is surrendered to God when you stop trying harder to control situations and start trusting Him more.

All God wants is ALL OF YOU.  Are you willing to give Him that?  I pray that as you each go on your own personal journeys in life, you experience in greater levels what it means to surrender your life to Him and to love Him with everything that you are!  We definitely don’t have it all figured out, but we know THE ONE who does and we’re choosing to lay down our lives for His glory!!  Loves to you all and thank you for your continued support and prayers!