celebrate

Summer is a season of celebration in our family, as 3 out of us5 have birthdays,

and then of course, our home nation celebrates its birthday too!

left: Elise and Amy celebrate their 19th(!)  middle: Mark celebrates a few days later  right: July 4th

The birthday candles and the sparklers twinkle in the darkness, and I think about how much joy and wonderful good there is right here in the middle of being a family together. 

These celebrations are mile markers; reminders to look back with thanksgiving, grateful to the God of life, the One Who gives each breath, each smile!  And reminders to look forward with hope, to trust Him for the year ahead, full of unknowns, and full of opportunities to see His hand at work, faithful as the years are long!

center: Michael, Amy and Elise drive off to a day of work at camp   sides: Elise's sparkler photos

a different sort of thanksgiving prayer...

"O God, when I have food, 

help me to remember the hungry;

 

When I have work, 

help me to remember the jobless;

When I have a home, 

help me to remember those who have no home at all;

When I am without pain, 

help me to remember those who suffer,

And remembering, help me to destroy my complacency; 

 bestir my compassion, and be concerned enough to help, 

 by word and deed, 

those who cry out for what we take for granted. 

Amen."

A Thanksgiving Prayer by Samuel F. Pugh

one month ago

One month ago today we arrived back in our home country.

It's been a month of good things - of reasons to give thanks!

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; 

His love endures forever.

1 Chronicles 16:34

We've basked in the loveliness of the Northwest,

especially as we traipse through local trails.

We've treasured time with our families,

celebrating birthdays, early and late

(above, 5 family members share the candles on one cake!)

and catching up with one another.

There's nothing like family!

We love you all, and are deeply grateful for this time with you.

“There is no doubt that it is around the family 

and the home 

that all the greatest virtues, 

the most dominating virtues of human society,

 are created, strengthened and maintained.”
― Winston Churchill

two suitcases and a carry-on

   Look around the house. If you were asked to whittle it all down to just two suitcases and a carry-on, what few things would make the cut?  Grandma’s cookie lifter.  All the handmade cards from our children.  The clothing that’s not yet threadbare.  A dog-eared book or two.  The computer, of course.  Snacks for the journey, and a pile of good-bye notes from friends.  Toothbrush.  A stuffed animal from childhood, and a Filipino sarong.

And so it is that when a man walks along a road, 

the lighter he travels, the happier he is;

-Tertullian

  That’s where we are now, all packed, ready to leave Davao tomorrow on an early morning flight.  Home and belongings have been distilled into a few suitcases.  They’re heavy enough, though we’ve left behind so many possessions that composed our home.  Our hearts are heavy too as we leave our place of service, our community of the family of God – loved ones we may never see again this side of Heaven. We will board the plane sad but grateful, smiling because it happened.

a few of our farewells

   As we disembark Tuesday evening, after over 30 hours of travel, we’ll be entering another world – yes, our own home culture, but somehow so foreign after daily life in S.E. Asia.  We may look just the same on the outside – Michael a little taller, Amy and Elise more sweet, Mark a little more handsome.  But inwardly we’ve been changed, impacted in inexplicable ways by these people and this place.  

So we zip up our suitcases, memories packed in tight, giving all thanks to God for His gift of these five years.

Go in peace! 

I will not say: do not weep; 

for not all tears are an evil.

J.R.R. Tolkien

 

We’ll see our American family and friends soon! 

How we’re looking forward to seeing your dear faces again!

whirlwind of transition

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind

as we prepare for our departure from the Philippines.

Along with many other things, we've treasured time with friends,

cheered as Michael celebrated his 8th grade commencement,

Michael (front and center) with the rest of the 8th grade class

moved from our house to a guesthouse,

Amy and Elise on an early morning run with their friend, T

 treasured more time with friends,

Michael's buddies

and another Michael buddy who brought a sweet going-away gift

visited Immigration for more fingerprints,

prepared for finals and...

GRADUATION!

(tomorrow!)

our sweet friends pick up the items they bought

and dispersed the last of our household goods.

 Transition is never easy.

But we give thanks for God's goodness...

for our health and strength,

for Elise's braces that came off last night! 

that Amy and Elise have been asked to walk in graduation with the senior class,

(though they are part-time students)

for this guesthouse - a quiet, cool harbor through the transition,

and for those of you who are praying for us through this process...

thank you!

It is well for us that, amidst all the variableness of life, 

there is One whom change cannot affect; 

One whose heart can never alter, 

and on whose brow mutability can make no furrows. 

  ~ Charles Spurgeon

gathered to give thanks

Wishing you hearts full of thankfulness this Thanksgiving!

 I'm thankful today for helping hands in the kitchen; for the joy of cooking with my daughters!

For the beauty of cherry pie...isn't it fun?

Thank you, Elise!

 And for water-color painted name tags.

Thank you, Amy!

 Thankful that though we live in another country where Thanksgiving is not a holiday,

and where our kids still had classes at school, Mark still had work, and Amy and Elise still needed a glass of Gatorade after a basketball practice that lasted til 5, yet we can still celebrate.

Thankful that even here, without the usual trimmings,

we feasted on this amazingly special treat of a moist and delicious turkey!

Thanks so very much, C family...and especially to Abigail(above), and to her sister who combined skill to prepare it.  

That turkey was fabulous!

Thankful for the full bounty of the feast; 

just about every dish traditional to our memories of Thanksgiving...

(and even a few new ones, like the root beer float, Yuri!)

And thankful for a very international group of thankful friends to celebrate with us.

Americans, Japanese and Filipinos...

together with hearts of thanks,

unified in the One Who deserves all our thanks!

...gather us from among the nations, 

that we may give thanks to Your holy name 

and glory in Your praise.

Psalm 106:47

a heart replete with thankfulness

Aren't you glad that America has continued the
tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving?
If it encourages even only some of us to pause and to give thanks,
then it ought to be a keeper!

Because a thankful heart is a healthy heart.
It's one that trusts that God is doing the very best,
and it's one that finds it hard to complain.

photo by Elise

When we take time to consider the incredible grace that God
has poured out on us, in not sparing His own Son,
and in Christ's gift of His own life in payment for ours,
how can we not be FULL of thanks?!?

I know so little of a true heart of thankfulness, but I'm learning.
I long for greater contentment,
and I'm convinced that choosing to be thankful is a good start.

We would worry less if we praised more.

Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.

– Harry Ironside

Here are some of my very favorite quotes on giving thanks
by people who have said it much better than I ever could...

Keep your eyes open to your mercies. The man who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep. 

-Robert Louis Stevenson

A joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful. – Book of Common Prayer

When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs? - GK Chesterton

Gratitude changes the pangs of memory into a tranquil joy. –Dietrich Bonhoeffer

For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. -Apostle Paul

O Lord that lends me life, Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness. –William Shakespeare

You say, ‘if I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.’ You make a mistake. 

 If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled. 

 – Charles Spurgeon

Happy Thanksgiving week

to each and every one of you...

May we all be known by our thankful hearts!

*edited from the archives