Filling in Some Gaping Holes I Left Behind

As 2010 is coming to an end, I am working on a newsletter to send out with our family photo. So, I've been scrolling through my blog, just to refresh my memory. Afterall, I am a mother of 4 kids and I'm almost 40, neither of which works in favor of my ability to remember anything of significance.

The first thing I realized ... I never wrote about Mars Hill Graduate School. I wrote about Steve finding a new job, but there was a bigger reason going on behind the scenes that sent him down that road. When he was at MHGS, he was working part-time at Starbucks and basically volunteering part-time for an internship at the school. When he decided to stop taking classes, he knew he needed a full-time job to get our feet back on the ground financially.

Why did he stop taking classes? Well, let's just say that we knew MHGS was more liberal than we. The big area is that they they prepare women to be pastors. We don't agree with them on this stance, but thought Steve could still attend the school - and try to back-burner this conviction. However, the fish being fried was much bigger. Within a couple months of being here, Steve was hit over the head with a 2x4 when he realized that a number of profs don't even believe the Bible is the inspired, authoritative Word of God. That was a biggie. In fact too big for us to continue to attend, and therefore support, a school such as MHGS, which claims to be an Evangelical Christian school. So, two quarters, seven classes, many sleepless nights, much stress and what felt like months of very intense "spiritual warfare" - Steve decided to stop taking classes.

What are we doing now? We are just being. Being children of God. Being married. Being a family. Steve is working. I am homeschooling. We are enjoying the blessing of community God has given us in our church and co-op. We are actively involved at church - hosting our weekly Community Group, attending Redemption Group, serving in Children's Ministry and on the greeting team. We are enjoying the Great Northwest and the privilege of living in Seattle.

Are we ok with where we are right now? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. We love Seattle and are glad to be here. We have no plans of moving. Moving has been a part of our lives far too much, so we are going to settle down for a little while. Although we are still renting! =) Everything that happened at MHGS was hard on us. Confusing. Challenging. Wondering - we moved to Seattle for MHGS ... now what?? We still hope and pray that one day God will provide an opportunity for us to be in full-time ministry again - even as foreign missionaries. But we are ok with waiting. Waiting for God's leading. For His direction. Waiting just because we need to.

Secondly - I wrote about a "certain non-profit." Well, the dialogue I started with that non-profit never got off the ground. We throw around ideas we have - ways we want to make a difference. Not just here, in our neighborhood and our church - but in the fight against poverty - and specifically in Africa. If all the pieces fall into place, we may launch something new in 2011!

I have also mentioned adoption. We are still hoping adoption might be in our future. We would love to adopt from Africa. We don't feel it's time yet to start that process though. Liberty isn't even one year old yet and we'd like to keep our birth order intact. Steve's benefits at work offer $5,000 toward an international adoption after 6 months of employment. We also want to make a trip to Africa, hopefully in the next year, to Zambia to visit Chikumbuso and then to Tanzania to visit Mavuno Village. We have no idea what God as in store for us, but we believe He is growing Africa in our hearts.