Grateful

Wow, we just can't even convey how grateful we are.  We are truly blessed.  Blessed to be here in Venezuela.  Blessed to have such a great team.  Blessed to have had so little issues with being sick or injured or robbed (or whatever negative things could happen here).  We just feel like the past week has been really great!

The week has gone by really fast.  But it feels like it's been sooo much longer.  The team is getting settled and starting to feel a little more comfortable.  We're trying to figure out how our family fits in within the team.  The kids have watched more movies than I'd like to admit this week with all of the meetings we've had.  But we're just feeling really good about  how things are going.

When we all shared as a team how each person is individually doing, Bart and I both shared separately that we just really miss each other.  That's hard in the midst of living in the same house and sharing the same bed.  Hopefully that reality will slow down as we get more adjusted and have more of a routine.  We definitely want to have healthier boundaries this year for our family so we aren't saying things like that every week.

The weekend was even pretty different than we anticipated.  Lots of moments where we saw the team or they were over for a movie or a football game.  One of the benefits of having a tv (that will probably be leaving us shortly since we've been storing it for someone for the past month or so) is that Bart gets to see a little bit of football.  And one of the benefits of the new projector is that we get to watch things on the "big screen."

But one of the great things we didn't anticipate about this weekend was being able to go out on a date!  Kristin offered to babysit and we were all over that!  So we decided to splurge a little and go to a nice place, which we both thoroughly enjoyed.  Though Bart's not enjoying it so much the morning after, one of the occasional downsides to eating out....sorry buddy.

Now we head into another week.  It will for sure be a busy one with things going on every night but Thursday.  Please be praying for our team as they continue to get settled but also prepare for our leadership retreat this weekend, which requires a lot of preparation going into.  And please pray for our family, that we would continue to do well and move toward each other during this especially busy time.  Praise the Lord that the kids have been doing so well during this whole transition!!!

Getting settled

We told Noah we'd have a cake with the new team
when they arrived.

The team has been here for 2 days and it was a little bit of a rough start.  They got in around 1:00 am with relatively good travel so that was a blessing.  But the power went out around 5:00.  So imagine being in a really hot apartment with mosquitos and no fans.  I think most of them slept through the 5:00 am part but woke up much earlier than expected.

Then the water eventually turned off.  Luckily all of the girls were able to get showers before bed or before the water turned off.  It's those little things that help.

The team (aka us) got them presents.

Poor Vanessa had the room where the door was apparently locked.  Well when the wind blew the door shut, she couldn't get back in her room!

So we found a guy that messed with it for a while, even though he kept saying the best option was probably climbing from another window (from the 5th floor).  He eventually got it by pure dumb luck I think.

We had dinner together as a team and a get to know you game time afterward.  A couple of the girls left to go home since they were pretty exhausted and they couldn't get the door to their apartment open!  A few tears ensued, but eventually one of the guys was able to get it open.  The lock was probably sticking.

So it's been a little bit of a rough start, but overall, I think they're getting settled.  It's been super busy for us with getting things set up, cooking meals, having meetings and whatnot.  The kids are REALLY enjoying having the new team around.  A couple of the guys like to wrestle so they are loving that. They really are excited to have new friends.  I think it's been a little harder for Noah to transition, with a little more acting out and tantrums, but maybe that's to be expected.

Leah joining in with the boys wrestling

We're grateful though.  Grateful that they're here.  Grateful that they have housing, even if the occasional door gets locked.  Grateful that our kids are enjoying being around everyone.  Grateful for friendly faces and the new ones to get to know.  But please continue to pray for our transition.  I need more patience and grace when I'm home more with 2 kids in Venezuela!

Team picture
Front left to right: Noah, Melissa, Zuri, Tommy, Stephen, William
Back left to right: Ali, Leah, Megan, Lilly Vanessa, Kristin, Tony, Bart, Douglas

The new team

Well, today is the day (or night depending on how late it is).  The team after months of planning, support raising, packing and waiting, they arrive.  They had multiple flights.  They're currently in the process of arriving/landing in Caracas right now.

Bart is awaiting their arrival.  He took the nearly 3 hour ride to pick up one of the guys who arrived from Panama earlier.  So they are there together waiting for the other 8 Americans to land.  Once they land, they find all of their bags (hopefully) and get on a bus for the ride to Valencia.  If all goes well, they will arrive sometime around 12:30 or 1:00am.  Then it's bedtime for them I think.

I forgot to post this with Noah's birthday.  One of the
staff at the hotel made this sweet little towel dog for
Noah for his birthday.  He was sure it was an elephant.

We're pretty anxious about the arrival of the team.  With their arrival comes lots of new changes.  A new dynamic.  A new style of leading for Bart with a new female leader, Lilly.  A new schedule and many new personalities to get to know.  There will be so many changes.  And with that our family will have to adapt, which is always challenging.

We're hoping this transition will be good for our kids.  They are excited for the team to get here and the new friends they'll have.  They miss interactions with lots of English speakers!

Would you pray for us?  This is a norm for us as usual, but our family needs it.  We will desperately need prayer as we try to figure out healthy boundaries for our family but also for each of us individually.  We know we cannot keep the pace that we did this past year without crashing and burning again.  We're not 23 and single after all!

We will try to regularly update but please know it will be more challenging as our schedule fills up.  Our heart is that you would feel involved with us as we live life here, so we will try our best to continue to do that as best we can.  Thank you in advance for your grace!