Sunday, September 09, 2012
Monday, September 03, 2012
Arrived!
Below is an email that Melissa sent out to a good friend. It'll give a glimpse into how we're doing our first few days.
Hey! I wanted to let you know we made it to VZ safely. We had a couple small hiccups along the way but overall it went relatively well. It's been a little hard to be here and still feel unsettled since we're not going to be staying here (at the girls' apartment), but we're making the best of it. The kids seem to be adjusting well. We went swimming yesterday and they liked that and they've enjoyed the little playgroundish equipment inside our complex.
Addition by Bart: Today was funny. Well, depending on your sense of humor it was funny. Noah went down the slide outside our apartment and didn't put his feet down in time, so he planted squarely, and pretty hard, on his bottom. Tears and yelling ensued. Only maybe 30 seconds later Leah heads down the slide and catches her foot on the side of it maybe 2/3 of the way down. It forces her sideways and she flies out and lands directly on her head. Obviously tears, yelling, and a welt ensue. So there we sit, three gringos; I have one on each leg as they scream. Way to go, Papa.
Melissa, continued: They are sleeping well which has been a huge blessing. We're still adjusting to being really hot, just sitting here in the apartment sweating but I think we'll get used to it. Praise the Lord for fans at night to help us sleep (and keep the mosquitos away)! We would love if you could continue to pray for housing for us. We're not wanting to be desperate but at the same time, we don't want to be in limbo anymore or make life harder on the kids. We'll see. The Lord will provide. You could also pray for sleep for me. I'm having all kinds of trouble sleeping. I'm not sure why. I have trouble falling asleep and then I wake up numerous times throughout the night and sometimes go check on the kids. There's a part of me that I think is worried that they're not handling things ok but there's a bigger part of me that just gets paranoid that I can't hear them if they cry or whatever (the fan in our room is incredibly loud). But there have also been random loud noises that wake me up. Literally the first night we were here I woke up and walked into the living/dining room area and the door was wide open. It wasn't a big deal because we have a barred door also and it was closed and locked but it was a little unnerving. So random stuff like that just prevents me from sleeping too. Not to mention there are no curtains on any of the windows and the sun comes up around 6 so if I want to sleep past then I have to do it in broad daylight. Sleep was not something I was anticipating as being an issue. I guess it's a great way for satan to bug me.
Anywho, keep me posted on how things are with you. We can skype or facetime (if you have an iphone/ipad/ipod with wifi). I think our skype account is bartandmelissa. No idea what facetime is. Maybe bart.shadle@uscm.org (Bart: Yes, it is). I'd love to talk sometime whenever we can figure out a time. And the time change will be tricky. We're a half an hour behind you, so it might be really hard to coordinate. :) Just kidding. But we really are a half an hour behind Ohio time. :)
Thank you for your prayers!
Hey! I wanted to let you know we made it to VZ safely. We had a couple small hiccups along the way but overall it went relatively well. It's been a little hard to be here and still feel unsettled since we're not going to be staying here (at the girls' apartment), but we're making the best of it. The kids seem to be adjusting well. We went swimming yesterday and they liked that and they've enjoyed the little playgroundish equipment inside our complex.
Addition by Bart: Today was funny. Well, depending on your sense of humor it was funny. Noah went down the slide outside our apartment and didn't put his feet down in time, so he planted squarely, and pretty hard, on his bottom. Tears and yelling ensued. Only maybe 30 seconds later Leah heads down the slide and catches her foot on the side of it maybe 2/3 of the way down. It forces her sideways and she flies out and lands directly on her head. Obviously tears, yelling, and a welt ensue. So there we sit, three gringos; I have one on each leg as they scream. Way to go, Papa.
Melissa, continued: They are sleeping well which has been a huge blessing. We're still adjusting to being really hot, just sitting here in the apartment sweating but I think we'll get used to it. Praise the Lord for fans at night to help us sleep (and keep the mosquitos away)! We would love if you could continue to pray for housing for us. We're not wanting to be desperate but at the same time, we don't want to be in limbo anymore or make life harder on the kids. We'll see. The Lord will provide. You could also pray for sleep for me. I'm having all kinds of trouble sleeping. I'm not sure why. I have trouble falling asleep and then I wake up numerous times throughout the night and sometimes go check on the kids. There's a part of me that I think is worried that they're not handling things ok but there's a bigger part of me that just gets paranoid that I can't hear them if they cry or whatever (the fan in our room is incredibly loud). But there have also been random loud noises that wake me up. Literally the first night we were here I woke up and walked into the living/dining room area and the door was wide open. It wasn't a big deal because we have a barred door also and it was closed and locked but it was a little unnerving. So random stuff like that just prevents me from sleeping too. Not to mention there are no curtains on any of the windows and the sun comes up around 6 so if I want to sleep past then I have to do it in broad daylight. Sleep was not something I was anticipating as being an issue. I guess it's a great way for satan to bug me.
Anywho, keep me posted on how things are with you. We can skype or facetime (if you have an iphone/ipad/ipod with wifi). I think our skype account is bartandmelissa. No idea what facetime is. Maybe bart.shadle@uscm.org (Bart: Yes, it is). I'd love to talk sometime whenever we can figure out a time. And the time change will be tricky. We're a half an hour behind you, so it might be really hard to coordinate. :) Just kidding. But we really are a half an hour behind Ohio time. :)
Thank you for your prayers!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Restless
"Then sings my soul, to my savior God. To thee we sing, how great thou art!"
I think maybe I've slept 10 minutes tonight. I guess it perhaps still could be considered "tonight" after-all it is only 2:13 in the morning. We fly out at 6. That means we get up at 3ish, to catch the shuttle to the airport at 3:30, to get there around 4. Fun morning (or is it considered morning at 330?).
I just can't fall asleep. I have a number of things running through my mind and heart, really, that is keeping me from rest. Did we pack everything? How are the kids and Melissa sleeping? I set my alarm, right? God we really need you, please do big things to calm and lead our family in this next transition. I wander how many people are praying for us? Did we ask enough people to pray? Man, I wish Noah would stop kicking in his sleep! -- and honestly those are only the dominant ones, with lots of littler things mingled in there as well.
I'm pretty excited, and that doesn't help either. I'm also pretty unsettled. I think I've learned in the last few years that I can't work in absolute chaos, materially. What I mean is that I can work in chaos relationally, or emotionally, or even spiritually, but if everything on my desk is cluttered, and papers are piled everywhere then I just have a hard time concentrating at all. Weird, I know, but that's how I am. What is hard about that right now is that we don't have a place to live when we get to Venezuela.
Now, we are going to stay in the girls apartment for the time being because the rest of the team isn't there so it is empty, but it still isn't ours, you know? We can't really unpack because we're hopefully moving out shortly. We just can't get settled and situated. And this makes me a bit tense.
That is our big prayer request right now, and honestly our biggest step of faith currently. Housing is one of those things that is good you may never even notice. But if your living situation is hard (say with the 4 of us and 3 single girls all crammed in a 3 bedroom apartment) life just gets exponentially more difficult. No alone time may be doable for extroverts but Melissa and I both need quiet alone time to refresh and rest. Forget it if we can't find an apartment.
If you are reading this and could spare 5 minutes to pray for our living situation, we would be so grateful. Then if you could even just comment below saying you prayed it would encourage us greatly.
I opened this post with a line from a popular hymn, because that is where we cling currently. God is the great one. He is the one that deserves praise and honor. He will provide. Truly he cares for the sparrow and has numbered the hairs on our heads; God the giver will do what he loves to do - show himself as the giver and the great one.
I think maybe I've slept 10 minutes tonight. I guess it perhaps still could be considered "tonight" after-all it is only 2:13 in the morning. We fly out at 6. That means we get up at 3ish, to catch the shuttle to the airport at 3:30, to get there around 4. Fun morning (or is it considered morning at 330?).
I just can't fall asleep. I have a number of things running through my mind and heart, really, that is keeping me from rest. Did we pack everything? How are the kids and Melissa sleeping? I set my alarm, right? God we really need you, please do big things to calm and lead our family in this next transition. I wander how many people are praying for us? Did we ask enough people to pray? Man, I wish Noah would stop kicking in his sleep! -- and honestly those are only the dominant ones, with lots of littler things mingled in there as well.
I'm pretty excited, and that doesn't help either. I'm also pretty unsettled. I think I've learned in the last few years that I can't work in absolute chaos, materially. What I mean is that I can work in chaos relationally, or emotionally, or even spiritually, but if everything on my desk is cluttered, and papers are piled everywhere then I just have a hard time concentrating at all. Weird, I know, but that's how I am. What is hard about that right now is that we don't have a place to live when we get to Venezuela.
Now, we are going to stay in the girls apartment for the time being because the rest of the team isn't there so it is empty, but it still isn't ours, you know? We can't really unpack because we're hopefully moving out shortly. We just can't get settled and situated. And this makes me a bit tense.
That is our big prayer request right now, and honestly our biggest step of faith currently. Housing is one of those things that is good you may never even notice. But if your living situation is hard (say with the 4 of us and 3 single girls all crammed in a 3 bedroom apartment) life just gets exponentially more difficult. No alone time may be doable for extroverts but Melissa and I both need quiet alone time to refresh and rest. Forget it if we can't find an apartment.
If you are reading this and could spare 5 minutes to pray for our living situation, we would be so grateful. Then if you could even just comment below saying you prayed it would encourage us greatly.
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