24 August, 2006

Goodbyes

Greetings from the town of Jos.

This past week has been one of many goodbyes, hellos, changes, and a bit of jet lag!

Two weeks ago we were able to have a fun weekend at Dollywood and Knoxville. Had a great time seeing family and friends. Uncle Mark brought the girls smoke bombs, fireworks, pixie sticks, and silly string. Was he thinking these would be good airplane toys?? The girls just LOVED them all and savored some of them until the night before we left.

At 1 AM on Friday morning, we cleaned said 'goodbye' our house in Cedar Hill. I didn't realize how emotional leaving this house would be. Our precious neighbor, Dustine, spent the last few hours with us as we finished packing and cleaning.

On Friday afternoon, we signed the papers to sell the house and turned over all the keys, etc.

Saturday was packed with shopping, visiting friends and taking care of any lose ends.

Moving across the world is so much more difficult than moving across town. There was no "throw it in the box and deal with it later!"

On Sunday, we worshipped with friends (so many old and new friends!) and family (Muffy, Julie's mom) at church. Pastor Dave's message was so encouraging and we believe the Lord used that to "top off our tanks" spiritually. After a wonderful lunch and fellowship (THANK YOU, Calvary family for blessing us so much!) we said more goodbyes. With much help from so many people, we were able to get all 20 pieces of luggage down to the airport and checked in. We were able to spend some great time with family and friends before going through security. Saying these goodbyes were quite difficult, especially when we were so very exhausted. There are no words for those we love and we have to leave for so long....just big hugs and let our hearts speak for us.

Going through security and looking back to see familiar faces one last time was extremely difficult.

15 August, 2006

Our Address and Schedule

Flight information: SUNDAY: Departing from Nashville, TN to Chicago about 6 PM. Departing Chicago for London at 9:15 PM. Arriving in London at 11 AM on MONDAY Departing for Abuja Nigeria about 10 PM Arriving in Nigeria about 4:30 AM on TUESDAY. We will then take about a 4 hour drive up to Jos. Our new email address is: jon.parker@sim.org
Our mailing address is:

Jon Parker Family
ECWA/SIM H.Q.
P.M.B. 2009
Jos, Plateau State
NIGERIA, AFRICA

14 August, 2006

What is really important?

What do young girls do when their parents are packing?
They pack, too!

Picture this:

We gave each of the little girls a big box and told them to put everything they wanted to take to Africa in the box, then we'd pack up what was left for storage. How long have I been parenting? Obviously, not long enough!

Naomi (a week shy of 10 years old) had a variety of things in her box-full to the brim BEFORE adding her clothes! Contents included her fake snake collection, a batting helmet, a photo of friends, FIVE softballs, a candy wrapper, over 20 lbs of snake fact books, address book with three addresses in it (best friends), a sleeping bag and a stuffed Scooby Doo. Guess what this kid thinks is important? Softball, friends and snakes!

I haven't even looked in Mattie Grace's box yet. Gotta to get to it very soon...before I pick her up from a friend's house.

As we have been packing up, we realize what we find important by what we are packing first: a few photos, music, Bibles, favorite pens, Yankee tarts (Home Sweet Home fragrance, of course), and chocolate chips.

10 August, 2006

Girls' Night Out

I am not a shopper. I don’t like to shop. I will put shopping off until we are desperate. The act of making a decision about an item, putting it in my buggy and buying it makes me nauseous. But I gave in last night and got it over with. Since we’ve been hurting for one-on-one time with the kids, I decided to take only Naomi with me. 9:30 PM we arrived at Walmart, grabbed a coke to share (for energy, of course) and began the adventure of hunting and dragging home items we’ll need for the next two years.

The next day, we finished. (OK, so it was only three hours later-12:30 AM)

If you are in need of Colgate, Lady’s Speed Stick or Pearls J, don’t go to the Springfield, TN Walmart. We wiped them out! The shelves are bare. I got sick (literally) after we paid. Remember-I hate to shop and hate to pay so much for items that are "disposable". Did you know that if you have $72 worth of coupons, you need a manager’s override? We praise the Lord for His provision for these items.

Naomi and I ended our “Girls’ Night Out” with a moonlit walk home because we had a flat tire about a mile from home. She skipped and talked lots and held my hand. She marveled at how bright the moon was at 1:15 in the morning and how fun it was for us to be out alone, together, just the two of us.

I crawled into bed at 2 AM.-thankful for a Girls' Night Out with my Naomi-and realized once again-circumstances aren’t nearly as important as our response to them!

01 August, 2006

The Countdown has Begun

Closing date on the sale of the house is set. Our tickets to Nigeria have been purchased. Now the countdown begins. We have less than three weeks to do the following:

*Host family and friends who are stopping in to say “goodbye”
*Shop for and purchase any supplies we will need (How much shampoo does a family of five go through in two years? What size of shoe will Naomi need in 2008?)
*Pack for the next few years
*Secure storage and pack up the rest of the house (Trust me, not much is left)
*Plan our 11 hour layover in London
*Have our teeth cleaned and eyes checked one last time
*Clean the house!
*Meet the attorney to sign our will
*Get our piano to Uncle Mike
*Plan a celebration for Naomi’s birthday (we fly out on her 10th birthday!)
*Travel to Knoxville for a farewell weekend with friends and family – rides at Dollywood, worship together, take a bunch of photos, play a few more practical jokes, eat and laugh, and probably cry together
*Close on the house
*Get one final “professional” haircut from Amy
*Eat up what is in the fridge and pantry (yummm...pasta and canned peaches!)
*Have family portraits made – We LOVE our sweet neighbor, Dustine www.dustinewallace.com
*Remember to stop and have fun through this very hectic time
*Enjoy two more morning worship services with our precious church family
*Move out to temporary housing for a few days
*Say “goodbye” to so many
*Travel to the airport with 20 boxes and check them all in on August 20
*Spend a day in London
*Arrive in Nigeria on August 22 and then travel four more hours to our new home.

Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my life, my soul, my all!

Learning to Walk by Faith

“When missionary John Paton was translating the Scriptures for South Sea islanders, he was unable to find a word in their vocabulary for the concept of believing, trusting, or having faith. He had no idea how he would convey it. One day while he was working in his hut, a native came running into Paton’s study and flopped into a chair, exhausted. He said, ‘It feels so good to rest my whole weight in this chair.’ Instantly John Paton knew he had is definition: Faith is resting your whole weight on God.” –John MacArthur, Jr.

The last year has been full of many changes, joys, excitement, testing and trials. We have been learning to rest our “whole weight on God.” What else has God been showing us? Here is a short list –

We can clean our house with less than a one hour notice!

Playing games with certain families can be very competitive and super fun – and can last well into the wee hours of the morning.

The older you get, the harder it is to recover from “wee hours” of playing games.

Six hours at the pool without sunscreen isn’t wise.

Watching television is a big waste of time.

A clean, sweet-smelling girl on Monday can return from camp on Friday as a living antonym.

Our circumstances are never as important as our response to them.

Dancing the Cha-Cha in Centennial Park isn’t as humiliating as it sounds.

There is no greater joy than to watch our children walk with the Lord.

Roofing in 100 degree weather isn’t fun.

A house will sell when the Lord chooses for it to sell.

Saying goodbye is harder than we thought.