Tuesday, March 27, 2018

It Never Gets Old

SHARE 2018


I say it every year...but there is no week out of the year that is more highly anticipated by our kids than the week of the SHARE family education conference. This was our fourth conference and each year we become more and more rooted in relationships that are life breathing and sustaining, especially for our kids who don't have peer Christian friends in their day-to-day lives here in Italy. If you think about the life stages of pre-teens and teenagers, you know it is such a crucial age. One of our concerns and prayers for our children is that they would not become bitter against us for the sacrifices that we as parents have imposed on them because of our calling in missions to the Italian people. By God's grace we have seen them embrace their lives as MKs and I don't think they would trade the hardships and constant stream of goodbyes for anything else--but that doesn't mean it is always easy. Connecting with other kids who understand and relate to their lives, emotions and quirks has been a so critically important in providing them friendships and encouragement.
"We are all weird. And life is weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we call it love." -Robert Fulghum
Our kids call SHARE "home". As they grow older, we are seeing a whole new side of the support network surrounding our kids not just for one week in February, but throughout the year. The uniqueness of this "SHARE family" is how the leaders of the teen group continue to follow the kids throughout the year. On Saturdays, our teens have a virtual youth group meeting of sorts to chat and/or watch movies together. It's a big deal for them and I love hearing their roaring laughter echoing down the stairs each week. On top of that they are texting on a daily basis with their friends all over the world. They are thriving from these life-giving relationships and we could not be happier for them.

We continue to gain so much emotionally, spiritually and educationally from our participation in this conference. This year there were near 40 individuals from our organization alone that attended. It is a reunion that we look forward to every year allowing us to connect with our Central and Eastern European colleagues, who have adopted our family into their region. Our annual dinner together even gave reason for the CEEMed Regional Administrator and his family to make a special trip to Siófok to surprise us.

The keynote speaker this year was Michèle Phoenix. Words cannot be put into writing about the valuable contribution and insights she provided through her lectures. I am still having to chew on and internalize all that she had to share about MKs in relation to grief and I highly recommend her ministry and writings to all missionary families AND to those who desire to understand MKs and the reasons why they might get the label "weird". They are third culture beings and it is a complicated universe that they live in and we wish more people would attempt to understand them. And of course, MKs need some help figuring it out themselves along the way, and Michèle can speak about it because she lives with the title of adult MK. Visit https://michelephoenix.com for valuable resources and insights.

Love her!
Tyler and Bailey Dodds were back again to lead us in worship.
http://www.tylerandbailey.com
This year both Samuel and Luca received more testing for their sensory processing disorders. We are so thankful for the quality and professional therapists and educators that are brought in to help serve global working families. The ongoing support and counsel received from the occupational therapists throughout the year has been so helpful and I feel like with their support we are doing everything we can to help our boys thrive, grow and succeed with their unique challenges.

How awesome is it to know your online English 2 teacher in real life?! We love Mrs. T! We have known her for years, but this is Samuel's first year in her class and both he and Emma will have her next year too. 
Another highlight from the week was the kids recital. It is always a lovely evening full of great and budding talent. This year Emma participated again with a dance routine. She was intending to perform with two other close friends but they had to back out at the last minute as they were busy serving on staff this year. Emma was a rockstar who adapted at the last minute and had the courage to perform a solo routine for the first time in this venue.





Luca has been itching to perform in the talent show for years, and it might be the sole motivation factor for him begging for guitar lessons. He only began lessons in January at the local music school. The week before we left for SHARE he said he wanted to play in the recital. He only knew one song called "On the Wall." What I found impressive was how he had this 2+ minute song all memorized. The musical talent is starting to emerge in our children, which shouldn't be surprising and I promise to share more later on that topic--but we are literally amazed with their self taught initiatives.




Much relief and joy upon his performance!
It was nice to have the full gang of girls all back on the field this year. It had been two years since I have seen some of them in person so it was a sweet special time of fellowship with them this year. These ladies are a huge source of encouragement to me, always!





Are you bored yet? I should probably just wrap this post up with more pictures.

Medieval Times Week for the 5-12 year olds



Fun and enthusiastic teachers is an understatement
Free time for Luca meant: pool or pool (billiards or swimming)
Henna!!



Pups: 13-14 year olds

Goodbyes...





...the goodbyes never get easier...
The week of the "Beast from the East" with crazy cold temps and snow.
Luca comes back to the hotel with this picture on his iPod. "Look Mamma,  I am standing on the frozen lake!" Oh, my heart. 
Samuel's perspective of the frozen lake
...until next year...

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Rejoicing for some R's

Photo credit: Thrive
In early February, I had the great privilege of attending the Thrive Retreat in Paphos, Cyprus. This retreat is an all expense paid getaway (minus travel expenses) funded by generous supporters as a ministry to global women from North America. This was a one time gift up until this year when there was a change in policy, where now you can attend every five years. I have known about this ministry and retreat opportunity for a long time but was waiting for that perfect time to "play my card". With the change in policy, in addition to the location and date announcement it seemed opportune and I was hoping that a friend would be able to go with me. Low and behold, God provided not just one friend but four whom would be attending the conference with me.

Angela, Noella, Leah, Michelle, Diane

At first, I was hesitant to ask Jonathan if I could go but in the end all I had to do was mention the conference details and he was practically pushing me out the door to go with or without a friend. What a blessing to have a healthier husband so that this could even be a consideration. 


The past couple of years have been heavy for me with chronic health issues for Jonathan and the weight of carrying much of the load during those times with home and kids, in addition to ministry. This school year has also taken a lot of energy out of me as I work with Luca through his first year of middle school. I was so ready to trade my R's of reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic for some R's like rest, refreshment, and relaxation.  

Photo credit: Thrive
There were some bumps along the way: like finding out that my registration had gotten deleted from the system and the last minute scrambling that must have given the Thrive staff when we discovered it a little over a week out from the conference start -- to Emma coming down with the flu the day before I left and other family members feeling like it was coming on -- to missing my connecting flight that then required rerouting and a significant delay in arrival on the way to the conference and missing the first half day -- to getting sick myself midway through the conference.

Sunrise with the Alps in the distance from my airplane window
However, the joys of seeing God's hand work through each of those situations for my good was yet another testament to his faithfulness. I was loved upon and pampered to no end over the course of three days as there was no detail or person overlooked. There were 91 attendees from 27 countries and over 40 volunteer staff ministering to us. We received solid biblical teaching on the topic of prayer, we worshiped together, we laughed, we cried, we ate lavishly and just were able to detach and retreat from it all.

Photo credit: Thrive
The hotel was out of this world! The original hotel contract in a different city got switched as they decided to renovate during the off season. Consequently, they booked us in a sister hotel (this one in Paphos) for the same price even though it was like 2 stars higher. It was lavish, getting your bed turned down each night, being able to select a different scented pillow each night if you wanted and basically having the hotel to ourselves with it being off season. What an unexpected blessing and delight for the high end accommodations for this retreat.

Photo credit: Thrive
Angela was my roommate and thankfully she arrived a day early and took care of so many details for me while I was stuck in the airport on travel day. She even got our room switched to a sea view room at no additional cost. Without her I might have missed out on the sign up for special personal care appointments. She rocks! I am so thankful for her friendship over the last three years and for the time we were able to spend together in Cyprus.


View from our bedroom balcony
I had the amazing privilege of spending one afternoon with Diane and Miriam taking in the sites at the Archeological Park in Paphos. If ever I needed a knowledgable substitute for Jonathan on Greek and Biblical history these two were the best, especially with Miriam being married to a Greek. We walked a good 30 minutes along the coastal path to reach the port location where Paul visited on his first missionary journey. Read Acts 13 for context.



We did not have a ton of time to view all that the park had to see, so chose to focus on the amazingly preserved and beautiful mosaics dating from the first and second centuries.






Orthodox church in Paphos
The second full day, I spent the afternoon getting pampered with a pedicure, colors/makeup, a mini-lesson on how to take better pictures and then some rest time. The meals were a highlight of the day with utterly delicious spreads of food with no worries of who I needed to find "safe" food for, nor dishes to wash! Asian and Tex-Mex Nights - seemed to hit the spot with so many of us. You could hear the squeals of delight as some of these cuisines are hard to come by in our countries.

Photo credit: Thrive
Photo credit: Thrive



I came home with a suitcase full of goodies, a full and refreshed heart, new friends and, oh so grateful for the short but needed time to get away. I may not have gotten the physical refreshment I needed, but that is okay, it was enough to come back more mentally refreshed to better serve my family and others.

Day of departure we woke to a rainbow, beauty a camera can't fully capture
Photo credit: Thrive
Photo credit: Thrive
Photo credit: Thrive
Jonathan and the kids held down the fort without too much incident. Emma missed three days of school for illness, and everyone else seemed to resist catching the bug. Emma filled my shoes even when sick (a mamma in the making!) and took care of the meal planning and preparation and assigning house chores. I even came home to a special welcome home tray of blondies cut into the shape of a heart that she made! It was enough for me that I came home to living beings, and yet this special thought was over the top. I do have a pretty awesome family!