the how and who of our trip

 At our church one Sunday morning last fall,  several "Go Journey Teams" had tables set up to let folks know about the different mission trips planned throughout the next year and to invite anyone interested to gather more information.  A dear friend of mine had been on a trip to Mexico with Back2Back Ministries and couldn't say enough great things about the organization.  Based on her and her husband's experiences the church had explored the option and decided to partner with Back2Back for an upcoming trip.  Mark and I were manning the Faith@Home Center just down the way from all the tables and I mentioned to Mark that we should consider going on this Mexico trip.  Perhaps scope it out and see if it would be a possible trip for us to embark on as a family.  All of the sudden he disappeared.  Then he was back, "Ok, we're signed up and I've requested the days off work."

"WAIT! WHAT?! We're signed up for what?"

In the conversations that followed I found out Mark had been praying for my next mission trip.  Our Cali, Colombia trip with E3 was several pages ago on the calendar at this point and he didn't want me to get too far away from the experience and forget the amazing way God uses, refreshes and renews when you step out of your comfort zone and go on mission with Him.  Over the next few months the team was shaped, information was given, funds were raised and needed items were gathered and packed.  We were off...

 Oh yea, when I said "we" were off,  that we included Sophie.  It turns out several kiddos were going on this trip.  So instead of a trip to see if this could be a step toward our "family on mission" dream, it was our first step into that dream.  Not the whole family yet, but one step closer for sure.

 The "we" also included 28 others.  Now that's a lot of folks to take a trip together.  Some in this group I honestly didn't get their names to stick in my brain until we were headed out of Greenville.  Many of these sweet faces I have had the privilege of living in community with for several years. Then there are the faces I knew, but  I didn't know the stories that went along with them.

So, that is the how we ended up on this trip and the who that made up the team.  That was the easy part.  What did I learn on this trip and experience?  That is a little harder to wrap up into one or two posts, but that is what I'll try to do...

So... What Have We Been UpTo Lately??

 Time is flying and I keep wondering what we've been doing that continues to allow my "to do list" to grow faster by the day without allowing me time to mark much off as being complete.  Here is a picture drop of my excuses.  

This one isn't really a good excuse because it was a Daddy date!  I skipped out on the excitement of Comicon to have a little me time (I did spend it sorting in the school room.)

 Next, came one of our favorite weekends of the year, Memorial Day!  I couldn't wish to spend this long weekend any other way.  Our community group set out for our second annual retreat:  waterfall hiking, kickball, gaga ball, lake time, smores, worship and really lots of sweet time together just being!!

(I hope to get an extended blog on that soon.  I have so many sweet pictures of this precious time.)

 After finishing The Secret Garden, one of our favorite books of the year, I couldn't take it any longer, we needed to get our hands in some dirt and plant some flowers.  Each of the girls claimed a "piece of earth" and their hearts could not have been more full!

 Simple Times Farm, was our last field trip of the school year.  Oh it was a fun day full of hayrides, candle making, washing laundry as they would have before our modern conveniences.  We even made our own butter, from the milk of the cow we actually got to milk.  (Perhaps another upcoming post.)

 Haleigh and Mackenzie each completed their first full Suzuki piano book.  They worked hard in preparation for their book recital where we had special guests of all the grandparents.  Both girls did an amazing job playing all their pieces and Sophie performed a beautiful piece on her violin.  Following the recital we all had a great dinner and precious time visiting together.

 The day after the big recital, Mackenzie and Haleigh headed to West Virginia with Grandma and Poppy. Two days after Mark, Sophie and I headed out on a big trip with this amazing group of folks from our church.  Where were we headed?  Monterrey, Mexico to partner with Back2Back Ministries.  To say the trip was amazing would be an understatement for sure!!

Since we all returned home we have had a full week of swimming lessons.  Sophie attended Artios Outpost camp with lots of sweet friends.

Mixed in with all that have been just regular summer moments, tackling summer projects when we can...

 and enjoying lots and lots of sweet sister time!!

Now that we are about a month out from our Mexico trip you would think I have settled in my mind all that was stirred by our trip.  Not. At. All!!  I am still processing lots, digging in to seek what I am supposed to do with so much new insight, and most of all this feeling that God is calling me, us, to more.  I hope the next posts of this blog will pop up within the next week as I sort through some of it.  Mostly I need to remember all God put in front of us throughout the week and all the challenges He is laying before us now that we are home...

Happy 4th!!

Hoping your 4th is dripping with fun, family and a heart full of thankfulness!