Roller Coaster Ride

I fell out of our van the other day, literally.  Miguel had had the van in the shop for a couple of days and then I needed to drive it somewhere...I stopped, opened the door and then I just stepped out into thin air!  I felt pretty stupid...I even turned and looked at the van wondering why in the world I had expected a step to be where there obviously was not one?!  I just chalked it up to having gotten used to driving the Explorer and went about my day.

A few hours later, we were at home and Miguel says, "Oh, I forgot to tell you...I took the running boards off the van when it was in the shop." It took me a couple of minutes to process that comment and then I was like, "It was YOU!!!!!" It made me feel a little better to notice that Miguel himself fell out of the van the next day, lol. Revenge is sweet...

You can see the running boards in this picture that now

aren't there...apparently, I have always used

that lower step to get out of the van...

So yeah, having lots of fun these days getting ready for our next missionary adventure!  We are happy to say that we have decided on a mission agency and are applying to a mission agency called Pioneers.  Of all of the agencies that we considered and explored, we feel that it is the best fit for our new ministry in Puebla.  Pioneers has already agreed to take on our mission project, which was yet another open door for us.  We were able to turn in all of our application paperwork on time to register to attend an orientation with Pioneers on April 3-8.  They will review our application, meet with us and then we should know by the end of that week whether our membership application will be approved or not.  At this point, there have not been any red flags regarding our application, but it is always good not to assume things...we have our tickets bought and places for our kids to stay, so that's all taken care of.

Once we had that orientation scheduled, we did a big planning session to pin down some dates and figure out our next steps and discovered out that what we had kind of thought was 'out there' in the future was now upon us!  For one thing, we found out that we will need to move out of our house here at the Village before we go to the Pioneers orientation the first week of April...that sort of changed a few things, but it is all working out for the best.  We have a good place to stay after we move out of the Village, so that's a blessing. 

It took me about half an hour to process that paradigm shift and then I was off and running with the new plan...we have shelved homeschooling for the time being and are focusing on ministry priorities for now, such as email lists and supporter communication and the packing/sorting/storing of the ever-present stuff.  I wish we didn't have to have all that stuff, but we do and it has to be sorted, sigh.  We are basically planning only to take what will fit in whatever vehicle we drive to Mexico in (which may or may not be our van), so that really limits what we can take...we may also be able to either ship or have someone else take some things. 

So lots to do and lots to think about!  My head has been spinning for a couple of weeks, but in a good way...we're so excited about this new ministry.  Today we met with yet another potential supporter who have committed to being monthly financial partners as well as prayer supporters and we have just been so blessed to have people like that on our team.  Times like that, Miguel and I just pause and gift thanks to God for His blessings.

I kinda feel like I'm on a roller coaster, hair blowing back in the wind, heart pounding, enjoying the ride!