Back to the Sunshine State- Part 2

Warning- for those of you who struggle with my wordiness you should probably stop here.... It's a looooong one!

Back to July again where we returned to Florida after a year away. As previously mentioned in "Back to the Sunshine State- Part 1", we scheduled our trip to celebrate with Steve, Jenny & the kids & also to say farewell as they were departing for Poland only 3 weeks later. 

I would like to take a minute to set the stage with sharing a little background.  Steve & Jenny were married just two months before we pulled away in our big yellow moving truck. We were sad to leave them after spending countless hours together & having Jenny as a roomie at our home for six months before the big day. One year after we moved to Orlando they made the move too! Steve started seminary at Reformed Theological Seminary. We were thankful to have them just 10 minutes from our house & part of our Celebration Community Church family. They arrived just a week before Charlotte was born which was sooooo special! A year later they welcomed our niece Karis & then Jenny and I battled it out to see who could have babies the fastest ; ) Between us we had babies every nine-twelve months & ended up with seven between us in five years! We spent a lot of time together during the day letting the kids play & eating chicken nuggets with them. Lots of laughter, working through differences & caring for one another. 

On the professional side of things, Jenny & Steve both worked for a ministry in Orlando called Converge Worldwide. Jenny decided to stay home with Karis when she was about nine months old & Steve continued working to mobilize missionaries all over the world. Around the time Isaac was born which was early 2012 he began to feel pulled toward Poland & the discussions & prayer began.  They were able to meet with a couple that had served as missionaries there for 12 years in March 2013. As they continued to pray & ask the Lord for direction, moving to Poland was what they felt the Lord was calling them to.  They visited that Fall. In April of 2014 they were approved to serve as missionaries through Converge Worldwide. Poland is a special place for the Valentine family as Jeannine's side came to the US from Poland. By summer of 2014 we were praying for support to start rolling in & boy did God hear & answer that prayer. 

They reached 100% support in July & bought plane tickets for early August....it was beginning to feel very real! We were grateful that my parents could keep our bunch for a long weekend while we joined CCC in commissioning this family to move overseas to share the good news of Jesus with those who don't know him. 

Celebration Community Church was where we were led to partner with a small group of people back in 2008 to serve surrounding communities & by God's grace be a part of laying the foundation for a new church. It was a place where God challenged us to believe that His way was the best way, a place where we were loved & were able to love others & a place where we saw God's faithfulness as he brought people through the doors, both those who walked closely with the Lord & others who needed to know him. Replaying those years in my mind bring up all sorts of a emotions, most of which make me cry. Returning to a place that in hindsight was formative in our love for & trust in the Lord, our marriage & starting our family sent my emotions through the roof. 

On Sunday we could not have been more excited to spend the morning & a good portion of the afternoon at CCC. We walked through the doors & I immediately received a huge hug from Heidi who is married to Gregg, the head pastor.  I asked for another one with tears in my eyes. This woman plays an extremely important role in supporting a husband that leads & teaches with much humility She faithfully greets all who walk through the doors week after week, she encourages others, is FULL of laughter & honors the Lord in the way she responds to compliments about her three children that love & serve God in different capacities. Oh, and she gives great hugs ; ) Early on in Charlotte's life I remember sitting in her hallway upstairs (no idea why that was our location). I felt excited but somewhat clueless on where to begin to bring up a child in the discipline & instruction of the Lord. I expected a long & detailed plan but instead it was extremely simple. She said that most importantly at this point we should be letting our children know they are loved by those who care for them & beyond that, remind them that most of all Jesus loves them. She sang a song that she sang to her own children & it is one I still sing today from time to time...the same way she did. That will always stand out in my mind when I think of Heidi. 

So, that's how it began. We said our hellos then sat down in the front row. The music began with Jenny front & center playing her cello which has always been a beautiful addition to the worship team. Karis & Isaac immediately joined us & then Olivia was in my arms as we sang together. Jenny & I looked at each other & the tears started coming. What a precious moment to have these sweet nieces & nephews in our arms just weeks before they begin one of the greatest adventures of their lives & in that moment having very little understanding of what the Lord was doing. 

Gregg called these five up to the stage & shared with the congregation what was ahead for this family. He asked them various questions confirming their trust in the Lord & intent of moving overseas & asked the congregation serving as their sending church to commit to pray & encourage.  I honestly don't remember everything that was said because my mind was racing & tears were flowing just watching them. Many came to the front to pray for them once they stepped down from the stage. 

I cried through every second of the music, parts of the sermon & an absurd amount during communion. The reason was two-fold. First it was saying goodbye to the Polish Valentines. Secondly it was seeing God's faithfulness in growing a community of around 50 people when we moved there in 2008 to a thriving community that comes together on Sundays filling the chapel on average 300+ people each service. As people walked past us to take communion, I was sobbing as one person after another walked by that we did not know or recognize. I thought about how we prayed & wrote on the concrete before the carpet was laid in 2011. What a story we want our children to understand as part of our family history! Now we could not even count how many feet have passed over our "spot."

On the subject of God's faithfulness, I sat & felt Arlo moving around & thought back to the agony leading up to becoming pregnant with Charlotte. We joined in worship there Sunday after Sunday through each pregnancy, felt every baby wiggle as we sang & were encouraged through the teaching of scripture. I even laughed for a second thinking about the last 10 weeks of my pregnancy with the boys where Rob hauled my camping chair with a footrest & set it up in the back by the sound board since I could not sit in the regular chairs for more than 5 seconds without being in pain due to the massive size of my belly. What a gift to be back in that place with baby #5 in the womb! More crying ensued. Bob was so concerned with the amount of tears I was shedding haha! Once I made it through that service I was good to go..... minus mascara & a good amount of the rest of my make up ; ) 

Here we are as the party was starting. After the 2nd service we enjoyed lunch with many friends & heard from some very special people via microphone. It was a lovely time & I know they felt honored. 

What a wonderful idea to send this family with a map filled with special notes to encourage them along the way. 

One fun little game..

1. Poland is red & right next to Germany

2. Warsaw

3. roughly 40 million

4. red and white

5. Futbol

6. Hot!

7. 0.2% would be considered evangelical Christians meaning they have a relationship with Christ and claim him as Savior& Lord.

Back to the beautiful backdrop Amanda made for the celebration lunch, she had the idea to include all the cousins + the aunts & uncles up north that could not make it down that weekend. Amanda asked if I could get pictures of the kids holding signs that had scripture that Steve & Jenny had recently taught Karis & Isaac. I was not in the mood for Photoshop so I pulled out some trusty old cardstock & a Sharpie. It was so fun to have a little crafty thing to do & the kids were excited to be included.  I was going to use just four pieces of paper but decided that Arlo should be included since he is in fact part of our family : ) Charlotte took that picture & I thought she did a great job!

We enjoyed visiting & laughing with old friends & spending any extra moment we could with the Lent family. Chris & Rob...

Their little ladies, Audrey & Vivian are just over 2 years apart which means Charlotte & Eloise's matchy matchy outfits fit them just right! I let Amanda borrow a couple of the sets my mom made for our girls & they looked lovely in them Sunday morning.

One special family we got to visit with were the Woods. We LOVE them. If you kept up with the blog in early 2013, Freddi & I were pregnant with identical twins at the same time. Each set shared nearly the same growth issues & were born a month apart. Here we are...I was looking similar, just not as gigantic & she has settled back into not being pregnant ; ) 

Just a blast from the past of how we looked in January 2013... and we were 6 & 10 weeks out from our delivery dates! Ha!

Here are their sweet & spunky little ladies Gabbi & Lexi. I would have loved to bring the boys to play with these two although between two sets of two year old twins, I imagine they could cause some trouble!

We stayed until pretty much the last minute we could before heading to our car. Again my mind was spinning as I contemplated the feeling that Florida & CCC felt more like home than Dallas...that shocked me.  I kept thinking, "why did we leave?" & "if we just moved back we could jump right into life as it was. " and "where we are now just isn't the same." There were more than a couple people who reminded me that it's not the same there either which is not a bad thing on either end. God caused paths to be crossed at a very specific time in the growth of CCC. We made friendships that will last a lifetime because we were partnered in ministry together & walked through some challenging times. Orlando is a transient place.  We said goodbye to more people that came & went over the course of six years than we had said goodbye to our entire lives. This can seem so sad but looking at a map we can see how the Lord has led many to serve in other parts of the United States & all over the world. This reassures us that His provision is perfect in every way & through worship in song & teaching of the word at CCC for whatever time we overlapped, He shaped us & sent us out. That is exciting & although we are now away from Orlando, we see it happening yet again but for the first time, in Poland. Here we are in a place we loooove.

We spent the rest of the day & evening with the crew, parents included which made it so special. I couldn't get enough with the kids & neither could Robby. There were lots of thumb wars, coloring, playing with Karis' new Ice Cream store Lego set & watching Livi- Lou toddling around with her beloved blankie. After the kids were down for the night we sat on the couches downstairs with Jenny's parents, Steve & Jenny.  Jenny was born in Africa where her parents were missionaries. They shared some of the things they saw & experienced as they took the gospel to people in faraway villages. Some sounded horrendous yet they spoke so confidently about the Lord's perfect care for them while they served. We kept thinking what an encouragement that must be for Steve & Jenny as they move forward prepared for a life that is different from what they have lived but having parents that have been in a similar situation that can understand a bit of what they are going through. 

We laughed some more because we always do, especially when Jenny starts laughing. No one can hold it together. I am thinking it will be simple for her to make friends if she lets loose with the giggles ; ) We were bummed that Steve had class on Monday but as God's plan was revealed over their time in Florida, seminary was extended when baby after baby were added & he officially finished just a couple weeks before they left. We were SO proud of him for working hard to finish & for his supportive wife who helped him along the way. 

As sad as we were that Steve was gone, we were still smiling when we got our hands on these three...

I just love holding babies when I'm pregnant, they fit so nicely on the bump!

My Jenny girl.  After each of us growing up with only brothers, meeting each other & marrying brothers was really special. She asked me to be her matron of honor which was truly an honor. We have been at various births of each others children. We have laughed more than anything else in our time together. She is honest & wise, faithful to the Lord & with Steve faithful to teach their children about the saving work of Christ. We miss them dearly already & haven't even hit the 2 month mark. Our last picture together before our last hug but the start of a different connection we are now sharing through FaceTime over hours a part & lots of messages back & forth, still making each other laugh.

I felt that twinge of pain as we headed to the car but it was quickly gone when we watched Isaac sneak into Hannah Banana, the yellow Corvette...

The engine was off as he was pretending to drive. Rob decided to utilize the remote start. We were all watching thinking he would be surprised & maybe a bit nervous but we burst into laughter when his face lit up & he got this mischievous yet adorable little grin on his face. I think he inherited that gene from his Daddy. That will be my last memory of Isaac at three before a good snuggle-hug and saying goodbye. It's a good one! Uncle Rob scooped him up & swung him around before returning him to his mother. 

It has been a challenging transition for this sweet family jumping into a new culture with an extremely difficult language to learn. Karis started Kindergarten almost immediately along with Isaac who started in a pre-school class where for both everything is taught in Polish. There is much learn for all five, much to grieve the loss of back in the states but most importantly, much joy to experience as they have been obedient to what the Lord has called them to.  That excites me! It excites Owen & Anson too. The favorite imaginary play this week has been packing & flying on a plane to Poland. They are restless on their "plane" after 5 minutes...I would love to see them for hours upon hours on a real plane! Actually that's a lie ; ) 

My heart needed that trip to be reminded of the seasons in life that differ & are all for our good even when it doesn't feel like it. The difference between life in Orlando or Dallas is not the problem, I am the problem. My discontent is something I struggled with there & something I have struggled with here in the past year & a half. It is something I know the Lord is using to refine me & I continue to pray ultimately I will find my contentment in Him since He is the ONLY one that doesn't change. 

Please join us in praying for our Polish Valentines & if you so desire to give financially I would love to put you in touch with them.  Thanks for reading this novel...those of you who made it to the end ; )