Last trip to SEA??? Maybe not.

A couple of weeks ago our family packed up the Jetta and made what we thought was going to be our last major road trip before we moved to Indonesia.  Mike and I were invited to share about our ministry with MAF at a church up in Pt Townsend, WA.  While we were up there we decided to spend some extra time and say goodbye to our family and friends who live up in the Seattle area.  

We were literally sitting down at our goodbye dinner with our family (gearing up for it to be a sad evening) and I decided to check our email.  We got word in an email from MAF on the VISA situation in Indonesia.  Basically it is not good.  Slow, very slow is the process at the moment.  VISAs usually take 3-4 months to process and ours has been waiting for approval since August.  It is very likely that late March is the soonest we will be able to depart.  So what was supposed to be a goodbye dinner turned into a "never mind, not yet" dinner.

Can you say, "Emotional roller coaster"?

So we wait. 

We have been told to pack like we are leaving in February, just in case, but probably March is more realistic.  If our VISAs are approved within the next couple of days a February departure is still within our reach.  

Here are a few highlights from our trip.  We lucked out and had gorgeous weather!  The sun was actually making an appearance in Washington, in the month of January!      

We found a cool Asian Market to pick up a few fun items.  Soon though we will just call a store like this...well the market!  If you look closely the sign Colton is pointing at says, "Balut, $1.25".  In case you are unaware of what Balut is, it is basically a duck egg with a baby chick partially developed inside that has been cooked.  Yum.  They come from the Philippines.  Mike used to eat them all the time in his lunch.  Just kidding!  We passed up on this great deal and decided to keep our money.

Mike's grandma lives 2 miles away from the ferry terminal that connects Pt Townsend and Whidbey island so we hopped on it and visited her for the night.  Colton wanted to check out the bunkers at Fort Casey so we did some exploring. 

This was our last trip on a ferry for awhile.  We were glad that we caught this one in time because the Seahawks game was about to start and we didn't want to miss it!

Yes…we are still here

If I had a nickel for every time somebody has looked at me in surprise lately and said, "I thought that you were already in Indonesia!"  I would have…well I would have about .40 cents.  

It seems that our family lived in Nampa, ID so long at MAF headquarters, people here at home have been led to assume that we have already left for Indonesia.  Why are we still here you may ask?  We are currently waiting on our VISA paperwork to go through and we are finishing up our monthly support.  (Which by the way is up to 95%!)  It is looking like a realistic departure date for our family will be late Feb.

It is hard to live in a state of limbo, we thought that by now we would already be in language school in Salatiga.  Our heart's desire is to be serving in Indonesia and it can be frustrating to be in a state of waiting.  God's timing is better than ours though and we are doing our best to wait on Him and remain content.  We are enjoying our extra time He has given us here with our friends and family.  It was such a blessing to get the chance to spend one more Christmas at home!  

Christmas Eve with cousin Riley

Colton taking his new plane out for it's maiden voyage

Macie trying out her new Razor Scooter.

Notice the tongue stuck out in concentration