the deal with rome

So, for the curious few, here's what's up with Rome.

It's not so much that we are visiting Rome. It's more that we are moving there. To live. As in selling our house. And almost everything we own. Including all our books. And our bikes. And the kids toys. And my salad spinner. We'll take some clothes with us. And probably the kids blankies. And if the baby likes binkies, like we hope he will, we'll take those. That's about it.

It might take awhile though because we are going as missionaries and we need to raise support first. The earliest we would be able to go would most likely be next summer, but it all depends on our support.

We've been wanting to do this for 14 years ever since we were in college and heard God telling us to go. The infamous Simpson "call." It's taken us this long to find an agency we love and be ready to go. Crazy that it's happening when we'll have 3 kids. And the funny thing is, now that it's happening, we are a little overwhelmed by it. As in, it's hard to believe it's actually happening and we don't even know how or where to start with everything we need to do. Overwhelmed is the operative word in our house right now. On Sunday, at church, Gail had a good prayer for us about taking it one day at a time and relying on God's grace. So we are trying to do that.

So why Rome? It's not because it sounds like a fun place to live (I mean it does, because it's Europe after all, but we have been there and I spent the week overwhelmed by the craziness of the place and miserable from allergies to cigarette smoke and old buildings. There's a lot of old buildings there. I swore I'd never go back after Annie and I almost got run over by a taxi cab outside the Vatican Museums. Funny how God works.) Here's the deal. We're going to join Tim & Rachel (and the soon to be arriving baby Joy) to walk alongside refugees and offer help and hope. We're working on getting a website up that will talk about what we'll be doing and what the refugee situation is like in Rome and around the world.

We're pretty excited to be able to do this together. Joel is ready to be done working to make money for others and to start working to serve others. We're excited that our kids are going to get to grow up in not only another culture, but surrounded by people from all over the world. We're excited about this journey God has us on, about the way He has seen us this far, and the way He will continue to walk with us.

We're still a little overwhelmed by it all, though.

happy list 4

ITeams said yes.
Tim & Rachel like us.
We are going to Rome!
It's a boy!
Giant amnio needle wasn't too bad.
Mini vacation at the Bergans.
Sleeping in 'til 10 at the Bergans.
It's a boy!
We are going to Rome!
Sunny weekend.
Bagels and cream cheese.
I like coffee again.
I like eggs again.
Good friends who help us out by watching our kids (Marc, Erin, Michelle & Steve).
Listening to Jonah say his letter sounds.
The tree house at REI.
Ezell's.
It's a boy!
We are going to Rome!

how to open a pinata

tres!

Just a few, errr, a lot of pictures from Jonah's birthday today.


Technically this was last night. His last day being 2.


Presents at 6:30 am. Of course.


Getting ready for the pirate party.


Pirate Halle kicking back.


"Just what I wanted!"


Marc and Joel rigged the slide to go right into the pool. Hours of entertainment.


Birthday lunch. Soren, Samuel, Jonah, Annie and Meredith.


Pirate ship cake.


Sort of a diving hug.


3 years old!

It couldn't have been better. We had a sunny day and great friends. The kids had the pool out as soon as they were outside and played in it all day long. We were so excited that the Taylors and the Bammerts came over to celebrate with us. We felt so blessed to have such wonderful, easy going friends whom we enjoy being with and who don't mind our lack of preparedness! Jonah had a ball playing with Samuel and Soren. He was also very excited about the Darth Vader costume he asked for (specifically, he requested "a Darth Vader thing" while pointing to his head) which showed up halfway through the morning. It's hard to believe our little boy is 3!

happy list 3: birthday edition

Presents at 6:30 am.
Pancakes and sausages.
Race car track.
Stomp rockets.
Sunny day.
Balloons.
Samuel.
Soren.
Meredith.
Halle.
Wading pool.
The slide into the wading pool.
Pirate ship pinata.
Burgers and dogs.
Cheetos.
Pirate cake.
Darth Vader costume.
Sprinkler.
Snuggling on a blanket and watching the clouds.
Bouncy house at Jack's.
More Cheetos.

3 years ago...