Joey

We are praying for our little buddy Joey today. Joey is basically the same age as Joelle they are days appart. Joey has a rare genetic disease CGD. He is having a transplant today.

Good is a Long Way from Great

As we prepare ourselves to move, much of our time is spent in getting rid of things that we have taken years to accumulate. Because of this, I often find myself thinking of things that I am loosing or letting go of as we make this transition. A theme park wrist band reminds me of a family vacation to Disney World, a playbill from Wicked and ticket to Alcatraz reminds me of the 8 days we spent together last summer in San Francisco. I find an old Marriott hotel key and I am reminded of the 300 nights I have spent in hotels as a sales rep the last 5 and a half years. While travel from work does at times become tedious it also comes with the company paid dinners, nights out with friends, and unique experiences. I find myself dwelling on all of these things; experiences which I think were good.

I actually found myself thinking about these things last Sunday morning while at church and while sitting there it hit me. Good is a long way from great. I have spent a lot of time enjoying the good things that life has provided me. There is nothing wrong with these good things. I count every one of these memories a gift from God. The problem is we get so caught up in the “good” things that we forget that God has in store for us great things. I haven’t always spent a lot of time allowing God to show me the great things he has in store for me, but when I have they make the good things look pretty trivial. God has been challenging me for days now not to look back and get caught up in the good things, but to be focused on the great things he desires to teach me and accomplish through me. I have a sneaky suspicion that I will eventually look back at my attachment to these things I considered good and laugh having truly discovered how far good is from great.

Prayer Cards

We have prayer cards available. If you would like one you can drop me an e-mail at joyeyoung@hotmail.com or byoung607@gmail.com. Leave me your address or if I will see you soon I'll just give it to you. My sister-in-law Marissa took the picture for us. Thanks Marissa! My parents also helped out with ideas and pointing out my hair was blowing in my face, etc. We took tons of pictures. It is humorous how hard it is to get 5 different people to cooroperate and the kids weren't the only problem! But all we needed was one and we got a couple.

The Day the TV Died!

Today we got rid of the TV. We made this decision as we are not going to have a TV in Mexico and felt that it would make the transition easier if we went at least a month without it here in preparation. Now that the US has been eliminated from the World Cup I felt there was really no reason not to get rid of it. You think something like this wouldn't be a big deal. I never considered myself a huge TV watcher. For those of you who know me, the only shows I really tune into are Top Chef and the Office. However, last night I felt a shiver go down my spine as I walked into the family room, looked to my right and saw......nothing! This was a pattern that I continued throughout the night. It is amazing that I seem to have created an internal need to Tune Out at night. I come to realize that this change might be harder then I thought and better for me then I had originally realized. It is amazing how only when you get rid of things in your life that you begin to realize the pull they had on you. I sit here today, a little disoriented, thinking of what I might be missing in the World Cup games and humming the lyrics to American Pie.

One Month!

It's hard to believe, but we leave in only one month! The kids are at grandma Debbie's and Papa's this week, which means Brian and I need to take this opportunity to get a lot done without them. Otherwise it might be a bit chaotic our last couple weeks.

I have had different people ask if there is an address that they can send us letters. You can always e-mail us.

Joy at joyeyoung@hotmail.com and Brian at byoung607@gmail.com

Or the school has an account with Mailboxes Etc. so you can send letters to Laredo Texas and then that company drives them down to the school. This is a great thing to have so people don't have to pay extra money for postage.

That address is-

Lincoln School

5802 Bob Bullock Loop

CI-MX070-329

Laredo, TX 78041-8807

Tortoise and the Hare Household fight!

We are having a little healthy competition in our house. At least it hasn’t gotten out of hand just yet! I am way ahead of Brian in my knowledge of the Spanish language. I’m enjoying being better at Brian in something (That rarely happens). I do not want to give that up. We were at a Mexican store a few weeks ago and I was the one who could (barely) speak to the store clerk. I felt like my hard work was paying off.

Brian has decided he is going to try and pass me in the language learning department. His goal specifically is to be ahead in the Rosetta Stone that we are doing by the time we leave in 5 weeks. Right now I am on Level 2, Unit 3 lesson 4 and he just started. I am determined not to let him beat me! But he is becoming a computer hog!

This competition has also encouraged David and Edan to join in trying to keep ahead of daddy. So they have been both trying to squeeze time which leaves me fighting for 5 minutes and sneaking up when people are watching TV. But I’m not going to let them beat me! Brian said that I might have been the hare and zipped out in front, but the tortoise is in the race now. I said no I’m the tortoise. I have been working on it for years. You are the hare that thinks he can quickly slide in and win the race, but is WRONG! All kidding aside I’m glad that they are trying hard to beat me. It will be good to be able to help each other out in Mexico. Will the tortoise or the hare win? Or one of the other little critters that have joined the race? Only time will tell!

Who Is My Provider?

As we prepare for our trip to Mexico, I continually find myself struggling with the idea that I am no longer in control for providing for my family. For years, as a sales rep, I have worked hard to earn and provide for my family. I have found that there is a large part of me that has taken great pride in my ability to do so. I have begun to now be exposed to the error in my thought process.

For years I have believed that I had been the one providing for my family. I have worked long hours to earn the sales bonuses, put groceries on the table, and pay for the house. I am now seeing that I have believed that the quality of my abilities had allowed me to be a superb provider. The thought that I no longer can take pride in this at times has produced sadness. I now understand that their is so much of my life that I have never really trusted to God. I have in many areas gloried in myself. I have failed to believe that he is the provider for me and my family. It is of course, an illusion to have first believed that it was I and not God who has been in control of my family protection and provision in the first place, but I see now that this is what I have done.

The exciting and scary part of this trip is that I know this is one of the many lies of which I must be broken. God, I hope to learn, is an incredible provider.

Purging

We got and accepted an offer on our house this week. Now we are undergoing the painful process of trying to decide what to do with all our “stuff”. A part of me wants to get rid of everything except what we take in our van down to Mexico. I think it would be freeing in many ways to rid myself of all this materialism. But the truth is materialism has its grasp on me. I find it very difficult to let go.

It’s not that I have all this clutter around my house. We have moved several times and I have gotten rid of things during each move. Plus we have already been doing this process for months, but what about dishes, pots, and pans? Do I store these things? Or am I suppose to let go of everything? What about couches, beds, desks? Another thing I find hard is getting rid of books. I love to read and learn. We have so many great books. Yet the reality is what can we really take with us? What good is a book packed up in a box?

It’s easier to let go if I know someone would need it or want it, but some things have no value to anyone else, but me. They really need to be thrown away. I think that’s the most painful part, throwing away things that I treasured that are really worthless. You can only keep so much sentimental junk.

Not knowing what the future holds makes these decisions even more difficult. We have no clue what will happen in two years. If we don’t come back right away it seems silly to store things for years and years, but if we do come back it seems silly to have to buy everything again. Now we have five weeks to decide whether we hang on or let go of our “stuff”.

Practice Run

Brian and I were able to take a “practice run” of a long car trip this weekend. We went to a good friends wedding down in Georgia. Only around 19 to 20 hours in a car will make you take a good look at your plans and reevaluate them. Now we have a more realistic look at what it really will take to drive all the way down to Mexico, a 36 hour drive with 3 kids. We decided it might be best to add another day to our trip.

Author John C. Maxwell in his book 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership writes a simple guide to follow for planning ahead.

Predetermine a Course of Action
Lay Out Your Goals
Adjust Your Priorities
Notify Key Personnel

Allow Time for Acceptance
Head into Action
Expect Problems
Always Point to the Successes
Daily Review Your Plan

We are now going back and adjusting our plans so our trip is not a complete disaster. I’m thankful for the long weekend trip because we were really able to think through the reality of the drive. I can envision the children screaming with tears rolling down there faces because we were behind an unrealistic schedule and not stopping again. There still may be a few tears, but hopefully we will now be a little better prepared.

Is it Safe?

“Are you sure that’s safe?” While we have had many people fully behind us in this move to another country this question has come up on multiple occasions. Most of these people that ask this type of question have lived in their own comfort zone most of their lives. They have never known what it’s like to be a minority and nothing would feel safe to them, but their familiar suburban home.

I think the majority of us don’t like to do things outside of what we know. We do whatever we can to be safe and comfortable. We don’t take a lot of risks or chances, especially if it’s going to make us uncomfortable. It’s natural. I feel the exact same way at times. There are questions that go through Brian and my head as the day approaches when we will drive to Mexico. Questions like, “Will we be safe? Are we crazy for giving up a great job in a bad economy? How long will we be able to make it financially? Can we sell our house?...”

Yesterday I was reminded of an ancient story, taken place somewhere in the 700s BC. A man that probably enjoyed the comfort of the suburbs like myself, but when God calls him to go to one of the wickedest cities of the time his reaction tells me he did not just think, “Are you sure that’s safe?” But, “NO, Way! That’s not safe?!” Safety was a big motivation for Jonah, if it wasn’t he would not have headed in the complete opposite direction. Granted I probably would have responded similarly. He was asked to go to the most dangerous place in his known world. I get nervous at times meeting new people, let alone, if I were Jonah being asked to go to a city were there’s a high chance they will kill me or do bodily harm when I let them know my message.

But what happens to Jonah? He meets calamity when he is “supposedly” in the statistically safer place and is completely protected when he actually does speak out in the great evil city of Nineveh, doing what God wants him to do.

If he would have gotten advice from one of his buddies they would have reaffirmed his decision to run! Yet, what good would that negative advice done for Jonah. It would have been wrong.

Like Jonah, I think that I can protect myself or my children from harm if I can control everything. I wonder if I and those around me have a false sense of security. We try to protect ourselves and our children as much as we can, but ultimately it’s out of our hands. While there is nothing wrong in being safe, could the safety we seek possibly be in the way of doing something better? Are those doubts and questions about safety and security holding us back? Does focusing on security and safety in life cause us to ignore an even bigger voice? I guess those would be my questions to the ones who might ask, “Are you sure it’s safe?”

Hola Guapa

Joelle is definitely learning the art of flattery. She learned how to say "Hola, guapa!" (hello, beautiful). She says it to everyone, no prompting. We were at a Mexican restaurant and when the waitress said hello she immediately said, "Hola, guapa!" She also tries to "speak" in Spanish. It's a mixture of Spanish words she knows with Spanish (sort of) sounding gibberish. She will do great in Mexico. She is well on her way to becoming fluent. The first couple weeks or so the kids in her class might think she's a little weird talking in gibberish, but she will pick it all up quickly!

Spending Time with Family

We have been trying to spend some time with family before our big trip. This week the guys and the girls split up. The guys went on a baseball vacation where they have traveled to five minor league baseball fields. The girls went to the first game with the guys. For Edan's birthday he got to throw out the very first pitch. We then parted and the girls headed to Chicago to the American Girl Place and a little shopping. Met the boys one more time in the Dunes. Surprisingly, living in Indiana all my life this was sadly my first time to go to the Dunes. Then More shopping for the girls at the outlet mall, while the boys headed to super-hero night. They were the only ones that dressed up, so they both got to get up on the dug out and everyone cheered for them to decide who had the best costume! Yesterday the girls headed to the zoo were we got a special behind the scenes with the Penguins. Joelle wasn't sure about petting the penguins at first and stuck to me like glue making it very difficult to take pictures! She loved it though. Then we headed for a first pedicure and manicure. Joelle proved she was ready for a girls vaction. We have had a wonderful time with family and had some great experiences. Looking for to a few more times with family before we go.

PS- On Edan's blog there is the video of him throwing out the first pitch and different pictures on the boys blogs.