Immutability

The other day as I was getting ready for class, this amazing sunrise filled the sky.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to capture another one of God's sky paintings.  It is the first one to have palm trees.

Edinburg, TX 2014

As I thought about the colors ricocheting through the clouds and the brightness of the sun, I realized that this sunrise was similar to others while at the same time being different from others.  Here are two more sunrise pictures I've captured.   Do you see the similarities?

Lawrenceburg, KY 2013

Wilmore, KY 2006

Our walk with God can be like these sunrises.  We can experience different aspects of God's character at different moments in our life.  When we lose a loved one, we lean on God's comfort.  When our bodies become injured, we hope in Jehovah Rapha.  When we realize the vileness of our sin, we rejoice in the forgiveness of God and the sacrifice of His Son.  The longer we walk with God, the more of His many attributes we get to see.

Yet, just like the sunrise is always created by the sun, so God is always the same.  He never has changed, nor will He ever change.  This brings great comfort to me as we turn our world upside down and everything around us changes.  Knowing God is the constant fills our hearts with peace, joy, and the courage to keep following Him because He will never change.

I can't wait to see the breathtaking sky in Paraguay, and I can't wait to experience the new things I will learn about God as we serve there.


  

Things that feel like home, A.K.A KY

With every move one expects to encounter new things.  That is a given.  But these last couple days, God has opened my eyes to seeing the similarities.  Here are a few things to make it feel like home.

Liberty Tax Service has a person on the street corner swinging a sign and wearing a Statue of Liberty costume. We did notice that he was not hula-hooping like the woman in L'burg, but he was entertaining none the less.

A child began to respond with great emotion when his mother told him he could not have the candy at Wal-mart.  Awww, it's the little things.

Having a potluck.  It was with new friends and helped build relationships and remind us that we are not alone.  Thank-you 2nd semesters for this warm welcome.

My children still complain about school and tell me that home-schooling was great.  The grass is always greener.

We ran out of milk yesterday at breakfast.  This definitely solidified the feeling of home.

Relearning a few things

Fact:  With every move there comes an adjustment period.  This period may pass quickly or painfully depending on the degree of change.  During the adjustment period one often learns how to do the same things one has always done, but differently.  This move to TX has been no exception for us.  So far I've...

*learned how to pick the kids up from school.  And yes, on the way back to our apartment on campus, I drove in a circle around the school trying locate the front entrance.   A one way road gave me a bit of a problem.

*learned that the library closes at 3:00 on Saturday.  Yep, that science project for Rebekah was late.

*learned to check the date on Chobani's yogurt at the store b/c folks here don't buy it as frequently.  It was okay to eat the out-dated ones b/c yogurt by definition is soured milk, right?

*learned that a "corrida" is a bull fight, not a word to mean the running of the bulls.  Thus you cannot do a corrida con caballos (race with horses).  My teacher must really be wondering about what we do in KY with horses if we are having corridas de caballos (horse fights).

*learned that although Tic-Tacs are tasty and help antsy kids pass time when sitting in a service where they don't understand the words, Tic-Tacs are not quiet and should not be passed out during prayer time.   

*learned that bacon doesn't take quite as long to bake as I thought.

And I've learned that God is the same as He is anywhere I've lived.  His love never fails. His patience never sours. His energy never exhausts.  His knowledge knows no limit.  My God is King of kings and Lord of  lords and He always will be, no matter what I'm having to learn for the tenth time.

How you can help, for FREEEEE!

Over this first week of classes, Holly and I have found this to be our schedule.

Get up at five to get some studying done.  Get the kids up and get them ready to go to school.  Drive them to school (this take 45 min to an hour depending on traffic).  Go to class from 8 to 12.  Meet with a tutor from 1 to 2.  Do a  little studying.  Drive back to pick the kids up from school.  A little more studying.  Wash clothes, make dinner, clean up.  Study some more and then go to bed.

What we have found is that the preparing of dinner takes a lot of time that could be better used elsewhere.  In order to try to save some time in the afternoons, we are going to try making some meals on the weekends and freezing them to heat up for dinner over the week.

Here is how you can help!!!  If you have recommendations / recipes for meals which can be frozen or prepared in advance, or meals which can be prepared simply and quickly, please send them our way.  Either to darin.larrabee@sim.org or holly.larrabee@sim.org.  Yesterday Holly made homemade chicken and dumplings for dinner.  It was really good, but not really time efficient.

Wildlife Sanctuary

 This past Saturday we went to the Santa Ana Wildlife Sanctuary.  It is right along the border with Mexico.  It is primarily a haven for birds.  We were able to see several very interesting birds we had never seen before.

The kids enjoyed playing with the Spanish Moss.

The kids were shocked and amazed to look across the Rio Grande River into Mexico!

Rebekah thought maybe she should send Gabby across the river into Mexico.

Gabby really enjoyed taking pictures with her new camera.

Apparently a birder in training.

Needless to say, we aren't in KY anymore.  It is a little flat here.

First week of school (for the kids)

This is the end of the first week of school for the kids.  We didn't get a first day picture as they were all a little stressed.  By the end of the week they were all having a good time and making friends.

We celebrated the end of the first week by going out to DQ for Blizzards.

Apartment 4

Well here it is, our new home in Edinburg, TX.  We spent three years working on getting here, four days driving here, and many hours of prayer to be prepared for here.

 

This is our living room, dining room, and kitchen filled with our things that made the favorite, favorite list.

There is a playground outside our back door.  Our kids enjoyed the physical exertion even though it was a bit chilly. 

Driving the Natchez Trace Parkway

We decided to take the scenic drive down the Natchez Trace Parkway.  It goes from Natchez MS to Nashville TN.  With it being winter there were almost no cars.  It was a very peaceful drive.  We only drove about 340 miles of it.  We stopped several times to see some historic sites.

 This was a memorial to 13 unknown confederate soldiers who were killed in the Civil war

 Forcing the kids to have the "Dad made us stand in the grocery store parking lot and eat our lunch" stories.

Lightening the load

This past year many of our possessions broke.  Instead of purchasing new ones we put up with broken dresser drawers, a leaning precariously coat tree, and a shifting to the right school desk which was a great example of a parallelogram.    But they weren't going with us to TX, so we did this on a cold, still morning.