First Days in New Life

I am not done processing. There's my disclaimer. The emotions and details that I went through last week, leading up to our move to Central America are vast, varied and very difficult to put into words.

We shut the door on a way of life we have had for 12 years. That's a long time. But its okay.

We miss our home. We are excited.

We're sad. We're happy.

We're warm, Yay!  We're HOT!...

There's sunshine!  There's ants.

We have great friends. We miss our friends.

All of this is going on at the same time. So please bear with me while I work through it. Some things I will share, some I will not. Some things I will write with anticipation of your excitement, others will be kept between the delicate walls of our hearts.

We have switched from a culture where being in constant communication via approximately 12 different technologies, social networks etc. etc. rule our lives, to one where BEING with the people you are physically with is vital.

At the same time we are committed to keeping our supporters (financial and prayer) up to date, who have invested so much care and trust in us.  We love you all and want to keep you in the loop.  I would be dying of curiosity if I were in your shoes!!!

With that said.  The plane ride could not have gone better.  I was a little nervous when 5 minutes after we arrived, first in line at the airport, a rock band of some sort, came behind us with 10 passengers, and 40 pieces of luggage..... most overweight and we were on a little commuter plane. But it all worked out. We only had 4 pieces of our luggage not make it through, and we received those today. Yay!
Donovan fell asleep immediately after take off and slept through until we were getting off the plane in Miami. He could not figure out why it was sunny out and we hadn't gone anywhere.... My very favorite part of the journey was the hilarious things he was saying before take off.  He was a constant stream of questions, insights and observations.  To a plane full of people who had been up since well before 3 a.m., in his loud, Donovan, excited, voice.  I could not stop laughing, which only added to the scene as he hollered with extreme excitement, "MOMMY THEY (the airport ground crew) HAVE BABY LIGHT-SABERS!!!!! THIS IS THE COOLEST PLACE EVER!!!" With his little face plastered to what I'm sure was a disgusting germ infested airplane window..... ewww. Suffice to say, I'm positive that they were overjoyed when my little man passed out immediately after we reached cruising altitude.

We are going to be well taken care of.  I was brought to tears when we arrived at our new home to find that the church family had taken a collection to buy us enough food for breakfasts and lunch for a few days. As well as some cleaning supplies and food for our puppy.  Their generosity and hearts just did me in after a very emotional few days.

We had a great time of rest on Sunday, did some grocery and home goods shopping, and then enjoyed a restful evening at Pastor Ivo's house.  This is the best part.  Getting to share in their lives, and be together. The kids made fast friends, and I am so excited to see what God is going to do with them and through them. I might have had a mini heart attack when at the end of the evening I said, "I better get my kids home to bed....."  It was so strange to hear coming out of my mouth.

We are feeling very peaceful and anxious to get to work,  due in no small part to the many prayers being lifted for us.  This is mixed with many emotions of the amazing family and friends we had to say goodbye to. I am so, so thankful for this age of technology in which we can still communicate often and "be" in each other's lives.  We are just an email, a skype or a message away.  Please feel free to do so.

Love, Mari