Segovia and Cochinillo

With lots of visitors lately, we have been making the tourist rounds in the Madrid area. It is a definite blessing to have friends visit with us!

Monday, we took a trip to Segovia, Spain. A small town about an hour north of Madrid. It is home to a castle and a Roman aqueduct.

It is also famous for its local dish: cochinillo (roasted piglet). It is a very popular dish at Christmas time here in Madrid. As the holidays get closer the supermarkets will have meat cases with baby pigs all very nice placed together and plastic wrapped, ready to be taken home for Christmas dinner.

Neither our guests, nor Jeff and I had ever tried the Spanish dish, so we decided to have a nice meal at a Segovian restaurant called "Asi Nos Ponen Huevos como Gallinas"....I'm not really sure what exactly the name is supposed to mean.....translated it means: "We'll be like chickens laying eggs".......

Anyways, so we all tried the local dish: cochinillo. This is what arrived as my main course:

(I can't get blogger to turn my picture the right way....)

Yes, that is a foot and a tail. Jeff ended up with an ear on his piece... I will say that the meat was really tender, and didn't exactly taste how I expected, though one is defintely thrown off by the sight of the tiny foot and tail....

Quick Breakfast

The boys started school this past week. I have given myself two goals for this school year:

1. I will be at the bus stop when they get off the bus in the afternoon.

2. I will make them at least one hot breakfast a week.

The boys get on the bus at 8:00AM, and get off the bus around 6:00PM.

It’s a long day for someone so little, so I wanted to send them off with a full feeling in their stomachs. It has been a challenge to find ways to make a quick, hot breakfast that toddlers will eat when they would be happy with a daily dose of the marshmallow cereal that Grandma sent from the States.

I had discovered earlier that you can make pancakes in the sandwich maker (my new favorite kitchen appliance), and that you could refrigerate the batter for up to a week, so making just a few pancakes at a time.

I also discovered, via some comments on facebook, that you could microwave an egg mixed with a little milk in a small bowl and have perfect scrambled eggs. It was only about 2 minutes in the microwave, and they come out in the perfect shape to use for an egg sandwich (although we ate them ‘plain’). The boys love ‘em, so they’ve now become a regular on the breakfast rotation.

I think my next goal should be preparing quick, good-for-you dinners for just the two of them. Jeff and I usually eat a large meal at the lunch hour (around 2:00pm here in Spain) and then sometimes I’ll reheat the leftovers for the boys for dinner and we eat something light later on (around 10:00ish). Lately the boys have been having a lot of white rice mixed with tomato sauce, a Spanish staple. They do like this meal….but it has very little actual nutrition.

Goal for the next week (or whenever I actually get up the initiative): discover actual nutritious dinner meals that don’t take very long, and that they will eat…

A New Beginning / Sandwicher Maker Chocolate Cake

I haven’t blogged in a while, but that is obvious. I found myself each day saying “What should I write about today?” and coming up blank. How many times could I write “Today, I went to the church…Today, I walked around Madrid…Today, I felt exasperated by my boys.”

I have a new fascination with food blogs. I love seeing things people make and eat, and especially when they tell me how I can do it too. …..So, I am going to try something. I am going to blog about our food. I am by no means a cook, but I like to try. I fail a lot, but every once and while things work out.

Sometimes we eat interesting Spanish things, like last week we had “Arroz Negro”. That is rice made black by squid ink with mini octopus mixed in.

Sometimes we eat boring things, like grilled cheese and tomato soup. Only the tomato soup is really cold Spanish gazpacho, because it’s the only thing I can find that is similar.

Lots goes on at a meal. Conversation, jokes, my boys being crazy….so surely some of that will get mixed in as well.

Some pertinent information to understanding what kind of cooking I can and cannot do:

1. I live in Madrid, Spain. While there is an American, closet sized, grocery store, most typical “American” ingredients are very expensive. So I end up improvising or making things from scratch (like Italian dressing).

2. I have 2 toddler boys and a husband. I cook so they will eat it. It’s usually not very fancy.

3. This is the size of my kitchen:

it has its limitations. (Yes, that is my washing machine next to my oven.)

***********************************************************************************

I had read somewhere that sandwich makers could be used to make much more than a hot sandwich.

After making the PB&J paninni over at Weelicious, I got to thinking about my own sandwich maker. What could I do? And after some research on the internet I found out: I CAN PRETTY MUCH MAKE ANYTHING!

So, I tried cake last night.

I mixed just a plain boxed cake mix. (This one I got in a care package from home.)

I poured 2 tablespoons of the batter into each of the triangle wells. Closed the lid and waited for about 3 to 5 minutes.

And this is what came out!

They were a hit. The box mix made about 24 triangle servings, which is nice for a party but bad in the house. We ended up eating the whole plate by the end of the night.

I am sure there are tons of ways to put 'add-ins' to the cakes. But this is what happened when I tried putting marshmallows in, so I just stuck to the cake.

We’ve had omlettes and pancakes from our sandwich maker since yesterday and now I am thinking of the endless possibilities for my new kitchen friend...pigs in a blanket, pizza pockets, Spanish tortilla….

When the Roll is Called Up Yonder...

Funerals are amazing moments of cultural learning. Last week we experienced our first funeral in Spain. And while there is great sadness in the loss, there is also the extreme curiosity on my part to absorb all I could about the nuances of Spanish culture.

We don’t all approach death in the same manner. Family, religious, cultural – each have their own input into how we deal with the passing.

For example:

• Spanish rarely say someone has “died”, they use the word that literally means they have “failed”. It sounds very polite.

• Up until just a decade or so ago, Spain had Catholic funerals/graveyards, and everyone else. And to this day, there seems to be a great stigma (even among evangelicals) to be buried in the “everyone else” section of the graveyard.

• Spaniard funerals are the next day, usually within 24 hours of the passing. There is no body preparation, such as make up and hair combing. And several people found it ludicrous that we both put make up on the deceased and wait up to 4 days to have a funeral.

• Spanish grave plots are purchased by families, and then everyone’s coffin is stacked on top of one another. I saw one tombstone with 6 names/dates engraved on top. (And the graveyard is so big that there several bus stops inside.).

• Spanish do not have any “gathering” following the actual funeral service. Most simply go there own way after the 10 to 15 minute service.

While the approach to death may change wherever we go, there are things that remain the same. There is the pain in accepting the loss of a loved one. Sorrow looks the same in every language.

There is also the hope that we who believe have:

He will swallow up death forever!
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away all tears.
He will remove forever all insults and mockery
against his land and people.
The LORD has spoken!
In that day the people will proclaim,
“This is our God!
We trusted in him, and he saved us!
This is the LORD, in whom we trusted.
Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!”

Isaiah 25: 8 – 9

The American lady messed up my homework...

Km Hm Dm m dm cm mm

Do those mean anything to you? … Me neither.

We have an afterschool homework club two days a week and I have been able to help out the past two weeks. I have really enjoyed the time filled with giggles, snacks, and silly questions. But it is not without its complications.

The majority of the schools in the Madrid area boast a bilingual education program. I offered to lend a hand to the program and help out with English homework, especially since several moms had already approached me about helping their children.

Little did I expect that the majority of my time would be spent on Spanish grammar homework and metric conversion math. For the past two days I have been as confused as the kids who have been asking for my help. More than once I have, in a moment of exasperation and fear of leading the child educationally astray, called over one of the Spanish speaking tutors.

Yesterday, I spent a good hour working with a boy on metric conversion charts and warned him that there may be some problems with my answers when he got to school in the morning. He said "Don't worry. I'll just tell them you are American."

I do get the chance to assist with English homework; correct pronunciation, help translate, or quiz are parts of the skeleton (yes, they are all learning the parts of the skeleton/bones in English).

And learn that:

Km = kilometer

Hm = hectameter

Dm = decameter

m = meter

dm = decimeter

cm = centimeter

mm = milimeter

What Are the Rules??

Jeff stayed up until 4:00 am watching the Super Bowl this week. At the mention of this, one of our friends commented that he must really love American football. But Jeff’s not a football fanatic. I actually can’t remember him watching much football when we lived in the States. Jeff’s response to the question was tantamount to saying “I’m an American male. It’s the Super Bowl. What else am I supposed to do?”

All of this has made me think about “culture”. The Super Bowl says a lot about American culture. (I only watched the first few minutes and then went to bed…it STARTED at midnight and there were no commercials.)

We love big competition, especially if they involve an underdog figure.

We are relatively patriotic, at least compared to most countries. What is considered normal in the States would be rendered to fanaticism in other countries.

We love buying things, and we’ll buy almost anything if the propaganda is good enough. (I watched the Super Bowl commercials online the next day and went out to buy Doritos.)

Of course those are NOT the only traits our culture has: we also tend to be very generous, we strive for success, we are funny. (Just look at our Super Bowl commercials.)

It also made me think about the other “cultures” I have become a part of and my increasing dilemma in understanding their “requirements”.

1. With Spanish culture it is customary to greet people with two kisses. But I’m never sure when I’m supposed to do so, because apparently there’s a secret rule as to who you kiss and who you don’t, and when you kiss and when you don’t. I’m positive I’m offending someone nearly all the time.

2. Blog culture is an interesting phenomenon. We’ve created this virtual space, but what are the rules? What happens with blog meets real life in a non blog related event? Oh, the things that boggle my mind…

3. Church culture: we all have different ways of expressing similar sentiments. When should we use which words? What are the “rules” of each separate environment?

4. Salvation Army culture: “The Army is the Army no matter where you are.”…or so I thought.

…I’m sure the list could go on and on.

Anyways, we spent the next 10 minutes of the above conversation explaining how American football is actually played. To which he responded “That sounds like a dumb game.”

The Poor Are Counting on It

Last week the president of Spain participated in the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. This was a very big deal here in Spain to hear their national leader read words from Scripture and offer a prayer in acknowledgement of God in a public event.

Zapatero chose to read Deuteronomy 24: 14 – 15:

Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

It is an interesting passage to have been chosen, seeing as 465,452 people are receiving unemployment in Madrid. The fear of “paro” (the unemployment program) is a real issue for the majority of the people attending our church, as it is the fear of most people in Madrid. It is a real challenge as Christians to find a way to minister to the 465,452 people in our community who are passing through financial crisis. One can only pray that we can remember the words of Deuteronomy and that President Zapatero remembers them as well.

The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.
Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to release the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Luke 4:17 – 19

Did she say what I think she said?

I have sat in my fair share of translated meetings, being a listener who understands the two languages well enough to compare what was said with what was translated. There are many types of translators: those who translate word for word, whether it makes sense or not; those who translate nothing that is actually being said and create their own presentation; those who have the gift.

Translation is a serious art. It takes a real gift for the ability to quickly switch between two languages simultaneously. A gift I do not have, but am willing to let God to continue to work out through my efforts.

Since arriving at our new appointment in Madrid, a new style of ministry has developed for my husband and me. He speaks, and I translate. We are learning this together, and it is not without its frustrations. Most Sundays I come down from the platform exhausted, often feeling as if I made no sense at all.

Today, my husband spoke on the parable of the prodigal son in Luke. He began to describe the extravagant love that the father lavished on the returned son; a robe, a ring, new sandals. And as I translated I noticed the people began to chuckle slightly. I assumed I said some thing that when translated directly can be taken out of context, so I let it go. It happens often enough, that I’ve learned to try to not get distracted. After the meeting, someone asked me if I knew why everyone was laughing.

“No. Did I say a bad word, or something?”

“No you said that the father called for them to put watermelons on the prodigal son’s feet.”

“Oh.”

Sandalias = sandals……..sandia = watermelon

It’s an honest mistake. And I’m positive it won’t be my last.

....Unexpected Hiatus....

We have no internet at home, so until we are up and running again, my next update may be a while.

And they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts.

We stopped at a mall and happened upon the perfect photo opportunity! (For 10€ of course...)

Tomorrow night, children all around Spain will rush to bed with anticipation of what Los Reyes Magos (The Three Kings) will bring them as a gift. We've decided to celebrate this tradition, along with an American type Christmas, while we live in Spain. Bramwell is old enough that he realizes what is going on and is expecting a gift from the Kings this year.

¡Feliz Día de Los Reyes Magos!

A Praying Life

A couple of months ago we recieved a prayer journal and a copy of "A Praying Life" by Paul E. Miller from our home territorial headquarters. I decided that I would give myself the challenge of following the journal for 2o10 and reading the book.

This quote hit me from the book today:

If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life. You'll always be a little too tired, a little too busy. But if...you realize you can't do life on your own, then no matter how busy, no matter how tired you are, you will find the time to pray.

Just something to think about...

3...2...1...Ready or not, here I come!

This is a holiness table. There is one, in some shape or form, at the front of each Salvation Army chapel. It is a place we can pray. A place where we can aknowledge our sin, our need of holiness. It is a physical representation that reminds us that the Holy God is in our midst and that the whole of our life and service is lived to honor his holiness.

It is NOT a hiding place. Each Sunday my boys wait for me to make my way to the platform above this very table, my husband to be holding his guitar...and they make their break away to run up to the front and play under the table. It's as if they wait for the very moment in each service when they know we will cannot do anything about their misbehavior. They know we will not make a scene from the pulpit, or cause a distraction by correcting them loudly.

Thankfully I know that the Holiness is not the table itself....

For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." 2 Corinthians 6:16

Our Christmas so far, in pictures

We made sugar cookies. It took a couple of batches to figure out the right dough, but we conquered the making-cookies-outside-of-America battle.

We had candles and decorations.

Bram's school concert was wonderful!
He was dressed as a shepherd (Spanish style)
but insisted that he was San Jose. (St. Joseph)

We had the Spanish 'delicacy' of Serrano Ham.

Our church handed out hundreds of bags of food and gifts to our community.

IT SNOWED!!! Almost felt like home.

We made salt dough ornaments.

We visited the City Council of Madrid's official Nativity scene.

It was a set up the entire city of Bethlehem.

...and there's still more to come!

Another Year, Another Tree

I love Christmas trees. I just l.o.v.e. Christmas trees. I like tall, full, tastefully decorated trees. I love skinny, Charlie Brown trees. I love gaudy trees. I love trees full of homemade decorations. I love Christmas trees.

In our first appointment we arrived to a very large chapel, and a very small tree. I desperately wanted to get a 12 ft. tree to fill the chapel space, but the church lacked the funds to buy one. So I told my husband,"Fine, I'll just ask God for one." And I did.

About a week before Christmas that year a man called to say he wanted to donate his Christmas tree to The Salvation Army. He said he didn't have room for his tree in his new apartment...his 12ft. tree! I told him we'd be there within the hour to pick it up. The tree was falling apart, but I told my husband that we had to put it up the following Christmas because God had got me that tree. So using green bungee cords to hold the top half to the bottom half, we had a beautiful, big tree for the chapel.

This year, our church again has a large chapel but a tiny tree. So, I reminded my husband about God's power over large Christmas trees. And once again someone has offered to give the church their large tree after Christmas!

I once heard a preacher say "If it matters to you, it matters to Him." Ain't that the truth!

Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. John 16:24

The No Name Prophet

So, I've been reading through 1 Kings lately. And last night I read chapter 13 about the Man of God from Judah. (Read the story by clicking on the link)

A quick summary: Jeroboam (the King) has created a false religion and a no name prophet shows up to show him the error of his ways. As the man heads home he is tricked into disobeying God by eating in town, then he is mauled by a lion on the road home and the lion guards his corpse by the roadside. Then the guy that tricked him gives the no-name a proper burial, and Jeroboam never changes his ways.

One of those uplifting stories....


At first read, it seems totally unfair that God gets so angry with the no name prophet that he has to die in such a dishonorable manner all because he was tricked. The old prophet that tricked him outright lied to him, how was he supposed to know??

The whole story made me think about 2 things: why doesn't he have a name? and why did he have to be punished for believing a lie?

I think as humans our natural inclination is to be given our due, so to speak. The no name prophet is the medium for a great miracle that God performs. The king's hand freezes and an altar cracks in half, that's incredible. But we have no name to attribute these great events to. I think sometimes we assume that we'll be remembered for all the great things that God is doing or going to do through us, but sometimes we are just the no name guy that God used. A nice Biblical reminder that the ministry, the miracles, the message is not about the medium.

A commentary I read about the passage suggested that no name was punished so severly in order to prove that God means what He says about not tolerating sin. God had just proven that He would not allow sin to continue among His people without discipline. No name knew that God had told him not to eat while in Bethel. He repeated it to the older prophet who offered him something to eat. (which raises a lot of unanswered questions: why'd the older prophet lie??) But he accepted the lie instead of truth anyway. But don't we all do that? Don't we all know exactly what God has required of us, but we'd rather accept the easier route at times? "I know I'm not supposed to, but the "bread" just smells so good." It's easier to accept a lie than hold on to the truth.

I guess, I find the lesson of the story is that God's message is not about me. Just because God causes great things to happen all around me, I shouldn't for a second think that I have anything to do with it. And I shouldn't for a second think that I can accept a lie in place of God's truth. I don't have the power to overrule God's decisions.

So, is there an upside to this story? I think that knowing God's message is not about me is the upside. It's not my responsibility to do the miracle, to transform the situation, to be 'entertaining'. My responsibility to remain faithful to the Truth, the rest is up to Him.

What a relief.

Random Dozen

I'm joining the meme from 2nd Cup of Coffee's blog.


1. If you could master one sport, what would it be?

Badminton. Minimal running, but includes a racket.

2. When you make a major purchase, do you go with your gut instinct, or do you do research to make an informed decision?

I often will walk away from the item and if I decide later that I really really want it then I will go buy it. It's worked for me so far.

3. There is an old kids' game that says you can find out what your movie star name would be by using your middle name as your first name and the name of the street you grew up on as your last. What is your movie star name?

Nichole Albert

4. Would you rather give up your favorite music or your favorite food?

I'd give up music first because you might find something similar, but food is very particular. I definitely choose keeping the food.

5. There are two types of banana preferences. One is pristine yellow, almost to the point of being green; the other is spotty and more ripe. Which is your preference?

Pristine yellow and firm. I HATE mushy, even a slight give, fruit. It especially annoys me that when I've gone through the process of picking through fruit to find the ones that have no bruises or mushiness the checker throws them down the rolling thingies....

6. Your favorite tree is?

I think I miss very large oak trees the most.

7. On a scale of 1-10, how tech savvy are you?

I would say I'm a 6.5. I know enough to load my iPod, check my facebook, and hook up a printer...but if you want me to download you a program or find one of the fancy gadgets on my iPod, you're out of luck.

8. Has H1N1 touched your family?

Not yet. There have been 2 confirmed cases in Bramwell's school. They just started offering the "Gripe A" (as it's called in Spain) vaccine a few days ago. I haven't completely decided whether or not to vaccinate the boys...I'm not convinced that they don't know the side effects of the vaccine aren't potentially worse than getting H1N1...

9. Are you an analytical person, or do you just accept things the way they are without questioning or scrutinizing?

I tend to accept things the way they are. If there is room for improvement and a desperate need I see the benefit to questioning, but if "it ain't broke, don't fix it" is what I say. Thankfully, I married a man who is always questioning the status quo, so we make a good team.

10. Is your personality more like that of a dog, cat, or Koala?

I'm gonna go with Koala...the little cracker ones that are filled with chocolate.

11. Do you keep in touch with friends you made years ago?

Facebook has helped me, but typically I rarely write, call, or return e-mails. I'm a terrible friend, but I hope those I love know I mean no offense.

12. You are checking out at a grocery store. In the express lane, there are more people than the regular lanes, but of course, their load is less than those in the regular lanes. Which lane do you choose (assuming you qualify for the express lane) and why?

I choose a regular lane and get stuck behind the lady arguing that the coupon is valid because it expired yesterday and then my toddlers begin screaming, pulling things out of their packaging, and my cell phone starts ringing from that mysterious black hole in the middle of my purse, then I mentally threaten to leave the cart and storm out of the store, but I don't, I just mutter to myself "I always choose wrong."

Niños son esponjas.

Children are sponges. At least that’s what everyone keeps telling me…

Who knew schooling would be so difficult? Bram has spent the last week home from school because he has a “fever”. He has no other symptoms of illness. He’s eating, playing, and picking on his brother…all as normal. Which led me to believe perhaps the fever is a symptom of something else? Everyone seems to have a story of how their child had a seeming illness and it turned out to be symptoms of stress or extreme dislike of a situation.

Between both boys, Bram seems to be the most sensitive to the language change we have experienced. Bram started formal school in January primarily in English, after the summer and the move, in October he started another school primarily in Spanish. It’s been a tough switch for him.

Part of me says I know that he will adapt, and that come this time next year he’ll most likely be perfectly fine. But it’s still hard to watch him get stressed out, and not be able to do much about it. We have decided to try and reduce the stress in the areas where we are in control, ie: long Metro rides, plenty of snacks, plenty of rest stops at parks along the way home. And try to be extra encouraging about the things we can’t change: the increase in the Spanish language surroundings, big city-ness, having to cross his legs during story time at school. :)

Part of being an officer’s kid is the possibility of a move when it is least expected. My boys didn’t pick this life, but God picked them for us.

# R 540

Government offices can be very intimidating. Perhaps that's by design.

The first person you encounter, I call them the "Defense". They have all the answers and will often answer before you ask, while highlighting a paper with the address where you were supposed to go. They're usually sarcastically polite, and rather curt. They have seen 100's of people every day, most of them demanding that the rules bend for their case...I can understand.

The next step is to walk through the metal detectors and wait. All the while you are anxiously watching the scrolling numbers, waiting for your number to come across. And just as it seems the numbers are moving quickly, there's a long 'stall' 2 numbers before your own.

All too often it seems the people behind the desks are either just coming back from a coffee break or just going to leave for their coffee break. It is Spain, perhaps there is a mandated number of cafe con leche breaks?

Today, we went to renew our residency paperwork. Because of the move and chaos of life, we are in a bit of a rush because our residency cards expire next week. But God has been with us each step of this process. I reminded myself of that fact as I sat staring at the board blinking "R534". God demonstrated his power over "Pharaoh" again today. We sat at the girl's desk and she quickly processed both Jeff and my paperwork, even making a copy of something we had forgotten to include! So, it's done. We just wait for the letter to come back to record our fingerprint, and we're legal again for another 2 years.

The boys paperwork will be done on Friday in a separate office for minors.

Metro vs. Mommy

It's a never ending stream of people. People rushing past on the left. People running up stairs on the right. And at both ends are massive amounts of stairs with no elevator in sight. And I'm dragging a crying three year old, with a wiggly two year old strapped into a stroller. Needless to say, it's enough to discourage even the strongest of souls.

Jeff is traveling around Spain with a visiting youth band, and I have assumed the role of "Super Mommy". Except without the super. Jeff usually takes our oldest to school on the Madrid Metro each morning, and picks him up. One boy on the Metro is not so bad...it's the combination that's killer.

At just the point when I think I'll just keep Bram home from school the rest of the week rather than do this again, someone will offer to help me carry the stroller up the stairs or offer me a place to sit down on the Metro. It's the little things that really make a difference.

4 days till Jeff comes home...

We're Moving...

The one sure thing in The Salvation Army is that officers will move. We all know this, but I don't think it necessarily makes any of it easier. Because of that though, we have always attempted to make our ministry about empowering the people to see their potential as part of the Kingdom of God, therefore, essentially, making the officer interchangeable to their puzzle.

Our family has received moving orders. We arrive in Madrid next Monday to take up a new post, a new style of life, and all the new possibilities God has in store for us.

It is the quickest move I've ever made in my 6 years of officership, and the first time that I've moved without any expectations of a move. My first move was because I got married, my next move because they closed the appointment I was in, the third because we had applied for overseas service. Those moves all had sadness, but also a sense of preparation on our part. This time it was completely unexpected. My head is still reeling at the magnitude of the change that is about to happen...

After we received the news that we were being re-assigned I had the verse from Jeremiah "I know the plans I have for you" stuck in my head. One early morning, as I'm not sleeping very well lately, I got up and decided to spend the time before sunrise reading that chapter. In it there is a moment when God reminds the Isrealites/Jeremiah that it is HE that decides how long prophets stay and when they go. It was a great reminder that HE is in control of moves in our lives, even when it doesn't seem that way from the outside.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11