No Goodbyes Allowed

I am enjoying one of my last quiet mornings here in America.  In less than a week we leave to serve in Guinea Bissau, West Africa.  It seems like it has just been a thought, but now it is reality.  We have been talking about this and visiting churches sharing about this, and now, the moment is coming upon us.  We are taking our kids, and moving to a third world country where we know God wants us to serve.  I am thankful for how God has provided. It is only by Him that we are able to leave.  However, in the midst of my thankfulness, there's a wee bit of timidity.  I am reminded with the word timidity of Paul telling Timothy not to have a spirit of timidity. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline 1 Timothy 1:7. 

Our prayer is that God will go before us, behind us, all around us, above us and below us.  That is a prayer from our time at Oasis that has stuck with me.  There are so many people we want to express our love and thankfulness to.  We are praying that God helps us to communicate that to everyone. We are so thankful that 5 years ago, God introduced us to this community that we have lived in, and this church family that is so dear to our hearts. We are so thankful for the relationships that have been built here and all the people that have been such a blessing to all of us.  

Saying goodbye is hard.  Not a single person in this Baker Beans family wants to say goodbye. No goodbyes are allowed, we want to say "see you later" instead.  So, if you read this and you are one of the persons that we will be seeing in the next week, please don't say goodbye, lets say "see you later".  

~Karen

What are our kids thinking?

As we prepare for our move to Guinea Bissau, our kids have been walking through the emotions of leaving home just like we have been. Here are some of those thoughts from our kids:

Isaiah: I like my lego set that is x-wing, but I lost Jed Porkins behind the wall.  Daddy thinks he got him out, but I know he's still back there.  I want my Daddy to buy me a new lego set that is really small so I can bring it to Africa.  I really like legos.

Lydia: I can't wait to go to Africa, but I am going to miss all my friends.  When I come back, I will probably have lots of stories to tell.  Here's a story from now. This week, our storage lockers came from UPS and they all came in really big boxes.  We had three big boxes all together.  Mom let us use them as houses.  Mine is the only one that has survived. I cut a window in mine and made a porch.  I locked my front door, so now to get into my house, I have to climb through the window.  I like that we got these boxes, not just because mommy and daddy can pack more, but because now we have these great boxes to play in!  

Lydia in her box house.  

Josiah: A couple days ago was my birthday and I got three new lego sets.  One was a dirt bike, one a trash can and one a star wars.  I am excited for the plane because I can play with some of my legos. 

Micah: I am going to miss my friends when I go to Africa soooooo much, but I am excited to go.  I am excited to fly in the airplane.  Mommy has been packing my carry on bag.  I have a bag of cookies in there, and I have a bag of crayons so I can color and I have my polly pockets to play with and my playdoh and I'm going to bring my blankie.  I have a little neck rest thing so when I go to sleep I will be comfy this way and comfy that way, left and right.  

Micah with her 'neck rest thing'.  

Jada didn't have any words to share at this time.  Maybe she will think of something later and want to write her own blog.  She is a girl of few words but loves to read many.

We hope you enjoyed hearing from our kids in this post.  They have new thoughts and ideas about our move to Guinea Bissau almost everyday.  Some days they are sad and don't want to go, but then some days they are so excited they just want to get on the plane that day.  I am sure as our house gets more and more empty, it will become more and more real for them.

We appreciate the prayers that many of you are praying daily for our family.  We can feel God's arms wrapped around us.  It is only by God's grace that our kids have been continually adjusting to what is happening around them.  We are blessed through this whole process.  

Saying Goodbye

Our church had a going away celebration for our family, it was such a meaningful time for all of us.  People shared words with us, that just brought floods of tears from our eyeballs. We wanted to share some of it with all of you.

Here's a video of one of our students singing a song that she dedicated to us.  She blessed us through this song, we hope you enjoy it too.  Yes, that's a ukelele!



During the Sunday school hour, there was a Safari Fun Fair for the kids.  They all had so much fun...alright so did I.  It was amazing all they had set up for the kids to do, they had face painting, a photo booth, amazing snacks, a craft table where they made bracelets out of twizzlers, and lots of games.   I (Karen) followed the kids around like a paparazzi, here's a glimpse into their fun.

The photo booth was set up with dress up accessories for the kids to use.  

These are our little jungle animals and safari ready kids.

This is a friend of ours and her precious baby.  He is a birthday buddy of our Lydia.  

Here's a couple of cute little butterflies. This is just an example of the face painting booth, there were also zebras, cheetahs, tigers and so much more. 

Just a glimpse at all the games, so much fun!

The girls with their friends.

We had a fellowship meal after church and it was all TACOS! Our church knows us. I should've taken a picture of the food, but I did get a picture of this amazing cake. It was not only great looking, it was yummy too!

We had the opportunity to share a little as well.   

It has been an honor and a blessing to serve at CMF these last 4.5 years. We have learned so much and would not trade this last season for anything. We were stretched and challenged, we grew and were a part of something special with the youth and our team during this season of life. We are sad to close this season but excited that CMF is sending us to Africa and is a partner in this new season God is sending us on. We know it will be a very different season with new joys and challenges, but we know God is in all things. If our God is with us and leading us then we shall have no fear and run into this next season.

Quiet Mornings

Something I have enjoyed tremendously since we have gotten home is quiet mornings. Sitting on our porch, with my Bible, my journal and my coffee, spending time with the only One that matters.  Today, though was extra special.  God woke me up at 4:00 a.m. with a child that needed something. After we got him back in bed, I desperately tried to fall back to sleep.  Michael also, couldn't quite go back to sleep.  He got up at 5:00 to go to prayer with some other men, so I decided to come downstairs to spend some quiet time with God.  Well, my quiet time with God was not what I expected at all.  It was better than I could've expected.  I got to spend time with Him and then He led me to have a conversation with an incredible young lady.  I had brought my phone out with me because I was checking a different version of a scripture reference and my phone showed that this young lady was on Facebook.  Well, we started talking and God just dropped down into the middle of our conversation.

We can keep ourselves so busy or self-consumed that we miss what God is putting in front of us.  This has happened to me so many times, I am sure. I am praising God that he slowed me down this summer and showed me how to listen to Him and His promptings. This is something I think God is preparing me for when we serve in Guinea Bissau.  Interruptions will become a common occurrence. I love quiet mornings, but I am so blessed by the sweet interruptions. My word to you is be open to God's interruptions.  Be willing to put aside what your agenda is and listen to the promptings from God, His whisper in the storm.

Karen

Christmas in July

What did we do the week we were in Indiana? Christmas in July of course! 

 Karen's mom surprised us with a tree. 

Grandma played Christmas carols on the piano and we sang along.  

Grandma had ornaments for us to decorate. The kids really enjoyed the glittery glue and gluing ribbons to their ornaments.  

Grandma helping Micah with her ornament. 

Grandma made popcorn for them to string.  

I think more popcorn was eaten than strung... 

...but we did get some strung. 

Our beautiful tree all decorated.

The kids were quite proud of their tree.  

A little goofiness for the camera.  

We had given Grandma a box of our old t-shirts a while ago that we saved for a quilt.  We were thinking one quilt, well, we got four! 

We have two pictured here, but they were all beautiful.  Grandma did different themed quilts. The purple one pictured above, is Karen's and the one pictured left is Michael's.  This was very special to us.  Let's be honest...Michael cried...alright, I had tears too.  

Grandma got Jada a sewing kit, so she is now our official family mender.  Grandma was, but our mending pile would grow quite high in Guinea Bissau, so Jada has now moved into that role with her sewing kit.  Grandma made Micah's doll, Molly, an African skirt out of tie & dye material from the women of Catel, Guinea Bissau (pictured above right). The boys got some cars that they will easily be able to take on the plane and Lydia got a gift certificate to buy some books for her kindle.  These were not typical Grandma gifts (usually she makes something similar for all the grandkids), but they were all very practical gifts for our new move.  

All five kiddos with Grandma. This was a very memorable day from our visit to Indiana. Thank you Grandma for making this special for us.  

What is faith?

Faith is believing. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? The truth is, it’s not that simple. Faith is hard, it's tough. Faith is knowing that when your Grandma passes away, it was God’s plan. God wanted to take Grandma home. Faith is recognizing the blessing it was to have Grandma for 33 years of my life. Faith is knowing that having surgery three days after you bury your Grandma is God’s perfect timing. Faith is resting in the chaos of having to go to World Missions Institute 10 days after your surgery. Faith is believing God is in control when your mom has to have heart surgery on the only Friday you have free in a 6 week block of time. Faith is knowing her recovery is in our Creator’s hands. Faith is not easy. Faith is choosing to follow God even when it is hard. Faith is knowing that God is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 

All of those experiences I have listed happened in less than two months. Walking with the Lord, is not easy. There will be trials, there will be temptations, but with faith, we keep on persevering. James 1:2-3 says this: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. I am thankful for the trials we have gone through. I am thankful for how my faith has grown in those trials. My mom having heart surgery was the icing on the cake, so to speak. Losing my Grandma was one of the most difficult things I have ever walked through, losing my mom would have been devastating. God was with me. He never left my side. Deuteronomy 31:6 says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” I know that God was also with my mom. He never left her and he never will. His big arms are wrapped around her and His hands have been healing her. It is through faith, that these trials draw me closer to God. I encourage you to keep persevering.  Keep pressing on. 

Faith is why we are leaving everything we know, everything our children know, everything we love, to serve God in Guinea Bissau.  We want the people of Guinea Bissau to know God the way we know God.  We want them to experience the same joy and peace we experience. Our God is a mighty God, He is a strong God. 

In all those things, we had faith, and now, we are having faith that we will be fully funded in order to go and serve in Guinea Bissau this August. We are at 86%, we have to be at 100% to go.  We have faith that God will provide our last 14%.  

I leave you with these questions...What is faith? Do you have faith?

Karen

Lydia's thoughts

Lydia wanted to be a guest writer for our blog, so here it is. Short and sweet, but it's her heart.  

We have finished training and we are at my grandmas house. I love the thought of going to Africa. The more we talk about it the more I get excited about going. I can't wait to finish our fundraising so we can go. I don't like the thought of leaving my friends but I have to. If I want to listen to God I have to go. Please help us with our fundraising. We just need 16% so we can go!