Fun With Moving Sales, and Shipping Containers

Since I've had many people ask where we are in the process of moving to Ireland, I've decided to use this post to update all of you on our progress to this point. Our target date to leave is the week of June 28, 2009. The exact day will depend on airline ticket prices, and departure and arrival times from here to Ireland. We are very excited about the knowledge that in three months we will be in Ireland beginning our ministry. However, we are also very aware of how much work lays ahead of us in order to make that a reality.

My next huge project is going through all the piles and boxes of "stuff" that we have to sell before we leave. I would like to just drag the boxes outside and stick a sign in the yard that says "Moving Sale - Make An Offer", but that probably isn't the best way to handle it. So, what I have to do is go through everything and separate it according to price. Then I'll have to start getting everything on tables that can be pulled out in the driveway. I wish there were "Moving Sale Preparers" that you could hire to do all this before hand stuff. You know, like what "Three Men and a Truck" does for people who are moving. Hey, there's a business opportunity for anyone who enjoys doing that sort of thing. You could call it "Three Women and a Price Gun", (or something like that). Just remember whose blog you were reading when you got the idea, hahahaha.

Once I get the sale taken care of then we have to turn our attention to getting our shipping container ready to send to Ireland. That will have to be sent the first of June. Right now it's taking approximately four weeks to get the container from the States to Ireland. The most difficult thing will be deciding what clothes, shoes, kitchen items and things like that we'll need over that month. We can only keep out what we can fit into our suitcases for the flight to Ireland. This part should prove to be rather exciting. I just know I'm going to send something that I'll end up really needing after the fact. Doesn't it always work that way?

Daddy's 83rd Birthday

Today, March 25th, we celebrated my dad's 83rd birthday! Instead of going out somewhere, my mom decided to cook a wonderful lunch and we were able to eat and visit with them for awhile this afternoon. Of course, we also had "birthday cake". I mean, what's a party without the cake, right? It's hard to think that I won't be in the states for his next birthday. Everyone knows that part of being a missionary is leaving family and missing family events, but that knowledge takes on new meaning when you're the one who will be missing those events. I know I can call him next year and maybe even arrange some "web cam" time with him at one of my daughters homes, but the fact still remains that I won't be there to give him a hug or a birthday kiss. Next year will be hard for dad and I both. I'm thankful for the promise that God's aware of that already, and He'll give both of us the strength we need to get through the day even though we will be in different parts of the world. I'm so thankful for the privilege of being the daughter of Dr. W. Jay Dolvin. God has truly blessed me. Happy Birthday Daddy. . .I Love You!

Florida

I always love it when our Missions Conferences take us to nice warm, sunny places. . .like Florida! We got here last Saturday, March 14th and will be here until Monday the 22nd. We have been staying with my husbands youngest sister and her family, in Cocoa Beach.

So far we've spent two days at the beach. Soaked up lots of sun, and played in the ocean. We've also done lots of running around to different little shops. . .just in case they were having sales or anything :o)

Yesterday, we were able to surprise Tiff with a trip to Disney World for her graduation gift. Needless to say she was very excited! She was there years ago, but doesn't remember any of it, so we were glad that the Lord provided a way for us to take her this trip. I have to admit, I'm a huge Disney World fan myself. I love riding the rides and watching the fireworks and the big Main Street Parade. We took our niece with us also. She had never been there before so it was fun watching the two of them enjoy all the "Magic".

We will leave here tomorrow (Saturday) morning and drive to our next church. I will be speaking for their "Spring Ladies Luncheon" on Saturday, and then Bob will be presenting our work and preaching in the Sunday morning service. After lunch we will drive to Lakeland Florida, where we will present our work to a different church during their evening service. Sunday evening we will be staying with a dear couple that Bob and I have stayed with before. They actually live right around the corner from the church in Lakeland. They are one of those couples that make you feel like your "at home" when you stay with them. We thank God when He brings people like that into our lives.

We will leave Florida on Monday morning and then it's off to Atlanta, GA. We will be spending Monday night with another missionary family that we met during one of the missions conferences we were in. Here again, it's so wonderful how God has brought such neat people into our lives while on deputation. These are people that we will be friends with long after all of us have moved to our specific countries and begun our individual works. On Tuesday, it's home to celebrate my dad's 83rd birthday, and start getting things ready for our moving sale prior to moving to Ireland the first of July.

Unwelcome Changes

When Bob and I surrendered to the mission field we knew it would bring about some major changes in our family dynamics. We also knew that those changes would come in one of two forms. On one hand there's the kind of change that makes you jump up and down, waving your hands in the air and yelling "yippie", and then there's the kind of change that makes you think your heart will break in two and you're convinced that crying has become your favorite hobby.

Well unfortunately, on Thursday March 12th, we will experience a change of the second type. I will be taking our cat, Katherine Noel (affectionately known as Katie), to her new home. She will be living with Bob's sister and her husband, and I know she will be loved and pampered. Although God has blessed us with a very good home for her, the fact still remains that she will be missed greatly. Now, I know some of you might be thinking, "it's a cat, what's the big deal". Well, any animal lover knows exactly what I'm talking about here. . .it is a big deal!

Katie and our youngest daughter have shared a room and a bed for the last five years or so. Needless to say this is going to be a hard transition for Tiff and Katie both. I know her new owners will take great care of her and make sure that her "Heiness" gets anything she needs or wants, but we will miss her terribly. Our house will feel a little less "homey" (at least for awhile), without her "welcome home" meow's and her "I love you" purrs.

Just so you know, we also have a dog that will be going to my mom and dad's before we leave. Yeah, you guessed it. . .there will be another post involving me, a pet and bunches of tears. Just so you know!

New Friends

We have just returned from a Missions Conference in sunny California. In fact, this was the first time we had been to California. It was nice! Far to much traffic for me personally, but it was wonderful to see and feel the sunshine again. Our wonderful hosts, Jeremy, Heather and Avery Mayol, (I've attached our group photo), were gracious enough to take us on a couple of very interesting and fun site seeing trips. On Monday, we went to the Regan Library and Memorial. That was really nice! I enjoyed reading all about his life and looking at all the memorabilia that they have there. We were also able to go aboard the "Air Force One" that Regan used during his presidency. I was amazed at how big it was and yet they said that three of his plane could fit inside the new Air Force One. The plane we flew home in seemed so small after seeing his plane.

On Wednesday, they took us to Beverly Hills and Hollywood. We walked down Rodeo Drive and saw all the expensive stores and saw a number of "Hollywood stars hot spots", as Heather called them. Unfortunately, we saw no stars, or at least none that I recognized. We were also able to see Kodak Theater where they have the Oscars along with the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I'm glad that I got to experience it once, but believe me, it doesn't look anything like what you see on television. The Kodak Theater and the Hollywood Walk of Fame are both in a really run down area of California. Our hosts were telling us that none of the stars even live in or close to Hollywood anymore. They have all moved out to more expensive, secluded areas. One of the highlights of our trip to Beverly Hills and Hollywood, was our stop at "Sprinkles", a fancy "hole-in-the-wall" cupcake place. The church even sent each of the Missionary families home with a box. Needless to say, ours are almost gone!

Although we enjoyed the site seeing, the best part of the trip was the wonderful way God worked in the conference itself. Their church was packed to "standing room only" almost every evening. The church staff and the congregation treated us like we were royalty. They made us feel like we were at home with family. There were a number of times during the conference that I was brought to tears by the outpouring of love from these dear brothers and sisters in Christ. These dear people truly love the Lord and they genuinely care about lost souls. They gave freely of everything that they had. Praise God for churches that still believe that it takes people to win people and for churches that are willing to give above and beyond to make sure that people like Bob and I are able to do what God has called us to do.

Please join me in praying for the people of Faith Baptist Church in California. May God bless them for their willingness to give so we can go!