I was unsure about continuing the quarterly updates this year - but since I have found it increasingly difficult to maintain the blog, I decided one big post about what we have been up to would help relieve the pressure to post often. Soooo.. its 2014.. what have we been up to?!
Emmalyn turned 2 in January, Marc turned 4 in February.. and Alaina keeps getting bigger.. her food adventures will start soon! I started exercising, which sometimes proves to be challenging with little kids around - but overall have a really supportive family! Jarrod has started working out with me at the YISS school gym - which I really enjoy - while our kids run around us (mostly).. and Alaina naps in her carseat. It feels good to be moving again. I am also continuing to occasionally take pictures for friends.. and am learning more about my hobby with each new photo shoot. I really enjoy photography... and already am "booked" for a few more events/sessions in the next few months. :)
Jarrod finished another class at Liberty, ended the basketball season (a highlight of his year at YISS!), started a discipleship group with his basketball boys, fulfilled all of his Seminary internship hours, and has begun his final class in his Master's degree program. He has been working hard - and has become quite accustomed to independent learning and meeting deadlines quickly (and with excellent work!). We are looking forward to his graduation in May!
Jarrod also went on a mission trip to the Philippines with a group of 16 YISS high school students and two other teachers. In short, it was a fantastic experience - but more on that soon! Jarrod's mom has been staying with us while he was away, we are so thankful for her help... hopefully more on her visit, soon, as well! :)
The weather seemed to get warmer quicker this year.. and we are already enjoying the cherry blossoms in bloom! Springtime always gets me thinking about cleaning, sorting, decluttering, and switching out our clothes for the warmer seasons. This year, springtime marks the beginning of the end for us in Korea. We recently bought our one-way plane tickets to return to the US in late June. With Jarrod finishing Seminary in May, he will be looking for a job with a church... so while we are unsure of where we will be living in a few months, we know we will make our first stop in Virginia.
Please pray for us as we job search and as we get ready to move away. We are starting to sort through what to keep... and preparing our hearts - and our children's hearts - to say goodbye to this place we have called home for the past 5 years. Tonight, as we were packing Jarrod's mom's bags with stuff I had set aside, knowing we wanted it back in the States with us.. Marc saw me piling it all on my bed, and decided he need to get ready to pack for our move as well. He took all of the toys out of his play area and set them "out" to pack. Sadly, he does not realize that we will not be taking most of the toys that he wanted to pack. Please pray that we would have wisdom as we guide our kids on how to move, how to say goodbye well, and how to help them decide what to keep and what to give away. It is definitely a new experience to move internationally with children - and right now, being unsure of where we will end up, we are looking to provide them with as much stability and consistency as we can.. both here and when we get back to the States. We are excited about the possibilities of next chapter in our lives... but we still have three months left in Seoul! It would be easy to become fixated on "what's next" - as that is the most frequent question that we get when people hear we are leaving Seoul - and for a while, I was.. constantly looking for jobs, etc.. but the Lord is teaching me to trust Him, and to wait for His timing... not to worry about tomorrow. Proverbs 19:21 says, "many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."
For now, we are trying make the most of our time left in Seoul, with the students at YISS, our international playgroup, families and friends from church and our neighbourhood community with playdates, picnics, and potlucks. I find myself not as annoyed with traffic as we are trying to get home late in the evening - but instead enjoying the street signs that have Korean writing and the city lights. This has been a good place for us to live and become a family. I hope that in the next three months, we are able to continue to have wonderful experiences - and to really enjoy being here in this place, at this time, to be used for His purposes.
"There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven...
a time to plant and a time to uproot.. a time to keep and a time to throw away...
He has made everything beautiful in its time."
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
