Learning, Learning, Learning

Well...most of our days are spent in language school & trying to figure out how to best communicate with those around us.  We make blunders everyday.  But we are slowly but surely making progress.  I just finished the first level or book of our language study & start level 2 next week. Shawn should finish level 1 in the next week or so. It's hard work, but I know it's KEY if we are gonna be able to serve little ones in this nation.

This little fellow was on the move!  He wanted to go, go, go
when we were at an orphanage in our city.

This year is all about language, culture & research.  We've had the privilege of visiting an orphanage & have had a meeting with someone who has many schools in our country.  We'll go to a kid conference in October.  Lots of research & prayer.  We know that this year will be productive....even when all the work is being done under the surface.  Please pray with us that we'd hear God's voice, LEARN all he has for us & that we'll
discover the specific path he has for us to walk!

ibu Aseh and Pak Puji

Our kids LOVE Ibu Aseh & Pak Puji

We are fortunate to have Ibu Aseh & Pak Puji help us as we live here.  They are a dear family & take care of us in so many ways!  I cannot imagine living here without them.  Not just because they help us practically, but their generous, caring work ethic impresses me everyday!

We had the honor of going to church with them (again, at 6:00 AM....Indonesians give a new definition to early riser).  Afterwards we visited their home.  Such a dear family.  We are honored to know them.

Jalan Sehat

With our neighbor's children after the walk.
The chinese dragon was quite a show!
Follow me on instagram to see a video of their dance
(@concondunn)

August 17 is Independence Day in Indonesia.  To celebrate, families gather at 6:00 A.M....yes that's right, 6:00 A.M. to begin celebrating the day.  One way they celebrate is everyone in the different neighborhood groups in our part of town come together for a parade (where everyone walks around the area neighborhoods), they have games, food, prizes, etc.  So we joined our neighbors and participated fully.

Our neighbors arrived at 5:30 & we all walked together to the place where the activities begin.  It was crazy....We did aerobics all together to warm up.  It was quite the scene!  Then we walked for 45 minutes around our part of town (and my kids complained very little--whew!).  Afterwards we participated in a family game, ate sate (grilled chicken on a stick) and tried to talk to people.  It was an adventure to say the least.  My favorite part was not getting sick after I shared a favorite indonesian dish called "gado-gado" which is like a salad with peanut sauce.  I ate with my neighbor using a shared spoon & community plate. :)

It was a LONG morning, but so glad we participated.

We walked for like 45 minutes around the area where we live!

Annie, Josh & Shawn had to stand on 2 planks & walk all together down the street, turn around & come back.  They didn't win, but it was fun!  They raced against our neighbors & one of our teacher's family!

First Day of School

Annie-5th, Josh--3, Emily--K

School has been an interesting journey for us here.  The plan all along was for Emily to attend an Indonesian Kindergarten at a school that is phenomenal while Annie & Josh would attend the international school.  Well.....after an intense month, we decided the Indonesian school was too much for our little nuggets heart.  So we switched her to the English speaking school & it's been smooth sailing for her since.

The kids like their school.  It is international for sure.  It follows an American curriculum and is English speaking, but there are very few Americans in the school.   Annie loves school and really enjoys the kids in her class.  Josh is still adjusting.  It's different than school in America.  He's trying to find his place and figure out who is friends will be.

This is a place where we'd appreciate your prayers.  So much change in the past year for my kids.  Their hearts are still catching up with the move.  My mama's heart is tender to the pain of adjustment for them.  They are champions and are trying to make the best of it.  But I see the challenge.  I've never been prouder of my kids!  Thanks for praying that they'll know where they fit here, that they would find great friendship & understanding in their relationship with God and that Shawn & I will know how to best parent them in the midst of it all.

Coban Rondo

About a month ago we travelled with 2 other families about an hour away to hike to a waterfall named "Coban Rondo" pronounced /cho-bahn  rahn-doe/.  It was so much fun.  The weather was nice & cool because it is up in the mountains surrounding our city.  We all had to wear our jackets....which is  a nice break from the heat of the city!

One of the fun things was the kids got to see monkeys in the wild.  We all learned for ourselves that monkeys are not as cute in the wild as they are at the zoo.  They like to steal corn, cameras, glasses, hats, etc.  Fortunately, we came away unscathed, but it was because we had several boys with us (my son included) who HAPPILY chased them off whenever they got close by!  :)

The drive up the mountain was beautiful!

The waterfall was powerful...as you walked closer you'd get  sprayed!
 Kids loved it!

Super Man climbing all the rocks

Annie loved playing in the water.

Little Miss always strikes a pose...no matter where she is.
Although, she wasn't a huge fan of the FREEZING cold water!

Nation's Day

We live in a city with several expatriate families....many of whom are not from America.  So on July 6 we had a "Nation's Day", kind of like the 4th of July, but couldn't really be for the 4th of July because of so many other nations represented.  We had a flag ceremony, ate hot dogs & had fireworks.

The best thing for me was Annie & Josh got to carry flags in the flag ceremony.  I was happy because it was one of the first things where they got to participate in the community here.  There hearts really need to be knit in.  This helped.
We are thankful to live in a city where much is offered to help our kids maintain some of their home culture while adapting to the new culture where we live!

Seeing Old Glory always makes me miss
my Daddy!

Josh & Annie had a blast!

Both kids took their jobs very seriously.  My dad would be so proud!

Becoming Normal

Here's a pic of our fam when we went to a waterfall about an hour
outside of our city

We have been in Indonesia for a little over 2 months now & slowly but surely life is becoming normal...well as normal as can be I guess.
As each day passes and we have more and more experiences here, life is starting to take shape and we are able to enjoy living here more & more.  I'll post briefly about what we've been up to!

Settling In

Well....We've been in Indonesia for about 2 1/2 weeks now.  It seems like life is beginning to take some form of normalcy.  We have been furiously trying to set up house and get our home settled so we can start focusing on language and culture!  It's almost done too.  We are just waiting on our dining table to arrive and we'll be just about finished.

Our Substitute Dining Table & Chairs....classy Huh?

Thru this whole process we have once again felt God's favor.  Seems like the entire journey of arriving here has been hard work, but not hard.  As we settle in we sense God's blessing on this move and we are thankful!

We took a trip to the Sunday Bazaar....it was an adventure to say the least!  The kids liked all the animals...bunnies, owls, hermit crabs.  Fun times!

Around the world in 2 days

On June 22 we boarded a plane bound for the other side of the world.  It was an emotional day to say the least.  We left Waco surrounded by friends who have loved us for the past 10 years and they sent us off with the blessing of God.

Annie, Josh & Emily did great on all of the plane rides!

And God's blessing was with us.  All thru our journey we could see the hand of God.  Our ticket agent with Singapore Air was amazing.  He checked all 21 bags in without paying much attention to weight (whew!).  And they worked some magic by making so we could all sit together & giving Shawn an aisle seat (our tickets had everyone sitting in seperate places).  Also, our kids did AMAZING!  They didn't sleep much, but they were great.  Super troopers on two 10+ hour flights.  I was amazed.  I have great kids.

All 21 of our suitcases/trunks made it to Indonesia!

We were greeted by our new team with open arms.  They have been working hard at helping us get adjusted & our home set up.  We are thankful for great friends in both hemispheres!

Never Once

So many things in my life are changing.  We leave in 4 days for a different country that is NOTHING at all like the one I grew up in.  So hard to fathom. My kids have no clue what is about to happen to them.  We are saying so many goodbyes my eyes can barely release any more tears. I never knew how painful it would be to watch your son cry all the way to school because he said bye to his dog or watch and listen to 9 &11 year old girls chase our van while continually yelling "GOOD BYE ANNIE" as  we drive away. It's  right that we are leaving but MAN is it hard.

This morning as I was spending time with Jesus and telling him that thru the pain He's worth it, He brought to mind a song that my heart needed to hear,  Never Once by Matt Redman.  This song pushed me into remembering.  The command God gave to the Israelites to REMEMBER is the command I received today.  I'm leaving the only land I've really ever known headed to the place of promise.  And to survive and thrive I have to remember.

So this morning I listened to the words of this song an  I cried as I remembered the faithfulness of God.

 Never once did we ever walk alone

Never once did You leave us on our own

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

He has led us every step of our lives.  He never left me when I thought I'd be single forever.  He never left me when I was in the depths of post-partum depression.  He never left me as I was trying to figure out how to be a wife, parent, pastor.  He never left me when my Daddy died.  Because He was with us is the only reason we could disciple people well.  Because He was with us we could help create a place for children and families to grow in their relationship with Him.  The only good we have EVER done is because HE IS WITH US!

And now as we head to the other side off the world...literally.  I can go with confidence.  Not confidence in my calling, not confidence in my husband's great giftings or vision.  But because NEVER ONCE have we walked alone.

And we won't start now

Follow the link to listen to the song by Matt Redman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=722zPX1npcA

Rites of passage

Well, my oldest BABY will soon be 10!  I cannot believe it.  Seems like just yesterday I was holding her in my arms.  To celebrate her 10th birthday, we allowed her to get her ears pierced.  All part of becoming a woman...right?  

I think Annie is one of the most beautiful girls in the world.  She is growing into such a responsible, thoughtful & considerate young lady.  I love seeing her mature. What a gift she is to me.  And I love how she looks in her earrings....she's beautiful inside & out!  (And yes...there are tiny star earrings in her earlobe...squint & you can see them!) :)

Thankful for Family

Well...we are officially one week away from our departure date.  Let's just say if there is an emotion, one of us has felt it!

As we prepare to move overseas we are trying to say Good-Bye well & anticipate the Good-Hello's we'll have once get to South East Asia.  We've had the honor of spending some good quality time with family.  I am so thankful that both of our families support us....even when supporting us means pain for them.  What a gift we have.  We love you FAMILY.  We couldn't do this without your support!

Girl Time at the Nail Salon---Thanks Granny!

WE LOVE OUR COUSINS!!!!

Shine Camp

Ten years ago, we started summer camp for our church kids with Christ Fellowship & Hope in the City.  It is one of our favorite things we had the privilege of doing while we worked in Waco.  Though we weren't in charge of camp this year, we were super blessed this year to have the honor of Shawn being this year's camp speaker!  What a treat.  I told some people that if camp were happening in Waco, and our whole family couldn't be there I might have went into an unhealthy grieving place!  But God knows what our hearts need...even when we don't!  Being at camp was good for Shawn...he got to use his creative communication gift (he's been missing that since we switched jobs).  I got to say some GOOD good-byes & our kids spent 2 1/2 days with their friends learning how to SHINE like Jesus!  

Annie was in a cabin with her best friends....4th grade girl Heaven!

Josh's best friend...Noah came from Houston to go to camp.  I cried MULTIPLE times as I watched them together.  They had a BLAST & were inseperable!

THANK YOU ACC, HITC & CF for letting us have one last Hurrah at camp!  It means more than any of you could ever know!

Back in the Saddle

Well....after almost 2 years, I am re-entering the world of blogging!  Hopefully the old adage is true..."If at first you don't succeed, try,try again."  :)

So I am trying again.  My goal is to post pictures and stories to keep those we love connected to our life overseas.  That's the goal. 

If I had a glass I'd toast to Second Chances.

Wish me luck.