Beautiful Miami

Greetings from lovely Miami! The weather was sunny almost all day andthe temperature was about 80. With Chicago's brutal winter to date, I was happy to dress in sorts and sandals to be sure. After a good nights rest on Tuesday night that was desperately needed by both kids and parents – we had a great day at the Latin America Mission headquarters. We had a wonderful chapel with a guest speaker, a man in charge of the Latino Pastors Association of Miami who challenged us not to worry about this world, but instead focus on what the Lord is calling us to do.. We then had meetings with many people in the LAM office ranging from the new president, finance, personnel director, and various others. Most of our questions were answered regarding how our pay worked, exact timing of insurance, T&E expenses, etc. We also signed forms that allow LAM to come get our bodies if something happens to us while in Costa Rica – now we know it is real and we are on our way! Lastly, Christy and I gave a quick update during a potluck lunch and we were officially sent off by those in the service office of our agency.

It was interesting to us both how intertwined the new president's family and our's seemed to be – all be it unknowingly. First, he and his wife (and a multitude of his extended family including many children) have all gone to Wheaton – much like Christy's family. Because of this, he has spent a fair amount of time in that Chicago suburb – where we grew up. Also, several of his kids went to University of Chicago where Christy went to school. Lastly, I found out he was actually in Madison working at the Intervarsity headquarters for several of the years that I attended college. We even went to the same church – Black Hawk Evangelical Free. We may have even seen each other – although to be fair, I went to a service depending on when I woke up – not because I was trying to develop relationships with those in the same service as me – so I attended at a different time each week :)

I have not gone too hog wild with the camera but I tried to take a couple pictures so you could all see how we are doing. I shot a few pictures of the kids today in the hotel room being silly. One is of Lizzy sitting on top of the air conditioner in front of the window. The other is of mostly naked Sammy jumping on the bed and making faces. They have both been acting a little off since we started our journey – although probably Elizabeth even more than Sam. This could be simply because of all the changes or because she is 3.5 years old – I'm not sure which reason is more dominant. That being said, we have stayed in 3 places thus far in March and that number is going to grow to 7 or 8 by the end of the month (my friends house, another hotel, La Palabra and depending on when we find our home by Spanish language institute).

The other picture is of a new backpack that Christy's mom bought us. Its pretty slick as a low level security bag to store goods in. The hotel room we are staying in has a small safe so I can put passports, checks, etc in there – however, for larger items (like our computers) I can put them in the inner bag of this backpack(which is laced with metal mesh so it can not be cut through) – and then I can since the top shut with a cable and lock it to items. Our hotel room here does not have a great place to latch it too – however, I locked the bag to a car seat and to the arm of the hotel chair when we ran out to get dinner. Of course, anyone with time and the right tools could get through this – but if you only have 5 minutes or so in someones room this would be a great deterrent.

My favorite interaction of the day:
Dad: “Lizzy, you can brush your teeth first but then I get to brush them, okay?”
Lizzy: “Okay”
Dad: “What did I just say?”
Lizzy: “I don't know.”

It brings back fond memories of Bill Cosby and his stand up comedy routines....

Totally unrelated, I found out some information on how LAM does their donation receipts. If you are signed up for automatic support, they will send you a receipt each month and a year end summary at the end of the year. If you have pledged to donate money each month, each time you send a check in or log online to make the payment, they will send you a letter with a your current payment and your year to date payment. Also, on the letter will be a coupon for future donations. However, they will not send you a year end statement. This is just something to be aware of for those of you supporting. If you have any questions, let me know!