We met our refugee family!

The refugee family that we are helping to sponsor arrived!  They have two cute kids and were all very tired and overwhelmed.  We met them at the airport with the translator and bombarded them with smiles and handshakes and gifts, and then took them to their new apartment which we furnished and decorated last week.  It is in a complex with a lot of other Burmese and Asian families, so hopefully that will help them adjust.  I don't know how much I am allowed to share about this family, so I won't give any details, but we are very excited to have finally met them!  The plan is to periodically take them food, take them shopping, or whatever they need to help them get adjusted to a new culture and a new language.

Please pray that they will be able to learn the culture and language quickly, that the dad will be able to find a job, and for their general well being.  Also that we would know how to help them!

5-4-3-2-1

I apologize for the blog silence, I have been sadly lacking in the creative department recently and haven't had anything worth saying.  Today I dropped James off at the airport.  He is flying to Maryland for an interview tomorrow and for the past three weeks since he applied for this job, my brain has been flooded with thoughts about the possibility of moving to Maryland.  It's all I can think about and it's driving me crazy.  First of all because it might not even happen - people interview all the time without taking/getting the job.  But second of all because it seems like they really think he's a good candidate for the job, so it might happen.  And I'm impatient.  So when I am feeling uncreative, I turn to little quizzes and questionnaires to blog so that my brain doesn't have to think too hard.  Enjoy.

Five Things I'm Grateful For:

1.  My sweet, hardworking, considerate, understanding hubby.

2.  All the traveling I've been able to do in my life.

3.  The financial advice that we received in premarital counseling as well as a dad who modeled smart financial decisions throughout my life.

4.  That I am not colorblind or tone deaf.  Music and colors bring me such joy!

5.  It's Thursday afternoon which means it's almost Friday which means it's almost the weekend!

Four Things I Can't Stop Thinking About:

1.  James' interview in Maryland.

2.  How far away Maryland is.

3.  How cold it gets in Maryland.

4.  If we move to Maryland, I get to quit my job.  One of the upsides.  I've been daydreaming about how it would all go down.

Three Things I Want To Accomplish This Week:

1.  I need to get my car washed.

2.  I'm really going blank on goals for the week...maybe I need to work on that.

3.  I need to file the growing stack of papers to be filed.

Two Things I Am Working To Be Positive About:

1.  The possibility that we may not get to stay in Texas forever.

2.  My job.  Three years is a long time to do something every day that you do not enjoy, but it is also a great opportunity to save money, so I try to look at it that way.

One Random Thing:

1. When I was a kid, I started a newspaper.  I was the editor in chief, the layout designer, and one of the journalists.  My neighborhood friends each got their own beat; weather, sports, neighborhood news.  Then we made 10 handwritten copies of each story, glued them to construction paper, and went around selling them door to door for 10 cents each.  It only lasted one issue before we got bored.

Quick Update

This week I am working crazy hours on a proposal that is due Saturday at 5, so I haven't had much time for the blog.  However, I wanted to tell everyone about an exciting service development. 

Our Hands and Feet group is teaming up with Interfaith Ministries in Houston to support a refugee family!  They are from Burma and are arriving in Houston in a couple of weeks.  We are furnishing their apartment and buying them groceries, as well as helping them figure out how to live in America and how to get around.  I'm so excited!  They do not speak English but fortunately IFM has a translator to help us.

Here's where you come in: if anyone in the Houston area has any furnishings, house stuff, or baby items that they would like to donate to this family, let me know!  We have about a week to collect stuff, and if you're anywhere near me, I'll come get it from you.

If not, please be praying that we would be able to minister to this displaced family and that they would adjust well to their new environment.  Thanks!!

Coconut Banana Bread Recipe

Last weekend I had a baking day and made three recipes; this was my favorite.  It is moist and delicious and the lime glaze on top adds a nice tangy-sweet taste.  I will definitely make this again!

Coconut Banana Bread with a Lime Glaze

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
• 1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 3 tablespoons milk or apple juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
• Cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon flaked sweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
• Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, milk, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon coconut. Bake covered at 350° for 45 minutes, then uncovered for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring with a whisk; drizzle over warm bread. Cool completely on wire rack.

Reflecting

June 2 will mark my third year working at my job.  Honestly I had hoped not to hit this milestone; I so wanted to have moved on to better things by now.  But for some reason God has kept me here.

It has been a difficult year for me.  The drudgery of spending most of my time in a windowless office doing work I don't enjoy is draining.  I count down the hours until 5:00 and I count down the days until the weekend.  In the midst of it, I struggle to find joy.

This year has also been lonely for me.  It's been a year since we left our church and it has been difficult for us to reconnect.  I yearn for a community to fellowship with and friends to connect with.  It was so easy in college and so taken for granted.  I often feel isolated.  I have prayed for this, but so far God has not said yes. At my best, I know and believe that God's way is better, even if it's harder.  At my worst, I've felt abandoned.

I have been fearful of the uncertainty that lies before me, and frustrated that I can't move forward.  I am weary.  I long for renewal and peace and progress.

And yet it has not been all bad.  This year I have grown closer to my Savior and that has been sweet.  I have done a lot of repenting and a lot of studying and a lot of changing.  I have experienced a Spring season of new beginnings in my soul, if not in my physical circumstances.  I feel different this year.  More passionate, more convicted.  And it is a good feeling. 

There is a song by Laura Story called "Blessings." In it, she says, "what if my greatest disappointment and the aching of this life is a revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy." I identify with that. This world can't be enough, and it is not my home.  Only Jesus is enough.  I often wonder what God is trying to teach me during hard times.  That may be part of it.

I'll leave you with another song that is greatly encouraging to me, something I need to remember when all I can think about is myself.

"And I believe always, always, my Savior never fails!"  And I am so glad that is true.