Tomorrow my sister and her family leave for their 3rd summer working with the people in Palau. Now, if you would have told me 3 years ago that I would be excited to see them going I would have been shocked. I fought the Lord on this for a really good time (and I wasn't even the one going). When I first found out they were praying about going to Palau to join their friends John and Jamie Zimmer I was not very happy. Such a shame! Here God had given them an opportunity to witness to people who otherwise may never have a chance to hear about the Lord and all I was concerned about was that I couldn't spend another Fourth of July with my sister. REALLY????? Jim would constantly tease me that he was going to pack the family up and go minister in Palau. Not that it is funny to serve the Lord but I'm sure my reaction to taking my sister to the farthest spot away from the United States possible was. Oh, and it wasn't just Jim. When I was little (probably 5 and Dana was 10) Dana used to pack up her flowered suitcase and sit me down by the front door. "Jana, I am now going to serve the Lord in Africa." I would follow her to the sidewalk sobbing and pulling her arm begging her to come back. We were not allowed to cross the sidewalk so Dana would put 1 foot on the street and say, "Jana, I must go. The Lord has called me to serve Him. Tell Mom and Dad I love them, but now I must walk to Africa ." I would sob and sob. Where were my parents at this time????? Finally Dana would say, "Fine, Jana I will stay for dinner, but then I must go." Dana had 4 reasons to torture me in this way:
#1-She has always enjoyed the power that comes with being an older sister.
#2- I had a speech disorder and whenever I talked I sounded funny.
#3-Dana was considerably larger than me.
#4-Mom flooded us with exciting missionary stories of people who abanded all they had and moved to exotic places to tell the story of Jesus and obviously Dana really enjoyed them.
The Lord has blessed them in an amazing way. To be able to hear the stories of the people who have accepted the Lord as their Savior have truly been amazing.
So yes, I am very excited to see them leave (I know it is only for the summer but for sisters to not be able to talk on the phone, that is an extremely long time.) because I know that this is another opportunity for them to serve and another summer where souls will be saved.
Please pray for them. Dana is still healing from her tubular pregnancy and 1 week ago their basement flooded (along with many others in Wisconsin) while Jim was gone at a conference. Dana and the boys were carrying buckets of water up and throwing them outside. Here is an excerpt from a conversation Dana heard between the boys:
Will: "Tyler, my bucket is too heavy."
Tyler: "Well, dump some of it out." So Will dumped half of his bucket back out into the water in the basement and carried the rest upstairs. Finally, Dana said she became overwhelmed and told the boys they need to pray. They got on the knees and asked the Lord to help them. A few minutes later a friend of theirs called and asked if they needed help.
Why are we ever shocked at God's Power?Jim, Dana, Tyler, and Will- We miss you and are so proud of you!!! See you later!!!!
P.S. We are all moved in!!!!! As soon as I find my printer cord I will post some pictures!!!!
Our Dining Room!
Ella's Very Pink Room!
Ella's Play Area!!!
Ella's scraped up face. I thought Midnight Golf sounded like a great idea, but maybe not with a toddler.
Ella's Very Pink Room!
Ella's Play Area!!!
Ella's scraped up face. I thought Midnight Golf sounded like a great idea, but maybe not with a toddler.