Home Visit Update Done!

Hooray!

Today we had our SW out to the new house, and apart from fine-tuning the pool gate, padlocking it, and putting a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, we are set!  We are getting settled in at the new house - Papa and Took planted some aloes by the front walk this morning (Took later un-planted one - "I'm helping it" he says - fortunately, they are hardy plants).

The boys like the new house, which is very gratifying. Mama likes it, too, which is good for a Papa to see.  It has (and will be) a pretty big project, so seeing people enjoy it is a good reward.  We are looking forward to having Ana home in the new house.

Still Inching...

We have more rain, praise God!  We set out some vegetable seedlings (peas, arugula, kale, lettuce) in our planter box, and we are hoping the wildflower seeds will germinate and come up after all this lovely wet weather.  Took is excited about the little plants, and that may prove dangerous to their survival.

Porgies is a climber.  We appreciate your prayers.  He loves climbing his brother's stool, but is not yet sure what a "center of balance" is.

Mama and Papa had noticed that with the many, many, things besetting us busy-wise, family worship in the evenings had gotten sporadic (boys falling asleep in the car on the way home from places, Papa being at work late, etc.).  But we reliably eat breakfast together (we might miss it once in a fortnight if Papa has a particularly early commitment).  So, after breakfast today, we read from Acts and began our two weeks in Psalm 100 (hopefully everyone will have it memorized by the end of the time).  We realize that we are bad at routine, but we also realize that routine and structure provide a base from which we can work.  We know that our resources will be taxed extensively when Ana comes home, so we want to have good family time as a part of the routine.  We also know that any ideas of "regular" will probably be exploded, and we pray that we will be ready for that, too.  Our God is wise and good, and the answer is always to know Him better in the face of Jesus Christ.

Our home visit for the update for the new house will be next week!  Hooray!

Thank you for your prayers.  Thank you to those who have continued to support us on YouCaring.  God provides, and we just have to trust His timing.  We would also appreciate your prayers that we can get our old condo cleaned and sold promptly - that would ease our minds much.

In Christ,
Papa

Inching Forward

The report today:

'They said your [case] is in "the next group". They sent another group to court today, so I am hopeful that "next group" means next week.'

Praise God!  We have been very encouraged by all of you who have prayed and have supported us via YouCaring and otherwise.  Our God is a good God, most of all seen in the light of the knowledge of the face of Jesus Christ.

(PS- We have been experimenting with not having internet at home, because it saves money and time.  That's why Papa has been manning the blog for the past few weeks.  Mama still gets emails and such a few times a day, but she quipped recently "with no internet and no mirrors, I have no excuse to waste time!"  She and the boys are well.  We planted some flower seed this morning, hoping to capitalize on the recent rain and the turn in the weather.  Autumn in Arizona is odd, but pleasant.)

Travel - (Not travel dates, sorry.)

I'm not sure if I ever shared this on the blog, but we were absolutely floored by the excellent service we received from Golden Rule Travel.  This was (I think) a Musser-referral, and after one phone call and a quote ~$800 less than anything I could get on Kayak, we were convinced.

Here is their site: http://goldenruletravel.com/

They emphasize missionary, charitable, relief, and adoption travel, but I don't know if they are exclusive to those categories.  They were prompt, easy to deal with, and (did I mention?) much better positioned to get cheap fares than little ole me.

Thank you for your prayers, thank you for your support on YouCaring, and we'll see what comes from the courts this week.

In Christ,
Papa

(who is missing this place and missing Ana most)

Also, happy (old-style) independence day!

Rain

We are missing Ana.  Mama by proxy, Papa more immediately.  It is a beautiful gray day here in AZ, and we are praying for progress.  Thank you for your prayers and support.

    Shower, O heavens, from above,
        and let the clouds rain down righteousness;
    let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
        let the earth cause them both to sprout;
        I the LORD have created it.
Isaiah 45:8

He is our God, and we will wait for Him to move the slow wheels of bureaucracy.

That Nature is a Heraclitian Fire, and of the Comfort of the Resurrection

This is dear to me.  Read it aloud, or at least mouth the words - the sound is the poem.  Apostrophes generally signal emphasis.

Cloud-puffball, torn tufts, tossed pillows 'flaunt forth, then chevy on an air-
built thoroughfare: heaven-roysterers, in gay-gangs 'they throng; they glitter in marches.
Down roughcast, down dazzling whitewash, 'wherever an elm arches,
shivelights and shadowtackle in long 'lashes lace, lance, and pair.
Delightfully the bright wind boisterous 'ropes, wrestles, beats earth bare
of yestertempest’s creases; in pool and rut peel parches
squandering ooze to squeezed 'dough, crust, dust; stanches, starches
squadroned masks and manmarks 'treadmire toil there
footfretted in it. Million-fuelèd, 'nature’s bonfire burns on.
but quench her bonniest, dearest 'to her, her clearest-selvèd spark 
Man, how fast his firedint, 'his mark on mind, is gone!
Both are in an unfathomable, all is in an enormous dark
drowned. O pity and indig'nation! Manshape, that shone
sheer off, disseveral, a star, 'death blots black out; nor mark
is any of him at all so stark 
but vastness blurs and time 'beats level. Enough! the Resurrection,
a heart’s-clarion! Away grief’s gasping, 'joyless days, dejection.
across my foundering deck shone
a beacon, an eternal beam. 'Flesh fade, and mortal trash
fall to the residuary worm; 'world’s wildfire, leave but ash: 
in a flash, at a trumpet crash,
I am all at once what Christ is, 'since he was what I am, and
this Jack, joke, poor potsherd, 'patch, matchwood, immortal diamond,
is immortal diamond.

-Gerard Manley Hopkins, c.1888

Please keep the Mussers in your prayers - our God hears and answers.

Thank you to those who have supported us on YouCaring.

Twists & Turns

Hello Friends,

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement.  Yesterday, we got a new air conditioner!  This means things will be nice and cool for Ana when she comes home to Arizona, but it also means a large chunk of money.  It has been a singular year for our family in many ways, and we trust God to provide.  We also don't want to turn away anyone who wants to help, so to that end we have created a YouCaring fundraiser.

    The desire of the righteous ends only in good;
        the expectation of the wicked in wrath.
    One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
        another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
    Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
        and one who waters will himself be watered.
Proverbs 11:23-25

Papa has to confess to pride - he always wanted to stay comfortably on the "watering" side of this proverb.  But, God works in many ways to make us more holy, and He gives us no excuses for pet sins.

Thank you again for your prayers and support; please don't stop praying for the Mussers. (I'll probably just keep saying that for some time.)

In Christ,
Papa

PS - Mama is now just generally a happier person since the AC is not trying to fall off the roof and is sending its air into the ducts, instead of into the sky.