I was reading a post by one of my good friends here in N.C. on her Facebook; actually I am just going to copy it right here, yes, without her permission because I know it would be okay with her anyways and I am not identifying who she is.
She wrote,
"is praying and believing that if this is His will, where He wants me to be, that He will open doors that no man can shut! Praying that my heart is where His is."
My response to her was something along the lines that she doesn't need to worry about making a "mistake", and that she should just continue doing what she is doing and that is being obedient, and He will make it known to her. Then I sent her a p.s. which just said 2 Corinthians 5:7 "We live by faith, not by sight".
As I thought about it more, obedience really is the key to God being able to use us. It is true that God can open and close doors that no man can touch! He can stop her dead in her tracks or He can push her forward in record speed!
God's biggest problem today is getting us started.
God bless you, E.B.L., as you chase after Him!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
So what is "furlough"?
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines furlough as a "(noun), a leave of absence from duty granted especially to a soldier; a document authorizing such a leave of absence". Let me just say, that this might be the exact reason some see missionary furloughs as "a personal vacation escaping one's duties and responsibilities". Someone recently told us, "but I don't get an extended leave from my work"! And you, my friend, have not chosen to minister in two separate, yet very different cultures, and whether I am in Costa Rica or even now home during this furlough, I am actually doing double-duty because of those two cultures. 'Nuff said! Most missionary agencies today don't even use the word "furlough" because of it's misconceptions. Rather, they have resorted to "home assignment or service" and quite honestly, it has helped people to better understand what it is we do when we have time away from our cross-cultural ministry and are back in our first culture!
So, just so we are all on the same page, our family does have some objectives for this time of "home assignment".
In Acts 14:27, 28 "On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. And they stayed there a long time with the disciples".
This Biblical principle was put into motion by the first missionary journey! I like to call it the "Three R's" method...dorky, I know! They a) Reported back, b) Renewed relationships, c) Sought out revival.
Our family is supported sacrificially and generously by a group of churches, and individuals, and we feel obligated to keep our donors informed of what is going on in our ministry. We do send out quarterly letters with photo's and maintain this blog (somewhat, cough, okay, I'm outright choking here, so maybe we are behind more often than not on the posting?), but I think everyone would admit that there's something about that personal contact that a missionary has with their supporters, churches and individuals, that allows you to know more about who we are and what we are doing. I know that we, personally, struggle to keep long-distance relationships going while on the field (my older sister is reading this and saying, "You think"?). Scripturally, we've been called in Mark 10:29-30 to forsake even our family and friends for His cause (some it's easier than others...just kidding, hahahaha!). We are very excited to be on furlough because it gives us a concentrated amount of time to reconnect (whether they want to or not) with our loved ones, our home church and dear friends! We have already taken the opportunity to focus upon personal spiritual revival. Rest assured, WE KNOW WE NEED IT! We are worn out by the spiritual battles that come out of living cross-culturally. We are exhausted by the overwhelming needs that are brought to us on a near daily basis while living in Costa Rica. Sitting in our home church, under preaching in our first language, delving into the Word of God and praying, uninterrupted, has allowed the Lord to show us clearly the spiritual needs that we have in our own lives.
So, pray for us. Pray for us as we prepare to report back to supporters, as we renew relationships with family and friends, and as we continue to seek after Him, to be revived in Spirit and in Truth!
So, just so we are all on the same page, our family does have some objectives for this time of "home assignment".
In Acts 14:27, 28 "On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. And they stayed there a long time with the disciples".
This Biblical principle was put into motion by the first missionary journey! I like to call it the "Three R's" method...dorky, I know! They a) Reported back, b) Renewed relationships, c) Sought out revival.
Our family is supported sacrificially and generously by a group of churches, and individuals, and we feel obligated to keep our donors informed of what is going on in our ministry. We do send out quarterly letters with photo's and maintain this blog (somewhat, cough, okay, I'm outright choking here, so maybe we are behind more often than not on the posting?), but I think everyone would admit that there's something about that personal contact that a missionary has with their supporters, churches and individuals, that allows you to know more about who we are and what we are doing. I know that we, personally, struggle to keep long-distance relationships going while on the field (my older sister is reading this and saying, "You think"?). Scripturally, we've been called in Mark 10:29-30 to forsake even our family and friends for His cause (some it's easier than others...just kidding, hahahaha!). We are very excited to be on furlough because it gives us a concentrated amount of time to reconnect (whether they want to or not) with our loved ones, our home church and dear friends! We have already taken the opportunity to focus upon personal spiritual revival. Rest assured, WE KNOW WE NEED IT! We are worn out by the spiritual battles that come out of living cross-culturally. We are exhausted by the overwhelming needs that are brought to us on a near daily basis while living in Costa Rica. Sitting in our home church, under preaching in our first language, delving into the Word of God and praying, uninterrupted, has allowed the Lord to show us clearly the spiritual needs that we have in our own lives.
So, pray for us. Pray for us as we prepare to report back to supporters, as we renew relationships with family and friends, and as we continue to seek after Him, to be revived in Spirit and in Truth!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Just for fun #2
You probably don't know this about me, maybe you don't even care to know, but too bad, I'm going to share. I have "issues" with cake! I actually take a lot after my Daddy! I love pie! I like fruit pies, custard pies, anything but, sorry, shoe-fly; I've just never acquired a taste for it, but in the cheerleading section for Lancaster, County, P.A. would sit my husband, Ken, because he LOVES shoe-fly pies! Let me just say, that I will eat cake, but not with the ice-cream on it! Do not put the ice-cream near it! If you can serve the ice-cream in a bowl or plate separate from the cake, that's the bomb! I really dislike when ice-cream melts on or near cake. I know! I'm so weird! On the other hand, long before cupcakes even became popular and little cupcakeries started popping up all over the country, and TV shows like "Cupcake Wars", yes, I've been watching a little digital television since we got back in the States (Food Network specifically. I love that channel, always have) I have enjoyed baking cupcakes. It all started for me when my kids got into public school and no one would ever sign up for cupcakes for class parties. I worked from home typing medical records for a local hospital (someone had to do the job, so I figured why not me) and I would sign up to bring in cupcakes. I began to love making them. After all, they are kinda cute, little, two bite (that would be by my big mouth measurements) morsels of cake and no one ever offers you ice-cream with them! I make cupcakes in Costa Rica, but it's a little frustrating. Cake mixes are pricey, and I would much rather bake them from scratch, but the kinds that I would like to bake are often difficult to find the ingredients for since I like them "classy". So, I do the best I can with what I have which isn't very much selection-wise for the Women's Ministry. But, it's always been my "dream" to do something like the pictures below in Costa Rica. For a year, I've had something like this floating around in my mind to do for Women's Ministry, but again, it's too pricey to be a reality.
Imagine coming home and getting the opportunity through a local church near my house to minister to women, I mean, intentionally turning it up a notch to make them feel special just because, and it's a gift I'd like to feel God has given to me to use, and He opened a door! (Please insert a large "squeal" of excitement here)!
On Monday night 49 women came out to Johnson Memorial Church for a lesson on saving money in these economic times by learning effective Couponing methods from a young Mom in their church. I learned so much myself and I believe we all need to be good stewards of what we are given!
The cupcake is a Ghiardelli dark chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting! The other cupcake in the pictures was "Ken-inspired" because he loves raspberries. It's a French vanilla cupcake with a vanilla raspberry creme frosting! In the glassware are Mint Oreo bon-bon's, vanilla chocolate-coated pretzel rods. For some candy, I bought Skittles and some white mints. Ice-cold lemonade was to drink on this warm evening.
In looking for some cupcake wrappers, I was actually dumb-founded by how pricey they are..outrageous actually! So, one night, I sat down and cut away at a paper cupcake liner and made my own template for the wrappers you see here which are then cut at the top with decorative scissors. The paper I used was left-over scrapbook paper from Brad & Danielle's wedding!
I truly hope someone left feeling "special" and "cared for" that evening. Thank you, Lord, for caring for my "dreams"!
If you care to see the photo's up close, just click on them for a closer view!
Imagine coming home and getting the opportunity through a local church near my house to minister to women, I mean, intentionally turning it up a notch to make them feel special just because, and it's a gift I'd like to feel God has given to me to use, and He opened a door! (Please insert a large "squeal" of excitement here)!
On Monday night 49 women came out to Johnson Memorial Church for a lesson on saving money in these economic times by learning effective Couponing methods from a young Mom in their church. I learned so much myself and I believe we all need to be good stewards of what we are given!
The cupcake is a Ghiardelli dark chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting! The other cupcake in the pictures was "Ken-inspired" because he loves raspberries. It's a French vanilla cupcake with a vanilla raspberry creme frosting! In the glassware are Mint Oreo bon-bon's, vanilla chocolate-coated pretzel rods. For some candy, I bought Skittles and some white mints. Ice-cold lemonade was to drink on this warm evening.
In looking for some cupcake wrappers, I was actually dumb-founded by how pricey they are..outrageous actually! So, one night, I sat down and cut away at a paper cupcake liner and made my own template for the wrappers you see here which are then cut at the top with decorative scissors. The paper I used was left-over scrapbook paper from Brad & Danielle's wedding!
I truly hope someone left feeling "special" and "cared for" that evening. Thank you, Lord, for caring for my "dreams"!
If you care to see the photo's up close, just click on them for a closer view!
Just for fun - #I
Packed away in a crawl space of the house, back in a corner were four plastic bins. Before I "became a missionary", like I haven't even arrived there yet, I'm still working on it with the Lord's help; I was a Stampin' Up demonstrator. I have not had a rubber stamp or an ink pad in my hand in three years. For me, it's been difficult. I used to love to make homemade cards and I would travel down to Wilmington, N.C. a few times a year on a Saturday with a friend, and do scrapbooking all day long in a scrapbooking store down there. I guess I would reference it to feeling like you'd taken a rolling pin away from Julia Childs! So, within the first couple of days that I got home; okay, don't tell Ken this, even before I got all my clothes unpacked and organized out of the suitcase, I set myself up a little stamping work station in my bedroom (trust me, it wouldn't surprise Ken). This is the second card I've made. The first one has already been given away to my neighbor! I know I'm no Picasso with my artistic skillz; my siblings got all those talents! But for me, this is so relaxing and I'm so excited to be able to do some of it again...I can't even tell you how excited! It's so much fun!
"Welcome Home, Mrs. Dundon"!
There really isn't much of anything that exciting about the actual event of "traveling" between the two countries. On one side you are painfully saying good-bye for six months to what has now become your surrogate family, and you try so very hard to hold back excitement in your voice and actions because you really are so excited to go home and see loved ones, you almost feel guilty. In flight, your thoughts race (at least mine do) about changes you might experience. How much bigger is my grandson? Is he walking? Does he say any words? What size clothes does he wear now? What's the yard look like; the trees we planted before we left, the shrubs? Since we don't have one in Costa Rica it's always exciting to see ours!
One thing that I never remember, but it gets me every time I get to come home, are the Immigration Officers who stamp my passport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We get the usual questions; "What were you doing out of the country"? And we get the same responses..."A missionary?!? Really? How do you like that"?
And then the moment happens.
The stamp is placed on the passports which are then passed back to us and we hear, "Welcome Home, Mrs. Dundon"! And my eyes produce crocodile tears! Why? It sounds so comforting to hear those words. It feels welcoming. You feel wanted. For a moment, you feel care-free and like you have a "place" to call home because quite honestly, it's true what most missionaries say, you never feel like you have a "home" anymore once you start serving in another country. Neither country feels quite "right".
And my mind shifts quickly to thoughts of our military. I wonder, who didn't hear those words this past year? I wonder if they feel the same way when they do hear them. And I say a prayer as I walk to baggage claim for those who are actively serving and their families.
The military fights in some ways the same battle the missionary fights. They fight physically with their bodies, but like us, they fight psychologically, spiritually and emotionally.
Please don't forget our military! And don't forget your missionaries! It's a battle out there! We need to keep fighting on!
One thing that I never remember, but it gets me every time I get to come home, are the Immigration Officers who stamp my passport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We get the usual questions; "What were you doing out of the country"? And we get the same responses..."A missionary?!? Really? How do you like that"?
And then the moment happens.
The stamp is placed on the passports which are then passed back to us and we hear, "Welcome Home, Mrs. Dundon"! And my eyes produce crocodile tears! Why? It sounds so comforting to hear those words. It feels welcoming. You feel wanted. For a moment, you feel care-free and like you have a "place" to call home because quite honestly, it's true what most missionaries say, you never feel like you have a "home" anymore once you start serving in another country. Neither country feels quite "right".
And my mind shifts quickly to thoughts of our military. I wonder, who didn't hear those words this past year? I wonder if they feel the same way when they do hear them. And I say a prayer as I walk to baggage claim for those who are actively serving and their families.
The military fights in some ways the same battle the missionary fights. They fight physically with their bodies, but like us, they fight psychologically, spiritually and emotionally.
Please don't forget our military! And don't forget your missionaries! It's a battle out there! We need to keep fighting on!
Adjusting & Training
Well, we've been home (that is myself, Heather & Jordan) in the United States for two weeks now. Ken & Kyle will be coming home by the end of June so that we can begin our six-month furlough as a family. For those of you who do not know, I came home earlier with Heather because she has been accepted into the Community College here (Johnston County Community College)Nursing Program, and there was a meeting that I needed to attend on June 2nd. Today, and two more days this week, Heather will be attending Orientation, Advising Meetings and doing testing (entry level college stuff) in preparation for school to begin in August. Jordan is not along for the ride. He is homeschooled and is scheduled to finish up this school year on July 26. I brought him home with me because I am the primary teacher in our homeschool and with him being so close to being done for this year comes year-end reports which are very detailed and just plain mean to expect Ken to try and figure out. It is much easier for Ken to start someone on homeschooling curriculum, like he is doing now with Kyle down in Costa Rica as he begins another year, than to have it dropped in your lap one month before it is to be finished up. So, this kind of explains why are family at this particular time is in two different locations. So, I'll just put it right out there now, Ken and I miss each other and the days seem like they are dragging. Coming home and staying in our home alone without the other half of your family is hard. So, we are all looking forward to the end of the month!
We (Heather, Jordan and myself) are actually just beginning to kind of "get out and about". We've laid kind of low the past couple of weeks during an "adjustment" period. I went to our home church, Hickory Grove, yesterday by myself. It was wonderful to be back surrounded by the familiar and yet, it was also overwhelming at the same time being swarmed by people. Hopefully, Heather & Jordan will feel more up to it next Sunday. I drove for the first time in two weeks just a couple of days ago, and at first it was difficult remembering to look at the m.p.h. rather than the k.p.h.! It seems like every road here is like driving in a Nascar race because of the differences in speed limits between the two countries we call home. Lastly, we have been sick since we have been home. Jordan actually threw up on the plane as it was descending into Myrtle Beach. He had been complaining about his stomach aching before we left Costa Rica, but I figured it was just nerves as he was excited about coming home, but expressing feelings that he was going to miss his Daddy. I'm sure he felt torn! The next day he spiked a temperature of 102.9 and that went on for two days. He's better from that mess, but then I got sick with a sinus infection and upper respiratory cough, head cold-type of thing. Danielle had it first, then myself and Heather has been fighting it right along with the both of us! We thought we might keep our cooties to ourselves the first week we were home and I imagine that was appreciated by many! There's the food adjustments and the just plain lack of self-control. For example, we pay (actually we don't pay because we don't feel as though we can afford to, so we go without); Lay's potato chips in Costa Rica are $7 to $8 per bag. We used to enjoy that brand so much when we lived in the States; the barbecue flavor, Sour Cream and Onion, Sour Cream and Cheddar Cheese. On our very first trip to Wal-Mart since returning here, what do we spy? Lay's for $2.48 a bag! Any normal person would buy one bag and be happy to have them! Not the Dundon's because they live in Costa Rica and don't have much selection as it is, so when they see ALL the flavors, in their minds they think, "Oh my word, I may never get these again", not remembering that they will be here for six months, and they buy every type of potato chip that Lay's has on display in Wal-Mart! Do you think they were able to wait until they got home to open a bag? Of course not! Do you think they could "settle" on opening ONE bag in the car? Of course not! And yes, we are still eating from that Lay's potato chip purchase today! We are currently working on training our minds, reversing our psychology, so to speak, that we will be here longer than two weeks for the first time in over three years and that we do not need to indulge, inhale or whatever you want to call it, EVERYTHING we have missed in a two-week time span. I reserve the right, I think it's called, "pleading the 5th" in regard to a recent Bojangles biscuit binge! You might be thinking that all this sounds absurd to you! But, it is actually part of re-entry culture shock and just about every missionary experiences it with food in one way or another. I won't go into the details, but you can imagine the havoc this wreaks on one's digestive system and intestines. Then there's the sleeping adjustments to deal with, or rather, lack of sleep! The first night back home I slept 15-hours straight and it was, well, I cannot even think of the proper words to describe how good it felt (okay, probably because we flew through the night after being up all day doing the last day of medical clinics with the team). So, perhaps I was in a sleeping-induced coma. I wish I could have another night like that! We are still adjusting to time changes. Costa Rica is two hours behind N.C. and we don't have daylight savings to boot, so it's dark at 5:30 p.m. year-round. We've tried everything we know to turn ourselves around the last two weeks. Maybe this will be the week we turn the corner. Who knows!
We've arrived home safe, but we still need your prayers!
We (Heather, Jordan and myself) are actually just beginning to kind of "get out and about". We've laid kind of low the past couple of weeks during an "adjustment" period. I went to our home church, Hickory Grove, yesterday by myself. It was wonderful to be back surrounded by the familiar and yet, it was also overwhelming at the same time being swarmed by people. Hopefully, Heather & Jordan will feel more up to it next Sunday. I drove for the first time in two weeks just a couple of days ago, and at first it was difficult remembering to look at the m.p.h. rather than the k.p.h.! It seems like every road here is like driving in a Nascar race because of the differences in speed limits between the two countries we call home. Lastly, we have been sick since we have been home. Jordan actually threw up on the plane as it was descending into Myrtle Beach. He had been complaining about his stomach aching before we left Costa Rica, but I figured it was just nerves as he was excited about coming home, but expressing feelings that he was going to miss his Daddy. I'm sure he felt torn! The next day he spiked a temperature of 102.9 and that went on for two days. He's better from that mess, but then I got sick with a sinus infection and upper respiratory cough, head cold-type of thing. Danielle had it first, then myself and Heather has been fighting it right along with the both of us! We thought we might keep our cooties to ourselves the first week we were home and I imagine that was appreciated by many! There's the food adjustments and the just plain lack of self-control. For example, we pay (actually we don't pay because we don't feel as though we can afford to, so we go without); Lay's potato chips in Costa Rica are $7 to $8 per bag. We used to enjoy that brand so much when we lived in the States; the barbecue flavor, Sour Cream and Onion, Sour Cream and Cheddar Cheese. On our very first trip to Wal-Mart since returning here, what do we spy? Lay's for $2.48 a bag! Any normal person would buy one bag and be happy to have them! Not the Dundon's because they live in Costa Rica and don't have much selection as it is, so when they see ALL the flavors, in their minds they think, "Oh my word, I may never get these again", not remembering that they will be here for six months, and they buy every type of potato chip that Lay's has on display in Wal-Mart! Do you think they were able to wait until they got home to open a bag? Of course not! Do you think they could "settle" on opening ONE bag in the car? Of course not! And yes, we are still eating from that Lay's potato chip purchase today! We are currently working on training our minds, reversing our psychology, so to speak, that we will be here longer than two weeks for the first time in over three years and that we do not need to indulge, inhale or whatever you want to call it, EVERYTHING we have missed in a two-week time span. I reserve the right, I think it's called, "pleading the 5th" in regard to a recent Bojangles biscuit binge! You might be thinking that all this sounds absurd to you! But, it is actually part of re-entry culture shock and just about every missionary experiences it with food in one way or another. I won't go into the details, but you can imagine the havoc this wreaks on one's digestive system and intestines. Then there's the sleeping adjustments to deal with, or rather, lack of sleep! The first night back home I slept 15-hours straight and it was, well, I cannot even think of the proper words to describe how good it felt (okay, probably because we flew through the night after being up all day doing the last day of medical clinics with the team). So, perhaps I was in a sleeping-induced coma. I wish I could have another night like that! We are still adjusting to time changes. Costa Rica is two hours behind N.C. and we don't have daylight savings to boot, so it's dark at 5:30 p.m. year-round. We've tried everything we know to turn ourselves around the last two weeks. Maybe this will be the week we turn the corner. Who knows!
We've arrived home safe, but we still need your prayers!
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