Friday, April 8, 2011

Air/Road Trip - California

In our last post, I mentioned that we're taking some time to visit friends and family while we're trying to figure out where we want to live and what we want to do next.

We left Wooster on the 25th, and have been traveling around ever since - we've been in Indianapolis, Southern California, and Atlanta so far, and our currently in Marco Island (Florida).  Next week we'll go to Fort Lauderdale to see our almost month-old niece, then on to Savannah and Charleston to try to decide if we want to live there, to do some job hunting, and to visit Colleen's cousin and his wife.

We had quite a few people ask about the sermon series by Stan Key that we mentioned in our last post, so we wanted to link to the series in case you are interested in hearing it.  Click Here to get to the Geography of Salvation sermons through the Loudonville Community Church website.

Thus far, we haven't done the best job about taking photos on our trip thus far, but below are a few of our favorites from California.  Enjoy!



Pale Cason with Mike, our host in California and good friend from college
Mike and Colleen at Thousand Step Beach
Us with Jesse and Vanessa, more friends from college
Colleen made a friend in the tide pools at Thousand Step Beach
Colleen took all of these pictures of beach volleyball - I love this one!



Click Here for an album on facebook of all of the road trip photos we've posted thus far.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Marah

What we've been doing...


It’s been a while since we posted, but we wanted to update people on what we’ve been doing and what our plans are for the future.

Since our last entry from two months ago, we’ve remained living in Wooster with Colleen’s parents.   We’ve been fortunate to go on quite a few trips, including to Chicago, Indiana, Texas, and Kentucky to see friends and family.  We also were so blessed to have some of our good friends drive down from Chicago to spend the weekend with us in Wooster.

Until a few weeks ago, I was continuing to work remotely for WGM Kenya as the treasurer. Being eight hours behind Kenya, in addition to traveling so much, was definitely challenging, but it was great to stay connected to the missionaries and everyone else we were working with.  However, I was glad to turn the work over to someone else in a few weeks ago. 

While at the Ramsays' in Ohio, we were taking care of the their dog's puppies and helping to sell them by updating their blog.  Colleen was on primary puppy duty since mid January and last weekend we took the final puppy to her new family near Chicago.  We (especially Colleen) have loved caring for the puppies and it is really fun to see them go into new homes.  I have been the main updater of the puppy blog, so check out doodlesbyrosie.blogspot.com if you want to see my posts. 

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What we're doing next...

It has been a difficult few months trying to figure out where God is leading us and what we're supposed to do next.  As far as our immediate future goes, we’ve decided that we are not going to return to Kenya.  We love it there so much, but as we pray about it we don’t feel any peace about that option.  So we do not believe God is calling us to return to Kenya right now.  We’re not ruling out anything for the future and are very open to returning if God calls us back.  We are striving to follow the Lord wherever He leads, and we are trusting that He will show us the way.  The conclusion we've come to is very bittersweet... we're sad to not be returning to all of our friends in Kenya, but we're excited and optimistic about what is next.  

Our plan is to look for jobs in a few different locations and see where God guides us from there.  Living in central Ohio for this winter, after a year and a half of living so close to the equator in Kenya, has convinced us that we need to be somewhere warmer.  I keep saying that every time it snows here, it moves our search 100 miles further south… I think at this point that’s pushed us down to somewhere in Panama!  For now, however, we’ll be job searching near Lexington, KY, Charleston, SC, and Savannah, GA.  If anyone has contacts in those areas, it would be great to start making connections!

Photo of Rose by Brian Ramsay
Now that I am no longer working for WGM and the puppies are all sold, we’re going to start traveling again.  We took the last puppy to Chicago last weekend, and got to spent time with our sister and brother-in-law.  Next week we’ll be going out to California to visit some of our good friends that we haven’t seen in a long time.  Immediately after returning from California, we head out on a road trip to Florida, Savannah, Charleston, and a few other places… we’re really excited to visit Fort Lauderdale, so we can meet our niece, Rose May Ramsay, who was born on Saint Patrick’s Day! 

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Where we are...

It has been wonderful to be home and we are so thankful to John and Eileen, Colleen’s parents, for having us stay with them since we returned.  We really needed time to unwind and process our time in Kenya.  It has been great to be back in the US, and to spend time with friends and family, however, we do miss Kenya.  The relationships and camaraderie that we had with the church youth group, the missionaries, the football team, and other friends, are things that we think about every day. 

We also miss the triplets (in you don’t know who we are referring to, you can look back at this post from November).  For the first month or so after we returned, I cried myself to sleep a few times a week, just aching for them (and feeling sorry for myself).  We are in a better place spiritually now, and though we aren’t able to understand the “whys” that we have asked a million times, we love the Lord and are trying to trust and follow Him.  However, it is still so difficult to be separated from the kids that we love, and to know that they are still at Baby Centre with their situation in limbo. 

One thing that has been comforting to us, is a sermon series podcast we’ve been listening to called “The Geography of Salvation,” by Stan Key, pastor of Loudonville Community Church in New York.  One sermon in the series is from Exodus 15, about Marah, “the bitter place” that the Israelites come to when they first start wandering in the desert after God frees them from slavery in Egypt.  Marah looks like the oasis that they’ve been praying for, however, when they arrive, the water tastes horribly bitter.  They grumbled against the Lord, and He rebuked them, but then led them to Elim, which was a real oasis with fresh water for them to drink.

In many ways, we feel like we were at the bitter place, and maybe we still are to some extent.  It sure seemed like God led us somewhere, answered our prayers, and then what we thought He had promised became a bitter and painful situation.  The comforting part of the story from Exodus is that God was leading the Israelites the whole time, even directly to Marah.  And immediately after "the bitter place," the Lord led the them to a new place of respite.  

Even though we don’t understand what happened in our situation, and the wounds are still fresh on our hearts, we believe that if we trust and follow the Lord, we will be brought to a new and better place.  From our finite perspective, it is tough to comprehend why God would lead His people directly into trials, but we have to believe that everything happens for a reason and that all we can do is trust Him.  Through this, we are praying and trusting that the Lord will watch over our precious triplets… their futures are in His hands just like ours. 

Thank you so much for your prayers and support over the last two years of our life that we’ve blogged to the world.  We’re sorry that two months elapsed between posts this time, but we do plan on keeping this blog updated, wherever we end up in the future. 

-Cason

Here's a few photos from the last two-ish months... 

My friend, Dave Haire, and me at the Evansville Zoo

At the end of January, we went to Texas to see our great friends Joel & Jenny Mostad and (almost) one-year-old Jeremiah



A few puppy pictures! (to see lots more, check out doodlesbyrosie.blogspot.com)



Colleen and her mom went cross country skiing in Ohio
 Snowy Ohio... this is the reason we're thinking about moving south!

Thanks so much for reading!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

It’s so cold here!

Snow everywhere

Hi Friends!

10 puppies!We are still enjoying being in the US, even with all the cold weather!  Cason has been working hard continuing his treasurer duties and I have been in puppyland here in Wooster with all the golden doodles.   It has been really good for us to be in one place and "settle down" a bit with all of the traveling we did after arriving from Kenya.  Being able to live in Ohio with my parents has been such a huge blessing, especially since we’ve been able to spend  time to begin thinking and praying about our future without the stress of needing to find jobs or begin raising support right away.  We love being here, but are also missing everyone in Kenya so much!  Not a day goes by without thinking of the children at the AGC Baby Centre and all the friendships we have back in Kenya.

After Christmas in Berea (see previous post) we went and stayed in Indy for 10 days to Cason and his dad going to the Colts' gamecelebrate the holidays with Cason’s side of the family. We had a great time catching up  with some friends and having some quality family time. We also got to go through all of our winter clothes that were in boxes in the Wittigs’ garage… it was really like Christmas all over again finding our old things!  The highlight of the week for me was getting to go see the musical Wicked with Cason’s sister, Corinn. It was fantastic!  Cason also got to go to a Colts game with his dad. 

Cason and Dereck

While in Indy, we were able to see many other friends.  On New Year’s Day, we got to watch futbol and football with the Vanburens (our friends who donated so much of the soccer gear to Ngata United) and Dereck Kamwesa, which was a blast. Dereck is from Kenya, so we had a great time trying out a little Swahili on him and discussing our experience there.

We also traveled up to Chicago to see my sister Adrienne and her husband Matt a bit Rody, Colleen, Linnea, and Jen more, as well as to spend time with a bunch of our close friends from College. I have always had a close group of girl friends and our Chicago time was the first time in years that we have been able to get together.  Almost all of the friends we saw in Chicago were ones we met our sophomore year of college while studying in Ireland… over 6 years ago!  We’re getting old fast!

Since mid-January, we have been settled back in Wooster at my parents’, though  we are preparing to head off on another road trip to Texas, to see our friends, the Mostads, and their baby, Jeremiah. On the way we’ll get to stop at a get together with Cason’s extended family, as well as spending a few days with our friends, the Haires. We are so incredibly happy that in the last few weeks and the weeks to come, we have been able to reconnect with SO many people. It has been such a blessing to have people that we love and cherish all around us.

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We have been reading the Bible and working through a study book about seeking God.  Both of those things have helped us to shift our focus.  We are trying to move away from asking God questions like "why did that happen?," "what did we do wrong?,”  "what is Your plan for us?," and "how do we know Your will for our life?"  Those thoughts are self focused and really only seeking a one-time answer. 

We need to be seeking God and asking him to show us His purpose and larger will, and then ask how we can be a part of His plan.  Our focus should be on what God is trying to do in the world and how we can be a part of that.  We would greatly appreciate prayers as we are trying to just seek God, instead of seeking answers to what happened and what we are supposed to do.  

Of course, none of that changes the fact that we’re in our mid twenties, living in my parents’ house, with no real plan for the future.  It can be frustrating and a bit scary. 

A decision needs to be made soon about whether or not we will return to continue our ministry in Kenya or if we will stay in the US .  It is very hard to not just focus all our prayers asking for answers, but we do not want to make a decision without seeking God first and foremost.  It has been very difficult working to get to that point and we are still struggling through it.  We appreciate all of the support we've received from so many people.  It has been a wonderful encouragement to us and has helped have peace in this period of transition.

We love all of you!  Thanks for reading!

Colleen

P.S.  Several people who were giving monthly to us while we were in Kenya have asked what happens now that we are back.  All automatic transfers to our account have been stopped as of the end of December.  Our account can still accept one-time gifts to help clear our remaining expenses for getting home, and we’re very grateful for those.  Thanks!

 

Click on any of the photos to see a larger verions.  Click HERE or HERE to see our most recent facebook albums.  Here’s a few more pictures from our last few weeks… there’s more cute puppy ones at the bottom of the post!:

 

While in Indy, I got my haircut short for the first time in 13 years!  I really like it!  Cason was a bit shocked at first, but I think he’s come around now :  )

Pre-haircut pictureNew haircut 

While staying in Greenwood with the Wittigs’, we took a trip down to southern Indiana to visit Cason’s Nana and Papa.  His Nana just turned 91, but is just as spry and sassy as ever.  It was wonderful getting to visit with them.

91 year old Nana Cason and his Papa

My sister, Adrienne, and me!

The Ramsay sisters

Here’s a picture of the boys from our Chicago trip… they’re weird.  

Cason, Noel, and Grafton

Like I said above in the post, while we’re here in Wooster, Cason is continuing to work for World Gospel Mission as the Treasurer, and my primary responsibility is to take care of the puppies that the family dog, Rosie, just had.  Needless to say, I love it! 

So cute 

The pocket puppy Little paws

To see more of the puppies or for more information about them, check out doodlesbyrosie.blogspot.com.  Thanks for much for reading our blog! 

I love the puppies!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Back in the frigid US of A

Kenyans in the snow

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that we’ve already been in the US for two weeks already!

We were supposed to fly out of Nairobi on December 19th, but all of the flights through London were cancelled because of the weather. People were getting pushed back 5+ days, so we weren’t even sure that we’d be scheduled to make it back by Christmas… so I decided to just pay the extra money and get different tickets so we could make it  Colleen with sister-in-law Michelle home to be with family for Christmas. We flew out at 3:40am on the 20th on Turkish Air, went through Istanbul, and after a delay in Chicago, finally made it to Wooster (via Columbus) around 2am on the 21st. I am so glad that we bought the Turkish Air tickets, because we were able to have almost two whole days at the Ramsays’ with all of the siblings and spouses together.

Colleen and her mom

Happy Birthday ColleenSince Colleen’s sister, Adrienne, and her husband, Matt, were leaving on the 23rd, we celebrated Colleen’s birthday and Christmas Eve two days early on the 22nd, and Christmas on the 23rd. It was so wonderful being in Wooster with everyone, though the cold was quite a shock to our systems. It is amazing how quickly we got used to no Midwest winters after missing two of them! Here’s a link to an album of photos from Christmas in Wooster with the Ramsays.

The Ambrose clan On Christmas day, we headed to Kentucky to see Colleen’s extended family (on both sides). We had a great Christmas dinner with the Ambrose clan at Aunt Kathy and Uncle Tom’s. There was so much snow in Berea! Here’s a link to an album of pictures from our time in Berea with the Ambroses.

 

Snowy RoadThen on Boxing Day (the 26th), we had a get together with the Ramsay side at Happiness Hills, the retreat center that is owned and operated by Colleen’s grandparents (for more info see the Facebook page or website). It was a combination Christmas party, welcome home for us, and baby shower for Brian and Michelle (Colleen’s brother and sister-in-law), who are due in early March. It was so great to see so much of the family all at once, and we really enjoyed catching up with people we hadn’t seen since Adrienne’s wedding last summer. We’ll put up some pictures of our time with the Ramsays soon.

Jeremiah Mostad After Kentucky, we met our friends the Mostads in Lexington, including their little boy, Jeremiah, who was born while we were in Kenya!  Here's a few pictures of us with the Mostads, and one of Jeremiah.

We made it to my parents’ house in Greenwood, IN, on the 27th, and celebrated Christmas the next day. We’ve enjoyed being in the Indianapolis area, spending time with my family and seeing old friends. We’ll be in Indy until this Friday (the 7th), before heading to Chicago for the weekend to spend more time with Colleen’s sister, Adrienne (and her husband, Matt), and other friends.

Rosie Eventually we’ll land in Wooster, since we are living with Colleen’s parents for the next few months while we figure out what is next for us. I am going to continue to work remotely for WGM Kenya for a few months, and Colleen is going to help take care of the Ramsay’s dog’s puppies. (See more info about the Golden Doodle puppies at doodlesbyrosie.blogspot.com.)

 

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The holidays have been tough on us emotionally… we had imagined and dreamed about having the triplets with us for Christmas, so, while it has been so wonderful celebrating with our friends and family, it has been very bitter sweet. We were both struggling to hold back tears Christmas morning and during the Christmas Eve service in Wooster. It is difficult to be here, not knowing what it next for us, and knowing that the triplets are back at the Baby Centre, but we are slowly learning to trust the Lord again and rely on Him even though we don’t understand the “whys.”

We don’t know what is next for us… we’re supposed to take the next few months to visit friends and family and try to sort through that, but honestly, it is hard to know where to start. Do we go back to Kenya, or stay in the US? If we stay, where should we live and what should we do?  We would appreciate your prayers as we try to seek the Lord above all, instead of seeking answers for what happened and what we should do next.

Other than the weather, it has been nice to be home, but we really miss Kenya, especially our friends at Ngata AGC, at the Baby Centre, and in the WGM family. 

We want to say a special thanks to those who have supported us the last year and a half. It has been an incredible journey, and we’ve learned so much – it has been such an encouragement to get messages letting us know that people are invested in what we are doing and are praying for us.

We’d love to see as many of you as possible, so please call or email us if you can.

Happy 2011!

Cason

 

Our last few weeks in Kenya were quite busy packing up and saying goodbyes, so we didn’t get to update much on the blog of facebook.  Here’s an attempt at catching up and sharing all that we were doing in late November and December (in addition to budget meetings and office work… neither of which photograph particularly well…).   

Here’s a link to some of our last ones from the Baby Centre.

Angie Piled on Running with the kids

Laughing with Benjamin

The Ngata United Football Club that I had helped start back in September 2009 hosted a December football tournament before I left.  Click Here for the link to the album.

Cas and Otieno   NUFC A-team - tournament champions NUFC B-team Colleen and Lorna We really miss our youth group at Ngata AGC, and were fortunate to have a few last events and get-togethers with them before we came back to the US.  Here’s a link to an album of pictures from our last weekend with the youth in Ngata.

Youth Group Playing Pictaphone Playing spoons

And finally, here’s a few more from our times in Wooster and Berea…

Christmas morning fun

Colleen and her dad Colleen in the snow The Todd's horsebarn 

Thanks so much for reading.  We’re going to continue to update the blog over the next few months as we seek the Lord about what is next for us.  Thanks so much for your prayers and support!