Happy Christmas/New Year/2012!

So friends, we’ve failed.  We had the best intentions of keeping up our blog, but we haven’t posted since April… and our last post was presented as “part 1 of 2.”  Not the best on our part.  

Quite a bit has happened since then, so we’ll give you a quick rundown of the highlights... and promise to post more often than every 9 months in the future.  Can’t believe it has been over a year since we were in Kenya!  

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After coming back from Kenya right before Christmas (2010), Colleen and I lived with her parents in Wooster, Ohio.  I continued to work for World Gospel Mission remotely as the treasurer for a few months while we settled back into life in the (cold!) US.  In March and April, we took some time to visit friends and family we hadn’t seen since before Kenya, and I started looking for jobs in central Kentucky and Savannah, Georgia.  Kentucky was always somewhere we viewed as a long term destination because of Colleen’s extended family, and Savannah was a dream of mine that we hoped might work out for a few years.  

We have lots of Kenyan decorations in our house

I had interviews in both locations, and came close to getting some jobs in Lexington, but kept getting bypassed for people with more experience.  It took quite a bit longer than I anticipated to find a job, and was scary/frustrating for a while.  

In August, I finally received a job offer for a position that matched my skills and motivations, however, not in Lexington like we had hoped.  On September 1st, we moved to Danville, Kentucky, about 35 miles south of Lexington, so I could start working as a financial analyst for Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center.  It is/was such a blessing to find work, and have our own place again.  

We have liked Danville more than we thought we would.  We are renting a cute little house just outside downtown, so my commute is only 5 minutes or so.  There is a prestigious liberal arts college in town, so it has great restaurants and places to go, along with many festivals and events.  

Colleen's tortoises

Colleen started volunteering at the local humane society almost immediately, so we’ve fostered 11 kittens in our home in the short time we’ve been in Danville.  She’s also been collecting a few animals in anticipation of starting a wildlife education business (similar to what she did in Indianapolis) sometime in the future... we we currently have 3 tortoises who live in our garage, 2 leopard geckos, and a bearded dragon to go along with the constant parade of foster kittens in the house.  It’s a bit of a zoo, but we love (or sometimes tolerate...) it!  I’ve also enjoyed playing indoor soccer in Lexington and I hope to find somewhere to play basketball soon... got to stay in shape as I head into my late twenties!

We have been looking for a church family, but recently decided that we are going to try to get involved at a local Presbyterian church.  It seems to be a congregation that is very service and “others” focused, so we’re excited to be a part of that and find ways to serve the Lord in community.  

We love Kentucky in the fall!

One great things about being in Danville is being close to family.  Berea, where both sides of Colleen’s extended family are centered, is just 40 minutes east of us.  It has been so much fun to be around for Thanksgiving and other family get-togethers!  We had both Wittig and Ramsay family Christmases at our house on back to back weekends, and we also were able to participate in Ramsay/Ambrose family events during the holidays as well.  

So that was pretty easy!  A year of our life in a few short paragraphs!

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Those who have kept up with us or followed our blog while we were in Kenya know that we tried to adopt triplets from the Baby Centre last August/September (2010), but the adoption fell through when it was discovered that the triplets had family members who wanted them.  

This past August (2011), we got news that the triplets had finally gone home with their family from the Baby Centre.  We were concerned about the situation they would be going into, but the family members seemed genuinely happy about having the kids.  It was incredibly hard to know we couldn’t get regular updates on them, but we were hopeful their situation would be better than what we had originally anticipated.  We have continued to think about them often and lift them up in prayer.

Recently, we received an update from another missionary family who went to visit the triplets’ family, and the report on their situation was rather discouraging.  

My natural response was to get angry at God and the whole situation... to start asking “why” again.  But the one thing I’ve learned the last 12+ months is that while getting upset and demanding answers may feel empowering temporarily, but it doesn’t really accomplish anything.  Same with expecting things to be rational or fair - all it does is lead to bitterness.  Our experience with the triplets hasn’t damaged our faith in the Lord, but it has caused us to consider how He interacts in our lives - and how we interpret it.  We were so sure about His leading before - that we were supposed to adopt them and stay in Kenya - that it has been difficult to be confident in our understanding of His will since.  All we can do is pray for those beautiful children and trust our Heavenly Father to take care of them.  If you think about it, we’d really appreciate your prayers for the triplets, and for us.  

Still love these kids!

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We’ve obviously been ready to have children for quite while, but for various reasons, we haven’t been able to have a family yet.  We are so happy for our friends and family who have been able to have children, but is has been bittersweet to see others grow their families in the time that we’ve been trying to adopt/get pregnant.  Again, it’s hard not to keep questioning and asking “why.”  

Though we don’t understand, and may never, we are trying to trust God’s perfect plan and timing.  Knowing He has a plan for us is the ultimate comfort in the tumultuous busyness and uncertainty of life.  We appreciate your prayers as we continue to journey with the Lord and try to keep on the path laid out for us.  

This year has taught me that things don’t have to make sense for me to put my faith in God... that’s what faith is, I guess.  I think both of us were excited to be moving on with our lives, but the news about the triplets brought back all those feelings of frustration and doubt.  But it also reminded us to be praying for them more, and that our joy should come from the Lord, no matter the circumstances.   

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Before we went to Kenya, we knew that going to the mission field was the right path for us; it was so clear in our spirits.  Even though going to Kenya was a sacrifice - possibly in terms of having a family, saving money, buying a house, and advancing our careers - we know in our hearts that serving there is what we were supposed to do.  We made many great friends, had incredible experiences, and deepened our relationship with God and with each other.  We think about Kenya often, and would love if the Lord would lead us back there at some point on our journey.  

However, since we came back from Kenya, nothing has seemed quite as clear, but we continue to trust that the Lord has a plan for us.  We feel a bit like the Israelites, wandering in the desert before they finally got to enter the promised land. God is more than providing for us, just like He did for His chosen people, but He made them wait for years while He molded their hearts to be ready to enter the land of their destiny.  Faith and trust in His timing were key for the Israelites, just as they are for us now.  

Though it is a temptation, the fact that we feel a bit like we’re in “the desert” of our journey isn’t an excuse for being complacent.  We are excited about seeking opportunities to minister at our new church, and seeing what God has for us as we learn to walk with Him everyday.  

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Thanks so much for taking the time to read our blog.  If you’re ever in Central Kentucky, please look us up!

- Cason

The Ramsay family from this past summer

Mom and Dad Wittig goofing off at Christmas at our house

Cason's sister, Corinn, and her boyfriend, Caleb, at Christmas

Colleen with our beautiful niece, Rose

Kentucky summer evening

 

Another one of Rose... we love her!

We had to get our belongings from 3 different states before moving to Kentucky

In September, my incredible 92 year old Nana went to be with the Lord.
We miss her, but we're glad she's home!

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.

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!

It’s so cold here!

Hi Friends!

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 celebrate 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. 

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 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 :  )

 

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.

My sister, Adrienne, and me!

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

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! 

 

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

Back in the frigid US of A

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 19^th, 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  home to be with family for Christmas. We flew out at 3:40am on the 20^th on Turkish Air, went through Istanbul, and after a delay in Chicago, finally made it to Wooster (via Columbus) around 2am on the 21^st. 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.

Since Colleen’s sister, Adrienne, and her husband, Matt, were leaving on the 23^rd, we celebrated Colleen’s birthday and Christmas Eve two days early on the 22^nd, and Christmas on the 23^rd. 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.

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.

 

Then on Boxing Day (the 26^th), 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.

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 27^th, 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 7^th), before heading to Chicago for the weekend to spend more time with Colleen’s sister, Adrienne (and her husband, Matt), and other friends.

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.

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.

      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.

 

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

   

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!