Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Home At Last!!!
Around noon on this rainy day, we brought Owen and Bethany home. I was amazed at how much better Bethany had recovered this time. She's looking good and so is Owen. It'll be great to slowly get into a daily routine with two boys here at home. Be praying for patience and understanding for all of us these next few weeks!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Potter BOYS
Note the title, BOYS, plural!
That obviously means we had, well it was more like Bethany had the baby.
Owen Daniel was born at 1:52pm, nice and in the middle of the day. He's 7lb11oz and 21 inches long.
The whole process was such a awesome blessing from God. When we compare it to Jack's birth, this was a breeze. It was so great to have him be born healthy and be able to hold him for a while after the birth. Bethany especially treasured that as she was pretty out of it after Jack was born.
Hows that for news! More to come later.
That obviously means we had, well it was more like Bethany had the baby.
Owen Daniel was born at 1:52pm, nice and in the middle of the day. He's 7lb11oz and 21 inches long.
The whole process was such a awesome blessing from God. When we compare it to Jack's birth, this was a breeze. It was so great to have him be born healthy and be able to hold him for a while after the birth. Bethany especially treasured that as she was pretty out of it after Jack was born.
Hows that for news! More to come later.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
baby update
Today was my last Dr.s appointment! Yes that's right! The last. I haven't progressed any more toward delivering little Owen, so I am scheduled to be induced on Monday morning at 5 am. I am still hopeful that he'll come on his own before then but at least there is now a definite end in sight! Joel's sister's birthday is on Sunday and so that would be a fun birthday present for her!
With the weather we've had lately, I have wondered what would happen if I went into labor while we were under a tornado watch or warning. Could be interesting but I suppose we'd just have to pray our way to the hospital! Tonight our weather here in Missouri is forcast to be severe and hail is a good possibility! Some people say that low pressure systems have been known to bring on labor. I will take it, if that's true!
Sorry this is all we have had to report lately. I promise come August, life will become interesting again and we'll have lots to share with you about our international travels!
Bethany
Thursday, April 19, 2007
no new progress
Ok for all you out there wondering… today I had another appointment with the doctor and he said I still have not progressed any farther toward delivering the baby. Keep praying. I am finally beginning to feel a bit better after starting the medicines for bronchitis on Tuesday. I know God knows what I can handle but I must say that this on top of feeling very pregnant has certainly tested my limits! Thanks to those who have prayed for us these past weeks and those who so faithfully check up on us. It's so nice to know we are loved!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
My birthday bike!
Jack got a new bike for his birthday. He still won't use the peddles and prefers the "flinstone style" of riding but he sure can get around the house just fine.
Have your cake and eat it too!
These two are being published a little late but none-the-less...
Jack truly enjoyed his birthday party this year! As you can see, the cake was a big hit!
Give me an "O"!
Here is Bethany at Owen's baby shower. The theme was all "O"'s, including the refreshments! This is my favorite kind of doughnut! Yummy!
Chatting with Daddy
While Joel was in Indonesia renewing his visa, we stayed in touch via skye every day. Jack loved seeing Daddy on the computer.
Takin' a ride in my automobile!
Jack is in love with all things mobile and when we saw this tracktor at the outlet mall, he just had to take a ride. It made his day until... he had to get off.
Still waiting!
It's been an interesting few weeks. I must admit, not at all like I thought they would be. We are still waiting on Owen to make his appearance, much to my frustration at times. I am reminded in my heart though, and even by my doctor, that God's timing is best. I suppose since Jack came so early I truly thought Owen would as well, but this little guy is making sure we know he's not his big brother! I have had contractions off and on the last few weeks but nothing seems to pan out. Jack also passed me his cold this weekend and so now I'm thinking I'd like to get over it before going into labor. I'm so fickle! Do you ever find yourself wavering like me? I sure hope I'm not alone in that!
Joel has been making great progress here at mom's house in the rhelm of cleaning out! He has dubbed himself the "clean sweep" host of the Stroud house! Mom has graciously agreed to go along with him and we are now seeing the basement once again! I think we might actually have it usable by the time we leave to go back to Indonesia. We plan to install the windows and fence in early May and with those projects done, mom will be able to see some long time goals accomplished! We are also making headway with getting her stable and organized financially and are seeing God provide for her in some amazing ways – this year she loves the IRS!!
Joel and I aren't so in love with Uncle Sam this year. We just found out that contrary to what we thought, we won't qualify for overseas exemption for last year as we missed the qualifying number of days out of country by about 30. We are now praying God will show us how He is going to provide in spite of our mistake. We are details-oriented people but we really missed it on this one! God has already shown us His ability to provide for our every need just in the past 2 weeks. With medical bills mounting (baby bills and Joel to see an allergist), we weren't sure how they would get paid but just the other day, God used a current supporter and friend and his generous heart to meet a very specific need. You want to know the truly humbling part, this frined is currently going through a very difficult personal struggle but still, in spite of what could overwhelm him he was looking to the Lord still to know how he could be a blessing to us! Isn't the body of Christ amazing. We truly are never alone.
We have now met with our language helper 3 times (2 of which we spoke only Indonesian) and we are so encouraged with how God met that need. She is a wonderful gal who has blessed us by giving of her time to help us. I was nervous as to how I would do but have seemingly slipped into speaking Indonesian with only a few gliches. We have covered so many amazing topics which each stretch our vocabulary and use of grammer. She is from Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia and there they have their own way of speaking that is very different that where we were living in Central Java but even so, we have been able to understand her and are even picking up new things from her. Our language training was in very formal Indonesian and so it's been good to loosen up a bit!
Well that's all from this home front. Lord willing our next update will be an ANNOUNCEMENT! Till then…
Bethany
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
baby shower and other news
Last night several ladies from our church threw me a baby shower for Owen. It was a really nice time and we will be set for diapers and wipes for some time! Mabye even till we leave for Indo again! Thanks ladies! It was an "O" theme and even the dessert followed the theme with donuts, of course, all in the shape of O's! Cheerios, life savers, etc. Very creative and fun – thanks Rachel and Laura. Today I had an appointment with the doctor and it looks like my body is certainly getting ready for this little one to join us soon! If we make it to the due date, I'll be shocked.
We are really enjoying spring this year. Knowing what the two seasons we have in Indonesia are like, really opens our eyes to what we have here. Spring is so beautiful with everything popping up here new and green. I've even enjoyed pulling weeds in Mom's garden! Jack loves running in the grass, playing in sandboxes, swinging on his toddler swing in the back yard and sliding down slides or "weeeee's" as he calls them. He is talking up a storm and most of the time is understandable with all the new words he comes out with. He is still using quite a few Indonesian words so that is fun!
We have our first official language session tomorrow night with Caroline. We are excited but I'm a bit nervous too. We're going to be eating Thai food together – close enough to Indonesian food! It should be fun. For now, I leave you with an Indonesian Salamat Malam or Good Night!
Bethany
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Praise update on language helper
Today is a good day! Want to know why? Well yesterday afternoon, Joel was able to do some calling to the various universities here in Springfield in search of an Indonesian student that might be interested in helping us with our language while we are here. (Remember that the first one we had lined up never came through). Well, just a few hours later we received an email from a gal studying at MSU getting her MBA from Jakarta!!! We were thrilled to hear back so fast and to know that she was very interested in helping us. Not only that, but just now we received another email from her confirming our first "appointment" with her for tomorrow night. Praise God with us that he has provided someone! We will meet her at Panera tomorrow evening to get to know each other and set a "schedule" for meeting each week. An ironic thing about her is that she and her father both went to College of the Ozarks – the college Bethany went to back in the early 90's!! Small world, eh?
So thanks for praying – we are thrilled with God's response!
Monday, March 12, 2007
A Long Overdue Update
We have been home now for quite some time and folks keep reminding me that I haven't updated our blog in way too long. Thanks to those who kept reminding me. We have had a lot going on in the last month or so. I will copy some snipits from a few emails I sent out recently that will bring you all up to speed.
We left Salatiga on Monday the 29th in the morning taking a van the 1 ½ hours to the airport. Joel wasn’t feeling well but we all were tired and so we didn’t pay too much notice to it. UNTIL… 30 minutes into our flight when he began to get really sick and then passed out! It was the scariest moment of my life, much more so than even bungee jumping as I did in college, but after a few minutes he came to, very sick and very out of it! We landed about 30 minutes later and after resting a bit, decided it was best to take the next flight out of Indonesia which would put us in better standing medically, because we would then be in Singapore, a very advanced country medically. Joel was sick again on the next flight but made it without passing out and after several hours, we were at our hotel room being visited by a doctor friend of other missionaries who serve there with NTM. He diagnosed Joel with a stomach virus, exhaustion and dehydration and said he felt we should take several days there to rest up before trying to go any further. The NTM missionaries there took us into their home for the next three days and by Feb. 2 we were ready once again to resume our travels back to the states. Praise God the next 3 flights were uneventful for Joel!! Jack and I both got hit with motion sickness due to turbulence but we handled it fine and made it home!! Mom and several other friends met us at the airport and we were greeted with a blast of cold air!!! The temps here were unbeleivable and our bodies felt like they were going into shock too! But even so, we were thankful to finally be here!
It’s been over a month now and what a month it’s been! Our first week was full of doctors appointments, tidying up Mom’s house after she’d been out of it for 17 days due to the ice storm, moving my brother out of Mom’s house and into his own and moving ourselves in!! Jack was a trooper through it all and we were so thankful! Another milestone for me was going to visit my Dad in the care facility he is now living in. He is now adjusting to life there and we go to see him as much as possible.
The 3 weeks ago, we found ourselves up to our eyeballs in legal documents, new car paperwork, birthday cake and medicade applications. Mom finally agreed to go see a lawyer to help with the process of getting their finances in order for Dad to be in the nursing home. We had our first appointment that week and while there I think it clicked that this whole process was much bigger than any of us expected. Mom told me to write this in here by the way! Less than a week later and after about 30 hours of paperwork for me (I feel like an administrative assistant again), a day of car shopping for Joel (not that he minded), another day of window and fence shopping for Joel and Mom, mom now has a reliable car that will last her many years with hopefully little hassle, new windows ordered for her very old home, a privacy/security fence ordered so the neighbor kids won’t keep jumping in her pool and loitering in her yard in the wee hours of the morning, and an application in for help with the nursing home finances. And, Jack and Dad celebrated their 2nd and 63rd birthdays in there somewhere!
God has been so faithful to give us the energy we needed to hit the ground running and we have all been very thankful God allowed us to come back to help her with all of this. It will be another 3 years until we can come home again (after we return to Indonesia in August) and I don’t know what state my Dad will be in mentally then. It is so comforting to me to know he is being well taken care of and that I have this time with him now. Jack and Owen will get to know their Poppi, Mom is not facing these beginning days of transition alone and Joel and I feel God has allowed us to be very useful for my Mom.
That brings us to last week. Joel left on Thursday morning to head back to Indonesia for 2-3 weeks so that he can renew his visa. The process is in motion and it seems to be going well so far. It's really one of those, hurry up and then wait some more situations but we're getting used to that being the way things are done there.
Jack and I are here with Mom and the three of us are settling into a routine together while Joel is gone. We miss him desperately but so many from our church have offered to help in any way they can while he is gone. It's wonderful to be a part of such a great church!
Sooo,,, thank you for your prayers for us these past months. I look back now to when we left for Indonesia almost a year ago and never would have dreamed we would be where we are now, but I know that by God’s strength and your prayers, He has sustained us, given us grace to handle each situation and will go with us each day.
What lies ahead in the next months?
Owen is due to be born around April 25 (earlier would be fine, of course)!
May will find me in Pennsylvania for an old friend’s wedding
On August 11th Joel’s brother will be getting married in New York and then
At the end of August, we will return to Indonesia, this time to the Island of Papua to begin our ministry there!
There are many things to keep us busy here in between those events and we’ll keep you posted once a month or so as time goes by.
We value each one of you reading this email and thank God for your roles in our lives.
We left Salatiga on Monday the 29th in the morning taking a van the 1 ½ hours to the airport. Joel wasn’t feeling well but we all were tired and so we didn’t pay too much notice to it. UNTIL… 30 minutes into our flight when he began to get really sick and then passed out! It was the scariest moment of my life, much more so than even bungee jumping as I did in college, but after a few minutes he came to, very sick and very out of it! We landed about 30 minutes later and after resting a bit, decided it was best to take the next flight out of Indonesia which would put us in better standing medically, because we would then be in Singapore, a very advanced country medically. Joel was sick again on the next flight but made it without passing out and after several hours, we were at our hotel room being visited by a doctor friend of other missionaries who serve there with NTM. He diagnosed Joel with a stomach virus, exhaustion and dehydration and said he felt we should take several days there to rest up before trying to go any further. The NTM missionaries there took us into their home for the next three days and by Feb. 2 we were ready once again to resume our travels back to the states. Praise God the next 3 flights were uneventful for Joel!! Jack and I both got hit with motion sickness due to turbulence but we handled it fine and made it home!! Mom and several other friends met us at the airport and we were greeted with a blast of cold air!!! The temps here were unbeleivable and our bodies felt like they were going into shock too! But even so, we were thankful to finally be here!
It’s been over a month now and what a month it’s been! Our first week was full of doctors appointments, tidying up Mom’s house after she’d been out of it for 17 days due to the ice storm, moving my brother out of Mom’s house and into his own and moving ourselves in!! Jack was a trooper through it all and we were so thankful! Another milestone for me was going to visit my Dad in the care facility he is now living in. He is now adjusting to life there and we go to see him as much as possible.
The 3 weeks ago, we found ourselves up to our eyeballs in legal documents, new car paperwork, birthday cake and medicade applications. Mom finally agreed to go see a lawyer to help with the process of getting their finances in order for Dad to be in the nursing home. We had our first appointment that week and while there I think it clicked that this whole process was much bigger than any of us expected. Mom told me to write this in here by the way! Less than a week later and after about 30 hours of paperwork for me (I feel like an administrative assistant again), a day of car shopping for Joel (not that he minded), another day of window and fence shopping for Joel and Mom, mom now has a reliable car that will last her many years with hopefully little hassle, new windows ordered for her very old home, a privacy/security fence ordered so the neighbor kids won’t keep jumping in her pool and loitering in her yard in the wee hours of the morning, and an application in for help with the nursing home finances. And, Jack and Dad celebrated their 2nd and 63rd birthdays in there somewhere!
God has been so faithful to give us the energy we needed to hit the ground running and we have all been very thankful God allowed us to come back to help her with all of this. It will be another 3 years until we can come home again (after we return to Indonesia in August) and I don’t know what state my Dad will be in mentally then. It is so comforting to me to know he is being well taken care of and that I have this time with him now. Jack and Owen will get to know their Poppi, Mom is not facing these beginning days of transition alone and Joel and I feel God has allowed us to be very useful for my Mom.
That brings us to last week. Joel left on Thursday morning to head back to Indonesia for 2-3 weeks so that he can renew his visa. The process is in motion and it seems to be going well so far. It's really one of those, hurry up and then wait some more situations but we're getting used to that being the way things are done there.
Jack and I are here with Mom and the three of us are settling into a routine together while Joel is gone. We miss him desperately but so many from our church have offered to help in any way they can while he is gone. It's wonderful to be a part of such a great church!
Sooo,,, thank you for your prayers for us these past months. I look back now to when we left for Indonesia almost a year ago and never would have dreamed we would be where we are now, but I know that by God’s strength and your prayers, He has sustained us, given us grace to handle each situation and will go with us each day.
What lies ahead in the next months?
Owen is due to be born around April 25 (earlier would be fine, of course)!
May will find me in Pennsylvania for an old friend’s wedding
On August 11th Joel’s brother will be getting married in New York and then
At the end of August, we will return to Indonesia, this time to the Island of Papua to begin our ministry there!
There are many things to keep us busy here in between those events and we’ll keep you posted once a month or so as time goes by.
We value each one of you reading this email and thank God for your roles in our lives.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Why we came home
When we decided to come home early, it was because my dad's health had declined so quickly and we felt the need to be here for awhile to be with mom, help her as we can, and spend quality time with Dad.
Last night we went to see Dad in his new home, Marantha Village. I had prayed much about this visit before we went and Mom did her best to prepare us for how we would find dad now. I just don't think anything can prepare a child for seeing their parent like that. I struggle to put words to how I feel right now. It was a very emotional time for me and I'm still not sure how to handle my feelings other than to just rest in knowing God will give me the grace to handle each moment.
I know this is also hard for Joel as he has been with our family now since almost the beginning of when we noticed Dad changing. He didn't "sign up" for this but has loved my Dad like a son, no matter what state Dad is in. He is feeling this pain as we all are. I couldn't ask for a better husband.
Many of you here in Springfield have reached out to my Mom in the last months and have loved her through this. I thank each one of you! There are also many around the world have prayed for us all too, having never met my family. Again, thank you! We will continue to need your prayers in these next months. I have no idea what to expect from this time but I know that our desire is to bring glory to our God in all we do. How that will look, I don't know. Please pray for us.
Last night we went to see Dad in his new home, Marantha Village. I had prayed much about this visit before we went and Mom did her best to prepare us for how we would find dad now. I just don't think anything can prepare a child for seeing their parent like that. I struggle to put words to how I feel right now. It was a very emotional time for me and I'm still not sure how to handle my feelings other than to just rest in knowing God will give me the grace to handle each moment.
I know this is also hard for Joel as he has been with our family now since almost the beginning of when we noticed Dad changing. He didn't "sign up" for this but has loved my Dad like a son, no matter what state Dad is in. He is feeling this pain as we all are. I couldn't ask for a better husband.
Many of you here in Springfield have reached out to my Mom in the last months and have loved her through this. I thank each one of you! There are also many around the world have prayed for us all too, having never met my family. Again, thank you! We will continue to need your prayers in these next months. I have no idea what to expect from this time but I know that our desire is to bring glory to our God in all we do. How that will look, I don't know. Please pray for us.
Sleeping
We knew jet lag would be an issue to face for us when we got home but actually living through it takes much patience and for us that patience has been required at midnight each night since we got home.
Jack seems to be waking up at the same time each night, wide awake and ready to play! We, on the other hand are having no problem sleeping through the night so our bodies are experiencing a strong conflict of interests! He is sleeping just two hours each afternoon for his nap, which is less than what he would sleep normally but he is still waking up at midnight and then several times afterward, we find him crying out, needing to be settled to sleep again.
Any of you, who have been through this with a kid his age, and can shed some light on how to help him cope, we welcome your comments!
Jack seems to be waking up at the same time each night, wide awake and ready to play! We, on the other hand are having no problem sleeping through the night so our bodies are experiencing a strong conflict of interests! He is sleeping just two hours each afternoon for his nap, which is less than what he would sleep normally but he is still waking up at midnight and then several times afterward, we find him crying out, needing to be settled to sleep again.
Any of you, who have been through this with a kid his age, and can shed some light on how to help him cope, we welcome your comments!
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