This Hispanic congregation of our local church (officially known as Centro Familiar De Adoracion Iglesia de Dios de la Profecia) hosted a wonderful going-away service ("despedida") for us this past Wednesday night.

Pastor Cediel, whose family has been very special to ours, read to us from Romans 10 ("How beautiful are the feet of those that bring good news...") Then special guest Ernesto Barbagallo spoke from Hebrews 11, about how we would need to be ready to withstand what comes our way. Ernesto is a missionary to Colombia, from his home country of Argentina. Next, different ones took turns telling about special memories with us, or their first impressions of us, or whatever came to mind. This was completely unexpected and very sweet. I was totally unprepared for this and didn't even have Kleenex ready!!

The Pastor then presented us with symbolic gifts. He gave Ken a Spanish Bible for our family, and told how we had previously ministered using God's Word in English, but that now we would be reaching out in Spanish and in Guarani. He gave us a flag of Paraguay, explaining that once we land there, we are no longer ministering to people of America who operate as a part of American society. He said that as we accepted the new flag, we were accepting the call to minister to this new nation of people. He gave each of the girls a tambourine, pointing out that they would be a vital part of our ministry, and that they were to bless the Lord and the people with their spirit of worship and friendship. He gave us a wall hanging of Psalm 91, reminding us that the church here would be praying for our protection and provision, as outlined in that chapter. He gave Ken a bag of coffee and me a box of caramel dulces (they know all about my sweet tooth!) Then we all sang my favorite song, "Todopoderoso" and they prayed for us. Afterward, we enjoyed that wonderful Colombian bread with the cheese in the center, and some raisin cake, corn muffins, and fruit cider. What a wonderful time with our hermanos y amigos!!

1. Write out thank-you notes from recent visits/parties
2. Take a truckload or two to the thrift store donation center
3. File our Power of Attorney paperwork at the County Offices
4. Go by the repair shop and pick up the car's license plate
5. Turn in license plates to DMV, and cancel car insurance
6. Apply for a lost truck title at the DMV
7. Organize all paperwork necessary for filing our taxes
8. Find out who bought our eBay item
9. Plan a meal for the (possible) renters who are coming Thursday
10. Make copies of our wills
11. Put in a few hours of homeschooling
12. Eat enough to take the antibiotics for this root canal... ugh.
13. Make a Wal-Mart run for all those last-minute travel items
14. Touch-up paint around the house
15. Get tent down from the attic so Ken's sister can try to sell it
16. Try to pack at least one more suitcase, seeing how many books I can fit in it
17. Go to house insurance agent's office and change over to a rental policy
18. Call in prescription refills and pick them up for Camille
19. Finish transferring home movies to DVD and get them mailed out to family
20. Make it to church on time tomorrow night
21. Remind myself that there's barely more than a week left now... Paraguay, we're getting closer!

Yee haw!

Yep, one more go on the root canal. My friendly dentist is practically on a first-name basis now, and said he feels pretty good about the success of this time around. Let's hope so. For now, I'm glad they didn't have to pull the tooth, although my mouth is a bit painful. One more visit now, to redo the crown they had to drill through. Dan and Daniel are visiting with us right now and tell me I'll be in good hands should I need further dental care in Paraguay. Although I'm sure that's true, I'm hoping I'm done with dentists for a while. ;) (Short post, so don't "click for more")

What a wonderful visit with Pastor Hall and the Seneca congregation! Not only did they bless us with their warm welcome and gracious offering, but they took the time to anoint and pray for us, which was so appreciated.

This was a neat church to visit, because there's "history" there for us. When Ken and I first started hanging out (we weren't officially DATING yet), he took me to a fall festival their church was hosting. And the man who started all the Peru trips, which were huge stepping stones on our missions journey, is a Seneca fellow.

Lots of the people in attendance that night had either been with me or Ken on Peru trips or had been to Paraguay to work with the Miller family. So it wasn't just a "show and tell" presentation, it was like talking to people who already had a good idea of what we were feeling and responding to, in this calling to full-time missions.

Some of their church people may be visiting next year, including our good pal Rhonda. We're really hoping that works out, because Rhonda has been a part of our summers for lots of years now, and it'd be nice to keep a little bit of tradition going. (Maybe she'll bring Tiffiney along, too!) Thanks, Seneca!!!

Boy, if I'd realized we'd get so many parties, we might have made an excuse to leave a long time ago!! It's quite fun to have folks gather around to visit, with tables full of party food. Well, keep in mind that this is Macedonia, and party food is a bit different there. It's more like rice and lima beans, beef roast, banana pudding, cakes, and lots of macaroni. We don't gather without a heaping helping of macaroni and cheese. It's like the unspoken rule. I love it!

The ladies (and gents, I'm sure) went to a ton of trouble to cook up a mess of fixins so we could eat and fellowship, and we got to tell the story of what we'll be doing in Paraguay (I just love to tell that story!!!)

We got some wonderful boosts both financially and mentally this weekend. I got to catch up on the latest close and extended-family happenings. My cousin has these four really cool kids, and she had them make foam craft bookmarks for us, with paper glued to the back. On the paper, they had written their address and a note for each of us. The one that got me was Caroline's, on which BJ had written, "Don't worry. Jesus moved a lot, too," in the cutest little-kid handwriting. When I stopped laughing through tears, his grandmother told me that was his second try. The first one simply read, "My mom said I had to make this." Priceless!

My girls jumped on the chance to spend the night with my Granny and Aunt Donna. I used to love to do the same thing when I was their age, so I could hardly say no when they started begging to go, even though the weather was horrible and I hadn't brought them an overnight bag. I always loved to spend the night at Granny's and would actually walk around with one of Grandad's t-shirts on, one of my arms in the shirt sleeve and the other coming out the neckhole. Why he let me stretch and ruin so many t-shirts I don't know. Anyway, I thought I looked like the picture in my children's Bible, so I'd go around making everyone call me "Adam." I guess Granny and Grandad had no Eve-wear, or she wasn't as cool looking as Adam with his slung-on animal skin. Good times.

We started out Thursday with a visit from our old pals from Charleston. Julia is just a few days shy of her third birthday, so we took this opportunity to host an impromptu cake and ice cream party. Caroline's Littlest Pet Shop toys were a big hit with our favorite god-daughter, who invited each little plastic animal to attend the party and wallow in her cake.

Funny moment: Julia had smoshed the tiny mouse... into her cake and became distressed that the crumbs were in his plastic neck. I rinsed him out and set him on a dishtowel to dry while I thought she'd be distracted by her plate of cake and ice cream. She got a bit choked, though, and while she was coughing, she was saying, "Mouth dry! Mouth dry!" Her very attentive mother snapped to it, jumped up, and got her a cup of water. Julia was not satisfied and kept crying out, "Mouth dry!" Her mom and I were then encouraging her to go chill a little on the couch and we'd get her something to drink. I passed by the dish towel while she was still calling out her mantra, and realized she was asking if the MOUSE was dry. So as soon as I got her the clean, dry mouse, she was back to normal.

I am thrilled that this family will be making good use of my piano. It's the one I first learned to play on, and have moved with me to St. Stephen, Macedonia, and now here in Dacusville, but it wasn't going to make the cut to Paraguay. I'm so happy that it will be used by chubby little kid fingers instead of sitting quietly in storage. Now for the rest of this junk!!!

You may already know the story about how Verizon promised to waive our disconnect fee in light of the fact that we are moving out of the country, to an area where they do not have coverage. The helpful customer service representative assured me this past summer that if I would mail in a letter about a month before our departure, explaining our move, it'd be handled in a timely manner.

So I mailed this letter a month and a half early, just in case, and have been checking to be sure they received it and all was well. After several calls, I found out that...our paperwork was received at the end of September and marked as incomplete. Good thing I called, right? I asked the nice lady what I needed to add to make it complete, and she read the list of acceptable stuff, which included any legal paperwork with my new name and street address on it (a phone bill, a driver's license, my voter's registration card, etc.)

I don't have to tell you that I won't be changing my voter's registration card to reflect my new street address in Paraguay, nor will I have a phone bill. I explained this again in great detail, and asked if a letter from my pastor would do. After some thought, she agreed that this would suffice.

My pastor is such a helpful person. He immediately typed out, printed, signed, scanned, and emailed me a letter written to Verizon, verifying the date of our move and the (roundabout) street address of our new "home." I faxed that in right away, and we'll see what Verizon has to say about it all.

Meanwhile, our church will be hosting our annual fall festival this Sunday afternoon. It is the biggest social event of our church year, and the pastor always sends out personal letters to each member, associate, and friend for miles around, to be sure EVERYONE knows the details of the festival. Except,... he accidentally copied our Verizon letter instead of his fall festival letter, and mailed it to everyone. Yep, not kidding. Bless his heart.

21 questions I've asked in the last 36 hours: (Thankfully, I have asked these questions to a bunch of different people, and not just my poor husband!!)

1. How many people have called to ask about our car for sale? Did any sound serious? Oh! What time is he coming?
(And then, a few hours before he was scheduled to come:)
2. Why can't I get the car to go in reverse? Is there supposed to be water spewing from that hose?
3. Is the car's temperature gauge supposed to be so close to the red zone?
4. How long does it have to cool before I can pour water in there?
5. Which jumper cables do you want?
6. Why DO cars have computer chips, and why do they put them where water leaks can get to them?
7. Are you sure it's the same tooth that's causing the pain, because I JUST had a root canal in that one.
8. Can you drill through my crown to work on that tooth?
9. Am I going to have to pay for a second root canal?
10. Have you girls done ANY school work?
11. How much more can we fit in the storage box?
12. Would you mind fixing me a sandwich so I can take this antibiotic?
13. What do you mean you can't find my paperwork?
14. How do you prefer that we file our taxes this year and next?
15. Do these shoes come in wide width?
16. When will the car be fixed?
17. Would you mind typing up another letter to Verizon on church letterhead since they don't believe we're moving to South America?
18. Can we trade out a suitcase of clothes for another one full of books?
19. Do you think we could have a yard sale while we're in Macedonia this weekend?
20. Did you girls finish the thank-you cards?
21. How many more days till we leave?
(Don't click for more, as this is all, but do click to leave a comment, because I hardly get ANY COMMENTS and I'm getting a complex over whether REAL people are reading this or if my husband goes to some library computer and keeps clicking our homepage so I'll think the counter is accurately reflecting a large reading audience. So comment already...)

We visited this weekend with the Ware Shoals Church of God of Prophecy, Pastor Mark Lowe (I always want to call him Mark HALL, but he actually married Christy Hall, with whom Ken and I went to summer camp for years.) We enjoyed sharing our presentation with them, and they made us feel right at home. For those who aren't familiar with Ware Shoals, it's near Possum Kingdom and the Cheddar Community (I'm not kidding....)


Camille and Caroline had been looking forward to this church for weeks, as their buddy, Nathan, from camp this past summer, is the Pastor's son. So they got to chat with him at church and at Westgate Pizza (yum, yum!) afterward.

Nathan is very musically talented (although he chickened out of playing a song and singing for us). I think it's a family tradition over there. His great-grandmother shared with me a notebook full of songs she's written over the years. She even sang a catchy little love song she'd written about Jesus, so I'd get the tune.

We were pleasantly surprised to find out that our old Batesburg buddies, Gary and Betty Powell are part of that congregation. Our camp pals will be jealous when they hear, as anyone who's ever been to Camp Agape comes to love Gary Powell. We met his sister and her family, also, and really enjoyed the time we spent with God's people in Ware Shoals.

We had a great time last night at a going-away party Ken's mom and sister hosted. We were thrilled at how many old and new friends came out to say goodbye, and humbled at how many brought a gift or an offering. It's really good to know that folks at home will be praying for us. (Don't click below. This is a quick one...)

We have learned that Spanish-speaking folks have a little trouble with the names Christie and Ken. I've always liked my hubby's name because it means handsome, and well, that's just so true. ;) But "Ken" sounds a lot like the word "quien," which means "who?" in Spanish. Imagine a few rounds of a conversation that's reminiscent of the "Who's on first?" joke:

Juan-Carlos: "What's your name?"
Ken: "Who."
Juan-Carlos: "YOU! What's YOUR name?"
Ken, becoming amused: "WHO!"

So we're getting kicks out of coming up with variations of his middle name Ray as one option. Our Colombian friends, the Cediels, laughed out loud when we said we were thinking about Ramundo. His high school Spanish teacher called him Kenito, which reminded the girls that some of his family members still refer to him as "Little Kenny" (I'm not EVEN joking...)

Despite that I've always liked the name Isabella, I'm sticking with one closer to reality on my end. I've been "Christie" for my entire life, although my legal name (and the one my mom called when I was in trouble) is Crystal. It seems Crystal is much easier to say. Nevermind that it is name of the national beer of Peru--I'll be living in Paraguay, after all!

And I am reminded of the scripture in Isaiah 62:2, which says, "The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow." Most Bible scholars agree that the "new name" refers to believers being called "Christians," a term previously unheard of. My nickname technically means just that. It is a variation of the word Christian, meaning literally, "like Christ," and also "anointed of Christ". It's hard to beat that, right?

Crystal means clear and easily understood. I think since my immediate family will still be calling me Christie, I could stand to be referred to as a blend of those two names: the person anointed by Christ who is easily understood. I sure want those I'll be ministering to, to have a crystal-clear understanding of the Message I'll be sharing.

Now if we could figure out what to call my handsome husband. Suggestions?

This morning, we visited the Greer Church of God of Prophecy. We had a wonderful Sunday School lesson about the conversion of Saul/Paul, which reminded me of the weeks (months?) I was asking God for a blinding light or at least a loud voice to tell us what to do about this burning in our hearts for missions.

Ken said something in his part of the presentation that made a lot of sense to me. I always have had a TERRIBLE time coming home from past mission trips. I am excited to get back to my family, but the debriefing period, so to speak, is very hard for me. I don't adjust well to getting back to "normal life."

Instead, I tend to be very restless, waking up throughout the night for weeks. I'm confused when I awaken, sometimes walking around the house trying to figure out where I am. Ken has a terrible time convincing me that I'm home again, and even when I hear and comprehend the words, I can't fully grasp the idea that home means Greenville, SC, USA. My dreams are in Spanish for weeks after I return. I talk in my sleep in Spanish. I get very overwhelmed and overstimulated by trips to large stores, like Wal-Mart or Bi-Lo. All the "stuff" disgusts me.

He very briefly described that this morning, commenting that we have to go through a period similar to what we'd think detox would be like, each time we return. The strange thing is, I haven't experienced those things IN South America. You'd think that'd be where the adjustment is, with confusion or frustration occuring when we're out of our comfort zone. I think God readjusted our comfort zones a while back, though, to fit His plan for us.

Back to Greer--we had a great visit. The people were very generous and encouraging, and we enjoyed a family dinner afterward (Ken's uncle Larry and his family are Greer folks). We were excited to find out that they have just started broadcasting their services over the internet, so we'll be able to get a slice of home from Paraguay. Thanks, Bro. Johnson and the Greer congregation, for hosting us and further confirming God's hand in our upcoming move.

When I first moved to the upstate area 7 years ago, my sister-in-law invited me to a playgroup meeting of local moms. This was my first exposure to "Mom time" while the kids played, and I was hooked! The group was full of some really Godly women who were either going through whatever I was or had been there, done that. They were a huge help to me in so many areas of my life at the time--as a Christian, a mother, a wife, a homeschooling mom, a budding nutritionist, whatever. I looked forward to getting together with these gals every Thursday, and we kept up with it for several years, until the demands of homeschooling and other duties necessitated our "drop-out" of the playgroup. Until today. :)

This morning, we had a playgroup reunion/going away party and reconnected with a few our old pals, and met some new ones. (Thanks, Connie, for hosting this at your lovely home.) It was so great to see some of the ladies who played such an important part in my life and in the lives of my girls. Strong women who made me feel normal--okay, I've never really been normal, but they did make me feel like I wasn't a freak for choosing to raise our daughters differently than the norm. Today was no different. They encouraged us and promised their prayers. They gave me some precious gifts. They reminded me why I missed them so much after we could no longer make our weekly get-togethers. They brought along their wonderful children who made great role models and playmates for the girls after we moved to this new town. God bless these women who are still reaching out to each other and to families in their world, as they have blessed me.

Last night was our visit to the Conestee Church of God of Prophecy, pastored by none other than our old friend, Eddie Crocker. His lovely wife Cindy and their two adorable children are going to be our first "family mission trip" visitors to Paraguay, I keep telling them! Their church is vibrant and growing, and we felt such a great spirit there.

They were kind enough to gather around us and anoint our family in prayer, and we really appreciated that. Their children and young people took a very active part in the service, sitting on the front row, sharing some songs (with motions!!), and even playing some of the instruments. It wouldn't surprise me to have a few of them show up at the the missions training center one day.

After church, we did what all good COGOP's do, we ATE! Almost the whole church converged at the local McDonalds, which, very conveniently, had an inside playground. They're regulars there, and when the folks sitting in the playground saw us all come in, they cleared out. Quite a few small kids at the Conestee church (and they all have those little kissy cheeks!), so it was quite loud and lots of fun. We got the chance to talk with lots of the people and I was laughing so hard with one of the sisters that I choked on my milkshake. I told her we were blessed that it was a drink and not my food, since it melted its way down my throat. With my recent experiences in restaurants (ie "the bread cut"), I may be eating at home from here on out!! :)

My friend Kelly gave me a coupon for a free haircut last night, and when I combined that with my Saskatoon's gift certificate, that made for a nice (practically) FREE date night with my man! The haircut was at the Ivy Aveda Salon downtown, and WOW! It was really nice. Started with an aroma experience--a really great-smelling head and neck massage. My stylist, Mandy, was really good with these wild curls, so you gals with the unruly curls out there, look her up!

From there, we were off to Saskatoons, where we tried alligator (good, but not quite as good as eating it on the Amazon), yak, duck, lamb, and buffalo. Then I sliced right into my finger with the big knife. Man. Talk about feeling really stupid. The table was small and filled with all our little dishes, so I thought it'd be easier to cut off a piece of bread if I picked it up, rather than used the CUTTING BOARD (they call it that for a reason, I now know). As I picked up the bread and the knife, realization of what I was doing hit Ken, and he said, "Let me do that before you cu----" Too late.

Those of you who've known me for long know that there is a reason Ken does all the cutting in our house. Something about that last time I tried to slice carrots and cut the end of my finger off. Anyway, I made a lovely cut into my left middle finger, and I could just hear all the kitchen help laughing when our server went for a band-aid. (Not really, but I could IMAGINE it, anyway!)

Oh, well, at least I resisted the urge to go sit in the ER for half a century. And since Camille just recently sliced her knuckle open on the ice skate, I conveniently still had all the supplies needed to self-treat. No, I didn't stitch it with fishing wire... ;)

Here's the rundown of where we'll be over the next month or so. Please drop by if you're near, and pray for us if you're not. :)

Sunday, October 5, 6 PM -- Conestee Church of God of Prophecy

Sunday, October 12, 10 AM -- Greer Church of God of Prophecy

Saturday, October 18, 4 PM -- Going Away Party at College Park Church (YES, you're invited, of course! Just let my mother-in-law, Sue, know, since she's hosting this shindig...)

Sunday, October 19, 6 PM -- Ware Shoals Church of God of Prophecy

Sunday, October 26, 6 PM -- Seneca Church of God of Prophecy

Thursday, November 6 -- On our way to Paraguay!!! (Couldn't resist throwing that in there...)