Oregon Pictures

Like I said, we had such a great time in Oregon. We loved hanging out with Onildo and Nilza and their family. They are such a fun family. Onildo is probably the funniest person I've ever met. They have 4 children: Renatto (18), Andre (13), Anna (9), and Lukas (6). Nilza homeschools (Renatto started attending a private Christian school when he was a sophomore), so I got some great advice and counsel concerning homeschooling. We just had a great time.

Here are LOTS of pictures to show you all about it. Enjoy.



Asa with her first Cheerio in her mouth...not a fan yet.















My special day...the 17th was my birthday. Aunt Nilza made me a big special meal (super yummy salmon and lots of great sides) and got me a cake, balloon, and rose. I even had a special plate. It was a great birthday.












This picture cracks me up. I have no idea what I was laughing at, but it is just funny to me. (side note: it is a 3 with a question mark beside it on the cake, not "39)
This is the Brito's house. Onildo built it himself. It is beautiful.










Some shots of Asa outside.
















A crooked little smile.

Hadley, Grady, and Lukas.











Anna is in gymnastics and was showing us some of her moves. Joel, Andre, and Anna had a whole gymnastics session out there on the grass doing round-offs, cartwheels, walking on their hands, standing on their heads, etc.












I like this shot of Hadley walking away with her hands behind her back.

Andre's awesome jump out of the swing.


We had already eaten some of the cake after lunch, but the kids had already gone to take naps. So, that night we all had some. Hadley helped me blow the candles out.
Grady's new best friend (one of many), Lukas.

Renatto (pronounced Hen-ot-to) decided to run track this year for the first time, his senior year. He made it to state in the 100m dash and the long jump. We went to see him run.






After Renatto's race we went to the ocean. It was really pretty, but pretty cold. Asa was miserable, so we took a few pictures and then went and hung out in the van while everyone else played.















Hadley would get down on her hands and knees and lick the shore like a lollilop...such a weirdo. :) She liked it. Is she missing some kind of minerals from her diet or something? :)
I love this picture of Onildo and Nilza. Nilza was born and raised in Brazil. She married a Brazilian, Onildo. They've been in the states for about 22 years now.







This picture of Asa cracks me up.
















This is the nice posed shot.
















The Joel Ebersole family on the Pacific Coast.
Saturday Joel went and shot machine guns for Danny Robinson's bachelor party. They had a lot of fun.
Me and Hadley at Danny's wedding on Sunday.
The ceremony. They said it was a typical outside Oregon wedding...umbrellas and all.
Mat Beck (friend from LeTourneau), Danny, Joel, and Asa.
Joel and me with the happy newly married couple, Danny and Liz.










Paul, Kamerin, and Beniah Williams. Our great adoptive "family" in Longview, Ernie and Trudy...this is their son and his family. They actually live nearby in Oregon now.













Grady and Lukas happened to have the same exact coloring book, so they enjoyed coloring the same pictures at the same time.








Onildo feeing Asa.
















Nilza gives her kids piano lessons. Hadley was helping Anna practice her piano our last day there.


We had such a great time!! Thank you, Brito's!!!!

We're In Boston

Just a quick post to let you all know that we are now in Boston.

We left Saline last Tuesday, the 15th. We got to Oregon on Wednesday night. We stayed there and had a great time with Joel's aunt and uncle, Nilza and Onildo until Monday afternoon. We flew all night Monday night and arrived in Boston safe and sound (and exhausted...me anyway...not possible to sleep on a plane holding a baby) on Tuesday morning.

Happenings since I last posted:
--I turned 33!
--Asa had her first cheerio, which she wasn't into at all actually.
--The kids visited the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
--Joel shot machine guns for the first time.
--We attended Danny Robinson's wedding to Liz Lewis.
--We met Paul and Kamerin Williams' really cute baby, Beniah.
--We saw Mat Beck again...haven't seen him in years.
--We barely saw Grady. Joel's little 1st cousin, Lukas (age 6) had a little shadow all week long (Grady). Lukas was so sweet to Grady and very patient. Grady thoroughly enjoyed himself.

I tried to post some pictures, but I keep losing internet service randomly. So, I will post them whenever I have a better signal. By the way, we post pictures by months on our website, and in case I haven't told you yet, you can see pictures of March on our website now: www.EbersoleOnline.com.

Busy Busy

Just a quick post to keep you all up to date. We are just wrapping things up here in Saline. If I had more time I would post a lot of pictures of this week. We've done alot.

--We went to 2 crawfish boils last weekend, so Joel got a tood taste of Louisiana. Mmmm!
--I had a 15-yr. high school class reunion.
--Joel spoke at 2 churches.
--We went swimming for the first time on Monday. That was Asa's first swim ever (except at birth I guess) :)...SO FUN! We spent 4 hours at the lake and I was loving it!!
--We went to Tucker's first softball game of the season.
--ALL DAY Tuesday and Wednesday were spent at doctors' appointments and getting shots. We still have more of that to go next week.
--Joel spoke at the Senior Banquet last night...he did a great job.
--We've met up with lots of people the last few days to say our goodbyes to them. Today my great uncle and his son are driving from Baton Rouge to have lunch with us and visit with us for the day, then they are driving back this afternoon.

My brother (Jared) is also coming in for the weekend, our last weekend here in Saline. We will be having Mama's fried shrimp tonight for supper. Then tomorrow we will be at the lake. We are having a last little lake party/fish fry with the whole family. Sunday everyone is going to church with us at Carolina. We will be prayed for and sent out. Then we'll go out to eat for Mother's Day. Gillian's graduation is that night and everyone will go over to her house after graduation. Monday morning we will go eat breakfast with Jared before he heads out and then we will head out too.

Not sure when we will be able to actually finish up laundry and our packing. :) Minor detail. But, it'll all work out. It's been a fun week and we plan to have a great weekend.

We leave Monday to go to Kilgore/Longview for more doctors' appointments and more shots on Monday and Tuesday. Then, we fly out to Oregon on Wednesday to go to a friend's wedding. We will be in Oregon until Monday, the 21st...then we fly to Boston to spend about 3 weeks with Joel's family. Then off to Brazil June 12th.

I'm not sure how much posting I will be able to do, esp. in the next week or so. I'm sure things will probably slow down a little bit once we get to Boston. But, just keep us in your prayers. There's a lot going on. And, goodbyes are never easy...but when people know that they aren't going to see you for 3 years, it makes it tougher, esp. thinking about not seeing the kids for 3 years. Thank God for His abundant grace and peace that He provides in all things.

For new pictures (from March), go to our website. We will try to have the April pictures up soon too. But here are a couple from Monday just so you can see the kiddos. Enjoy.

The Black Cloud and KJV

I'm not a King-James-Only kind of person. This isn't what this post is trying to imply. But, I was reminded of something the other day and something was pointed out about a specific verse that REALLY validated something in my life. Let me explain...

I love all different translations of the Bible. My personal favorite for just reading pleasure is the New Living Translation (NLT). I also really like the Amplified version...man, it's pretty thorough. Others swear by the New American Standard (NASB) and the New International Version (NIV), so I throw those into my mix as well. Some are of the persuasion that the King James Version is the only accurate version (it is the authorized version after all). While I don't go that far (although they have great arguments), when I'm really studying or teaching on a passage, I always look at it in the KJV too. There is reason for that. Several times I have read something in the NLT or even NIV, then read it in the KJV and it seems to be very different. I actually have a side-by-side Bible with NIV and KJV, so it's easy to see. Like I said, over the years I've noticed several verses and passages where things were left out or seemingly changed. Since I know neither Greek or Hebrew, I rely on others to translate for me.

On to the specific verse I was talking about at the beginning. Romans 8:1 in NLT reads:

"So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus."

In the NIV it reads:

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,"

In the NASB it reads:

"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

That's what I've heard taught for years now...that there is no condemnation if you belong to Christ. Conviction yes, but no condemnation. Basically, there should be a Godly sorrow when you've wronged, but God forgives you and you shouldn't have this heaviness that comes on you and stays...you should confess, be truly sorry and turn from your sin, and move on. I totally agree with that order of things. But there was one particular thing that happened in my life that I just couldn't explain according to that verse and that teaching.

At one point a few years ago, when I was totally running after God with all I had and things were so amazing, I totally messed up bigtime. I won't go into details about what it was, just because it involves other people and that wouldn't be respectful. But, let's just say that it was a huge setback in my holiness. Oh, it was horrible. I felt horrible. I was so sorry, I confessed, I cried out to God, I definitely turned from my sin. But...there was this very, very heavy heaviness that would not leave. I cried and cried. I cried at work, I cried in my car, I cried at home...I just couldn't stop crying...for 3 weeks solid. I am not exaggerating. Finally it lifted. The Message describes condemnation like this (in Rom. 8:1): "to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud." When I have shared about that time with others, I would always say, "I know that there is no condemnation in Christ, but it felt like it. If that wasn't condemnation, I know I definitely never want condemnation." In my heart of hearts, I knew it was condemnation. I had definitely felt the low-lying black cloud over me.

Recently in our Sunday School class, our awesome teacher, Mrs. Donna Cheatwood (she was one of my youth teachers also, back in the day...love her) was quoting Romans 8:1. She read it from her Bible. She read, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." Then she looked up and said that she just hates it when people leave off the last part of this verse...it's a pet peeve of hers. Then she read on, "who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

What? What did she say? A huge light bulb came on over my head. I'm sure everyone in class saw it. All at once, that past event in my life made sense. It was condemnation and there it was, validated in the Bible itself.

Isn't it true that the toughest times, if you cling to Jesus and grow through them, end up being the most precious and important times to you? Many times people hear the word "condemnation" and they get the picture of some lost soul...surely a Christian is not really a Christian if he/she is feeling condemnation. I tell you, I felt it and it is one of the best tools of my testimony that I have. I'll tell you another thing too...I never ever again fell into that sin for which I felt that condemnation. Condemnation did me good.

Another great lady in that Sunday School class that day (Mrs. Gail Ferguson) read one of the newer translations along with the KJV of Romans 8:1 and pointed out that no wonder people leave that part out...it's not in there on most translations.

The Amplified:

"Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit."

Let us walk after the dictates of the Spirit, for when we don't, when we walk after the dictates of the flesh...yes, condemnation will come. I believe it. I am also thankful for it.

I pray that we all get a good dose of condemnation when we walk after the flesh.

It's Official

Asa is definitely crawling!

Probably about 5 weeks ago now, she started the thing where they rock back and forth on their hands and knees. Immediately after she started that, she started trying to go from that position to sitting up, even though she couldn’t even sit up on her own at all (even when I placed her in the sitting up position…she would fall over). About 2 weeks ago, she actually started being able to sit up when placed in the sitting position...and then started being able to sit up from the hands and knees position. Also the past couple of weeks, she’s really been moving…not crawling, just scooting and such. Well…

Yesterday was the day…she just up and crawled about 20 feet at one time!! It’s so crazy how when they decide to do something, they really do it. :)

Also, the past week or so she has been pulling up in her crib (and other places too of course). First it was only to her knees, then suddenly to a standing position, that little smarty pants. Well, last night I actually moved her into the pack-n-play so we could get some sleep. She will wake up, abruptly get up in her standing position (when she used to just go back to sleep, esp. if we gave her a pacifier…maybe she’s just excited to be able to get up, I don’t know), and then get stuck there I guess. Whatever…to the pack-n-play she went…she can’t pull up on the sides of that.

Another happening…she got her 3rd tooth this past week…the top front right tooth.

Anywho, she’s had a very busy few weeks. She’s really growing up…it’s crazy. She’ll be 7 months old on the 10th. She’s really fun and the kids are really starting to enjoy playing with her more and more. Fun fun stuff.

Sorry I've been a little delinquent in my blogging lately. So, you get the bonus of an extra post today. Keep reading and you will see one of the reasons why I haven't posted lately.

Goodbye, Stuff

This is what happened on Tuesday, May 1st. Yep, our stuff is on its way to Brazil as we speak. Craziness.

We packed it all up in 5 crates. Mama kept the older 2 kids all last week so that we could get it all done. It was a very interesting time, but so non-emotional. People kept asking me how I was. Really, it was a big job, but at the same time, we’ve been “purging” for 6 years now. So, it was kind of straightforward. Since we didn’t have much at this point anyway, we mostly just put what we had in the crates. I say that, but we probably have about 2 of those crates full of stuff we need to give away. Anyhoo, it’s done. It is finished. We now have only what we will be traveling with.

As for our stuff, it is supposed to get to the port in Brazil June 4th. Then from there it is supposed to arrive in Anapolis (where we will be living) “7-8 days later.” So, if everything goes according to plan, we will be arriving about the same time as our crates. I’m not putting my hopes in that or anything. It’ll be nice if it happens that way, but if it doesn’t, that’s ok too. As long as it does get there. :)



Asa helping us pack up.



Joel securing the tops on the crates, with Lucas Ferguson's help.



3 of the 5 crates.



Of course we had to decorate, a-hem, I mean label, the crates. Here are Daria and Grady doing their part.



Loading them up. Looking on are Mrs. Gail Ferguson, Grady, Dallas, Daria, and Hadley.



Grady and Hadley waving goodbye to our stuff. They were totally fine with it all. Hadley is not really grasping what is going on. I'm sure Grady isn't totally aware either, but although he absolutely loves where we are now, he has also been asking for months to go to Brazil. So, when we told him that the man in the big truck was coming to take our stuff to Brazil, he grinned from ear to ear and got really excited. Today when he asked if we could go to Brazil (a daily thing) and I told him not right now, he asked me, "What are we waiting for?" I'm sure he truly wonders the answer to that question, since we've been planning this for months (what seems like years and years to him probably). Anyhow, God's grace is so abundant during this time. It's so wonderful that the kids are excited about what we are doing.

"Goodbye, stuff. See you in Brazil!"

Ouchies

I presently have 3 ouchies...not good...I don't like pain. I'll start with the one that happened first...

Yes, that's my knee. Tucker says my knees are fat now that I've had kids, but nevertheless, it's my knee. It's not only fat in this picture, it hurts. I was running and was looking off at a house with people (that we know of course...this is Saline after all) in front of it. In the middle of the sidewalk was a huge pinecone. I unfortunately stepped on the pinecone with my left foot since I wasn't looking at where I was going, which made that foot fall to my ankle...yeah...a really bad twist. At that point I just went down. I caught myself with my hands and my right knee. Ouch. Funny thing is it didn't really hurt that bad after the first few minutes. So, oh so smart me decided that I could keep running...so I did...for about another mile. Well, that night my ankle was huge and hur-ting. Anyhoo, it's getting better, but you know...still an ouchie.

Secondly, my sweet little Asa poo bit me...while nursing. All of you mothers out there can sympathize/empathize and say "ouchie" right along with me. All of you fathers can just add this to the list of why you can be glad that you don't have to participate firsthand in the pregnancy/childbirth/nursing thing. :) Anyhoo, there is an open wound and it is not healed. Therefore, everytime I nurse...well, let's just say "OUCH!!"

Thirdly, my throat is killing me. Now, that probably helps me considering that I also can't run right now...not really wanting to eat that much either, so that's good. But, you know...hopefully my throat will get better soon.

Alright, I'm done writing about all my ailments. Woe is me! :)

Crunch Time

Well, many miles, many visits with friends, and 5 pounds later (yeah, I had Tex-Mex at least once a day on our 6-day trip), we are back home again. Here is what we'll be doing (listed in no particular order) in the remainder of our time here in Saline (3 more weeks):

1. Speaking engagements: We will be speaking at several different churches about where we are going and what we'll be doing there. Joel will also be speaking at the Senior Banquet here at Saline High School.
2. Eating as much home cooking as we can...without being gluttonous we hope.
3. Running: I love to run around here since it's so dadgum beautiful. I've always loved to exercise...this will fill our need for getting as much of this scenery as we can while we can, and also hopefully keep us fit considering #2. :)
4. packing: Joel went and got the crates that we will be using to ship our things to Brazil yesterday. We are now working to finish going through our things and pack them all up. We ship the 30th of this month, so we only have about a week to get it all done.
5. Spending time with family and friends of course. I can't believe it will be 3 whole years until we see them again (the ones that don't come to visit us in Brazil that is). We've got lots of gatherings planned.

Although we are very busy and almost every day/night is filled, we are also trying to just bask in the beauty of this place. I LOVE THE LAKE!! Have I ever told you that? :) Usually the place I run is on the dam. It is beautiful.

And, we are trying to just spend time as a family too...just us and the kids. We pray that the kids will have enough security in me and Joel that no matter where we are (in our travels), things will remain "normal." Obviously that means that we are also remembering to make it a priority that we "remain in Him."

Now I'm off to pack up the crates.

Let The Travelling Begin

Well, it has started. We are officially gypsies once again. We had a good 3 months of being settled. Now...well, let's just say the "settled" thing is over.

We are in Kilgore now...at the same house where we stayed for a couple of months waiting for Asa to come. We got to East Texas yesterday for lunch. We met with some friends from college (my college)...Cristie and Stephanie. It was great to see them and catch up...hadn't seen them in over a year. Cristie has an 8 yr. old that I hadn't seen since he was less than a year old.

We left Cristie's house and went to visit with the Graves'. Always a GREAT time with them and their chi'rens. LOVE them so much!

We went "home" to the Brockway's guest house, showered, and slept.

Got up, got dressed, went to church. We got prayed over and "sent out" by Church on the Rock today. It was so great. It was super encouraging and all of the most special people to us came up, laid hands on us, and prayed with Pastor Chuck and Diana. Nicole (Graves) came up to me when we were on our way back to our seats. She had started crying during the prayer time and she said, "Well, that made it real." Yes, it did. It gets more and more real with each passing day. Well, it's always been real to me, but I guess that as it becomes more real to the people around me, it makes it even more real to me since they are a bit "sobered" and come to the realization that they aren't going to see us for a while. Anywho...

After church we went to Papacita's for lunch with O.L., Amy Slaback, Jeremy Cammack, Robbie Neubecker, Katie Iverson, Mikayla (girl from the youth group), and Ernie and Trudy Williams. We have such GREAT FRIENDS that we are so thankful for. And...Mmmm...love those chips. :)

We left there and went to Ernie and Trudy's house and stayed there until after 10pm. LOVE that family too. They are so great...they are like an orphanage for "older" kids, i.e. young adults who find themselves in transition. Their house is just one of those places that anyone and everyone would feel "at home" in. We love you Ernie and Trudy! By the way, they are the ones that adopted our cat, Sassy, when we left last summer. Sassy is all grown up now and will be having babies of her own in the next couple of weeks. It was great to see Sassy cat again (and her poochy belly).

So, yes...this begins another travel phase. We will be in Ft. Worth area until Tuesday night. Tomorrow we will be meeting a couple who just came back from being missionaries with Asas de Socorro (the organization we are going to be a part of). We are so excited to get to talk with them. Also, we will meet up with a few other friends before we get back to Kilgore late Tues. night. More meetings on Wednesday (too many to fit in actually). Then back home to Saline on Thursday morning. Whew.

Once we get back to Saline, we are all booked up with speaking engagements and meeting up with friends and family. Not to mention the fact that we have to have everything ready for shipment to Brazil by the 30th.

We bought airline tickets last week, so it's official. We leave Saline May 14th. We'll fly to Oregon for a wedding...stay in Oregon with Joel's aunt and uncle for a week. Then we'll fly from Oregon to Boston where we will be spending time with Joel's family until June 12th. That is the date we will fly to Brazil...to live...only to come back for a visit in 3 years. Craziness. So exciting! Just soaking up every minute of being here in the midst of the busyness. But, for now...

We have to be in Ft. Worth tomorrow by noon. So, off to bed I go.

Easter Snap

All of our cold weather clothes were packed and ready for shipment. Should've known better than that. It is quite common "in these parts" for there to be another random cold spell around this time of year. It almost always comes on Easter weekend. It's what we call the "Easter Snap." I don't know if everyone has this term or if it's a Southern thing, but we definitely had an Easter Snap this year. Brrr! Needless to say, the cute little sundresses and sandals will have to wait. Jogging suits and long johns were the Easter outfits of choice this year.

We had a great weekend. Here are some shots...lots of them.


Time to decorate Easter eggs. We had never done this before with the kids since we've never lived where we've actually done the Easter egg hunts. We had a ton of fun. It's been years since I've done that...the kids liked it too. :)





Grady was very meticulous as usual and did a really good job transferring the eggs very carefully.














Asa getting in on some egg action in the only way she knows how.
We went to an Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning at Old Saline Baptist Church. It was alot of fun. They even had someone dressed up as an Easter bunny and also had one of those big blow up things that you jump in. And...gifts galore and pizza and soft drinks for everyone. They went all out and it sure was fun. Here the kids are waiting to go outside to hunt the eggs.

After the hunt, the whole family had bar-b-que at Granny's house. Here is Asa laughing with Granny.
Grady, Hadley, Kiley, and Skylar having fun playing in Granny's kitchen.
Easter baskets...they each got a new Bible storybook and of course a chocolate bunny (they got the Peter Rabbit kind).
Giving the kids their baskets. I had been to sunrise service...cold...it was in the 30s, but it sure was pretty. They have it on the lake. I had never been before even though I lived here all my life. So, I decided to go this time. The kids were very excited about their baskets.
Cousins...Kiley, Grady, Hadley, Eli, and Skylar. We always go over to the lake after church on Easter for a picnic and Easter egg hunt. On Easter snap years, the picnic has to be moved inside to Aunt Cheryl's house...but, as long as we're at the lake. :)
Hunting.
Grady, Kiley, and Eli. Isn't that a great backdrop for an Easter egg hunt?
One of the advantages to hunting with real eggs vs. the plastic ones.
You always have a snack readily available.
Riding Shelby's mechanical bull.
Hadley getting in on it.
The afternoon siesta. Colby and Tucker passed out in the back...Grady (acting as a pillow) and Joel just watching some "Home Improvement." :)







Sister kisses.
Aren't they beautiful? Another thing that happened in the past few days...Asa was 6 months old on Tuesday! She is all over the place, scooting all around, and is very close to crawling I think. She does the thing where she gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. So cute.

I am happy to report that after a few days of cold weather it is now back up into the 70s...woohoo.

Hope you had a great Easter too!

Refreshed and Renewed

Amazing how time with God can cure anything and everything.

I'm not one to pretend like things are honky dory when they aren't. Some people (missionaries in particular can fall into this trap) just go on not ever mentioning when they are struggling. I am positive and full of faith, but at the same time I don't live in denial. And besides, we are supposed to bear one another's burdens, right? Thanks for your prayers toward me at 2am on Saturday morning. :)

That verse I referenced...Joel's grandparents say that they are sure he was talking about child-training when he wrote that. I fully agree. :) At the time of my post I was not thinking about child-training though. It was all about the adults in my life and my prayers and faith for them. Anyhow, can't go into detail, but just know that all is well for me again...no longer weary.

Good thing too...we are on the go so much these days. Just wanted to post super quickly to give you an update. Now I'm out the door.

Pictures from the weekend to come...

Weary

You know that verse that says something about not growing weary in doing what is good? I'm very weary. Please pray for me.

Still Here

Just wanted to let you all know that I haven't kicked the bucket or anything. We've just been really busy doing family things. Good stuff. I will post more later when I get a chance.

In the meantime, for you faithful blog viewers, I will give you a little heads-up. The February pictures are now up on our website, although I was just glancing at a few of them and we will have to re-publish them at some point...there are a ton of typos. Oopsies. I was in a hurry and also preoccupied when I was doing the captions, as you can tell. Anyhow, go to the website and look at pictures while you wait for me to say something here. Go...skeedaddle: www.EbersoleOnline.com.