www.fireproofmymarriage.com

For the last 4 years since we became parents, we have tried to set aside Thursday night for "date night." This has been as simple as a walk around Lakewood Apartments in Stafford (a chunk of solitude in the midst of urban congestion) or as special as going out to dinner. Of course, there have been some weeks that did not work out, but the pattern has been consistent. In Stafford, we were surrounded with many babysitters from our neighborhood, the youth group and our church family....we were very spoiled. The last 9 months have been so transient for us, and we have had to get creative with date night. I think we have finally mastered the art of having date night without a babysitter. Last Thursday, the kids helped me set the candle-lit table, and dutifully sat at their craft table on the other end of the room for the whole meal. They did so well, and with Colby's latest tomato-curry Indian dish, I really felt like I was in a restaurant. We then proceeded to lock the kids in their room with a movie on the laptop while we watched Fire-Proof. Two thoughts on this: #1) If you can get over the cheesy, choppy acting in the beginning, Fire-Proof has a great message for our culture. #2) Apparently the Veggie Tale's movie-Jonah- is a violent movie and I should not have let them see it alone. All weekend Darcy has been telling us, "I neser, neser, neser, neser, NESER want to go to Ninevah." Oops.

Dear Diary,

Life has never felt so uncertain. Our home back in Virginia is significantly damaged, and we no longer have renters. We can't begin to advertise for new renters until things get fixed, and we don't know how long that will take. In addition to that uncertainty, we still haven't figured out what to do with our car and don't know what the wisest thing is to do. On top of it all, the decision about the VISA has been made, but they are not telling us what it is until it is officially documented. I wonder what this week will bring. I told Colby last week that I was tired of clutching tightly to the side of the roller-coaster with white knuckles. I am ready to put my hands up and just enjoy the ride. Colby's response to my analogy: "I'm puking over the side of the roller-coaster car."

Yet in the midst of this turbulence, God has been so good. The argument, "God can't be real because there is so much pain in this world," doesn't resonate with me--because it is in those times of pain and helplessness that God can draw us so close and make Himself so real. These past nine months since Colby resigned from his secure position at Stafford Baptist have been some of the most intimate times with both my God and my family. We are all learning to lean so heavily on Him. In the midst of comfort, it is easy to forget the reality that we are all desperately in need of God, and I am thankful for the trials He has brought our way to demolish that illusion.

A few days ago, I overheard a conversation that Colby was having with Haley during her snack time. "When I am old and gray, there's only one thing I want you to remember about me: that God is so good and has such good news for the world that it was more important to share that message than live a comfortable, easy life." The next day Haley told us at breakfast that she had thought a lot about those words as she was falling asleep. I still struggle to trust God with our future, with His plans for us, and making my own comfort an idol, but I pray that our lives will be a testimony to God's sufficiency.

Maximum Capacity

10 people in one apartment
Easter egg hunts
Walks on the beach
Bakeries
Waterslides
Double Date night
Hiking Mt. Esja
Good talks
Glaciers
Waterfalls
Dirty shoes
Laughing till my cheeks hurt
Faithful Friends

Easter Dinner for the Culinarily-Challenged

Gleðilega Páska!

this is an experiement

does blogger back post?
ha! yes it does!

I love this place

Terrible mother

I tried so hard. For twelve months before the big move, I tried to observe what toys the kids played with the most and therefore what toys would make the final cut to come. The purging process was painful, but we needed to get rid of a lot of stuff. There was simply no room to store everything. Darcy and Haley each got to bring their favorite blankets and a few toys to Iceland, but the rest is in storage or in a Goodwill store somewhere. I don't know what triggered it, but recently Darcy has remembered a "berry pesull" doggie that she used to have in her crib. The other day she wept at the dinner table most of the mealtime remembering this dog, and nothing could console her... "Darcy, maybe you'll get a NEW doggie for your birthday!"
"I don't WANT another doggie; I want MY DOGGIE!!" (dramatic wails and tears)...
She just won't forget about it. It was all she could talk about on Saturday during our day trip to Akranes. Well, I thought I would see if anyone out there from Stafford Baptist knows what I'm talking about. I think there were hundreds of them given away at VBS one year. It looks like the dog in the picture, only white with black markings. Maybe a red collar, too? Lorrie Kennedy, you are my only hope on this one! Yes, she will get over it if she must, but I thought I would throw it out there. The Fauths leave Thursday night in case anyone is successful finding this dog!

Your turn

Many Icelandic words are like a riddle to figure out. Anyone interested in seeing how many Icelandic words they know? Now, there is no cheating, Icelanders are not allowed to play, and there will be a small prize for the winner (if they come to visit us here in Iceland).
What is a...
1) ljosmydin --(Ljos: light, myndin: picture)
2) bifvélavirki-- (bif: moving, vela: machine, virki: maker)
3) auglýsinger -- (Aug: eye, lýsinger: to light up)
4) jarðýtan-- (Jarð: earth, ýtan: pusher)
5) opið solar hringurinn-- (opið:open , solar hringurinn: sun ring)
6) ljósapera-- (ljós:light, pera:pear)
7) ristað brauð-- (ristað: roast, brauð:bread).
8) Gummivinnustofan-- (Gummi: rubber, vinnu:work ,stofan:room)
9) ávöxturinn-- (tree growth)
10) Takk fyrir matinn! --(This is a freebie!)

April 2nd

In college, the girls in my dorm referred to Colby as the "guy who has already written a song for the girl he is going to marry." You can imagine how this rumor affected the myriad of single college girls who were desperate for a rock on their finger before graduation.  Although I was determined to be the non-conformist and not succumb to marriage, I can remember hearing about this song from my roommate and thinking to myself, "Whoever gets to marry him is the luckiest girl in the world."  On April 2nd, 2001,  Colby played the song for me at an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway as the pink and orange sunset exploded in the sky below.  

Every year I forget the "anniversary" of our engagement.  It's a reversal of the norm, but Colby never lets a year slip by without celebrating it in a small way.  Last night he played the song for me again.  The words seemed especially impactful at this leg of the journey:

So many bridges we've crossed

So many miles we've walked

He's seen us through this far

I know wherever you are

I want to be there to say

You'll make it through another day

I want to hold you so you know I'll never turn away

His love will see us through

So I am patiently waiting

Today has been the most mentally stressful day that we have had since we've been here.  We were told the decision would be made by today, and after a morning and afternoon of butterflies and pacing the house, we received the news that...the decision has not yet been made.  The only thing we can do is wait.  I am so thankful for how much Colby and I have grown together these past 8 months. God has really done a work in our marriage these past 7 1/2 years to make us a team. Going to training together, language school together, the gym together...everywhere together has been an adjustment, but a huge blessing.  There is no one else in the world I would rather be on a tiny lava rock in the middle of the North Atlantic with. 

Insecurity

We don't know where we will be living one month from today. Please pray for our VISAs to come before this week is over.

Great Joy

Refiner's Fire

Bill Jessup called me yesterday. I knew right away that something wasn't right. I have been with him on more than a few occasions of talking about difficult news. Colby do you have a few minutes, I need to talk to you about something. I don't know any other way to say this. It is amazing how many things you can feel and think in the split second between a sentence like this and the next one. I thought, surely I have negligently caused someone's death. No, maybe somebody I love has died. Oh man, just hurry up and deliver the blow.

Well it turns out that there was a fire in the basement of our townhome in VA yesterday morning. The people who rent from us made it out OK, but the basement was destroyed and there is smoke damage to a large amount of the lower two levels. I called Jason Pelt, our resident fire assessment expert in Stafford County, and he made a trip to the house with Bill to check things out. Initially Bill only knew that there was a fire and couldn't tell me much more. The guys called me later and the report was better than what I had pictured in my mind. They described it as, "not as bad as they expected." I was a little cautious about their report at first considering Bill's self-professed pyromania and Jason's point of reference for fires. As they explained what they saw I was just thankful it wasn't worse. The majority of what we own in the U.S. is packed into storage in the basement of the house. From their report, the storage areas looked OK.

An ocean away from all that, we will continue to trust the Lord through all that he brings in and out of our lives. Living in Iceland has helped me to think less about my possessions because we could only bring a few suitcases. Most days I forget I own anything else and it is very freeing to feel like you are traveling light. More and more as I encounter circumstances in life I am feeling strangely "prepared" for the tests God brings to refine me. Immediately yesterday I was reminded of Peter's words in 1 Peter 5:6-10, which I recently had been memorizing and I could sense God's Spirit instructing me to be at rest under what God's hand is doing in my life. We pray often for God to be exalted through our lives and for others to see our joy in Him. I wish that everyone would know the freedom from toil and fear that resting in God's providence brings to me as a follower of Christ. It is not freedom from loss, or freedom from the regular disappointments of life, but the joy of knowing God in every circumstance and learning to see that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.