Father's Day
Yes, I know we are a hard couple to keep track of, so I thought I’d answer this common question. We are doing a LOT this summer! We are spending these 3 months in Southern California reconnecting with people and getting ready to have a baby. We are continuing to raise financial support for our ministry in Indonesia, so we are sharing our ministry with different groups, churches and individuals. We’ve also been getting together with as many people as possible and have really enjoyed seeing our friends and family.
Ryan preaching
Last weekend we had the chance to visit Ventura Community Church where my cousin Matt is the worship pastor. Ryan gave the morning message and was able to share about our ministry. We’re excited that they are interested in partnering with us. We got to spend the rest of the weekend with Matt & Kirsten who are also expecting a baby in August.
The preggos!
So, that’s a brief glimpse into what we’re doing this summer. We’re certainly quite busy and very excited to meet our baby girl. It’s been encouraging to see how the Lord is challenging people to partner with us in this ministry.
Auntie Julianne
I was one of the "victims" for people to practice rescuing!
Back in May, I spent a couple of weeks out in North Carolina taking a medical course designed for missionaries serving in remote areas. I’m just now posting about it, because I finally got some pictures of my time out there. Let me tell you, it was intense! It was a 12 day course where we learned skills like suturing, inserting stomach tubes, giving injections, splinting, and more! (And we practiced those on each other!) It was great to have one semester of nursing school under my belt as a foundation to build on.
Practicing suturing... not as easy as I thought it would be.
We lived in little cabins in the woods without any electricity or running water. Most people had to go outside to use an outhouse, but they were so gracious to give me the only cabin with an attached outhouse so that I wouldn’t have to go out in the woods in the middle of the night! They took very good care of me since I was pregnant.
We spent all morning and most afternoon sitting in lectures and doing labs. The rest of the day we spent working on case studies. It was excellent practice in learning how to diagnose and treat many of the illnesses we’ll see in the tropics. Some people stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, but I went to bed early every night just so that I could survive!
I’m so glad I took the course, but I sure missed Ryan while I was gone! I managed to survive the course and made it through with nothing more than some very swollen ankles from sitting so much.
My roommates and are at our little cabin.
One pregnant woman + one long road trip = lots of bathroom breaks!
The bad news: we had to sit in a car for 30+ hours
The good news: we made it to California in one piece!
We’re so excited to be out here for the summer. It’s been fun seeing friends and family already and we can’t wait until we see the rest. We have lots of opportunities to share about our ministry this summer, so we’re really looking forward to that. On top of that, we get to meet our baby girl in less than 10 weeks!
30 weeks!
Melissa has been gone to North Carolina for a week now taking a missionary medical course and she won’t be back for another four days. When I dropped her off at the airport I didn’t think that it would be too bad to be apart for this long. I’ve pretty much had my fill of it now. My parents were here for about a week and I had some big projects to work on so that kept me distracted for a few days. Now I am just really looking forward to seeing my girls again. When she gets back we’ll have a long road trip to California that we can catch up.
Marti and I
My good friend Marti was so sweet and threw me a baby shower last week. It was a lot of fun and everyone gave me cute little girlie gifts. I can’t wait to dress up my little girl
I’m leaving tomorrow for 12 days. I’m going to a missionary medical course in North Carolina and I’m going to miss Ryan SO much!
Pretty flowers
I loved the plates and napkins!
I can't wait to take her swimming!
They said this is as excited as I'll get about diapers.
I started nursing school in January, and am so thankful I finally get the chance to finish this schooling! I started this process right after Ryan and I got married in 2004. Five years later, I’m still working on it! My plan was to finish before we went to the missionary training, but their four year waiting list slowed me down.
It’s been a lot of work this semester, and starting out with “morning” sickness made things difficult, but I’ve really learned a lot and I’m so glad I get to finish. Next semester will be an even bigger challenge as we’ll have a newborn at home, but we’re praying the Lord allows me to finish those last 4 months. Some things I’ve learned and gotten to practice on real patients are giving injections, tube feedings, suppositories, catheterizations, and much more! I have one week left in the semester and I can’t wait for summer break!
On another note, Julianne came to visit us this weekend, and we had a blast catching up with her and hanging out.
Here are some recent prego pics for those of you dying to see my growing belly. 
22 weeks (spaghetti squash)
24 weeks (corn on the cob)
Ryan hates the food comparisons, but I think they’re fun! I’ve been feeling great and really enjoy feeling our little girl kick and move. It’s so amazing! I can’t wait for August to get here!
Yesterday we got the opportunity to go to an Indonesian gathering in Chicago. It is a group of Indonesian believers that meet together one a month for fellowship. We enjoyed a worship service in Indonesian – fortunately they handed out song sheets and Indonesian isn’t too difficult to read. The only time we were in trouble was when they sang songs not listed on the sheet! Afterward, we enjoyed quite a spread of Indonesian food. I tried a little bit of everything there and ended up with quite a full plate. I’m pleased to say that I loved everything I ate! The people were so friendly and were excited to hear about our plans to move to Indonesia next year.
Fun Fact: If you were to visit every island in Indonesia for one day, it would take you 47 years! (not including travel time). It might take you longer if you were traveling in this boat!
This is for my family who can’t be around to see this:
*I have no idea what the glitch at the beginning is, and I’ve already spent way too long trying to figure it out. Also, as a point of reference, she starts out upside-down.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Last week we got to go down to sunny Florida to visit my parents. It was Melissa’s spring break from nursing school, and it couldn’t have come at a better time! We have both been quite busy since getting back to Wisconsin in January. We were ready for a little rest. Not only that, but due to lack of sunshine in Wisconsin our Vitamin D levels were dangerously low.
Now that we are within a year of going to Indonesia, time with family is even more precious. We had a wonderful time with my parents. We spent a couple afternoons at the beach hanging out and soaking up the sun. We also went kayaking one day on a little river. Along the way we met up with a nine foot alligator who posed for a photo. He didn’t really want to be photographed with me because when I was trying to get closer he slipped off his log into the water. Once the alligator was in the water Melissa’s kayaking skills improved tremendously.
Since my parents minister at New Tribes US headquarters we also got the opportunity to meet with some people down there and get some questions answered about our ministry. We arrived back in Wisconsin very refreshed.
