Rice Field

Derek returned Monday night from a week long house boat trip with a group of 15 guys from CRM. It was a fun, spiritually refreshing week for him (we’ll post more on that later…)

A day or two before Derek returned, BOTH of our bikes were stolen from our front patio!

Of course, as when our car was stolen, my first reaction was disbelief, which quickly turned into sadness and even a little anger. Derek’s bike was a good bike we had bought for his birthday a couple years ago. My bike was a gift from a friend who had spent a lot of time fixing it up for me.

Any way you look at it, having something stolen from you is no fun.

When I told Derek, his first response was, “God will provide.” And He will!
So now we’re anticipating how God might do it. We’ll keep our eyes out on Craig’s list and at yard sales, in hopes for a couple of great bikes that perfectly fit our needs.

Our friend Peter’s front door is right outside Naomi’s bedroom window. Naomi likes to yell his name out her window and press her face up against the screen. Peter laughs at his view of her from his porch that I never get to see. The other day he documented her faces through the screen.

I share the photos with you here.

Naomi and Daddy, walking toward the waves

Holding on to Daddy's hand when the current is strong!

On Tuesday nights, about 15 of us gather as a community in Golden Hill to study about topic related to “missional life.” For the next 8 weeks we’re going through a workbook called, “The Tangible Kingdom,” written by a group of CRM folks.

The book begins by describing God’s call and purpose for all of us who follow Jesus as a call to be “sent.” The term “missional” basically means living as “sent ones.” A paragraph stood out to me that I wanted to share with you here. I hope it inspires you and encourages you as you live out the Kingdom of God in tangible ways in your own neighborhoods.

“Sometimes GOING will require a 30-second email to encourage a friend, a five minute walk across the street to help a neighbor, or the willingness to give up a quiet evening with your spouse in exchange for inviting some friends over who don’t know Christ. Other times, GOING may require a week-long commitment, a large chunk of money, or even a lifelong commitment to leave your city or country to serve God.
Whatever the case, the word GO will cost you something. It will require that you creatively look for the opportunities that God provides you to leave what’s natural and self-serving in order to extend love to others.”

Recently we had the opportunity to help deveop a group of young people as they prepared to go on a ministry trip in Arizona. This group was putting on a 10 day English learning camp for Bhutanese Refugees.

Derek led the group in worship through music and scripture reflections for their 5 day training. He also helped the group form as a band to teach songs to those they were gong to serve.

Christiana did a 3 hour teaching on “Culture and Worldview,” helping the team learn what it means to be cultural listeners and ultimately trust God to communicate beyond their barriers.

Naomi enjoyed being a part of the cultural training.

Derek and the team.

We’ve been in Golden Hill for almost 2 months now! In some ways, time has flown by! Yet we feel so at home here that 2 months has felt much longer.

This past weekend, Derek and I led worship for CRM’s new staff orientation retreat. A few times a year, CRM welcomes new missionaries on to their staff. As a part of their orientation, the new staff are taken to a retreat spot for some refreshment and spiritual formation. Derek and I were privileged to lead worship for the group as they begin their journey in ministry with CRM.

This summer’s retreat was in Idyllwild. Its a beautiful mountain town just above Palm Springs. My mom was able to join us and spend time with Naomi so we could both participate in the weekend.

Enjoy some photos from our time in Idyllwild….. (if you click on the photo you can see it in full view)

One of our favorite things about living in Golden Hill is getting to walk or ride our bikes around the neighborhood.

Our neighborhood is fantastically colorful. The flowers, the homes, the people, the food, the music…. all an expression of God’s creativity.

We’ve spent the last 3 weeks listening to God has we get to know our neighborhood and our city. There are glimpses of God’s grace and love here everyday.

God loves this city and He’s inviting us to join His love.

Enjoy some pictures from a recent walk through the neighborhood.

Last Saturday we loaded up our moving truck and drove down to our new home in Golden Hill, San Diego. We were overwhelmed by the help from family and friends, both in LA and SD.

Thank you to all those who came out to make our move smooth and enjoyable!

We love it here. Waking up in our new home for the first time was like taking a deep breath of fresh air. It was all worth the wait.

NieuCommunities Golden Hill is a gift from God to us.

Here are some pictures of the moving weekend as well as some recent photos from our new home.

Naomi's last day in her Montclair home

Kana Nana and her two grandbabies, Naomi and Elliot. Hanging out while we pack up the house

cleaning out the kitchen

our family and friends, loading up the moving truck

the view out our living room window

setting up the living room

the road outside our house

Our Chase side relatives, standing outside our home. We live in the upstairs flat of this duplex

now to build community.....

Naomi and her cousin, Elliot

We’re really leaving!

As we pack up our house and close up loose ends in Montclair, we wrestle with emotions of excitement and grieving.

Naomi will especially miss her little cousin, Elliot. These two babies can light up the darkest day!

We’ll be loading up our moving truck starting at 8:30am on Saturday, May 30th. All are welcome! If you’ve got an hour or two to spare that morning, we’d love your help loading and cleaning. Just thought I’d put the word out! Many Many hands make work light!

We're on the second floor of this duplex

Less than 2 weeks of packing and saying good bye!

Everything seems to be going well with the short-sale. The original appraisal of $150,000 was reappraised a couple weeks ago at $135,000! This means the buyer had to resubmit the request to the purchase the property at the new price. Should be fine but it may take longer than we had anticipated.

Everything seems to take longer than you anticipate when you’re in the midst of a short-sale.

Our prayer continues to be for smooth sailing. If we close by the end of this month, we may not have to make our mortgage payment for May which would mean we could put that money toward moving costs and a deposit on our new home.

Yet, even if we do have to make our May payment, we trust God’s faithful provision.

Thank you for journeying with us through this transition!