Newsletter from Sarah

I am posting the most recent newsletter from Sarah (Craig's girlfriend from Germany who is also on the Curacao team which he is a part of). It took me a few weeks to get around to doing this because I had trouble with the pictures. I wasn't able to get all of them to download but I got a few. I interrupted her phone call with Craig on Sunday to get her permission to post it. Here it is.

Amsterdam, the 10th of April, 2008

Hey guys!
This is going to be my last newsletter from Europe...because we will go to Curacao soon!!! But first, let me tell you a bit about the time here in Amsterdam.

As you might know, Amsterdam is considered to be the most international city in the world with over 130 different nations residing in it. So it's not surprising that the YWAM base here in Amsterdam has staff from all over the world as most YWAM bases do. And just as colourful as the mixture of people are the various ministries.

We as the Curacao team (or Islands2Nations team) were especially involved in the “Tabernacle of the Nations“ , a house for the 24/7 prayer here in Amsterdam. It was a good preparation seeing as our DTS on Curacao in September is a Tabernacle-DTS with focus on prayer and worship. This DTS comes out of the Amsterdam base but at the same time, it will be the start of the YWAM Curacao. Our outreach in January 2009 will be in Amsterdam and perhaps even in Germany or other parts of Europe.

Furthermore, I was part of the worship team here at the base and was working as well a lot on the computer. We also had the chance to speak in several Curacao churches here in Amsterdam and to invite different youth groups for the DTS. Once, we were even filmed by the Caribbean TV- a special honour and opportunity!

The time here was really important for us as a team. Not only to get to know each other better but especially to seek the Lord's will for the next few months. In the meantime we also got a new member, Luis from California. And there are still more people applying...so keep on praying for God's wisdom for us that we might make the right decisions.

On the 12th of April we are leaving to Curacao even though we will be heading straight to the Dominican Republic from there. There we will organise the YWAM Caribbean staff conference, leading the children programm and recieving general instruction on event-managment. We will move on to Curacao at the end of May until the beginning of July. There we hope to strengthen contact with the local churches there, invite people for the DTS and look for a house where we can stay and where the DTS can take place.

Presently I would say many things are still open. We however still don't know where we will be staying on Curacao, how many students will come and how many staff we need...We must continue to rely on God's grace as far as communication( internet,applications, cultural) and finances go. It's not by our own strength or power...

Personally, I'm doing good and I'm looking forward to make the next step. Because I knew I would only be here for two months it's easier for me to leave this place and the people here. And my heart beats for Curacao! By the way,“Curacao“ means“ heart“ (span.curazon) and is also connected to the latin word“ curare“ what means“healing“....

I am really thankful for your guys' support in the last months and I was even able to pay my flights on time (a miracle!)! I'm still looking and praying for longterm supporters but in the last few weeks, I experienced a couple of supernatural surprises! A little changing will take place as well. My boyfriend Craig will go back to the States for the next four months to strengthen/build up relationships with his supporters. In August he will join our team again and I plan to visit him and his family in July. Regarding that we are open for every prayer as this is going to be another challenging time for our relationship. We know, it's the right thing for him to do and“our strength comes from the Lord“ as my Mum quotes in one of her songs.

As soon as it's possible, I will update you from the Dominican Republic and I will give you as well my new address from there.

Greetings and blessings,
Sarah

Sarah Morgenstern
YWAM Santiago
Colle 2, Casa8, El Dorado 2
Santiago, Republica Dominicana
Tel: 809-304-5919
Sparkasse Oberlausitz- Niederschlesien
Blz 85050100 Kto 4001111174
BIC-/SWIFT-Code: WELADED1GRL
IBAN-Nummer: DE07 8505 0100 4001 1111 74

News from“ Around the world in a toy car“- this time on the streets of Amsterdam

(And LeAnn says: I can't wait to meet her in July!)

Better than Paint

This weekend we had a change in our household that was much greater than last weekend's fresh paint. Friday afternoon we all went up to the airport to pick up our dear oldest son Craig. A few weeks ago, after much prayer and discussion with his team leader, they decided he would come home for a couple of months to work and build up a stronger support base. The change of plans was difficult because he really wanted to be a part of what his team will be doing the next couple of months in the Dominican Republic and Curacao, but now he is happy to be home. He is excited to get involved at church and reconnect with people here. We are enjoying having him back. Although it sure has gotten a lot noisier around here.

Craig's first request was to stop at an all-you-can-eat buffet on the way home, so we stopped at the Home Town Buffet on 82nd Street after we left the airport. Wow. Our guys put away a lot of food.

This afternoon he had to show Nick who is the boss. When they started, in a vain effort to get them to stop, I threatened to take pictures of their butts. Brendan burst into loud laughter. What a treat for him to hear Aunt LeAnn say a word that he's not allowed to say!
Brendan dashed over there and got a piece of the action a couple of times, then he would scurry back to the safety of the couch to watch. I'm just thankful Eric didn't get involved. I had to send them all outside earlier when they were chasing each other around with a tennis ball. Some things about brothers never change.

Jenna is so cute. I guess a girl is never too young to enjoy talking on a cell phone!

So we are praying and trusting that Craig will find a job very soon so he can build up some funds for his return to his team in August. That is when they begin training for the Discipleship Training School that will begin in September. Craig's special friend Sarah plans to visit us in July and the plan is for them to return together the first part of August.

So anyway, we didn't get any more painting done this weekend. Craig has some painting experience, so we might get some work out of him....soon. He also has some landscaping experience and says he wants to work in the yard. Well, a mother can dream...I need to make a list!

Popular Painting

Will, Nick and I painted our living/dining room, up the stairs, and the upstairs hallway this weekend. The good news is, we are still planning to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in May. It started out a little rough on Saturday morning, but Will eventually realized my ways were best and things went pretty well.

When we started in the dining room, it immediately became apparent that we had different ideas of how to go about this painting project. We were discussing what the best way would be, and when Nick started laughing as he was taping upstairs, we realized that perhaps our voices had become slightly louder than necessary. I told Will that since Nick had overheard his father say that I was "wacko", he needed to correct this and tell Nick that actually I just had some perfectionist tendencies. (We of course believe it is essential to say only kind, uplifting things to and about each other, in front of the children at least.) It sounded heartwarmingly sincere when Will said, "Nick, your mother is not wacko, she just has perfectionist tendencies." Will had even extended his analysis of me to include a greatly admired older brother of mine, who Will believes has some similar perfectionist tendencies. He can tell me I'm just like my brother any time, I consider it a great compliment.

I think the world would be a better place if we all had a few more perfectionist tendencies. When we viewed our walls in the cold light of day Sunday, it was apparent that they needed a second coat. Will applied this and I touched up some trim areas that needed help. Sadly, today I spotted some more little missed spots. I like the color of the walls, but the paint job is far from perfect. Not Will's fault at all, most of the problems lie with the edges and trim areas which I mostly did. Grrr. And now that I have taken everything off the walls, I am reluctant to put most of it back up. It's been pretty much exactly the same since we moved here in 1996. Time for some change!

Nick was a great help. He really knows how to work. Poor child, several times the plaintive cry of "I wish I belonged to a normal family!" was heard echoing through the house. I'm not sure what he means by that.

He also gave us some good insight into the color, "Popular Gray". Will kept calling it "Everybody Loves Me Gray". Nick pointed out that popular does not mean everyone loves you, many "popular" kids are not liked by many people, they are just part of the "popular" crowd. Will still calls it "Everybody Loves Me Gray".

Nick is good with high places and figured out which gadget to use to get to some tricky places. When I was up there on Sunday catching a few missed spots, Will got to rescue me when I called out for him to come help before it became an emergency. He got there in the nick of time. I did not have the ladder secured as well as Nick did.

Will grumbled all day about the ceiling paint. Actually he got to grumble about it for three days, because that's how many days it took to get all the missed spots. The folks at Sherwin-Williams said it was the greatest paint ever because it goes on lavendar but dries "Dover White". The problem was that it faded very quickly and then looked just like the old ceiling paint until it was completely dry. When Will went back for another gallon, he at least got the satisfaction of expressing his opinion to the sales people there that it's just a gimmick. He loves to paint ceilings. Can't you just see the joy on his face!

If only we were done with the whole house! Nick and Will painted Nick's bedroom ("Blue Promise") during the week, Eric and Molly painted Eric's room Saturday ("Rendezvous". Yikes!) Just a few more rooms to go. Give us strength.

Spring Break

My exciting recreation over spring break is scanning slides. We have oodles of them. I took hundreds during my year in Holland (1978-79). I started out scanning them but got side tracked with some from the early backpacking years of our marriage. We always liked to go check out the view from the highest points we could get to.

Will could no doubt tell you the exact location where he stands in this picture, but I am ashamed to admit I cannot. I'll fill it in when he comes back. He and Nick are camping. I'll join them toward the end of the week if I ever get my work done at the office, which, by the way, is freezing. Everyone knows it is not cost effective to heat a building just for a secretary and custodians. I wore my gloves at my desk today when I wasn't typing.

Yep, that's me back in 1984. Quite the beast of burden. I was having fun. Really. It was an amazing meadow filled with blooming lupine.

And of course, Will has always had a gift for finding great places to relax.

Treasures from Idaho

Will and I have been going through some boxes of McAnulty family treasures from Idaho. There are many pictures, photo albums, documents such as his parents' wedding invitation, his birth announcement, and both of his parents high school graduation announcements. I love all the pictures of Will and his immediate family, from a baby picture of his mother to his parent's wedding pictures, and childhood pictures of Will and his sister growing up. There were even pictures of our own precious little boys that I hadn't seen before!

After several boxes of pictures and papers, it was very exciting to open a box of carefully wrapped glass items, where I unearthed some very special treasure. I love china teacups. Imagine how much fun it was to unwrap one cup and saucer after another, matching them up until I had 11 cup and saucer sets!

Will's sister Sue says their mother worked in the china department at the Bonn in her youth, where she bought some of them, and others were passed down from their grandmother.

Sue has special memories of these, saying, "If you were feeling low, a cup of tea was the trick. :-) I don't remember too many times drinking out of the finer ones tho!" As far as I'm concerned, they are all very fine ones! When Sue comes to visit she can take what she wants, but in the meantime I will display some of them and enjoy their beauty.

Another treasure was some beautiful crystal vases with dusty old silk/dried flower arrangements. Apparently they were from something special but Will didn't know what. So I thought his mother would like for me to use the vases, but I took a picture to preserve whatever memories these might have. I threw away the flowers, and awhile later when I washed the vases I noticed the little sticker on the bottom that said "D&L McAnulty wedding". I felt horrible when I realized I had discarded flowers from his parents' wedding. But then again, a few years ago in a coldly unsentimental cleaning frenzy, I discarded all the flowers I had saved from my own wedding. It just seemed pointless to have them stored away.

So I'm glad I took the pictures, and we will have happy thoughts of his parents when we see the vases.

Pictures from Amsterdam

When your son is halfway across the world, it's hard to know which is more exciting, receiving a phone call or pictures. This week was a double blessing as we received a phone call Sunday and some pictures today. Here is Craig and his special friend Sarah in front of their Amsterdam home, the YWAM base. Do they look happy or what?Craig's 22nd birthday was last Tuesday, March 4, and he was very blessed to be taken out to dinner for a 1 kilo steak. (That's 2.2 pounds!) This was a very blissful event for him. (That's probably an understatement.) The boy loves steak. As do all McAnulty boys.
On Saturday, he and Sarah got to take a daytrip to the beach.

Aren't they so cute! Possibly a Dutch beach is even windier than an Oregon beach! It makes this mother very happy just to look at these pictures. I can't wait for their visit in July!
God is so amazingly good!

I'm Back!! But Will's not

Did anyone miss me? I haven't been gone or anything, it's just been awhile since I've been inspired to write anything here. I've been inspired to do many other things of course. It's not like I'm just sitting around doing nothing. Honest.

Will has to leave tomorrow for another trip to Idaho. His wonderful Aunt Hazel passed away last week, so sadly it's his turn to go to a funeral. Aunt Hazel always insisted we park our RV at her beautiful place when we visited Idaho, and she and her daughter always gave us fabulous meals and great hospitality. Will has very fond memories of his teen summers spent working on their ranch, eating Aunt Hazel's outstanding meals. Here's Will, Eric and Nick at our last family visit in 2006.
Their place on the Snake River has a gorgeous view and amazing wildlife viewing. On our trip in 2000 Eric was about fifth grade and loved raccoons, she set up their spotting scope on her picnic table, found the raccoon family on the island and made sure Eric got a good look at them.

So this reminded me of my own aunt and uncle I recently lost, and tonight I got out my digital recorder and got started transcribing some stories Aunt Jeannine told during our visit in 2006. She told me many things I hadn't know about my mother. I was so touched by the end of our recorded conversation about her. I'm going to share a little of it.

Jeannine said, "The Lord gives you strength just a day at a time, a step at a time. Your mother told me, "I asked the Lord to give me life just a little bit longer for Dougie until he goes to school" and then when he went to school she said "I told Him just however long yet that you will let me stay here with him because oh, she thought of Dougie, because he was her youngest." ("Dougie" was only three when Mom was diagnosed with cancer, and eight when she died.)

One day at a time. One step at a time. That's all we ever have to do. Some days are so much harder than the others, but I am so grateful that the Lord indeed gives the strength we need even during uncertain, difficult days.