On our way Home...

Dear Friends and Family
The four of us are sitting in the Boise airport. We should be on an airplane to San Francisco but we ended up missing it...mainly because the security people went over every single little thing that Nick had with him today. It took him 20 minutes to get through security and i was waiting at the gate but the lady had to send the plane on its way so now we are hanging out until 10 am and i thought i would write a quick update about our time in the U.S. and let you know some prayer requests for the next few weeks. We hope to greet the Cole Indonesian Team as they will be flying in from San Francisco on the plane we will probably be taking out...so that is kind of cool.

We have had a wonderful summer here in the U.S. We loved getting to see so many people but as always it was too fast and the time with those we did get to see went by so quickly. We are always sad too that we can't see everyone and just wish we could sit down over a cup of coffee or tea and talk about what is going on in your lives.

Here are some of the Summer Highlights:

Boise: Getting off the plane in Boise and seeing Annaliese again after 5 months apart and a surprise visit from my oldest sister Nan , picnics in the park, coffee & lunch times with friends, shopping, waterskiing/surfing/wakeboarding with the Cowells at Lucky Peak-even though it was very cold and our tropical bodies were frozen and then later with the LaShelles at Cascade on the Bat Boat, a great Vision Lunch at Cole-thanks to all who attended, going to several movies-favorites for me were "Get Smart" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 3D, eating at lots of good restaurants as well as friend's homes, working out at the YMCA, going to a Boise Burn game

Anna grew her hair out and then had it cut for Locks of Love :)

Hailey: Time with my parents and good friends, Mary & Ferdinand and Jay-taking them "up north" and swimming in the freezing cold, clean water of Redfish Lake. Hiking Mount Hyndman (Nick all the way, the rest of us just part of the way), riding the chair lift to the top of Baldy (i don't like heights too much but it was worth it), taking lots of pictures of wildflowers, flank steak on the BBQ, eating asparagus and artichokes, seeing deer, watching the guys take out one of the Big Cottonwood trees in my parent's yard, playing bocce ball....getting to share at Calvary Bible Church and then at Church of the Big Wood, selling earrings and necklaces to help Anna pay for an arabic class.

Arizona: Time with Nick's Mom, Clotele, getting to see Nick's Dad, Wes, eventhough he is declining from Alzheimers-two highlights in seeing him was how loving and affectionate he is and listening to him hum several songs and singing along with him, Armstrong Family Reunion-Pirate Theme-over 50 of us up at the Worsley Lodge-playing, laughing, crafting, paintballing, singing and talking,seeing all the new babies and how much the kids had grown up, meeting new in-laws, time with Jay's family, watching a Diamondback's game, warmer weather, swimming, playing with Pepe-Grandma's dog, visiting ASU, visit with Christen and her Mom Bev, visit with Ruth, Ona and Rachel Liles.

I tried to list as many of the things that i could remember but of course i am sure i have missed a few things here and there. Overall our time in the U.S. has been great. Luke had a great time with friends and over the last couple of days, every time we had to say goodbye, he would look at me and say, "You know that it will be 2 years before we see them again...2 YEARS." I don't think i really needed the reminding but i guess he needed to be able to verbalize that. Annaliese leaves the U.S. with mixed emotions-excited to see friends back in Indonesia but definitely sad to say goodbye to everyone here. Both Nick and i look forward to the next 2 years with her being that after this term, she will be heading off to University. I think it makes us realize how much we need to take advantage of every moment we can with her as well as Luke. They grow up so fast eh?

Prayer Needs:

Laura: Well i thought this year was all laid out and was going to be smooth but over the past two weeks i found out that my 5th grade teacher's visa was denied and will not be renewed. :( Then my ESL/Art Teacher decided that he could not return. This puts a major hole in our staff and schedule-i still can't imagine how i am going to work all of this out before school begins on the 14. Please pray for me and for the rest of the admin. to be creative and to be wise in what we do.

My heart is also heavy for one of our school families, the Bruckerts. Their son was recently killed in a car accident... Jon graduated in 2004 or 2005 and was in his final year of University in the U.S. Please pray for the Bruckerts as they grieve the loss of their precious son and brother.

Nick: Nick asks for prayer for readjusting back to Indonesia and for training of the Back to God Hour staff in Conflict Resolution. Also pray for the training of the South Sumateran church which will take place in the next month or so in the area of how to walk with the poor and bring about transformation (spiritual and physically) in their lives.

Annaliese: Adjustment back to Indonesia, reestablishing friendships, school schedule and healing of headaches.

Lukas: Excitement for school and ability to really apply himself in school, reconnecting with friends in Salatiga and enjoying life daily.

Thanks again for all of you that made our time in the U.S. so special. A special thanks to the Cramers for having Annaliese for a semester-taking care of her, loving on her and making her time here so special. Ditto to the girls in her Bible Study. Thanks to Mom and Dad Newcomb for all you do for us when we are in the U.S.-driving us around, shopping, mailing, having us at home etc. Thanks to Mom Armstrong for letting us invade your home in Arizona and for putting up with us :). Thanks to the Larsons for having us in your home again, letting us come and go and all our friends and family as well. You all are great.

We will Miss all of you...and as Luke would say, "Two more years!"

Laura for the family

Post Script: Nick and i are sitting at the Jakarta airport...our bags and us have made it back to Indonesia. Annaliese and Luke are with their friend Josh here in Jakarta for a couple of days. We will get back home around noon today. :) One thing i appreciate about my husband is how he hangs in there even when things are crazy and stressful. Missing our flight turned out to be a blessing because our bags were only checked into Bangkok...but we had time along the way to get them routed to Jakarta which has been a good thing...we were going to have to get them in Bangkok and go through customs and recheck in. We were thankful to not have to do that. He is a trooper and i am thankful that he does all these interactions for us. :)

This and That

Hi There...once again it has been awhile since i posted any news about us here in Indonesia so this is my attempt to do that. Last post was in January so here are some new pics and a bit about us.

BAPTISM AT MOUNTAINVIEW

One ordinary day in March Jon-Paul, one of the teachers at the high school, had the opportunity to share with a student about accepting Jesus into his life. Jun Hyuk made a decision and the next thing we know we are witnessing one of those incredible days at our school. Jon asked Jun if he wanted to be baptiZed and he decided that he did. He was to be the only one but when Jon asked if anyone else wanted to be baptized about 20 other students came forward that morning and then later that afternoon. It was really exciting to see the Lord at work and to be a witness to all of this. God is good. The first photo is of Jon-Paul and Jun is the guy in the white shirt. The second picture is of Tim and Sid Thornton. Tim and Annaliese have been classmates since preschool so we have know the Thorntons a long time and i have worked alongside Mary and Sid at the school. Both of their boys, Tim and Micah, were baptized. Please continue to pray for these students and the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. We also had two students at the elementary recently commit their lives to Christ. One is a boy from India whose family is Hindu. Pray for him that he will fully understand all that it means to have a relationship with Christ and that Jesus is not just another god on the idol shelf, but is the One, True God!

PULAU SEMPU
This is one of the most beautiful places i have ever been to on earth. :) This little island is in East Java and about a 10 minute ride on a boat off the southcoast of Java. The first picture is of the lagoon where we camped on the beach for two nights after about a 2 hours hike through the jungle and along a pretty muddy path. We decided that we brought way too much stuff but were thankful for all the water that we brought in as there was not any fresh water on the island. The next picture shows the lagoon on the right and the ocean that feeds into the lagoon on the left. It is an incredible place. You can snorkel in the lagoon and not have the waves pulling you around. We saw an eel and all sorts of other tropical fish. It wasn't always the clearest water for snorkeling but we were definitely glad to have some snorkel gear along. The downside of this whole trip was that when we got there we were the only ones there but by the time we left

there were probably about 60 other people on the small little beach. Not quite the peace and quiet that we had anticipated. Two highlights for me were looking out to the ocean from the third picture and seeing a school of dolphins frolicking in the water. They were so fun to watch, especially when one of them decided to give us his own little dolphin show....he "stood" up on his tail nose in the air and then splashed down and rolled and flipped around. It was awesome to watch. I have never experienced this in nature. The second was hiking out and listening to the jungle sounds....it sounded just like the recording

they use at that restaurant...i think it is called the Rain Forest Cafe. Totally awesome. We did have quite the hike out as you can see in the last picture. Amanda had sprained her ankle and i had strained my knee and it was so muddy on the trail do to the rain. But, we made it and really it was a great adventure. The fourth photo is Nick, me, Amanda, Jay and Luke.

Field Day

Field Day is an annual event at Mountainview...one of my favorite days because it is a change of pace and the whole school is put together. The Kindergarten through 12th grade are divided into teams and we play and have fun together. The day started with chapel which i got to help plan. We have all school chapel about once a month and we have been doing a series on Stories Jesus Told. This week's stories were The 10 Silver Coins and the The Pearl of Great Price. Jeremy Cramer pictured with the orange bandana was a jewelery salesman who had to find a pearl more beautiful than anything else in the world. He finds it and sells everything, even jokingly his "wife" who was played by Sabina. We talked about how the Silver Coin Story shows how God chooses us and how the Pearl story shows that we need to Choose God above all else. Simple but cool message.

The rest of the day was spent getting faces painted, playing blind kickball, treasure hunts, doing cheers for our team and other fun stuff. I was a leader of the Tie Dye Team...we were colorful and had a lot of laughs. Thanks God for fun, delightful days. :)

Luke's team was the Red Hot Chili Cabes (Peppers)...that's Luke on the left...the blonde kid with the chili pepper on his face. :)

Junior Senior Banquet

This is a last minute add in...Saturday night was the Junior Senior Banquet. It was a blast and a first for Mountainview as they allowed dancing...Jeremy Cramer taught them how to Tango and the kids had to switch partners often so that it was not "dancing-dancing" but i think it was definitely one of the best parties i have been to at Mountainview. I got to be the photographer but managed to get in a couple of photos and even tried the tango a time or two. :)

What's New

I realize that i do not keep this blog up-to-date very well. Sometimes it is just hard to think of new things to write about that are interesting. I find that life just goes on and it all seems normal to me. Sigh. I guess the biggest thing going on is that Annaliese is now in the U.S. That seems to absorb much of my thoughts and and prayers these days. I think about her all the time and wonder how she is doing-how her headaches are and how she is navigating life as a Third Culture Kid in America. For those of you that don't know what a Third Culture Kid is, it is a child that has been primarily raised in another culture than his/her parent's culture. They are a blend then of their "passport" country and the country in which they are being raised and tend to not feel totally "at home" in either culture. I just gave a talk on that to a baseball team from Vanguard University that came through here on a service project. They spent Friday at the school and i was asked to talk about "TCKs" and the things they deal with. It was good for me to be reminded of the things that Annaliese is probably dealing with, but also hard because i felt like i didn't prepare her as well as i should have. But now she is there and there isn't a whole lot i can do for her now, which makes it really, really hard. Did i mention that it is hard? So for now, i will just keep praying and keep trusting the Lord to watch over her and all that is going on there and try to remain sane and focused on what i need to be doing here.

I have been reading a really good book lately called "The Grand Weaver" by Ravi Zacharias. It is basically the idea that God has intentionally arranged all that we are and all that we are going through, especially the day to day things. All the chapters are title with "...... Matters" for example "Your DNA Matters", "Your Disappointments Matter". It has been a really good read for me. I think especially the first two chapters mentioned above. It just was good to be reminded that God has all these things in His hands, nothing has come to me without His knowledge and His hands being on it. He uses the analogy of a tapestry that is being woven and the different threads that are woven into that tapestry are all important and an intricate part of making that tapestry what it is, and that God is the Grand Weaver of each of our tapestries. One quote that i like is, "God the Grand Weaver seeks those with tender hearts so that he can put his imprint on them. Your hurts and your disappointments are part of that design, to shape your heart and the way you feel about reality. The hurts you live through will always shape you. There is no other way." Guess that sinks in for me as the many things we have dealt with in this past year are all a part of shaping me and molding me. I can either embrace them and grow and learn or reject them and become hardened toward life. I pray that i will soften and grow always.

The pics above are from our vacation over the Christmas Break and from saying goodbye to anna at the airport.