In case you
are not friends with me (or my mom) on facebook, I thought I would update with
a summary of what we did this summer.
MAY
On May 23, with a whole 2 weeks to prepare, Eddy and I got on an airplane (his first) and flew to Miami and then Chicago. Even though Eddy had his visa and everything was legal, I don’t think either of us could relax until he got through immigration in Miami. Actually, flying isn’t really Eddy’s thing, so I don’t think he relaxed until we landed in Chicago. My mom and my sister came to pick us up with a welcome sign and then treated us to Eddy’s first Starbucks. We arrived on Wednesday night and had family night, complete with Aurelio’s pizza (my request). On Thursday we had our first of many meetings and on Friday night I had my sister’s bachelorette party.
On Saturday, we headed up to Michigan for my
cousin’s wedding and then we stayed for the long weekend (Memorial Day) at my
brother-in-law’s cottage. The rest of
that week was filled with preparations for my sister’s wedding. I had a lot of fun going with her to her final
dress fitting, helping with seating charts, making decorations, etc.
JUNE
We spent June 1 setting up and decorating and then had rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. And June 2 was the big day. My little sister got married. It was a very long, fun day. A couple days later, Eddy and I took a Megabus from Chicago to Kansas to visit our friend Katie. We had a great 5 days in which we basically road tripped with her from her old home in Kansas to her new place in Oklahoma. It was really great to see her and I was excited that Eddy got to see part of the country as well.
The next
couple weeks we focused on ministry. We
presented at three different churches, we met with some of the Illiana kids
from the last team, and we spent a lot of time organizing our schedule and
contacting all of the people who had mentioned wanting to see us while we were
in town. We also spent some time with
the family (father’s day, girls’ night with my cousins, free concert at Millennium Park).
The last
week of June, we flew to Buffalo, New York for a conference with our mission
organization. We had four great days full
of worship services, informational seminars, getting to know other
missionaries, etc. It was definitely a
great time where we could rest and focus on God and what He is calling us to do. We left feeling re-energized and focused on
our ministry and our life in the Dominican Republic. The last day, they brought us to see the Niagara Falls and we even got to go on the boat “Maiden of the Mist” that takes
you down and under the falls. It was a
great experience.
We got back from New York just in time to help with some last minute wedding preparations. On June 28 we had my brother’s rehearsal and on June 29, we celebrated David and Christine’s wedding. I still can’t believe that my little brother is married.
So we
started and ended June with weddings. It
meant so much to me that Eddy was able to be there for the weddings of both my
brother and my sister. I don’t think
there are words to express how grateful I was that God granted us the visa in
time for him to be there as part of the family for those two important days.
JULY
The first
three weeks of July were completely full of ministry work and spending time
with all of our new friends and supporters of the ministry. Eddy and I were overwhelmed by the amount of
people who were so excited about our trip to the US and wanted to see us and
invited us into their homes. During
those three weeks we presented at two more churches and every single week night
we had a commitment, most of which were dinners at peoples’ houses. We also had lots of meetings and other work
to do with our stateside committee and our mission organization. We were very busy but we were so encouraged
by the love that was showered on us.
My mom also threw Eddy a birthday party in order to give everyone else a chance to see Eddy while he was in town as well. We invited everyone in the area from the work teams that have come down as well as our family and friends. So many people came out and we had so much fun. Eddy said it was the best birthday party he has ever had.
The last
week of July we were able to go on my family’s camping trip. My family has been taking this trip to the
same campground every year since I was 3 years old. Over all of those years, there have only been
two years that we have not gone. One was
when my brother (who just got married) was a baby and the other was last year,
because of our wedding. Eddy and I had
planned to go home the third week of July, but when we found out about the
camping trip, we decided to extend our trip another week so that we could
go. Although we had had a lot of family
time throughout our trip, it was mostly centered on weddings and other
busyness. For our camping trip it was a
great opportunity for us to relax and for my family to really get to know Eddy
and for us all to spend some quality together. 
We got home from camping on a Sunday, spent two days doing laundry, packing, last minute shopping and on Wednesday, August 1 we heading back to the airport and flew home. Our trip, as I think you can tell, was kind of a whirlwind of activity. I don’t think that we could have fit anything more into our trip. I think we were able to find a good balance of ministry and family. Personally, this trip was so beneficial for our marriage and for my family. Eddy understands me and knows me better after spending so much time with my family and friends and seeing me in a different environment. My family had the opportunity to really get to know him and to see us together as a married couple.
As far as
ministry, this trip was so necessary and beneficial as well. We were able to spend time and build
relationships with our mission organization.
We presented together at all of our supporting churches. We were welcomed with open arms by our
amazing group of supporters. I also believe
that my deepest hope for our trip came true in that, not only my family and friends, but also
our mission organization, our committee, and all of our supporters were able to
not only meet Eddy, but get to know him and hear him speak and get to see what
an amazing heart he has and the gifts that God has given him and how important
he is to God’s ministry here in the DR.
If that were the only thing accomplished by our trip, that would have
been enough for me. But as I have
learned, God gives us more than we can even hope or desire and in our time in
the US, He allowed us to accomplish more than I even thought possible. 