Wild Weekend in Memphis

We had a very exciting weekend in Memphis. Friday night we went to the Memphis Redbirds minor league baseball game and then Saturday night we went and saw a local theater companies production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.”

I have always wanted to catch a ball at a real baseball stadium. I wasn't going to be discriminatory and only accept a home run ball. I could live with a foul ball . Mid-way through the second inning, I decided to take Emme for a walk around the park. I have been interested in different parks and like to see where the best seats might be. Our seats were in Section 118, about two-thirds of the way down the left field line. Once Emme and I were on the opposite side of the stadium, I watched as a fly ball screamed down the line and hit somewhere in the vicinity of our seats. I wondered if I could have caught it. When I got back to my seat, Sabrina told me it hit a seat just one row in front of her and then four seats to her left. I sighed in frustration because that could have been the one.

We decided to leave the ball game mid way through the 7th inning. It was pretty apparent the Redbirds were going to win and I needed to get all the kids in bed. We had gone to the game with a bunch of people from our Pre-Field Orientation and had a good time visiting with them. For some reason, there was a group of singles that had taken a liking to the Redbirds left fielder, Shane Robinson. They were calling out his name all night. After I moved to a seat that was closer to the field, I joined in. Whenever he was taking warm up throws we would holler out, "Good catch Robinson" or "Nice throw Robinson." I am sure he was ignoring us.

The next morning I found out sometime after we left Robinson caught a ball near the foul line to end an inning and then flipped the ball to another child who had been sitting near us. Grrrrrr. :(

Saturday evening we caught a production of "Joseph." I never really enjoyed musicals when I was a youngster, thinking I was too cool for them. In college I saw a professional version of "Oklahoma." I really enjoyed it. I have since seen a professional version of "Les Miserables," a high school version of "Cats" and the latest DVD version of "The Phantom of the Opera." I had no preconceived notions about "Joseph" other than I knew the story line from the Bible.

I was very impressed with the quality of the production and also with the musical itself. I felt like this might be my new favorite musical. The songs were varied in their styles and there was a ton of humor. I would highly recommend you see it. (But maybe not the one with Donnie Osmond in it.) Emme was really excited to get a picture with the man playing Joseph!!

- Jeremy Erwin

Day 3 of PFO

We have just finished day 3 of our PFO (Pre-Field Orientation). We have learned a lot and we have made a lot of new friends. There are more than 20 people here at this conference that are going to be at the school with us in Singapore so it has been fun to meet them all and start new friendships. Each of our children have met at least one other child that is going to be in Singapore as well and we thank God for that because it has helped to put some of their fears to rest. One of the things we found interesting was a lot of the people here have already served overseas in other capacities with other mission organizations. Every one of the kids in Drew's group has already been overseas and tell him nothing but positive things. He is working with the two other boys going to Singapore and they are all working on a report about their new home together.

We have received some necessary paperwork which we need to enter Singapore and so that is a huge praise. We are going to be paying money to our school tomorrow to remimburse them for the deposits paid for our apartments. A two month deposit and the rent for July was paid by the school. We are somewhat discouraged about the amount of money we are parting with but at the same time so thankful we have a place to stay once we get there. After talking to others in our group it looks like three other families will be fairly close to us and a group of singles will be close as well.

Poteau, OK

We spent five days visiting with Sabrina's family. In the background of this picture you can just make out the largest hill in the world. It's 2000 feet tall. We just got finished trying to feed some geese and turtles. We had a great time visiting with her family.

-Jeremy

San Antonio

We are standing outside the Alamo in San Antonio, TX. Grandma and Grandpa are visiting from Holland for two weeks. The kids are

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having a great time. Please pray for Grandpa and Grandma as they fly back on Wednesday and continue their ministy. We will not see them again until 2011 or 2012.

Zach and Piper's Wedding

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Originally uploaded by Erwijc

My brother got married on June 7th. It was a beautiful wedding and we love his new wife! (The two other young men in the picture are also my brothers. My nephew is the ring bearer.)

Sabrina

Transitions

On Saturday, we officially moved out of our home. Our suitcases are now packed and we only have three more than originally planned. (We did spend a few days last week digging through suitcases trying to find that one item we had to have that was packed somewhere in one of those 13 suitcases.)

So many things went very smoothly while we were attemping to pack our belongings. The Lord was in control. My family pitched in to store things, transport things, and take things. (Thanks!) Two of our cats found great homes. The school year is coming to wonderful close. (Thank you to my wonderful students!) Jeremy's parents arrived from Holland and we will get to spend the next two weeks with them. (We have not seen them in almost two years.) My brother is getting married next week and we will get to attend.

There were other things that did not go so smoothly. The Lord was still in control. I changed hotels at the last minute and that did not work well. Thankfully, I have a husband who, in 14 years of marriage, has never once said, "I can't believe you did that!" (I am really blessed!) We did find another hotel that has worked fine. (The kids are loving the hotel life! They feel like Zach and Cody even though we are at Motel 6.)

Last week I received an email from someone who was searching for Christians near Hume Avenue in Singapore. He "accidentally" found our blog. I was a little nervous responding to this stranger. (Sorry, Robert!) As we have communicated, they told us where they lived and we realized it was our same apartment complex and in our same building. How great is God to give us new Christian friends who live a few floors above us. We are looking forward to meeting them next month!

We will be traveling around Texas for the next two weeks. After that, we will end up at Pre-Field Orientation outside of Memphis. In just over 5 weeks, we will be in our new home. We can't wait to arrive!