Keep On Keepin' On

Greetings To All:
Hello from Oregon. We made it back safe and sound. Seemingly, whichever state we happen to be in, we miss the worst weather in the state we just came from. When we left OR for IN, the worst snow/ice storm in forty years hit OR. Sure, we had a couple of icy days in IN, but nothing like what happened here. Now that we're back in OR, it sounds like the people in IN are getting pummeled with snow. But, we don't escape the storms entirely. There are still a lot of branches down here on the YWAM Salem base. Those people here on base over the holidays started cleaning up the debris, but didn't get near finished. They also lost power on base for six days. So, most of my (Carson) time so far has been helping to clear branches and trees. We've been blessed with good weather for the clean up.
So, how are you? Now that the busy holiday season has passed by, are you relaxing? We were blessed by all friends and family we saw while we were in IN. Thank you to all for fitting us into your plans and gettogethers. Reconnecting with you did wonders for our hope in the plans we are making for the future. One thought that came to mind for me addressed the issue of faith.
Living in faith and trusting God to provide for needs takes different forms for different people. There is not one universal way to live in faith. Sure, boiled down, faith is trusting in God. But, do we all live it the same way? I don't think so. Two different ways to walk in faith have been on my mind. Neither of them is better than the other - just different. One way is to step out into the unknown. Obeying the call of God and moving in that direction without knowing specifically HOW He will "come through", but knowing that He WILL. Another way is to step into a situation against known adverse conditions. Fighting against circumstances that will only be overcome by an act of God. There probably are other ways to live in faith, but these two have been on my mind recently. The common factor between the two is a loving, caring, trustworthy, and all-powerful God who wants us to succeed. HE wants us to overcome obstacles, fear, and circumstances. By trusting in Him, we will not only survive, but we will live a life marked by His handprints and blessings. When we experience His provision once, it may suggest that each successive trial will be easier. Not entirely true.
One does not become better at math by repeating 2+2=4 for the rest of one's life. We need challenges and new things to learn in order for our knowledge and skills to improve and sharpen. Since the three of us have begun this journey, we have asked God for things that only He could give us. From selling a truck to finding a team to join in Beijing, God has answered our prayers in a way that we could not have satisfied by our own means. Glory to Him! We press onward not knowing how the next step will be placed under our feet, but knowing that our feet have landed on steps in the past. Amazing, isn't it? If any of you reading this happen to be adrenaline junkies, this is a rush like none other.
We thank you all for the support you've shown us. To say the least, we couldn't be doing what we're doing without you. Please know that He WILL provide all that you need, we need, and all of his children and servants around the world need. HE has no limits. Isn't it mind-boggling to ponder how He uses each one of us to somehow meet the needs of some one else. Watch out! Some one with whom you come into contact today may have a prayer answered through you. Relax, He knows what He's doing.
Have A Blessed Day,
Carson, Kathy, Dakota

p.s. Sorry, no pics this time.

Heading East

Greetings To All:

Happy belated Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to all! How in the wide world are you? We are doing well. Since we arrived back in the states and recovered from jetlag we have been busy, yet not. Make sense? For Thanksgiving we shared bird and lamb with Mike and Nikki Beachy, who hosted, and other transients on the base. Our contributions to the meal were corn casserole, sweet potato casserole, and pumpkin cheesecake casserole. Well, the cheesecake wasn't a casserole. Everyone had a good meal and fellowship. A couple of days later Kathy requested that I make another cheesecake for her and a friend of ours that didn't make it to the meal. After setting aside slices for them I allowed others on the base to help themselves. It didn't last longer than two days. Don't worry, some of you will get to experience the wonderful sensation and experience that is the cheesecake. Lynette S. I have a special slice just for you.

What else have we been doing? Leaves. Lots of leaves to rake and pick up. Despite my natural aversion to such activity I pitched in. I've been volunteering for the past couple of weeks with the base maintenance crew, which is minimal right now. I've done some other things for them besides just raking leaves. Kathy helped in the kitchen with some holiday baking. She also recruited our guest for the week, Lynette Miller, to help with that. They both had a blast. The two of them took a morning to go to Silver Falls State Park. Included are some pictures of that trip. Dakota has been having fun going to the classroom for "school" with Mary. She really enjoys playing there with a couple of other children of staff. She does miss Drew Beachy who is in China right now. "Play Drew," are some of the first words she says in the day. Oh, Dakota is also busy getting aquainted with the potty. Twice now she has gone peepee on the big potty! She was duly rewarded. I'm sure she will be glad to know some day that her daddy mentioned that on the world wide web.

So this Saturday we will be in IN. We will get to see some of you who are reading this. Late Saturday night is when we will actually arrive at my folks' place, which is where we will be staying. Normally I would comment on the difference in weather at this point, but we will be shivering right there with you. Here in Salem it is getting colder, but the highs have still been in the high 40s to low 50s. That's nice.

Our thougths and prayers have been on our future. Most of you have gotten our latest newsletter by now. Our hopes are still to move to Beijing in late February, and we are doing what we can to move towards that. Please join us in prayer and support during this time. We also look forward to hearing what your lives have been like in the past 6.5 months. In a short while we can discuss life and dreams over a hot cup of coffee together. For this entry I feel it is appropriate to end with: see you later.

God's Blessings To You,

Carson, Kathy, Dakota

Back In The U.S.of A.

Greetings To All:
How in the wide world are you? We are doing well. Last night at about 7:30 we arrived on the Salem base! After many hours of travel we made it. I'm going to take this time to brag on our daughter. She did fantastic!!! From the taxi ride to the Beijing airport to the ride from the Portland airport to Salem she was a wonderful traveler! The layovers in Seoul and San Fransisco wore Kathy and I down a little bit, but that might be because we know that flying does not REQUIRE those kinds of layover. Dakota has an advantage in that area: she has no prior experience to compare these experiences with. She doesn't know that it could even be another way. Isn't she lucky? Oh, the simplicity of a child. Hey, didn't Some One at some point tell us to be like children? Hmmmm.
Other than being awake between 3:00 and 4:00 this morning, I foresee the adjustment to this time zone being fairly smooth. The time frame above is for the girls. I am still up (6:39 a.m.). So what does one do in this situation? Pray, read, do laundry, journal, and update a blog. I'm enjoying this a little bit. Oh am I gonna sleep well tonight!
Our time in China was excellent! As mentioned in the last entry, "Ketchup On Noodles", God revealed some things to us while we were there. One experience I forgot to mention, and will do so now, was our apartment guests for the last three nights. A team of six YWAMers from Indonesia were coming through Beijing on their way to Inner Mongolia for their Outreach. Where we were staying was a place that is kept for those kinds of circumstances, and for those like ours. So, we were one happy, international family. They were very thankful to be sharing the apartment with us, and we were very blessed to see how God is moving people from other countries of this tiny planet. They of course fell in love with Dakota, and she warmed right up to them. I will post a picture of them in another "photo only" entry that may get done later today.
At some point this week we will be having debriefing meetings about our Outreach. We'll also catch up with some friends that are still here on base. I'll need to get my driver's license renewed. This will be the third state from which I will have received a driver's license (IN, FL, OR.) Isn't that exciting? We also hope to get a hard-copy newsletter out to people before the Thanksgiving holiday. Oh, we'll also get the privilege of driving a vehicle ourselves! Which side of the road is correct? I'm sure I'll find out one way or another. Hopefully the OR BMV doesn't make me take a test.
Well, while the girls sleep, I will go have breakfast. There will be different faces and I'm sure lots of questions asked. I think I'll make it through okay. This morning I have the advantage of being awake for four-and-a-half hours already. As always, we'll leave the light on for you. Oh, wait, that's some one else's saying. As always, thanks for catching up on us, and please drop us a message about what you are doing. I encourage each of you to bechildlike at some point today. So, when you're in Wal-Mart and people wonder why you are rolling around on the floor crying, simply encourage them to be more childlike.
God Bless You,
Carson, Kathy, Dakota

Ketchup on Noodles

Greetings To All:

How in the wide world are you? On this side of the Pacific Ocean life is good. We seem to be in near-constant motion. In approximately forty hours we will be headed back to the states. The time spent here in Beijing has been uplifting and hope-building. As Kathy and I both feel at home here, it's hard not to make any decisions about our future solely based on our feelings. What is truly important is knowing where God wants us to be. Will you please join us in continuing to pray for our future. I know that is a bit vague, so I'll give you a little more direction (and then maybe you can help give us some.) We would like to have a sound financial support system. We would like to be a part of a team here in Beijing. We would like to have "clear" direction for being here.

Some items listed above have been made more apparent since we've been here. There is a (small) team from our organization, and they would love to have us as a part of their team. They are very supportive of eachother in pursuing the individual calling that each of them has on their life. I visited a university that has a good Chinese language department. That seems like a very good prospect for me to learn the language. (Kathy won't have to order our food and tell the taxi driver where we're going all the time herself.) The program I would like to join starts in the second week of March 09. Kathy would enjoy helping one of the team members with tasks for which she desires help. Being together as a family in this city has felt natural.

We are aware of the financial situation across the country. Understatement: not good. It certainly has worsened since we left for Oregon. But, as we reflect on that time in our lives, we know we were very blessed to have been so strongly supported financially! Those times were not as bad as the current situation, but they weren't exactly easy. As we stepped out to do what God called us to do, He provided. We believe He wants to again. Hey, gas prices below $2.00 again? Awesome.

On the lighter side. Tonight at dinner Kathy ordered a noodle dish that had a red sauce. After it arrived she wanted more sauce. The waitress took it and brought it back with ketchup poured on top of the dish. As much as she argued, Kathy couldn't get them to change it. Chaulk that one up to cultural differences. Another unrelated story: this morning after church (one that is only for foreigners) three people approached us and asked if they could take Dakota's picture. (What's new?) But these three people handed me a card that said they were an agency representing foreign actors. Ah, a star is born. I told them that we were leaving in two days and that we may be back in March. They wanted to keep in touch.

Well, the next time we contact any of you will be stateside. It almost seems surreal. But, our path has not come to a lengthy resting place, yet. Each step of the way so far has had its blessings; some we have to look harder for than others, but they are there. Thank you for taking the time to catch up with us! Send us a line to let us know what is going on with you. Sorry, we don't have any videos this time. You'll have to settle for still pictures only. Maybe you can look at them while you listen to a cassette tape. (Hopefully at least some of you understand my sense of humor.) Enjoy!

God's Blessings To You,

Carson, Kathy, Dakota

Oh, The Places We Go

Greetings To All:

Sorry, we haven't updated this blog in a little while. I meant to do it this past Wednesday, but I was unexpectedly busy. I wasn't able to get online while I was at the hospital. Calm down, I was there with some one else of no relation. Our friend/hostess, Carolyn Foster, knocked on our door in the afternoon and asked for my help. A neighbor boy fell and broke his arm. I went upstairs, splinted the arm, carried him to the taxi, and then took him into the hospital. As it turns out, he broke both bones in his forearm. For a seven year old, he did remarkably well.

What else have we been up to? Yesterday we as a family went to Tiananmen Square. Neither one of us feel like doing a lot of touristy things, but I did want to visit that place. The video with this entry is of Dakota being the center of attention while we were there. A lady asked if her little son could have his picture taken with Dakota. We said yes, and the two children started playing. Well, more and more people wanted to see the children playing, and then a good-sized crowd started gathering. Eventually two uniformed guards walked over and dispersed everyone. In a picture and the video the boy Dakota is playing with is wearing split-pants. We've seen several small children wearing those. No, we are not thinking of buying any for Dakota.

We are enjoyng this time together as a family. The traveling has worn us down a little. It has been just over five months since we have had a place to call "ours". We both miss that. Here in Beijing our friends have put us up in a fully furnished apartment by ourselves. Waking up and being able to have breakfast when convenient for us is a rediscovered treasure. Dakota has been a wonderful little traveler on this past leg of our journey. She slept for most of the overnight train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, entertained people in the Bangkok airport, and then slept for most of the flight from Bangkok to Beijing. All along the way people have stopped us and asked if they could take Dakota's picture. We have yet to see any royalties from the pics. Hopefully they will be in the mail soon.

I know that in a previous entry I mentioned that I would like to visit the city of Harbin while in China. At this point it doesn't look like it will happen. It's one less overnight train that we won't have to take. We will be exploring schooling and housing options here in Beijing. It's been simply delightful to see different parts of the city. Kathy has been a wonderful guide. Finally I have the opportunity to experience this with her.

As always, thank you for keeping up with us here on the world wide web. Keep us posted on your lives, please. We'll update you on any other trips to the hospital and other adventures we embark upon. In a city of several million people something is bound to happen.

God's Blessings To You,

Carson, Kathy, Dakota

Farang

Greetings To All:

How in the wide world are you? Hopefully you are doing well. As is par for the course on this trip, our plans changed. We are back in Chiang Mai several days earlier than what we once thought. The main reason: mode of transportation. But, that is another entry for another time. Let's talk about family, shall we? Since I'm the one writing this, we shall.

I am farang. It is because I am of different color. It is because I speak a different language. It is because I come from a different land. It is because I am of different culture. It is because I am of different religion. There are so many reasons I am farang. This longing for and finding, at least a sense of, it not the actual presence of, belonging is very powerful. So many factors seem to play against us discovering that phenomenom that we may just give up. Why even bother wanting to be a part of anything? What do we want to be a part of anyway? Some people may say: other people who think/live/look like us. But I don't think that is enough. There is something more raw than that. People with whom we share beliefs, core beliefs, will help fulfill that need in our lives more than any of the other superficial reasons can. Some of the time people find that in families.

When we speak of the family of God we have a good sense of what it means to be a part of a family. Most of us have them. But what I mentioned in the above paragraph may not be found in our earthly families. When some one decides to live for God and be open to doing what He wants done, there is something that is shared with others of the same following/calling. Suddenly, there is an awareness of the attraction and connection with other people. A bond is formed on a deeper level than is normally addressed. It's almost like they're . . . . family.

All this to say that despite all of the differences Kathy, Dakota, and I had with the children and staff of the Musekee Center we felt like family with them. Siami, the lady who started the center isn't even Thai; she's Indian. And there was another couple there (who need to have a book written about them), who are both Australian, that we connected with. Despite age, culture, and different life experiences among us, it felt as if we were among family there on that mountain in the far north of Thailand. The belief, faith, and trust in our Father that we all shared caused a bond to be formed that will not fade. I have found that we can be in the middle of nowhere and still feel like we're among family. And that is because we belong to the family of God.

Siami is the older, dark complected woman in the first video with the children singing. Don and Kay Fox are the Australian couple I mentioned, and he is the hairless gentleman wearing the red shirt in the first video. The song being sung is one that Siami made up to welcome people to her center.

"What is the center?" you ask. It is a place that school aged children live (away from their home villages) so they can be close enough to a school to attend. Also, the children are sponsored through Don and Kay's nonprofit organization "Handclasp" so that they can have money to attend school and have the proper uniforms. There almost sixty children who live while school is in session. They travel to and from school every day to this center. Musekee is a Karen area, and that is the ethnic group of these children. (They are Thai citizens.) While we were there the children were back in their villages for a national school break. But, for three days there was a Bible School that we helped with that hosted almost fifty children. We mainly helped teach them English. Somehow we were qualified to do that. On Saturday we were privileged to attend a wedding that had some traditional aspects to it. (The start of the wedding is what the second video is showing.) That was pretty neat. When we get to see or talk with you in person we would be more than happy to tell you more about this past week in Musekee. There simply isn't enough time and space to do it now. I bet you even stopped reading this two minutes ago. So why am I still typing? Optimism.

The picture of Dakota with the pair of twins is showing what she did for a lot of the week. They were her playmates. They are seven year olds who do live at the center because they were adopted by Siami. Named Yupii and Yupah, the loved to play with Dakota. Dakota would say, "Play pii pah.", which translates into,"I want to play with Yupii and Yupah." Finally, some one who could match her energy level.

Well, until we hear from you or you hear from us again, have a blessed day. Oh, thanks for all of your comments. We'll keep begging for you to leave more comments because it seems to work. And when you step out of your door today, and possibly end up on the side of a remote mountain in a foreign country or just across town, remember that family may not be only those people who are or have been under your same roof.

Blessings To All,

Carson, Kathy, Dakota

(Along With The Entry Below)