October/November SunFun
I missed October. October was lovely. Most of the weather was decent and not too cold, and we had our big Missions Fair and Celebration at World Renewal, which I’d been working many, many hours on for many months. I was also planning ahead for 9 days off for a cruise. Do you know how 9 days off takes over an entire month? It kind of does. So you get October/November together.
I have to get out my calendar to even remember what happened in October. We started off with family cabin camping, and moved into fall break really quickly. But Caid only had two days of Fall Break, which were consumed by choir practices for his first show on October 14 with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir. He had a solo (Brown Eyed Girl) in a really fantastic show focused on Brazil and Brazilian music—what could be better?
The Covered Bridge fest was perfect weather, and actual Halloween was cold, but the weekend before (when we dressed up) was lovely, so that worked well. November started with Anna’s Birthday bash at the Charbonnels, who we just love visiting, and then everything until Thanksgiving was CRUISE in capital letters:). The CRUISE in caps got it’s own blog, so I will add that to the “Me Stuff” below. We are so thankful for everyone coming together to enable us this 10th celebration, as well as a lovely Thanksgiving. It has been so wonderful being able to have my aunt and uncle a part of all the things as well.
Interweb Reads:
Me things: Kinds of Missionaries (I’d love your feedback on this), 10th Anniversary Cruise (This has the videos from that), Grievers and Celebrators (again, would love feedback), Thanksgiving Things, Cruising (poems from the Cruise), The 9 Girl Family, Stories that didn’t make it into the book (yes, a book is coming, sometime), How does your church share missions (podcast), Three Years Back (podcast).
Missionary things: Worth Your Time September (Amy Medina—I love everything she does, and she has good recs- really loved the article about why the mental health of liberal girls sank first and hardest and how our missions approach is too western), How do Finanical Factors Impact Misionary Attrition? (A Life Overseas—honestly, I highlight almost all of their articles—so good!), Longing for a Better Country (EFCA website, by Amy Medina), Questions for Jesus about Re-entry (A Life Overseas poem), What does it mean to be a Missionary Kid? (A Life Overseas again), Lies Missionaries believe (A Life Overseas. Note: the end of October was celebrating three years back in the USA. This was an emotional anniversary, and I was glad to take time and energy to feel it through. And a lot of reading), Why Missionary Care is Important (Sarita Hartz—really love her too!), Why the White Savior Complex is so Dangerous in Missions (Sarita Hartz), Dear Sending Church: We need to get the Parents of Missionaries on Board (A Life Overseas- this makes me so grateful to my parents!)
Other things: Make Art Wherever you Already Are (Courtney Martin), The 2023 $5 Gift Guide (Everyday Reading)