Just a quick note to let you all know that Amelia and Amy-Beth have arrived, healthy, in Sydney. Yesterday we also put a deposit on a house and will move in the early part of next week.

Thanks you all so much for all your prayers.

Amelias in the hospital

Amelia was checked into the hospital yesterday. The Doctors are not sure what is wrong yet but best guess is pnuemonia. her Xray shoed no infection but here lungs are inflamed and she is having a hard time eating and staying awake.

She is on an IV and is getting antibiotics. I will post another update when i know more. Amy-Beth is at the hospital with her...they both could use your prayers.

She has arrived

This morning, the 10th of June, at 7:42, Amelia Lynn Arnette first saw the bright lights or this world. She was 8 lbs and 8 oz. She and her mother are doing well and resting in the hospital...her father on the other hand has his hands full with the first three at home.

For those who are curious she inherited her name from her great great(not real sure the number of greats here) grandmother on her mothers side. The middle name also comes from that side of her tree.

thanks to all those lifting us up.

The math doesn't work

I have been sitting here thinking about what it means to add another baby to our family. Tomorrow Amy-Beth goes into to have her C-section. At 7:30AM tomorrow bangkok time our family will grow by one. I can't help but think that adding another to our three kids already, will be an easy change. But something in the back of my mind...or atleast on the other side of the room, tells me otherwise...the first three. The number of children we have will grow by a third. If you looked at the simple math it would be just 25% more work...my wife could handle that...(just kidding) We could handle that. But for some reason it is not that simple. If I have learned anything from the first three it is that adding another baby is like starting all over again from scratch, just with a little more experience each time.

I love my son and look forward to each stage he grows through but I can't lie and I must say I am glad all the rest are girls. Our last child(most likely) will join us tomorrow and our lives will be changed once again. If you read this say a quick prayer for my wife tonight..for safety and and a healthy mom and baby.

Our goings ons

Sorry I have not been blogging lately . We have had to quickly pack our things and move out of our house. We are in Thailand now where my wife will have the baby. We are renewing passports and getting caught up on everyones Dr's visits.We are expecting the newest member of our family on June 10th and then we need to head to another city a few weeks after that for our big meeting.

As soon as we have the new babies passport in hand we will heading to Sydney to start our new work.

What to do next

Well we know one thing for certain (actually there are a couple, but who's counting) We are going to have to move. I will paste our letter to our leadership with the explanation but be in prayer for us as we seek where God would want us to come and join His work.

My list of reasons of why our family is fulfilled here mentally and spiritually could fill this email. Our Father is doing some incredible things and is way ahead of us on things we could only hope to have done in years to come. For example we recently found that someone, years ago, had come through and put the stories of the ancients into to both Cia Cia and Wolio languages and has them in audio format. We are currently making plans to mass distribute them. When we first arrived in Bau Bau we were the only unit on the ground and by the end of next month, an additional seven units (most from other orgs) will be here in Bau Bau. Our platform has taken off and Our Father has provided in ways we would have never expected providing all the equipment needed without burdening “Lottie”. We Love our role as SC’s we love our friends, both nationals, team members and other GCC’s in the area. We even like our chain of leadership all the way up the line. We could not ask for better leadership. I cannot imagine a better place or role for us. With one exception!

I have struggled with kidney problems since my first time coming to Indonesia. I have lost 60% function on my left kidney and as of last year lost another chunk due to a malignant tumor. Dr Van Williams was hesitant to let me come back to a humid climate like Indonesia but we assured him there was medicine I wanted to try that could possibly help control these stones. He agreed and we came back and started the medicine. After only two and a half months I went back for a check up to see if the medicine was working the doctor immediately found a stone more than a cm long. Every time he removes a stone it gets more complicated. He needed to leave a stint in between my kidney and bladder for eight day and when trying to remove it he could not because so many stones had formed on it.

So how do I fix the problem? The Dr agreed that the amount that I sweat due to humidity and heat drastically reduces how much urine I pass through my kidney. I have a genetic disorder called cysternia and the amount of fluids that I need to pass through is more than most. Living in colder climates I have never gotten a stone because I do not sweat and everything passes through my urinary tract.

We have done everything we can think of to make this work here and have run out of ideas. I am not comfortable leaving my family every 6 months while my kidneys take another hit. I have been warned that if this is not gotten under control my kidneys will eventually need dialysis and that is not what I want to happen!

As much as we want to live here, work with this SGL, be a part of the Southern Rim and the Pacific Rim I feel like we need to look for a much cooler climate.

Change in life is inevitable especially when following such a creative Father. There is something I have learned about making changes though, I must make changes based on passion not lack of passion. I believe that we are at a point that a change needs to take place for physical reason but not without following the passions Dad has laid on our hearts. My wife and I feel strongly called to work among those who have never had an opportunity to hear the His planl. We also feel gifted to go to areas that are neglected for whatever reason. We have spent the last three and half years serving in such an area and have been blessed to see the work blossom here as others have come and doors have opened.

I heard a quote a few weeks ago that said “that a slave to a perfect master has freedom” Our family is a slave to a perfect master and where he leads we will follow because we are truly free. We feel called to work among those who have not heard but whether that is in a city, a country side, or forest, if He calls we will go!

Andy

Back in Action

Finally...I am back home, with strict orders from the doctor. Everything from intake to output to limited activity. I am suppose to be taking it easy so I figure the most relaxing place I know is about 25 meters beneath the surface so today I got back in the water and went for a dive. The waves were a bit bigger than I anticipated but beneath the foamy crest was a sanctuary of tranquility and calm.

We haver full schedules for the next 7 weeks and then off to Thailand for two months.

Please keep our family in your prayers as we are at crossroads.

Heading home

After two and a half weeks, 22 needle prick, and more restaurant food than I care to think about I am heading back home! I spoke with Amy-Beth and the kids this morning and I thought I was excited! Thank you all for your prayers!

Three days to go

There have been a few hiccups but it looks like Thursday I will be able to leave Singapore and arrive home sometime on Friday. There are lots of gory details to fill in but I will leave most out so not to offend the squeamish. They took out half my staples yesterday and after several efforts, they were able to free the stint inside my body. I got the "drink lots of water speech for the 1000's time and today, who knows maybe I will even get my test results back.

We are waiting to hear the results but we are quite confident that we will need to make some pretty serious changes so please keep us in your prayers.

Waiting for results

Last week I came to Singapore hoping to get s glowing report on how well my new meds were working but what I got was a week long stay in the hospital. The results are not officially back but the fact I am still growing stones is not a good thing. AB and the kids are in a good spot right now are getting lots of support.

I should be able to check out in a couple of days and then shortly after that I can start working on getting home.

Please be praying for our family, if this medicine is truly not working we will probably need to move,which none of us really want to do right now.

Update on Scoodles (Avery’s Dog)

We have received a numbers of comments about Avery and his dog. While he was away that week I did finally find Scoodles a home. A local man here loves dogs and has four that he takes care of in the big yard by his house. I was a bit concerned when he asked me what the dog liked to eat, thinking he was waying the cost of having another mouth to feed, but before I could reassure him that we usually gave him our table scraps, he interrupted and asked if milk and beef tips was something our dog might like because that is what all the other dogs ate. I assured him he loves them. The man has several children and a yard about three times the size of our house, I think I got him a great gig!

As far as Avery goes, we prepared him well and he is excitedly looking for a much smaller pet…that does not need to be potty trained!

I went by Scoodles new place last week and he had grown a lot…I don't know that he is getting the same attention he got from us but I am not sure he needed it either. He seemed to be doing great and fit in just fine.

Thanks for all the great suggestions and prayers.

Visitors and fish

It is sometimes rather difficult to find a quiet moment to sit and jot a blog. At the moment a Scooby doo video game is being played about 6 feet away, playhouse Disney is diverting the littlest of one this morning in the other room and our helpers are moving furniture around to get ready for our guest. And while we are on the subject time is a relevant subject as there is so little of it. But my blessed wife won the short "debate" this morning as to who's turn it was to rise and shine with our 3 little early birds. Which is all and well since I had some errands to run before our house was invaded by our busy bees.

 

We have friends arriving today and as tradition dictates we always grill fish on such occasion. We discovered a recipe out in a sea gypsy village for a sauce that is….well it is like a party in your mouth. It actually took a couple of trips out to their village built above the ocean 3 hours from our house to perfect it…but it issss GOOD! But to make it good, a part of morning duties was to go down to another small village at 6:30 this morning and buy either a travally our a Grouper. This mornings catch was a 8 pound coral grouper. It is currently sitting in our kitchen waiting for our helpers wand to begin its magic. One of the things that gives it the flavor we love so much is that it is cooked over the hulls of dried coconuts (they don't have charcoal here) and then at the table when it is ready to be served the sauce is added and the salivating begins…

 

I'll be teaching all week and when anything interesting happens I will be sure to let you know.

Monsters in the deep

I am sorry to disappoint those who turn to my blog to learn about what amazing things are going on among those we work with and the impact we are having in our community but this blog can't do that for several reasons...so I apologize. I will send out a newsletter later this week with a few more details for those who care to read them but for now I will leave it at that.

Last night we decided to test the fortitude of the local lobster population and found them quite agile. A colleague recently returned from the states with some lobster catching tools bought online and guaranteed to fill our plates with their succulent tails. We knew where to find them and when to go and look. Around 30 meters down a little ways off shore in the pitch black are a series of caves lined with the monsters just waiting to be prodded and netted. Well we prodded but the netting didn't quite go as planned. Evidently they didn't get that big by being stupid. We were able to get a couple of the little ones but the monsters will take a little more practice.

Towards the end of our dive we realized we were not the only hunters in the area. I had to fend off a giant squid with my prodding stick and a white tipped shark came by to make sure we were not taking more than our share. He seemed satisfied.

It was fun over all and boy did I have a great night sleep...weird dreams though... but that is for another blog

An update

My usual order of things is to look at my email and the n write a blog assuming the internet is up and running. I am fast learning that if I want to write a blog I need to do it first as I may never get around to it as my email is piling up.

Our family is reunited once again for atleast a week or so…I need to head out and do some recruiting in a couple of days. I am catching up on projects in and out of the water. There are endless things to do around the house and we have decided to move all of our diving equipment to our new team members house as they have more room. We have yet to see if this is a wise move or not. I am in the water atleast twice a week teaching and sometimes a lot more. A few days ago we showed up at the beach just in time to see a beached dolphin long since deceased making a great pose for us all to have our picture taken with. His discolored body was missing a few fins and tail but the rest of his swollen body looked like something Hollywood might create for one of their summer thriller movies. The dive was great that day though with a few eagle rays playing nearby and several sharks swimming up and down the wall we were diving at. It was Belinda’s birthday, a dive master that works with us, and the dive exceded her expectations.

Don’t give up on my blog but I will be traveling for a little while and then teaching and traveling some more the first part of March. But I will blog again so please check back and continue to write comments.

4 Days to go

Amy-Beth and Avery have been gone for 4 days and 3 nights now. That means I have had the girls (and still the dog)for 4 days and 3 nights. No one is hungry, they have watched a bit too much TV and I have not gotten much else done, but we are surviving.

I cannot imagine being a single parent especially and as a guy. I have been able to get out each day for ½ an hour or so and I even took the girls out to dinner last night.(I’ll leave out the transportation details as grandparents read this blog as well.)

But we are making it and learning to appreciate Amy-Beth in a whole new way and even Avery and the void he leaves when he is gone.

They are at a homeschooling conference this week and having the time of their lives. They will be home Sunday in time for lunch.

How to make a 6 year old cry.

I laid in bed last night meditating and thinking about all I would like to espouse in my blog today. This morning my list narrowed further. Would it be some great point of wisdom, a story featuring sharks and rays or maybe even a humorous tale of cultures colliding. But it became obvious this afternoon that what I would need to get off my chest was how I broke my 6 year old sons' heart with one sentence. "We need to find Scoodles a new home"

His desire for a puppy began the day he could form the words in his mouth. Every birthday, Christmas, and even a few Easters; all wish list started with a puppy. So finally last November, a few weeks before Christmas, we had the opportunity to make his dream come true. A puppy(that we had never seen before) arrived with his name on it. (We don't have much to choose from out here in the middle of the ocean.) There were a list of obstacles that we had to overcome or in the heat of moment simply ignore if we were going to take this puppy home.

After a couple of months those obstacles became a little clearer. The puppy was brought home even though we have no yard, grass or ounce of earth to poddy train him on. And the second was the fact that although he was a puppy he was not going to be a small dog and we have a small house and as I said before we have no yard, grass or ounce of earth to call our own.

Avery and his mother are heading off for a week to attend a homeschooling conference and the decision needed to be made. I made it and we are finding my sons "dream", the top of his wish list, a new home while he is gone this week. My suggestions to lie to him was shot down by his mother and our afternoon of sobbing began.

Distractions seem to be holding back the tears as he heads off to bed tonight but they will return again many times I am sure. And we have decided to embrace them. The dog has to go but not his memory. We took a disk full of pictures this afternoon and while he is gone we will make a print to hang on his wall of his first puppy. He needs to remember and so do we....

Cave Diving

One of my new found passions is cave diving. One of our local caves goes down to about 60 feet and is filled with stalagmites or tites or whatever their called. Not much life in the water as it is brackish but there are a few little red shrimp that make a home in the darkness. One of the fun aspects of diving in these particulars caves is that somehow or other a large amount of pottery, mostly broken, can be found throughout boulders of limestone that cover the bottom.

Now I am all for leaving dive sites untouched but these caves are in some serious danger as a new road was recently built next to them and they are quickly becoming a dumping ground. So today I thought I would look around a find a few intact pieces to place on my shelf as souvenirs.

Several of the plates and dishes were gathered with little effort but it was the last one that nearly did me in. I could see it through some of the crevices of rocks and decided to move a few out the way so I could easily reach it. Unfortunately my flash lights beam was not a wide angled one and the avalanche that awaited my ill fated move was seen much too late. My arm was quickly pinned still clutching my treasure while my other arm was fended off other rocks from falling on my head. My flash light quickly scanned the now empty cavern and all of my dive partners had gone on to find their little shrimp or funny shaped rocks.

I have learned that a level head, not to mention a hard one, is essential for cave diving. I did finally make it out and my buddies where not all that far away. My elbow is sore but the memory will last longer and I got some really cool antique stuff. Which I will post a picture of.

My Wonderful wife

In the days of debates and late night theological discussions, as a single young man, a common discussion revolved around whether our creator had a specific life mate for each of us or were we to simply follow the guide lines laid out in scripture. Arguments were made on both sides and as a single young man the resolution of such matters laid heavily on my heart. Was I to go into the world and choose or was I to wake one morning with a Ruth laying at my feet.

I am still not sure there is an answer to this pressing matter of interest for those yet to find a match. Somewhere a long the line though I picked up on the fact that God answers prayer. In fact he delights on our dependence on Him. If he is as passionate about me as he claims he is I figured he would be passionate about choosing a spouse for me. My prayer, regardless, of how He might relate to other singles, was to “He that knows all,” to find me a life mate…And that he did.

I am simply writing this as a blessed man whom has had his perfect mate chosen for him by “He was before time began.” My wife is another gift to me by my God who spoils me daily.

I just felt like sharing this tonight, I will fill in more of my life in times to come.

Time to begin again!

I hesitate to put a date on the last installment of what use to be my blog but after much encouragement and some soul searching I thought i would give it another go. My last attempt failed not because of lack of words but bandwidth. Our internet connection all but died and became the thorn that penetrated the very soul of my sandal.

Another weight is the intent of the blog. It is obvious this can not be a diary where my innermost thoughts are on display...I don't even think I want to read those. I can't call my life a mystery due to the intrigue the word invokes but what remains might be of interest to some so I sit and write.

We still live on a small island where the Pacific and Indian ocean meet but unlike our lives a few years ago we have recruited a few others to join us in our venture including a two year old little girl named Annie who is soon to be joined by another "lovely" and I am sure as much fun, brother or sister. As "fate" would have it each of our children will have a different country of birth; Avery now six was born in the U.S.; Avonlea 4 in India; Annie 2 (next week) was born in Indonesia and the last (hopefully;prayerfully; and all we can do medically) will be born in Thailand.

I have have a short attention span and I like to assume most are like me so I will keep this short for this morning.