Where in the States are the Amors?Michigan

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

I guess the Lord knew that we would need this stop at this time. We arrived in Michigan feeling pretty exhausted…Alethia just getting over an ear infection, Masami with an on-and-off light fever, and me with a sore throat and headache. On the 4^th, Anthony woke-up feeling miserable and spiked a fever. By the evening, I was driving him to the hospital. We were supposed to leave Michigan on Thursday morning, but we pushed it back a day and canceled much of what was planned this week to recover.

Despite being sick, we had a great time with my Mom and Dikke. We spent much of the weekend playing outside in the kid pool and in the sand tray and enjoying the sunshine.

Dikke spent time “imagining” all sorts of things with Alethia and taught her the names of all the birds in the back yard.

Mom and I also took the kids to a local pool. We spent most of the time on the kid waterslide. Masami went for it before Alethia even mustered up the courage. He was so proud of himself for learning to go down it all by himself!

On Wednesday, the kids and I went to Lake Lansing with my step-dad Mark and uncle Jeff. It was the perfect day for it. The kids loved playing in the sand. Alethia loved wading in the water since it wasn’t very deep. She also made a friend and spent lots of time giggling and splashing with her. It was great catching-up with Mark and Jeff too!

Questions

Alethia has developed a line of questioning for whenever we are heading to a new place. It is cute to watch her process our travels and learn to set her expectations in her own little way. Her list of questions always include, “Are there kids there?” and “Do they have toys?” Sometimes, if I’ve begun the conversation by saying something like “We are going to see Mr. So-and-so and Miss So-and-so”, she’ll ask “What do they look like?” which is her way of asking if they are a kid or an adult. She is missing her friends at home and asks about them from time-to-time, wondering when she will get to see them again. In the meantime, she is having a blast making new friends along the way and getting to play with all kinds of new toys at each stop.

Where in the States are the Amors?Cadence Conference

Malachi Conference flowed right into the Cadence Conference. We were at Green Lake Conference Center for both. It was really a lovely facility with beautiful grounds filled with hiking trails and even a disc golf course (and a regular golf course). Of course, there was also a lake to swim in and paddle boats to rent.

On Sunday when everyone started to arrive, I felt so overwhelmed. There were over 300 Cadence staff together. That feeling started to pass, however, as my excitement to see so many dear people who we rarely get to see started to grow. Next, the challenge was finding time to catch-up with everyone I wanted to while not neglecting my children and still getting a little sleep. In the end, although I was physically exhausted, my soul was refreshed!

I don’t really know what to say about conference or how to sum it up because there was so much and it felt like a whirlwind of great sessions, great conversations, great meals, great play times, and great worship. The thing that impressed me most deeply was this…I feel so honored to get to be a part of this great organization where, when I looked around the room, I realized that I was surrounded by men and women who have lived/are living lives of incredible faith, joy, love, peace, and service. I cannot imagine a greater group of people. And here is the thing: it is a total gift from God. It is not like I went looking for a mission with the best missionaries around. It just sort of fell in my lap. Anthony always knew he was supposed to be a part of Cadence and so I was too. And I am incredibly blessed to be recognized as a Cadence missionary even with all of its faults and problems because their passion and work for God is so great. It is like Anthony said, “We are part of a really cool mission!”