Are you preparing for the New Year?

Dear family and friends,

I will certainly be sharing about our latest adventure in the next few days. Caroline did a great job in her blog so you can certainly get a heads up there with her Twelve Days of Christmas. All of The Thomas Troops will be blogging while we are in London as a fun school project. Even Jefferson is excited. Caroline will be a little busy getting us all going. It's fun to watch her create.

This week we are in a temporary flat in Marlylebone. The week will be filled with work and pleasure as we finish up getting ready for our move next week and other transition items like orthodontist. In a couple of minutes we're running to what we hope to be a larger grocery store...I'll keep you posted. This afternoon we are going to head to the National Museum for our first traveling opportunity in London. I saw a man,s comments somewhere that he likes to be a traveller rather than a tourist so I'm opting for this title for our family over the next seven months.

Yesterday was my 39th birthday. I've decided to celebrate it all year long this year. I think the "9th" year of any decade should be special all the way around don't you? There is so much to be thankful to the Lord for! I spent the day doing laundry British style. I have a washer/dryer combo here so I'm not really using the dryer as I don't have time. I literally ran the washer for 15 hours yesterday without a break. The whites take 151 minutes so they are the last ones I put in before we head out anywhere or go to bed. The radiators dry pants quite splendidly. We're up and going again today and hopefully by tomorrow night I will finish up from the trip laundry. In our new apartment I will have an actual washer and vented dryer which is not the norm. On the other hand, I won't have radiators.

It was a good day taking care of our sweet family. They did take me to dinner and Ed and I were alone for 20 minutes running to Tesco Express to buy fruit and milk while the children headed back to the flat. Melanee Kate made me the sweetest card ever and Wyatt ran out to grab me a birthday Coke from McDonalds which is right down the street.

Since we are going to be here for only seven more months AND it's the New Year, I'm praying for goals for our time here. I want to be intentional and God lead in what we do, who we spend time with, how we grow in His Word, and how we treat each other. It's going to be a GREAT year...

I hope each and everyone of you have had a worshipful Christmas! I will be sharing our trip in pictures in the next day or so with full commentary. Love to all...

In Christ Alone,
Dinah

December 14, 2009

Dear family and friends,

The last two days have been a whirlwind.

Church was a tremendous blessing. We were able to attend All Souls. It's always a privilege to be in the Lord's house. It always amazes me that no matter how far away from "home" I am, I feel so in place in my Father's house. This may be the first time that we go to one church and just quickly plant. It was a great morning of worship and as much as I'm excited about the next few weeks, I'm looking very forward to going back again.

Today we were able to actually plant our own eyes on the flat that we've already signed and given a great deal of money for. It's going to be fantastic, and no doubt, where God has brought us. The location is amazing! We are in "theatre land" in the west end. The theatre's for "Wicked" and "Billy Elliot" are right around the corner. We are right across from Victoria station for anyone who knows the area or wants to get out their London map. We knew that The Chantrey House was located on top of "Earth Spa" but we didn't know that we'd also be residing on top of a "Starbucks". Ed's open to any and all gift cards for his upcoming birthday on March 1^st.

We also took a walk to Ed's school which was a little less than 10 minutes. One of our prayers was that God would put us in a location that we could afford and yet the children could walk to Ed's school. We've been told through several resources that the school is very welcoming to families. I do wonder if that really means a family with four children who are homeschooled. Our children are very capable of attending adult situations with success and love the opportunity. We've made sure that they'll have the appropriate clothing and we plan on easing in slowly before we show up full force. It was really important that they be able to be able to walk home in order to be able to participate on a normal basis. Ed's studies will be in international relations and we are all looking forward to learning! We just found out yesterday that there will only be about 80 students, half of which will be internationals.

Tomorrow is filled with business, packing, and a lunch date with my man. The children are excited to all get 5 pounds to go and buy their lunch. We are staying in a flat that is right across from Tesco (small grocery), McDonalds (Wyatt's favorite Irish pub…he was so funny with his little accent yesterday saying that MIC-Donalds was a great local option), Starbucks, and many other businesses. I like standing at the kitchen sink watching the people walking by. We won't have this kind of view in our new flat which will be better for keeping our eyes on our schoolwork.

On Wednesday we are leaving for a trip that almost seems unfathomable to my little dreamy mind. God knows how much I love to travel and this year He has been so gracious to delight me. It reminds me of God loves to delight His children…don't we love to do the same? When we were in Italy Ed and I both went to Rome but this is one of the few places that we did not take our children. After our trip there we both agreed that we were hopeful that a trip to Rome would be a part of our children's education. We are going to be spending three nights in Rome this week and then meet longtime Air Force friends, John, Tonia, Rachel, and Tim Shaw, to spend 8 nights on the Mediterranean! Last summer we saw a deal for British residents only (we qualify) for a child to go free with each adult. I'm still amazed it's going to happen! This is the 17^th pack up we've done since the 15^th of October…God is good!

Love to all,

Dinah for The Troops
P.S.~ See last post for Texas pictures~ enjoy y'all!

After all this time, are you really there?

PA folks really know how to throw a party! What fine folks they are. Anytime you are with PA you can always count on great music and fun professional photos! Just few a the PA perks.

The children on the day of Ed's going away.

Saying goodbye is just out and out hard. Mrs. Waters (orange shirt) was so precious to host a little sushi party that night. "So let's get together and make sushi...oh and by they way, since you have a house can we do it there?" Emily was a fantastic neighbor and an amazing woman. Sushi making, frog disection, what does this woman not do? We are so grateful for dear friends on base and church. Nikki (black sweater) is Melanee Kate's violin teacher...and more importantly a dear part of our family!

Major had all the children out riding on Thanksgiving morning. Never a dull minute on the ranch!

For anyone who doesn't know another unique quality about are family is we have uniforms galore! Major has a collection that will knock your socks off. I felt a little queasy about my children running around the front yard in authentic uniforms that I could not replace, well, if we're going to send them to college anyway. Caroline had asked if they could take pictures and the dressing up began! We have tons of them, but this is my favorite. The Taylor children were more than happy to jump right in...

Major also built us our very own Fightin' Texas Aggie Bonfire the night we played t.u.! Now is that service or what?

Ed has been friends with Paul and Ginny Baker since his Belton days. When the four of us became friends in Colorado we had three they had one. Since then we've added one and they've added three. Neil, Rachel, Ryan, and Luke will just about steal your heart. God has been good to let us see one another over the years despite the distance. This is the second time we've been able to see them in Belton since we've left Colorado. We've also seen them in Colorado and when we lived in Montana they were precious to meet us in the thriving metropolis of Thermapolis, Wyoming...now there's friendship!

The infamous picture of Ginny and I is on it's way to London. The babies were days away from coming...we look SO MUCH livlier here. Paul and Ginny came into my heart right after I announced to Ed as we were leaving Italy, that I was done making friends.

Deanna Castello and Amy Allert met me for one of sweetest brunches I've ever had. These two woman are so special. They are willing to go with me deep, quickly...what precious encouragement!

If you know me, you understand this picture clearly.

This could be a very long blog in and of itself. This picture here is a small miracle. Long story short...I am not a runner. God has had me running. The furthest I'd ever gone on the ground (instead of a treadmill) was two miles with my mentoring runner friend Beth the night before we left Hawaii. This day I ran with Susan (who has done two half marathon's in the past two years) for 3.3 miles~what victory. God is teaching me that it's good to do hard things! This was the first annual Dunn Thomas run.

When we first met Susan and Jeff we'd only been married 8 months. Shaw was 20 months old and could say Mama, Dada, and bus. He's the enormous one in the back. Morgan is 6 months older than Caroline and is as precious as can be. What a GREAT time to reunite, fellowship, and worship. Thank you for walking through life with us...

These are eleven great great grandchildren of my great grandfathers. We had gone to church with the Permann's (my sweet sister's family) and in walks our cousins. Isn't God good to let us worship in His house together! I'd love to think that my great great grandchildren would be in church together while actively growing in the Lord!

We're only missing Royal and his family. These moments are such treasures! The children were STARVING and after this shot we ran out for great mexican food.

This is so typical of my family growing up, well and the family I'm in today as well now that I think about it. Always ending up in the smallest of places. Our family usually conferenced in my parents small bathroom when I was a child. Poor Aunt Melly...just trying to do laundry. There's always room for more!

We celebrated Christmas early with Aunt Susan (my fathers aunt)...nothing like a good story and Starbucks!

Dear family and friends,

Since I've blogged we spent 12 crazy days on Oahu finishing up all that needed to be done in order to move, a great week out on Ed's parents ranch, three nights with our best friends in Louisiana, and a week with my parents in Dallas. Both of our sisters came to Texas with their entire families to spend time with us. I could spend a whole blog on that alone but I'm going to have to let pictures take care of that.

As of today a new chapter has begun. One that will unfold slowly before our eyes, but is already fully known to our Father. I thought I would share my thoughts today as I wrote in my travel journal on the airplane:

"Landing is not far away. We are moving to London today. After all of these months of preparation, toil, and excitement, it's really here. I'm all over the map at this moment. Certainly excited, tired, and a tiny bit overwhelmed. This fall God has been teaching me that when I feel overwhelmed in any way, shape, or form- I need to let Him help me refocus- on Him! My God is always so faithful. I am grateful to serve Him...

The preparation for this particular move has been mind boggling. I've always said you can multiply an overseas move times seven. With very little support on the ground in London, I'd say fourteen.

As of yesterday the van is no longer ours, so all of our loose ends in Hawaii are now tied. All that is left for us on that island in the Pacific are dear friends and sweet memories. Two things to surely be treasured.

Our time in TX and LA flew, as we knew it would. It was wonderful seeing so many people that we love. Our time in Dallas was packed with gathering clothing, shoes, and other items. My parents were so sweet about how hard we needed to work. I appreciate their, yet again, servant attitudes. Mother is coming in February and I'm already looking forward to her visit.

Being out of pocket this long can be a little unsettling at times. It's an incredible reminder that ultimately, this is not our home. When that feeling creeps up out of the pit of my stomach I have to stop and gain perspective. Do houses, cars, and belongings provide me comfort and a feeling of belonging? Is it wrong? Do we look for security in things that can never provide it? Of course we do. There are times God uses things/people to provide comfort, but ultimately the deep peace that passes understanding only comes from our Father.

Thank you Lord for peace, may it be ours as we serve you. Thank you for letting us go all over the world to proclaim your goodness and truth. Please help us to serve in a manner that will bring you glory. We love you deeply and look so forward for all that you have waiting around the corner. May it be all about you..."

I hope to post pictures from our Texas trip this week. Caroline already has some up on her facebook page. Off to bed. Tomorrow morning we'll have our first opportunity to be in the Lord's house in England!

Love in Christ,
Dinah for The Troops

Who flew you home?

Dear family and friends,

I need for this to be quick as sleep should be coming soon. I'm not quite over the jetlag, yet jetlag will be coming our way again next week.

After we spent three nights in California and realized the military's ride home would come very slowly I took my sweet sister up on her offer. Ken works for American Airlines, although he is on a military furlough. YEA KEN...I will forever be grateful for my brother in law getting us home. No complaints about our military travel, it was wonderful. With the move so close, it was time to get back to the island so we could prepare for what was ahead.

We quickly rearranged belongings, rental cars, and hotels and were on our way to Los angeles. It was a six hour drive and we didn't leave until five in the evening. The first hour I was really tired, but the rest flew. Nothing like a little drive across California in the dark.

After dinner Caroline announced we needed to go back through our trip, oldest to youngest, and talk about our favorite things. Two hours later we stopped and thanked the Lord for it all. To God be the glory!

It was such a wonderful opportunity, I can hardly believe we really did it. The best part of the trip for me was seeing God's plan unfold and just being alone with our children. I can clearly see that God just wanted me to be with these children without all the wonderful interruptions of life. What a gift...

I'm really having to trust Jesus with my time. Many things to be done and only so many hours in the day. School to be accomplished, people to spend time with, songs to prepare, list to made, phone calls to be made...I'll just stop there as I think you get the picture. A week full of life.

Selling the car and securing a flat are at the top of our list this week. Again, God knows and His plans are best. May we walk the process in a way that honors Him.

Love in Christ,
Dinah for The Troops

Does His creation call you to worship?

The Thomas/Smith children are eight amazing children. I can't wait to see what God does in each and everyone of their lives. They've been friends for five and a half years which is like forever for a miltary child.

Our four bags weight 199 lbs...okay, fair enough. Then in Yokota they said they needed to weight all carry ons including our coats...they weighed 200...opps.

Wyatt was in his element today serving people. He carried many a car seat, stroller, and maman's diaper bags. The game boy is for trips and weekends. They never have time on the weekend. Wyatt and Will were quite entertained.

Melanee Kate was so in her element today loving on this baby. A sweet Christian mother was very grateful for God's provision of our daughter.

Debbie and Marcus Vincent were our nieghbors at McGuire AFB in our very first house. They came out tonight and took care of all five of us! WHAT A TREAT to be together...

Dear family and friends,

So we are on our fifth flight and enjoying the ride, our second C-17. We left Alaska around 2:30 and are on our way to Travis Air Force Base in California. Yes, I realize it’s very east of Hawaii, but Travis is the gateway to the Pacific and at this point the best way home. Quite appropriate to go to the gateway of the Pacific on our little swing, don’t you think?

Alaska was beautiful! I was amazed at how different it looks than Colorado, equally breathtaking, but in a whole different way. We stayed with our dear friends Doug and Sharla Smith, it was the first place that was hard to leave. Hard because we don’t know when we’ll see the Smith family again. We heard about them in Colorado, met them in Alabama, spent time together in Montana, and started walking life together in Hawaii. The Smith family has loved us through good, bad, and ugly. They love us despite, not because, and we are very grateful.

This last spring we had a wonderful opportunity to spend a great amount of time together. First we had the infamous TDY while both of the guys were gone where we ate dinner five out of six nights. The children whined on the night we missed. We also had the privilege of helping them move, moving is a GREAT way to take any friendship to a new depth. Serving with one another does that though now doesn’t it! The week that seven of the eight children went to Awana’s camp together the four of us had a meaningful week (Dinah, Sharla, Doug, and Jefferson…Ed was TDY as normal) as Doug and Sharla agreed to be roomies with Jefferson and I. When they left, we were all so hopeful to be together in Alaska before we moved to London, so this was really an answer to prayer. God delighting His children!

Sharla had not been home for even 12 hours from being with her parents in Montana when she got the 5:30 wake up call. I didn’t step out of their house for over 28 hours and it was AWESOME. The Smith home always seems to be a haven for those who enter. Sharla’s gift of hospitality always blesses and amazes me. Doug had been TDY the week before Sharla went to Montana and they would have had every reason to say it wasn’t a good time but instead they welcomed us with open arms and hearts! God’s timing is perfect, although one could look from the outside and think it was a horrible time, He was right on time. He always is you know!

We also had the opportunity to spend Thursday morning with most of the Rosendahl family. We met Tami and Martin and their four children in Italy where we went to church together. Christian fellowship never ceases to amaze me…how you can pick right back up like it was yesterday. Caroline and Hannah, the only and darling daughter of their family, have become friends on facebook this summer. Hannah is such a neat girl who loves Jesus and has been a bright spot to our Caroline. Caroline was funny when she realized what a neat girl Hannah was, but it didn’t surprise me in the least knowing what a neat lady her mother is. Tami was very kind to me in Italy and her friendship has always been very appreciated!

So Alaska was really about people with a beautiful back drop from our creator. His creation, the people and the sights, they call me to worship.

Last stop…almost there. The most exciting part of this last stop is seeing Debbie and Marcus Vincent. I’ve had several wonderful neighbors over the years, Debbie being my first. She set the bar high! I haven’t seen her since the day we drove out of New Jersey 15 ½ years ago, but we’ve kept up all these years. I can hardly believe that my children are going to get to meet Mr. and Mrs. Vincent!

The day after Caroline was born Debbie came to visit me with gift in hand. One of the sweetest gifts I’ve ever received. Debbie’s mother passed away when she was a child. She brought me a little tin box that her mother always kept her ribbons in. I was decorating my nursery in “Cow Jumped Over the Moon” and this little tin box had the most precious “Cow Jumped Over the Moon” scene you’ve ever laid your eyes on. It was a gift of sacrifice and celebration. I will treasure it always. I can hardly wait to hug Debbie’s neck!

Love to all…I will “see” you on the way home. Ed said last night that it might take a week to get back, I have to admit that my first reaction was not with my eyes on the Father but on myself. We are moving in two weeks as my husband has reminded me. The past day or so have begun to feel the pressure of all that needs to be accomplished. It’s amazing how quickly you can feel stressed when you take your eyes off of God’s plan for each day. God’s timing is perfect so we’ll just see what He does. I’ll keep you posted…

Love in Christ,
Dinah for The Troops

Are His plans better?

Dear family and friends,

God continues to confirm in my life that HIS plans are better! I know this is no knew news, certainly not to me, yet He’s teaching me trust Him further, deeper, longer, and bolder in new and exciting ways.

Last January when Caroline and I went to Thailand we were supposed to spend the day in Tokyo. If you remember she ended up being very ill the last part of the trip and we spent the day in the airport. If it were today we would have never been able to travel home due to stringent precautions that the Japanese take with healthy travelers. I told her during that whole ordeal, that be it in my power, before we left Hawaii, I would take her to Tokyo. I started praying the Lord would let this happen.

Praying, dreaming, and my sweet man letting me try to move forward with some sort of plan, I made reservations at the New Sanno. The military has a few hotels around the world that give military families the opportunity for rest, vacation, a little R&R at a reasonable price. One of our perks. These hotels are in Hawaii, Germany, Korea, and Japan. Reservations at the New Sanno are coveted and people make plans early. When I tried to make plans in February I requested three dates to only receive one, and not really on the dates I’d requested. Ed needed to go to Japan again before we left so the goal was to get our trips to coincide.

When the children and I weren’t able to get there on time and had to cancel the reservations it was a moment that I had to choose to be grateful for all He HAD done and to know His plan was better. It is you know…

I started praying, researching, and asking around to try to find a place to stay that we could afford. It would be nothing for our family to pay $500 a night in Tokyo. When we arrived in Yokota Saturday night I decided we would stay there Sunday just to rest and make plans. In a guide book I found a positive recommendation for a youth hostel and called to find out they would be more than happy to accommodate a family. We had two options, rooms with traditional bunk beds, or a Japanese style room. I’d priced these and they were way out of our price range at other ryokan in Tokyo. When I called I found out to have the Japanese room you had to buy breakfast and dinner to go with it so I choose the traditional for the first night and Japanese the second.

We had a wonderful time in Tokyo and did many new and exciting things, but the blessing was at the youth hostel.

Caroline and I had done a little research last January so we knew we wanted to go up in the Tokyo Tower, visit the Hama Rikyu Gardens, ride the boat up the river, and see two museums. We always love to visit the museums!

I wanted the children to have a unique dining experience from the Japanese culture which is another blog in and of itself. I also wanted to take the children to the Kabukizi theater to see a Kabuki production.

So off we went checking off our list, enjoying the surprises along the way, and soaking in the culture. Yesterday the boys enjoyed all the restrooms as much as they delighted in the museum. There was even one sink that you washed and dried your hands in.

Yesterday we went early to get tickets at the theatre to run into several obstacles which precluded us from seeing it at all. I was so disappointed but the children quickly rallied and had such sweet spirits about the whole thing. “We can save money this way Mother,” one even said. We agreed to go back to the youth hostel early and enjoy our Japanese room, bathing (which is a big deal in the Japanese culture and quite delightful I might add), and we were going to snuggle down to read Les Miserable.

So here’s where God’s timing comes in. I met a woman last night that I wouldn’t have met if we went to the theatre and I wouldn’t have met if we’d stayed with Ed at the New Sanno as originally planned. She was the highlight of Tokyo. Masako lives on the big island in Hawaii, which I still find pretty funny. We’ve never been to the big island so Jesus made arrangements for us to meet in Japan. Less than 1% of Japanese people are Christians and Masoko helps make up the miniscule group of people.

Last night we spent the evening with her and she was more than willing to share what God has been teaching her. She’s written a book about her journey and it comes out on the 4th of December. We are praying for it, that God will use it greatly. It’s in Japanese but I think I’ll still order a copy. She’s done much research and studying and is continuing her studies. She is studying Japanese and Chinese congees along with God’s Word. Masako spent a long time last night going over congees and showing us what she has discovered. She believes that the original congees were written by believers before Buddhism took over the their nation.

The congee for the human soul are two congees put together, evil and speak. So in her book she has the congees in bold bright colors and then around them she has scriptures that back up what is true. Are our souls not speaking evil until we know Christ?

Salvation has is made of several congee’s including one that means tree, what our Saviour died on.

If I’d had paper I would have taken tedious notes. I’m not beginning to do this justice. We all were absorbing and delighting in all that she had to say. It was a holy moment and we knew it. There she sat in our Japanese style room with my little ones surrounding her in their jammies. At the end we all prayed together and were so grateful for the fellowship and worship. The evening compelled my heart to worship. Masako is very excited to give her book to her daughter for Christmas as she so dearly wants her daughter to know her Jesus. We are praying for this book and for Hannah. I can’t wait to see what God does…

Lord, thank you for the privilege of knowing this woman. Thank you for letting all of our plans fall through because your plans are better. Thank you for letting my children sit at this Godly woman’s feet to hear her speak of you and how she loves and believes in you. Thank you for the salvation that you brought on a tree. Thank you for being the rock of which water flows. Please use this book in ways that will honor you and bring you glory.

We are up in the friendly skies again, heading to Alaska. We can hardly wait to see the Smith’s. They are a believing military family that God has graciously planted firmly in our lives, again, and again. There is a hop on Friday to Travis AFB and then to Hickam, Hawaii. Praying for wisdom and how God wants us to play this one out. Ed is doing a last minute TDY to D.C. so he won’t be back to Hickam until Wednesday. My sweet neighbor from New Jersey lives outside of Travis and I would LOVE to see her, we’ll see about God’s plans. They are better you know!

Love in Christ,
Dinah for The Troops

What did you see?

These children can pump...you should have seen them gathering and then treking to our hotel tonight. This was a moment I was so grateful we'd all been running for the past three months.

The children just crack me up at what they think is funny...they thought the little red naked man hanging on a fish was hilarious.


Dear family and friends,

I wish you could see me fumbling across the top of my dashboard in Japanese. I have to click on all of them until it looks familiar.

We are now in Yokota, Japan! YEA GOD...I can hardly believe it. We did have a great week in Kadena and after ten cancelled flights we were so excited to be moving forward.

Yesterday when the flights were cancelled I could not have been more pleased with our children. Please don't get me wrong. I never want to paint our family for anything but who we are, six people who love and need Jesus. We struggle to be kind, and to respond like Christ does on a daily basis. Yesterday though, I could see such maturity in our children. They could not have handled the disappointment any better! Okay, well, one could have for a minute, but in general they were so gracious and grateful. Accepting of God's good plan...

We had a GREAT day too...we did a little more shopping, ate at Chili's AGAIN, rented two movies, read Les Miserables (we are on page 752...WAHOO). It was just a wonderful day. We agreed that no school would be done and that Melanee Kate could decide if we would exercise. We all knew what she would say. A day being together with no interruptions on a little island in the Pacific.

Today was filled with maybe's and waiting...the bottom line being that God got us to Yokota. We found out that we could also fly into Atsugi and then take the train for two hours to Yokota. We ended up being on the freedom bird that flies straight into Yokota, but I love our children's sweet spirit of adventure and willingness to do whatever Mother seems excited about.

I cannot begin to describe what I saw tonight...with the tip on His pinky He created Mt Fuji. Jefferson was crying out for me to look out the window and there she was, RIGHT out my window. She was majestic and bold, dimly lit by the shadows of the sunset. The whole trip has been worth it for just that moment. I will never forget it. How great is our God...

Tomorrow we are going to get our ducks in a row and then the plan is to head into Tokyo on Monday morning. Thinking and praying through all of our options. The military hotel is booked but I think I've found an option that will be reasonable and quite the cultural experience. I won't know if it's a go until tomorrow. I also have to find a place to keep our bags here in Yokota as I'm NOT dragging all of these bags including our school into Tokyo.

Tonight we rented a movie and ordered pizza in. It was very relaxing after a long day of traveling. Our sweet friends Karl and Stella Kent are moving here in March, we are SO EXCITED for them.

Love to all...
In Christ Alone,
Dinah for The Troops