Jon Bonker was one of the best men in our wedding (Eric had two.  So did Jon.  So did Brian).

Katie and the best men

He is like a brother to Eric and I am SO grateful to God for his faithful provision of this man who sharpens my husband and encourages him towards grace and godliness.

Up until now, Jon has been our only teammate for South Asia.  He had been there already for two years this past summer, when this  wonderful young lady contacted MTW about joining the work there and eventually got in touch with Jon.  That was August. I’ve had the amazing privilege of getting to know this amazing woman of God over the last several months via phone, and “watching” these two fall in love (as much as you can watch two people in Asia and California from Florida).  Seeing the Lord work in their relationship these last 5 months and bring them to their wedding day on January 7th was such a blessing to me, reminding me in many ways of God’s provision and grace and kindness to his children.  Besides the obvious blessing that they are to each other (if you could only see the in-love-ness of these two!), I am grateful beyond words for the provision of Katie in my life.  Not only has the Lord used her to encourage and bless and challenge me in the few short months since we became friends, but I am over the moon that the Lord has provided another woman for our team, a friend and sister to labor with when we are on the mission field.  What a tremendous gift!

So here’s our new team picture (we’ve grown by 33%!):

The other incredible blessing of the wedding was being with so many dear friends from college:

The wonderful Bonker family:

Me and my only best man:

It was such fun to be in a wedding together again!

All the goofy guys doing their thing to the car:

Krisha also posted on their blog with some great photos and some amazing marriage quotes to chew on.  You can see those here.

You can also see a slideshow of really great photos from the wedding here.

Eric and I stayed in San Diego for an extra day and a half to have some much-needed time together.  We had an absolutely fabulous time.  We enjoyed old-town San Diego, riding the trolleys around to see the city and harbor, some great food, and sunset over the pacific from the cliffs.

We watched the sun go from this:

to this:

to this:

Absolutely glorious!

We are so grateful to have been able to celebrate our dear friends’ marriage, be with several other dear friends, and also celebrate our own with some special time with just the two of us.  God is so good.  We are also incredibly thankful to our friends Greg and Christie who stayed here with the girls and loved on them so well while we were gone.  Kimberly and Danny also helped out by caring for them during the daytime a few of the days.  We are so blessed and grateful, because we really could not have gotten away without their sweet service to us.  What a gift this was!

So thankful!

]]> http://www.thenollfamily.com/missions/2012/01/23/bonkers-of-fun/feed/ 1 http://www.thenollfamily.com/familyblog/2012/01/20/psalm-3313-22/ http://www.thenollfamily.com/familyblog/2012/01/20/psalm-3313-22/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:01:30 +0000 Sara-Beth http://www.thenollfamily.com/?p=3279 13 The LORD looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men;
14 From His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who fashions the hearts of them all,
He who understands all their works.
16 The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
17 A horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.

18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope for His lovingkindness,
19 To deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the LORD;
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.

Maggie so generously reminded us of the truths we know, but easily forget, and her email couldn’t have been more timely.  And she shared some “link love” herself which I want to share with you because of how much the Lord has used it to bless and encourage and convict me today.

She shared this song (which you can get for free if you want, but it would be awesome to donate to adoption through this family), and some truths she pulled out of it:
-”If I am richly loved, then why do I fear? If am richly loved, and you are right here, if am richly loved then what else do I need? I am richly loved by my eternal king.”

-”Even when I draw back, he never pulls away, withdraws, but pursues me.”  Who on earth is like that!?  You have to keep pursuing and drawing near to these boys, to adoption in general, and to Him.

-”You are not a God who lets me down.”

-”And when my heart is slow to praise you, you do not let go…In this season I am learning you’re not silent or slow.  If you only give me more of you, it will always be enough. YOU are the prize.“

-Any proceeds go to help fund adoptions!!

Seriously, get this song and be reminded over and over again of these precious truths.

Thank you, Maggie.

I know, we’ve been MIA. I’m so sorry about that. I have some sweet photos to put up, and catch up blogging to do, and I really need to write an adoption update. This next week or so might bring us some answers and news (maybe good, maybe not). There’s a lot more and I really will try to wrap my brain around how to share it all with you all.

But right now I wanted to share with you some sweet reminders we’ve had of the miracle of adoption.

We so often we forget WHO’s writing this story and our feeble hearts get anxious and fearful and oh, so weary. our adoption journey has definitely not been what I hoped it would be and we get discouraged all too often. I am SO incredibly grateful for the people the Lord has placed in our lives who remind us of what he’s up to, whether they know it or not.

Eric and I had the great privilege as newly weds to be in home group with this dear family.  They were some of the first friends we shared with about going to Japan and then about Noa being born.  We loved being in their home, which was full of life with their 4 children and new puppy. Their youngest, Alex, had just been added to their family through adoption, and I remember just marveling as I held him at how unaware he was of the incredible blessings God had poured out on him in giving him this family, and being equally struck by what a blessing and gift he was to each of them.

Anyway, even though we haven’t lived near each other for half a decade now, I am so blessed by how God uses them to encourage and bless our growing family still. I can’t begin to tell y’all how timely some of her words, in either blog posts or personal notes, have been for us as we’ve walked this road.  I am ever so grateful for God’s work in this family, and how it has overflowed to bless us.

And all that to say, you will love reading their stories, but if you can’t read them all, you have GOT TO READ this one.  THIS is what adoption is about.  Oh, it just makes me weep with joy that God is doing this. Praise HIM!

We had an awesome time celebrating with my state-side siblings this year. We had my sister Martha and her daughter Simone for 8 days; Mark, Hannah, and my brother in law Ian for 5 days, and my Brother Joel, sister-in-law Mary Stuart, and their Oliver for 2 days. Danny and Kimberly and their 4 kids live down the street so we split the house guests between us and had a grand time.  We SO MISSED Jonathan and Maggie and their 3 girls in S. Asia, and Mom, Dad, Micah, and Seth in Japan. Still, getting this many of us together for Christmas was quite a feat and I am so grateful.

numbers 1, 4, 5, 6, & 7 of 9 together at the beach!

the little cousins together with Simone before she left and Oliver came

Joel, MS, and Oliver.

(The kids were passing around a stomach bug by the end of our time so we didn’t attempt any group shots, in hopes of sparring him his cousin’s germs.)

I posted about 100 more pictures on facebook and Danny made this video of our time together… yes, you guessed it, it was quite crazy, but it was sweet insanity. 

One huge blessing of having so many wonderful people around and also being so busy making sure there were meals and plans and places for everyone each day, was that I didn’t have time to mourn Jonathan and David’s keenly felt absence as much as I would have with a quieter setting.  Still, I went to bed each night in tears and ached and prayed for some “Christmas miracle” that would at least give us hope of them coming home in the new year.  I so wanted to anticipate their entry into this beautiful and lively group of cousins who adore one another and  and need a few extra boys to even out the mix (right now there are 9 girls and 3 boys among them, with one on the way).  But my heart was so guarded and it’s so hard to hope after so many deep valleys in this journey to get them and hardly any good news these days.

Sometimes I ask God how long can I live like this?  If we never get them will I always have this empty, aching spot in my heart?  Will Christmases and birthdays and celebrations always remind me that they are missing?

I need to write an adoption update, and maybe I will get to that soon.  We definitely need your prayers and I want to ask you to pray for some things specifically.  Hopefully I can later today after I get all the Christmas decorations put away.

We send our love and thanks to so many of you who have prayed for us and cared for us so generously in 2011.  We are so grateful for you and how you’ve shown us the joy of being in God’s family.  I pray the Lord is with each of you and brings great blessing and joy and more of His presence in 2012.

]]> http://www.thenollfamily.com/familyblog/2011/12/30/a-late-merry-christmas-and-other-tidbits-from-us/feed/ 0 http://www.thenollfamily.com/familyblog/2011/12/09/isaiah-92/ http://www.thenollfamily.com/familyblog/2011/12/09/isaiah-92/#comments Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:11:58 +0000 Sara-Beth http://www.thenollfamily.com/?p=3261

We were so hoping we would have good news to share by now, but there has been nothing…or at least nothing good!  Instead we have heard more heartbreaking news about children who were with our kids in their orphanage passing away from measles or other things.  We have never felt so out of control or at the mercy of others.

Still, we know true mercy, WHO it comes from, and are choosing (sometimes with the tiniest fleck of faith) to believe that He is doing all things for our good and his glory and he loves these precious boys more than we do.

Please keep praying.  We are told that there should be some answers, or at least a precedent set for how cases like ours will be dealt with sometime tomorrow.  Of course, tomorrow could come with no news, so we are trying to prepare our hearts for that while still being hopeful and prayerful.

Thank you for praying and hoping with us!

My local Aldi’s had pomegranates on sale this week so I gladly picked up a few.  I LOVE pomegranates.  And as I was peeling one this morning, I thought to myself how thankful I am to know how to peel a pomegranate. I didn’t know until 2 years ago, which is quite a shame considering the house we lived in for many of my growing-up years in Japan had a pomegranate tree in the back yard.  It didn’t get that much fruit, and eventually died, but when we would get our meager yield of fruit a year, it was always such a struggle to get the juicy seeds out to enjoy.  By the time we got them out, we had busted so many of the seeds in the meantime and it was scant reward for all that hard work.

Well, thanks for my amazing sister-in-law, Mary Stuart (who has taught me many things in this last decade that I have known and loved her), I now know how to peel a pomegranate and wanted to share this gem of wisdom with you, our dear readers.  I even took pictures for you.  You’re welcome.

Wash the pomegranate and cut off the two ends, like this:

Then, score the outside 4 or 5 times:

Next, submerge it in a bowl of cold water and gently break it apart:

As you pull it apart, the seeds will sink to the bottom and the ruffage (or whatever you call that stuff) will float on the top.

Use your hand or a sieve to remove the ruffage from the water:

Pour out the rest of the water and voila! You have your juicy pomegranate granules intact and ready to enjoy:

Store them in the fridge and enjoy them on ice cream, with granola and yogurt in the morning, or by the handful throughout the day (or any other way you enjoy your pomegranate – please share!).

And speaking of the amazing MSI (Mary Stuart), if you are even needing a home or wanting to be connected in the Atlanta area, she’s your girl. Seriously, people, she’s amazing.  Check out her website and if you live in the Atlanta area, subscribe to ATL Savvy for all kinds of great insight into life in Atlanta.

And speaking of Atlanta, and Mary Stuart, you should also really check out my brother’s beer company, Monday Night Brewery.  This beer company, born from a Monday night Bible study, makes the best beer around (granted, I don’t drink much beer, but I like theirs very much and everyone who drinks it loves it too).  You don’t want to miss out.

So there you go: THREE helpful tips today.  You are very, very, very welcome. 

We haven’t heard anything from Ethiopia yet.  I wasn’t really expecting to hear, since ET time isn’t America time, plus the last time they needed to make a decision like this it took several months.  Still, trying not to be disappointed and praying it won’t be that long again…

In the meantime, we have much to be thankful for.  Most of all I am thankful to know Who is is we are thankful to. What a gift to know and walk with God through Jesus Christ!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!