Getting Ready

We are enjoying the preparations for our trip! Last week I had a delightful visit with Mrs. Richard, Jennifer Hale's mother, when I took a car seat to her for delivery to the Hales. She leaves tomorrow (DV) for her trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to accompany the Hales as they await baby Isaac's birth. She was so encouraging about our trip, sure that we would be a blessing to the Hales and to the discipleship students in spite of how many little (and big) bodies we'll fill their house with.
Last Sunday we had the privilege of sharing some more about the ministry in Cambodia with Providence Church, and they were so warm and welcoming. Next week we plan to give a brief account of our trip plans to FBC Parker.
We have 4 suitcases packed at this point, with 2 or 3 more to go. The kids seem to be excited, but I think that Anna especially grasps the concept that we are going to be away for a long time and that we will be in a place we are not familiar with at all. I'm praying that God will help my children to adjust quickly to such different scenery, smells, and tastes; that He will help them to view these differences as part of the variety He has created in this world, and help them to appreciate and love the work that the Church of Mercy is attempting to do. I hope that they will enjoy the "taste" of mission work that they will get while we are gone, and that they will be amazed and excited about the work God is doing all over the world.

Lost Journal

Have you ever lost something really important to you? And you were afraid of someone finding it? I lost my journal about four weeks ago, and I am bummed. It had a detailed prayer request list in it that I daily worked through and amended as needed. And lots of personal notes and confessions and thoughts, written out but certainly not meant to be seen by any eyes but my own (and my Lord's!). I also had a list of medication that my sister-in-law recommended that we take to Asia, so I took it with me to CVS one day. That was definitely where I went wrong. *Sigh* It should never have left my Bible's side. Oh well!

Trip to Cambodia

We are planning a trip to Cambodia over the holidays. This is something we have longed to do for a while, but we were not thinking we would attempt it until our children were a bit older. But, after prayer and discussion with our friends the Hales, we searched for frequent flier tickets for the six of us. Much to our surprise and excitement, we found them. It was a shock, really, since Kris and some other friends have used frequent flier tickets before but have been unable to get them all the way to Phnom Penh; they have gone to Bangkok and then purchased the last leg into Phnom Penh. But we found 6 tickets all the way there, including a stop on the way in a country to the north. The planned departure date is December 1st, and return date is January 12th. We are more than excited.

We hope to help Bill and Jenn by subbing for them (ESL and computer) until they are ready to resume their classes after having baby Isaac. He is due in late November. We will arrive a little late to help while he is being born, but Chheng's son, Soda, and his wife Allyson are planning to be there over Thanksgiving and leaving the same day we arrive, December 10th, so they can certainly help fill in.

We also so want to be an encouragement to the church there. What a profound joy it is to see and know people who are worshipers of the One true God who live across the world and speak different tongues. He is not the God of just the westerners, or Americans, or English speakers, or industrialized nations. His rule spans cultures and ethic groups and languages and times. He is the same God yesterday, today and forever. And how glad I am that He is everywhere, and that we are no more "safe" within the four walls of our suburban home that we will be walking the dusty roads in a rural Cambodian village. If God is for us, who can be against us?

However, I admit that anxieties do creep in, and we would love to have your prayers! If you want to pray for us, please let us know if you have the opportunity. It encourages us more than you know. Thank you!

The Illiad and the....what?

Tonight I was quizzing Anna on her Veritas Press History Cards for 2nd grade. She is studying Ancient Greece, and we were discussing Homer when I asked her to name his most popular works.

"The Illiad and the Honda," she said confidently. The what? Then I realized that we owned a Honda Odyssey. She just got a little confused and I got not a little amused!

Toddler Moments

As we were driving home yesterday and I listened to Daniel singing a song, it reminded me of all those precious YouTube videos of tiny tots belting out tunes. But the precious thing about these months with Daniel is that almost every waking minute is full of those moments, that if captured adequately, we would surely win thousands of YouTube hits. Even in the stressful moments, he says the cutest things in the sweetest ways. I'm so thankful that God packs so much sweetness into such little bodies. Even in the frustrating moments, there is usually something to smile about!

A Worthy Pursuit

I so enjoy reading Darcie Newton's blog, and her current post is an excerpt from an Elisabeth Elliot newsletter. I am encouraged by Elisabeth's transparency in order to focus on godly friendship. One of the many reasons why it's so important to be knit into a Body of Believers!

Long Time No Write **Scroll Down for New Posts**

**I'm post-dating my posts so I can keep up with the event dates...please scroll down if you want to see the most recent post. I'll update this post when I finish catching up, and will begin with normal dates. I'm sorry for any confusion. **

Thanks to sweet Ruth Lee (thanks, Friend!), and others who have commented about no blog updates here lately, I'm going to try to save my blog from going the way of my last failed blog attempt (if you don't know about my last blog, believe me, you aren't missing anything!).

We've had a busy but wonderful summer, and I certainly have some catching up to do to document our comings and goings. Even though we are short a laptop here at the Pate house, I'll do my best to catch up!

I'm going to try to date my posts according to the event, so some of the new posts are beneath this one, starting with June 2nd.

If you are reading this, thanks for wanting to know what we've been up to!

Ava Ruth Green

Today, my sister Sarah had her fifth child, Ava Ruth Green at 7:20am. She was 6 pounds 9 ounces. We were thrilled! We were unable to visit her in the hospital because we didn't want to share our germs (possible stomach virus). But that didn't mean we couldn't celebrate! Anna put out the placemats she made last year for me and Kris, made some new makeshift ones out of paper napkins for herself and brothers, and made a special table decoration commemorating Ava's birth. This was her idea!


"Ava's birth"


Daniel's checking out the table

Sarah and Andrew, we are so thrilled to have a new niece and cousin, and we love Ava so much already.

Good-bye, well-loved crib

For the first time ever since we've lived in this house, we took down our crib. It was momentous. The kids were ever-present, watching and "helping" as much as Kris gave them opportunity. It was a sweet time for me of remembering all the precious baby years God has given us. Daniel seemed to know just what to do with his toddler bed, and it didn't take long to get him to understand that we expected him to stay in it.

Vacation: Return trip and Carlsbad Caverns

We left La Jolla headed for El Paso, and the next day we visited Carlsbad Caverns.


Nearing the cavern entrance


Heading down into the opening. It was a big hole, that's for sure!


Stalactites and stalagmites in the cavern

It was beautiful and so interesting inside, but I wasn't successful taking any good pictures. The cool, dark air was refreshing on a hot summer afternoon. The kids enjoyed it thoroughly, and even little Daniel tramped down tirelessly. We enjoyed asking the kids questions like, "Can we hide from God down here?" You can't go down into the depths of the earth to hide from Him. "No, He is everywhere," they would say.


Taking a rest from all that walking!

After our tour of Carlsbad Caverns, we headed for Lubbock where we spent the night and then met our dear friends and former neighbors John and Jennifer and they treated us to a yummy breakfast. Thanks so much, J&J! We miss you!

Here we are waiting to eat (Thomas wasn't feeling well)

Then we were home-bound! After almost two weeks, we were excited about getting back to our own turf. Here are a few shots from the last couple of days in the car:


Thomas with his "treat of the day"




Pipe cleaner fun!


You can do a lot of things with pipe cleaners!


Anna used them to make hangers for her small toys she collected on the trip and to decorate her space.

That's it for our trip! When I returned home, my ESL student Sora said she had prayed for us, and how I am grateful! I can only imagine the plethora of things that can go wrong for a family of six traveling so many miles! God answered her prayers with safe travel and a restful time for all of us. We are so undeserving of His gifts, but we are thankful. Many thanks to many of you, Friends, for praying for our family! Isn't God good to regard our prayers and even want to answer?

Matthew 7:11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!