ADOPTION UPDATE & HOW WE'RE ALL ADJUSTING

Once again, while I would love to share pictures here on the blog of our two that we are in the process of adopting here in Mexico, I will need to hold off until it's more official. But, we are asked often about where we are at with the adoption so I'll give a quick update.

Our little girl has been living with us for just over 4 months now! We are fostering her while we wait on the legal processes of having parental rights revoked, for both her and her brother. We have no control over that paperwork and so it is a waiting game. Our adoption certification was finished last year in August and so we are ready whenever they are!

Because we met our little boy that much later after we met our little girl (they are siblings but they were separated), visitation was also started that much later. He is also older, having turned 4 in May, and so is more aware of what this means and Mexico's CFS is working to make the transition as smooth as possible for him. He comes to our house one day a week and every week we see him opening up more and more. Please pray that he will transition well and that he will thrive and continue to be a joyful little guy! Pray also for the social workers that make the decisions as to when he is ready to move in permanently.

Please continue to pray also for the paperwork. Parental rights need to be revoked and then we can begin the actual adoption paperwork! In the meantime we hope to have them together in our home in the next few months sometime.

In other news, our little girl turned 2 on Monday! It's hard to believe we first saw her when she was 2 months old. As soon as we saw her that first day, we felt a tug to ask about her and here we are. She is so full of enthusiasm for life and we feel privileged to have the opportunity to provide her with a loving family and to give her a place to belong, praying that she will rest in that and find refuge in God as she grows and reflects on her life.

The boys are also doing really well with the adjustment of having a sister and a toddler in the house. It means being quite sometimes when she is napping, having a little less time with us as parents, not being able to go to the movie theatre because you have to be 3 to go to the movies here ;) but they love her and have accepted her as part of their life and family. 

We often ask how they're feeling or what they're thinking and I think that helps, at least it makes me feel I'm checking in if nothing else! They are proud to call her their sister though. She came along with me to Carter's zoo field trip and Carter wanted her with him all of the time so he could show her off. That's great to see (may-hap there is a girl he wants to impress??). They are also talking about where our little boy will sleep, are praying for him every day, and waiting for him to come also.

It's taken Dallas and I some getting used to also. Going back to a toddler after having all 3 kids in school already has been a bit of a transition. I'm still getting used to having a child at home all day with me...although in reality, it means her going a lot of places with me. I lead 2 ladies Bible studies on 2 mornings and attend another one, so it makes it a little tougher when you have a 2 year old along. However if Dallas is working at home in the morning he can keep her at home while she naps or things like that, which makes it easier. 

We're getting more used to it though and it's feeling more natural to have a young one again. Our older 3 are so independent already and I need to be ok with having more demands on me with a two year old. And now seeing the age difference between her and Carter makes me want to hang on harder to Carter as he seems so old now and I don't want him to leave me!! ha! He's 11, still young I know, but I can't imagine them not being here. I feel like I'm becoming a middle aged mom and it's hard to believe that soon I'll be that 50 year old mom with an empty nest. All right, I'm starting to digress. I'm not even 40 yet. 

Anyways, to sum up, we are so thankful for the lives God has given these 2 kids and so thankful to see how things are going right now with the adoption process. We have no guarantees that the adoption will be finalized, as things can happen with foster care, but we are thankful for the moment, thankful for coffee when toddlers don't want to nap, thankful for our family, and thankful that God has blessed us with a daughter and another son right now. 

Grandpa Harder's passing

Just over a week ago, my Grandpa Harder passed away. It was quite sudden and it's still hard to believe that it actually happened.

I was able to go to Canada for 6 days to be with family and to be part of the funeral, which I am SO thankful for. Being far away can make things not seem real when they happen over there and I know it was part of the good-bye process for me to be able to be there in person. I also am grateful to have been there with all of my brothers and be able to support my mom and my Grandma, and uncles.

I just want to share here the tribute that I shared at the funeral on behalf of my brothers and I.

The first memories I have of Grandpa are from when he and my Grandma came to visit us on in Paraguay where we were growing up as missionary kids. Even though we lived far away from each other for several years, we always knew that he loved us grand kids and knew him as a grandpa full of kindness, eager to help anyone he could, with interest and knowledge in a wide range of topics, and with a genuine appreciation and joy for life. We also saw his love for serving others and God, which was evidenced in him singing and playing the guitar and harmonica in church while visiting us and his joy in building the staircase at the mission property for us, which still stands 25 years later.

Several years later when we had moved back to live in Kleefeld, we spent many days and Sunday dinners at his and Grandma’s house. He was good at so many things and he always allowed us to learn what he knew by doing and experiencing, not just by hearing about it – he showed us how to use the many tools in his shop to build different things, how to work his riding lawn mower, how to play golf, how to make the perfect juice for Sunday dinner, and how to appreciate playing music, among many other things. We also spent many hours hearing his stories about his growing up years, playing dominoes, having wiener roasts, watching golf, attending football and hockey games, and just learning from his life and his example of faith in God.  

As we grew older, we appreciated even more things about Grandpa. We saw the way he continued to volunteer and serve his whole life and learned from his commitment to his family and to his church. We also appreciated greatly the way he always gave us words of encouragement and affirmation to make sure we knew that he was praying for us, that God was with us, and that we were valued by him. He also gave this same love and encouragement to all of our kids, his great-grandchildren, who loved him just as much. Even though they are young and have never lived in the same town never mind the same province or country, they have many good memories of their time with Grandpa because of the efforts he took to make sure he had a close relationship with them. He had a way of making you feel cared for even in a short amount of time. Each person that came into his home felt welcome and felt his hospitality, which included good food but also a genuine care for you as a person.

We will miss our Grandpa a lot and thinking of him makes me smile through the tears because of the person he was. We don’t need to be sad for him and all that he’ll miss here on earth, because where he is in a place with so much more joy than we can even imagine. But I know that doesn’t mean that we won’t be sad as we think of being without him, so let’s encourage each other and be there for one another in the same way that he taught us to do in the many years that we had with him here.

I went to a ladies retreat - THRIVE 2018

6 months ago, some fellow missionary women here in Guadalajara told me about an organization called Thrive.

Thrive is an organization that ministers to missionary women working in cross-cultural settings and they put on 4 day spiritual retreats all over the world. They have divided the globe into regions and they make sure they go to each region at least one time every two years, and now in April they were coming to Puerto Vallarta.

There are a few women that run the ministry and then volunteers sign up to come as well. The volunteers are made up of professional counselors, those that want to come to pray and encourage, a couple of hair stylists and massage therapists, and those that want to come and serve in any way.

And get this, they raise all of the funds for all of the missionary women! Meaning that in order to attend, we had to pay a minimal registration fee and get ourselves there. The rest of the stay was completely covered by donars.

I am so thankful for this opportunity to attend and that I got to go! We have had several months, half a year, of non stop busyness and I have been feeling that I haven't had the space to process life recently and spend that extended time resting in God. The speaker that came spoke on topics that we KNOW to be true, but that sometimes we forget to believe.

God is Sovereign

God is Good

God is Love

It was a timely retreat for me.

I also enjoyed so much the times of discussion. We were split into small groups that we spent much of the time with in discussion and prayer. This was my group, made up of 2 leaders and missionary women from all over Mexico. 

I also enjoyed spending time with fellow missionary from Guadalajara, Melissa, who I went there with and who I roomed with. We don't get together a lot with missionaries from other agencies here so it was nice to have a longer to visit as well.

I also enjoyed meeting women in other cities of Mexico and building friendships with them. Everyone there is working cross-culturally so we "get" each other. It was interesting too to play the "Mennonite game" and make connections! One knew my brother and sister-in-law from language school in Texas. One was the niece of my mom's friend in Canada. One knows some of our friends from the States.

Thrive also works in between retreats offering their services to missions agencies by offering mentoring, coaching, and counseling over Skype to women that work cross-culturally. They have such a good handle on the needs of missionary women and I would encourage missions agencies to take advantage of this ministry as another member care tool!

So, I wish I could go every year :) Recharges the batteries. 

Thankfully, God is here right with us where we all are and amidst the busyness of life we need to work hard at carving out time for him each day, week, month, year. Our circumstances can overtake our minds but I want God overtaking my thoughts before anything else.

Joy and Sorrow in Adoption (and who are we adopting??)

Something important to remember about adoption is that while it is a beautiful thing, it's always preceded by loss. In order for a child to become part of a new family, they had to lose their first family.

I know that this journey of adoption will have many moments of remembering and of questioning their birth family and origins but we pray it will also be filled with moments of joy in the new family God has joined together. 

I can't pretend to understand completely the feelings an adopted child has, and I never will, but I can be there and I can be open to conversations and I can let my children know that in our home, both Joy and Sorrow are accepted. 

Feelings and openness and talking about any subject are accepted. I so pray that our family can grow together and be a place of belonging, healing, acceptance, love, and joy.

I need to get out of the way one important fact, so that I can stop trying not to say "child" or "children", as we are in fact adopting a sibling set! We are adopting a little boy and a little girl. The story of how it came to be two instead of one was very unexpected as we first met our little girl and later were told that she had a brother. 

After much, much prayer, debating, and talking with many people, Dallas and I decided (or gave into what we probably knew we would do all along!) that we really wanted to keep them together. I won't go into detail here on the blog about their history but they are living in two different orphanages at the moment and we are able to do visits with them. 

The paperwork is a long process yet. While we are done all of our paperwork and are approved, the legal documents needed for the kids are not finished and that is a process that needs to be completed by Mexico's Child & Family services. So pray with us please that this gets done as quickly as possible! 

In the meantime we will be going to Canada this winter as planned for our furlough while we wait for the paperwork to bring them home to be completed. It will be at least until after the New Year (probably longer).

We are so happy that we can spend time with them at least while we wait! As a family we have been able to get to know our little girl quite well already, as we volunteer at the Orphanage where she is. She just turned 1 this summer. We have only met our little boy once though! As we don't have a connection with his Orphanage we need to wait for Child & Family to set up visits and let's just say that things are a little slower with that process. He is 3 years old right now.

While having 5 children had never crossed our mind and we are aware that it will mean more money and time and energy and more, Dallas and I feel complete peace and excitement about this. We don't know the future, we don't know what will all happen, but we trust God to be with us every step of the way, no matter the outcomes.

Summer Ministry - Hope is the Anthem of my Soul

Here in Guadalajara the summer holidays are just about over; only two more days until school starts and life gets back to more of a routine.

Ministry in summer does look a little different, as most of the people we work with are families with kids who are also on summer holidays. Because of the class we live and work in, most families do have funds to be able to go away on holidays, and these holidays are longer and further away than what we could do! So this means people are often missing from our weekly Bible studies or have family here visiting from other cities in Mexico that keep them busy.

This is much the same as church in Canada though, as we've noticed when we're on furlough there some summers! We Manitobans also like our holidays at the lake or camping, etc. :)

But we still continue with ministry, perhaps just in different ways.

We may meet in the park for a Sunday morning Bible study as the park is beautiful right now due to the rainy season.

We meet as moms and kids in parks, giving me a chance to connect with moms who have become good friends and the boys get to see friends also.

We also get invited away, and last weekend we went out to a cabin just an hour out of the city with 4 other couples - families from Brady's class at school. One of the ladies is in my weekly ladies Bible study.

Doing things like this together that are out of routine and involve the whole family give so much more time for conversation and getting to know one another. We also focus on getting together with the specific families in our studies one-on-one in more informal settings and this opens people up as well. 

So our 2 weekly studies kept on, with a couple of cancellations here and there when just everyone was unable to make it, we had our bi-weekly study when people were around, and my weekly ladies study will be starting up again in 2 weeks when school is back on! 

We have also been giving a pre-marital class to a young couple this summer! This is the first time Dallas and I have done this and we've enjoyed doing this together for the most part. This couple is so easy to work with and so open that it's been a good experience. Another couple we are mentoring right now are in a very rough spot in their marriage and that is much more difficult (please pray for this couple and that we would have wisdom).

Our furlough (home assignment) is also coming up in November, so we are preparing for that and talking about how to prepare our Bible study groups for when we are away (76 days till we go! Boys are soooooo excited to see snow as they don't remember it at all - the last time we were there in winter was 7 years ago).

There is also the day to day ministry that involves so much more than "fun outings"- there are daily interactions with church people, training in prepping Bible studies, working with different youth, mentoring, helping in tangible ways, doing our finance reports, communicating with you all back in Canada, cleaning the house and making food for having people over (!), emails, meetings etc etc.....

#Switchfoot

and let's not forget time in prayer, finding strength and wisdom in God for the next steps. Let's not forget "the work within the work" - allowing God to transform us personally and staying close to Him. I think that it can be a temptation to measure our level of relationship with God with what we are "accomplishing" for Him. I learn more and more that my heart is what he is after and is pursuing.                                                                                      
And He pursues each and every person's heart to give them HOPE and belonging in Him. That is why we are here. To bring that HOPE to those that live without it. Both Dallas and I have such a heart for those that are not living in fullness, whether that be spiritual or emotional and wholeness is only completely found in really knowing God's love. 

30 Days of Writing: INSPIRING (Exodus 33)

This morning I was reading in Exodus 33 where God promises Moses His Presence. Moses doesn't want to lead the people without the assurance of God's Presence.

I appreciated this whole passage, and just a few things that stood out to me....

- Moses and God are in communion, having a conversation
- God knows Moses by name
- God allows Moses to ask questions and is more than willing to assure him
- Moses wants to know God even more and wants to know how to continue to find favor with Him, as the relationship he has with the Lord is important to him
- God makes a promise to Moses to go with him
- True rest comes from resting in God's Presence and power
- Moses recognizes that without the Presence of God, they will be just like everyone else - God's Presence in our lives is what distinguishes us from others
- God has a very personal relationship with us but that doesn't take away from his glory and power
- Seeing God's glory and goodness is an encouragement and assurance that He is at work

I'll just post the full passage here below and hope it will encourage you as well today!

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ ¹³ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

¹⁴ The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

¹⁵ Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. ¹⁶ How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

¹⁸ Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

¹⁹ And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

²¹ Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. ²² When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

30 Days of Writing:
DREAM, SENSES, LIGHT, INSPIRING, WHAT-SPEAKS-TO-YOU, ANIMAL, HAPPY, FLY, MUSIC, TASTY, SUPPORT, SPECIAL, PLACE, BREAK, TOMORROW, DESTINATION, BRAND, EVENT, NO, LAUGH, FEED, MIND-BLOWING, FABULOUS, COMPARE, EXCLUSIVE, FUZZY, FRIEND, BATTLE, SIGN, GRATITUDE, SMILE
*#an_snapaword

30 Days of Writing: DREAM

Sometimes we have dreams for our life and they come to pass. 
Sometimes we are waiting so long for a dream to be fulfilled and it never happens.
Sometimes we are waiting for a dream to be fulfilled and then we realize it already has been or is in process. 
Sometimes we just like to dream without being concerned about it actually coming to fruition in real life. 

I guess I've been in all of those places!

Did I dream of Dallas? Well once I met him, non stop 💕 But of a husband to love and be loved by, who cared enough to try and understand me and who I could give understanding to...probably yes.

Quick story:
This Sunday during Bible study we were talking about the Armour of God and how God has already given us victory over Satan. I made a comment about how sometimes something as simple as closing our mouths or choosing to speak with kindness and love to our husband when we really feel like doing otherwise is a way of winning the battle in the moment.
Carter looks at me with a smirk and a confused look and says "But you don't ever get to that point, mom".
Ooops!!

Did I dream of kids?? ah yes, I even had their names picked out but to this day do not remember what they were. I used to fill out magazine subscription cards with all of my fake kids names (that may explain why I love to fill out forms and surveys...)

But yes, I always hoped to have kids and be able to do ministry and life with them as a family. 

Carter - selfie master

Brady's art exposition at school

Logan at a surfing birthday party

Did I dream of living in Mexico?? Well, part of that dream would be to do Church Planting. Our dream as a couple was to go to Paraguay, but even though that was changed to Mexico, I still feel that this is a dream fulfilled and it's something that every day we have to remember to give to God.

My dream with Church Planting is to see our contacts and friends here find PEACE in their life through an intimate relationship with God! It doesn't have to do with living in another country or living a certain lifestyle. It has to do with knowing that God is what life is all about and wanting to share that hope. I see so many of our friend here living lives without hope, constantly striving and looking for that "something more", and Dallas and I long to see people have healthy relationships with each other and with God.

Other dreams....
Those are the major players in our life right now, I suppose.
And this year we got to visit Paraguay, which has been a dream of ours for many years already.
I also do not take for granted the relationships with our families - those are so important to me.
Also our friendships! To have people to count on and people to share life with is so great, wherever they are.

Dreams of life with the people we care about or so much bigger to me than dreams of travel, of buying certain things, etc. etc. Those are nice bonus' of course, but so not necessary when you get down to it.

It can be nice to daydream and desire certain things for your life, but let's not forget to have Jesus as our focus! Like I've said before, my biggest desire is to be at peace with God, as that is where fulfillment comes from.

Philippians 4:8

"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

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30 Days of Writing:
DREAM, SENSES, LIGHT, INSPIRING, WHAT-SPEAKS-TO-YOU, ANIMAL, HAPPY, FLY, MUSIC, TASTY, SUPPORT, SPECIAL, PLACE, BREAK, TOMORROW, DESTINATION, BRAND, EVENT, NO, LAUGH, FEED, MIND-BLOWING, FABULOUS, COMPARE, EXCLUSIVE, FUZZY, FRIEND, BATTLE, SIGN, GRATITUDE, SMILE
*#an_snapaword

PARAGUAY 2017!!!!

A couple of weeks ago we had the chance to do something as a family that we never really thought would happen - we went to Paraguay for two weeks!!! 

Most of you, if you know us, probably know that I lived there for 8 years as a child, where my parents were church planters. It's where I learned to love the Latin culture and the Spanish language and where all of my first memories are from. I had an amazing time growing up there with my parents and brothers and also had amazing life-long friendships that were formed there. 

Dallas and I were able to go there twice shortly after we were first married, and it was fun to experience that together. But this was the first time we went for holidays (the 2 times were with missions teams) so it was much different. It was a bit of a two-fold trip - I wanted to have time to visit friends and see specific places (and eat specific foods), and we wanted to see where my brother Travis and his family are church planting right now, as they are in a city that we had never been to, and we wanted to be part of their life there for a bit. 

It was also a dream to go with the boys and they LOVED it. They have talked everyday since we've been back about it and keep asking if we'll get to go back sometime. 

I just wanted to post a bunch of pictures here and share about the trip for memory's sake!

First of all, the plane ride. Can't leave that out, as we do enjoy the traveling aspect as well. And I think the boys spent at least 20 minutes describing all the movies they watched on the plane to their poor Grandparents so I think that was a big deal ;) 

We flew Guadalajara - Mexico City - Sao Paulo, Brazil - Asunción, Paraguay. The boys are great travelers, and while flying overnight makes it hard to sleep, like I said, the movies kept them well entertained and quiet for their fellow passengers. 

15 hours or so later...we arrived in Asunción! While I haven't lived in Paraguay for 23 years (!), it's still the place that makes me super nostalgic and feels so familiar while so distant. 

My brother and sis-in-law, Trav & Rosey, and their kids were at the airport to meet us, as well as 2 of my childhood friends and their families!

My brother lives 6 hours from where we landed, so we all spent the first few days at Hannes and Gabi's house. Gabi was my best friend growing up, we were attached at the hip while we lived there, and we were so happy to spend a good amount of time with them!! Her sister Anja also lives there with her husband, and my other friend Wendy stopped in with her family. So there were 5 of us MK's there, including Trav.

It was sooo good to spend time visiting with them, we talked a lot about our lives and it was so refreshing to have that time together. 

The boys with their cousins and new friends. 

We then headed 6 hours east to Minga Guazú, which is were Trav & Rosey work. As we were 9 people in total, Rosey and I took the bus for the longer trips. Which meant lots of chip for me.....!!! It's a typical Paraguayan cheese bread that is sold everywhere. 

Below is a chipa stand, a little hard to see, but on top of the stool is a basket that is covered and that's where the chipa is. 

Our time in Minga with Trav & Rosey and their kids was so good! We did life with them, we went to their church for the different activities, and did some other activities together. 

Below is their church, with their car. The dirt there is very red and clay-like, and it rained several days while we were there making for some good mud. 

Good mud = scrubbing shoes

The boys with their cousins, Zippy and Moi. I feel like we didn't have to take care of the kids a lot, they were so busy playing together.

Trav & Rosey's backyard...just a small part of it.

Road to church.

 Brady and Moi...the troublemakers.....

Our boys like to tell everyone that they went for ice-cream 5 times while we were there. I guess that is important.

Besides all the food we love to eat there (although Logan wasn't the hugest fan of it all), Paraguay is known for tereré and mate. Tereré is with ice cold water, while mate is with hot water. Below you can see my niece Zippy drinking...Carter is saying "chug, chug, chug!".

My friend Wendy was in their town also for a couple of days to visit so they came over, and the boys made some new friends.

I think it was so nice that our boys know Spanish, as they weren't uncomfortable in Paraguay and had no problem playing with the other kids they met. We went to the wedding of a couple in the church and they had a good time with everyone.

Wedding food - bbq'd chicken with a rice salad, chipa guazú (corn & cheese dish), and sopa (corn dish like cornbread).

As it was raining for several days, we looked for something indoors to do, and went to an art museum. There are paintings covering the walls, floor, and ceilings that are 3D. 

One other activity we did was head into Brazil (just 1/2 hour from Minga as they live at the border) to the Iguazu Falls. It's a beautiful place. 

These 2 also love to be together, we would often find them lying in bed reading books together or just hanging out. It was often these 2, and then Logan, Moi, and Brady together.

There is also the Argentinian side of the falls, as the falls lie at the border. However, to get into Argentina we would have had to pay $75 US per person!

(Perhaps I should have broken this up into more than 1 post ;) onward we go though!)

Something I did not get any pictures of were the other missionaries we visited with. Several that worked there when we used to live there still live in Paraguay, and it was neat to say hi to all of them again and visit.

We also stopped in at Caaguazú, which was the city Trav and I lived in as kids, where we wanted to visit some of our Paraguayan friends. We said hi to Richard and Suni, who work with the church conference and who we had met on our previous trips. We also visited Nidia, who was one of my best friends a child also, and her sister and family.

We drove by the house we grew up in, we went to the cementary where another best friend is buried (she passed away when I was 8 years old but we spent a lot of time together), and we drove by the churches my parents worked in.

After that we headed back to Asunción where we spent another couple of days with our friends there, visiting and laughing and making food :)

Carter loves his cousin Zippy and his new friend Nadine...he has decided to save his money to visit them again one day ;) 

It was so special to spend this time with Trav & Rosey, as we love to hang out with them and their kids! And it was also special to re-live memories, spend the time with Dallas and the boys there, and see old friends again. While we love being in Paraguay, the people are what made the trip and we are so thankful for the opportunity to have gone. It was a bit of a last minute decision to go now when we did, but I'm so glad we did it.

Maybe after another 8 years of saving money we can go again?? ha!

💗💗💗💗

I am also so thankful to God for the peace he gave me in being able to return to Mexico. Just before we went, I became a little fearful that going back to Paraguay would make it hard to come back, as I spent many years coming to terms with not being there anymore and asking God for peace no matter where I was living. And He gave it to me! We have always been at peace with being in Mexico, but, I became nervous that going there would "un-do" that process. I am soooo thankful that we had an AMAZING time there and even more thankful to see that God has my heart and that I truly can love life where I am in the moment. Do I want to go back? For sure, I will always love it as one of my homes. But God has given me a measure of a home here in Mexico also and as that's where we live at the moment, I'm grateful. I believe the one thing I would ever wish for more than anything is peace and contentment with God and with life, than to have a "thing" that I wish for and always be looking for something more.