Say Wha?

How can this boy be in first grade already?  And why in the world is school starting in July?  It's summer for Pete's Sake!?!

Last night, we had our Krull's 2nd Annual Back to School Celebration Dinner.  Buddy Boy picked the menu; beans and rice and fresh corn on the cob.  What can I say, he's easy.  We had a special back to school cake too, Funfetti with lemon butter cream frosting.  After dinner, we had a rousing game of ABC Bingo, and then early bedtimes for all.  It was a delightful evening.

 I cried this morning.  After numerous pictures, I left my baby at a new school for his first day of First Grade.  Then I cried my way to the car.

Adventures In Obtaining a Passport

I had an expired passport with my maiden name on it.  It had zero stamps in it, a fact I blame on my brother... but that's another story.  With the upcoming trip to Haiti, I needed to get a new one.  I woke up one morning totally motivated to check this task off my list.  Here are the factors that contributed to my lack of motivation:

1.  It is hot.  Like 118 degrees hot.
2.  I have three Crazies who would be accompanying me.
3.  Two out of three Crazies are in carseats.
4.  This errand included two stops, in and out of the car.
5.  One stop included a trip through a security check-point.

Are you seeing why this took some initiative on my part?  I hope you will empathize.

Okay.  So I woke up early, and actually did my hair and make-up, and got dressed in something besides work out clothes.  I got all three kids fed and dressed so we could be out the door by 8:30 to beat the searing desert heat.  First stop was Walgreens to get my passport pictures taken (hence the hair and make-up).  In and out in ten minutes with no crying.  We're off to a great start!  Next stop, Superior Court building.  I find my way to the parking lot... again a success, as I'm prone to getting lost.  Everyone out of the car, Babycakes in the stroller.  We walk to the building only to be rejected by the "Employee Only Entrance, Public Entrance on South Side of the Building" sign.  I have to make a quick decision, load everyone back up (refold the stroller and strap two into carseats again), OR walk the quarter mile around to the other side.  We walk.  Determined to keep the mood light and be the optimist... I counter every complaint about heat and length of this trek with lighthearted encouragement and promises of a trip to Dunkin' Doughnuts if we can make it through with good attitudes.    That's right, I bribed them.  We make it to the opposite side of the building and make it through security.  I reopen the stroller, get my bag from the xray machine and we're off to the passport office.  Feeling pretty smug that I have remembered all the crucial paperwork, including my checkbook, the lovely receptionist gives me the necessary application.  I settle into the waiting room, filling out the paperwork while simultaneously feeding the wee one and entertaining the big ones.  I get back in line, only to get stuck behind the woman who is arguing with the same receptionist about her current felony charge and why would it be on her criminal record forever... pipes up my eldest, "Mom, what's a felony?"... "Is she a thief?"  *Loudly*  Stern mom laser beam eyes eventually get him to zip it.  Finally, felon gives up and I get to turn in my paperwork and $110.00.  Government employee tells me my face it too big.  "Excuse me?"  "Your face in the picture... it's too big.  You'll need to get new photos."  Sweet.  So that ten bucks I dropped at Walgreens with the expert passport photo taker didn't ensure me quality passport photos?  I get to take the gang back to get new ones?  Excellent.  The good news is, I can process my application without it, and send it new ones through the mail.  I open my check-book to fork over the moolah only to discover it is empty.  No new checks.  Seriously?  Government Employee actually laughs at me, in pity.  "You'll have to come back again with a check."

Take two this morning. Hair and make-up.  Back to Walgreens.  Back to the Courthouse.  This time, we had what I'll dub a "security mishap"... I go through the metal detector first carrying the babe.  I wait on the other side for Sweetpea to come through... then.... Buddy shouts through to me (standing next to the man with the badge and gun)... "Mom, what size bomb do you think will blow this place up?  Like a hand grenade?"  No joke.  Every person within shouting distance spins around to look at the kid who just dropped the "B" word while going through security.  We had to have a private talk about that one.  With a screaming baby in tow, we make it through the first stop at reception, and then settle in to wait the hour and fifteen minutes until my name is called.  Government Employee number two asks me, first thing, "Why did you come here to get your passport?"  "Ummmmm, where else should I have gone?"  "Why didn't you just mail in your application, it's just a renewal with a name change.  You could have just mailed it in."

Why lady?  I'm just a glutton for punishment, that's why.

The Official Announcement, Part Two

For Part One of "The Official Announcement"... go {HERE}


Later that Sunday evening, I was working in the garage.  Gary had finished putting the Crazies to bed, and joined me.  We were both silent, because we knew.  He said, "so we're going to Haiti I think".  Was Palmer even serious?  We agreed to bring it to God and then go talk to Paul Gunther (Missions Pastor at The Grove).  We waited about a week.  I think I rollercoastered through every emotion possible.  Honestly, it was mostly sadness, grieving the "loss" of what I thought my life might look like.  Yes, I still felt sadness even though I know we're following God's plan.  Other emotions included fear and excitement.

The next week Gary went to talk with Paul, to get a feel if this was really even a possibility right now.  It was.  The following week Gary and I met with Palmer and Paul.  I got the feeling at first that they were a little skeptical, were we really serious?  They must have a lot of people from our church come to them and tell them they want to move to another country, but never follow through.  We shared our hearts.  They were very encouraging and excited at the possibility, and we left with a short term plan to next meet with the mission board.

We told our families our plans, our hopes.  There were mixed reactions, mostly positive, some non-descript, like they were still processing this information and didn't quite know what to think.  We waited a month until the mission board was scheduled to meet.  During this time, we didn't really tell anyone, besides family and close friends, about this possible move.

Last month we met with the mission board and are now prepared to move ahead.  We have several things to work on before another meeting next month, then Gary and I will travel to Haiti in September for a short trip, my first trip to Haiti!!

Have you noticed there is no definitive move date? That's because there isn't one yet.  We will share more as we learn more, so please continue to check back to the blog for updates and prayer requests.  If you'd like to subscribe so that you will have automatic notifications we the blog is updated, you can click on the follow button to the right (if you have a google account, follow on the top option, if you have a facebook account, follow on the bottom option under "followers").

So that's where we're at today.  We get a lot of questions, many of them similar in nature.  We'll post some answers to the frequently asked questions soon.

And lastly, THANK YOU for all of the encouraging comments, emails, facebook messages, and voicemails.  It has been so uplifting for us and we feel so supported already.

The Official Announcement

Let me preface this announcement with the following:

We are open to what God is doing, even changes to the plans we are pursuing.  We respect the wisdom and guidance of the Pastors in our life and know that without God in this decision, it will not happen.  Please join our family in prayer, as we know the plans we are making may change throughout this process.  We are not making this announcement to gain anything, we simply want to share what God is doing, and to ask that you pray for us, because we are not adequate on our own.  We know that you may have an opinion about our decision, but we ask that if you choose to share, that it will be with kindness and in love.

...so please read the following through the lens of this disclaimer.



We're moving to Haiti.

This has not been a hasty decision, nor an easy one as you can imagine.  About three years ago, I began praying for God to use me, to use our family.  I wanted desperately to give myself completely, without reservation.  I really had no idea how on earth I could be used by God, aside from being the best wife and mother I could.  So I prayed for the finances for me to become a stay at home mom.  I knew that with all earthly understanding, this was pretty close to impossible for our family, the money just didn't add up.  But I prayed.  As the year progressed, God sparked a tiny little ember within me that maybe I could even do more.  I kind of doubted God.  My skill set is kind of limited.  I'm a total introvert.  I'm not a Bible scholar, theologian, or even wise.  I have social anxiety, not really a people person (and God is kinda a lot about people!!).  I just prayed.  Meanwhile, Gary was praying the same prayer.   About two years into this change, we started talking more about it, praying more, reading more.  God was changing our hearts desires.  A year ago, God provided for me to stay at home full time.  Honestly, I didn't think this would ever work out, and sometimes I still don't know how our money stretches far enough sometimes.  And so our faith began to grow, to understand that God can do what is impossible.  It was around this time when Gary and I considered the possibility of a move out of the country, to full time ministry.  Maybe Liberia, or Malawi?  And mostly we just prayed and waited.  It felt like a huge step just getting to the point where we were willing to go anywhere God asked us to go.  We prayed we would know when and where, when the time came.

This past March, Gary went on a short term mission trip with our church to Haiti.  When he got home, he shared with me that it was a really good experience, but there was NO WAY Haiti was for us, but reaffirmed for us that we were willing to move to another culture, to a far away land, to live for Jesus.

About two weeks later, our church service was a small recap of the Haiti trip.  Our Pastor, Palmer Chinchen,  spoke on a related topic of going to serve people who were broken and hurting.  Then in his very last sentence, he landed the blow that would change our family's trajectory in life.  He said, "I'm looking for a family, from right here at The Grove, who would be willing to move to Haiti.  I believe there is a family right here who will go."  Arrow straight to my heart.  A sledgehammer even.  Gary and I locked eyes, then looked away from each other.  We didn't mention it again.  We both knew he was talking about us, what the other was thinking.  I was scared, and my heart was beating fast.

To be continued in part 2, tomorrow...

RIP Santa

Happy Independence Day!  Here in the Krull household, we're keeping it festive by laying around in our pj's until it gets to the absolute pinnacle of scorchy-ness and then we'll venture outside for the fireworks this evening.

Seemingly out of the blue, Buddy walks up to me and asks, "Is Santa real?"  We of course are totally composed and ready for such a question, as evidenced in our honest replies of, "Uh... I dunno." (Gary) and "Ummmm, why do you ask what are you thinking what?" (me).  So then I launch into a nervous laugh, we look at each other and shrug, then I just spit out the truth.  We saw this coming, when he asked about the Easter bunny in April and we gave him the honest to goodness lowdown on the bunny and the Tooth Fairy while we were at it.  We shouldn't have been shocked.  But really, what child on earth is thinking about Christmas on the fourth of July when it is 110 degrees in the shade?

Circa 2007, at the height of believing