By Boat, Car, and Foot. The Great Northwest.

These past several days, Lucy, my parents, and I have been seeing the Northwest by boat, car, and foot. My mom and dad came ready to visit us with notebooks full of researched destinations, from the Olympic Peninsula to the Troll Under the Bridge. We had a nonstop trip full of sightseeing.

We began in Seattle by car. Here we saw everything and anything historical, botanical, and touristic. We strolled the famous fish throwing Pike Place and ate at a crumpet shop, toured historical Capitol Hill, esteemed the beautiful Queen Anne area (which is so close to my heart), shopped at the University District, viewed the Locks in Ballard, and the pondered the curious Troll Under the Bridge.

On the last leg of my parents' visit, we hopped the ferry to the Olympic Peninsula. The first day we drove all the way to the coast, marveling at all the beauty along the way. We beheld the most amazing lake, Lake Crescent. When we got to the coast, we hiked out to this great beach at La Push. By the end of the hike, unfortunately, my parents were on their death beds. After that, we drove to Forks. (Yes, we were a bit curious about the Twilight craze. If you are a Twilight fan visiting Forks might be right up your alley). All in all, I'd call that day quiet impressive.

Each night during our sightseeing of the Olympic Peninsula, we stayed in Port Townsend. Port Townsend is a quaint, Victorian town overlooking a beautiful bay. On the second day, we took a ferry across the straight to Victoria, BC. This was an awesome day. On the ferry ride, we enjoyed the bluest sky and water and saw several dolphins. Then when we arrived in Victoria we ate crepes, strolled the downtown, and had high tea at the Empress Hotel.

On our final day, we ascended into the Olympics to Hurrican Ridge. I was once again awed by the beauty of the Northwest and God's creation. I wanted to sing like Maria did, "The hills are alive with the sound of music."

We arrived back in Seattle fatigued, but filled with great experiences and memories.

Let me bring you up to speed: "Friends" with babies

Hullo friends!

We have had a SUCH a big year! We have moved back from our beloved Dominican Republic, had a baby, and then moved again to Seattle, Washington. We are settling into our lovely new home which I like to call "Friends" with babies. We live in a house with our friends, their one-year old, their baby-on-the-way, our baby, and of course, us. All of this Layne told you in the last blog, so I won't bore you with any worn out details.

I, Caitlin, am going to be taking over the blog. (Ladies are always good at freshing things up anyways). So, this entry is about me, just to let you know that I am taking the reigns. And it's gonna be good.

So, welcome to "Friends" with babies.

"Alas my friends we say goodbye

In May of 2007 Caitlin and I said goodbye to our friends, family and home to head off on an epic adventure in a far away land. Who knew our lives would change as they did? Who knew we would see and experience such wonderful and terrible things? Can you put words to the people, the culture, the injustices, or the life that one endures on a mission field in the third world? We shed many tears, had many laughs, we were frustrated to no end, experienced many victories, and we were deeply loved.
Today Caitlin and I are saying goodbye again. As you already know we made the temporary transition back to the states this last summer. Everything has gone by so quickly. Our beautiful daughter, Lucy Layne, is now four months old. For the last 5 months we have been living with my parents in efforts to save money to reestablish ourselves in American society. As I write this we are entering into the next faze of our transitioning life.
What lies 2233.6 miles away? Answer: Our new home. We have decided to go west. Seattle Washington is our destination. Along with being some of the most beautiful country in the nation, it is also home to my best friend that I have known for over ten years. Jeremy, his wife Meghan, and son Emmitt have opened their lives for us to come share with them. We have found a house to rent and plan on living in community with our friends for a good bit of time in Seattle. The plan is to explore, grow, and learn all there is to offer from this unique opportunity. No doubt it will be a challenge, but one that is adventurous and full of memories waiting to be had. While living with our friends will be a short-term experience, we do desire to explore to see if Seattle is an area God would use us in.
The adventure begins on Friday December 4th for me. My friend will meet me in Missouri and together we will drive 40 hours to the Pacific Northwest. Caitlin and Lucy’s journey has already begun. They flew to Seattle Sunday the 29th of November, and have begun to settle into the house and get things organized. We do not know exactly what God has in-store for us. Please pray that he continue to guide us, and that we will continue to listen and be faithful when he calls. As of now I do not have a solid job lined up, although I have some interviews, and temporary work available upon my arrival. Praise God for taking care us! He always has, and always will. Pray that we will continue to be obedient to His word.
Friends, we don’t know how to thank you or express our gratitude for being willing to serve by supporting us. Through prayer, time, and finances you have made it possible for us to put our hands to work and be apart of God changing the lives of children and adults. The stories are a book-length long and still bring us much joy and rejoicing. Caitlin and I pray for you, that God would continue to bless you, that you might bless those that do His work. Please, we beg you, to seek out those in need and continue the rich service that you have graciously shown to us. There is a great work to be done within our borders, as well as outside. Thank you, thank you for all you have done. We love you all, and would love to hear from you and all God is doing in your lives. God bless.

A Dominican friend once told me...

A Dominican friend once told me, “Excuse me if this is rude, but your culture is weird.” I sometimes reflect on those words as I go throughout my “normal” daily routine. I sometimes find myself uncomfortable or uneasy just driving down the perfectly paved roads with the perfectly ordered traffic. We were in Colorado the last couple of weeks for our Debriefing and Renewal training. While there, we were able to spend some time with friends, supporters and family. One evening while we were there, we went with Caitlin’s brother and his wife to Denver and walked around in the outdoor mall strip of the downtown. Have you ever been overwhelmed and not realized it? People were talking to me and trying to carry on conversation, but I apparently wasn’t there. All I saw and heard was the homeless people, people in expensive clothes with lots of shopping bags, street performers, and guys with 12-inch spikes in their hair. This used to be all normal right? We went into a Barns and Noble bookstore and I apparently lost it. I just went on complete shut down. There were so many books! I like books. Everywhere I looked there were books, and ones I wanted to read. Books on food, health, history, poetry, literature, politics, how to books, novels, and an entire Christian section. There just wasn’t enough time, and where should I start, and really we were only there to use the bathrooms. I was brought back to earth when Caitlin asked me if I was ok. Much like my 5-week old daughter who goes right to sleep when things are and loud busy, I was over stimulated. It was a surprising reminder that although it was less than 3 years ago when we left our country, reentry will be a little more complicated than expected. My Dominican friend was right on a number of different levels; this country is weird. But not because of its structure and order, those are all wonderful things. It’s strange here because you wonder how many people know that all of our order, variety, freedom of expression, and wealth are not so normal but rather tremendous blessings compared to the rest of the world. We are our in own world. Do we even know it?

During our training in Colorado Springs, we learned that the average time period for resettling in your home culture is 4 years! We also learned and identified with the stages of a cross-cultural life. Right now we are in the “Chaos” stage, comforting right! Did you know that 50% of missionaries come back to their home culture with severe anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and thoughts of suicide? Ha! It’s good to know we’re not alone! Although I wouldn’t put anything in the “severe” category, we have experienced a good deal of most of those whether here or on the field. That’s not something you hear everyday from a missionary. In all it was a very needed week. We felt validated, understood, and comfortable talking for the very first time since we’ve been back. People were actually interested! We were also able to process the good and bad over the past two years and ponder on how we want to incorporate those things in our new life. Good quality time was spent seeking the Lord and His direction for the next adventure in our lives, and we will be excited to keep you all informed as God begins to reveal His plans for us now.

We are privileged and honored to have been the recipients of your gifts and prayers. Without all of you we could not have done the work of Lord as we did in the DR. We are confident that lives are changed and that it was a time well invested. We thank God for each of you on a regular basis, and pray that you would go on investing in expanding the kingdom through a local body, local missions, and foreign missions.

The financial details of life right now are building up faith in us. God has provided some temporary work for me right now, some remodel work at Caitlin’s parents, but life here is expensive, and our goal of starting a new life seems far away. We are blessed to be able to stay with my parents for this time but are looking forward to when we can afford our own place. Please pray that God will provide for us. Our term with Kids Alive is up at the end of September, but they have agreed to leave our account open until the end of the year. Kids Alive gives their missionaries a three-month transition period where a stipend is paid, insurance is covered, and ministry expenses are reimbursed (such as the training and travel expenses during our time in Debriefing and Renewal). Insurance is the main cost for us with just having a baby. The last two months we have received only half of our required support, leaving many costs that are out of the realm of our current income. Kids Alive will pay these costs for us as long as we have money in our support account, and right now we do not. We are grateful they have agreed to leave our account open for a few more months in hopes that some of these costs can be covered through continued giving. Please consider supporting us during this time of transition while we wait for God to put pieces together. Please pray for us that we would be strong in this time and seek Him who is our provider. It has been a pleasure having each and every one of you apart of our lives. May the Lord bless you and your household!

Lucy Layne

Photagrophy by April Greene

Little Lucy Layne heads to Colorado

Since Layne and I have been back from the Dominican Republic, we’ve had exciting things happen. On a lovely Saturday afternoon, our first child, Lucy Layne (bringer of light to the narrow path), was born. It was a beautiful day! She was born on July 25th, weighing 6lbs 5 oz. She’s a tiny little thing, but completely perfect. All the proud grandparents were there to behold the precious, new little life and several friends as well. Everyday since her birth, we haven’t been able to stop studying her, holding her, and watching all her quirky little facial expressions. Having a new baby is just amazing!

This week we are off to Colorado for our debriefing with Mission Training International. We went to MTI for training before heading to the Dominican Republic and now we are wrapping up our missions experience there. We absolutely loved it the first time around, so we are excited to see what God is going to teach us. We are also happy that we are going to see lots of friends and my brother, Chris, while we are in Colorado. And of course we are excited to show off our new little addition to everyone!

Coming Home

I said goodbye to Caitlin for what would be our longest time apart yet. Watching her and her big belly walk through those doors that only those with plane tickets can pass through was harder than we both thought. The first week was quite enjoyable for the both of us. She was busy being spoiled by her parents and eating at all the places one misses while living in a third world country. I was enjoying time alone; reading and trying to plan our near future the best I could. As the weeks went on being alone wasn’t such a comfort, but I did spend some meaningful time saying goodbyes properly, and mentally preparing myself for all the changes that were set to take place within the next few months.
I think if I took a stress test even now, it would show up off the charts. Three weeks ago, I was watching people take their newly born babies home from the hospital in their arms on the back of a motorcycle. Today, I have to worry if my child’s car seat meets federal regulations; if I’m not sure I am to take it to the fire department to have it inspected, it can’t be over 5 years old by law (cause everybody knows that car seats back then were completely unsafe) and finally, legally the hospital has to check the seat before we can leave and take our baby home. We are homeless, jobless, carless, re-entering this now quite foreign country, getting ready to have a baby, and are expected to look act and feel like we did before we left the country 2 years ago.
On paper it might look like we could have a break down at any moment. The truth is we are experiencing God’s strength, peace and assurance like never before. Don’t get me wrong it’s still not easy, but God has really been on His game lately with us! (like He’s never not!). I arrived in the St Louis airport to a glowing full-bellied wife. If I have nothing else in life I have her. Being away for so long brings that into perspective.
We are living with my parents for this time of transition. Caitlin’s parents have put me to work doing some remodeling of their house, and I have been working to try and rebuild the contacts I once had in the construction business. We have been able to share a vehicle with my parents (which sometimes involves them driving us around much like when we were preteens without a license). Actually today we are finalizing the purchase of a vehicle. We made it as long as we could without one (three weeks isn’t long). It’s not like there are motorcycle taxis at the entrance to my parents subdivision, or that we can walk the corner and catch a guagua (rickety 15 passenger public transportation van filled with 20-25 people).
In all, we are blessed and thank God for that everyday. He is supplying for us emotionally and physically. He is providing a wonderful young little baby girl in the next week as well. We are extremely anxious, especially Caitlin, for her arrival. God has big plans for her and what a privilege to be apart of that.
Thank you all for all of your prayers and support. Please stick with us for the next couple of months until our official time with Kids Alive ends at the end of September. We will be in Colorado Springs for some re-entry and debriefing time, as well as speaking at different churches. If you are interested in having us come and talk please contact us: laynebeller@hotmail.com . And stay tuned for pictures of baby Beller in the next couple of weeks!!