You're Welcome, Sweetie Pie!

 I had three goals for this summer.
1. Learn to ride a motorcycle.
I burned my leg 
and broke Den's brake handle 
on my first lesson.
2. Get my Movement Learning website working.
Sadly, 
when I had knowledgeable people here, 
the internet was down 
and/or the website wouldn't let me on. 
3. Be flexible.
This is the only goal that has been mostly successful.
Flexibility was especially important
as we wanted to be available
for whatever our son Paul
and his wife Kate
and the grandgirls,
Anna and Lucy,
needed to facilitate this summer's move to Taiwan.

Flexibility allowed us to make more memories with the grandgirls:
Drip sandcastles at Parker Dam.
Baby swallows named Wendy, John, Michael, and Peter...

Wendy, John, Michael, and Peter

guess who's into Peter Pan?
Bike shows with no training wheels
and scooters
and spinning tricycles.
(Advice:
Any time a used Razor bike product is for sale,
buy it.)
Woods walks that allow us to find puffballs
and blueberries
and round leaves
and sticks that look like the letter F.
On walks,
the grandgirls liked to pretend
that they were the girls in The Boxcar Children books.
I was always the little brother Benny.
Benny lisps
and they found that hilarious
even when the lisp sounded like Lucy.
Treks to the swimming hole
to float the current
and make mermaid pools
and rock stacks.
Daily trips to the raspberries,
abundant this year.
Lucy liked to be in charge of the bucket
and then put the berries in ziplock bags,
squish them up,
and take them to the freezer...
Anna liked to eat them.
Mountain backroad jeep rides
that allowed girls to have their heads above the windshield
with a kite flying behind.

Lucy and the jeep

On one jeep ride
a red fox,
Lucy's favorite animal,
crossed in front of us
and then stood in the woods,
peering out.
That night
as I prayed with her,
"Thank you, God,
for letting Lucy see a real fox,"
she piped up
"Thank you, God,
for letting me see a real fox!"
and then immediately became the voice of God:
"WELL, YOU'RE WELCOME, SWEETIE PIE!"

This morning at 12:30 AM
we left for the Pittsburgh Airport
to begin what Den called
The Big Jump.
Waiting at baggage check-in,
Anna and I put googly eye stickers on their luggage.
(Full disclosure:
I barely resisted putting them on airport signs.)
Goodbye hugs occurred at 4:00
with big-and-little tears
from six Shaffners
and Shelby-the-amazing-driver/friend.
For the many people
who have prayed for our adjustment
to our family's Great Adventure,
thank you.
Thank you.
THANK you.
Bless you.
We are at peace.
We confidently hand them off to their Asian family,
to grandparents Victor and Joy,
and to the hand of God.

Last night,
Paul and Kate decided to let the girls stay up
so they would sleep more on the plane.
Ten o'clock found us in the garage
painting our pinkie nails
to remind us of each other.

Polished pinkies except for Foxy

Anna soon disappeared
into the house
to resume
her new-found friendship
with Calvin and Hobbes,
but Lucy hopped on the Razor trike
and spun around the driveway
in the dark,
admiring the stars.
I began to sing
the simple children's song
"God made the stars..."
when she took over
and bellowed
"Thank you God
for the stars
and the MOOOON
and Grammy
and BO-O-OP..."
I raised my hands
to the One who made the moon
and joined her in thankfulness
imagining God's response:
"Well, you're welcome,
Sweetie Pie!"

When someone else is driving
and you have no control,
be thankful for the company.
Throw your hands in the air
and enjoy the ride.
There is joy in the journey.

Paul, Kate, Anna, and Lucy  now live in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

May you find joy in your journey.

Denny and Sue

A Move to Taiwan

Perhaps you have heard the news
that our son Paul and his family
are moving in July
to Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Though he and Kate were happy with their jobs in State College--
Paul was in charge of study abroad and internship programs
for the College of Science at Penn State
and Kate was working on a two-year grant
on Pennsylvania businesses
for WPSU,
the local public radio station,
both jobs were full-time, year-round positions
and they wanted to spend more time with their kids.
Anna is six
and Lucy is three,
lovely children.

Ten blessings about the upcoming move:
1. Kate has always wanted to teach.
She will teach middle school English
 at Morrison Academy,
the international school that she was graduated from,
though at a different campus.
2. Paul will work as a consultant for Morrison for one year,
then perhaps work in Morrison's administration
developing an internship program for high school students.
3. Kate has been offered opportunities
to continue to pitch radio stories
as well as teach a class in radio journalism.
4. Paul will also continue to work remotely for Penn State
on a part-time basis
and will continue to run and teach
their summer biology course in Tanzania.
5. Anna will be able to bike to school with Kate.
6. Lucy will be able to stay at home with Paul.
7. Their family will have the perfect environment to learn Chinese,
 something they have always wanted.
8. They will be living on the top floor
of an apartment building on campus
that is FULL of young families.
Playmates will be available all the time!
9. Kate's brother lives in Taiwan.
10. They will be a short flight away
from Kate's parents
and extensive family
in the Philippines.


What else could we expect from Intracultural Studies majors?
Paul drove in the UK before he had his license in the States
and has swum in the Sea of Galilee.
He travelled alone to the Dominican Republic when in high school,
had a semester in London during college,
and has had adventures in Switzerland
and Spain
and Morocco.
Kate traveled the world
as a recruiter for Houghton College.
They spent their first years of married life
in a house with a giant boulder in the living room
among hippos
and a variety of snakes
in Tanzania.
God has plans for their family
and we trust Him
and them.

But Oh.
Oh.
Oh...
We will miss them.
Please keep us in your prayers
as our minds wrap around
this change.