My husband is one of those people who can estimate time with precision. I'll ask him, "how long have we been here?" as I'm looking at my phone to see the time. "About 15 mins" will come his reply, when in fact we have been there 14 mins and 20 seconds! 👀
I, on the other hand, when I try to estimate time, am usually no where in the ballpark! "What time is it?" I'll ask Azael. Let's assume I think it's 3pm, so I go to look at my phone. Azael will say, "4:25ish?".. it's 4:28.. HOW.. I do not have words every time he does this. It does not compute in my brain..
Anyways, all that to say - it's been a month or two since my last update, huh? 😉(Try SIXTEEN months, Jenna!) Oops..
Since there is much to catch up on, I'm going to try this and hope it works.. The cliff's notes are listed below. If you are curious for more details, click the link in that section, and get the full scoop. It will open in a new tab. Once you've read it, close it to come back to the main update. If not, scroll down to the next month!
If the links are too confusing, click here and it will take you to the EPISTLE (long form version) 🙈
January '21
As my previous post outlined, January 2021 was extremely busy. Five events back to back, two events overlapping. Due to a situation with Azael's work at the time, he and his co-workers were given 6 weeks paid leave - which helped me with the kids immensely during those back-to-back events.
February '21
Azael was laid off in a company wide downsizing. The company he was working for went from around 50 employees to 11. The lease for our apartment also expired in February, and "Dallaska" as someone called it/the cold-front + snow found us in the middle of moving out of our apt!
March '21
Since Azael was not working, I increased my hours for Cru. Our team began planning for the second virtual Deaf Summer Mission. Deaf staff attended two workshops Cru offered. Azael applied for jobs, and we continued to live with our friends.
April '21
I was able to interpret for a one-day Christian based Foster/Adoption-care event with a friend of mine. That was amazing and so insightful! There was also more work on Summer Mission prep.
May '21
I had two back-to-back interpreting events that I needed to be in Orlando for. We took the opportunity to take the whole family to Florida for a week.
June '21
Unfortunately, we did not have any students able to join the virtual Summer mission. After a lull with employment options, Azael had two job interviews in the same week.
July '21
We verbally accepted the offer from DOOR International. This meant we would be heading to Kenya by January, and then Costa Rica come fall of 2022. Now we just needed to find somewhere to live for the next 5 months..
August '21
We moved to missionary housing in Dallas in order to downsize all our things. We also found out we would be adding a member to our family in Kenya! Surprise!!!
September '21
First trimester fatigue, trying to downsize our storage unit, and mentally and physically prepare (passports, shots, ect) to move overseas, all while Azael worked a temp position with DOOR makes this month a little bit of a blur..
October '21
During our discussion of which job to accept, we anticipated that I would continue doing what I've been doing for Cru, since most of my work is remote currently. I started to establish a part-time interpreting team under me to do the daily work of interpreting, as I knew that the internet - specifically in Kenya - would not be as reliable as it is in the States. In trying to establish this part-time team it was discovered that I could not continue the work I was doing for Cru - USA, and live outside of the US..
November '21
I took the kids and we spent two weeks visiting my family before and during Thanksgiving. Azael stayed in Dallas to wrap things up, and joined us for the Thanksgiving long weekend. The tension of how to move forward with my impending absence from Cru while also caring well for our Deaf staff hung heavy over me.
December '21
I interpreted my last in-person campus meetings for Cru in Orlando the first week of December. It was bitter sweet still not knowing if I would be able to continue with Cru after December 2021 since discussion about my position was still ongoing as we moved forward with our departure. December 15th landed us in Kenya. We suspect Azael came down with Omicron on the plane.. It made its way through the family as we adjusted to living 9 hours ahead of friends and family in the states.
January '22
As I predicted, power outages and interrupted internet connections have been frequent here. To abide by IRS regulations, it was decided that I could change my position within Cru to Associate Staff - which basically means I am now a volunteer.
>> IF you are currently supporting me financially, I will email you directly with information about your options to cease support if you desire. <<
February '22
Trying to juggle kids, manual house work (no clothes dryer, dishwasher, vacuum cleaner, etc), adjusting to a new culture and expectations and preparing to have a baby here has taken quite a lot of time. There is not much left for Cru at the moment.
March '22
Finally finding a rhythm.. one of those things includes a 4:30am meeting one day a week with teammates in the states as we plan for our first IN-Person Deaf Summer Mission since Covid!
April '22
I'm trying to complete as much as I am able before baby joins us and I'm 'off' for the next few months.
Hopefully this is not the only update you get from me in 2022 - but at this point I make no promises about my next newsletter. I'm sure there will be an intro to baby.. but then we will be moving back to the states this summer, and on to Costa Rica this fall.. Thanks for taking this ride with me for the past 10+ years. YOU have been a blessing to the ministry in whatever capacity you have been involved and I'm grateful!
Soli Deo Gloria
:D
