Forwarding Address

Hey, folks -

For any of you who just wander in to check our blog from time to time, please note that our cyberspace address has moved to:

http://myersfamilyny.wordpress.com

Thanks for keeping up with us!

The Myers

New York, Ho!

At the Magic Kingdom
(Disclaimer: The photos in this post have no relation whatsoever to the written content. They are just there to give you something to look at.)

Yes, it's true! Since the last time I blogged (a lapse due to terrible internet service, a very active baby, and a good dose of laziness), the Myers have finally decided to return to New York. On April 30th, we will embark on our return journey, Carrie and Deise by Jet Blue; Sophie, Daniel and Ryan by Toyota Camry; and all of our stuff by a 6x12 ft trailer, driven by the intrepid Jeremy Reynolds, a friend who lives here in Jax, but works as a tugboat engineer in New York City. And by May 1st pm, we should all be more or less comfortably and chaotically installed in our apartment in Astoria, upstairs from our good friends Darcy and Cris.

We can't wait! In the meantime, we are frenetically packing, finishing up homeschooling for the year, and divesting ourselves of all the extra stuff we have collected to fill our 2,800 square foot house. After all, we will be squeezing all five of us into 800 sq feet - and with only one bathroom! Of course, we can't help returning with more than we left with, Deise being the most important addition, and one that comes with a lot of accessories.

What prompted this momentous decision, you ask? It has been coming on for a while now. (I can hear the chorus of our New York friends saying, "IT'S ABOUT TIME.") Ryan has been working through the question of calling for years, ever since our departure from City Church of Honolulu. Although he has long felt called to be a pastor, the questions of where, and to whom, have not been as clear. When we visited New York at Thanksgiving, Ryan rediscovered his love for the city, and for the people of the city - the diversity of culture, ethnicity, and experience. And it was not until a few weeks ago that he articulated to himself that the one place he has ever felt directly called to is New York City.

Some events here in Jacksonville contributed to our decision, as well. In October of last year, Ryan left the staff of our church, Beaches Vineyard, where he had been working part time for over a year. Although he had hoped to work into a full-time position, there did not seem to be a need for a fifth pastor on staff. That was one closed door. Then, early in 2012, Ryan was a finalist for a position at a church here in town. Although it would have been a culturally difficult fit for us (extremely wealthy, white, conservative congregation), God seemed to be pointing us in that direction. When the church went with another candidate, that door closed as well.

During the same time Ryan was pursuing the church job, we were also seriously praying about church planting, whether here in Jax, or in New York. Our Monday night home group has grown in the past year to a gathering of over a dozen people -- sometimes as many as twenty -- and some of the regulars had begun thinking of our group as their primary church. A few even tithed to us. So growing this group into a church was a viable option.

In the end, God seemed to confirm for Ryan that his heart was, and is, in New York. (For my part, my sister is expecting a baby in August, and I have felt the pull of my nephew-to-be very strongly!) Since that confirmation, things have begun to move very quickly. God has opened up our old apartment for us, and our landlord has graciously given us a price that we think we can manage while we hunt for employment. Friends here have offered to drive our things up, at no charge to us. We can sense God going before us, and we look with excitement to days ahead.

We are returning to Astoria during a time of vibrant church planting. There are several new plants that we know of, and it is likely that we will join one of them for a season while we go through the church planters assessment process with the Vineyard.

As we prepare to leave, we are inexpressibly grateful to our church family here, both at the Beaches Vineyard and in our home group. Beaches Vineyard has provided us with training in prayer and ministry that we could not have imagined. The Vineyard pastors, especially Pastor Lee and Pastor Byron, have given Ryan invaluable opportunities to preach, teach and learn, and to receive healing. My Wednesday morning intercessory prayer group has covered us with prayer and spoiled us with gourmet meals when Deise was born. And thanks to the Vineyard, Ryan will return to New York as both a licensed and ordained pastor! Pastor Lee licensed Ryan in December so he could perform a wedding for friends, and will ordain him at our going away party this Saturday.

Dad and Deise.
(This is Ryan's "Leonardo DiCaprio" cut, given to him by his friend Vaughn the day before Ryan performed Vaughn's wedding. I guess that does make this picture relevant to this post, in sort of a strained way.)

As for our home group, we have built a community around shared meals, prayer and worship, as well as time spent together during the week. Our kids have lightsaber duels with the Jones and Perry boys; Patsy and Jerry give us eggs from their chickens and teach us how to clean windows with lemon-lime vodka; Mimi and Ken come by on Tuesday mornings to help us learn about healing prayer. We will miss all our friends deeply.

Deise
(She is crawling and standing on her own now, and I suppose we have a picture of that somewhere. But this is the best we could do for now.)

In this time of transition, we are blessed to have friends such as you, and we continue to rely on your prayers as we move into this season of our lives, such a strange and joyful mixture of the old and the new. We are planning to take advantage of Darcy's superior internet service at the new house, so hopefully blogs will be more forthcoming once we get somewhat settled in. We love you and look forward to hearing how God is moving in your lives, as well.

Blessings and love,
Carrie, Ryan, Sophie, Daniel and Deise

Top 10 of the Summer

Lots of drama and busy-ness in the Myer's household these last few weeks.

1) Grammy! She came to town for two weeks to help out with the baby. While she was here, I asked her to clean, and clean she did. I think she counted 42 blinds that needed to be dusted. We have A LOT of windows.

Grammy's homemade microwave birthday cake

2) Anniversary! Ryan and I celebrated our 13th. Marsha and Craig took us (and Deise) out for sushi, while Grammy watched the big kids at home.

3) Disease for Deise! She somehow got pink eye. Nobody else in the family got it, so we're not sure where she picked it up.

Deise with watery eye (flower picked by Daniel)

4) ER visit! After three days of tummy aches, Sophie ended up in the ER one night with suspected appendicitis. At the hospital, they ruled out appendicitis, diagnosed a urinary tract infection, lectured her about wiping front to back, and prescibed $50 worth of broad spectrum antibiotics that our insurance wouldn't cover. Two days later, her pediatrician tossed out the UTI diagnosis in favor of . . . gas and constipation. Sophie confirmed this was indeed the correct malady by practically living on the toilet for the next three days, and then fitting into some shorts that had gotten strangely tight over the last few weeks.

The cause? I'm guessing it has something to do with Sophie's mom being so tired and harried from having a new baby that she let her kids o.d. on frozen pizza and mac and cheese. (This in spite of the many lovely meals brought to us by church friends.)

5) Gunshots! Ryan has been playing with tennis with some neighborhood folks every Tuesday night and Saturday afternoon, at the same courts where the kids took lessons this spring. This past Tuesday, while the kids were with him (because they were driving mom nuts), they heard a spray of gunfire - about a dozen shots - from across the street. At least one bullet hit a court right next to them. Well, at least now they know how to duck.

And people think New York is dangerous.

6) Homeschool! (Not nearly as dramatic.) Although we liked our Living Books curriculum from last year (although we thought the Apologia Astronomy book was both too easy and too strictly young-earth creationist), this year we are opting for a more flexible, easy-going approach. The kids have more freedom to choose books and activities that appeal to them, and we avoid being locked into a schedule with every day packed full and scripted in advance. It's a way to survive with a newborn - and hopefully have more fun.

7) Growing baby! Deise is getting longer and fatter. She's somewhere shy of 8 lbs now, with the extra chins to prove it. She's awake longer, and continues to be very alert and content, with quizzical, knit eyebrows reminiscent of Sophie when she was a baby. We have baby pictures of the three kids that we can't tell apart. Sophie and Daniel fight over who gets to hold her. As sibling rivalries go, not a bad problem to have.

Who's who? (And what's up with this last one?)

8) Naked superhero! Daniel just jumped down the stairs in his birthday suit, using a bath towel for a cape. Not something he'd be doing in public school. Or private, for that matter.

9) Beach! We took two trips to Amelia Island, one with the Moltzes, and one with our neighbors the Joneses, who have boys the kids' age. The visit with the Moltzes was Deise's first trip to the beach, and she did proper honor to the occasion by wearing a hat from Aunty Cris and sleeping the whole time.

10) Trophy! Soph got a "Star Artist" award at her art camp (one of the BIG trophies). She and 29 other kids studied visual art techniques in the context of the Harlem Renaissance. Sophie came home with a many drawings and paintings, a beautiful pencil still life, a ginormous acrylic canvas . . . and a tutu. Not sure where that last one fits in, but she rocked the end of the year fashion show.

Sophie with Miss Tiffany

That's what we've been up to! Any news from you?

In which we discuss the new baby, various explosions and problematic living arrangements

Deise is more awake these days, growing longer hair and eyelashes and slightly less furry on the shoulders and back. She has the same blue-gray eyes Daniel had at birth; his turned brown so hers probably will, too.

She's had lots of visitors, bringing lots of food and making lots of cooing sounds. She got to go to church twice and to the library once, before our pediatrician told us to keep her home from now on until she's at least six weeks old. She's loved it all, especially the part where she gets to be held all the time, to the point where she's now finding it difficult to sleep otherwise. As Daniel put it, "It seems she's enjoying being a baby."

Matching Sisters (in pillow case dresses by Mom)

According to Grandpa Craig, the third child somehow figures out what the family is missing, and moves to fill the niche. And sure enough, Deise has distinguished herself by having the busiest digestive system ever. 10-12 diapers a day on average? That's obviously for amateurs. And we're talking projectile poop: all over Mom's lap, shirt and hair, and even down the inside of her shirt. That takes talent, folks.

Uncle John took a detour last week from a gig with the Fab Faux in Gainesville to visit his new niece. Aunty Tara, who hasn't made it down yet, is very, very jealous.

Fun with mentos, a liter of coke, and an empty lot on our block.

Daniel wants everyone to know that even though you can't see it in this picture, the spray went higher than the trees (his emphasis).

After nearly two weeks, Grandpa Craig finally got to see Deise awake.

Daniel reading 10 Little Ladybugs to Deise, on his own initiative.
(He wouldn't let me publish the picture of him reading on the potty. Very media savvy of him. You never know what might come back to haunt you on a job interview someday.)

On a totally unrelated note, this is a picture I've been meaning to post since I snapped it just outside of Charleston a few months ago. Possibly the worst subdivision name ever.

Isn't that just asking for trouble?