August 3-21 Missionary Training School and Special Family Reunion with Colorado Relatives

What an awesome adventure Missionary Training was!!! We were nestled in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado Springs, CO for 3 1/2 weeks with an amazing group of people from all over the Nation. All of these wonderful people were about to embark on the greatest journey of their lives as well. It was an amazing feeling being surrounded by so many people who were just like you. For the 1st time in a long time we seemed to "fit" in with people around us. God worked through the staff and the "trainees" to prepare us for the most rewarding, yet scariest time of our lives. We learned all about living a life full of paradoxes and how real they would come to be. We were shaken to our emotional core throughout most of our training and we found out many things about ourselves. We learned that being in highly stressful situations can have you leaving the mission field very quickly if you are not truly prepared for the "what-ifs" that can occurr when living in a third world country. We give God thanks for this amazing experience. We are so thankful for the SPLICE training 2009 brothers and sisters. We feel so blessed to have another family.

O'Dell's in the News!

On Septemeber 11th, the O'Dells were blessed with an opportunity to tell their story and raise awareness about the great works happening through God's calling in their lives and at Robin's Nest!

Take a Look!!!

http://www.kcci.com/video/20858975/index.html

"Home" to "Move"

We are glad to be back “home” for a few weeks…we have a lot to get done before we move for good on September 8th. Please keep us in your daily prayers as they are always needed. This is going to be one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences in our life while at the same time be one of the most difficult and demanding challenges we have faced!!! We will keep God in the center of it all and are faithfully confident that He will continue to bless this mission!!!

Time Flies

So much happens in one day…and like one of our workers told us “there is never the same day twice at the Nest”…I have found it too hard to keep up on a daily journal because we are both completely exhausted by the time we get back home to do some small projects around our new house, take a quick bath / shower to wash off the daily grime off us and the kids (as well as a great way to cool off), have a snack, have a little family time, devotions, put the kids to bed, we use what little energy we have left to process the day and plan for the next…we take one day at a time…and each morning we give thanks to God for giving us this day!!!
We had some incredible mission teams do some great work around the Nest that would never get done without their assistance…praise God for their talents, time, energy, and resources…they are food for our soul as they bring us much needed strength to persevere when things seem to be going wrong and a moral boost when projects get done as well…and the list of projects is a long one.

A Long Day & A Good Meal

Well our day began at 3:45 AM so we could be on our way to Kingston with no traffic to deal with…I was a very beautiful drive watching the sun rise over the ocean…and a nice smooth road…and great conversation with Michelle…somewhere past Ocho Rios we hit some very winding mountain roads…about 45 minutes into this Anna decided to get sick…we were thinking she had got the same sickness that Carly had a few days ago…we pulled over and wiped her up…the locals said that we should put newspaper on her chest…so I put some on her to catch the next round…by the time we made it to Kingston Anna got sick 3 more times and Angie, Sam, and myself were felling a little sick ourselves…Winding roads, the stench of baby vomit and the heat were making us want to be out of the car ASAP…Kingston is a fairly dirty town but luckily Michelle has been here enough that we only made a few wrong turns and back tracks and went down a one way street the wrong way for one block… We were even more lucky by getting all of our documents done and submitted in one day and still had time to make it back to Ocho Rios before dark (the sun sets about 7:30PM here right now) We discovered that poor little Anna has Car Sickness as she got sick one more time on the way back…locals tell us they put newspaper on their bare chest to cure this ailment…I think we will try Dramamine next time!!! Michelle treated us to a dinner at a very beautiful restaurant called The Ruins…it had a beautiful waterfall and fish aquariums that the kids loved. The food was excellent as well

Technology Fix Plz!

We are still without our satellite internet connection and it is really starting to bug me…we are calling the local communications company daily to send a technician to get us back online…I rented a car today for our trip to Kingston tomorrow and they had an infant car seat for Anna.

Sweet Sundays

Sunday is a GREAT day at the Nest…We take the kids to Church and then the Beach…Church was good…we took about 12 kids with us, plus Michelle, Leah, and the rest of my family…we just stayed for the children’s hour and the start of the main service…living right next to the church is very convenient for going home to get ready for the beach… Our 1st day at the beach was quiet the experience with 18 people in one bus…we found a star fish and put it in a bucket…we jumped off the floating trampoline…and had snack and gave all the kids showers…it is always nice to have a visiting team to help watch the kids…When we got home we meet Cefton and some neighborhood kids having a Sunday night bible study group.

4th of July

Well no fireworks, parades or backyard bar-b-que’s here in Jamaica to celebrate the American Independence Day…I did have a Burger King Whopper and a diet coke the other day…it made me feel like I was back home for a bit!!!

Beginnings of a Routine

I am loosing track of my days and sooo much happens in just one day to remember it all…we are getting more settled in at our new home each and every day…our routine of getting up and ready and coming home to do work around our house is staring to take shape…I am gone a lot during the day to trips into the city and leaving Angie to take care of the kids and learn her side of the Director duties…she is getting a little tired of this arrangement…

Cutie Pie

The days are long and time is short to devote to writing my thoughts down…there is sooo much to adjust to and learn. Anna is doing quite well…she seems to be EVERYONES favorites…her sandy blond hair and blue eyes help her stand out!!! Her nick name is Anna banana or Cutie Pie (as Ryon calls her) The Nest kids are amazed with her baby signs that we have taught her…I think we will share this knowledge with the pod moms to teach the Nest babies…Anna’s new favorite sign is sticking her tongue out to represent a lizard…and there are lizards everywhere here…they are our friends as they eat the bugs…speaking of bugs…Sam and Carly are getting half eaten alive here with little black fruit flies and mosquitoes…they must sense there sweet blood…Sam is fitting in very well with the boys down here just like we knew he would…he is hanging out mostly with Lou, Shaquille, and Chavar…Carly is not felling well today…I think she has a little dehydration and home sickness…Wheelchair Ion got his adoption papers signed today…this should mean that he will be going to his permanent home within a month or two…what great news for Ion and his new family

Settling In

During the process of unpacking we noticed that one of our bags did not make it to the house as it had a FAN in it that we soooo desperately needed…I was sure that someone must have walked away with it while we were at the airport or that it fell off the truck…Michelle convinced me that we should go to the airport and just see if they had it and sure enough they did…praise God for small miracles like this…it really fills your soul and keeps you going for one more hour, day, week…We have a team here right now lead by Michael and Jennifer from St. Paul area…They are getting some good work done around the Nest (Preschool play ground, painting one boys room in a space theme, making / fixing some tables)

Our New Life

well our day started at 4 AM as neither of us could sleep for fears of not making it to the airport on time for a 6:50 departure and all those other things that go through your head as you are about to embark on a new adventure...we got to the airport at 5:30 and started the process of checking in our luggage and we found out the our 4 large suitcases were all 2 to 10 # over weight...I spent the next 10 minutes (although it felt like 30) rearranging our stuff to make the magical 50# weight limit (or suffer the $150 fine) I had no trouble doing it but I started my day in a good sweat...well we get to security and they find some bottles of fluid in our carryon bags that we forgot that were illegal and were then confiscated...and slowed us up by another 20 minutes as security had to search our bags for the illegal contraband...well by now we are all starving and ready to sit down to a quick bite to eat...well about 10 minutes into our meal we hear over the loud speaker "LAST CALL FOR NORTHWEST AIRLINES FLIGHT TO MEMPHIS" we all looked at each other with an incredible look of terror in our eyes and grabbed all of our belongings (minus a cup of coffee and a bottle of water we just bought) and headed down the terminal just in time to beg the airline worker to open the jet way back up and let us on the plane...the flight was smooth and a lot of fun for all the kids to be in an AIRPLANE...we landed ahead of schedule and I started to think of all the food I was going to eat while waiting for our next flight...well the terminal was packed and so we had to sit in the plane for about 30 minutes until our spot came open...the flight to Jamaica was long...Anna decided that the airplane and playing games with all her new "friends" was way more important than sleeping...luckily she fell asleep in her stroller while we waited in lines for immigration, luggage and customs...
well we finally made it up to Robin's Nest on this very hot day...it was so nice to see Glaston and Michelle and all the kids...we were given a warm welcome...Sam was instantly ready to meet all his new buddies and explore this place that his parents have been trying to explain to him for the past 3-4 months...WE HAD FINALLY MADE IT!!! Praise God for that...
after having dinner we were taken to our "new home" that is about one mile up the road next to a church that they go to...I am not sure what this place looked like prior to our arrival but is was clear that many, many man-hours were put into making this a nice place for us to live...Thank you to all of you who were a part of that…this is a very nice house in Jamaica, but compared to the house we left behind in Iowa it felt more like an oven…I guess no central A/C, running water, and windows to keep the noise of dogs, goats, birds, frogs, a donkey and who knows what else out made it a little hard to get a good night sleep…we only had one fan as well…I spent most of my night fanning the kids and trying to get comfortable myself…I woke up on the couch, Sam was in a chair, and Carly, Anna and Angie were in our bed… Our new home has two bedrooms…Carly and Sam share one room (they seem to be getting along ok for now!!!thank you Lord) and Anna has a nice crib in our room…we have a nice bed and some dressers that were full of clothing that we sent with a team…I am sure that every day in Jamaica will be better than today…I feel about as far away from home as I ever have but I am confident that God will provide that peace of mind that comes with embarking on a life-changing adventure such as this