Blog #8 Back to School and Sailing On

The past couple of weeks have been very eventful (with lots of good things and challenges, too) and if I'm being completely honest they have been very hard. The book Making Peace with Change by Gina Butz states, "Transitions take us out of our comfort zones and into unchartered territory". I was feeling homesick and missing my family and friends (especially Ethan), missing my favourite coffee shop, missing all my teaching friends back home and excitement of Back to School, missing being able to get in my car and drive wherever and whenever I wanted, missing feeling competent at my job, feeling like I don't belong here....and this list could go on! I have had to work hard to not let my circumstances dictate my mood. I acknowledged my feelings and rather than pushing through them, I turned to God to be my anchor in this stormy part of our journey.

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Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge;

in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.

~Psalm 57:1

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At the beginning of October, the girls started school at the Mercy Ships Academy - Amayah in Grade 1, Araina in Grade 4, and Chris started his first year as principal (currently in the role of vice-principal for another month until the principal moves over to the Global Mercy) at the Mercy Ships Academy. I started a new role as the librarian at the Academy! I get to do one of my most favourite things - read books to students! Back in September, Ethan started his second year at the University of Regina and is doing this semester online at his Dad's house. On the second week of school, the entire Academy went on a field trip to the beach and they had so much fun! Our family also took a few "field trips". We went on some hikes, to the beach A LOT, and visited the beautiful botanical gardens.

Last week the Mercy Ship left the shipyard in Las Palmas, in which the Africa Mercy underwent major repairs, and sailed to Tenerife where we will be preparing the ship to return to Senegal in the new year. There is a lot of work to do, but this is a very exciting season to be part of this organization! This was our first time sailing, with the exception of taking the ferry across to Vancouver Island. The sail was a very cool experience! The girls and I didn't get seasick, but Chris felt pretty crappy for a few hours. The girls got to have school outside on the deck and watch the sail - they were lucky enough to see dolphins! Chris helped with the lines (huge ropes) when we left the port and arrived at the new one. The whole sailing experience will be one we will never forget!

Here's a little video that shows a bit of our sail from Las Palmas to Tenerife:

Did you know we are able to receive mail on the ship? If you would like to send us some snail mail (the girls would LOVE to receive an actual letter in the mail!), you can send it to this address and we should get it within 2 - 3 weeks.

Mercy Ships - AFM- Crew Mail

Chris (or Shae, Araina, or Amayah) Attwater

15862 State Highway 110 N.

Lindale, Texas

USA

75771-2020

Prayers for thanks:

• staying healthy

• happy kids

• ocean views from our living room window

• Facetime to 'see' our family and friends who are so far away

• the opportunity to be here at such a transitional time with Mercy Ships...even if it is hard

• wonderful teachers at the Academy (and a pretty awesome principal & vice-principal too!)

Prayer requests:

• that the girls have a desire to learn and that they would excel in their strengths and persevere in their weaknesses

• Chris and all of the staff at the Academy

• preparations to get the Mercy Ship ready to sail to Senegal

• that we would stay positive during challenging times

As always, thank you for your support, encouragement, and prayers! There is a lot of work to do until we are ready to sail to Senegal...and I'm sure there will be many ups and downs....but we continue to be very grateful to be part of this organization!

With love and gratitude,

Chris, Shae, Araina, & Amayah