Reflections on Technical Evaluation

By John

In a profession in which a few screws failing to be tightened could result in a million dollar airplane crumpled at the end of a runway, or even worse, the death of passengers, it is only expected that they would want to evaluate my technical skills. The harsh conditions faced in Africa demand a high level of care for the aircraft, to make sure they are mechanically sound and ready to perform at a moments notice.

As I approached these last weeks, before my evaluation, I found myself imagining two different scenarios; one where I passed and one where I did not. They both filled me with a certain amount of dread. I saw my evaluators as passing judgment on who I was as a human being, not simply on my aptitude for working in missionary aviation. If I failed that would mean I was worthless. If I passed then I would be bound to live up to this label of being ‘good enough.’ In both cases I was believing the same lie: that my identity is rooted in my accomplishments.

I was reminded that my identity is not in my performance; it is not in what I do or fail to do. My identity is held secure in Christ. He died for me and raised me up as a co-heir. I am a child of the most-high God and nothing, including my ability or inability to fix airplanes, can rob that from me. I don’t have to live in fear of not living up to a standard; therefore, I am free to do my job well, in thankfulness to God for his deep love for me.

All this is to say that at the end of my evaluation I passed!

I learned a lot during the evaluation, but I am glad to be on the other side of it and moving toward Africa. I am more thankful still for my God who is the sole justifier of my existence, and he defines my worth, not anything else.

Thank you to every one who was praying for us; it was on the whole a very peaceful time and one in which we felt quite blessed.

Our Biennial Gingerbread House Contest

So, this year was the second time that we had a gingerbread decorating contest with John's family. The participants included Team Amazing: John and Clarissa. And Team Almost-As-Amazing: John's Mom, Shari and sister Rachel.

The following pictures chronicle the epic event.

The day before we had to assemble the houses. We used a kit, which made it much easier, but it also forced us to constrain our creativity within the parameters of the structure designated by the kit.

As you can see, our house (the one on the right), had some graham cracker additions that we deemed necessary to our finished product.

John'a mom giving us the look of, "we know our house will turn out better, but don't worry we'll be nice about it."

Our goal was a medieval castle, complete with mote, drawbridge, and stained glass windows...however, we decided that our food-dye stained banana chips (which were supposed to look like stone walls) really just ended up looking lame. In the end we deemed that their marshmallow cottage was the winner.




We thought the most creative element of the whole process was the "log fire" built out of old french fries. Way to go Rachel!

2010 Year in Review

We realize that January is half over; however, we didn't want to pass up the opportunity to share some of the crowning moments of the past year.

Here it is, top ten style:

10. Going on a dinner-cruise on Lake Cour d' Alene with all the Moody Staff and 2010 graduates.



9. Celebrating the last year of Clarissa's 20's (i.e. her 29th birthday) with a 1920's style Murder Mystery party. No one solved the murder and we concluded that none of us would make successful detectives in real life.



8. Running Bloomsday in May in a smashing 1 hour and 30 minutes. For you non-Spokanites out there, Bloomsday is the largest road race in the world with something like 50,000 participants. Though only a 12k race, there are always some Kenyans who fly in for the race and win it. Our hope is that after a few years in Kenya, we can come back and win Bloomsday.

7. Flying into Sudan, especially now that the next time we go, Southern Sudan will most likely be a whole new country. If you haven't been following that, you can learn more here.



6. Visiting friends in Pennsylvania and seeing a. real Amish (yes, they actually drive around in a horse and buggy on the road with cars) and b. the liberty bell.



5. Moving into a new apartment. Check out this post for photos of our new little living space.

4. Celebrating 2 years of being married by staying in a tented cabin overlooking a watering hole on the African savanna (and going on a short little safari).



3. For Claire: having reunion with some of her favorite people: Sarah G, Allegra Hochstetler, Kacy (C0x) Dudrey, and Katie Lyon. For John: The addition of several men to our missional community.



2. Making new friends in Kenya. We are so excited and we can't wait to go back!



1. The grace of God that transcends our comprehension and has sustained us throughout this year, regardless of our awareness and despite our accomplishments.