Time for an update.
This last Monday heralded our arrival back to the US. We had a wonderful six weeks in Turkey, met some amazing people, and learned some sweet lessons. Turkish people are incredibly kind and hospitable so it was a blessing to get to learn from them. We learned a lot about ourselves during those six weeks and much about our Father. How great is His delight in His children and how abundant is His provision! We learned about peacemaking, prophesy, leadership, team dynamics, storytelling, and so much more. Unfortunately, our digital camera decided to stop working at the beginning of our trip- bummer.
At one point we were given the challenge of traveling from Antalya to Izmir (about a 7 hour drive) with only about $45/person and had to leave on a Saturday and arrive on a Monday. Keep in mind with this $45 we had to pay for transportation, food, and lodging for 3days/2nights. Ouch. It was a convicting experience because I realized I do a rather poor job of putting my trust completely in Him. The five of us went to a small town in the mountains on our first night with a note from a friend of ours asking a friend of his (in that village) to take us in for the night (this is more common in the Turkish culture than in the US). They gladly did and the five of us spent the night in a little screened hut. It was perfect for us that night. I slept like a rock.
The next day we tried to catch a bus to go to Denizli, but couldn't get one (unusual we hear). So eventually two guys in a small car, stopped and the five of us hopped into their little car and headed off. It was a pretty crowded, but we survived. We decided to stop for some tea on the way and the men offered to take us to Pamukkale (a town close to Denizli) where we'd hoped to see the white cliffs and Hierapolis. They dropped us off there and would not let us pay for gas (gas in Turkey is about $12/gallon)! So we stopped for a quick lunch and enjoyed the pools formed by the calcium deposits. It was very very hot.
Late that afternoon we took a bus and headed on our way hoping to find a pansiyon (think combination between a bed & breakfast and a hostel) in Aiden. We asked about 10 different people if there were any pansiyons or reasonable hotels and we received about 10 different answers. It was stressful because we were so low on money. We were tired and a little frustrated yet soon made the decision to head on to Selcuk where there was a hotel/pansiyon where we could stay for the night. $20/night/person was a big chunk of our budget, but we had a supplement to our small stipend, so financially we were OK. Then we took a bus to our final destination with about $2. Wow.
That's just a short and rather undetailed excerpt from our time in Turkey. For those that are wondering, baby girl is doing well and enjoyed her stay in Turkey (and is still enjoying her stay in the womb). The flight back to the US was actually a little easier on me (at 30 weeks) than our trip over there at 24 weeks. I think this was because we took shorter flights but had a few more stops. Papa Clarkson was on high alert for Mama and Baby Clarkson and made sure we were all well taken care of. I didn't have any problems with swollen feet (yeah!) and made sure to walk around on the plane and drink plenty of water.
We got to visit a dr. while we were over in Turkey who did a 3D ultrasound on our little one. She's so cute. He said she looked very healthy and was measuring a little large. We had another appointment with our midwife yesterday and everything again checked out well. Her heartrate is around 130 bpm and is plenty active. She seems to have a knack for figuring out when I lay down to rest as that is her favorite time to perform her daily circus acts and acrobatics. I can't believe we're already starting week 31. Wow. It's overwhelming that He would trust us with her life.
Hmm, that's just a quick summary of the life of the Clarksons right now. We're waiting to hear back from our landlord about when our apartment is available. Other than that we're enjoying the beauty of summer and relishing in the love of our Father. And, preparing for the arrival of our little one (September 16th is the estimated date of arrival), working on putting together a team to join us on the field, continuing with our support raising, looking for part time jobs, trying to learn about investing, and probably a few other things I forgot.