Horizontal....

That is my position as of late! Our life took on a few changes as I was put on bed rest at 23 weeks pregnant, about 3 weeks ago. I am at high risk for having premature labor, so my life is on the sofa bed by day and regular bed by night. Every week, every day, every hour counts for this little baby girl- and so we are being strict on ourselves and taking this bed rest thing very seriously! We couldn't do it with out the help of some dear friends, from our Mercy Ships family, who have each volunteered to watch Lily for one or two days a week- and many times they cook for us too. Every day I feel unbelievably thankful and blessed by them.

Justin has been amazing- as he works full time, drops off/picks up Lily from baby sitters (along with the pack-n-play, toys, car seat, diaper bag etc), does laundry, does dishes, does the grocery shopping, takes care of everything Lily needs every evening and weekend, takes care of me, and sometimes cooks too. I am so thankful for him, he is my rock... (my very busy rock).

Lily has adjusted well- maybe better than I have. The first morning, it was very difficult to say good bye to her, we had spent every day together- I was raising my daughter and I felt like this opportunity was being taken from me. Now I am learning to see it as a good time for us to transition, as she will not be getting ALL of our attention when her little sister joins the family. I treasure our time in the evenings together and it has been a joy to watch her little personality develop. She is 19 months today- (and her (very late) first tooth is making an appearance... how exciting)!

Yesterday marked my 26th week of pregnancy. Two more weeks and we are safe to stay and deliver in the Tyler area, a half hour from where we live. If things look too risky or I have preterm labor before 28 weeks we will have to relocate to the Dallas or Houston areas. Ultimately, we are praying for a healthy full term baby, at least 10 more weeks! Of course, this sentences me to 10 more weeks in bed- but it's totally worth it.

The bump at 25 weeks

Lily and her Daddy on a walk

August

This month has been, as so many before it, busy. Lorah and Lily have been working on making the Landing more hospitable, and I've been working hard on the new ship plans.

One of the things I've been working on this month was sizing the stairwells for the new ship. I've never fully appreciated the work that goes into determining the dimensions of a stairwell before. This is an incredibly complicated process. I've made a monster spreadsheet just to figure out how wide the stairs have to be. Then there's the slope of the stairs, the area of the landings for each deck, the width of the doors to the landings... and all of this has to be determined for both day and night conditions and designed for the largest of the two requirements. 

Well, I guess it's a good thing I like puzzles!

Stationary?!?!?!

This has been another busy year for the Ray family! We finished the Africa Mercy Power the Vision project, went to Sierra Leone for the first few months of the Africa Mercy 2011 Field Service, visited family, friends, and supporters in Texas and Pennsylvania, and completed the first revision of the preliminary general arrangement of the hospital for a new ship project!

Since we've been able to blog last, we've moved back to Mercy Ships' International Operations Center in Lindale, Texas and I've started a new job with a nice, big title: Design Engineer - New Ship Acquisition. 

I'm settling into my new role, I'll be responsible for facilitating a ship design that allows Mercy Ships to maximize its impact on the lives of the forgotten poor in Western Africa while providing a comfortable environment for staff to work effectively and focus on their mission. 

I've dreamed of working on this project since I first started with Mercy Ships and I'm very excited that the day has come! I'm looking forward to playing a part in creating a purpose built, cutting edge, 100 million dollar tool that's sole purpose is the physical, spiritual, and emotional redemption of the most marginalization and neglected people in the world. There are a lot of great opportunities in the engineering world to do rewarding work, but I can't think of a more rewarding, challenging, and exciting opportunity than the one I've been blessed with for this season of my life.

Being back in the States has a lot of benefits that we're enjoying as well. Being stationary (we're very much looking forward to developing a routine and building healthy habits for our children to grow up with.), red meat (I love you, Texas), personal vehicles (we got a 2001 Chrysler Mini-van named Pegasus), more roomy accommodations (a 700 sq. ft. is more roomy than 400 sq. ft. cabin)... but these benefits all cost money, and our budget could do with a bit of help (we've also got a new baby on the way!). So please consider partnering with us by setting up monthly donation here. If you already support us monthly THANK YOU so much! Without your generosity and partnership we would not be able to help meet the needs of so many that have gone unmet for so long.

Blessings,

Justin

In the air again and on the road again.

The Africa Mercy will continue to serve the forgotten poor in Sierra Leone until December. But, as for the Ray family......

We will be relocating to the International Operations Center to begin work on a new project. Justin's new job at the Mercy Ships headquarters in Texas will be “Design Engineer – New Ship Acquisition.” He will be responsible for working with departments within Mercy Ships to determine their needs for a new ship as well as outside design consultants to verify their designs and guide the process to make sure that any new ship we build meets the high demands of our operational requirements.

In addition, we are glad to announce that I am pregnant again! I am 10 weeks along and the baby is due on Christmas day! As a result of my previous pregnancy, I'll require much more careful monitoring, this being part of the reason for our timing to leave the ship. We are excited for the upcoming changes and the progress that it represents for both our family and our organization.

June will present a lot of change and transition as we; relocate, find a car, find a doctor (for prenatal care), and start working at the Office in Texas. In July we'll have some much needed vacation time with Lorah's family in Pennsylvania and in the Houston area with the Rays. In August we'll settle back into the Lindale/Garden Valley area to continue our work with Mercy Ships.

Please give us some thought and prayer as we make this big transition... not to mention long flights with a one year old! Thanks for visiting!

Our big girl (15 months)!

Fishing boats

looking down on Freetown, SL

Lily's 6th move....

Our little girl started her life living in the hospital, then to my parent's house (in Pennsylvania), on to Baytown TX, then Tyler TX, a flight to Durban South Africa (where she stayed for 6 months), a quick visit to Cape Town, then a two week sail to Freetown, Sierra Leone. Pretty impressive for a one year old, huh?!

So much has changed in the last 2 months so I will try not to explain with much detail- if I do this post will quickly turn into a book! Here are some highlights with pictures:

• Jan 7-9th Justin and I went away for a beautiful weekend in the Midlands (country side, mountains, horses, B&B's). It was our first time away with out Lily. We had a fantastic weekend and it was much needed break from the ship. Thankfully our babysitters also had a great time, Lily did wonderfully.

• The generator project was officially complete in the first week of February! After much hard work the ship was tested and ready for sailing.

• Upon the completion of the project, all non-technical crew (about 200 people) moved back onboard in one weekend. While the crew was moving back and settling into their cabins, Justin, Lily and I moved into our new family cabin!

• Before leaving Durban we celebrated my 30th Birthday with some friends at a fun restaurant (where they painted our faces :)

• February 10th we departed Durban and started our sail.

• On the 12th and 13th we stopped and explored beautiful Cape Town.

• February 14th we started our two week sail to Freetown, Sierra Leone.

• February 19th, Lily turned ONE!

• On the 24th we crossed the equator.

• On February 27th, after a safe and very smooth sail, we arrived in Freetown with a warm welcome. This is where the ship will be on field service for the next 10 months.