Playing Catch-Up

I've been lax on blogging lately; we've been really busy with good stuff. Lots of company, spending time with the kids, getting back into school, fun activities with friends. This post will cover some of what we've been doing with ourselves.

Last Wednesday Keely spent the day with a family that we love and respect, cooking a meal with their girls for our families. She had a wonderful time and of course we all got to reap the benefits at dinner time! They made Mexican food: a casserole, rice, black beans, queso, hibiscus tea, salsa, and tres leches cake. They even sliced limes for our drinks! It was a delicious and colorful meal. My friend Michelle (the Mom of aforementioned family) is a person I aspire to be more like. She is gentle, soft-spoken, kind, giving, creative...I could go on but I'm sure I'm embarrassing her.

Monday night we enjoyed having our friend Amy Praisewater over. She's spent the last two years in Thailand ministering to young women who have come out of a life of prostitution. She will be going back to Bangkok in a matter of days and will be teaching in an international school there. She shared dinner with us and helped Kevin translate some Thai for a brochure he's working on for another missionary. I admire this lady greatly for her commitment to the work of the Kingdom and her contentment in her singleness. I love the fact that our children get to know 'real' missionaries and see that they are real people. I hope that this knowledge makes them bold in their desire to serve the Lord with their own lives, instead of being intimidated and feeling inadequate about this kind of service. All believers are only earthen vessels; yet we have God's power and enabling. What an amazing and humbling truth!

And, lastly, we are 'back to school' already! We are trying more of a year-round approach this year, taking breaks as we need to for traveling, vbs, special events, etc. I'm going to try to write more later about school and our plans for the coming year. But, right now I hear some screaming downstairs and it's time to take Joseph to the potty, so it's time for me to go...