Sitting down to the computer, let alone sitting down to blog something feels so foreign to me! I hope it’s like riding a bike! I haven’t really had a good place to sit down and sort out my thoughts since having our fourth little bundle, and I have to say that I have really enjoyed being “unplugged”! But here I sit, with my almost broken laptop and a jumble of thoughts… but at least I am back for now.
Family Update: We are doing good, minus the barrage of sick that has been running through the house with four kids bringing home this and that from here and there.
Solomon is 7 and just finishing 1st grade. He has made a few friends at school and on the bus and just asked me the other morning if he could ride the bus to his friends house and have a play date or a sleep over! Pretty exciting. He also rode his bike about a mile to his friends house by himself last week. Arley raised his bed about 4.5 feet last week and he spends a lot more time in his room sitting on that bed.
Abraham is almost 5 and finished a year of 2 day a week preschool. Currently we are starting the 100 easy lessons to learning to read. We are on lesson 2 and he is actually enjoying it! It gives me great hope in the adventure that we have decided on for next year – Homeschooling! Something that we would have never done except on the mission field, but when God opened my eyes to me having a sink or swim experience or a join a coop and have friends in your backyard that also home school experience I decided that I wanted to get all the help I can from right in my backyard! And we were blessed to attend the Mn Assoc of Home Educators conferencein April and Arley and I were able to get on the same page and get valuable information that we are so grateful for. We also put up a construction boarder in his room, which he has now adorned with construction stickers and looks at while he falls into construction dreams.
Eden just turned 2 this month and is repeating everything you say or do. She is still such a delight and loves everyone. She really loves being outside and being able to get into her own bed whenever she wants. She also enjoys getting to share a room with her new little sister! Miriam is 4.5 months now and sleeps through the night in her crib upstairs. They got their room painted watermelon pink which makes it really feel like a GIRLS domain.
Miriam is holding her head up great and enjoys sitting in her jumperoo and watching everyone. She sleeps better in our bed during the day, away from the noise a bit and in her crib at night. She really tanks up for her naps by eating up near 13 ounces in a sitting! Then she sleeps for 5 hours during the day and 13 hours at night. She is super smiling and although she loves to be around people, she is really easy going.
Arley is tackling the shed this spring, trying to get the roof on. We have come up short on a machine that is big enough to lift the roof panels as high as we need them to go, so we are trying to redo the budget enough to be able to rent a job site lift to get the job done. He is also getting his motorcycle running in hopes of saving gas!
I am finishing up my finance responsibilities for MOPS and passing the job to another woman who will tackle it next year so I can focus on homeschooling next year. I am busy finding books for the boys and activities for the girls to do while I work with the boys, etc. Making schedules and re-purposing furniture and spaces to make for a more organized and relaxed school experience for all of us hopefully! Our room as become a closet with a bed in it, while we are trying to declutter and figure out what will go where. That is my project that I hope to get accomplished this summer; turning our bedroom into a bedroom again, an oasis of sorts. We will see.
Also, we are getting more serious with fundraising this summer! We hope to head out and visit with more people, hand out our newly updated prayer cards and PRAY for God to pour out his financial blessings on us and our endeavor. We need to secure funds for a home and vehicle when we get there, also funds for monthly living and funds for a laptop computer that will be strictly for ACM use. That will hold only contact information, outlook email and calendar, prayer letters and ACM information. It is VERY dusty in Africa (obviously?) and laptops have a short shelf life because this, but desktops are worthless because we do not have the power supply for them so we will need one with a very good battery and possibly a tough book or something. But being realistic, I don’t want to go overboard cost wise, that just wouldn’t be smart!
So, that is where I am. God is hard at work with His plans for us and we need to get on the same page in His book. Please pray with us that He opens the doors He needs to open and that people would be receptive of us as people, not just someone else that wants their money. That is a fear of mine, that while we want support and need support, we also want and NEED true friends that will pray for us and love us whatever we do and wherever we are. Like you, dear friends, who come and read my blog and pray for us. Unfortunatley we are not near most of you, but know that we love you and hold dear to the fact that you are indeed praying for us and lifting us up to His glory and in His plan. Thank you!!! Oh, and here is a sneak peak of our new prayer card picture. Enjoy 🙂
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