In a few short hours we will be hitting the road and heading south. We are looking forward to visiting several churches who support us, seeing family, and laying on the beach. Oh yes, it will be hard work. Okay, so the beach won't be hard work, but it will all even out I assure you. A 22 hour drive with a very talkative five year old and a semi-potty trained two year old is more work than anyone should endure. We will earn the beach time!
So all that to say we may not be posting as often for the next couple of weeks. I am sure we will come home with many stories to add!
Please lift our family up as we travel, and speak. Thanks.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
The Chicken or the egg
Sam has been enthralled with his class pets...chickens the class watched hatch. They really are four cute balls of fur (or down I guess is a better way to put it.) Sam takes us in for daily updates on how the chicks have changed. His little mind is full of new chicken questions. Why are their nails so long? Will the roosters fight? How do you know if the egg will turn into a rooster or a hen?
Do you anticipate the next big question?
How did the egg get into the mommy chicken? His teacher explained that the roosters and the hen spent some time together to make an egg. She warned me that more questions were sure to follow. But who can really anticipate the mind of a five year old...or at least our five year old!
We were driving home from school and I told Sam that his Papa had lots of chickens when he lived on a farm. Sam immediately wanted to call dad. Sam jumped right into the main topic for the call.
"You had chickens? How many? How many roosters? How many hens? Did the roosters fight? Hey wait a minute...if you only had two roosters and that many hens how did you get eggs? No, Papa my teacher says that it takes one daddy chicken AND one mommy chicken to make an egg. That is too many hens. Yeah, mom is right here....Mom, Papa wants to talk to you."
Do you anticipate the next big question?
How did the egg get into the mommy chicken? His teacher explained that the roosters and the hen spent some time together to make an egg. She warned me that more questions were sure to follow. But who can really anticipate the mind of a five year old...or at least our five year old!
We were driving home from school and I told Sam that his Papa had lots of chickens when he lived on a farm. Sam immediately wanted to call dad. Sam jumped right into the main topic for the call.
"You had chickens? How many? How many roosters? How many hens? Did the roosters fight? Hey wait a minute...if you only had two roosters and that many hens how did you get eggs? No, Papa my teacher says that it takes one daddy chicken AND one mommy chicken to make an egg. That is too many hens. Yeah, mom is right here....Mom, Papa wants to talk to you."
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
international students: "keeping our heads down"
we had a really eye-opening conversation with some of our students the other day. they were talking about how the tragedy at virginia tech was affecting them. it seems that the fact that the student who did the shooting moved to the US from korea has created a backlash toward asian international students on some campuses around the country. this was totally shocking to us. one of our students proceeded to tell us of a friend from his home country studying in southern california. he said that american students at his friend's university were throwing eggs at asian international students!
our students then made these statements, "we're all just keeping our heads down for the last 2 weeks of the semester...we want to make sure people don't misunderstand our presence here...our parents are worried for our safety...we're just really concerned because many americans have a hard time noting the differences between people from china, taiwan, japan and korea - as well as the difference between asian internationals and asian-americans."
please lift up the students studying at our universities in light of the tragedy at virginia tech. also, please lift up the internationals studying at our universities, too.
our students then made these statements, "we're all just keeping our heads down for the last 2 weeks of the semester...we want to make sure people don't misunderstand our presence here...our parents are worried for our safety...we're just really concerned because many americans have a hard time noting the differences between people from china, taiwan, japan and korea - as well as the difference between asian internationals and asian-americans."
please lift up the students studying at our universities in light of the tragedy at virginia tech. also, please lift up the internationals studying at our universities, too.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
My old man
We started celebrating Bryan's birthday today. We had a great small gathering of friends who came over and enjoyed the sunny evening, our deck, bratwurst, and cake. Bryan might be getting old, but he still can blow out all of those candles...or maybe it was the breeze!
Friday, April 20, 2007
Pieces falling into place
It continues to amaze us how HE is pulling all of the details together for our big move. Just a few things we are rejoicing over...
There is a couple who has volunteered with internationals in our group this past year. They have felt led to take over the weekly book study. This is HUGE. We really were concerned for the Thursday group. They are dedicated and seeking, so we hated to see the group without leadership.
Another huge piece...we met with a second couple for lunch yesterday who are very interested in volunteering up to 15 hours a week with IV to reach out to internationals. They would be able to continue the conversation partner program and even some of the other key things that have started the past four years. It is great to know that we are leaving things in good hands.
Tomorrow is our first garage sale. It feels great to clean out the basement and garage. It is amazing how much stuff we have accumulated in the past four years.
Good friends of ours and preparing to move to IN at the end of this month. We are sad to see them go, but it really has been a great opportunity to help Sam talk about our move. His buddy Daniel has helped him talk and process which we are extremely grateful for.
A garage sale and moving friends might not seem like they are pieces of the "move" puzzle, but we are realizing that HE is blending many small things in our life to prepare us. He is good.
Keep lifting up the sale of the house. That is the next piece we would love to see fall into place! :)
There is a couple who has volunteered with internationals in our group this past year. They have felt led to take over the weekly book study. This is HUGE. We really were concerned for the Thursday group. They are dedicated and seeking, so we hated to see the group without leadership.
Another huge piece...we met with a second couple for lunch yesterday who are very interested in volunteering up to 15 hours a week with IV to reach out to internationals. They would be able to continue the conversation partner program and even some of the other key things that have started the past four years. It is great to know that we are leaving things in good hands.
Tomorrow is our first garage sale. It feels great to clean out the basement and garage. It is amazing how much stuff we have accumulated in the past four years.
Good friends of ours and preparing to move to IN at the end of this month. We are sad to see them go, but it really has been a great opportunity to help Sam talk about our move. His buddy Daniel has helped him talk and process which we are extremely grateful for.
A garage sale and moving friends might not seem like they are pieces of the "move" puzzle, but we are realizing that HE is blending many small things in our life to prepare us. He is good.
Keep lifting up the sale of the house. That is the next piece we would love to see fall into place! :)
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
House update
To be honest there is no update...that is the update. It seems that our personal contacts have come to an end and the single mom was not able to get her financing put together. So we met with our realator today and are officially listing the house by the end of the week. Good news...he is sure that the house will sell. Bad news, he thinks we should put a new roof on it first. We have someone coming to look at the roof tomorrow to tell us how many years it has left in it. If he says it will last five years...we are good to go. If not....well it could be a bit painful.
I have been tempted to stress out about all of this the past couple of days, but all of a sudden I had a realization. This is HIS move. When HE is ready to move us, HE will sell the house. HE knows what we can afford and what our needs are. I don't know why I think I can control the situation better. One day I will learn to trust fully.
I have been tempted to stress out about all of this the past couple of days, but all of a sudden I had a realization. This is HIS move. When HE is ready to move us, HE will sell the house. HE knows what we can afford and what our needs are. I don't know why I think I can control the situation better. One day I will learn to trust fully.
Monday, April 16, 2007
new email address for bryan
in preparation for the move, i've changed my email. this is just one of many details that we're working to switch around.
my new email is bryanw#psmail.net - just replace # with @. (i've written it this way here to aviod spam email which is all too common these days.)
feel free to send me an email to check it out. i'll still be checking the other ones for the next while. i figure it will take a couple of months to get everything sorted out.
my new email is bryanw#psmail.net - just replace # with @. (i've written it this way here to aviod spam email which is all too common these days.)
feel free to send me an email to check it out. i'll still be checking the other ones for the next while. i figure it will take a couple of months to get everything sorted out.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Growing up fast
Before I know it Sam will be bringing home a girlfriend and shaving for real...until then a foam paintbrush is enough for me to deal with!
Saturday, April 14, 2007
My top ten list
I often think about how blessed I am to have such a great family. These are the top ten reason why I love the busy life of motherhood!
10. the opportunity to get exercise bent over a tricycle.
9. someone to remind me to walk slow and look at EVERY rock and flower.
8. a good reason to eat mac and cheese
7. encouargement to learn dinosaur names that I didn't bother to learn as a child.
6. opportunities to make up words like "no bonking" aka "no hitting"
5. reminders of the important things in life like...worms, finger painting, fruit snacks, bubble baths, fancy socks....
4. making up silly songs
3. rocking a stuffy nose little person to sleep
2. an extra hug or kiss at any time
and the number 1 reason...or 2 reasons...
SAM and RUTHIE!
10. the opportunity to get exercise bent over a tricycle.
9. someone to remind me to walk slow and look at EVERY rock and flower.
8. a good reason to eat mac and cheese
7. encouargement to learn dinosaur names that I didn't bother to learn as a child.
6. opportunities to make up words like "no bonking" aka "no hitting"
5. reminders of the important things in life like...worms, finger painting, fruit snacks, bubble baths, fancy socks....
4. making up silly songs
3. rocking a stuffy nose little person to sleep
2. an extra hug or kiss at any time
and the number 1 reason...or 2 reasons...
SAM and RUTHIE!
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