Dreaming ofQuebec

In these hot, 102 degree days we find ourselves dreaming of what life will be like when we get Quebec, Canada to begin our study of French.  After viewing the conditions, let me know if you'd like to join us.

This first one is Rekebah's.  If you look veeerrry close you can see that all 5 of us are camping on the island, while surrounded by snow-capped peaks.  Invigorating!  She did nicely provide us with a boat so we could cross the lake and stay dry. 

Samuel created this masterpiece.  From left to right:  Darin (a little hung up with a tree), Gabby (a snowball), Samuel (a bit concerned about running over Gabby), Holly (apparently having a rockin' day on the ski slope with amazing acrobatics), and Rebekah (preparing to launch from a rock). 

This is mine.  It is sunny, we are obviously warm, with way-cool hats, and we all five fit on the sled.  Well, Darin is flying off the back, but that's to be expected by the dad :]  Notice the large rock in our path.  Just picture this crew launching!

Samuel is really hoping for snow in Quebec.  When he was 8 he told me he wanted to live as close to Canada as he could, so he could have a lot of snow.  Well, get ready son/snow shoveler, cause in the blink of an eye you get your wish.

Gabby, well, she really wanted to use the silver, sparkly paint, and really wanted to paint a dog.  We told her a silver, sparkly dog was a fantastic choice.  Who knows what kind of creatures they have way up North.  I mean a silver-sparkly dog would be a breath-taking sight.

Keep praying for us as God brings us closer to getting to Quebec.  Our hearts grow more burdened each day for the eternity of the Wolof people.  One day we will get to blog from Senegal.  I can't wait.

The Best Kids EVER!

I began my phonetics class last week that is quite intensive.  I am at the computer for 7-8 hours each day, reading, saying silly words, and absorbing all that I can about being a good language learner.  The kids have had to pick up the slack and they've done a fantastic job.  For lunch they treated Darin and I to...

Ravioli, doritos, fruit salad, trail mix, and my favorite peanut-butter graham crackers.  

The awesome kids...

Fun in the creek

The kids had their friends over to play this afternoon.  It was hot out so they decided to go play in our creek.

Things to do while someone in the house sleeps

Darin's shift changed, so he is now sleeping during the morning hours.  The kids and I try to be quiet, but sometimes we get bored and that leads to rowdiness.  So one morning we choose to go on a walk.  I got the idea to do this project.  We collected the leaves in ourr woods, found paper when we got home, placed the leaves underneath it, ripped the paper off our favorite color of crayons, and colored.  It was a great, quiet use of our morning.  Here are our masterpieces.

We have an 11 year-old

We celebrated Samuel's 11th birthday party this morning at the park.  He invited his friends to have a Nerf-gun party.  

 Check out the ominous sky in the background. God held off the rain, while providing cooler temps for the boys to play.   Just like Him to refresh us with His goodness.

Gift opening changes as they get older.  Fewer toys for parents to work at getting out the package for the next hour.  Samuel received coins for his collection, Nerf-gun equipment, money, and items to stay in touch with his friends once we move. 

 Samuel wanted a cookie cake this year, which he decorated himself with green and orange frosting. 

HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY

Wood warms you twice

Usually we try to get all of our wood for the following winter cut and split during Feb and March.  This year obviously it didn't happen because of my shoulder injury.  We try to do it that early because not only does it get to dry longer, but there are no bugs, its cooler outside, and there is no poison ivy. 
Well, we finally got around to it this weekend.  As you can see, the woods are a little thicker by this time of year.

The whole family took part in the day.  We had good attitudes most of the day.  I did the cutting, and Samuel and I carried the pieces out of the woods up to our yard.

 

Holly got the job of splitting the wood this year.

The kids did the stacking.

And all of our hard work tired the kittens out, so they decided to take a snack break.

A few awards

We celebrated another year of completing AWANA books at church. 

Here is Rebekah with the correct award that she received after reminding me that she is in 3rd grade not 2nd grade.  Wait, that's 4th grade now.  Where does the time go?

Who is Welcome?

A couple of nights ago I was heading home from work at 2:30 in the morning.  Of course there wasn’t another car on the road and I had to drive pretty slowly because it was very foggy.  My route from Lexington to Lawrenceburg takes me down a two lane country road which has quite a few cars during the day, but at night it is pretty desolate.  As I came around a curve in the road, out of the fog on the side of the road appeared a black man, maybe in his late 40’s, wearing dirty jeans and a t-shirt, waving his arms in an apparent attempt to get me to stop.  I had not seen any broken down cars in the area, so I assumed he was just trying to get a ride.  It was one of those instances where I felt as though God was telling me to stop.

Now before anyone thinks that this was either incredibly noble, or incredibly stupid to stop and pick up a complete stranger in the middle of the night on a deserted road, you have to remember that I was in a police uniform with a gun, Taser, pepper spray, etc.  While I pretty much forbid Holly from picking up strangers on the side of the road, I try to do it whenever I get the chance.  I know, double standard and all, but that’s just the way it is.

So as this man comes up and gets into my truck, I immediately smell the odor of sweat and alcohol coming from him.  He tells me that he is headed to Lawrenceburg as well and I went ahead and gave him a ride home.  As we were driving down the road I got to know a little about him.  He was walking to Lawrenceburg because his girlfriend kicked him out of the house because he was drinking.  He also shared with me the struggle he was having keeping up on the child support he has to pay to several different women.  In the short time I had to spend with him, I got a brief look into the struggles of a person who is so similar to the people I deal with every day in the course of my job.

After I dropped him off, I began to ask myself, “Would he be welcome in the front doors of the church.”  Not just my church, but any one of a number in town.  Would he immediately be headed off at the door with “Can I help you?” or would he get “Welcome to … church.”  Many times we sit in church and sing “Just as I am” but really mean “sober up, clean up, shave, buy some respectable clothes, then you can come to Jesus.  In Matthew Ch 9 Jesus is eating with the tax collectors, when he is confronted by the Pharisees who chastised him for being with the sinners.  His response to them is (paraphrase) it is not the healthy who need me, it is the sick.  Too many times it seems as though we spend 90% of our time and resources on programs and entertainment for the healthy instead of being totally invested in what Jesus’ heart is, the lost.