New Opportunities

We have a lot of change going on around here. As "summer" draws to a close we are excited to have our entire mission team back together. We have all taken furlough and vacation at different times over the past months so it seems like it has been awhile since we have all been together. It will be really good to set new goals together for the work and to take action on reaching more people in the upcoming months. As always, we solicit your support through prayer - we know God desires to see His Kingdom grow and we know He is already at work in people's lives - we ask Him to open our eyes and lead us to new opportunities!

We are about to send our little 4 year old boy to Kindergarten. As you might remember, Reece began school last year - attending 2 days a week. This year he will enter Kinder2 at a new school called Redlands. He will go Monday through Friday 8:30 - 2:00 - a big jump in our minds...and especially hearts. Yes, we are excited for him but I also feel a little teary to see him spend such a large chunk of his day under someone elses care and influence. I believe he is going to do great - he loves to learn and we are really happy with his school. Last night we had a teacher/parent meeting to introduce us to the new school year. We met his teacher - Miss Yuri - and I will be honest, my heart sank when we spoke with her because she didn't seem very warm and friendly - like you would want in a Kindergarten teacher(yes, I will admit I have pretty high standards and expectations for the teacher who is going to have my son). However, first impressions are not always right, thankfully. We went to the school today to show Reece his classroom, etc.. and she was really nice and I think Reece is going to love her. I breathed a sigh of relief! Benjy and I believe this school and its approach to education, children, process, learning, and partnering with the important education already happening at home will be a really good fit for our life and family philosophy. The other really neat thing is that we found out that the school Reece attended last year, called ALFA, has closed down. As a result several of the families from ALFA will be attending Redlands with Reece this year. His favorite little friend from last year will be in his class again - her name is Marifer. Zeidi (pronounced Sadie) is the daughter of our house church leaders - and she also will be in Reece's class. And our teammates James, and Erin are sending their kids, Kate and Caleb to this school as well. So...I thank God today for little blessings like that - I think it will be really good for Reece to have some friends in his school right off the bat, even though I know he will also make many more. Pray for his first day on Monday - that we can all be brave and enjoy this new stage of life. Also pray that God might create some new family friendships through this school experience.

The other big change happening around here is that we are moving! We have found a different home that is a lot of what we have been looking for. It has been our desire for several months now to move out of this house for a number of reasons. Now that our contract expired we have that opportunity. I guess being on the move is kind of part of rental life in a foreign country. We are thankful for this home - we have been in it for 3 years - and it has been the place of so much of our families growth - arrivals of both Chase and Pierce - lots of new ages and stages of our children - lots of growth and changes in us as people and missionaries. The walls of this home have witnessed a lot and the sappy side of me is a little sad to say good-bye. A house is more than just a house and even though we are just renting...it is the place where the most significant part of our lives occurs - the growing of our marriage, the raising of our boys to know and love Jesus, hospitality to friends, our personal walks with our God, and on and on. I pray that we can accomplish great things in these areas in the our new home as well. It should be a good place for us. It is a lot safer as it has a 24 hour guard at the gate, and it will provide a lot of opportunities for the kids to play and ride their bikes with other kids right there in the gated community. We believe and pray that we will build new realtionships with other families and look forward to that. Please pray for new opportunities in this neighborhood. And please know you are more than welcome - we would absolutely love to have you!

I should sign off for now. Would love a hand with packing....so if you just happen to be in the area...drop me a line and I will gladly put ya to work!