Summer Vacation?! Or Not Yet?

Today marks the ending of our first week of summer break! It’s hard to believe that last week we were finishing up the school year, as this week went by so quickly. We’ve been busy as a family working on decorating, setting up, and preparing for Vacation Bible School next week. Roger has been busy working, and when he’s not doing that he’s been painting a backdrop or cutting out a cardboard moose! Somehow the details always come together, but we definitely want to do our part to be prepared.

Last week was full of field trips and fun times for the kids-they greatly enjoy the last week of school. I went with Garett and Chandler’s class on a Puffin/Nature cruise tour. It was a bit dreary and chilly on Thursday to be out in a boat, but the class had a good time. We did see a few puffins, some porpoises, quite a few seals, and a few bald eagles. Although on the chilly side (did I mention that already?!), the kids enjoyed the tour, and I was thankful for the opportunity to go along. Friday marked the last day of school as well as our field day. We are dependent upon parents help to make field day happen for the kids, and it seemed like we were going to be short on volunteers. However, God brought the right people along to help coordinate a  half-day of outdoor fun and a picnic lunch for the children at the school. There’s something a bit bittersweet about wrapping up another school year. It marked the completion of another school year, and also the fact that our children have become older. While happy to finish up the school work, our friends will be missed over the summer break. We’ve come to love and appreciate the teachers and staff at the school, and I’m thankful for all that they invest in our children. The close of another year means that change will happen again in the fall, but I’m rejoicing in all that God did during the school year.

 

   

Roger had the day off last Saturday, so we spent the day on outside work, grocery shopping, and  preparing for Sunday. I had been asked to play the piano at a different church on Sunday morning. I was more than willing, but was a bit nervous that I wouldn’t do a good job. Every church is different in how songs are sung and led, but I was willing to do my best and prayed that God would get the  glory. I was happy to find out that I already knew the songs that were to be sung on Sunday, but I knew that out of the five songs, one song might be a stickler. The songs were “There is a Redeemer”, “Great is thy Faithfulness”, “I will Sing of The Mercies of the Lord”, “Blessed Assurance”, and “Amazing Grace”. Any guesses as to which song I was a bit nervous about playing? “Blessed Assurance”! I feel like the timing on this one can be a bit tricky for people and some churches sing it worshipfully and contemplative, while others sing it confidently and enthusiastically that they have a Blessed Assurance in Jesus! During the practice time, a few of the people that were helping to lead the song for the congregation said that I was playing it too slowly (very rarely do I get told I play too slowly!), so I sped it up to their speed. However, when we went to sing it for church, I was playing at one speed, and the song leader was singing at a different pace! Quickly made some adjustments, but I looked over at Roger to see him smiling in the pew. We had just had a discussion that morning on this song! Oh well, I’m rejoicing in the fact that I have a Blessed Assurance, and no one seemed to mind a few errors! It was a good  church service and we enjoyed visiting another local church in the area. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to praise the Lord through music. God encouraged my heart through this opportunity, and I’m thankful that He gave me the opportunity to worship Him in this way.

Sunday was also Father’s Day, so we were also thankful to spend the day with Roger. I am truly blessed to have him as the Father to our children. He enjoys spending time with them, and even after a fourteen hour day at work, he will still come home to play sports with the boys in the backyard. He tries to help them with their interests, and he works to give them practical applications that point them to Jesus. He invests in their lives on a daily basis for eternity, and I am so thankful for him. And also on Sunday, I was handed some money for next years Hait Missions Trip!! It was quite a bit for  the trip as in two -thirds of the amount needed!Roger and I have been praying that God would make it abundantly clear about whether or not I should return to Haiti! It would appear that God is making the path clear! I am so very excited and thankful!

On Monday morning, I went to the church building to start preparing the spaces for VBS. The boys weren’t exactly excited about coming with me, but Emma was thrilled because she thought she was going to school! Travis asked her, “Why would you want to do that?!” He’s so thankful to be done with the school year, and told Roger that he hopes the summer never ends! Oh, I do love that sweet little boy,  but School is a fact of life, I’m afraid! Allison was at church working in the church office.  I stayed busy organizing and moving chairs and tables downstairs while the boys and Emma played outside. Allison and I had planned to go to the lake that afternoon, but the weather looked a bit dreary in the morning. We decided to go on Tuesday afternoon to which the children were disappointed about, but that’s life. Allison and I worked on organizing a closet, which doesn’t seem to have anything to do with VBS! However, it was a job that needed doing, and after a few hours, everything  was in its place again...for the moment at least! By then it was lunchtime, and the kids were hungry as usual! We headed out to the airport with some lunch for Roger, and spent some time visiting with him. We were all thankful to get home in the afternoon and the weather actually turned out to be quite nice.

Tuesday afternoon we went to the lake. Allison had invited us to come to their cottage on the lake, so we packed some lunch and headed off to the lake around eleven. While the day was sunny, it was very windy at the lake. It definitely didn’t feel like summer temps to me,  but that didn’t stop the boys from getting in the lake! Emma decided that she would much rather ride her bike around or play with the toys, but she had no interest in getting in the water! Annah also came to the lake with her kids, so the boys were delighted to have Josiah and Caleb to play with in the water, with the kayaks, and the fishing poles! Chandler did catch a small fish, so he was excited about that!

Also on Tuesday we discovered that someone had been using Rogers bank card to make charges! Roger had called me on the way home to say that he was going to stop and get some items he needed to paint the backdrop for VBS. I checked our online banking and was horrified to discover that someone had been using our money at Walmart in California! That meant two calls to cancel the bank cards, and some time spent with the bank on Wednesday! However, it’s all resolved now and moving forward.

Wednesday was a busy day with prepping for VBS, setting up, and just the mental intensity of hoping that everything is being covered. We didn’t get it all done on Wednesday, so we would have to try to finish up on Thursday. Thankfully, Annah offered to watch the kids for a few hours on Thursday so they wouldn’t have to be at the church again. It’s been a bit of a long and not very relaxing first week of summer break,  but I think the light is at the end of the tunnel. I mean, I hope it’s not an oncoming train! Allison has been coordinating pre registration for VBS and we already have over forty kids signed up. We also have a group of teens coming from Canada to help us next week. I’m exited about what God is going to do. And I would definitely appreciate your prayers for VBS.

Our family had lunch for free two days this week, so that made my day! On Friday it was customer appreciation day at the bank, and lunch was offered! Hooray! The kids had a little money to deposit in their bank accounts, and it was sub lunch, chips, and cookies for free! On Saturday, my friend Allison, asked if we were going to the Young Eagles event at the airport. It’s where kids can get a ride in an airplane and experience aviation. I wasn’t too eager about going, but when she mentioned that there would be free lunch, I perked right up! We were already out and about anyways with going to a few yard sales, and we had stopped st the airport when Allison sent me the text. Garett, Chandler and Wyatt all took airplane rides. Garett was the most excited,  of course; Wyatt’s pilot said that Wyatt was really quiet;  and Chandler said the the girl in his plane wouldn’t stop talking so he just took off his headset. Oh, the adventures with these boys are so fun! The boys and Emma went to Josiah and Caleb’s house after the aviation adventures. Their friends had also come to the aviation event, and the boys were delighted to spend some time at their house while I did a few last minute projects and errrands for VBS. I feel like I am mostly prepared now, just have a few ideas to put the finishing touches on. It’s been quite a few years since we’ve been this involved with VBS, and my hearts desire is that God will be glorified, the Gospel will be presented, and that seeds will be sown. God is so good, and I’m excited to see what He is going to do.

Blessings!

 

 

 

What a week it has been for our family! We are looking forward to being done with school in just two short days! I am also looking forward to having Vacation Bible School behind us also as we approach the fast and furious deadline a week from Monday! God has graciously brought people to work in VBS, money provided, a group of teens coming from Canada, and the light is shining at the end of the tunnel...I think!

I just want to share a few blessings from the past week. Perhaps you get weighed down by the many things I ask prayer for, or perhaps I sound like I’m complaining at times (I don’t want that), and it’s good for me to reflect on all that God has done for us.

Last Thursday and Friday we were able to have a few extra boys at our house. Josiah is a friend of the boys from school, and his parents went to Ukraine last week to begin the final process of adoption. The boys were delighted to have Josiah stay with us on Thursday night, and even more excited when Josiah’s brother (Caleb) and cousin (Abel) came to stay overnight on Friday! It was a house full of boys, and they certainly ate plenty of food! I’m so thankful that God has brought good friends into the lives of our children. It was fun to hear them laugh and shout in the yard, even though Emma delclared that they were too loud and there were too many boys at our house! At the supper table on Friday night, Chandler, Garett and Josiah were discussing their history class. Garett told his friends that he would like to go to BadGuy City sometime. Chandler agreed, and Josiah says “I want to go too, but I’m not sure that’s the name of the city.” I tried to ask for clues about this city to which one of the boys replied that it was somewhere in the Middle East. I asked if maybe they were referring to Baghdad? They all stared at me for a moment and I could see the gears clicking in their minds as they realized that the city’s name was not BadGuy! We all laughed about it, and it never ceases to amaze  me what we think we say as adults and what children are actually hearing!

On Saturday afternoon the kids and I had the opportunity to go to a cabin on a lake. Roger's boss and his wife have a cabin on a lake, and I offered to come help open up the cabin for the summer. We didn’t get all the work done by any means, but we did get a few things accomplished! The kids helped for a while, and then decided to go swimming in the lake! The water was so frigid, but they all got in! I rarely swim in the water in Maine, and I am certainly not going in that lake! The had a great    afternoon playing around the cabin. I had a wonderful time visiting with Teri (Kevin’s wife) and working around the cabin. The kids were tired and dirty when we left, but it was a very refreshing afternoon.

On Sunday Roger was scheduled to have the day off. However, due to some new, recently hired pilots, Roger needed to take a flight with one of them. He missed out on Sunday school and arrived at church in time for it to be over! I was especially blessed by the opportunity to play the piano for the prelude, and I treasured the fact that I didn’t have to teach Childrens church. I certainly do not mind teaching, but it was a blessing to sit in on the service. Since Roger arrived right after church, he took the kids home while I did the grocery shopping for the week. It still takes a while even without any kids, but it’s a little easier to think through things and look for a coupon! I went to Walmart and while I was looking over the clearance selection, I spotted shoes for .50 a pair! Now these are not especially cute or practical shoes, but for Haiti, they will make someone’s day! I bought twelve pairs to take to Haiti. I am prayerfully considering going back should God chose to provide the funds. But God certainly blessed me by pointing me in the direction of shoes for .50!

Shoes for Haiti!! 

I was blessed on Monday by the opportunity to get my hair cut. It grows so quickly, and with school days coming to the close I wasn’t sure how I would fit that in. Roger had the day off, so he encouraged me to get my hair cut while he went out to Matinicus to mow grass. Emma had a field  trip at the park, so after my hair cut I went to pick her up. On the way, I stopped for a cup of coffee.
Guess what?! The car ahead of me paid for my cup of coffee! I don’t think that has ever happened to me before, but it made my day! I felt like it was my birthday!  Roger, Emma and I paid a visit to a couple in our church in the afternoon. The man had built me a scale for the penny offering for VBS. I am so thankful for willing people to help in this endeavor of VBS. Also, this couple in our church has a bunch of raspberry bushes. The boys have been wanting some raspberry bushes, but it hasn’t been in the budget to buy the bushes. This couple offered us several plants of raspberries, and that was such a blessing. Chandler and Roger planted them after school, and Chandler has been faithful to water them every day. He is hoping that the bushes will grow and spread and that he will be able to sell the berries (a business boy  at heart). He told the boys that the berries could make them some money, but everyone has to work and not eat all the berries!

Another blessing from this week was the awards chapel today. The Christian school that the boys attend has some wonderful Christian kids that attend there and it was a special blessing to sit and hear the awards called out. I had to fight back tears as I realized how God has absolutely blessed our family in providing this school for our children. It’s not perfect by any means, but we are so blessed and thankful to be a part of this school. And one huge, ginormous blessing is the fact that our school bills are behind us for this school year (2017-2018)! God used many people in very specific ways to answer our prayers and provide for the boys education. We actually have a credit entering the school in the fall, and I can’t sing the praises of our Heavenly Father enough as we are so blessed!

I had the opportunity to go down to the School beach with Garett and Chandler’s class on Tuesday afternoon. Emma and I had gone with Travis’s class to the beach in the morning, and then returned to the school. I had been unsure about what to do with Emma during the afternoon as the School beach is a bit of a hike to walk down to, and it’s very muddy down there. Teri offered to watch Emma while I went with the boys class. Garett and Chandler were so excited that I was coming on their field trip, and it’s a special delight to my heart when they want me to come along and be included. Emma went with Teri to McDonald’s for lunch, and then they went to the park. Emma told me that she also go to see some “cookie cows”. She had visited a farm with Teri that had the black and white cows that look  like Oreos. I was so blessed by Teri’s willingness to take Emma for a while, and Emma had such a good time.

A few other blessings from this week include Emma learning to ride her bike, and good friends like Allison. Emma has mostly mastered bike riding this week, and she has been enjoying doing it all by herself! (Me too) Allison and I have spent many mornings at school this week as we wrap up the school year, work on VBS plans, and try to squeeze in a visit before the school year is over. We shopped for our last hot lunch of the school year today, and I was so thankful as we finished up. God abundantly provided the funds to make hot lunch every Friday during the school year, and it was a great opportunity to serve. But I am very thankful to not think about that for a while!

You know what else blessed me? Handwritten notes! There is something very encouraging and refreshing about seeing a handwritten note that is written from a thankful heart. I was blessed to receive a handwritten note this week that greatly encouraged me. Sometimes it's the things in life that cost very little or nothing that can encourage someone the most. So while I did make teacher appreciation gifts for our children’s teachers, I also took the time to write notes to them. Maybe someone else will be encouraged by a handwritten note as much as I was this week.

Hebrews 13:16 “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” 

Almost, Almost Done!!

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22

A week ago we found ourselves enjoying warm, sunny, June-temp weather. This week we are experiencing much cooler temperatures, rain, and a bit of a lack of sunshine! Oh well!! We have seven days left of school, and these are the crazy days! There are numerous field trips and events happening with the five kids in school! We are looking forward to being done with the school year and on to summer vacation!

Last Wednesday we headed out to Matinicus Island to mow grass again. With the beautiful warm weather last week, the grass grew quickly! Roger was working that day, so I picked up the kids from school. We headed out to the airport, had to wait a bit, and then loaded up for another family fun event. Growing up I often remember my dad saying that “we are going to have family fun night tonight”. All three of us girls would inwardly groan as we knew that really meant - work!! However, those memories and events did teach us about hard work and working together. The boys weren’t terribly excited about mowing grass again, but their enthusiasm picked up when some friends on the Island brought them watermelon and cookies! Kim and Gary live out on the island, and Gary is the one who fixed the riding lawnmower. He also came down to the runway to help Roger get it started. While it still felt like it took us a while to complete the job, it did go a bit smoother and quicker since the grass was shorter and the riding lawnmower was working. The mosquitoes were out in force, but we survived and the job was done!

On Thursday Roger continued on with his ten day work streak, while Emma and I worked on some  things for VBS, shopped for hot lunch, and I worked on some music lesson plans for our last music  class that would be on Monday. These are some long days for Roger, but he is helping to train a few new pilots. And once school lets out, we are going to try to coordinate some summer family events    for our family. Roger is working long and hard now so that we can hopefully take some days as a family after Vacation Bible School. This event for our church will take place a little over a week after school gets out. I’ve been doing some of the leg work to help coordinate workers, decorations, places to have the classes, etc. VBS is never a quick and easy event, but I do enjoy the opportunity to prepare and plan for things like this. I felt a little bit like I was back in my college days as I prepared a mission statement, teaching ideas, and other such papers for our meeting. I did wonder after college if I would use my degree in church and Childrens ministries, but I was thankful this week for that degree. I find it hard to know if I’m doing a good job if Roger isn’t around to give me feedback, but I just continue to pray, prepare and plan to the best that I know how. I majored in college in church and Childrens ministries because I felt that those were important and needed areas in our churches. I still firmly believe that having a Vacation Bible School, a Sunday school for kids, and other such ministries are necessary and important. I don’t want to become complacent in a ministry just because I’ve done it for a long time or it’s tradition for a church. I want to be excited and vibrant about it because there are little souls out there that also need Jesus. I recently read an article stating the important of reaching children between the ages of four and fourteen. The article was stating that it’s in these basic children’s years that their view of God, basic theology, and major spiritual decisions are made. We cannot sacrifice reaching children during these vital years because we become complacent or settled in the fact “I guess we should do VBS because it’s what we’ve always done”. No! Be excited and intentional in reaching these souls for eternity! Okay, I’ll get off that horse now!

Anyways, on Friday I helped with yet another hot lunch. I think we are up to our 35 or 36 hot lunch of this school year. I’m kinda ready for a break on this too!  The mom that usually helps me with hot lunch wasn’t feeling well, and the other lady that helped us earlier in the year has hurt her arm. That left just myself for making French toast, doing potatoes, and making smoothies! I knew that I couldn’t manage all that, so I asked Allison to help me!  I know that Fridays are a busy day for her in    the church office, but she agreed to come make the smoothies. Google to the rescue! I always just  dump in some stuff to make a smoothie, but we needed to make a bunch of them. Claire had brought    us her blender, and that was a huge help!  This lunch was a bit of a hodgepodge as we try to clean out   our freezer. We had frozen some fruit from an earlier lunch, and it was Allison’s job to make it taste delicious! She succeeded! We had some happy children are hot lunch and the smoothies were a hit! Hooray!

Honestly, last week was long and hard for me. Roger was working a lot, I’ve been battling a lot of headaches, and it was a bit discouraging. Someone commented to me after school on Friday something that they thought I should have my children change. I’m not saying that I shouldn’t make my children change in the area that they were demanding (oh, I mean suggesting) however, sometimes there are just more gracious ways that somethings can be said. It put a damper on my day, and after already being tired from a long week, I just wanted to go home and mope about it. But that’s not a very good example to our children, it’s not the right response, and that wouldn’t fix anything, would it?! Instead, I took my children home, made supper, and thanked the Lord that the week was coming to a close!

Sunday had Roger working again, but this stretch is almost over. We have been doing the opening for  Sunday school for the last few months now, but it’s a lot different when Roger isnt there. It went fine, I think, but I miss him. After church, three of the boys went home with the Pastor and his family. Chandler had a headache so he came home with me. He’s been struggling with headaches again lately, so we’ve been back to having him drink a lot more water and take some melatonin to help him fall asleep easier at night. He and Emma did very well together all afternoon and I was able to finish up all the papers for the VBS meeting before church. I also made a rhubarb dessert for Roger, brownies for my music classes tomorrow, and one of the desserts for the eighth grade graduation on Monday night. Roger didn’t make it to church, but he called me just as we were leaving church. It was nice to have him home before it was bedtime for the kids.

Monday was a crazy day....and I knew it would be! It was my last music class for the year, and I wanted to do something fun with my classes. So I brought in treats, we played games, and we praised the Lord for some of the things He had done in music class over the past year. I’ve enjoyed this year of teaching music classes. I’ve been challenged, encouraged, motivated to learn and grow in music, and I hope be a blessing to these students. It was a lot of hard work, and I’m happy to have a break. I may be returning to that in the fall, we will see what God does. After music classes, I picked up Emma. Then we went home and I made a blueberry pie and an Oreo cheesecake for the graduation tonight. About four weeks ago, it was brought to Allison’s attention that there is generally a meal for the graduates, their families, teachers and staff, and classmates before the graduation. Allison had asked if I would be willing to help with the dinner. Well, yes! And my schedule didn’t look busy at the time! We planned a baked potato bar, with ham, salad, and pies for dessert. The weather was rainy on Monday, which worked out because Roger was done with work early. I had sent Allison a text saying I thought we both were a bit crazy! She replied that she was busy taking flowers from her sister-in-laws yard for the table centerpieces in the rain!! Yes, crazy! We didn’t have as many people as we had anticipated, but that’s okay because my kids had baked potatoes for lunch all this week!!

I had been asked last week if I would play the piano for the graduation. I was happy to help with music, except I wasn’t familiar with the songs picked out. I purchased music for the songs, spent hours practicing and listening to you tube videos...but there are many variations of the same song!    The song was one that is generally led with a guitar and a lead singer of which I had neither. It’s one thing to play the music as originally written and at the tempo originally written in, but it’s another  thing entirely when the audience has heard it differently on the radio! Truthfully, it was a bit discouraging and disheartening, but maybe someday I’ll get better at the delivery from the piano. I guess I’ll just keep working at that!

I went on a field trip on Tuesday  and another field trip on Wednesday. With five kids in schools, there are lots of field trips to go on! My sister, Hannah,watched Emma on Tuesday so I could go on the field trip. Emma was happy to spend the day with her, and after school we headed up to Hannah’s house for supper. Due to the rainy weather, Roger was able to come with us to Hannah and Josh’s house, so that was special for us. The boys have missed Roger, so it was good to have some time with him.

Today Roger had off of work!! Hooray! We were able to get in a long walk together after dropping the kids off at school. Roger headed home to get some things done while I went on a field trip with Travis’s class. He went to Home Depot, and those kids had a great time! You wouldn’t think that the Home Depot would be that exciting but the kindergarten and first graders loved it! They got to do a craft, tour the store, have a snack, and it was fun. I’m pretty sure that the kids will all go home and  report to their parents about the dog poop that was in the aisle! We were on our tour, when the smell of dog poop grew really strong! Someone’s dog had made a mess in the aisle, and it will create a  memory for sure! The snack that the store prepared for the students was delicious, and it far exceeded my expectations. They gave the kids juice, goldfish, granola bars, and lots of fresh fruit. I am thankful  that I had the opportunity to go on this field trip with Travis. It’s been a busy and full week, but God has been so faithful and gracious to me.

We are trying to enjoy these last few crazy days of school. The boys are delighted with all the fun activities that are happening, and it’s fun to see them excited. Emma has been learning in school the verse that states “a friend loveth  at all times”. Travis was annoying her this past week and she told him “Mrs. Robertson’s (her teacher) Bible says that a friend loveth at all times. Is that not in your Bible, Travis?” It’s been interesting as she has been learning Bible verses! I sure do love these kids!

  

  

 Field Trip Fun! Travis and Abel