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.”