March?! Already! I’m excited about this month because it means that spring is looming! It doesn’t feel like it when it’s cold and snowy, but I know it will be coming. We had winter break from school last week, and we are back in full swing at school now. It was good week off of school for our family. We didn’t really have any plans early in the week, and sometimes not having a plan is the best plan!
We had a few days of “spring” weather as well as a snow storm, so the weather was all over the place! On Monday, I went to work out class at 5:00am, then I came home and took the kids out to go ice skating by 7:30am. The weather was beautiful so I also went on a two mile run, and while the kids were at a basketball clinic for school, I walked two miles with my friend, Jess. I managed to get a lot of exercise on Monday! None of the boys are crazy about basketball, but they did have a good time at the basketball clinic. The boys are soccer fans, but it’s good to know about more than one sport. I was happy to have the opportunity to walk with Jess. It’s been a hard year in school, in some ways, so sometimes it’s good to just have a friend to talk to and pray with for many things. I am thankful for the teachers I work with at school.
Roger came home for a few days this week, and we definitely enjoyed every moment of that! I feel like I can “let down” my guard some when Roger is home. He is able to relieve me of single parenting, and the boys and Emma are definitely more talkative when the conversations are in-person. We are a good team, and we work at it. It’s been a challenging few months, and I’ve learned that I have a lot more weaknesses than I thought I had six months ago! It is sometimes way easier to have endless patience with one of my sixteen kindergarteners than to have patience with one of my own children that is climbing on last nerve! However, God gives grace, mercy and forgiveness as we cross off the days to being together as a whole family again.
As we return to school, we also are down to the last thirteen weeks of school! It’s crazy how fast the school year is coming to a close, and I am feeling the pressure of how much I still want to teach my littles before the year is done. But it’s also important to me that I help my kindergartners develop a love FOR learning. I want them to learn to do hard things, to be diligent, and most importantly to know that Jesus loves them. We live in challenging times! We need to we fervent in prayer for the next generation, but also actively involved in training and teaching them God’s Word. I’ve been teaching my students the books of the New Testament. I asked them today why they thought I wanted them to learn the books of the Bible in order. One of my students piped up, “So that we can find the books of the Bible and read them, right?” Yes!!
We thought that the days with Roger at home would be busy and full, but because of the weather and conflict of other people’s schedules, we ended up not being nearly as busy. Chandler was supposed to have a soccer game on Friday, but due to the snowstorm that was cancelled. I had thought that we might have a teen activity on Saturday afternoon, but that ended up not happening. We were supposed to go over to someone’s house for dinner on Sunday afternoon, but due to a scheduling conflict that didn’t happen either. So we spent a lot of time drinking coffee, making food, playing games, and just being together. It was not a bad thing, but our apartment is quite small so sometimes we do feel a little more confined than we would choose to be.
Roger left to return to Michigan yesterday, and the days immediately following that are always a little rougher than I’d like them to be. We get through them, by the grace of God. Roger and I spent a lot of time praying and talking about our future, our family, and God’s plan for us. We are tentatively planning on sending Garett and Chandler on a missions trip to the Dominican Republic in April. There are a lot of details that would need to fall into place, but if this is what God wants for them, it will come to pass. My sister takes a bunch of kids from her school every year, and since the medical trip to Haiti was cancelled this past January, none of us have been on a missions trip this year. Chandler is definitely more interested in going on a missions trip that involves a Vacation Bible School rather than medical clinics, and Garett would be interested either way. The big hiccup continues to be the passport equation, but since we are taking all the steps one at a time, we will take that step as it comes also. I will say that it is a bit unnerving to book airline tickets for the boys without one of them having the necessary passport. But the passport agency will not do a short turn-around passport unless you have a ticket booked, and you are leaving the country in less than seven days. But again, God knows! If this is His perfect plan, we will continue to walk by faith and take one day at time.
Today was a bit of a rough day at school, but at pick-up time one of the parents brought me a gift. Bethany gave me a beautiful little plant and said that she was thinking of me. It meant so much to have someone speak a word of encouragement and love to me. Sometimes we just need to be reminded that someone is praying for us. I often leave school feeling just utterly tired, and then going home to face five children that have some huge needs is often enough to make me tired before I get out of bed in the morning! Did I mention that the grace of God sustains us every moment?!
Please continue to pray for us as we navigate continued uncertain paths ahead. But as the world around us continues to erupt in chaos and confusion, I can find such rest in comfort in know that God holds the world in His hands. I’ve had food to eat, a bed to sleep in, clothes to wear, a hot shower, a vehicle to drive, family that love me, and so much more. We’ve prayed often and fervently for the Ukrainian people this week, but also for the Russian people. We are all created in the image of God, but wow- we live in a sin ravaged world, don’t we?
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