October 2017

I love fall. This month we enjoyed all our usual activities with a few extras thrown in. We have been able to continue with foster care by providing respite for a single foster mom. We attended several birthday parties for friends in our church. We had the opportunity to go to a special performance given by the Fort Smith symphony for elementary kids. We also went to a brand new hands on Children's museum. Finally, we attended our church's fall festival. We also said our own good byes at the passing of my precious Grandmother and the boys endured another round of tests from their kidney specialist.

We have been studying the book of Ecclesiastes in Sunday school and I think this passage in particular is very pertinent to our lives right now...

A Time for Everything

3 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 

Sorry for the ramblings this month. The slideshow will hopefully help you to see more of the goings on. Until next month, remember that God's perfect plan and purpose will prevail and that He makes everything beautiful in His time!

A photo slideshow by Smilebox

September 2017

September brings the official start of fall and the start of many of our fall activities. Here's a quick review of our month...

Eli, Thad, Anna, and Eden started at Grace Academy. For 4 hours, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the three older kids have focused learning time with other home-school kiddos. For Anna, that involves lots of crafts, learning letters, shapes and numbers. For the boys, Grace includes learning science and history, doing Art and PE, and some language skills. For Eden, it looks like play, nursery rhymes, song time, play, eat, nap, and more play. For the first time in almost 10 years, Mommy has some time without any kiddos on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

So, what does Mommy do with all her free time? This year she is a group leader for Bible Study Fellowship. This means leader's meetings and training on Monday mornings from 5-7. Then weekly contact and discipleship with her 16 ladies. Tuesday nights is the Bible Study. This year they are studying the book of Romans...such good stuff. She is so excited to be back in leadership!

Jeff also returned to Bible Study Fellowship this year. His group meets on Thursday evenings. He is enjoying his classes at both Southside and Grace Academy. He also had the opportunity to attend some training in Little Rock for a couple days. We sure did miss him!

One of the highlights of the month, was celebrating Marie's 4th birthday. She really like Ariel from the Little Mermaid. Mommy found a dress/costume with Ariel and a mermaid doll.

The temperatures have remained in the 90s. We are so thankful we can cool off in our pool!

In other news, the boys are still swimming on the swim team and participating in a weekly Bible Study at our church. We have taken over our small group from church and host about 20 people each week. We also try and get together with friends on a weekly basis.

We are busy but our hearts are full of joy being involved in ministry and our kids' lives! We hope your fall is off to a great start too! See you next month.

This free slideshow design generated with Smilebox