Well, the Expo is almost here and the kids have been hard at work.
Here is Kenya washing and leading her heifer, Secretary.
And showing her sheep in a mock show, judged by Amanda McClure.
Here Fernanda is working on a bag.
After our second sewing session.
She has since sewn the parts together and all we need is a large button for closing the flap.
The last Friday of July we said goodbye to some of our summer help, Mary Leman, Kristen Fehr, Kailey Whetrich, Maria Steffen, and Amanda McClure.
Pictured here (Back L-R): Amanda, Michelle Schick, Cassidy Wulf, Katie Monroe, Kristen Knochel
(Front L-R): Nicole Hamilton, Maria, Kailey, Mary, and Kristen Fehr
It has been such a pleasure to get to know all of these girls and it was hard to believe that it was already time for some of them to leave!
A partly humorous, partly very frustrating pattern has been developing in our household recently. The boys copy each other! When Mani throws a tantrum, Tadeo decides he would like some attention too. If one of them decides to laugh obnoxiously, they both do. Here Mani is upset and so has his head on the table. As you can see, Tadeo decided it was a good pose as well. Besides, he wasn't to happy about eating the rest of his bread either!
Tuesday afternoon, we spent some time at the Cafe. And enjoyed some hearty, bucket-filling laughs with these journals. The titles apply well to our present situation with some of the kids.
The purple journal reads, "I'M A PARENT? A journal to ponder the unfathomable circumstance that I somehow have offspring even though I have no idea what I'm doing but it sure seems like everyone else does because they're not stinting on the advice as if I don't love my kid(s) which of course I do, but the little bugger(s) are going to need therapy no matter what and in all honesty I couldn't adore them more but sometimes I think I'm going out of my mind with frustration and self-doubt."
(Bucket-filling is CVE terminology for filling your joy bucket, something we all have and need to fill. We can help each other by finding things that fill other peoples' "buckets.")
Prayer Requests
Tomorrow (August 6th) is clinic day, so pray that we can have a smooth, productive trip.
Also, Tadeo has begun to wake up and yell in the night every couple nights and then he sometimes vomits. We think he is vomiting because of the yelling, but we don't know why he is yelling. Maybe scared, maybe copying Mani's bedtime tantrums? Please pray we can solve the mystery or at least that Tadeo can discontinue his nighttime screaming.
No longer recent news, but still an important prayer need, Joe and Denise moved back to Indiana unexpectantly a couple weeks ago and they and their previous household of boys especially need our prayers. There are seven boys ages ten to fifteen. At this time, Dayton and Kathy Kupferschmid and Seth are sharing the caretaker responsibilities, but please pray that God will grant them each strength and that none of the boys would feel rejected or use this life event as a defense against God.
Gifts from August 1st:
So many Christian friends that encourage and uplift
The sunsets
Music
Books (esp. biographies. I love reading stories about real people. Their messages have special power because they really happened!)
Cool breezes brought with each rain.
Answers to prayer.
