Ok my last post was about Easter....sorry for the delay! I am either extremely lazy, extremely busy or extremely distracted every 5 minutes from my two little friends.. ?? I will let you decide. (perhaps it is a combination of all of the above! lol)
So since I know I will not be able to give the last few months justice, I will not attempt... but maybe a few highlights and will fill in the blanks at a later date.
May
XA End of the Year Banquet -
We enjoyed an awesome night of food, testimonies, worship and friends. It is always so much fun meeting students' parents and giving parents an opportunity to get a sneak peek into their children's lives... for them to hopefully see that their kids have been involved in something that matters...that they have been growing in their relationship with God and building friendships that will last a lifetime!
This night is also such an encouragement for Shawn and myself... to sit back and look around in complete awe of the goodness of God!
XA Mission Trips -
We had the privilege to send out two teams this summer. One to Macedonia and another to South Africa. Both teams made it back safely and students have come back changed... with a broadened perspective of God's heart for people!
* Testimonies and pictures to come!
Summer Time -
I am asked on a regular basis what our life looks like during summer time and how/if things change for us.
For me, summer is always a very interesting transition... as we focus more time on admin work, support raising and working from home. Often, I really miss the constant motion and activity of campus life...and I find it difficult to adapt to a new schedule and create new structure.... awww the life of a missionary! :)
This summer we have been having Summer XA... we are meeting in different homes...sharing a meal together, cool times of prayer, worship, testimonies and time in the Word. Summer XA is a bit more student led.... various students have agreed to host a night... which means they do the planning, delegating and execution.... AWESOME!
Last night we joined together and it was truly such a delight to see our students lead. I love how much God grows students through the community of Chi Alpha and that students are given opportunity to try new things and to be released in areas of ministry. What better way to learn and grow than by doing....?
The Home Front -
Trenton not only completed his first "semester" of pre-school but he also attended Vacation Bible School for the first time. He did great in both! It is crazy to see how quickly he is growing up. It is really cute that he has his little group of friends and tells us all sorts of random stories about his friends and the things he is learning! He continues to love learning bible verses and asks us to read his bible to him just about every night... but now he is very particular about what part he wants us to read... he generally wants to hear about the soldiers. :)
He picks up on so much of what we say and is quite the "rule follower" (well of the ones he likes, and more so of the ones he wants to make sure WE follow!)
"Daddy, we don't wear our hat at the table!"
"Mommy, we don't stand up in the car!" ( as I try to pick up Averi's cup)
I went to a friends' house for lunch and as she was telling me a story... Trenton says...
"Mommy, we are not supposed to talk with our mouth full!"
haha... Well, at least what he is saying is mostly true! lol.
Averi is also growing sooo quickly. She has quite the personality.. she keeps us on our toes, for sure! I always said that I hoped to have a girl that could be "girly" but who was also not afraid to get dirty.... well this proved to be true about Averi! We went camping with a couple families and Averi was covered with dirt and loved it!
She continues to love shoes, bows, necklaces.... Her new favorite word is NO... her new hobby is climbing onto our kitchen counters and her favorite movie is Snow White!
Averi and Trenton have a love/hate relationship... they are hilarious to watch together... such sweet moments and also such brutality!
Hope you are enjoying your summer! As always, we would love to hear from you and know how we can be lifting you up in prayer!
Until next time... (which will hopefully NOT be 3 months from now! ha. )
