Having dragged myself away from teaching the gentle art of baby relief to the stressed mother of a gassy newborn, I thought I’d proceed to give a quick update of our lives across the sea.
I have two weights on my mind and soul today for which I’d greatly appreciate prayer:
- How to best help the aforementioned mother find peace with God and man in her difficulties. “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us…” ~2 Cor. 5:20
- The life of a former LBI graduate and now pastor is endangered, along with his family. I cannot say more, but I myself have fasted for their safety and deliverance today from literal captivity they’ve endured this whole week.
As we have received covert updates throughout the week regarding this family’s plight, all lesser concerns seem shallow. Why has God granted me safety and comfort? And what is a neighbor’s constant blaring of annoying music in comparison to such dangers?
It seems inappropriate to leave such serious matters and talk about down-to-earth daily details, but that’s my life these days: big events in ministry (sometimes!) and little events at home. But over time, I’m sure it’s all those little events added up that make the biggest difference in my children’s lives.
Little events of life: enjoying Calvin and Hobbes together
In addition to teaching our guest how to pat her baby’s back, I have had the joy of teaching my children more about their wonderful, complicated English language, the 6x multiplication table, the “7” addition family, Cimabue (a medieval artist), mollusks, and the Wars of the Roses in English history.
For science one day, I set my kids up in front of a Magic School Bus episode on the coral reef–not because we’ve studied coral reefs yet, but because it was connected to our ocean studies, we’re ahead in science, and…I was tired. 🙂 Then we studied dutifully another day on clams and bivalves.
Crabs
I had to break it to my kids that our tadpole died last Saturday. (We had hoped to raise it to the frog stage, but I moved it into another container with different water, and it’s life was cut short.) Oh dear, I was not expecting the tears that news would bring. So Seth took the kids to the river Sunday afternoon, and naturally I thought they would bring home a tadpole. But of course they didn’t by itself. They came home with a tadpole and a couple of “mudsuckers” as Seth calls them (not sure what they are) and four crabs. Crabs are kinda creepy, I think; but since we had just studied them in our chapter on crustaceans, I tried to be “all good” with this boyish education.
Setting up a bowling lane in the kitchen.
For history, we “bowled” for the crown of the king of France. This was connected to a story of an insult the prince of France sent to the king of England, basically sending him tennis balls and telling him to let off steam in sports, rather than bothering the French.
Caleb kept score–extra math practice!
I was supposed to put paper crowns on all of the cans, but I didn’t see the point of such busywork. We just enjoyed bowling. 🙂
I won!
Our church’s prayer meeting was very encouraging this week–great attendance and involved, meaty prayers. Seth has somewhat fallen out of favor with the kind-of leader of the prison ministry he’s involved in. The program wants him to be more liberal and vague in his theology, but that’s not what he’s in it for. So far, he has not been asked to leave the ministry though, which is very encouraging once he actually gets into the classroom and sees growth in some of the prison inmates themselves.
Seth’s Sunday sermon last week and this week focus(ed) on salvation. Please pray for several lost but faithful church attendees that they would enter in at the narrow gate. I was very pleased with a conversation I had with Colin this week. He lied to me (that’s not the part that pleased me!), which prompted a long discussion involving Scripture about sin, Christ’s payment for sin, and the gift of eternal life. We believe he accepted that gift this week, though we had wondered if he did earlier this year; he seemed to understand and assent more this time. At least, it is good news that he is showing sensitivity to Gospel.
Blessings to you and yours this week,
Amy
Ita Vita 