New LIfe Changes = A New Blog

Maybe we should start with the title of this blog. We often call the kiddos our little monkeys, but can you guess why the number 4?

Yep! That's right. Baby number 4 is due to make his/her appearance around the end of August! We are super excited about this new bundle of joy. So far, I've been much sicker with this baby than with the others; so small meals, juice, and ginger have been my friends this pregnancy. Claire asks everyday how big the baby is. She's already proven herself to be a great help while I've been sick each afternoon and evening for the past couple of months. Matthew is also excited, but doesn't really understand why my stomach isn't fat. The other day he got excited because I was sitting down with a sweatshirt on that was a little too big on me. He ran over and said, "Look, Mommy, it's getting fatter!" Of course he was then disapointed when he poked my stomach and found it was still flat.

Last year we were actively involved in our French preschool, and this year we are homeschooling Claire in kindergarten and Matthew in preschool. Claire is doing great in her reading and her writing. She is very much my child and doesn't like math, but she is still doing well even so. Matthew is my creative child and thus I've been very careful to find creative ways to teach him the things he needs. It's been fun turning activities in to songs, making velcro charts, and learning numbers while cooking. He's doing great! We are using A-beka kindergarten workbooks for Claire and I'm making Matthew's preschool material. We also do a lot with www.education.com and www.starfall.com. They are both free and have excellent resources. Starfall also has extra resources for a very low monthly price. It's not been easy keeping up with their schooling while being so sick this first trimester, but God is good and we have been able to get a lot accomplished.

Our ministry has changed dramatically this year! We resigned with Avant ministries and working in France (because of support difficulties) and joined an organization called RHMA. They work within small towns and rural communities stregthening and planting churches where there is little or no other gospel witness. Church planting and strengthening is at the center of our hearts for ministry. And although we are in for quite the change (Paris to an American small town) we are confident in God's leading and direction in our lives.

Paris has been missed though. It truly became our home and our life. We miss our friends, our church, and our neighborhood. Our children still occassionally ask when we are going home to Paris and their school. However, we are so exctited about the teammates that were able to stay there. They are working so hard on the new church planting effort and we are so very proud of what they are doing in Paris. It was such a joy to spend 2 1/2 years with those wonderful people.