Why We are Here

As I write this post thousands of Hindu families are preparing to celebrate Diwali.  It is a holiday to honor their "god of lights" and the power he has over darkness.  All week long devout Hindus have been painting their houses, buying new furniture and clothes, and making Indian sweets.  They cover their houses with strings of lights and set off fire works all to honor a god that doesn't even exists.  It breaks our hearts to see how spiritually blind these people are.  Oh if they could only know of the one true God.  The God who can truly bring light to a dark world.  All of this going on around us has served as a physical reminder of why we are here.  We are here to tell a lost and dying world that Jesus Christ is the light of the world.  He is the only one who can fill their hearts with peace.  This is the reminder I need to keep before myself when all I want to do is pack up and head "home" to mommy and daddy (don't laugh, the struggle is real.)  This is the reminder I need to keep before myself when I look into their eyes and see an emptiness.  An emptiness that only Christ can fill.  How can they know Christ can fill them up if we are not here telling them?  I want so desperately to do the job my Lord and Saviour saved me to do.  I want to encourage my man to stay the course.  I want my children to know the joy of telling someone else about Jesus.  That is why we are here; to be the light of the world.

Some precious girls from our Sunday School class 

My Sunday School "helper" :) 

Our Not so "Fall" Fall foliage

As you are beginning to enjoy the changing of leaves I thought you might like to see what our yard is looking like now!!

Happy Fall!!

Ladies Retreat!

I have such sweet memories of getting to go to ladies retreats with my mom when I was a young girl. It was always such a sweet time of learning and growing and just having a great time with my mom.  As enjoyable as those retreats were they don't hold a candle to how much the ladies here in Fiji enjoy a ladies retreat. :)  We began on a Friday night with a wonderful dinner (cooked by one of the men in the church no less).  Once we got cleaned up we enjoyed some singing and a lesson from the book of Ruth.  A friend of ours from Pennsylvania was able to be with us during this time and did a great job on sharing this lesson of what God has taught her through the life of Ruth.  After the devotional the ladies enjoyed watching the movie "Princess Cut".  It is a really cute movie with a powerful message on allowing the Lord to bring along Mr. Right.  Most of the ladies spent the night at the church but I returned home with Emmie.  The next morning we feasted on a delicious breakfast that we all helped to provide.  Game time was next on the agenda.  I absolutely love watching these sweet ladies have a good time.  Their laughter is contagious.  We played very simple games but they were just in stitches laughing so hard at themselves and at one another. :)

  Once we all calmed down from the games we moved right into more singing and another lesson.

 I was honored to share a lesson on Biblical modesty.  The morning was finished off with a craft and a great lunch.  It was a very busy weekend and A LOT of work went into making it all happen, but it was totally worth it.

This sweet girl is visiting Fiji from China.  She was invited to come by the young lady on the right. 

Some of our young ladies 

What's an event without food? 

What a special group of ladies

A Little Homeschooling Update

We have been off to a great start this year with school.  We have five weeks under our belt and are looking forward to the year ahead.  We have chosen to take a Charlotte Mason approach to our home education.  Charlotte Mason was an English school teacher who had an undeniable love for children.  She believed children learn best when they are allowed to explore nature and are surrounded with what she called living books.  Living books are books written by someone with a passion about the subject with the facts presented in story form.  Once we read a portion of a living book our children narrate back to us what was just read.  Sometimes we just take turns telling back what was just read or other times Scot Jeffrey will write down a few facts in his notebook.  He loves looking back on these pages and recalling all the things he has learned.   Home educating this way has been a great fit for our family.  It has given us the freedom to read lots of great books as a family and learn new things at the same time.
In case in think our days are filled with long hours of enjoyable reading times  and pinterest worthy projects let me remind you we have a three year old little boy, a two year old little boy and a seventh month old baby along for the ride.  Trying to homeschool with all these little ones around is no joke, but I am learning what works and what doesn't.  We are slowly finding our groove and I am constantly trying to choose joy in the midst of the chaos.
Here are a few pictures of what we have been up to.

Learning that "Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492"

Filling a bird feeder we made

Finding the perfect spot to hang the feeder

Field trip to the library

Learning about the mangroves on the field trip

Learning the days of creation 

Andrew "doing" school 

Keeping little hands busy while mommy reads 

Emmie learning to keep her hands busy while mommy reads

An Open Letter to my Parents

Dear Daddy and Mommy, 
I was recently asked by someone why I thought our family was so close together and why we always had such a strong relationship.  The answer was really a very simple one.  You gave me your TIME. Looking back its not the "things" I remember but the time we spent together.  It was time spent baking billions of little pumpkin loaves to give to friends at church or the guys at daddy's work.  It was time spent in the backyard burning all the discarded Christmas paper and boxes.  It was time spent teaching me how to bake and letting me make a mess in the kitchen.  It was time spent helping me make a bird house.  It was time spent walking through the field looking for wild strawberries.  So thank you for loving me enough to give me your time.  Time that could have been spent doing other "more important" or "more urgent" things was traded in so you could be with me and Bethany.  These are the things I remember.  These are the reasons why I know we have always been so close.  These are the things I want to pass on to your grandchildren.  I am so thankful to have parents who taught me how to truly invest in my kids.  You taught me through your example how to have my children's hearts.  Scot and I want so desperately to have a close relationship with our children.  One that we can build on as they grow older.  Thank you for teaching me the importance of stopping what I am doing and playing a game of chutes and ladders.  Thank you for teaching me to put aside the work that will always be there and read to my children "just one more chapter." Thank you for teaching me by example that people are more important than things.  I pray that one day my own children can look back on a childhood that is filled to over flowing with the sweet memories of time spent with mommy and daddy.  I love you both more than any words can say.