Teaching and Building

We are living in a bit of an intense season right now, which is one of the reasons I am so surprised that the Lord gave me the sweet opportunity to teach at our women's Bible study this week.  The teaching schedule was planned out long ago, and the added pressures we have been living with only made the study and teaching more meaningful to me personally.

I taught on busyness.  We are doing a 5-week series called Get Real, in response to what the women of our church said keeps them from contentment.  I've never taught on such a large scale, but felt very sure about what the Lord gave me to say.  And to hear that the Lord is using it in the lives of those who were there has been pure redemption.  I've shared many tears in conversation with our women since then.  Truly I am deeply humbled and thankful.

Here is the link if you want to listen...moms of young children will certainly relate to lots that I talk about.

Speaking of our church, Shane has had the added pressure and fun of helping plan the youth space in our new building!  We are so excited for 11.11.12 when we have the grand opening!

I love these pictures of our kids at the building this past summer.  They just look like little ministry kids playing in the rocks outside the unfinished building!  And someday we'll get to tell them their names are written under the flooring in the doorways to the rooms where they belong right now (infants, 2 year olds, 4 year olds).  Praying God uses us and our church to build a strong spiritual foundation in their lives...

SchoolBoy

Silas started to preschool last month.  It was such a milestone for our family.  I really didn't know how it would go or what Silas would think.  But he has blown me away with how much he has jumped right in without hesitation.  He absolutely loves it.

The first day was shorter than a typical day.  Shane and I went to parent orientation while Silas was in class.  I was really thankful it worked out that my sister was in town visiting so we got to leave Sim, Lieren, and Blaise at home with her.

Silas was thrilled to finally put the last sticker on the countdown that his teacher gave him when she came for a home visit a few weeks before.

Notice the Toy Story backpack?  Yeah, we let him pick out whatever he wanted.  He told me he wanted this one because it had green on it.

I wanted Silas to have something to put in his backpack on the first day because he was so disappointed that he didn't get any school supplies of his own.  He had gone with Shane to buy school supplies to give away in a backpack through a ministry our church does each year.  So we gave him a verse to carry instead.  It's one he had just memorized for church and a reminder not to fear.

Greeting friend Haley right outside the school...

And getting his first glance at his classroom...

I am so proud of Silas.  He has really risen to the challenge of school.  Even though it's strange to have him gone, it's fun to see him grow and mature with this new experience.  And its so cute to see him get excited about the little things about school!

For the Grands

Mondays

It's nice for Shane to get to have a slow-paced Monday after the craziness for him that is Sunday.  So the last few weeks I have been taking the three big kids to the library while Shane relaxes and Blaise naps.  It has been such a fun time for us and has been good for the whole family so I hope to keep it up.  Shane mentioned last night that we didn't have a great picture of the kids recently so I pulled out the camera this morning.

Lieren saw a tutu in her closet as she was getting dressed and asked it she could wear it.  Then as we were heading out the door she said, "I wear my tutu to library?"  Sure!  Why not?

The pictures kind of capture the whole outing...heading out, walking in, playing there, coming home, and watching the garbage truck before we walked back in the door.

Looking through the pictures this evening, all three look so big to me.  And they are acting bigger.  And we have one in school now.  And the weather is changing, a new season is upon us, and sometime I must have blinked because summer already seems like a distant memory.