Normal Life

Well, I suppose it's time for another update again. Time sure does fly fast!

Just a couple days after my last post, I went to the post office to pick up my ID card.

Here it is!
They didn't have mirrors in the room where I got my picture taken, and that wasn't the most prominent thought in my mind....
:)


Elizabeth, the girl who got baptized (see last post), left to live with her new parents last Friday. I'm so happy for her!

It's been a pretty uneventful couple of weeks... We had a potluck for our pastoral group which was a lot of fun. Mexican food, yum! I got to watch the kids a few different times.

I guess a great theme for the past couple weeks has been a lot of great fellowship with people. I've been able to get to know people more just through spending time with them and chatting at snack table or while drinking coffee and having dessert or eating dinner . Yes, food provides such a great opportunity to talk with people. It's great conversation facilitator!

In other news (as if what I've already said hasn't been random enough)... Do you remember that brochure I was working on a while back? Yes, I know, how much slower could I go. Well, I've been learning Adobe Illustrator for a few weeks, and I finally got a design done in that program. I had been working in Microsoft Publisher before, and I've been learning just how limited that program is. I love Illustrator! Anyways, on Tuesday I presented the new design to Steve, the director of the children's homes, and he said, "I like it!" That is major progress, People! Yay! The main design is finished, and now we'll be working on choosing and editing photos and tweaking the design here and there. You have no idea how good it feels to have such a huge obstacle out of the way! Finishing touches trump main design any day.

It could be totally ready to print in the next couple weeks... if it weren't for the fact that my next two weeks will be filled by helping with two short-term teams that are coming down. So the goal is to be done by Thanksgiving. This has been the equivalent of a semester-long term project, and I'm ready to be done with it. :) The learning curve has been steep, but I have learned A LOT! And the learning isn't done yet. Now if only I can get Steve to pick out those photos.... hmmm...
No, in all reality, he will have to sift through hundreds and hundreds of photos, and with an already full schedule it may take awhile. We'll see...

So, what comes after the brochure, you ask? Great question! Well, I'm always available for babysitting! I seem to be getting pretty skilled at it. :D I do have a few other projects on my list that I'm excited to start. I've also decided to help out at the Children's Homes on Saturdays. My weekends are generally pretty empty, and they can always use extra hands with twenty kids running around. Actually, there are only seventeen right now, but I'm sure those extra spots will be filled up quickly. I'll continue helping with teams at times, but the last two for this year are during the first half of November.

Another project that I hope will be ongoing is going to be a challenge. It will take all the will power I have to do it every week. Ha! What a joke! I'll be baking cookies with the kids every week! The only willpower that will take is the willpower to not eat all the cookie dough before the cookies make it into the oven. mmmmm... yummy...

Making cookies, you say? Why is that so important, and how is that considered work? For these kids, it's all about making memories. And who doesn't remember baking cookies with Mom? Besides that, it's not only a way for them to learn the rudiments of baking, practice there math, and work on fine motor skills, but it's also a way to let them know they're special. I plan on taking just one or two kids at a time to help bake, and that way they get some one-on-one time, something that is hard to come by when the house parents are taking care of twenty kids plus their own kids.

Well, I think that'll do it for this update. I'll just wrap it up with a few
Prayer Requests

-Please pray that there will be no unforeseen glitches in getting the brochure finished and off to production

-With two teams back-to-back, please pray for endurance and strength not only for me, but also for Jonathan (the team coordinator) and for the teams themselves. Those 7-10 days that each team is here can get pretty long.


Thank you for all your support and prayers! I have been so blessed!