Monday, August 7, 2017

School's in Session!

We have officially started our 2nd year of home school. We are actually 2 weeks in already! We decided a 4 day work week might work better for us then a 5 day work week so the days are a little longer and the school year is a little longer, but we are okay with that. The kids love having the extra "weekend" day and I love having the flexibility of a floating day during the week. We have built in some holiday time as well as some "snow days" for those days that come up out of the blue. We want to remain flexible with our school schedule but at the same time I am a list following, calendar abiding, schedule keeping kind of personality so it helps to have that floating day for when things come up unexpectedly at the shelter that we want to be a part of and I can still feel like I am keeping a "schedule". So far it has been smooth sailing. The kids really like to home school and I really love to teach them. It is my favorite thing to see their "light bulbs" go off when they finally understand that frustrating math problem (Carter got a 100% on his first Math test of his 6th grade year! We all got to celebrate that with him a little more then we might have if we weren't learning along side him!!). I love seeing their interests peak when we research a new animal or a new place. I am glad for this season of home school. I am not sure if we will sustain it once we get back to the states, but one can never tell. It seems that whenever we start making plans, the Lord decides to change them sometimes anyway :) So for now, we are just going to sit back and enjoy the ride!!


First Day of School 7-24-17

Independent Work Time, so quiet! 

Enjoying library time at the Children of Hope School





Thursday, August 3, 2017

Church and Technology

It's not a secret how much we love our home church in Sturgeon Bay. It also isn't a secret how much we miss our church and our church family back in the states. While we haven't found anything close to what we are used to here, one thing remains the same. God's word. It doesn't matter whether it is being heard in English or Cebuano or Tagalog or whatever language. The Bible says the same thing. God loves us. He sent His only Son to die for us. For me. What amazing love!!

We (Jake and I) have spent a lot of time searching what "worship" looks like for us as a family here and for me personally too. We have had some great conversations with our children about why we choose a specific church over another. It is very different here compared to what we are used to. Most churches are Mega churches here (like 700-1000 people in a service vs. our 150-200 that we are used to in WI). A lot of the churches we have visited here are focused more on the "performance" of it all vs. What God's word has to say. We have tried out many different churches and are grateful for the many options we do have here. Not everywhere has options and especially options in our native language. One of the things that I have come to appreciate is the fact that, for the most part, we feel safe going to church here in this part of Asia. Not all parts of our world can say that they feel safe going to church. Even though we miss our "home" church, we are so incredibly thankful for what we do have and that we have found a church that speaks God's truth. We are also thankful for the conversations with our children on “why" we go to a specific church. 

Our church here has a Saturday night option so we choose to go on Saturday nights. We have gotten in the habit of having family worship time together singing a few songs and then tuning into the service from FBC online (you can too by clicking here) on Sunday mornings. Isn't technology amazing! We can listen every single week to the message that our Pastor in WI preached the week before. We have always loved how God works through him and God's word to speak to His people in a special way. We love that we can continue see/watch and listen even 8,000 miles away. We are also glad that we are able to enjoy corporate worship here too that speaks truth. (You can also check that one out here).

While we still miss our church family, we are so incredibly thankful to God that we are still able to enjoy corporate worship while here, as well as tune in each week to FBC and Pastor Cory! Thanks FBC tech team for making that possible!!