Monday, June 07, 2010

Finishing Well

TGI-Almost Over
Man, this last week was a doozy! Thursday will be the last day of school, which means last week was full of tests and projects and I am EXTREMELY ready for school to be out! I stayed up late a couple of nights studying physics from Rebekah's book so I could go over it with her in the morning before school, and while an optimist might point out that this "opportunity" allowed me to add several new words to my Macedonian vocabulary, I would point out that this "challenge" gave me a fever blister!!! But I am thankful that, though I may struggle and though I have to keep using Google translate for those technical words, at least I can help. Thank you, Lord, for Google translate and for the time and ability to help Rebekah! And thank you for the end of the school year!

Rebekah with her bug collection for Biology. Thankfully she didn't have to collect as many as we had to for Mr. Minchew's class! To this day, the smell of fingernail polish remover reminds me of 7th grade science class! Rebekah's smile is for the camera – not for the joy of collecting bugs!


In the end-of-school performance, Rebekah joined her class to sing a medley of Abba songs! She was mortified, but didn't show it as she lip-synced "Mama Mia!"

Later in the peformance Rebekah also read Psalm 23 in English and in Macedonian for the crowd of parents, teachers and classmates.


As the school year is ending, so is basketball season. Joshua (front row, 3rd from the right) has had several basketball games with his team, and as one of the youngest (maybe THE youngest???), he was thrilled to play in the finals in Skopje. They ended the season with only one loss.


This is Daniel with his two best friends, Boban and Hari.
They may look mischievous but believe it or not, these three musketeers are known to be the class peacemakers, stopping fights between the other kids, be they boys or girls! (Sure wish he'd play the same role when Josh picks on him!)
Their class danced to "Let's Twist Again" in the end-of-school performance.

On a more "sour" note, our cherry tree has fabulous cherries and we have added "pick cherries" to the kids' list of chores for the last week! Actually the cherries are sweet, not sour, but I was trying to be clever! I didn't grow up popping fresh cherries in my mouth as a refreshing summer snack – but we are all loving it! In a few more weeks we'll have to add "pick apricots" to the chore list!

Coming Up
Homeschooling

These next few days and weeks, I am focusing on ordering material and getting ready for next year's homeschooling efforts. I am quite overwhelmed and extremely terrified, but I know this is what we need to do. Please pray for me to rest in His plans and take it step-by-step (and stay a step ahead of whatever I need to be doing!). Please pray for us in this endeavor.

Volunteer Team
We have a team from Normandale Baptist Church in Texas coming in mid June. They'll be doing some repairs of playground equipment and laying a sidewalk for the approach to a walking bridge in our neighborhood. Also we'll be having some seminars and perhaps some sports evangelism. Please pray for us all as we prepare for this joint effort, and pray for the hearts of those who will hear personal testimonies of Jesus.

Williams on Stateside
Our teammates Jeff and Amy Williams, and Maggie, will head to the States in two weeks for a six-month Stateside. They will be in Texas and Arkansas, so let us know if you want to hook up with them to speak about Macedonia!