Host Family

Today we are applying to be a host family for a Taiwanese student for 4 weeks. If we pass "inspection" she will arrive Monday! We are busily getting a room ready for her. We are hoping to have an additional student as well - we'll see if any more need to be placed next week. If it goes well, we'll do it again in August and have my mom house sit for us while we are in Michigan. She can take care of our students in our absence and we'll pay her a portion of our stipend.

So, for the next 4 weeks we could possibly have another teenager in the house - one who is an exchange student coming to the US to live with a host family and learn English. We will be getting a 16 year old girl. She will be going to school M-F during the day and spend each evening with us. Most weekends she will be at School related group events. We are carpooling with other families in the area to drive the students to the school each morning and pick them up each evening. So I hope I only have to drive once or twice a week! We have four drivers in the family so I probably have it easier than the other families.

We are supposed to just take the students along with us whenever we do anything as a family. I'm sure living with a big family will be a new experience for her. I hope she has fun here.

We're looking forward to some hikes, riding bikes at the beach, and some girls shopping days. We'll let you know how it goes...

This will be a good experience for our kids - to get to know someone from another country, to think about how to make someone feel at home and welcomed, to share their time and resources with someone else, and to work together as a family on a project in which we all have to sacrifice time and energy for a common goal.

I think this will be good for me too.

A Song of Celebration

Today we are celebrating with Zach in receiving his AT-SAT Scores from the FAA. About 2 weeks ago he took an aptitude test that is part of the process of becoming an Air Traffic Controller. For twelve anxious business days, we laid in wait for the daily appearance of our mailman hoping for the arrival of the official test scores. If Zach was away at work or school, we were instructed to open the letter and call him right away. Twelve days crawled by with no word until yesterday, when everyone was out of the house - except Zach- the highly anticipated package arrived. And Zach was able to savor the moment of truth. Did he score high enough to qualify for acceptance for the ATC Academy? He needed between 70-85 to be "qualified." Anything above 85 is considered "highly qualified."

Zach's Score: 99.5 !!!

Thankful Thursday

A Song of Thankfulness
The Loss, The Gift, The Gospel

Ps. 107:22 - Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.

Today, our family is singing a song of thankfulness to God for His care and provision. A couple of weeks ago our new camera was stolen from Courtney's car. We were grieved by the loss but we had just learned that week in our Finance Class that everything we have, both money and property, is the Lord's and that we are commissioned to be responsible and faithful stewards. God's job is to provide; our job is to manage.

When the camera was stolen we were able to share with the kids that while we are sad to lose it, the camera belongs to the Lord and we didn't need to despair the loss. We needed to learn the lessons of being wise and careful with our possessions as well as minding our safety and who knows how the Lord might use the stolen camera to work in the life (on the conscience) of the thief.

We were committed to not go into debt to buy another camera, so it would probably take a while to save up more money to replace it. In the grand scheme of things, waiting to buy another camera isn't that hard.

Today, the Lord has kindly and graciously provided another camera for us! Someone who had heard of the theft generously offered to replace it for us as a gift. This kind act is far above and beyond anything that we could have thought of! This extravagant act reminds us of God's grace: Undeserved. Unearned. Unmerited.

With our first camera, Courtney and I were proud of the fact that we had saved our money and made such a wise purchase for ourselves. (In the words of Peter Pan, "Oh, the cleverness of me.") Now, when we look at our new camera, we are humbled at how wildly generous God is, reminded of His faithfulness, and we will rejoice in His goodness towards us. ("Oh, the goodness of God!")

Love That Lasts: When Grace Meets Marriage

Ron and I have been involved in leading a couple's group using the book: Love That Lasts by Gary and Betsy Riccuci.

We invited 4 couples to join us for eight weeks (meeting every other week) to go through the book together. We took turns hosting in our homes, which was a great way to get to know each other and facilitate friendships. We read the chapter together as couples at home each week, discussed the questions from the study guide as husband and wife before gathering to discuss it as a group.

All of us had one common goal - we wanted to invest time and energy into building stronger, more loving marriages. I think all of us were very aware that good relationships don't just happen and that all relationships tend toward apathy and atrophy. This was our way of combating the downward trend that we can so easily fall into.

Sometimes it wasn't easy to talk about issues with our spouses; sometimes we didn't want to face personal issues; sometimes it brought out conflict or tense discussions; sometimes we didn't feel like going to the class-- but each time that we talked, discussed, fought, attended, shared, prayed - we were adding another brick to the foundation of our marriages, making it stronger.

The subtitle of the book is When Grace Meets Marriage. I think all of us are walking away from this class having encountered the grace of God in our marriages and we have been changed.

We have one more class next week and then we will celebrate the completion of the book group by going out for a special dinner. It has been a joy and a privilege "doing life" with these couples and seeing the gospel at work in their lives. We look forward to doing this again next fall with a new group!

Wake Up Call

Courtney and I both are interested in photography and recently decided to buy a good camera together. We have a Canon Rebel film camera, but have been wanting to go into digital (and save a ton of money by not developing ruined shots!). We took several weeks to research cameras, interview friends who are photographers and read reviews on line in order to make a good decision based our budget, our experience (lack of) and our goals of learning photography.

A couple of weeks ago, we made the plunge to buy a Nikon Digital Camera - not a super, high- end one, but a very good one that would suit our needs and modest ambitions of becoming better photographers. It was a financial stretch, but we decided to invest in something that we'd own for a long time and be able to "grow into."

We had the camera for about three weeks when last Tuesday night, someone stole our camera, checkbook, cellphone and business credit card out of Courtney's car. Checking accounts and credit cards can be canceled, and cell phones can be easily replaced, but it was hard to lose the camera. We filed a police report and the officer retrieved a flashlight that was left by the thief. Hopefully, fingerprints will lead to his arrest...but we'll never see that camera again.

After our initial shock and anger and disappointment at the financial loss, we realized that we've been slacking off in our diligence regarding our personal safety and our property. We've been leaving our cars unlocked, sometimes leaving windows and doors to our home open, going away and not bolting our front door... suddenly the loss of the camera was put into perspective. This could have been so much worse! We are grateful that no one was hurt and that it was a theft from one of our cars and not in our home.

Graduation

Tuesday evening, we celebrated the end of another year of homeschooling, and each student in our school, ALA, was given a certificate of promotion to the next grade. All the families, friends and students of ALA join together for a night of celebrating the accomplishments and achievements of the kids.

This promotion day is always a highlight for our family. The girls spend the afternoon primping and preparing: picking out just the right outfit, fixing their hair, painting their nails, practicing the songs that they'll be singing in the choir. Our bathrooms are strewn with blow dryers, curling irons, brushes, hair ribbons, perfume, and jewelry- the paraphernalia of girls enjoying being girls. Sounds of laughing and singing and collaborating are wafting throughout the house.

Our whole family rejoices in the accomplishments of the girls and the fact that we - students and teacher, have survived another very full year! As we sit in the auditorium and see the kids participate in choirs and bands and recitations, hear the seniors give their graduation speeches and see Zach give the alumni address we are re-envisioned for the WHY of homeschooling.

Biblical Financial Study

Ron and I are just beginning a small group, 5week class: Biblical Financial Study with Crown Financial Ministries. A friend of ours in the church is taking us through the study so that we will be able to teach it to couples in our church. It really is a 10 week class, but because of time constraints, we are doubling up on the homework and doing 2 lessons a week.

Looking ahead, we will be studying: God's part and Our Part; Avoiding Debt; Seeking Counsel; Practicing Honesty; Giving Generously; Working Hard; Saving Consistently; Spending Wisely; Living for Eternity.

So, for the next few weeks we will be reading the book Your Money Counts, going through the daily Bible study and doing the practical assignments. [Putting together a personal financial statement, reworking our budget, using and maintaining a consistent way to record spending and saving, organizing investments, and putting together financial goals.]

I'm looking forward to all we are going to learn!

Dinner Cruise

Last night we were treated to a Dinner Cruise in San Pedro. We enjoyed a sunset sail around the harbor while dining on steak kabobs, chicken and swordfish - all grilled on board by the crew.

The families of the graduating class of our school hosted the cruise for the Juniors, Seniors and alumni along with their parents. It was a wonderful, creative alternative to a prom.