Three in School
Exactly one year ago, our family was on an airplane headed to Malawi Africa to live for two months. A lot has changed in the last year, including our kids. They have grown up overnight, it seems. Catherine and Easton started first grade. Sophia is in preschool. Addis turned two. It has been a crazy ride, one that I hope to write more about in the coming days as we reflect back on our time in Africa. For now, here is our first week of school.
School uniforms make everything a little more challenging in the morning. First graders don’t really get the concept of a belt, and it doesn’t seem to be catching on very quickly. With uniforms comes uniformity. However, a loud pair of socks and the universal dress/casual/all-around Chuck Taylor’s kicks that out the window.
By the way, Erin cut all of her hair off. I call it her movie star hair. She calls it her 5-minute-to-get-ready-mommy-hair. Either way, I dig it.
This also happens to be the first year the twins are in separate classrooms. Catherine came home after the first day and said, “I think it was a great idea to put us in different classrooms.” Thanks for approving, Catherine.
Next, it was Sophie’s turn to go to school. She has been majorly excited about school, and she was very disappointed to learn that she would only be going three days a week. I am not sure that her teacher has heard her speak yet, but she sure talks about it when she gets home.
Kids will be Kids…
Hope you are enjoying the series. If you haven’t gone to puremission.org yet, go this week and click “LIKE” on the facebook section. A donor has agreed to give $1 to Esther’s House Orphanage for every “LIKE” up to 10,000. The deadline is Sunday, and it is a simple way to send a dollar to Esther’s House.
Episode Two
The second episode aired yesterday, and will air again in about 1 hour on Daystar so you still have time to catch it if you want to watch it on an actual television. There are only four more left, so please spread the word about the program to your blog-friends and family.
Here is the second episode if you missed it.
The First Episode
If you haven’t seen the first episode yet, here it is. Episode 2 is coming up on Sunday, and it deals with how we settled into life in Africa, if you ever really settle in. Honestly, just living in a third world country takes up so much of your time and energy that there is never an opportunity to really get settled. At least not in the two months that we were there.
There are no restaurants, no grocery stores with everything in one place, no local supply of mac n cheese. Everything took four or five stops to find, and then several more hours to prepare. That was if the power stayed on the whole time. We definitely returned with a new respect for those on the mission field in the most challenging places, giving their lives to share the gospel. It takes a strong heart and a lot of patience. And in those challenging places, you realize how little patience you actually have within you. It can bring out the best in you, or expose the worst. Most days, it did both.
Premiere Eve
Tomorrow is the big day for the launch of “Esther’s House, Africa.” If you haven’t set your DVR yet, it will air on Daystar at 4:30 central tomorrow. If you don’t have Daystar, you can view all of the episodes online as well at puremission.org. I will post all of them to our blog also, so you should have plenty of places to find it.
The more we get into the editing of the footage the more I am reminded how much I miss our Malawian friends. We hope to go back soon, though this time without all the kids!
By the way, this post is coming to you from the Greatest City in the World as Erin and I are getting some much needed time away. Big thanks to Grammy and Lovey for watching the kids for a few days. You are the best!
Here is a quick taste of what is coming tomorrow. We created one minute spots on the kids we care for at Esther’s House and will feature their stories on the show. Here is the story of Linda.
