Apple Orchard

This past weekend we took advantage of the gorgeous fall weather and went apple picking at an orchard. The kids enjoyed the wagon ride out to the orchard and of course picking apples off of the trees. They picked 2 bushels of some really yummy apples that we will be enjoying for some time.

Luca was the best little helper who wanted to carry the baskets all by himself and surprisingly he was the most gentle in placing the apples in the basket.

Radio Interview & Ordination

Tomorrow Jonathan will have the opportunity to share his testimony and about our ministry in Italy through a radio interview on AM930 The Light from 9-10 a.m. (EST) If you're interested you can listen online by going to their website and clicking on "Listen Now."

Also, we just found out over the weekend that Jonathan has a set time frame for his Ordination Council. It will be at Grace Baptist Church in Cedarville, Ohio on either October 15 or 16. We'll let you know when that is firm. It is a bit sooner than he had anticipated but he'll be ready. Of course, he will NEVER be ready in his own mind. We ask that you pray for him over the next few weeks that he will be able to have some focused and productive studying time. He loves all the studying, seriously! If (when) he passes we will then schedule his Ordination Service to celebrate and publicly give glory to God with our church, family and friends.

That's it for now...just wanted to share these two important prayer requests with you!

Our New Routine

Fall has begun bringing with it school and a sense of routine. We have been asked over the past couple of weeks, "so what are you guys doing now that you're not back in Italy?" As mentioned previously both Samuel and Emma have begun school. All of the kids began AWANA last week at CrossPointe Community Church and thoroughly enjoyed their evening. During the week Jonathan is still pursuing church contacts and trying to set up meetings. However, no one has funds to bring on new missionaries so we are not even finding open doors just to share our burden for the Italians with churches. It is a frustrating place to be but yet we have to be faithful in working at it, trusting that God will provide the opportunities and the funds. We have one new church scheduled in November, presentations in small groups at our home church in Cedarville, and another supporting church in Ohio for October. This coming Tuesday we will be sharing with a small group of friends in the area about our ministry. We are looking forward to that and the more informal type of presentation. Jonathan is studying hard in preparation for his ordination that will hopefully take place later this fall. And me, well the responsibilities of motherhood keep me busy. But I have been enjoying some extra time to read while the kids are at school. I am looking for a good fall craft project if anyone has any ideas that would make for good Christmas gifts let me know. We would appreciate your continued prayers for us as we wait. We are planning on returning to Italy in January.

The kids are asking almost daily when they can go back to Italy. We are thankful that their association of home is there and that they have not forgotten about life in Italy. However, that does not mean that they are not enjoying themselves now. Samuel and Emma are soaking up their schooling experiences and really showing lots of progress in just a few short weeks. Samuel has a new best friend each day and so we are thankful for the friendships they are building. This past week we started to send him on the bus to and from school and he was thrilled! Emma practically runs down the school hallway to get to class and wants to go all by herself. I am still shocked that this is the same little girl from 5 months ago. She has gained so much confidence in herself and with others, it's amazing! She comes home from school talking up a storm about her day but is just as excited to catch a small nap before dinner as well. At AWANA, Luca is a "Puggle", Emma a "Cubbie" and Samuel a "Spark." They all had a blast last week and Jonathan and I enjoyed a date together while the kids were at church. With not having ministry presentations on the weekends we are taking advantage of hopping around to our supporting churches in the area in order to continue to invest in their ministries as they so faithfully do for ours. It's been good.

Currently, Munga and Gramma are in Instanbul, Turkey for a week so it's quiet around here having full reign of the house. Today we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's for the first time. They walked in to the place and shouted "where a kid can be a kid!" (You have to know the commercial to get that one.) Anyway, I don't know who was more of a kid; the kids or Jonathan. His skeeball skills certainly are amazing and thanks to him we got lots of tickets to cash in for the prizes. Everyone was happy for the entire 3 hours of fun and lunch. A good family memory.

Well, I should wrap it up for now. Thanks for your prayers and encouragements as we continue to wait it out here in Michigan.

A New Sister-in-law (to be)

So yes, the day finally came on Friday, September 5th when Cody popped the big question to Michelle. I'll just say we are so excited for them and the new sister we will gain by this union in marriage. We love you guys! Check out Cody's blog and Michelle's if you want to read their versions of the story.

Emma's First Day of Preschool

FINALLY...the day arrived for Emma to go to preschool! She has been so anxious for this new experience to begin that it made for a very long morning as we had to constantly tell her we could not go to school until after lunch. The hours never went so slowly for us both. Emma will go to preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30-3:00pm. Her class section is only half full (10 students) so she will get a lot of one-on-one time from her teachers: Mrs. Smith & Mrs. Vruggink.

Today she only went for an introductory hour and Mamma went too. Emma was the first to arrive and walked in with great confidence. Immediately she started to look for frogs. She was pretty perplexed and kind of upset that she couldn't find one single frog. Finally, I found a picture of a frog in a book but she wasn't too impressed. Give this girl 1 minute in any store, in any church, in any magazine and she will find the frogs. I hope she doesn't get turned off from school just because there are no frogs. The kids were allowed to explore the classroom and play before coloring a self-portrait and having a story read to them. Emma did very good listening and answering questions as long as the little girl next to her was not poking her or trying to distract her.


Then they enjoyed some play time on the playground. Emma played with Tiffany most of the time and hit it off well with her it seemed. I then struck up a conversation (well one-sided at least) with Tiffany's mother. She is Korean and really doesn't speak English all that well. My heart immediately went out to her as her answers were short and sometimes grammatically wrong. I could totally sympathize in feeling like an outsider having been on her end while at parent meetings in Italy. It is so obvious that you are a foreigner and you feel like everyone knows everyone else. I felt like an outsider here as well, but knowing the language is more than half the battle in building relationships and feeling comfortable. I tried to ask her simple questions and say that my brother just got engaged to a Korean (oh ya, that story is coming soon!) but didn't get many questions asked in return. Anyway, pray that I would have more opportunities with this woman, Piong (or something like that..I couldn't quite catch it) even if it's just a simple smile and acknowledgment that someone recognizes her existence. Truly, it made all the difference to me taking Samuel to school in Italy when someone would offer a smile.

Tiffany & Emma

Samuel & Emma both attend school at Bauer

First Day of Kindergarten

Today Samuel began his first day of Kindergarten at Bauer Elementary in Hudsonville. He was very excited for his first day and had no problems nor any signs of apprehension. After attending preschool last year in Italy in his second language and diverse culture, this was a piece of cake not only for him but for us parents as well. Although, this is a new experience for all of us it sure eases your mind when you are familiar with the system and cultural expectations and not to mention the language! I remember being close to tears last year and worrying all day whether or not Samuel was able to communicate himself or understand what was being said on his first day. After our driving to school prayers he was set to go and after getting his backpack put away in his locker he walked right in to his classroom and sat down ready to begin his day.

From what we can gather he had a great first day. He said he had fun and that he ran and got sweaty...so he must have enjoyed recess or gym class the most. He said he met a boy named Jackson and that his teacher, Mrs. Lyon, was really nice. We made a handprint of some sort and ate a pizzadilla for his hot lunch.

We decided not to send Samuel on the bus since we live less than a mile away from the school. Therefore, I went to pick him up this afternoon. After parking and walking towards the school doors I realized that I almost passed Samuel on the sidewalk walking out with another mother and her child. She really didn't seem to notice he was tagging along. So instead of my first question being, "How was your first day of school?" It was, "Are you supposed to be outside?" We walked back in to the school in search of finding out what the procedure for pick-up was. I didn't see his teacher or classmates so figured I would ask tomorrow morning. A few minutes after arriving home we got a call from Mrs. Lyon anxiously wondering if we had our child. We both did our apologizing and Samuel will be drilled on where to wait on day #2!

Samuel will be attending Kindergarten Tuesdays, Thursdays and alternating Fridays from 8:50am to 3:40pm. Thanks for keeping him in your prayers and for us as well as we will have opportunity to interact with his teacher, parents and classmates. It certainly is quiet around the house when Samuel is gone...he was missed by us all!

One last thing...As many of you know giving Samuel a haircut is torture not only for him but for me as well since he cries and virtually freaks out every time a falling hair touches his body. Therefore, he either gets a buzz or a really uneven and botchy haircut. However, yesterday was a milestone for him showing how much he is growing up! He psyched himself up the whole day saying how brave he was going to be and how proud Dada was going to be of him and how he was not going to cry and be a big boy. I took his word for it and really tested him by doing the most precise job I could while being amazed that during the entire 20 minutes he didn't even come close to crying or screaming. At the end, he said "I LOVE haircuts!!"