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.
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