life

Hello!! We are happy to be back in the city for the evening, where will be able to skype with our families and do a quick grocery run before heading back to the ranch tomorrow morning. Things are becoming very busy as we get settled into our new jobs.  Below is a summary of an average week:

Monday through Friday
5:00 am-- Kelli starts a load of laundry.  We currently share 3 washers and dryers with about 80 other people, so we have a scheduled laundry time. : )  The ranch kids wake up and complete their morning chores.
6:00 am-- Clara and Linc are awake and ready for the day. Breakfast!
8:00 am-- John and Kelli drop off the kids at "school" (the nursery class for kids under age 5). Kelli begins her day at school, training to teach levels 2 & 3 and practicing the kids' performing arts. John begins planning meetings with the church staff, organizing church events, and writing sermons.
11:30 am-- Lunch time in the cafeteria for all!
12:00 pm-- Recess! John takes a break to play with the ranch kids, too. : )
1:00 pm-- Kelli picks up Clara and Linc from school and takes them home for a nap.  John continues working.
3:00 pm-- Family time. We all go to the playground, watch a movie, or play in the house together.  On some days John also has a meeting during this time.
5:00 pm-- Ranch kids are out of school.  Play, play, play!
5:45 pm-- Dinner in the cafeteria (or, if we simply must eat American cuisine, at home).
6:15 pm-- Back to the house, showers and storytime for Clara and Linc.
7:00 pm-- Bedtime for Clara and Linc.
9:00 pm-- Bedtime for John and Kelli

Saturday
9:00-11:00 am-- Mission of Mercy kids church. This is a sponsorship program that provides children in the local village medical care, school supplies, and clothing.
1:00 pm-- Praise & Worship music practice
3:00 pm-- Small groups. (We lead a young adults small group).

Sunday
9:00 am-- prayer time
9:30-11:00 am-- church
1:00-4:00 pm-- youth group

I just wanted to give you an idea of what we do every day. Like I said, life is busy, but we are still making time for our family to relax and spend time together.  I (Kelli) am only working half-days until June so that I can ease the transition for my kids, who have not been in a nursery school program before.

Right now I am working on performing arts with the kids. This is an event that they hold every quarter in which students choose a talent, choose a piece to present, and prepare a presentation.  Most of the kids sing, dance, or do a drama.  If you know me, you know this is right up my alley!  I love rehearsing with the kids and seeing their self-confidence build up. I can't wait to post videos of the finished performance!

John is spending a lot of time organizing people and events, and if you know him, you know he is so great at that! He will be preaching his second sermon this Sunday morning. I am so proud of all of the hard work he is doing.

Life in the Philippines is slowly becoming just life.  Not in a bad, "this-is-so-boring" kind of way,  but in a familiar, "hey-i'm-getting-used-to-this" way.

To sum things up:            WE ARE HAPPY!

We are so so thankful for your support. Your monthly donations provide the funds we need to pay for our home, food, insurance, etc. and they make it possible for us to keep doing this. Thank you.

Talk to you in a few weeks!

important

Hi! Happy New Year!! We had a very festive evening and stayed up until 3 am with the Ranch kids (they were awake until 5:00am!!) We are adjusting well to our new home, and things are definitely feeling more settled. Still no warm showers, but we are working on that : )

I have been thinking the past few days about what is really important. You know, in life. For example, in America it is important to us that church services flow smoothly with no interruptions or distractions. But in the Philippines, it is considered perfectly normal for a rambunctious toddler to go tearing across the platform, or a mother hen and her chicks to meander in between the congregation's legs, or a goat to defecate in the lawn in front of everyone! (Church is outside by the way.)  I thought something like that would totally throw off the church service, but no one even blinked!

We took communion at church yesterday. Guess what was in the glass? PEPSI!! I feel like if someone tried that in an American church it would be sacreligious or something!

But I wonder what God thinks about all of that? I had never before considered that He probably doesn't really care about those issues. Because he is busy looking into our hearts. And yesterday I drank my Pepsi communion (which tasted pretty good) and my heart worshipped God and thanked Him for the sacrifice that He made for all of us.

Living in the Philippines has definitely taught me to loosen up!

Also, I (this is Kelli, by the way) was asked to give the girls' devotion yesterday evening. Of course, if you know me at all, you know that I cried. Yes, it's true. : )       I wasn't sure what to tell these girls. Sometimes it is very hard to look at their trusting eyes and think about the horrible circumstances that they have come out of. So I told the girls the scripture in 1 Corinthians 13:12 "Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face..." I told them that the life we live here on earth is not all there is, we were created for something way better. Right now our life is a lot like looking through a nasty, dirty window. You can't see clearly and you can't understand why things happen the way that they do, especially for kids like these who have been abused or had their families torn apart. BUT one day that window will be gone, and we will be able to see everything perfectly clearly. All of the questions will be answered, and the pieces to the puzzle will all fit together.

I don't think we were meant to understand everything right now. Just the important stuff.

1. God is with us.
2. He loves us so much that He sacrificed His very own Son, a part of Himself, so we could be with Him.
3. He is in control.

Hebrews 13:20

That's all for now!