"If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies."

Someone named "Anonymous" once said that... and others have been repeating it since, usually when they are talking about...

Transition.

According to the dictionary, I can define transition, as a noun, as the process and/or a period of changing from one state or condition to another. As a verb it means all those actions and things that happen as such a transformation or metamorphosis is made. 

Transitions are often intricate and beautiful - think of a piece of music modulating from one key to another. 

Transitions usually require finesse and delicate treatment - think of a word smith choosing specific words to help his reader's thoughts progress in a logical and connected way from one key idea to the next.

Transition, in physics, can refer to the change from one quantum state to another by either the emission or the absorption of radiation, which just sounds, at least a bit, risky and liable to have unintended or unforeseen consequences.

Transition, etymologically, comes from Latin, through French, with the original meaning being "go across." Any time you have to step across... go through... anything that involves feelings, change and people can claim a status of complicated.

Transition is smack dab right where my family sits right now. And it feels like we've been here for forever, even though I know we haven't....

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Please join me at Missionary Moms' Companion to read the rest, 

since I'm writing over there today!

Why Québec instead of back to Africa?

 

Amazing Armor-bearers

   Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.”    And his armor-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you heart and soul.”    Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them. If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the LORD has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.”    So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines… (from 1 Samuel 14)

        

What an awesome Bible story! Seriously! The steadfast, unwavering and unconditional support of an unnamed young man known only as an armor-bearer must have been such an encouragement to the one he served… to Jonathan. And while armor-bearer isn’t a “position” for most of us in our day and age, reading through this story does remind us all over again… makes us grateful… for those who’ve been like armor-bearers for us.

If at any time in the past, you’ve contributed financially allowing our family to minister in West Africa, if you’ve traveled and visited and ministered with us as we served overseas, if you’ve prayed for us, if you’ve sent packages, if we’ve shared a need and you’ve stepped up to meet it, if you’ve written or called or Facebooked, if you’ve hung in there with us as major changes took/are taking place… we think of you as our armor bearers. We can’t do this ministry God has called us to do without you - standing behind us, sending, encouraging, exhorting and just loving our family. God’s Word teaches us clearly that we wage spiritual battle:  “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds…”(2 Corinthians 10.3-4) Thank you for standing with us in this battle. Knowing that “you’ve got our backs” gives us strength, encourages us and enlarges our vision as we see such visible manifestations of God’s grace working through you.

Saying, "Thank you!"

And in that vein, we want to give a huge shout-out of thanks to a bunch of special folks! Some friends are so good at coming up with very specific and tangible ways to help. While we were visiting with them a few months ago, we shared a very practical prayer request. Prior to leaving Niger, we sold almost everything – we kept some clothing, linens (because we were going camping in Scotland on our way home), a few heirloom-type/souvenir items and favorite toys as well as a few other things we could fit into our luggage – but we landed back in the States with very little in the way of material possessions or all the stuff that helps a household to run. It hasn’t been an issue because we are living in a furnished missionary house. But over the course of the next several months, we are planning to do a lot of garage sale-ing, thrift store shopping and collecting of hand-me-downs from those wanting to part with “stuff” because if all goes to schedule, we will be needing to furnish a house for our family of 10 in about a year, basically from scratch. When our precious friends at First Baptist Church of Cass City heard of this need, they invited Richelle to come speak at their Mother/Daughter banquet – and asked if they could also have a shower for her. That time included a delightful few hours of fellowship, the opportunity for Richelle to share what God has been teaching her about “Growing God’s Way – in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord…,” and we were literally showered with many, many practical gifts, scratching many items off our list of things-we-hope-to-have-before-we-have-to-furnish-a-home-again! 

The van loaded with gifts from First Baptist, Cass City.

Some exciting (we think) info!

As we’ve shared several times now, Tim’s ministry at the studio in Niger had come to a crossroads. We are firmly convinced... at least a dozen qualified, motivated and burdened for their own people local, Nigerien technicians can capably do the very ministry Tim had gone to Niger to do. Several missionaries are also currently in country, working in the audio-visual domain. Therefore our ministry either needed to change or needed to move focus elsewhere. 

To best steward the talents and abilities God has given, we knew we needed to broaden the focus of our ministry – enlarge the scope so that the audio-visuals we were helping to produce did not just touch Niger, but a larger potential population. 

We are excited that Tim will be able to do just this: not only does the studio where he will be working have a burden for their own, which some call the largest unreached people group in North American, they want to touch the entire francophone world. According to Nations Online, there are 56 political entities on the continent of Africa. Twenty-eight of them list French as a primary language – either an official language or a language of commerce. That means half the countries in Africa use French consistently at some level. Tim will be helping produce programming targeted for these populations. And, he is also working on a collaboration with another ministry group whose entire focus is recording the Bible in local, heart languages – particularly populations where literacy rates are low. There’s been some great discussion already, and we are praying about a potential trip to Africa (for Tim) later this year for this very purpose.

So no… we are no longer directly working on the African continent. This ministry change, however, does seem strategic to us, potentially continuing to impact and support missions work in Africa – just as we did while living there - except that equipment and technical resources will be better, electricity will be more consistent, and we will be working in collaboration with mother-tongue French speakers who have a heart to reach the entire French speaking world! 

God has not simply changed our focus to a different part of the world; He has enlarged our vision (which still very much includes Africa) and, we pray, our potential influence – as we seek to best steward the gifts, talents and abilities He has gifted us.

All because of Jesus,

Tim, Richelle, Brendan, Rebekah Joy, Nadia, Anna, Victoria, Jonathan,

Elsie Mae and Mary Michelle Wright 

Richelle with Rebekah all dressed up for her Jr/Sr Banquet.

Praises: 

• exciting opportunities

• the end of the school year

• good first year at university for Brendan

• new church contacts

• enjoying Spring weather

• missions trip opportunity for our older girls

• generous, faithful “armor-bearers” who continue to partner with us

 

Prayer Requests: 

• details, as we continue to finalize them

• wisdom as we make new contacts

• safety as we travel

• upcoming missions trip for our girls

• Brendan’s transition to a new university

• 3 teenage drivers-in-process at our house this summer

TRAVEL SCHEDULE: 

• May 18 – Burt Baptist, Burt, MI

• May 20 – International Women’s Club, Midland, MI

• May 22 – Chapel, Calvary Baptist Academy, Midland, MI

• May 27-31, Tim training

• June 3-6, Tim training

• June 7-14, Anna, Nadia and Rebekah – Missions trip to Chicago

• June 10-13, Tim training

• June 15 – South Baptist, Bay City, MI

• June 22 – Berean Baptist, Cortland, NY & New Testament, Peruville, NY

"...It’s not my job to write my daughter’s future" - agreed... and perhaps more importantly, disagreed - because of the context...

"...it’s not my job to write my daughter’s future. 

And it’s not her job to live up to my dreams for her."

I read that statement in a post on one of the blogs I regularly read... and it evoked a rather rabid love/hate response deep within my heart, enough so that I felt I needed to respond within the comment section. 

Let me start off by saying that Mr Irwin's post was written in the context of discovering that one of your children has chosen to pursue a homosexual lifestyle - and that under those conditions, parents need to let go of the dreams they had for their child - dreams that centered on their son or daughter getting married to someone of the opposite sex, having children, raising a traditional family. It was disheartening to read the post and the comments section. Both clearly reveal the about-face many of those who self-describe as evangelical Christians have made regarding God's view of marriage as the basic building block of family, God's sovereignty over every aspect of their lives, and a blatant disregard for the Bible and its very relevant and pertinent application to lives today.

But first, here is my response:

Can I say that I both love and hate that statement at the same time... 

because I both wholeheartedly agree and disagree at the same time? As a parent wanting to see my children grow up and love God with all their hearts, minds and souls and to love their neighbors as themselves, I think our "job" or "ministry" or "training" or "raising" of our kids involves at least two important aspects that directly relate to this question: 1) As parents we are to help train our children in the way that God wants them to go... or, in other words, help them to discern what God's dreams are for them and their future; and 2) in doing that, our own dreams for them will clearly "grow" or become more "defined" as will their own dreams for themselves.

The bigger question is am I willing to teach my kids to dream, to dream big and to work hard for that dream but to hold their dreams with an open hand if God begins to direct them to a different dream, or as they discover that perhaps their dreams are contrary to God's way... and to submit their ideas of what is best to God's revelation of what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. The best way for me to do that is to model holding my dreams... for myself... and for them... with that metaphorical hand open and lifted up to God - and to submit those dreams to God's sovereignty and absolute right to our futures - whether we understand or not.

And that's where I totally agree with your statement quoted above. It isn't my job to write my children's futures - that belongs to God. It isn't their job to live up to my dreams for them. It is their privilege to be obedient and submit to the future and dreams God has for them - whether it matches up with what I thought, or what they thought... at first.

Let me re-iterate those last points ~

1. God "writes" the futures of my children. He created them, He gives them every breath and heartbeat, He preserves their lives. They are His.
2. My children are not responsible to live up to any dreams that I may have for them - but IT IS THEIR PRIVILEGE, by the power of grace, to be obedient and submit to the future God has scripted for them, regardless of what they feel they want their futures to look like.

That future that God scripts will never include something that violates God's Word or His holy nature. 

If my child chooses to pursue such a path - it isn't my job to change them. It certainly isn't my job to try and convince them to go back to those dreams and imaginings I had of them and what their lives (and mine, as a result) might be like.

It is, however, my job to continually, unceasingly point them back to the One Who will teach them to discern sin and false teaching, empower them to change and walk away from it... and Who will grace them with His strength to righteously live with any "thorn" He has given.

of dust and criticism

Living on the back side of the Sahara Desert for 13 years, I became intimately acquainted with dust. Keeping desert dust from simply moving in and taking over the house? Well, I jokingly, sorta, say that THAT was my full time job. Or battle. If I stick with the battle metaphor, it was one I lost on a very regular basis. Dust was everywhere, regardless of how hard I tried, how hard I worked, how much time I spent - covering the kitchen table, on the fruit in the basket, at the bottom of my coffee cup once I'd finished drinking, on the laundry line leaving a line on our clothes even when I remembered to wipe it off....

Not too many days ago, our Niamey friends posted FB pictures of the first dust storm of the season. We always looked forward to that first storm. It meant that the rainy season was finally starting to approach and after nine to ten months of no precipitation, we welcomed the rain.

I used to think the Hollywood versions of dust storms had to be totally overdone and greatly exaggerated. Then I experienced my first storm; an enormous wall of dust rolled in, the sky turned an eerie orange, then continued to darken. The air gets palpably thick... with the really big, really dense storms, it could turn pitch black. Normally these storms would roll through in ten to fifteen minutes, were often followed by welcomed rain and clearer, fresher air. One time I remember the dusty darkness arrived in the afternoon, and was not followed by an immediate rain. We did not see the sun again until the next day - and then, only through a dusty haze. My sometimes slightly strange TCK children revel in dust storms. They love to go outside and run and play, celebrating (while somewhat choking) in the glorious windy-ness of every storm, but particularly the first one of each season.

Needless to say, my relationship with dust has been one of mostly-hate/very-occasionally-love, on so many levels.

Then... 

...a group came from the States to lead a conference for the purpose of encouraging the missionaries – and I was introduced to this song for the first time.

...You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of the dust

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of us

All around

Hope is springing up from this old ground

Out of chaos life is being found in You...

I first heard this song at a time when I was feeling very dust-like... But what does that mean?... 

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To read the rest and join in the conversation, head on over to a life overseas: the missions conversation, where I'm posting today.

Hope to see you... over there!

All dust storm photos by Esther Garvi and were used with permission. Check out more photos of that storm and read a blog post about her harrowing experience here.

Song lyrics, Beautiful Things by Gungor

~ Sobering, Scary... and Rings SO True ~

I don't remember where I first saw this title, exactly what prompted me to get a copy of this book, or how long I've been slowly working my way through it,

...but doing so has taken me on a HUGE learning curve.

NARCISSISM ~

inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity.

also: self-centeredness, smugness, egocentrism.

There's even something called Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), or a condition in which people have 

1. an excessive sense of self-importance, 
2. an extreme preoccupation with themselves, and 
3. a lack of empathy for others.

It was one of those words I'd heard, and certainly understood when I read it in context, but not one that I'd spent much time thinking about, until recently... until reading this book.

Basically I was hooked from the moment I read the following words: 

"Personality does not exist in isolation. This increase in narcissism in individuals is, we believe, just an outcome of a massive shift in culture toward a greater focus on self-admiration. Narcissism has spread through the generations like a particularly pernicious virus - one with multiple means of entry and transmission. First, Americans' immunity to narcissism has weakened. At one time, strong social pressures kept people's egos in check. Mothers asked children "Who do you think you are?" (instead of "What do you want for dinner, princess?") Religious leaders stressed humility and modesty. Strong communities and stable relationships discouraged arrogance and made it less necessary to meet and impress new people. Narcissism has also been transmitted as an unintended consequence of good intentions, as in the self-esteem movement and less authoritative parenting. Instead of creating friendly, happy children, however, these practices often produce self-centered, narcissistic young people. 

In addition, norms for self-presentation have shifted with cultural trends and new technology.... Internet social networking sites and celebrity culture have raised the bar for narcissistic behavior and standards. Using MySpace [or Facebook] to post a picture of yourself half naked and posturing provocatively is now considered totally normal -- even though it is also deeply narcissistic. Americans are being persuaded that becoming more vain, materialistic, and self-centered is actually a good thing. This can happen even if you're not particularly narcissistic but just get drawn into what everyone else is doing. Today, if you don't get your teeth whitened, everyone thinks you are either poor or an espresso-drinking, cigarette-smoking European. Ten years ago, nobody would have noticed." (pp. 38-39)

This book is a difficult read, if you are willing to ask yourself hard questions as you make your way through the text - especially when the authors identify what their research has revealed to be the "root causes of the epidemic:" 1) current parenting and teaching practices focusing on the uniqueness and the special-ness of each child; 2) current obsessions with celebrities and everything about their lives; 3) social networking sites and the the quest for attention and self-promotion of a carefully crafted image; and 4) easy credit and never allowing real consequences to play out because of the mentality that "I deserve the best right now, regardless of the cost or future consequence!" 

This book is a scary and sobering read, especially when you see symptoms of narcissism stealthily creeping or full-out lambasting their way into the lives of those you love, into the organizations with which you affiliate. What are those symptoms? They include a growing focus on self-importance and a beautiful, appearance often at the expense of genuine caring or sweet personalities (i.e. vanity), materialism, the insistence on believing that "I'm special and therefore better or more deserving...," increasing acceptability of antisocial behavior, less and less civility and insistence on "my rights" instead of learning to get along, feeling entitled, and serving not to help others but to help your own image and self-impression.

Having spent most of the past fifteen years living on the backside of the Sahara Desert, while not immune or insulated from all of these pressures, we can clearly see the symptoms more and more pronounced each time we return to the States. It is revolting, especially as you listen to people you love and trust and admire... as you hear your own thoughts... justify behaviors the Bible clearly condemns. We, as a society, are so busy loving and worshiping ourselves, there is very little... if any... room left for God. We've made life into an "All about me" sort of drama, on so many levels. And frankly, this is what terrifies me the most about bringing our family back to this world... it is what concerns me when I ponder what it will mean to raise the younger half of our family in this world and culture so that they can function as aware and relevant - but without losing them to a value system that is so far from what God created us to be. 

It is the researched opinion of the authors of The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement that, "As a society, we have a chance to slow the epidemic of narcissism if we learn to identify it, minimize the forces that sustain and transmit it, and treat it. If we are unwilling to make... changes, reality always wins in the end. The only question is how long it will be before our nation buckles..." (p. 302-303)

photo credit: deborah is lola via photopin cc

Five Minute Friday ~ Some days its hard to feel grateful ~

Some days I'm so distracted by all the amazing and good gifts that I forget...

Some days, I start to "believe my own press" and throw any measure of humility out the window...

Some days, we get bad news...

Some days if feels like following God leads to undesirable consequences that I don't want to bear...

Some days the words and actions of others discourage me...

Some days my own words and actions discourage me...

Some days, life is just hard...

...but God is good.

always,

infinitely,

graciously,

lavishly,

amazingly...

And that's where this missionary is right now... today... 

Choosing to believe that I have an infinite number of reasons to be grateful and intentionally numbering them throughout this day.

Even when I don't want to and really don't feel like it.

Is that hypocrisy? A lack of transparent authenticity in failing to recognize the person, warts and all, that God created me to be by not, as so many say, wallowing in that gut level, feeling response?

Or is it obedience?

...through him, then, we may offer up a sacrifice of praise always to God, 

that is, the fruit of lips, giving thanks to His name;

(Hebrews 13.15, YLT)

Or is it recognizing that my perspective is not infallible?

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, 

and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, 

with reverence and awe, 

for our God is a consuming fire.

(Hebrews 12.28-29, ESV)

I am grateful to the one who has strengthened me, 

Christ Jesus our Lord, 

because he considered me 

faithful in putting me into ministry, 

even though 

I was formerly...

(1 Timothy 1.12-13a, NET)

As Louie Giglio puts it, "I am not, but I know I AM..."

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Linking up with LISA-JO for another 5 Minute Friday

to spend five minutes spilling out thoughts on gratefulness.

Please join in the fun!

~ of ants and reconciliation ~

...otherwise known as the day a prolific ant infestation was a great blessing!

You know what?

Sometimes cousins are great buddies.

Other times?

Well, let's just say that other times the mix of personalities makes getting along difficult. Especially when each child is the youngest sibling and both have learned very well the lesson that sometimes you have to push back to get your way.

They were having a hard time getting along the other day... and I had a long to-do list to accomplish, a talk at a seminar to prepare, and my long-suffering reserve tanks were on empty as I'd not been getting enough sleep due to sick kids not sleeping well. It really was one of those days where I was seriously considering finding out if I could enroll both girls in the full day K4 program for the remainder of the school year just so I didn't pull my hair out.

Then they started playing with ants.

We see many ants in our kitchen - and as long as they stay out of the food, they really don't bother me. 

It ain't nothing like it was in Niger. Most times, we had one or the other of two kinds of ant. Little red ones that are similar to fire ants. Or big black ants that kind of looked like carpenter ants except they bit and when they bit, it hurt as badly as a bee sting. Occasionally, we'd also see sugar ants (our local friends ate those), but other than the fact that they were so big certain of our children would freak out when they saw them, they weren't such a big deal.

He who runs from the white ant may stumble upon the stinging ant.

~ Hausa proverb ~

Here, however, ants aren't anything more than an annoyance.

And now, they qualify as entertainment as well.

M&M and her cousin had already been having a bad week. One girl wanted whatever toy it was that the other was playing with. They taunted each other over what was in their lunch boxes. They tattled nonstop. Almost constant hollers of "That's not fair!" or "I'm just not going to play with you any more if you won't do it my way!" echoed throughout the house. I was almost ready to violate my rule of allowing littles to work out their own problems and put them both down for a nap, when all of a sudden, M&M started screaming about the ants crawling around on the kitchen floor.

Her cousin joined her. Pretty soon they were constructing mazes to see if the ants could get out. Then they built a whole city out of legos for the ants to inhabit. Jonathan has an "insect habitat" to start collecting bugs for his 4th grade bug collection next year. The girls found that, brought the small vacuum insect catcher out and started collecting ants with it and placing those ants in Jon's habitat. They started looking under the counters, on the counters, in the sink, crawling up the wall, under the dishrag. Soon, they'd collected several ants and deposited them into Jonathan's "habitat."

And they were having a blast. All of the chairs were scooted out, away from the table. The floor really needed a sweeping, but that was part of what was attracting those critters. They sat on the floor, underneath the table - squealing, laughing, screaming, digging out the "Gladware" and concocting ant traps - for literally 2.5 hours, without a single argument.

I was surprised...

Except I shouldn't have been.

At least on that day, they discovered and put into practice some pretty amazing wisdom!

It is mind boggling (though it shouldn't be) how a common goal often allows us to put aside our differences, our arguments, or irritations and work together to achieve what neither would have accomplished on our own.... how even five year olds stop ugly words without any mama/auntie-prompting once discovering that no one likes to help ugly word spouters... how the two of them, together, discovered they could catch together many more ants than either did by themselves... how there's so much fun to be had if we simply stop thinking about self and what we want most and instead start really looking at and listening to others to help them achieve their goals and dreams.

"The biting fly has no one to come to his aid in trouble."

(African proverb)

"If you want to go fast - go alone. if you want to go far - go together."
(Another African proverb)

Almost Wordless Wednesday ~ Better late than never ~ CBA's Spirit Week!

Any ideas just who are these "Storybook day"honyocks are? 

(Thanks to my friend, Holley VanDenBerg, for the first and third photos.)

Five Minute Friday ~ Mess

I'm gonna let you in on a secret...

"Teenage daughters" and "mess?" 

They're secret synonyms.

Teenage sons can be stinky and sweaty and just plain gross at times. And you can be convinced that entering their rooms wearing anything less than a Hazmat suit is definitely dangerous to your health and well being, but they are, for the most part, predictable and often have things at least somewhat put away even if the grime in the bathroom is an inch thick.

Teenage daughters, on the other hand?

I've never seen anyone take a perfectly tidy and clean space and turn it into a disaster like a teenage girl rampaging through her closet trying to find something to wear - particularly if it is on one of her "fat clothes" days. I just learned that term from one of said teenage daughters this past week. I never had "fat clothes" days as a teen - I just always smelled like a swimming pool from multiple hours swimming laps every day. But I diverse...

Multiply said scenario above by 3.5 (our tween is well on her way to joining her sisters)... Actually, after subsequent thought, raising it exponentially might be more accurate... and it gives you a glimpse of what these girls' bedrooms can look like right after they flee the house to go anywhere.

And don't get me started on the bathroom with hairbrushes, towels, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants, razors, etc., etc., etc.

 According to the dictionary, a mess is:

• "an untidy state of things or of a place"
• "a thing or collection of things causing an untidy state"

Yep!

But teenage girls aren't just a mess in that sense of the word. Mess can also be defined as:

• a situation or state of affairs that is confused or full of difficulties
• a person whose life or affairs are confused or troubled

Doesn't that perfectly describe those teenage times, full of hormonal swings, striving for independence from Mom and Dad, wanting to be beautiful and liked, exhausted but always wanting to be involved in more just so they can hang out with their friends or because they are afraid to say "No" and miss out on something...???

When they all start to chatter about what's going on with their friends, at school, in the youth group, or even what just happened with their little sisters in the basement - the cacophony tumbles across my eardrums, a jumbled mess.

Oh yes, and don't forget the drama that goes right along with all the rest of this chaotic messiness. I don't know anyone else who can go from frenzied giggling to hysterical sobbing in the space of .2 seconds... dodging any physical contact or touch as you pass each other only to tackle you from behind for an impromptu hug when you least expect it. 

  

disarray

muddle 

untidiness

shambles

disorder

chaos

clutter

jumble

Yep!

Teenage daughters = mess

Most days 

- or should I say most nights because they really start to bloom after 11:00 p.m. -

(which, for the record, is a sleep destroyer when you've still got littles around)

I'm loving most moments.

I'm thankful for all of them - even if sometimes it is in hindsight.

I've also learned -

Being a mess? It's contagious!

At least I keep catching it and it drives my perfectionist side batty.

PS Thanks to Nadia and Anna for leaving such fun photos on my phone, 

giving me excellent fodder to work with on this post!

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Linking up with Lisa-Jo for Five Minute Friday. Would love for you to join us. Be sure and let me know if you do!

~ of bugs and maple buds ~

Spring, sorta, seems to have finally sprung in Michigan (although you wouldn't know by today's morning temperatures...) The grass is turning green, the huge pile of snow at the side of the church/school parking lot has almost melted (although I'm still not trying to cut through and take the short cut to school as the mud is more like quicksand), flowers are popping up in gardens as are seasonal flower shops around town, and the trees are budding.

We have a large maple tree in our front yard, and it is budding.

We've also recently had a severe thunderstorm with strong winds and some heavy rain... meaning red buds have fallen off and are dotting the yard and sidewalk.

Mary Michelle was so excited when she saw them...

"Mama! Rainy season red bugs are here! Yay!!"

When I told her that they weren't the rainy season red bugs, she asked for the seemingly billioneth time this year, "Why can't we go back to Niger?" 

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*

*

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Oh... the things that make us homesick for our Niger home...

Still sipping hot chocolate... at the end of April...

Still in just her underwear, but snuggling with big bro...

Still smiling!

Mostly Wordless Wednesday ~ Better LATE than NEVER ~ CBA's Spirit Week ~

What's Elsie Mae's "Storybook" Theme?

Not a "Storybook Day" photo - but Elsie Mae with her teacher this year.
Our family is ALWAYS thankful when one of the kiddos gets Mrs. Dumont for a teacher.
Just ask Rebekah and Nadia!