Tea Time

Over a week ago, the women's ministry of the Sunday School group we attend held it's annual tea. The purpose of the tea is to kick-off our monthly women's ministry called Women Walking Wisely. I was asked to be the hostess of a table and I have got to admit that I was a bit intimidated. I spoke at one of these teas a few years ago and I remember how absolutely beautiful the tables were decorated.
Here are some pictures of how absolutely beautiful these tables were set.....

I sort of struggled with how plain my setting was going to be .........it was a humbling experience for me but I was reminded that the most important aspect of the day was to be the fellowship. I also thought how I often compare myself to others and focus more on the external rather than the internal and eternal! 

 Here's a little view of my table......blue and white......my favorite! My friend Heather mentioned how "Russian" my table looked and I am thankful for that.

Our speaker was Heidi who is a missionary (along with her family) in Ukraine. I had the privilege of hosting her, her two daughters and mom at my table. It was really such a fun day and I'm looking forward to the start of our group at the end of the month.

Jammin'

This summer I learned how to make jams! It was quite a fun experience and i felt so truly domesticated doing it. I tried it on my own shortly after and thankfully my jams turned out delicious. Last week I needed a little gift to pass out to the women who sat at my table at a special tea our women's ministry put on........so, I made some more jam! This time I tried plum for the first time and also made nectarine jam again. I love, love mason jars and this time I went with the smaller ones. I also added some "pretty packaging". I was so happy with how my little gift turned out......can't wait to do it again.

Thankful Thursday

1. So thankful that the owner of the vehicle that hit our parked car last week accepted liability! We were a bit scared they wouldn't take responsibility since the driver wasn't registered on their vehicle. Their insurance is also paying for us to have a rental car which is actually a treat since Enterprise upgraded us to a SUV. It's been fun driving a big car around town.

2. I'm also so grateful for Wednesday nights at church. Last night was the big kick-off to all the mid-week meetings at church. I got to attend Every Woman's Grace, the boys started AWANA, and even Jon is going to a ministry for men. We all thoroughly enjoyed our time at church last night and even though we got home pretty late it was well worth it. I posted a picture on Facebook of Nathan in his Spark's class and a friend commented how nice it is that the boys get to do some fun activities like that now that we are Stateside.

3. The other day while we were driving Nathan said, "God knows everything that is going to happen! That is AWESOME!". I totally agree with him. It is such a comfort when we place our trust in Him knowing that he controls every event in our lives.

The Unplanned Events of Our Day

On Tuesday the boys had their first class with their school, APS. It's called Teaching Tuesday and they basically go through some sort of unit study. The class goes from 10 - 11:30. We then eat lunch and after lunch head to P.E. or so we thought this was the way our day was going to be like!

A few years ago, a Titus 2 older woman taught me that she always wakes up praying that the Lord would prepare her for the planned and the unplanned events of her day. I too have been trying to pray this way the past few years. On the mission field there were always so many unplanned events so I found that preparing my heart in the morning was helpful. 

Our morning class went as planned. Our lunch time went as planned as well and we met some wonderful new friends too! Unfortunately, on the way out the door to head to P.E., we found out that our car had just been hit by another car. The driver took off. It literally happened as we were stepping out the door. One of the moms actually saw the hit and run car and we all waited to see if the driver would turn around and come back. Thankfully, she had no where else to go once she got up the hill and had to return back our way. Long story short.......we flagged her down, she stopped, and after a while the driver finally gave us her information. She wasn't even the owner of the car and we all thought she possibly could have stolen the car.

The body damage on our car wasn't really so bad and at first I thought we could drive it home but the car was hit so hard it popped the front tire. It wasn't drivable either because the alignment was way off. My steering wheel was at a 45 degree angle as I tried to keep the car straight. 

Five hours later we finally headed home along with our poor car. I really have so much to be thankful for. One of the moms who helped me out used to be a car accident adjuster so she totally took over and properly photographed everything and got all the info I needed from the other driver. I'm also grateful for the time I had to get to know the mom whose home we met in.........she was so hospitable and sweet to allow us to hang out for 4 hours! I'm also thankful because it was a great opportunity to teach the boys that possessions aren't so important after all and that God was in control of all things....even our car getting crashed into. 

It was fitting that yesterday Girl Talk reposted this particular post titled "When Your Day Doesn't Go As Planned". I love what Mrs. Mahaney wrote, "It is hard to remember. But what a difference it made when I called to mind this biblical truth. All these interruptions—they weren’t interruptions after all. They were “sovereign deliveries.”  These “unpleasant things” were God’s perfect plan for my day."

New School Year

We started school on Tuesday...................FINALLY! It's been a long summer and I probably should have started school sooner but you know how that is. Thankfully we have had a pretty good start and the boys have done well.

We're trying some new curriculum and subjects this year so I'm excited to see how that goes. Plus the boys will attend a class once a week at their PSP.

And here's their teacher..........

also known as mom.

Double Digits

Our Jojo turned 10 this past Friday! I can't believe it. We really had a laid back day though since he started with his asthma cough over a week ago. I really didn't plan "friend" parties for the boys this summer but they got plenty of gifts from our celebrations with my family.

 This Angry Bird cake was super easy to make and thank God it came out so well!!  It's so much easier making cakes Stateside!

 Jojo asked for the Lego Batman Cave set way back in May. He has eagerly been waiting for his birthday to see if he would get it. He spent a large part of the morning building the set with his little brother watching. And what is it with "bunny ears"? Jojo loves doing bunny ears and it drives his brother crazy............must be a boy thing.

Later in the evening we celebrated by going to Wendy's, Krispy Kreme, and going to the movie theatre to watch "Planes". It was a great celebration and I think he made some great memories.