Weekend Fun, Weekday Overload! --QM

As I was walking Dorie and James to Child Care this morning, I heard my daughter singing this song. Here are the exact words:

Every day is a beautiful dayEverybody is going to play with Dorie
This is a beautiful song
Up and down
Up and down

The melody was mostly high notes, with a few low notes here and there.
I'm so glad she is still happy to be going to nursery two weeks since we arrived!

We have 12 hours before we get in our van and head to our Church conference that is happening in Maryland this weekend.

A week ago we asked for ideas for our weekend here in Orlando, Florida. Seaworld was suggested, as well as a visit to the State Park or the Zoo.
We went to the Central Florida Zoo--


What a great decision since it also had a little water park between the birds and the monkeys!

Four Years and Counting--QM

These past four years have been the best of my life...marriage to Ethan has been beyond my wildest dreams. Thanks be to God for giving us more than we asked or imagined!

2007

(Fresh-faced and happy, Ethan 21, Queena 24)

2008
(Surprise! Something's brewing!)


2009
(Dorie's arrived and she is almost one, James is still a secret!)

2010
(Now there are two babies for Omi and Opi to babysit
while we visit Mall of America on our way to a wedding)

2011
(Still fresh-faced and still in love;
our children are almost-three and 1.5, Ethan 25, Queena 28)

Happy Fourth of July!

Of course we forgot to bring the camera to the picnic and to the fireworks. So here's a picture of James once we got home at 10:45 on July 4th. Pretty much tells you what kind of day it was.

Literacy is priceless -- E.

I used to wonder whether it's a good idea to introduce books and letters to cultures that don't use them now. Why should an oral/aural society need to change? As anybody who has seen The Gods Must Be Crazy knows, Westernization is a bad thing. If unwanted and uninvited, literacy could be like that bad, bad Coca-Cola bottle.

I think I'm over that now. In the real world, I am learning, just about everybody does, in fact, want to read. Just like everybody who knows what Coca-Cola is wants it. And communities that see their own languages put down in writing, with books published in them and everything, often experience what they would call a much better life as a consequence. (Again, it's all very much like Coca-Cola.)

Here's my son demonstrating the value of literacy. He has recently learned to read out loud, and the quality of his life has skyrocketed.

His sister, valuing her own skills in literacy, does not yet appreciate his.

By the way, I'd like you all to notice the Follow By Email box in the right-hand sidebar. Just as the title suggests, you may enter your email there, and you'll get a notice via email every time something new happens on this blog. I think it's a good idea, anyway. (Thanks very much to my friend Chris for bringing this feature to my attention!)

Family -- E.

June 2006

I have just returned to the U.S. after my second REACH term in The Gambia. I intend to study linguistics in hopes that I can apply it internationally someday. Whatever group I end up with, I am excited at the prospects. In addition to the chance to serve in the Kingdom of God, I'll have the added perks of travel and adventure. Can't wait.
(And if Queena will marry me, maybe she'll come too!)

June 2011
Five years later.

It always feels a little weird to have things go the way I want them to. Queena did consent to marry me, and since 07-07-07 we have already had a fair portion of adventure as well as travel (Texas, man!). We may head out overseas as soon as next spring. How did we get so lucky?
I'll say this, though. Do you notice those two young humans in the picture with Queena and me? Those are our children. I am slowly beginning to realize how much of a difference these people make in my feelings about moving across the world. It is a lot more difficult than last time, frankly. Five years ago, if I heard about the personal sacrifice involved in overseas service, I could respond with a casual shrug. But not now. I am beginning to understand that I am asking a lot of my children. Queena and I will be separating them by thousands of miles from their many grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
This is all a part of our pursuit of Christ, and we are not bitter at the things He may ask us to leave behind. Still, it used to look a lot easier.