seasons

The team is off, both master's classes finished their in-classroom component yesterday evening, and there are 2 cars instead of 20, 12 students instead of 180, quiet instead of chaos, and it's Saturday, all three girls are playing outside in their swimsuits and buckets, Matt's Saturday class is finally finished and he's napping in his chair and I'm thankful.

I love and cherish the many visitors...so many who over the years have become good friends, so many lives and ministries and experiences, so many good conversations around the table, so much good teaching in chapel and in the classroom, so much good help from the teams.

But I miss hanging out at Shayla and Naomi's, I miss having students over for dinner, I miss afternoons reading to or playing with the girls, I miss evening walks around the campus with the students, I miss MATT.

So each week has it's season and I'm thankful for this one's!  The girls have testing all week, Matt and I have classes and lots of catch up office work, and we have lots of good everyday relationshipping to catch up on!  We've also been really struggling to get over our five colds, and I think this weekend will help!

Meanwhile, this week was blessed especially by Pastor Dave of West Park Church, who is always a joy to have in our lives, in the classroom and chapel.

I popped into Matt's 4th year Psalms class at the perfect time...I couldn't believe how passionate the discussion.  Diving deeper into Psalms, the most read and memorized and preached on and used book in the Haitian Bible, I'm sure, has been so much fun for Matt and fourth year!

This picture doesn't capture it well, but this is Sunday school.  Because there are no little rooms to have it in, everyone breaks into groups throughout the sanctuary, each with a teacher standing in front of them, and each teacher yelling over the others and each group answering questions and memorizing Scripture together.  It sounds like total chaos, but as you sit there, you see everyone glued only on their professor and totally tuned in, and many grew up learning in school the same way.  

 Lily's becoming our bookworm...her favorite way to chill after school, or to get away from little sisters for a while.  

Yesterday, Sofie and Nora were having the best time in this fallen palm branch turned "Moana boat".  I never take for granted that the girls can comfortably play outside 365 days a year, or that they live on a huge campus full of fun things like palm branches, chickens, cool rocks and fallen mangoes.  They are all three missing Sam and Joel and having other kids living on campus, but instead they've been spending more time helping the ladies in the cafeteria and having friends from school over.  

Tomorrow we'll worship at EBS's Fev Church plant, Lord willing, and then get Bill to the airport.  He's been here this past week taking a class, and I know Julie and the boys are anxious to have him back in the icy tundra of Canada :)