We have arrived in Indiana! We live in a house with two other families and are settled in. Our family weekly schedule and the outings we have done so far....
Sunday we have a choice of attending three different services and the one we choose to attend is the third service. At the third service, our two older children go to praise and worship first and then to their classes. There are also a lot of families at this service. Jocelyn has been invited to attend a girls bible study a couple times a month on Sundays as well.
Arron goes to school Monday through Friday. We get ready and eat at the cafeteria at 7am Monday through Friday and we also go there for lunches between 12-1 depending on that days' schedule. Dinners during the week are sack lunches that we enjoy at home. The woman who makes all of the meals has truly been blessed with the gift of cooking. I can see what a blessing she is to this campus by the love that comes through her meals. Also, on some Monday's Jocelyn has joined a homeschooling group of girls that get together and sew. The children do their homeschooling Monday through Thursday in our homeschool area. Arron Jr's room was large enough to divide it into two. We use half for homeschool during the day and Arron does his homework at my desk at night. It is cute the kids all have their little desks, Arron and I have a large desk. The other half of the room is for Arron Jr and all of his stuff.
Wednesday nights we eat at the church and fellowship with others before the kids head to AWANA's and we head to midweek service. This is also another blessing to have all of this on one night with dinner. It is a great way to bring families together and to eliminate the stress of trying to cook beforehand. The college students switch off on setting up for Wednesday night and on helping with Wednesday night dinner.
Thursday night I attend a Women's discipleship class with the college girls and the other wives of the college students. With all of these young women it has catapulted me into the 'older' woman category which I am learning to appreciate. It has been a joy getting to know these young ladies.
Friday mornings after the college group do their devotions they get dispersed to different jobs and ministry opportunities because Friday is Practical Christian Ministry class. While Arron is doing his service project, I am attending a women's bible study. It works out perfect because it offers childcare and it is during the day so we can all be with our families in the evening. My favorite part of this study are the women which the majority of them are fellow homeschooling moms!
Our free time has been FULL and it has been wonderful. I will start by letting you know what we have been up to since we arrived in Indiana. As soon as we arrived we started unpacking. We met the two families we are now living with. One couple are newlyweds and the other are closer to our age (kind of, shhh don't tell them) and they have two small children that are close in age to our youngest two.
We met up with my friend, Angela who was my maid of honor in my wedding and a dear friend. We had lost contact over the years and have now reconnected. It was great to visit with her and her family .
Our first Sunday here there was a large storm moving into town so Sunday service was very small. Sunday after church our power went out. The snow looked so beautiful, the snowflakes were huge and fluffy. When you have lemons you make lemonade, well, we had snow so we made a snowman. A huge snowman! Our housemates and us bundled up and started creating him, it was a great way of getting the kids to interact with them. Once we were told that we wouldn't have power for a while and the temps. were going to reach negative degrees we decided staying at the house was not an option. Many opened their homes to our families and others. We ended going to the pastors house with our housemates and some other families joined us there. It was a blessing to be able to fellowship so quickly and to meet others. That night Arron was given a opportunity to serve with his fellow college mates and the pastor. There was a shelter opened down the street to help those who also had no power and no place to go. We spent the night at their home, ate with them the next day and our power returned. We went home and finished unpacking.
We have all had time to visit with others and have enjoyed creating new friendships. Arron surprised us and took us out to an amazing place. It is called IncrediPlex and it lives up to its name, it is Incredible! It is a huge building with soccer fields, football fields, basketball courts, volleyball courts, bowling, laser tag, a gym, bounce houses, large trampolines with budgies attached and a huge obstacle course. The kids did the obstacle course, bounce houses and the trampolines. It was great, I sat in amazement at the building and of all of the families smiling and enjoying each other, it was beautiful.
Last Friday night we had a open house night where we had snacks, fellowship, praise and worship. It was great to be able to get to know the college students better. Watching them all play guitar and play with the drum box (that isn't what it is called but you get the idea) was really a blessing. I hope they were able to know us a little better then the 'old' people in town!
The midwest while welcoming us with open arms and hospitality have also shared their germs. The kids have caught a bug and have been down. Thankfully, we are now on number three so we only have one more child to get sick. Jenavieve was the first to get sick, then Julianna and now Jocelyn. It last about 4-5 days so it looks as though we will be in the clear for the Super Bowl. Which I am excited about because our housemates and us are opening the house up to the college kids to watch the game.
Arron is busy with school and homework. He is taking 10 classes which are: Devos, Biblical Missions, Acts, Philippians / Colossians, Men's Discipleship, Biblical Counseling, Numbers, Community Worship, Old & New Testament Survey and Practical Christian Ministry.
He is reading these books; The Bible, They Found the Secret by V. Raymond Edman, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by George Verwer, The Autobiography of George Muller, Basics For Believers by D.A. Carson, and Verse by Verse Commentary Acts by David Guzik. Arron is looking forward to attending mens saturday morning breakfast. Also, he is looking forward to going on his first missions trip to St. Kits for two weeks. On his spare time he is working doing odd jobs. Everyday he is amazed with the blessing to be here. He is also amazed to be surrounded by so many strong Christian men.
I have been getting acquainted with women here on campus and at the church. I am taking a once a week class on women's discipleship and a women's bible study once a week with lots of other homeschool moms. These are the two books which I am reading: Becoming A Titus 2 Woman by Martha Peace and Abide In Christ by Andrew Murray. I have also been invited to homes to get acquainted and other outings. I have reconnected with an old friend which has also been a blessing to be able to spend time with her and her family.
The children have been having a great time and have already met some friends. Arron has had a couple of sleepovers and playdates, he had such a great time I was worried he wouldn't want to come home. Jocelyn attend a all girls birthday party which she loved, been invited to join a sewing group with other homeschoolers and a girls bible study. She also has had some playdates and is really enjoying her new friends. The little girls are enjoying playing with their friends at church and at the get togethers we have had.
God has blessed us with two families to grow in the Lord with and to be able to fellowship with. I have also found all of us being under one roof together really brings to reality the picture of Christ's family as Christians. My children have two other families they live with that care for them, help and look out for them and we are able to share that same love to them.
More to come as we continue our adventure...
2 Peter 3:18
"but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen."
Sunday we have a choice of attending three different services and the one we choose to attend is the third service. At the third service, our two older children go to praise and worship first and then to their classes. There are also a lot of families at this service. Jocelyn has been invited to attend a girls bible study a couple times a month on Sundays as well.
Arron goes to school Monday through Friday. We get ready and eat at the cafeteria at 7am Monday through Friday and we also go there for lunches between 12-1 depending on that days' schedule. Dinners during the week are sack lunches that we enjoy at home. The woman who makes all of the meals has truly been blessed with the gift of cooking. I can see what a blessing she is to this campus by the love that comes through her meals. Also, on some Monday's Jocelyn has joined a homeschooling group of girls that get together and sew. The children do their homeschooling Monday through Thursday in our homeschool area. Arron Jr's room was large enough to divide it into two. We use half for homeschool during the day and Arron does his homework at my desk at night. It is cute the kids all have their little desks, Arron and I have a large desk. The other half of the room is for Arron Jr and all of his stuff.
Wednesday nights we eat at the church and fellowship with others before the kids head to AWANA's and we head to midweek service. This is also another blessing to have all of this on one night with dinner. It is a great way to bring families together and to eliminate the stress of trying to cook beforehand. The college students switch off on setting up for Wednesday night and on helping with Wednesday night dinner.
Thursday night I attend a Women's discipleship class with the college girls and the other wives of the college students. With all of these young women it has catapulted me into the 'older' woman category which I am learning to appreciate. It has been a joy getting to know these young ladies.
Friday mornings after the college group do their devotions they get dispersed to different jobs and ministry opportunities because Friday is Practical Christian Ministry class. While Arron is doing his service project, I am attending a women's bible study. It works out perfect because it offers childcare and it is during the day so we can all be with our families in the evening. My favorite part of this study are the women which the majority of them are fellow homeschooling moms!
Our free time has been FULL and it has been wonderful. I will start by letting you know what we have been up to since we arrived in Indiana. As soon as we arrived we started unpacking. We met the two families we are now living with. One couple are newlyweds and the other are closer to our age (kind of, shhh don't tell them) and they have two small children that are close in age to our youngest two.
We met up with my friend, Angela who was my maid of honor in my wedding and a dear friend. We had lost contact over the years and have now reconnected. It was great to visit with her and her family .
Our first Sunday here there was a large storm moving into town so Sunday service was very small. Sunday after church our power went out. The snow looked so beautiful, the snowflakes were huge and fluffy. When you have lemons you make lemonade, well, we had snow so we made a snowman. A huge snowman! Our housemates and us bundled up and started creating him, it was a great way of getting the kids to interact with them. Once we were told that we wouldn't have power for a while and the temps. were going to reach negative degrees we decided staying at the house was not an option. Many opened their homes to our families and others. We ended going to the pastors house with our housemates and some other families joined us there. It was a blessing to be able to fellowship so quickly and to meet others. That night Arron was given a opportunity to serve with his fellow college mates and the pastor. There was a shelter opened down the street to help those who also had no power and no place to go. We spent the night at their home, ate with them the next day and our power returned. We went home and finished unpacking.
We have all had time to visit with others and have enjoyed creating new friendships. Arron surprised us and took us out to an amazing place. It is called IncrediPlex and it lives up to its name, it is Incredible! It is a huge building with soccer fields, football fields, basketball courts, volleyball courts, bowling, laser tag, a gym, bounce houses, large trampolines with budgies attached and a huge obstacle course. The kids did the obstacle course, bounce houses and the trampolines. It was great, I sat in amazement at the building and of all of the families smiling and enjoying each other, it was beautiful.
Last Friday night we had a open house night where we had snacks, fellowship, praise and worship. It was great to be able to get to know the college students better. Watching them all play guitar and play with the drum box (that isn't what it is called but you get the idea) was really a blessing. I hope they were able to know us a little better then the 'old' people in town!
The midwest while welcoming us with open arms and hospitality have also shared their germs. The kids have caught a bug and have been down. Thankfully, we are now on number three so we only have one more child to get sick. Jenavieve was the first to get sick, then Julianna and now Jocelyn. It last about 4-5 days so it looks as though we will be in the clear for the Super Bowl. Which I am excited about because our housemates and us are opening the house up to the college kids to watch the game.
Arron is busy with school and homework. He is taking 10 classes which are: Devos, Biblical Missions, Acts, Philippians / Colossians, Men's Discipleship, Biblical Counseling, Numbers, Community Worship, Old & New Testament Survey and Practical Christian Ministry.
He is reading these books; The Bible, They Found the Secret by V. Raymond Edman, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by George Verwer, The Autobiography of George Muller, Basics For Believers by D.A. Carson, and Verse by Verse Commentary Acts by David Guzik. Arron is looking forward to attending mens saturday morning breakfast. Also, he is looking forward to going on his first missions trip to St. Kits for two weeks. On his spare time he is working doing odd jobs. Everyday he is amazed with the blessing to be here. He is also amazed to be surrounded by so many strong Christian men.
I have been getting acquainted with women here on campus and at the church. I am taking a once a week class on women's discipleship and a women's bible study once a week with lots of other homeschool moms. These are the two books which I am reading: Becoming A Titus 2 Woman by Martha Peace and Abide In Christ by Andrew Murray. I have also been invited to homes to get acquainted and other outings. I have reconnected with an old friend which has also been a blessing to be able to spend time with her and her family.
The children have been having a great time and have already met some friends. Arron has had a couple of sleepovers and playdates, he had such a great time I was worried he wouldn't want to come home. Jocelyn attend a all girls birthday party which she loved, been invited to join a sewing group with other homeschoolers and a girls bible study. She also has had some playdates and is really enjoying her new friends. The little girls are enjoying playing with their friends at church and at the get togethers we have had.
God has blessed us with two families to grow in the Lord with and to be able to fellowship with. I have also found all of us being under one roof together really brings to reality the picture of Christ's family as Christians. My children have two other families they live with that care for them, help and look out for them and we are able to share that same love to them.
More to come as we continue our adventure...
2 Peter 3:18
"but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen."