"First, 2nd day!"
/Our 13 year old exclaimed over breakfast this morning, “It’s our first second day!” It took us a few seconds to figure out what he meant, but we quickly realized that yes, he was correct! He was talking about the first 2nd day for their classes, but as I thought through the truth of that statement, it’s really the first 2nd day of any routine for the past month and a half. Today was their 3rd day of classes at the school here on campus, but it was the first, 2nd day in a row they’ve had, since the education center was closed last week because of the teacher’s exposure to Covid. They all tested negative at the end of last week which, praise the Lord, meant classes could resume as normal this week. We split the mornings and afternoons all last week to keep one of us in the quad with the boys in the morning and then the other with them in the afternoon while attending our sessions. Typically by the 3rd week in, folks would be well adjusted to the 7-3 schedule for each day, but again, it was our first, 2nd day. We’ve been on the go with ever changing circumstances and routine really since the Christmas season. It was good to have a second day of routine! And speaking of routine, and lack there-of, we are pretty wiped. We’ve got about 4 1/2 weeks of training left, and are realizing that the boys being in class all day makes for long afternoons with exhausted us and them, especially Zeke, who is a sleeper through and through, and is used to 3-4 hours of nap time each day. He’s sleeping for an hour in his little classroom during their afternoon quiet time, but this leaves him in a heap from about 4:30 on. We’ve backed up his bedtime to 6:15 in hopes that it will help him a bit.
With that little update, here’s the ways you can be partnering with us in prayer, and the praises we can share to encourage you that the Lord hears the prayers of the saints!
Pray with us:
1. We are tired. There is so much to be done in way of session homework for us and the boys - it’s good stuff, but this is all very new for our family, to be this busy day after day.
2. Zeke has a really rough time being dropped off, and I’m feeling the pressure of only have a few hours with him in the afternoons/evenings. I want that time together to be sweet, but he’s so tired that he really can only keep it together until 4:30 or so, and then he crumbles into a weepy mess about every little thing. This is very unusual for him. Please pray with us that he would adjust to less sleep during the day and also that he would be able to learn to communicate with more words than he knows right now - it’s gotta be tough to have such overwhelming emotions and not be able to tell us what’s making him sad.
3. We have to figure out our homeschooling curriculum to take with us when we fly to Kenya. Because of Covid travel stuff, there won’t be any support ministry teams headed our way anytime soon that can bring it (this is typically how curriculum is brought for hs families), so we just learned we need to get that all planned, ordered and packed up while we are here, so we can add it to our ever growing mound of luggage. Please pray with us for clarity of mind and that we’d be able to plan effectively so we don’t get to the flip side and realize we forgot something vital.
Magnify the Lord with us:
1. All the kids teachers tested negative for Covid, after all being exposed at a staff meeting a couple of weeks ago. This meant we could resume the normal schedule this week.
2. I am really thankful for all our years of being able to homeschool our boys. While there were days I thought it would be the death of my sanity, I have a new appreciation and thankfulness for it as our boys are in class here from 8-3. It’s a major adjustment to only have a few hours with them at the end of the day, when we are all cognitively tired and still have homework to complete. We are excited homeschooling is feasible on the field, and I am not more excited than ever to get back into it, though that is months down the road.
3. We had really encouraging conversations yesterday: one with our team leaders and the other with the “M’s in residence” that are here on campus doing a stateside term, serving the current lot of us headed overseas. Their work is also in Tanzania, but in a different city than where we will be. They told us of their transition from the States years ago and the hardships that came with that. They told us a bit about the incredible ministry the Lord has provided for them, things they couldn’t have imagined. Our team leaders were very encouraging and conversations with them always get us excited to get to our destination point, so we can do the task together! We are continuously blown away by the team the Lord has gathered up for us to work with.
Thank you for tracking with us, reading updates and continuing to speak with the Lord on our behalf!
Grace and Peace!
Rebekah
