Happy Monday!

Well, it is time for another update.
The kitchen is moving along, slowly but surely. On Friday our friends, the Hopkins, came for the day. They are newly home from their year long mission trip to Romania and as of yet do not have jobs (pray for that!). They are still in that "helping others" mode so came out to lend us a hand around the house. Maurice helped Greg put down plywood on the floors and do some more spackling. Karen and I did some much needed work on the yard. We weeded and tried to reclaim some of the beds from years of neglect. It was nice to see them and get caught up a bit on the last year. When they left for Romania we were still living in our other house so both sides had lots to share! On Saturday, a man from church spent a couple of hours helping Greg sand the walls. This drywall business is the pits! No wonder everyone we talk to says they hire that part of the job out to the pro's. I think Greg is really close to being done though. Newsflash!!!! Our cabinets are being delivered tomorrow!! They will sit in the garage until we are ready for them. I am hoping that will happen by the weekend.
The Boys: Josh is done with school, he finished last Monday. We went for an awards ceremony and Josh got several nice certificates and medals. He received the Teachers Choice Award from his reading teacher, recognition for the 25 book club, and the President's gold award for high grades. I will try to get a picture of him with all of his stuff soon. When he came home on the last day I asked him how he was and he told me he was sad to see school end and that he was already missing his friends. I take that as a good sign for his first year in a new place! At the moment he is in Virginia with Mom and Dad. They went to Richmond for a wood turners convention, meeting up with Uncle Bob, Aunt Ellen, Chelsea, Uncle Jim and Aunt Betty. They had classes designed for kids and Josh loved it! He called home a couple of times and you could just hear the excitement in his voice. He said there were 60+ kids signed up. They had 25 lathe set-up's for the kids and they got to use them to make things. He wouldn't tell us what, I guess that is a surprise! At the end of the convention they raffled off all the lathes and guess what? Josh and Chelsea both won one!! Oh my, he is off the charts excited!! Greg will have to make room in his shop for the newest wood worker in the family!
Josh and Kaleb both played in a summer soccer league. The end of the season tournament was this past weekend and Kaleb's team went undefeated! I think Kalb scored at least one goal at each game. He and another boy dominated the field with their speed and ability. He has a definite talent for the game! Much to his dismay, he still has school until Wednesday. At least this week he only has half days. He and Greg have been practicing lacrosse lately. Kaleb saved up his money for a stick and is now obsessed with playing every chance he gets.
Yesterday was a great day at church, we had a celebration Sunday to celebrate all that God has been doing in our church the last six months. We call it the WOW report. I highly recommend it, it is good to reflect on God's goodness and give Him praise. We welcomed in new members, baptized 2 new believers, and shared communion. The best part of the service was the "parade of praise". We had been asking people to write down their before and now, a short testimony to God's work in their lives. We wrote them out on poster board, the before on one side, the now on the other. They didn't talk, just one by one went to the front and showed the congregation the before side of their sign, then their now. Things like
before: sick with leukemia, now: totally healed
before: robbing God, now: tithing fully
before: lost, now: found
before: crying all the time, now: able to smile
before: selfish, now: serving others
before: struggling with my faith, now: stronger in my faith
We had more than 30 people in the parade, it was amazing! I can not think of a better way to give testimony and honor to God for the work he is doing in us and around us. After the service we had a picnic outside, a great way to cap off the day!
That is just a peek into what is happening our way. We hope and pray you are all well and enjoying the summer sunshine!