This morning I awoke at the sound of Terry leaving for work and paused a moment to thank God for a husband who rises early, and works late, to care for his family. Not only does he provide for us, but he does it with a willing spirit.I went downstairs for a quiet time reading His word, and was joined by the boys about 45 minutes later. This never happens (Jordan is an early riser)so it was especially appreciated!We started our school day,I put a pot of bean and ham soup on to cook, and we began studying about the people of Israel and Syria, the reign of Charlemagne and the Pope crowning him Emperor, the reigning in of the spread of Islam, division of words between the consonants, memorization of the 15 countries of the Middle East, carrying in triple digit addition problems, and the first two chapters of "Ginger Pye".While preparing lunch the boys got a school break when Katie and Chelsea called from Searcy.Justin and Chelsea were there visiting to see their new niece, Maria.They caught me up on Brandon and Kristin's plans. After Brandon works for the next three weeks translating for some visiting Italian businessmen, they are trying to encourage him to come live with them in Memphis so he could make better money for three months, play x-box with Justin,play ball with the church league, and have no rent or food expenses before he gets married.They've also tried to talk Katie and Tim into relocating there, and Jon probably will in the next year or two-though he really seems to be enjoying his work with Dell for now.I write all of this to share how very blessed I am, and what joy it brings me to see my children involved in each others lives, encouraging one another, and being there for one another.This makes my struggle with fears of the unknown future so much lighter to bear.In the past two weeks Brandon has rescued Jon's girlfriend stuck out in the country at night with a dead battery. Justin drove to Brownsville to rescue Jon went his engine smoked and then loaned him his car the next day as he car shopped, Katie has housed her brother since he returned from China, and now Chelsea is opening her home fo him until he marries.When I commented on her sacrifice she said "Are you kidding? He's a lot of fun. It'll be great!" (Though I do think she secretly wants him to do the yard work and clean her house for her:)Yes, they are very honest with each other, they never let each other get away with anything, they call each other out when they disagree--but they are totally there for each other...and for Jordan and Christian.In the meantime, Christian has nailed together every piece of scrap lumber he can find in the backyard and shed to make a "dhow" (the fast boats Arabs travel in) and Jordan asked if he could learn Arabic using Rosetta Stone when he got to Junior High.I told him we better work on our Italian for now:)We're heading to the store in a while for paint for the dining room. I have the new rug and curtains in place and hope to get the chair seats covered this evening.I've been having more fun creating items from the fabric samples from Ethan Allen. I'll try to post some pictures soon.For now I will continue to be thankful for the life God has blessed me with, and to ask myself every day how I can give back even a small portion.
