We are to that time of year where the weather can’t decide if it should warm up or not. It was really pretty last Wednesday and by Saturday afternoon it was spitting snow. March roared in like a lion this year. We spent all of Thursday afternoon under a tornado watch and our school system was among several that dismissed early to be on the safe side. Fortunately conditions never got ripe for a twister around here. This week it has been pretty enough for the kids to play outside. It’s a good thing Nate got a new battery for the Gator for his birthday.
EYE DROPS. I am proud to report that the morning after sending out the last newsletter Nate started taking his eye drops like it was no problem at all. Vicki was taking a shower Wednesday morning when I went to Nate and suggested we surprise Vicki and have the drops in before she got finished. Thinking about it a moment he said, “Well, alright,” laid down on the bed and let me put them in without a fight. By the time the week of treatment was over he was wanting to keep on going with the drops.
JINX. Did you ever play that game as a kid where if two people said the same thing at the same time one could “jinx” the other and the person jinxed couldn’t speak until their name was spoken? Well, that’s the craze with Jenna and Ben now. The other day Vicki jinxed Jenna and then added a humorous twist to the game. Before proceeding this story needs a bit of setup...
Jenna has been reading a lot of chapter books lately. She is currently reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (the fifth book in the series). For her the novelty is knowing what chapter she is on, and I remember this bringing a sense of accomplishment for me when I started reading chapter books. The proof of this lies in how frequently she will ask any of us here at the house to guess what chapter she’s on.
Getting back to the story now, Vicki had jinxed Jenna and made a snatching motion toward her saying, “And I’ve got your voice now too.” At this Ben spoke up saying, “You can’t do that!”
“Oh yeah,” came Vicki’s reply. Then she took Jenna’s “voice” and put it in her mouth and mimicking her daughter said, “Guess what chapter I’m on?”
Ben and Jenna cracked up with that.
I AM PROUD OF MY DAUGHTER! Our children’s choir at church has been working hard for the last few months on a musical titled The Good News Cruise. Jenna wanted to be part of this from the beginning and Ben warmed up to the idea about half way through the practice schedule. They performed the musical Saturday night and Sunday morning and they all did a great job.
Jenna had a small speaking part and she delivered her lines very well. But what made me so proud of her was the solo she sang. She sang the first verse of Soakin’ Up the Sun and all the kids joined in for the rest of the song. What made me especially delighted is knowing that she is a pretty low key person, not desiring to stay in the center of everyone’s attention. So to see her step up and do this was wonderful.
Ben was really funny on this song. As they sang they were wearing sunglasses and holding Bibles at chest level like they were suntan reflectors. Ben was the only kid to be “reading” his Bible as he sang.
Joe
A Special Prayer Request
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
I sat down today to write this week’s newsletter but my heart isn’t in it. Some news we heard today has really deflated my spirit and I’d like to ask everyone getting this note to pray.
Brent and Cindy Roycroft are good friends of ours. Brent is the Minister of Music at our church. I have mentioned them a few times over the years, most recently back in January. They have been traveling a long hard road to have a baby. Their journey first began as they tried to conceive on their own. After many years and much expense they decided the time had come to consider adoption. In two years of waiting for this to happen they had several heartbreaking close calls that just didn’t work out. In January I reported that they had brought Tyler Justus home. Since that time they have been walking on air as they have become new parents of a precious little boy.
The sad twist in this saga happened this week as the birth father has turned up and indicated that he wants his son. To be fair to this fellow, he didn’t know he had a son until this week. We are all just devastated, which doesn’t even touch what Brent and Cindy are going through right now. Tyler is still with the Roycrofts and the adoption agency is working to schedule a meeting with all parties involved. I’d like to ask that you pray for the best outcome to this situation. I will keep you informed when I know something new.
Joe
