Updates of BG and life

Wednesday, we welcomed a team from Australia. Allan has been here for a week to help prepare everything for this team as they are going to be putting the main finishing touches on the Beautiful Gardens' rental housing project. These men are going to be putting in kitchen cupboards and counters as well as wardrobes and other counters in the 7 smaller rental houses. I am so excited for the work that they are doing and it is making the project feel a lot more real. Bryan was able to go out to their work site and see them hard at work yesterday.

Here is an update on Beautiful Gate. We are currently at 60 kids which is a bit low for us, as we have the capacity for 75 kids. I think that this lower number is a blessing so that we have more time to really focus on the kids we have. We have many volunteers right now so we have been able to specialize a little more on specific needs of children, especially those with special needs. Our soft play room for kids who are over 6 months up to walking age has been very successful. BG kids are crawling and walking faster and those who are not are able to be singled out for special attention. Our Ops Manager, Brittany, has been putting together activity centers for the older playgroup kids for days when we have 4 or more volunteers in the playgroup. I am amazed by all the changes that have happened in the last year,

My kids have been attending their new school since mid-October, Elijah has had a big adjustment to attending school and I really feel responsible for his frustrations. There is just such a big difference in homeschool work and expectations and those of a classroom so he was not as prepared as I wish he would have been (I also realize he is technically a middle schooler so some of this may be age related too), I know it will go well and he will adjust, but please pray for him to accept the differences without taking them personally, The girls are adjusting great and doing very well in their new school. They are eager to learn and to please their teachers which is helping them to make their adjustments well,

I am teaching science on Tuesday and Wednesdays to the 4 older kids at the school and I am now attending a ladies bible study on Wednesday morning which I have wanted to do since we moved here, but was too busy teaching, I work at BG on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays now and it is going well. It is not hard to find enough to do, it is harder to stick to the hours I am trying to be available to BG, to the school and to bible study. Everyday is different and a lot harder to stay on track than when I was locked in a room with 3 kids homeschooling :) I am enjoying being a part of school as well as being a part of BG more regularly and am thankful that God has sent 2 wonderful teachers to help.

I am sure you noticed, but after 41/2 years, I have changed my blog's look a little. I updated a few prayer requests too. Hope you enjoy the new look!