As a former teacher, I was used to having the summers down and the other 10 months of the year were very busy. However, a typical day for me from August-May is more like a stay at home mom with administrative tasks of keeping up with donors and replying to e-mails. June and July are crazy here in the DR. I am responsible for the VBS groups that come during these 2 months. In the winter I organized curriculum (stories, memory verses, crafts, games, and songs) for the summer months and sent it out to the 6 US teams that will be facilitating the VBS’s. In April, Hector and I visited all 6 of the Dominican host sites. It’s fun to watch everything come together as the teams arrive. Please be in prayer for the teams as the prepare to serve and for the communities that will be impacted from their ministry!
Jeff will continue to work with the construction groups out at the land as they continue to build the perimeter wall. This consists of lots of cement mixing, block laying, and hole digging:) It’s hot, hard work!
Braegan is busier than ever. She is so adventurous and quite the risk taker. Last month she learned the hard way that playing with fans is a bad idea. This resulted in a visit to the clinic for some stitches. Thankfully we had a physician visiting from the states, and he was able to take care of things quickly. As much as Braegan enjoys being at the clinic and watching surgery, she was able to be the patient this time!
On a more positive note, since I’m not in the classroom anymore Braegan has become my full time student. She loves painting, singing, dancing, and reading. She knows her colors, numbers 1-10, the alphabet, and shapes in english. She has her animals and numbers 1-10 down in Spanish as well.
She also is very good with details and sticking to a schedule. She loves Wednesday evenings when we go to Bienvenidas for dinner with the group followed by ICE CREAM at Helado Bon. She knows it takes 5 pesos to ride on the rides, and she starts asking for money the second we walk in the door.
I’m participating in an online book club for the summer over Third Culture Kids: Growing up Among Worlds by David Polluck. I’m hoping to gain a better understanding of the strengths and challenges Braegan may experience as she continues to get older. One of the reviews describes it this way, “The basic premise of the book is that kids who grow up in a different country (like our kids!) end up learning from both home and host cultures and yet never fully becoming part of either one. TCKs and Adults TCKs (ATCKs) have unique advantages and disadvantages. They innately understand differences between places and cultures in a way that kids who grew up in one place simply cannot. They also have unique skills in adaptation, relationship-development and language.”
I feel like this summer is going to go by quickly with so much going on. I am the matron of honor in one of my best friend’s weddings in Chicago at the beginning of August. Braegan will also be in the wedding as a flower girl. A year ago we were waiting up until the week before we left for the states to have our Dominican residency accepted so that we could travel back to the states. Now we get to plan a little more in advance for our time back at the end of the summer…just a little over 8 weeks away! It’s a bit surreal when I realize that in September we will have been in the DR for 2 years. Time is flying by.
How you can be praying for us:
-Braegan: our intentions are to send her to pre-school in the fall at Lucille Rupp. We would like to give her the opportunity to have more time with peers her age and to strengthen her understanding of Spanish. We are trying to find opportunities to transition her into this new adventure.
-Jeff and me: health and rest, a majority of the time it feels like we are constantly on the go. It’s hard to find quality family in the midst of groups. We are starting to brainstorm a mini vacation during our week off at the end of June. We have also found that when we push ourselves hard, when the opportunity to rest presents itself our immune system crashes at the same time:(