Itsara

Life is a lot different here than it was a few months ago. As you know, Sandra’s gone. I keep mentioning it because it’s still strange. She was our first kid, after all.

Also, it looks as though Matt will be staying in the US with his mom. He says he wants to try 11th grade again, so he’s going to do it there (where it’s free). If he does well, he’ll go on to 12th grade then college. We’re praying for him. That’s weird too, though, because we were expecting him back. I think a lot of it was that, when he left, he thought he’d be going to Grace International again next year, and maybe it’s just too weird for him not to. I don’t know.

Cindy and I have been doing a lot of time management. Cindy teaches dance and is now tutoring a friend’s kids – she may even teach them part-time in September. I’m trying to write everyday. I have one novel being read by a group of beta readers, and I’ve been working on a couple of short stories that I’m going to try and sell. We’ll see how that goes.

Cindy and Prang decided to start “officially” homeschooling our three 2-year-olds. Cindy teaches them in English for an hour, then Prang in Thai. So far, it’s not much different than what we always do with them, just more intentional.

And then there’s the question of new kids. We have space, both physically and emotionally. The thing is, we’ve never actively looked for new kids. God has always brought them to us. I pray for new kids everyday, but I want them in his timing. And I just don’t know – is God giving us a needed season of rest, or should we be looking ourselves? Are we acting out of fear or faith? I ask God everyday. I have no answer, but I have peace. I guess that is an answer, but, you know, I still doubt. There’s always doubt.

Of course the last time I expressed doubts like this was exactly 16 days before God doubled the size of our family. So there you go.