I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since Benjamin was born! He’s grown so much in a year. We don’t have a huge plan for his first birthday since Janell was just in Florida. They had a combined celebration for Nathan and Benjamin while they were there.
We will eat cake, play a lot, and have lots of fun as a family. In the meantime, here are two videos from Ben’s first day.
A few weeks ago, we asked you to consider joining our team of financial supporters. Remember that?
Well, it just dawned on me that I have been so busy with the end of the school year that I haven’t told you what happened.
We didn’t reach the goal of $500 in monthly support, but some of you did respond, and we received pledges for $100 more per month. We appreciate those of you who joined our team of financial supporters.
We also received an anonymous donation of $1200. Whoever that was, we thank you for your gift to the ministry.
Raising support for ministry is always a step of faith. We thank God that we have such a good team. If you forgot about it, you can still get on board and be part of what God is doing in Latin America.
Tomorrow is Father’s Day. My friend Mark posted a link to this article yesterday (Dads are Key to Making us Human), and I thought it was worth reading. Here are some things I thought were interesting:
Some 95 percent of male mammals have little to no interaction with their children. Homo sapiens are one of the most notable exceptions, leading some scientists to think fatherhood is an important part of what makes us human.
Even today, in both traditional and industrialized communities, a father’s presence correlates with improved health and decreased child mortality, Geary said.
When children have warm relationships with their father, as well as calm home lives, they tend to sexually mature later. Their bodies intuit they are safe and time is taken perfecting social skills before entering the real world, Geary said. The extra practice gives children a competitive edge. As adults, they are more likely to form secure relationships, achieve stable social standing and become able parents. In this sense, a father who takes care of his children also gives his grandchildren a leg up.
You should read the whole article. It’s really pretty great. If you’re a dad, do your job. It’s important. Have a happy father’s day.
Yesterday Janell and the boys went to Florida to visit our family, so I’m home alone for a few weeks. I was supposed to go to Cuba during this time, but I had issues with my passport so I couldn’t get the visa in time. So, I’m home alone.
It’s okay, though, because I have plenty of work to do. The school year just ended, and I’ve got tons of projects going on. We’re planning a National Youth Workers Conference for November, so there are details for that. Our diploma course has 2 weeks left in the school year. We’ve got graduation coming up. I’ve got papers to grade. I’m working hard on our Spanish youth ministry website. Oh, and I’m taking a distance course for my Master’s degree.
So, needless to say, I’ll be missing my family but very busy. Plus I’ll have to scavenge for food while Janell’s not here. It’s so hard to be alone.
Here’s a video I made the last time I was home alone:
(photo by: cayusa)
God has always provided for our family. We have no doubt that he will continue providing for us.
For the next few weeks we will be asking you to consider supporting our family and ministry, with the goal of raising another $500 in monthly donations by June 10, 2009.
Each day we will be posting new information about our family and ministry, hoping to help you get a better understand of what we do.
If you would like to help us continue the work that we have been doing in Latin America for the last 6 years, please click here to see the options for donating.
Here’s a video of the Piñata from Nathan’s birthday party.
See some pictures of the party here.
