Those 10 Days

I really am not trying to be overly dramatic, because I know there are lots of people who have done more for longer, but ten days with the three kiddos by myself was quite an adventure.  I’d like to publicly thank our church here in Idaho, for being so super supportive.  If I had needed anything at all, more than what I did, they offered to me.  It was awesome.  Fellowship meal the first Sunday Matthew was gone?  Easy breezy thanks to someone to hang out with the kids while I got their food, someone else put Axel to sleep, someone followed me through line should my litany of plates become too much, and someone else SAT with us and our brand of crazy.  And that’s just an example.  We had playdates, a few lunches at fast food places known for their indoor play equipment, our first trip to the mall with three kids (and no stroller), our first week at BSF, and some other really cool stuff.

One highlight was going to a friend’s dairy.  With about 1000 cows, it was no little dairy and the kids had a BLAST riding in the farm truck (it was cold and muddy, so no walking) and seeing all the cows, including some that had been born that morning.

We also just hung around home, counting down the days until Daddy came home with star stickers.  They both helped me cook more so than usual and we cooed over Axel and his natural charm.  Tough life, huh?

But, it definitely kept me busy and Axel’s only semi-rough time of day is just after the older two go to bed, so I had very little time to accomplish anything other than the basics.  It was still a fun time to spend a bit of extra focus on the kiddos so they didn’t miss their Daddy too much.

Now he’s home, so we’re back to to the grind.  However, we got a bunch of things done this week with regard to helping find ministry partners so we can return to DR Congo.  We really do hope to leave within a few months, but God’s timing is not our own…  We are excited to say we have three new monthly partners this month, and we are nearing 60% supported on a monthly basis!  We are praising God for those folks who have come on board!

Next week we begin two weeks of training in this very topic.  We haven’t been able to attend the two week Ministry Partnership seminar, a requirement for career MAF staff, until now and we are looking forward to meeting a few fresh MAFers – including one couple assigned to Africa (country unknown still)!  We hope we can be a blessing to this class and learn some new things.  Please be praying not only for the training to go well, but for Levi and Amelia as they have someone coming over (a person they very much like and already know) every day from 7:30-5 – it’s a life change, even if it’s temporary, for a two- and four-year-old.  Axel will be coming with us to class, since he’s still portable.

And now, enjoy a few pictures from Matthew’s time away…

This is technically before Matthew left, but it was our first chance to play in the snow

Empty hampers are awesome toys!

We Linds are not football people, but lets just pretend he’s cheering for his parents’ hometown team (Seahawks)!

Gorgeous sunset from the front door

Levi and all of the cows who just gave birth

She LOVED the cows and wanted to go IN the pens with them…ha

At a family fun place with friends, I see only a teenager with a rebel boyfriend…do you SEE that look???

Levi gave Axel his truck and wanted to take a picture…