January 2022 Recap

Last Friday, we shared some thoughts about Community, but we realized we had several other things we wanted to share about, too, and it just didn’t really fit in that post. So here it is, on the last Monday of January 2022 (already?!).

Hudson’s Birthday Party

We celebrated Hudson’s 3rd birthday with our friend Rosie and her family. Rosie and Hudson both turned three within a week or so, so we planned a joint sledding party. It was so cold, but Sarah made cupcakes and Allen made cocoa. We decorated outside, invited friends on campus to join us, and enjoyed being together! We ended up singing Happy Birthday and blowing out candles inside… it was too windy to do it outside!

Hudson’s Birthday

We decorated for Hudson’s Papa-Themed Party, wore crocheted beards, opened presents, played with new toys, and ate all of Hudson’s favorite foods, including chicken nuggets, nachos, and chocolate muffins. It was so nice to just be together!

Valentine’s Day

We shared earlier what we’re planning for Valentine’s Day for the married couples in the language school program. In fact, Allen asked me the other day, “What do you want to do for Valentine’s Day?” And I told him, “I’ve already totally planned out our date!” We’re keeping one of the at-home date night ideas for ourselves and I’m pretty excited about it!

We’re also putting a few little things together for the single students, with lots of help from our friends:

For the guys: A bag of chips and a note that says, “You’re all that and a bag of chips!” and a campus scavenger hunt to do together.
For the girls: Some nail polish and lotion and a dessert movie night to enjoy together.

The Taste of Canada

Our friends Rolen and Sarah introduced us to a soda that tastes like… well, Canada. It’s like how walking in a pine forest tastes. Like if you were to drain the sap from a pine tree, carbonate it, and bottle it, it would taste like this soda. So here’s a picture of Allen enjoying it, straight from the source:

Weekly Routine

With the garderie open for our kids again last week, we’ve started to settle into a new ministry and family routine. Our kids are in the garderie every morning from about 8:45-12:15, then at home in the afternoon. And here’s what Allen and I are up to during those times:

Monday am: Planning for the week, including Wednesday’s lesson and Friday’s Bible study; meeting with David and Kristy
Tuesday am: Our day of rest / day off of ministry
Wednesday am: Teach Bible classes; co-lead prayer time
Thursday am (and pm): French tutoring time (online and in-person) to help language school students as needed
Friday am: Finalize prep for our Soup & Bible Study (which takes place Fridays at lunch time)
Saturday: Family day, grocery shopping, running errands with students who don’t have cars, etc.
Sunday: Church (online right now); sledding and cocoa mid-afternoon with other families

As needed, Allen helps shovel snow off the sidewalks around campus. In the afternoons, we do laundry (on Mondays and Fridays), clean the apartment, rest, play with LEGO and Playdoh, have friends and students over, prepare for the next day, and more.

It’s definitely not a 9am-5pm job… it’s more like a 8am-10pm job, knowing that any time between then, someone may stop by, ask for help, send a message, etc. We love serving in this capacity and we pray there is much fruit from our time here.