To give a glimpse into our family life, I wanted to share on the theme of family devotions. Though our devotions schedule is far from regular, spending this kind of time together has proved to be be a special and enjoyable for us. It's a challenge to keep them meaningful for the adults and relevant for the kids. So, what's it look like? Well, we often have a short time of reading a Bible story, singing a couple songs together, and prayer. We are currently using a children's Bible story book and then each night one of the three oldest members of the family gets to choose a song (usually from a CD) that we sing along to. We don't sit around and solemnly sing, however. Most times we're burning off some of our supper calories by dancing around together. Juliana and Kai love to move to the music.
Bethany reading and Juliana checking out the pictures.
Daddy loves singing and dancing with his two little ones.Other recent tidbits about the kids...
Juliana recently got a hair cut, a pretty significant one too. In the hot weather, having her hair off her neck will help to prevent the heat rash that she's often had in the past.
The new and improved Juliana!One of Juliana's recent pretend activities has been leading church services. It's kind of a one-person show. She plays the roles of moderator, worship leader, and preacher.
"Testing, testing; is this on?"
Juliana makes a joyful noise and leads "the congregation" in one of her imaginative praise songs. Lyrics often include phrases that go something like this: "Jesus, you are the Christ; no one can do it. You are the one. Praise the God of the Lord!"Though I have never heard her preach about being a peacemaker, I recently saw her practice it in her play. She was pretending to be the third of the "Three Little Pigs" and I was the "Big Bad Wolf." When I was tired of huffing and puffing at her brick house, I told her I wanted to come in so I could eat her. Her response surprised me; instead of taunting me or preparing boiling water under the chimney, she invited me in for a meal. She said something like, "Don't eat me. I'll make you some food." The Big Bad Wolf received her generosity, but was a bit baffled when he heard that both menu items were primarily pork products. (Maybe that explains what happened to the 1st and 2nd little pig...)
The third little pig with her delicious spread of "moo-suki ham sauce drink and too-ie vegetable drinking sausage ham"
Juliana and Kai wearing our motorbike helmets just after Bethany and I returned home from Khmer language class. Perhaps they will need some time to grow into them...-Ryan
The elephants were taught to paint with a brush held in their trunks, and were really good artists (for elephants)! Paintings were on sale from 1500-6500 baht ($42-$185). And the highlight was getting to actually ride an elephant for a half-hour, up-and-down-hill trip! It was a really fun experience, except that I was afraid Kai would fall out of my arms on the way down - he kept slipping off my lap due to the steep incline. Thankfully, no mishaps!
