Thankful Thursday

1. One goal I've had the last few years has been to participate in more service projects. So many times when I've found one, we have had a scheduling conflict. For example, there was a food packing event near us at the beginning on October, but it took place while we were on vacation. Thankfully I found another one that was taking place this week. I had invited Tab and her boys to join us, and the session that worked for them was this morning at 10:00. Ironically, they had to back out at the last minute, but we were very glad we were able to help today. We're planning on helping once more on Saturday morning. They started the projects yesterday and are wrapping them up on Saturday morning. This Missions Expo is being held at a Methodist Church about 15 minutes from our home. They are packing 100,000 meals that will be sent to Haiti through the organization Kids Around the World, packing 600 family medical packs and 225 action packs for refugees in the Middle East through Voice of the Martyrs, raising money for BioSand water filters through Samaritan's Purse, packing bags of school supplies, and packing boxes of Bible and other Christian literature. We packed food from 10:00-12:15, and during that time 12,000 meals were packed. The kids and I packed a little more than 400 bags in about 2 hours, which accounts for a little more than 2,400 meals! Each bag contained lentils, rice, and vitamins. The bag of food didn't seem very large considering it was supposed to provide six meals. We are so very spoiled here in the USA. Hopefully I will be be able to find more service projects for us to participate in during the coming months and years. It is better to give than to receive!

2. Isaiah and Micah came over to our house last Friday for a few hours, and Tab and their two dogs joined us for part of that time. Face-to-face time with a friend is a rare treat for me. I don't take it for granted! 

3. Tonight is Nadia's last rehearsal for Bad Auditions by Bad Actors. The performance will be aired live tomorrow night via Zoom and aired on Demand on Saturday. Although putting on a theatre performance by Zoom is certainly not ideal, one perk is that we haven't had to drive anywhere for the rehearsals.

4. We have chosen an orthodontist for Ian! I'm thankful he charges a bit less and won't require Ian to wear a headgear. Hoping this will be a beneficial experience and go as smoothly as possible. I had braces for 8 years, and my teeth are still messed up! Hopefully he will have a better experience than I did.

5. Margie saw two different surgeons on Tuesday, and yesterday they chose the one closest to their home. Her surgery has been scheduled for early November. We're thankful she doesn't have to wait a long time to have the surgery and praying all the cancer will be successfully removed.

6. The boys enjoyed playing in the Lewisburg Children's Museum for about an hour yesterday while the van was being serviced across the street. I had asked them to do the annual inspection plus rotate the tires. They also ended up patching one tire that had a screw in it. I'm thankful we didn't have a flat tire!

7. I recently ordered some photo books, Christmas cards, and calendars on Shutterfly. I can't get things totally for free as I used to be able to do a few years ago, but I still can get things for a very low price (I only pay for the shipping). I used to make 20 page photo books, but for the past 3 years I've been making 111 page photo books for less than $10 including shipping. The kids love looking through photo books. For example, today I ordered 11 tri-fold 5x7 Christmas cards for a grand total of $2.07. 

8. Pastor Branden, who will likely become our senior pastor in the spring when Pastor Arlie retires, preached an outstanding sermon on I John 2 on Sunday. I enjoyed teaching a lesson on Moses to the 1st/2nd grade boys during the second service. 

9. I'm thankful I finally buckled down and got the kids started in an online art curriculum. I'm looking forward to seeing what all the kids will create in the coming months!

10. We've continued to make progress with trying new recipes. So far this week I've made egg and bacon pie (a recipe from New Zealand), beef tostadas, tres leches cake, empanadas de pollo, and empanadas abiertas de humita. The boys really liked the egg and bacon pie. Paul hasn't come home from work yet, but the kids and I all liked the cake. The kids struggled to eat the empanadas that had corn in them. My favorite of the new foods we tried this week was the tostadas. I had made tres leches cake once five years ago, but it still seemed like a new food. 

11. The kids and I enjoyed watching the new Secret Garden movie last night. I rarely watch tv, but that was a treat! We thought we'd see it in the theatre, but I don't think we'll be going to see a movie at a theater in 2020. Maybe in 2021?