Relief

Thank you for praying for our family while Joel was gone to Nashville for the broadcasters conference. We talked regularly while he was away and he's had a great trip. This conference allows him to meet face-to-face with many of the vendors we work with throughout the year. We partner with other ministries to share about the lost in Asia and offer our free book, Revolution in World Missions.

God was incredibly faithful to help me pray more during this trip. I felt like I was more focused on the battle than the years prior. Of course, we were very blessed this year to have healthy children (almost) the entire time Joel was gone.

Joel had to leave at 4:30 Friday morning. Rylee came into our room at 2:30 with a fever. She had complained about her ears popping at school on Thursday, but seemed fine otherwise. She stayed home with me and Jett on Friday, which was nice. She was fine until carpool time when she began crying and complaining about her ear. Since it was a Friday afternoon and I didn't want to spend Saturday hunting down an urgent care, I took her to the CVS Minute Clinic. She had an ear infection. After some antibiotics and a good night's sleep, she was fine on Saturday.

We've enjoyed some relaxing times, as well as some hard work (Rylee helped me scrub the kitchen floor by hand and the twins helped me clean the sides of the oven when I pulled it out for a deep clean). We had a few bouts of short tempers, quarreling, and crying.

All in all, however, we have done well. Joel is an amazing husband and daddy. He doesn't walk in the door and do his own thing. He plays with the kids, helps with homework, helps with dinner, gives baths, reads stories, and a million other things. He also takes the big kids to school each morning. I know there are single moms out there who do it all alone all the time. My mom was one of them. It's times like this that I develop a more grateful heart--for what I had and for what I have.

Thanks for praying us through this week!