Back to School

Well hi there! I'm about to tell you about the first week of school, but have a look at this first:


Wowzers. It's called the nmg (no more gas), is completely electric, and tiny enough to park in a motorcycle parking space. And cute! The top six very groovy, spacey, eco-friendly car designs are here if you're interested. (Malcolm likes the one that looks like a plane.)

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

The first week of school was great. Maren is thrilled to be back, Malcolm settled in without a hiccup, and I started classes at university. (!) I hadn't mentioned it in this space until now because there was a lot of uncertainty about whether or not I would be able to go, but here I am: thirty years old and taking my little pink backpack to school everyday. It's kind of an odd (and occasionally intimidating) experience to be starting up 3000 level courses after an eleven year break, but I think most of the courses will be manageable.

I am in awe that the most ideal situation for our family is what has actually happened: my latest class ends at 1:00, so I have just enough time to get back downtown to pick up the kids from school (once Mitch is back to work). Yay for no childcare costs! And I don't have any Friday classes, which means I'll be able to take advantage of a quiet home for working in the morning. Isn't that so cool?

I feel that God has unleashed a tidal wave of blessing on us this summer. Struggles are hard, but there is no doubt that we clearly see God's care and provision for us in these seasons.

Here is a sampling of the many blessings we've received:

• someone paid the $90 fee for my license
• someone paid the deductible to have our windshield replaced and someone else paid the bill when our van was in the shop for another emergency repair
  
• someone else provided two full backpacks of school supplies, while another person handed me $40 for school supplies (between the two, we only had to spend about $20 for the kids this year)
• we were given a loft bed for Malcolm (which is the perfect solution for his tiny room) and the donors spent 2 hours with us setting it up
• a family gave us a card with $100 tucked inside, without knowing that Mitch has been off work
• another family has been slipping us small grocery gift certificates every now and then; they've given us about $100 by now
• a number of households have been "laundry sponsors," allowing us to use their machines so that we haven't had to pay for the laundromat since Mitch has been home
• many have been praying and encouraging us
• and finally... another dear friend considered it unacceptable that I wouldn't go to school because of mere money, so she is paying for our groceries until we're back to our regular income

Doesn't your jaw just drop to see all that? What an outpouring of love! I am so thankful for the generosity that has been directed toward us and every heart that has responded to little divine whispers.

So... three of us are back to school and looking forward to a new year of challenge. And speaking of that, I expect that in order to live this year well -- at school, at home, and at church -- I will need to pare down how much energy I put elsewhere. I hope you'll understand if there are fewer updates here. Hopefully it will be a sign to you that my family is well-loved!

PS -- I anticipate that my goodreads list won't be updated as often either... unless you're especially interested in adolescent development and literary criticism.