ALOT Has Happened

(Our Team of painters)

Whew! Let me just take a breath as I sit down to write this. We have had a very busy end to one week and a busy beginning to another!

The kids did really well last week, studying about the kitchen! The "cool cash" idea has worked awesome as well! Sometimes there's nothing like a little bribery! Anyway, like I said, they did a great job learning about the kitchen. To review their new words, we played a couple good games of pictionary where Joel would tell the artist the word in English, and their team mates would have to give the answer in English. We also started trying to put simple sentences together, using ther verb "to have" ("tener" in Spanish). Apparently they were writing whole sentences on the board before the big semana santa vacation. As it goes, they had forgotten how to do that by the time they got back. We practiced sentences using some of their new vocab words..."I HAVE the spoon"..."she HAS the fork"...etc. This week we will be learning about items in the bedroom and in the closet. We will also be working on more sentences and verbs too.

(We're making progress downstairs)

We spent the whole afternoon on Saturday going to get the rest of the supplies for painting the rest of Vera's house, and getting all the medical supplies I will need to start the clinic. God has been SOOOO faithful to provide for us. We were really worried about how we were going to pay for all the rest of the paint supplies and all the medicines and supplies I would need for the clinic. As you know, God sometimes provides for us in ways we don't expect. Jeanne (Joel's mom) had deposited his last paycheck right before last weekend. The amount of the check still hadn't shown up on our account online...not even in the "pending" section...hmmm... We called Jeanne to see what was going on, and she in turn called our bank only to find out that the wrong bank account number had been entered, meaning that the check was deposited into someone else's account. After a little investigation, they found that all the numbers on the original deposit slip that Jeanne had filled out were correct and that whoever deposited the check was the one who entered the numbers wrong. To make a long story short, our bank put the paycheck back into our account along with a customer satisfaction credit for the same amount as the check itself...in other words, we doubled our money! Praise God...we then, because of the Lord's provision, had more than enough to buy the supplies! (Just a side note...we have seen God's provision over and over in our marriage as we've been on one income for most of the time, allowing me to go to nursing school. He always provides right when we need it, and we are always amazed!)

Between school and medical/paint supplies shopping, we worked really hard at Vera's house, painting, fixing the sink, and cleaning. She actually came home today, so we felt a big pressure to finish the whole project by the time she came home. By Sunday after church, we had finished the downstairs, minus the bathroom and a little part in the kitchen. We had the whole upstairs to complete. There was a team of us working to paint and clean...the pastor's son, Tucker, a missionary couple from our church, and a neighbor named Eric. Eric is a true Mexican worker...the word...HARDCORE! We've never seen anyone work so fast and efficiently. We started painting around noon, and the paint job was complete by about 4:00. Joel and I were there until about 8:00. We had to move all her things back, finish fixing the bathroom sink, and clean....there was SO MUCH DUST EVERYWHERE...my mother's worst nightmare! By God's grace, we got it done!

(Finished upstairs)

Mitcha also had her babies last week on Thursday morning. We actually got to see her give birth. She had four kittens...one white, one black, and two dark tabby. They are adorable! To update on Pancha, her babies opened their eyes last week also. As I type this, they are actually stepping out from the nest and taking a look around. Momma cat is trying to keep them in order.

(Mitcha and her new babies)(Family photo of Pancha and her babies)

Today, Joel worked for Fine Designs, and I worked hard at cleaning our apartment. We went and picked up Vera from the airport, and have spent time preparing for our class.

Please be praying for us this week. I am sick again....I have had a sore throat for the last two weeks, and a swollen gland in my neck (unrelated to the sore throat...it's not sore). Please be praying for the clinic and for our kids. We really want to show them God's love, and especially for Joel as he's one of the only good male influences in their lives. Joel's dad, Bob, is also coming this week on Thursday. Please pray for safe travels and a good visit.

We are off tomorrow..hopefully to the beach for a little rest!

We love you guys and are thinking about you!

Joel and Leslie