The preparation for and throwing of the Halloween party that was going on during the last time I blogged is over.  This had lead to prep for Thanksgiving that will be celebrated this Saturday (where hopefully we will have at least 50 people to feed), preparing for classes where the kids will make Christmas decorations, advent/christmas decorating party, etc.  Guess that is life (or at least mine)- always preparing for something!  I am still waiting to hear about my visa, which is getting pretty old, but should be here pretty soon (and I keep telling myself that if there was something wrong we would have heard about it by now and trying to remain somewhat calm about it all).  So that is what I have been up to- prep for this and that, classes, friends, and waiting for a visa.  Nothing overly exciting I guess, but that`s my life in a nutshell at the moment.

Today a crew of a cat, a dog, a strange detective, a black angel, a skeleton and a sle  w of witches gathered together.  This world has many things that it would have you be afraid of, and this time of year can be a time that it tries to reinforce those things.  However, God is bigger than those things, and this can be a time we remember that too.  We popped up some popcorn and watched the veggie tales, "Where`s God When I Am Scared?"  We then did a treasure hunt using some of the things learned from the video, and played a few more games.  Then it was time to meet up with an even larger crew.  After apple bobbing we enjoyed a baked potato bar and a dessert of pumpkin bread, apple bread, and caramel apples.  Following that, we read the Pumpkin Poem and carved pumpkins together.  While the candles were still glowing in the pumpkins we played a game of murder.  We ended the day with the kids playing a game of pumpkin bowling, and the adults enjoying a bit more dessert and conversation.  I think it was a wonderful day.  The highlight of the day for me was when at the end of the day one child played a trick on another child.  The response was, "Before that would have scared me, and I wouldn`t have been able to sleep tonight.  However, now I know I can pray and God can help me, because he is bigger than what I am afraid of, so I think I can pray and sleep just fine tonight even though you did that to me."  It seems at least for the night the lesson was comprehended by at least one child.  And I could not resist sharing a few pictures (What did you expect?  This is me we are talking about, isn`t it).





 

Please pray for the seeds planted

I was prepared for the Halloween culture class of the day- then the phone calls start coming.  The flu apparently has hit all three of my kids in that class.  I know they want to finish what we started, so the Halloween culture class will just have to wait for next week.  The extra time did not go to waste,Masayo and I did a quick are-all-our-bases-really-covered-how -much- of- this-or -that- do- we- need- What- is -still- left- to- buy pre- Halloween bash meeting.  I think things are coming together, and we are looking forward to a real fun time come Saturday, but a few things still have to be done.  Now, I hear footsteps on the stairs calling me to a class.