This is a strange Christmas for us. It’s well into December, and there are NO decorations up in our home! (Norman is probably ecstatic!) It stands to figure. We’re only in the States about a year. No reason to buy trappings for one month. We are holding out for tinsel and lights when we visit our family instead. They can have all the red and green, and we can save our money to buy presents! 🙂

As on the move as we are, our children are unable to participate in Christmas programs, but we were able to watch one last week in Pella. Their kids did a great job! Unfortunately, Chloe was sick at the time, though she attended anyway. (Not the smartest move on our part.) We still have sickness giving visits to each in our household. ‘Tis the season!

The best part of Christmas this year is being able to spend it with family. We haven’t been able to do this in about five years, so it’s a real treat. Christmas dinner with the family….mmm. I can’t wait!

We hope you are able to enjoy time with family and friends this year, too. Make the most of these opportunities. People are special!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Smiths!

We have completed our first month back in Iowa! The kids have been enjoying (with some trepidation) AWANA for the first time in their young lives. They are not used to being in the same room as so many children at one time! But they religiously study their verses, repeating them to each other over and over and over. The most asked question around here is, “How many more days till AWANA?” We’re grateful they can take advantage of this opportunity to get into God’s Word  . . . and for God’s Word to get into them!

We just visited our 37th church this year with another five months to go before returning home to Japan. I think we are getting to the point of being ready to go back. We continue to enjoy meeting up with friends and acquaintances from each church. We are being refreshed each week by Christian fellowship, seeing what God is doing in churches, and being blessed by so many.

In November, we visit churches in Waverly, Burlington, and Carroll, IA. We are currently seeking to fill November 25th.

Psalm 90:14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

The Smith family has been enjoying time with the Strutz family (my parents) in Wisconsin, during which time we have traveled around the state reporting to new and supporting churches. To top this experience off, we are able to be amazed at the rainbow of colors in the trees. Such beauty! I can’t help but be reminded about God’s kindness to mankind. He could have made everything on earth black and brown. But instead, just because He is creative and wants to provide us with pleasure at His beauty, He created the leaves to turn yellow, orange, red, maroon, purple, and every shade between. What a wonderful, gracious God!

We have packed up most of our belongings and plan to move to Iowa on Thursday, October 4th. I have a feeling that Grandpa and Grandma won’t know what to do with all the quiet they will have when we leave!

We are eager to meet up with our Iowa friends and churches. We have been blessed recently to visit with many warm church families. What abundant Christian resources are in this nation! There is so much for which to be thankful.

It’s time for us to renew passports, keep an eye on visa expiration dates, and the like. Get this notarized, get a picture for that, fill out this form, send in this, that, and the other thing. Lots to keep in mind! It’s just part of our life, I guess.

School is going well. Chloe just finished her first story (more than a page long). We are editing her first draft of her unicorn story. Cameron is beginning to delve into the joys of division problems in math. So far, so good. He is also writing, but his story includes dragons. Melodie is figuring out how to spell words like lick and like. Tricky business! Not to be outdone by her older siblings, she decided to get writing, too. Her story is set on a ranch in the west. Lots of creative juices flowing in our home!

Isn’t it wonderful how God has made each of us differently? He has blessed each of us with various interests, abilities, and gifts. I hope we can learn to appreciate each others’ uniqueness. And we pray that we will use these gifts from God in a way that honors and magnifies Him.

We have a little driving to do this month. Wautoma, Beaver Dam and Ladysmith, WI are all on the schedule. We also have a three day mission’s conference in Manitowoc, WI to start October. This is our last month in WI,we pack up and head to Iowa  the first week in October as soon as the mission’s conference is over.

Our time in WI has been good but busy. The kids have been busy with home school during the week and we have traveled every weekend. I have been traveling to Plymouth during the week to help Susan’s brother, Wendell, move and finish up a few projects. Living with Susan’s parents has been really fun for the kids. They won’t know what to do with themselves once we are back in IA and it is just us again.

Well, I have been thinking about updating this site for awhile and finally got around to starting on it. The first thing I did, quite unintentionally, was delete ALL of our old site. Oops. It does make the updating easier though.

So to start the new blog an update is in order. We have just over a month before we will be returning to Iowa after a few months in Wisconsin. It has been a busy summer but overall we have enjoyed most of it. Chloe was briefly sick but the kids have been healthy. They are gearing up for more consistent home schooling after a summer with quite a few breaks. Melodie is excited to be in First grade. Cameron is in third grade and Chloe is chugging along in fifth grade.

September has us finishing up with a bang in WI as I attend the Men’s retreat at Camp Fairwood and Susan attends the Ladies retreat a few weeks later. I will try to finish up teaching on discipleship at First Baptist in Kiel on the last Wednesday of the month. It has been a good time of getting to know the church better and letting them get to know me better.

Stay tuned for changes in the coming days as I eek out time to get things together here again.