Midweek report

Lots has happened this week, but it's hard to find one theme that links everything together.

On Sunday afternoon, we celebrated my birthday one last time with our friends Francois and Alex and their children Luc and Emily. The 5 of us and Anne went to a local park and shared birthday cake together. We had our firsr discussion about religion in the course of discussing different schools for our kids after they finish their 3 years of preschool/kindergarten. One good option appears to be a Catholic church in our neighborhood, as the public elementary schools have varying reputations for discipline and education.

Monday and Tuesday I spent a good amount of time working on an e-publicity piece for the upcoming art exposition that starts on Thursday October 19. Not very glamorous work, but important for getting people to visit the opening night, as well as during the rest of the exposition. This will be the first official event in the completely renovated arts center.

Yesterday I was at the center to meet Erik and Emma and their 3 sons. Eric is friends of Dan, who was one of my buddies from Wheaton in the 1980s. Eric and Dan grew up together in Central America as their parents were involved in Bible translation. It was neat to spend time with them and learn of their interest in using their graphic arts skills in work in the Middle East.

Jim and I also met in the morning before then to discuss Fonderie business. This will definitely be an adventure different than anything I've ever done befoe. It's like a big laboratory to look at ministry through the arts in something very different than what I know has been done.

Today I was on the phone quite a bit. I spoke with a college senior at Northern Illinois University from one of our partnering churches who is majoring in art education and considering a short-term project in France. I spoke with Belleville's senior pastor about the internships this year. I also spoke with Isaac, last year's ministry intern at Belleville and now studying in Colorado.

Everyday seems to fly by. The kids continue to occasionally irritate us, but most amaze us with all that they are learning, growing, and doing. Hopefully our 8 month old's teeth will come in soon, as our eldest two kids had their teeth much earlier. Baby wants to start eating more solid food, but is limited to cereal and soft fruit right now.