August 2010

Maddie- Carly- Ilsa

Grace- Ilsa - Maddie

our family! L-R: Michelle, Phil, Don, Kiki, Eli, Grace, Ilsa, Carly, Maddie

Gracie caught a fish! And held it herself!

Eli was the great fisherman of the weekend :)

glorious blue sky

warming up!

Ilsa hangin' on the boat; Eli and another fish

Don & Phil, Michelle & Kiki

Our girls! :)

Hey Family!

Summer is fading. Wow. Hard to believe. But here we are, move in is next weekend, and BSU starts school next week. Phil and I have been wondering all summer, "what does part time look like?" We had a meeting with our students last night, and this is what we're thinking it looks like:

• Phil would like to start a Men's Sexual Purity group that will meet once a week. The curriculum he wants is $450 and he needs to raise that before he can start :)
• Michelle and Ilsa and Maddie will be having a Girl's Tea once a week, that will focus on friendships and fun, but also have special women speakers on life topics for young women
• Friday nights will continue, possibly with sharing a meal beforehand
• Sundays are International student hang out days, and our great friends the Smith family will be joining us in that venture this year :) We get all the Nepalis again!
• Tuesday nights on campus will be worship and prayer and small groups
• Various one on ones with students at our home will continue (ie- Monday is Evan night:)

And we realized that we may be part time, but we can pray full time, and we can worship full time! So pray for us, family, as we venture into Fall. God reduced his army drastically and still won the battle. He fed thousands with a few fish and loaves. We're thinking more time and money isn't automatically a good thing! God's economy is not ours, and we are expectant to see Him move, even in our present circumstances.

Summer has been lovely here! We spent a weekend with our dear family the Gloude's (minus Ian (aka Sam) who was in Alaska all summer!) at their cabin near Walker, MN. The pictures are from our day on the pontoon! It was an incredible God-sent break just when we needed it. Right now we have friends up from Redwood Falls (Jairus and Sonny:) and they are helping us put up siding on the house today. Monday, we drive Grace to the north shore where she will be working the fall season at Naniboujou, the lodge where Phil and I met :) She has a few things to finish up for her high school and will graduate this spring. (it can't be!!!) But she has really gotten that itch to get out on her own, and Naniboujou was such a fun experience for us. They are excited for her to come, and we are excited for her. But we'll miss her!

So we're gearing up for a busy school year. Please pray that we would have wisdom - all the time! Our schedule will be so full. God has put the young IVCF staffers in our lives - one of them, Suzanne, has been coming to our Friday nights and playing with us in our worship team. We just love her! We had a meeting with them and decided we would like to meet once a month and pray for each other and our ministries on campus, and also advertise each other's events. They meet daily to pray on campus, and we're doing the tea and the Friday night and hopefully the men's group. We hope to share those events with all of our students.

Thanks again for your love and support! We'll keep you updated- probably more often now that school is starting again!

Love, Phil, Michelle, Grace, Ilsa, Maddie, and Eli Thooft