Introduction to the Family... and What's Been Up

Isaac used to work on staff at Ravencrest as the maintenance assistant. I always admired the Vancil family and wished I knew them better. In fact, I only really started spending lots of time with them the last year that they were on staff. One of my clearest memories of Isaac was when (in the middle of a really hard, awful day) he randomly started talking to me about Matthew 10:39 and how we tend to seek salvation in things other than Christ. We get into this self-preservation mode, and we think that by clinging onto things that we are saving ourselves, preserving ourselves. But really, those very things are death. But when we look to Christ to be our salvation, although we have "lost" those things that we thought would save us, we find real, true life in a real, true Savior. We find real Salvation.

My first memories of Kendra... I remember just thinking she was the prettiest young mother that I'd ever seen. She is very wise, honest, and gracious as well. Outwardly, she's one of the prettiest people I know, but that would all be for naught if it weren't for her lovely spirit and genuine heart. I admire her very much - I could learn a lot from her. :) I think I am learning a lot from her.

Tirzah is smart and artsy. She is a fun girl. She is seven years old, and full of spunk. She has a natural knack for piano and spends all sorts of time drawing and making crafts. 
She's pretty and smart (a bonus for having both qualities!), and creative to top it all off.

Joseph is sweet. He's a sensitive boy - in a good way. We play a lot of games together and usually get along. He loves cuddling and being hands-on, so we made up the "cuddle game" where I catch him and he pretends that he's trying to get away. Really, it's just a fun way to spend time with each other. We have made up many games, since Joseph loves them so much. One of them even involves cleaning the room and making the bed! Clever, hey? :)

















The other morning I walked into the kids' bedroom, and lo and behold - there was a huge ladder made out of broken bed parts, piled upon the other bed. (see below). Rather shocking, really.

"Oh. My. Goodness!" I exclaimed. "What happened here?" 

Joseph looked at the pile, then at me, thought for a second... and replied, "Teamwork." 

I love that kid. :)

Hadi (Hadassah) and I have only clashed a couple of times. Mostly because I stand up to her. I told her "no" the first day or so I was here, which set her crying, "Mommmmmy!" 

I continued for her, "Christy won't obey my every command!" :P Kendra said it's good for her to meet some adult opposition. All around, though, Hadi is hilarious and fun. She's a very quirky child and I adore her. I wish I could video-tape everything she says and does, because it is just so funny! She's really articulate for a two-year-old.

The List of Adventures

One of my first nights here, Isaac and Kendra took me out to an El Salvadorian restaurant (where it just so happened that Isaac got checked out [like a triple-take] by a guy). The food was amazing. They started us off with this black-bean-dip, salsa and chips... it was delicious. My plate was also pretty awesome fried bananas, papooses (not native American knapsack babies), tamales (SO good!) beans like four different ways, rice, and some root that is related to potatoes. My camera battery was dead, so no pictures. :(

Isaac and Kendra's Church is really neat. It is a pretty young church as far as the age group goes. But the teaching is solid, and the people are really neat. Kendra and Isaac help out with the junior highers, so I sat in on that. The sermon for the main service was solid! The pastor taught on Jonah - which, by the way, is much more than just the story of a man getting swallowed by a whale. Here's a question to ponder - what is it that you are running from? 

Tirzah did a project for the science fair at school last week. Her experiment tested which celephane (sp?) works the best. Or, in the words of her project title, "Which Plastic is Fantastic?" (If you're wondering, Saran-Wrap is the fantastic one. I'm never using Glad-Anything again.)

Tirzah spent hours hand-writing all of her data, research and conclusions. She also spent a good deal of time drawing the bananas from her experiment.

Tirzah really loved It turned out that all the other kids (or their parents, more likely) had typed their science projects, so I was really proud of Tirzah for doing on all that writing herself. 

Last week Kendra and I and the kids all went and saw Tangled in the theater last week. It was sort of a random idea, but we pulled it off! Hadi sat through the whole thing (first time!), and when it was done, she said, "I wanna do it adain!" 

Note to Future Self Regarding Children and Life

It IS possible to get married, have children, and still have a "life". Kendra and I got talking about this very thing when I mentioned how she and Isaac have always been my inspiration for doing things when I grow up. I've heard from so many people that, "When you're single you can do anything you want; when you're married it's hard to do much of anything; when you have kids you'll never do anything again." (I may have exaggerated a tiny bit for the sake of the illustration. But not much.) Practicality is so very soul-killing at times! But I figured that these people must know, right? Well, all that got blasted out of the water while I was at Ravencrest. There were several families who did a lot of things with their kids. Life isn't over for them! The Vancils, in particular, made many roadtrips down to Dallas, WITH three kids. Proof that it can, indeed, be done.

Kendra says that she believes part of the difference is that she and Isaac truly enjoy their kids. Although they still may have their occasional date night alone, they want to share their experiences and adventures with their kids, rather than build those memories by themselves. Because they really enjoy their kids, they want to share memories with their kids! I'm glad. I have parents who did fun stuff with me and my siblings, and some of it was a bit crazy. I mean, honestly, who in their right mind would take five kids halfway across the country? That trip to Indiana was insane. Tornadoes, trailers that smelled like rotten milk, billions of relatives... wow!

Anyway, it can and SHALL be done as long as I have any say in the matter! And I think I will. :) The fun doesn't end when the kids come!

I've added pictures. More to come soon!