the switch

A lot has been happening around here this week.

To start with, one of our summer house guests, Nathan, has decided to stay on for the fall semester as a full-time volunteer at Fortress. That's great news for Fortress, because an extra set of hands and eyes, and the extra heart for loving kids is always a great blessing. It's good for Nathan, too, because he feels really called to this ministry right now, and there's nothing quite as fulfilling as knowing you're where you're supposed to be, doing what you're supposed to be doing. And it's good for our family, because Nathan asked to live here with us again!

It was sorta a hard decision - not that we don't love Nathan, but because we've had various people living with us now for over a year without a break. (Summer interns last year, then my sister and her daughters, then a spring Fortress intern, then THIS summer's interns.) But when it came down to it, we remembered that we've always felt that God gave us this house, and we've always wanted to use it for His service. Truly. He gave it to us! There's no reason on the earth that we should've been able to afford it 3 years ago, but here we are. So we told Nathan that he was welcome to live here for the fall semester.

The boys have always shared one of the bedrooms, and the larger upstairs den has always been used as a play room/guest room. This week, Dani and I totally cleaned out both rooms and switched all the furniture around, giving the boys a much bigger space. They've always disliked their bunk beds (what boys don't like bunk beds, I ask??), and now there's enough floor space to unstack the bunks and give each brother a floor-level bed. They're pretty excited about their new digs! Maybe I'll post photos tomorrow.

Other than that, we've spent this week gearing down from vacation, catching up laundry, and getting back in the swing of things. In the mountains, we played games every night, and we managed to tear ourselves away from the computers and TVs one night this week to play a rousing game of Uno Attack at the kitchen table. The boys are whizzes at both Uno and Phase 10. So much fun! I hope we make it a more regular activity around here.

Have a great weekend! Do things that make you happy!