Counting

Gus recently took a ministry trip for 9 days; me and the boys missed him like crazy, of course, but his trip was a blessing for him so I am glad. I think one of the hardest aspects of Gus's absence on previous trips is that the boys don't have a great grasp of time yet and so they don't know when Gus is going to return. They ask quite a bit when he will return and are very sad when he is not home every night.

So for this most recent trip of Gus', I made a loopty-loop for all the days he was going to be gone. Every night before the boys went to bed, they removed one loop and we counted down the days until Gus would return. Cael especially grasped this concept and would count, often, to see when Gus returned. We had this nightly ritual of removing the loop and it was great to see the boys excitement mount as they physically saw Daddy's return coming closer each day.

I am thankful for God's extra grace and provision when Gus travels. Even thought it seems like something always happens while he is away. On this particular trip, Coen actually fell down a flight of stairs and chipped his tooth. After visiting 2 clinics and 2 dentists, the verdict was that, for the time being, we would leave the tooth as-is, since it is not infected nor has it affected his ability to eat or sleep. While this incident was scary, through it all I saw God's sovereign hand protecting me and Coen. I was also very thankful for the friends who helped me with translating and even watching Cael so we could figure out the best course of action for Coen.