Spring Brings...
Boots is still delightful but he spent Easter weekend
Digging under the backyard fence and visiting the neighbor's backyard (thankfully not the ones who are scared of dogs!)
Acquiring a taste for human food - he ate a plateful of hot cross buns left waiting for a delayed Easter lunch! (Thankfully there was enough time to replace them)
"Protecting" Mom so much that Dad couldn't even sit beside or even talk to her without Boots interposing himself!
We have a new dog named Boots.
What does that name conjure up in your mind?
He is like a refined, polite, distinguished gentleman
The Uncle who joins the kids' fun: gentle and fun
A pleasant companion who is (usually) content just to be near
He just might be our new favorite!
We have a new dog named Boots.
He's mostly husky, but black with white boots.
Husky stubbornness has been well-trained
Still so far he's not too vocal
And since winter has chased away our spring-like weather he's not shedding yet
He is a delight to walk and play with
We have a new dog named Boots.
Some lucky family will find in him a wonderful dog
Companionable without being trouble to leave alone
Smart and pretty well-trained already
A lovely sociable playmate with other dogs
Just don't let him see that neighborhood rabbit or squirrel!
We have a new dog named Boots.
Who brings us tidbits of new excitements
Who can jump our 6-ft backyard fence when he sees that squirrel scamper along to top
Who thinks nothing of a wintery March river swim
Who pulls Jasmin off her bike because - squirrel!
Enjoyable excitement after some of our other dogs
We have a new dog named Boots.
He has some interesting quirks
He cannot abide to stay upstairs - even if everyone home is up there
He prefers to sleep downstairs on the floor even though invited into kids' beds
He's not all that interested in human food
Quirks we're quite happy with!
We have a new dog named Boots.
60+ adults gaining encouragement and new direction through the Family Education Conference
40+ kids enjoying the children's program (even reluctant teens and those needing extra care became enthusiastic about attending)
16 days away from home
16 workshops (covering topics as wide ranging as brain development, emotional regulation, high school planning)
6 attempts at finding a place to hold a baptism (eventually at a top floor condo swimming pool at 10:45 pm!)
6 modes of transport used (taxi, train, plane, songtao, van, feet)
5 cities visited (Montreal, Tokyo, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Penang)
5 family consults (SAFE families that mom helps problem solve schooling issues)
5 testing meetings (at the conference there was educational testing provided; the team was short staffed so Mom helped out)
5 lost phone numbers (our Malaysian sim cards expired... we had hoped to keep them active until we returned)
4 days out of the 16 were completely all travel! (Taxi-train-plane-plane-taxi)
4 new team members welcomed
3 different currencies used in transactions (Baht, Dollars, Ringgit)
3 days of conference sessions (but what with all the consults we didn't get to go to many of them!)
3 days of staff meetings post-conference (so full of debriefing thankfulness and energy to begin plans for next year)
2 good byes for retiring team members (by zoom and in person)
2 workshops presented (what Dad came to do)
2 very important meetings in Penang (regarding our hopeful return next year)
1 trip to Sticky Falls (a fun outing at climbable waterfalls!)
1 unexpected encouraging joyful baptism (a young man Dad led to the Lord last year whom Dad's disciple has been discipling)
Uncountable:
encouraging moments
greetings with old friends
fantastic meals and snacks
new learning
God's blessings
pangs of longing to be living in Asia again
texts and calls to kids at home