Friday the conclusion to our week.. or the beginning?

 Friday nights are a staple for us.  More people attend Friday nights than Sunday.  What do our Friday nights look like?

After a full day of school, and me (Spring), I come home to chaos. Really it isn't chaos, it is upheaval though.  Fridays are pretty much an all-day affair.  We have to completely clean the house. (sometimes I think if I was a better housekeeper, this step would be less arduous) Nathanael has to prep for it, and the living room/kitchen area is re-arranged. Not to mention that I must cook dinner, and we chop veggies for a snack.

Morene and Adrene go to school pretty close to us. Morene is Deaf and it's a great opportunity to have them come. Nathanael likes to pick them up after school, around 3:15. (to avoid the travel and time it takes to go to their village) This is also around the time I arrive home. They add an element of fun and disorder.

Hopefully, we've finished school by the time they arrive, but it doesn't always occur.

At 5:45 Abigail and Selah leave for youth group. I am at this time prepping for making dinner for the kids.  I seem to be in a habit of either making Dirty Rice or Chili. Belizeans really like things to be the same so the struggle of food they aren't used to is a real one.

 I had a boy tell me "I have never seen this before" about my chili. Of course, he was not brave enough to try a bite.  I try to take it in stride. I plow forward in working toward making sure Friday night meals healthy for the kids.

6pm Nathanael, Zion, and Zephaniah leave to pick up people.  I finish cleaning, setting up, and making dinner.

7pm the van arrives. People pile out. Kids come to the apartment.  Depending on how on point I"ve been I either serve them dinner or have to wait until the Instant Pot is finished.

We eat dinner. We spend time watching a devotional/Christian movie.  Recently we've been using Right Now media.

After that, the kids watch a movie or play with toys until the adults are done.

The adults arrive and spend some time conversing.  Nathanael reviews what he preached on Sunday.  He plays games with the information, prizes included. These can be chocolates, marshmallows or sodas. Here is his summary of what events look like:

Announcements
Opening prayer
Review story
Trivia review game
Snack and chat
Home

Going back home involves everyone crowding back into the van. Nathanael drops everyone off while I settle the children for bed at home.

Why does this seem like the beginning of our week?  Fridays are by far our busiest days. That and we also feel they reach the greatest amount of people. Fridays lead to Sunday church and are an outpouring of it.  It is an opportunity to meet in a more personal setting. 

Thanks for taking the time to read more about what our weeks look like

Spring

Middle of the week meeting

What do you do on Wednesdays?

While we lived in Spring's parents home, the children went to youth/group kids night activities. We went on a date.  Perhaps not as spiritual as one would expect but it was instrumental in our relationship.

Here we've also been working on relationships on Wednesdays.

I did blog a little about our "focus groups" when they started.


Since then we've gotten into a pattern.  We have the focus groups meet once a month, Wednesdays.  Youth, men's and women's groups. The last Wednesday of the month is "free". For us it is a planning day. I will explain that in the next blog post.

We are thankful for the times that allow us to meet in smaller groups.

Usually, we make dinner, the participants are in charge of the planning. We will buy the ingredients.


After dinner, there is a small devotion.

Then we play games or watch a movie. It is a lot of work for Nathanael to interpret. He has told them they have access to anything on Netflix, but he won't interpret for Wednesday nights.

I participate in the Women's night. It is a good opportunity for me to work on my ASL. It is challenging!  I am praying for ways to increase my vocab. Mostly that involves stepping out of my comfort zone and just trying to engage. Funny my word of the year is "engage". I am gifted with chances just about every day.

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about what our week looks like.


Hope you have a good one!

Spring