Gone again, back again

Hi there! Well, it has been a while (okay, 7 months). Sorry. Quick recap: in June, I could no longer hold together my marriage with Frank, moved to Langley. After a summer of living here and there (thanks to everyone who helped us out!), we now live in a subsidized apartment for single moms. Matthias is living with Frank, and having fun "unschooling." We will see how that goes. When I prayed about what to do with my life now that marriage was no longer an option, God reminded me of the MLE I didn't do 14 years ago. So here I am -- already done the first semester (the "Killer Pack" -- by God's grace, it didn't kill me!). If you want to talk to me about any of this, feel free to call or email (I'll be off email for the holidays, though). Dad and Deb both have my number, and Calvin College, or leave me a comment and I'll call you.
I wanted to be intentional about celebrating Christmas this year, so we sat down and made a list of what Christmas is about. The first thing on our list was "remembering Jesus' birth," and I listed all the things we've done to celebrate His first coming -- playing religious Christmas music, reading the story, attending Christmas plays, programs and concerts. The one thing missing on my list was setting up a nativity scene. So we talked about how hard it is to buy one that matches my mental image. The next thing I knew, Bethany asked for my fabric scrap bag, and she created costumes for all her Barbie dolls and now we have a beautiful "Barbie Nativity." So much better than a store bought one!

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