Ta Da!

Joab's quilt is finished! Such a fun project, and I'm excited with how it turned out. These pictures, however, could definitely be better, as none of the colors are quite right. Oh well- I hope you enjoy nonetheless...










































I actually chose the fabrics for the quilt based on this quilt that is already hanging above Jo's bed. It was given to him by his sweet Cuz-Aunt Mary at our baby shower in May. I love the colors in it, and even more the hundred wishes it lists for Joab. I often use them as inspiration when I pray for Jo before he goes to sleep...



























My three favorites are "Compassion," I hope one day that Joab is able to show the same compassion the Lord has shown him; "Perseverance," the Lord has chosen a seemingly hard road for Jo, and I pray that He will also give him the perseverance needed to walk it; and "Cheerfulness," Even more than just walking the path before him, I hope God gives him grace to do it with a cheerful heart.

Thanks so much to my Mom, who taught me everything I know about sewing; Sarah, who let me borrow her machine (and just for being a good friend here in Lusaka); and to Holly and Eric for their helpful input along the way!

Fun Day!

Well, our first day of Mulungushi Homeschool went quite well! Got Joab's visual schedule made and put into action...

























And this afternoon, as part of our "outside play," we broke out the sprinkler! Jo was a little skeptical at first, but then (as you can tell in the second pic) HE LOVED IT!


















































I also got started on all the measuring and cutting for the quilt- I got the design from an old Martha mag (don't care what you say, she will always be my go-to gal), it's super cute and I cannot wait to show you the finished product!

You Still There?

Gosh, I hope so, though I know I've given you very little incentive to be checking in these past few months. I cannot believe that two months have gone by- they have been so full of work and fun and growth, I'm excited to share more with you. This week, Special Hope is taking a few days off (Zambia has its Presidential Elections, and though we are not expecting any significant violence, we are still hunkering down at home to be on the safe-side), and I am going to take that time to get back into this blogging business. I have lots of things planned this week (you know me, always a-planning)...

-Making these fabrics into a really fun quilt for Joab...



















-Playing homeschool mom and getting a bunch of stuff organized into a mini-classroom for Joab...



















-Being outside a lot, Zambian weather is beautiful this time of year...






















(Read this post I wrote about these trees when they were in bloom last year)

-Writing more about Joab. You can tell he is the theme this week- and in planning, I realized that I haven't actually written very much about him on this blog, and since I think God wants to speak through his story, I'm going to take some time to tell my perspective of it. I hope over the next few days to share more with you about how I met him, how I became his mother, and what he is actually like.

It's good to be back, friends, hope you are as excited as I am!