The Roberts Family

December, 2005

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Walnut Shade, where you can wear shorts one day and see snow flurries the next. We have had a fun and exciting fall, and we are looking forward to a special Christmas and a wonderful new year.

Scott is in China, but will be home on December 12. This trip has been the most challenging so far (mainly relational issues), but things are getting better, and we anticipate some great reports when he returns.

Katie has completed biology, and she is very happy about that. Right now, she is studying to take a CLEP test in biology, hoping that if she can earn college credit that way, she will never have to think about biology again. Actually, she detests science in all its forms, although she does well at it. On the other hand, she is really enjoying entering various essay contests, hoping to win some money toward college expenses. Scott set up some college saving accounts for the big kids, and she is diligently working to fund hers (as is Jessica).

Katie's other major accomplishment in recent months was the completion of her 15-page research paper, "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land: The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment," an in-depth analysis of eminent domain in America. As the proud mom, I will say that it is an excellent paper, involving much more extensive research and writing than anything I ever did in high school!

Jessica continues to be a diligent student, as well. She recently completed an 11-volume series on American history, is diligently studying Chinese with the Rosetta Stone program (including finding a bug in the software - ha!), detests Saxon Algebra ½, and is writing a novel about spiritual warfare.

Jessica is also delighting the family with her progress on the piano. It is so nice to hear her practicing. Right now, she is also learning some Christmas carols, so we are all really enjoying her playing.

Her passion, however, is ministry in general, and Action Impact Missions (AIM), in particular. The three big kids are all involved in AIM; Jessica and Josiah as mimes and Katie as sound and technical support woman. They have a weekly Bible study (student-led) followed by a two-and-a-half hour practice session. Each month they have several opportunities to present the gospel in various locations around the community. Their presentations are excellent in quality and powerful in message. There are about 50 homeschooled kids in the Branson AIM ministry, divided into four teams. One team (including Katie, Jessica, and Josiah) presented at our recent Mission China banquet, and another team was invited to present during the closing ceremony for Veteran's week (a large event) in Branson.

AIM is a big part of our lives now, taking a lot of time and commitment. However, we consider it a worthwhile investment, because our children are being mentored by people of excellent character, and they are being given opportunities to become leaders while they are young.

In addition to its focus on excellence (they are 40 standards of excellence they work toward), AIM is big on serving, and we think that is an important aspect of our children's development. AIM has regular service projects where serious serving occurs. One project this fall was in response to my request. The convenience store next door to our home was broken into and vandalized. We knew that the owners, an older couple with health and financial challenges and friends of ours for several years, would not be able to get the mess cleaned up on their own. I asked the AIM leadership if they would consider having a workday at the store as one of their service projects, and they said they'd love to. Wow! 27 volunteers - 9 adults and 18 kids - showed up to clean up some really messy stuff. We worked like crazy for three hours straight, without a word of complaint from anyone! You'd have to have seen how nasty that place was to appreciate what was accomplished. We had a great time, the owners were blessed, and our children learned another lesson about serving - with excellence.

Josiah, the science guy (currently considered a 5th grader), is studying General Science (a course designed for 7th or 8th graders) along with Jessica, and he is holding his own very nicely. Jessica motivates them to keep going, and Josiah explains all the scientific stuff and leads the experiments. They are quite a team! We are proud of Josiah's determination to learn absolutely ALL there is to know about physical science and also his efforts in math, which can be tough for him, Spanish, American history, handwriting, spelling, and typing. He types about 35 words per minute, which is better than his mom!

Josiah has endured to the end and finished Cub Scouts. We asked him to stay with it through the end of Webelos - the final phase of Cubs - and he did, finishing with a bang. He earned all 20 of the Webelos achievement badges, which qualified him for the "Heavy Shoulder Award." He was the first in his pack to earn that, and the first to earn his Arrow of Light, the highest award for Cub Scouts. In order to earn the Arrow of Light, he had to visit two Boy Scout troops. After his less than stellar experience with Cubs, he was not really interested in Boy Scouts, but he dutifully did his troop visits. The first troop was terrible, but he really liked the second, enough so that he met with one of the Scoutmasters to learn more about Boy Scouts. In the end, he joined Troop 272 in Forsyth, where he really likes the boys and leaders and seems to fit in well. He is actually excited to be a Boy Scout and is looking forward to lots of camping, hiking, and adventure.

Andrew is one of the brightest kids I have ever met, and we can't really take much credit for that! He is now reading at about a 3rd grade level and is rapidly working his way through the Boxcar Children series. He practices printing (though he'd rather do cursive), Spanish, and addition for his schoolwork, and he can change settings on my computer that I did not even know existed! He has graduated to Kidz Church (for 1st - 6th graders) and we were told that he is a great example to the other kids there. Based on home life, we sometimes wonder about that, but I know that our children's pastor wouldn't lie.

Andrew is a ferocious bike rider and the king of the trampoline. Last week, he learned how to turn cartwheels - both on the ground and on the trampoline. Although he is very athletic (the kid has muscles of iron) and quite determined (read: stubborn), he also loves to cook, fix hair (including cutting his own - sigh), and hug the people he loves. I know that the day will come when he won't want to give me hugs and kisses, so I am soaking them up now.

Another major happening this fall was the purchase of a new (only 122,000 miles!) van. We have missionary friends who bought the van to use this summer while they were in the States. They drove it to our house for a visit, and we oohed and ahhed over all its neat features. Long story short, they sold it to us. Wow! They flew home out of Baltimore, a friend of theirs drove the van two days from Baltimore to St. Louis, and my friend Janet drove me to St. Louis to pick it up. Her Alyssa and our Andrew are close friends and they went with us. It was eight hours of fun all the way around, plus a new vehicle for Team Roberts. We now have sliding doors on both sides, four bucket seats, individual lights (like in airplanes), and rear climate control. We are so blessed.

However, much more important than that, we have a bunch of precious family members and special friends, who know us and still like us - for the most part. We are so thankful to know you and to share with you our best wishes for a Very, Very Merry Christmas!

Lots of Love,

Scott, Patty, Katie, Jessica, Josiah, and Andrew