The Roberts Family
April, 2006

Dear Friends and Family,

We have mailed off our mandatory offering to our Uncle, my flower seeds are planted, we've been swimming in the creek, our yard was mowed two days ago and the dandelions are six inches high, and the plum trees have finished blooming, so it must be spring in Walnut Shade!

There was no winter here, and we have had a spring characterized initially by snow and hail, and more recently by windy days with temperatures in the 90s. It's weird weather, and I guess that goes well with our slightly weird family. However, maybe our family isn't really all that strange. Maybe most people's dads work 45 minutes away OR in the same room OR on the other side of the world. Maybe most people's sons limit their fighting to their waking hours. Maybe most people's daughters would rather vacuum than drive. Or, maybe most people's daughters write Christian fiction about spiritual warfare. Maybe most people's moms have to use a front-end loader to unearth their keyboards from their desk piles. Hmmm… I guess we are pretty normal after all.

[Aside: Having given my somewhat tongue-in-cheek comments on our children's preferences, I decided I should ask them what they really like best. Here are their replies:

Katie: "My favorite things to do are sleep as much as possible, read, play on the computer, and do research. When I'm in the mood I like web design, and writing is the same way; I like it when I'm in the mood. I also like watching Cardinals baseball (although I will watch any old baseball when the Cardinals are not on), and I like everything about being involved with AIM."

Jessica: "I like to mime, act, read Christian fiction, write books, listen to Christian music, talk, make bracelets, give gifts, and organize (anything)."

Josiah: "I really like to swim, play on the computer, go to Camp Lookout, jump on the trampoline, and race people on foot. Water gun fights are fun. I also like to ride my bike, practice my aim with my BB gun, goof around with my brother, and go to Silver Dollar City and ride all the crazy roller coasters."

Andrew: "I like to chew bubble gum (which he is NOT allowed to do) and read and ride my bike and turn cartwheels. I like holidays because I get to be so freeeeeeeee! I like picking plums and shopping and doing computer time, and I like to swim and also to go to church."]

The past couple months have been full; obviously no news there. Scott was home for a longer time than usual, and he is starting on a new project at work. It's called SHARC (the logo is a vicious little clip art of a shark), which stands for System for Home And Rop Changes. I'm not sure what a Rop is, but I think this project is supposed to make it easier for the insurance agents to make policy changes in the field. He worked long and hard on SHARC and some other ANPAC responsibilities while he was in the States. That, with Mission China, kept him from getting bored. Ha, ha, ha.

In addition to those official responsibilities, he always makes time to spend with the family. Since Christmas, he has continued to beat the entire rest of the family at ping-pong, even though he plays left-handed to give us a sporting chance!

Scott was invited to speak at the annual AIM (Action Impact Missions) leadership camp in California in March. He was really honored to have an opportunity to speak into the lives of young Christian leaders from all over the country. He left for that meeting on a red-eye flight in the wee hours after Josiah's 12th birthday party.

For that gala event, we took Josiah and a few friends to Playtime Pizza, where everyone ate pizza and played video games (long live Ms. Pac-Man!) and Glow-Golf, which is indoor mini-golf under black lights. Yours Truly actually won the Glow-Golf, trouncing all those males; something that may not happen again this decade. Josiah's friend, Ethan, spent two nights with us, which was tons of fun for Josiah.

The following weekend, our church hosted a weekend marriage seminar in Branson. The close location was very convenient, and it was a great seminar. At times we laughed so hard our faces hurt, and afterwards, when Scott and I were debriefing some of the tough issues, I cried so hard my makeup ran. All in all it was a very worthwhile investment.

Andrew competed in the homeschoolers spelling bee at the first grade level, but because he was unwilling to practice his words in advance ("can you spell 'strong-willed,' Andrew?"), he did not win, place, or show. However, he is now diligently practicing his words for next year!

Jessica and Katie attended and helped to lead an AIM workshop in Fayetteville. They were gone for several days, and I had to do all their work! They were a blessing there, and I realized again what a blessing they are here.

March 29th was a day that will live in infamy. I guess I took our Proactive Parenting small group material a little too far. I had told the children we'd be leaving for town at 8:45 AM and to be in the van by then. When no one had shown up by 8:47, I drove away, leaving them all behind in a mixed state of shock, anger, hurt, and resentment. I realized afterward that I should have warned them of what would happen (because for YEARS, various kids - and adults! - have been late to the van with no consequences), and I think we have dealt with the offense and moved forward. So far, no one has been left behind in April.

Josiah had another Boy Scout campout, which he greatly enjoyed, and this time they camped through a thunderstorm. He now has camping in snow, rain, wind, and lightning down pat. I guess nice weather would be boring?

Scott left for China in late March and he will be home by the time you receive this newsletter. As of this writing, he has taught in several cities to many house church leaders, and he and the Mission China team have been safe and successful in their Kingdom-building work. Praise God!

As a part of AIM, our children were involved in a local arts/crafts/music/drama/etc. festival called BransonFest. On a certain Wednesday, they spent five hours volunteering as parking lot attendants, and on Thursday and Saturday their teams were invited to do several AIM (mime) presentations. A good time was had by all, and the people watching seemed to appreciate what they saw. As the emcee said, "those kids sure look great, but they don't say much." There are simply very few experiences in life as moving as watching the promo team mime to the song, "Statement of Faith!" I just stood there with my trusty camcorder and cried.

Katie and I traveled to Columbia, Missouri on April 7 for her to compete in the Missouri State History Day competition on April 8. The topic was "Taking a Stand," and her outstanding paper about Elijah Lovejoy, an abolitionist newspaper editor who was murdered in 1837, had taken first place among 32 entries in the southwest Missouri region. Her paper was then one of six selected to compete at the state level. Although we thought she had an excellent shot at first or second place (which would have sent her on to Nationals), she placed 4th. However, she did win two other cash prizes - one for the best paper dealing with Missouri history, and one for the best paper dealing with African-American issues. Never one to quit, she says she will enter a new paper in the contest next year!

While Katie and I were in Columbia and Scott was in China, Jessica kept the boys overnight for the first time. It was a big responsibility and she handled it very well. Not only did she deal with herding boys, cooking, laundry, and other household chores, she got all three of them ready - including packed lunches, uniforms, and mime makeup (no small job) - for their Saturday presentations at BransonFest. I was really, really proud of her.

That first week after Scott left for China was gone was uncommonly hectic, even for a wild and crazy household like ours. What with Josiah's campout, an orthodontist visit, a piano lesson, a Boy Scout meeting, BransonFest, car repairs, our trip to Columbia, and leading our small group in Scott's absence, I was meeting myself coming and going, so. . . the second week, I declared SPRING BREAK! Yay! We all really needed a breather. We went to visit my parents in Arkansas for a few days, and we did a total of not one shred of academics for ten glorious days. It was quite refreshing. As far as I'm concerned, any time algebra can be avoided is a good time. I'm pretty sure all the females in the family would concur on that.

We have just (officially) celebrated Jesus' wonderful resurrection, and have been reminded of the greatest miracle of all time. We are so thankful to God for Jesus, and we are also very thankful to him for you, our friends and family!

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